The black dragon, weakened after casting its spell, lay down. Ye Ju thought for a moment and took out a large barrel of spirit spring water. The dragon soul's eyes lit up; it was the companion spring of the Divine Wood! The black dragon looked at Ye Ju with shining eyes.
Unfortunately, spirit spring water was useless for soul bodies.
"Put it away, Xiao Ju Yin. I don't have a physical body and cannot absorb the life spiritual energy of the spirit spring."
Useless?
Ye Ju rummaged through, taking out all the spiritual plants she deemed useful.
The black dragon looked at Ye Ju with a face full of tenderness. He felt very safe with her beside him. A million years had passed, and Xiao Ju Yin's kindness remained the same as always. The first time he saw her, she was taking things out to save someone, completely defenseless. How many people could hold onto their original intentions!
"Xiao Ju... it's useless. Unless it can bring the dead back to life, no spiritual grass or plant in this world is of any use to me."
Ye Ju was startled and was about to say, "I can..."
The black dragon shook its head sternly. Ye Ju immediately reacted, swiftly enveloping the Soul Locking Nail with flames, and a scream echoed throughout the cave.
Ye Ju's eyes widened. Whose divine sense could monitor the black dragon through the Soul Locking Nail?
The black dragon relaxed. It was weakened from casting the spell, its Dragon Domain had weakened, and someone had intruded.
Ye Ju's expression was unreadable. She knew it was no longer safe here. The black dragon was Hu Hu's father, and she wanted to take him back to the island. The protective barrier could shield them from prying eyes and hide the black dragon. He must know the truth behind the destruction of the Divine Wood Realm.
"Uncle Black Dragon, how can I take you away? It's not safe here anymore." Ye Ju knew the black dragon was of the same generation as her father, so calling him uncle was appropriate.
"I don't have much time left. I'll trouble you from now on." The black dragon had a sense of entrusting his legacy. A dragon trapped in shallow waters, its ambition extinguished.
"Don't you want to see Long Hu Hu? I can take you to a place where you can be with her every day for the rest of your time!" Ye Ju had a flash of inspiration; having something to care about was motivation to live.
The black dragon raised its head, its eyes filled with hope...
"So, how do I take you away?" Ye Ju pressed her advantage.
"Where the dragon bones are, that's where I am! But I can only hide in your Sea of Consciousness... to shield me from the Heavenly Dao..."
Ye Ju heard this and thought, "Right, why didn't I think of that? Why waste more words?" She quickly shrunk the dragon bones and put them into her spirit ring. The black dragon hadn't reacted before it suddenly appeared in her Sea of Consciousness.
Upon entering Ye Ju's Sea of Consciousness, the black dragon found it to be like a vast ocean with immense, turbulent waves. It was shocked. No wonder she dared to let him in. An ordinary cultivator would have been burst by his Dragon God power...
Ye Ju sensed his thoughts. So the black dragon was reluctant to leave because he was afraid of harming her by entering her Sea of Consciousness.
She swept away everything in the cave, not missing any glowing beads. Long Hu Hu was indeed like her father. Seeing that the black dragon had collected so many luminous jewels, night-shining pearls, and golden treasures, it was clear they were father and daughter!
After collecting everything, not even a hair was left, only the Soul Locking Nail. Ye Ju's mind moved, and she sprinkled some of Ah You's improved Divine Immortal Brew onto the Soul Locking Nail. It was colorless and odorless, an upgraded version whose effects even Ah You didn't know.
Holding a night-shining pearl for light, Ye Ju stood on the Sky-Piercing Sword and flew. The passage was three to four meters in diameter, allowing for low-altitude flight on the sword, but it was pitch black. Ye Ju was much slower than when she entered. Xiao Mo was a flood dragon and inherently had night vision.
After a long while, they finally reached a turn, and the passage began to ascend. As Ye Ju flew up, a familiar voice came from the passage. Ye Ju extended her divine sense and saw a familiar figure descending, Qing Yang.
"Who?"
"Qing Yang, it's me. I'm about to head up, let's talk outside." Ye Ju stepped on her sword and ascended vertically, which consumed more spiritual power than before. Soon, she encountered Chaoyang Zi, who had already descended halfway. Ye Ju patted his sword to help him ascend, and Chaoyang Zi was pushed by Ye Ju, directly out of the ground.
As Ye Ju emerged, Chaoyang Zi immediately came over, his tone anxious:
"Divine Venerable, where did you go? You've been missing for a day and a night. The罡风 below was very strong before, and one couldn't descend by sword. They tried for several hours without success. Just now, the 罡风 suddenly disappeared, which is why I could only descend halfway!"
"You don't need to worry, I'm fine. What about the others? How is the barrier?" Ye Ju didn't see anyone else. She also hadn't expected a day and a night to have passed.
"When you didn't meet at the appointed time, we split up to search and regrouped at the cliff bottom if we couldn't find you. I've temporarily sealed the rift in the barrier with a formation. However, it won't last long, maybe half a year at most. Then we'll have to summon other sects to discuss countermeasures."
Chaoyang Zi breathed a sigh of relief after hearing Ye Ju's words. His heart settled! He didn't see Xiao Mo and didn't ask further, likely having had a fortuitous encounter and entered a dormant state.
The two returned to the cliff bottom. Tian Ji and the others were all there, but Chao Tianci was unconscious.
As soon as Tian Ji saw Ye Ju, he knelt:
"Divine Venerable, your subordinate is late!" Tian Ji's expression was agitated!
"Tian Ji Zi, have you recovered your memory?" Ye Ju raised an eyebrow at Chaoyang Zi. Her gaze asked what was going on, what had happened? But this wasn't the place to talk, so Ye Ju said nothing. The tacit understanding among the Star Guards remained; Tian Ji suppressed his excitement.
The other three, seeing this action from Tian Ji of the Canglan Sect, were stunned. Who was this immortal?
Although the two disciples of the Canglan Sect had their doubts, they wisely remained silent, realizing that their Uncle Tian Ji disliked talkative people.
Only Chao Tianci's guards were left. Chaoyang Zi glanced at them, and the guards cleverly made a motion of zipping their lips.
The 罡风 on the cliff disappeared, and everyone easily flew to the cliff top by sword. However, upon reaching the top, they found no one, only traces of blood. Chaoyang Zi's expression was grim; they had been attacked.
The bloodstains were from a day ago.
"The snow beast has come out!" Tian Ji suddenly said.
"It hasn't snowed yet?" A disciple started to say, then stopped. Because there was already thick snow a thousand meters from the cliff.
It turned out that due to the barrier rift, the surrounding area was warm as autumn. Ye Ju said nothing. A snowflake landed on her nose. Ye Ju guessed it was due to the black dragon; as an upper realm Divine Dragon, its domain was not affected by weather changes!
Now that the black dragon was gone, the cliff edge would soon be covered by snow.
"Let's go!" Ye Ju took out the Purple Bamboo Boat, enlarged it, and entered the boat. She scanned with her divine sense but found nothing. Her divine sense saw a vast expanse of white between heaven and earth. Ye Ju was also surprised by the winter on the Tianchen Continent, how such heavy snow had fallen in just a few days. Before coming, she could still see green plants, but now everything was white.
Those left on the cliff had flying boats and ships, and their combat power was decent, so they shouldn't have been wiped out entirely!
Chao Tianci brought his personal guards. Chaoyang Zi signaled the guards to send a transmission talisman to contact others...
Tian Ji also used the sect signal to communicate. The Purple Bamboo Boat flew out of the small island and discovered that the island's shore was also frozen. Flying for hundreds of miles, the sea surface was completely frozen. Suddenly, a Canglan Sect disciple on guard spotted a distress signal coming from the sea to the east...