After successfully refining the third Dragon Emperor relic, Yi Yun rested for a while before finding the best time to consume it.
The moment it entered his mouth, Yi Yun felt a freshness flow down his throat and into his dantian. But suddenly, a terrifying heat burst out of Yi Yun's dantian as though it were an erupting volcano. Even the blood flowing in his meridians got as hot as lava. His skin turned fiery red. If this continued, it looked like he would be vaporized from inside out.
Yi Yun remained calm. He immediately circulated the Dragon Emperor Technique and refined the medicinal essence in his body. At the same time, the surrounding Yuan Qi surged relentlessly towards his body, to the point of a Yuan Qi vortex forming beside his body.
Yi Yun's body was like a whale's sucking in water, crazily absorbing the Yuan Qi until the Yuan Qi vortex nearly materialized. The Yuan Qi itself condensed to form water droplets, each containing massive amounts of Yuan Qi.
But this Yuan Qi was constantly being absorbed by all of Yi Yun's pores. The blood in his meridians raged like a river as dragon roars emitted from his body. It was like a gigantic dragon had awoken, and even the concealment array could not completely reduce the commotion.
Instantly, the entire town heard the low rumbling noise but no one was sure of where it came from. People panicked at first, but the person with the highest cultivation level in the town was a Yuan Opening realm Grand Elder that failed to find anything.
Gradually, the townsfolk got used to it. Apart from being a little noisy, it did not seem to indicate danger. The town's warriors were also pleasantly surprised to find that the Heaven Earth Yuan Qi had apparently turned richer.
Such days went by for about a half a year. When the townsfolk were completely used to the sound, a loud dragon's roar emitted from underground. Following that, a faint dragon shadow charged into the sky and rapidly flew away.
Even though the dragon shadow left a huge impression on them, the town returned to its original silence. No one noticed the tiny compound Yi Yun lived in, nor were they aware when it had emptied once again.
After Yi Yun exited seclusion, he received the Nanxuan patriarch's voice transmission. The Ancient Ruins world's ancient battlefield was about to open and they were to gather in a valley outside Scarlet Yang Capital. In fact, although Yi Yun was in seclusion, he constantly kept the matter in mind. Therefore, he rushed to the valley after receiving the voice transmission.
After absorbing the third Dragon Emperor relic, Yi Yun's cultivation level had already reached the peak mid-stage Supremacy. He was even closing in on the late-stage Supremacy realm. The higher his cultivation level, the more advantage he would have when he entered the ancient battlefield.
If he could keep refining the Dragon Emperor relics to raise his cultivation level, Yi Yun would have spent all his time refining the fourth Dragon Emperor relic.
But firstly, he lacked the herbs and secondly, after raising his Dragon Emperor Technique through the Dragon Emperor relic, he needed actual combat and new experiences to stabilize his cultivation level. If not, he could easily find himself with an unstable foundation.
Even while heading to the valley, Yi Yun was still stabilizing his cultivation level.
Nanxuan Jue's mentioned in the voice transmission that the opening would happen in the coming days but did not give a precise date and time. As such, Yi Yun was not in too much of a rush since he would not be too late if he was already heading there.
Misty Immortal Valley was a very scenic valley outside Scarlet Yang Capital but it was located above a precipice that was impossible for mortals to reach.
Many spirit boats, chariots, and other transportation vessels were parked in Misty Immortal Valley. Towers or pavilions constantly appeared out of thin air, all spatial-dimension artifacts.
People constantly came from different directions and landed in Misty Immortal Valley.
"Grandpa, this ancient battlefield sure is enticing." said Luoyue as she stood on an extremely exquisite jade pavilion while looking outside.
Her aura had undergone a massive change from a year ago. She looked even more alluring and her body was enveloped in a faint golden halo.
Luoyue was already extraordinarily beautiful but now, just by standing there she attracted the attention of many people.
"That is only natural. Ignoring the various opportunities the ancient battlefield provides, just doing something of note on the ancient battlefield would garner the White Lunar Divine Empire's attention. It is something many people dream of," said Nanxuan Jue with a nod.
The Scarlet Yang Capital belonged to the White Lunar Divine Empire in practice. When the time came for them to enter the ancient battlefield, be it the warriors from the Scarlet Yang Capital or the other six continents, they would be representing the White Lunar Divine Empire.
"I wonder when the kind sir will arrive," commented Luoyue.
"He should be here soon," said Nanxuan Jue. He had already sent Yi Yun a voice transmission. As long as Yi Yun heard it, he would arrive quickly. After a year of interaction, Nanxuan Jue already knew that Yi Yun was most interested in herbs and the ancient battlefield. It was impossible that he would miss it.
At that moment, there were sudden murmurs in the crowd. Nanxuan Jue and company looked up and saw a war chariot drawn by a massive tiger hundreds of feet long arrive in mid-air. The chariot and the tiger were covered in red flames. The heat it generated was stifling even before they landed.
"It's the young lord of Scarlet Yang, Lie Rikong."
"I didn't expect him to be participating in this ancient battlefield."
"Young Lord Scarlet Yang is suitable both in age and strength. It's only natural for him to participate."
The moment the chariot landed, many people went to it to greet him.
Lie Rikong was the son of the Scarlet Yang King. He held an esteemed status and was very talented.
A stalwart man walked out of the chariot. His face was cut and he looked extraordinarily handsome. His eyes seemed to contain two wisps of fire. It left anyone who looked into his eyes feeling like their eyes were burning.
He was none other than Lie Rikong.
And behind him was a woman. She was Lie Jiaojiao, a younger member of his clan. She had good talent too and she was heading to the ancient battlefield as well.
After Lie Rikong arrived, he only nodded at a few despite numerous people coming to greet him. He was aloof and extremely arrogant.
"I've already heard how arrogant Lie Rikong is. He won't even spare a moment's notice on ordinary riffraff. I've really witnessed it for myself. There are many powerful factions and their genius disciples are waiting here in the valley. All of them plan on entering the ancient battlefield but he thinks nothing of anyone," said Nanxuan Jue with a sigh.
Luoyue remained indifferent. She only needed to mind herself. As for what Lie Rikong did, it had nothing to do with her. However, when she saw Lie Jiaojiao, a coldness flashed in Luoyue's eyes but she subsequently looked away.
But at that moment, Lie Jiaojiao suddenly looked towards her and said nonchalantly, "Isn't that Nanxuan Luoyue? I heard you handed a spot over to an honorary Elder. Where is he? You should know that spots are not to be transferred, right? By giving out spots with such indifference, it might affect our Scarlet Yang continent's ranking at the very least. But it would be quite terrible if you incur the displeasure of the lords of the White Lunar Divine Empire, wouldn't it?"
Upon hearing Lie Jiaojiao's words, Luoyue frowned. She had stopped paying her attention but she never expected her to take the initiative to engage in a verbal battle with her.
"Since you know that he is our honorary guest, how can you call it a transfer? Is an honorary guest not one of us?" retorted Luoyue coldly.
"Hmph! Do you think I'm a three-year-old child? The person you invited might be an honorary Elder in name but it is just a meaningless title. It's only a cover."
Lie Jiaojiao's voice was clear, attracting the attention of many. A matter that involved the suspicion of rule violation was a slight to the Nanxuan family clan's reputation when said in public.
Nanxuan Luoyue was burning with rage but had no way to retort. After all, what Lie Jiaojiao said was the truth. If someone wanted to make an issue of it, it was possible that a complaint could be lodged against them to the White Lunar Divine Empire. It would not severely affect the family clan's foundations but it would reduce the number of spots the White Lunar Divine Empire would give the Nanxuan family clan in the future.
Nanxuan Luoyue did not wish to enter a verbal war with Lie Jiaojiao. She was not on the side of reason to begin with and Lie Jiaojiao would only be more pleased if the commotion intensified.
Nanxuan Luoyue was in a bind when she suddenly felt something. She turned to look in the direction where a figure had landed.
"Sir, you are here," greeted Nanxuan Luoyue.
"Hey." Yi Yun nodded. He had come silently and he had heard a little of the conversation between Nanxuan Luoyue and Lie Jiaojiao. It was very common for there to be contention between powerful factions.
Yi Yun could not help but glance at Lie Jiaojiao as the corner of her mouth suffused a contemplative smile. She gently shook her head and said, "I was overthinking things. Even if your Nanxuan family clan sends more people, it would be the same as it is now. All of you are only here to fill out the numbers, so how can you be important enough to affect the Scarlet Yang continent's ranking?"
Luoyue said to Yi Yun apologetically, "Sorry about that. We had a grudge in the past, so…"
The contention between two powerful factions in the Scarlet Yang Capital had nothing to do with him but since Lie Jiaojiao had mocked him, bafflingly and for no reason, it now had something to do with him.
He gave Lie Jiaojiao a deep, penetrating look as he said indifferently, "A sixth-storey Seven-treasured Dao Palace, cultivating in two laws. Other than the main law, your other auxiliary law was attained through the use of treasured herbs, isn't that so? From inference, you probably only condensed a seven-leaf Dao fruit in your Dao Manifestation realm. And the Heaven Ascension Dao Tree you formed in the Heaven Ascension realm was at best ninety decafeet."
Yi Yun casually evaluated Lie Jiaojiao's foundation. There was no hint of mockery in his words but the indifferent tone clearly meant that he saw it as nothing spectacular. But Yi Yun had hit the nail on the head. Nothing he said was wrong about Lie Jiaojiao's cultivation process. Back when Lie Jiaojiao was in the Dao Manifestation realm, she had indeed condensed a seven-leaf Dao fruit through her own efforts. The other seven-leaf Dao fruit was forcibly attained through the use of treasured herbs.
It was a stain on Lie Jiaojiao that she felt embarrassed about, but most people did not know it. Now, it had been said in public as though it was a slap to her face. Yet, there was no way for her to retort.