He couldn't afford to offend them, could he?!
The resentment in his eyes was almost palpable! Jin Bao'er hadn't been truly angry, so she naturally sensed something was wrong. He wasn't such a petty person!
"What exactly happened?"
The trial master withdrew his gaze and looked up at the sky with grief!
"What else could have happened? The trial ground was sealed for three years! Right after you left last time!"
The thought of it drove him mad. During these three years, every blade of grass and every tree within the trial grounds had been frozen in time, their movements suspended for a full three years!! Heaven knew, he had just lowered his head and could count every single blade of grass at his feet!!
Jin Bao'er looked at him, not showing the slightest hint of a joke! Her mind couldn't help but recall what happened three years ago. After she left... Fen Bei had produced a black Xuan iron from somewhere. Since it didn't seem particularly unusual, she had directly put it into her spiritual sea...
Besides this, she couldn't think of any other possibility!
Coupled with the time-manipulating ability of that black Xuan iron, she had a growing certainty.
She thought for a moment, then extended her right hand and exerted a slight force!
A large piece of black Xuan iron appeared in her hand, its surface glossy and smooth! It was angular and sharp! It looked like an ordinary lump of iron!
"This is what Fen Bei took out after I left three years ago. I didn't touch anything else, not even entering the trial ground!"
The trial master glanced at the black Xuan iron and shook his head in disdain.
"Don't recognize it, never seen it!"
Then he asked, puzzled.
"If you didn't do it, who else could have?"
Long Li Xing looked at the black Xuan iron, his brows slightly furrowed, appearing deep in thought.
Jin Bao'er paused. It seemed they didn't know its purpose?
"Put it away. It's probably because the trial ground completed its mission and returned to its original state, which is why the barrier sealed everything!"
Long Li Xing spoke, giving a seemingly innocuous explanation with a calm expression. The trial master sighed and could only accept it after some thought. He had never considered that barriers had a shelf life. Anyway, it was broken now, and there was no point in dwelling on it.
"Since you have gained self-awareness and completed your mission, and the trial ground no longer exists, you are now free! You don't need to guard this place anymore."
The trial master, still lost in the sadness of the broken barrier, froze in place upon hearing this!
Was this... telling him to leave? From the moment he was born, he had been endowed with a mission, guarding the laws of the trial ground, and living alongside so many demonic beasts! The thought of leaving made him reluctant to let go!
Long Li Xing, however, paid no mind to his thoughts. He suddenly looked up at the sky in another direction, his expression cold and sarcastic!
"They're quite fast!"
Jin Bao'er followed his gaze but found nothing. Recalling the Eight Trigram Exquisite Formation from earlier, she frowned.
"I haven't heard of that formation that sealed you. We should still be careful later!"
A formation capable of sealing a powerful being at the peak of the Great Dao wouldn't be a small one!
Long Li Xing turned to look at her, his eyes smiling! Domineering and pleased.
"My Lady, are you worried about me?"
Jin Bao'er withdrew her gaze... her heart pounding! But her expression remained blank.
"Don't die, I don't want to be a widow!"
Before the trial master could be astonished, Long Li Xing choked. He lamented inwardly that Jin Bao'er's skill in making death-related conversation was growing daily. Then, he looked at her with mournful purple eyes.
"My Lady, how can you be so heartless? I am deeply saddened!"
This sudden change stunned the trial master speechless! The dignified Dragon God, such an arrogant and unrestrained existence! To have such a side to him in private?
Jin Bao'er's lips twitched!
"Be normal, this doesn't suit you!"
Recalling the flirtatious and seductive techniques Long Li Xing had learned when they were in the Phoenix Clan, she felt her eyes burn! It was a complete black history!
Seeing her so indifferent, Long Li Xing was truly helpless. He actually wanted to take things further, at least not just holding hands like this! But Jin Bao'er was too straightforward...
As they spoke, several figures appeared in the sky not far away!
Several elders in dusty gray robes and a middle-aged man landed rapidly! They completely ignored the three corpses on the other side, their gazes fixed intently on Long Li Xing, their aged faces filled with wise and calculating smiles.
"Dragon Ancestor, it has been a long time. You are just as you were back then!"
Long Li Xing looked up, his purple eyes cold and arrogant! He didn't spare the elders in front of him a glance, his tone even more sarcastic and disgusted!
"Hmph... I wondered who it was! Cang Qiong, you old scoundrel, how are you still alive? Don't they say longevity leads to oddity? You've lived so long, what regrets could you possibly have! And don't defile my noble dragon eyes with your ugly face! I'm afraid I might not be able to resist beating you up again!!"
The leading elder's face stiffened, his smile gradually replaced by a dark expression! Having occupied a high position for thousands of years, when had he ever been insulted like this? The last time he was so humiliated was a thousand years ago... by the same person!
His murky gaze fixed on her! After a long while, he continued.
"I heard the Dragon Ancestor has returned to the Upper Realm. As the host, I naturally had to meet you. Now it seems that after nearly a thousand years of sealing, the Dragon Ancestor has hardly changed! Still so... direct!"
He didn't even add the word "sir," clearly unconcerned about falling out with them!
Long Li Xing narrowed his eyes slightly, his thin lips curling into a sneer! His handsome face, like that of a god, was filled with extreme coldness and killing intent!
"It seems that I've only been away for a thousand years, and you... perhaps you've forgotten something! Or do you, a bunch of fools, truly believe you have the ability to seal me? Hmph... overestimating yourselves!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a powerful pressure descended! It instantly made everyone's faces turn pale, and Cang Qiong's face was filled with indescribable shock!
After a thousand years of sealing, he still possessed such strength? Could it be... his power had been restored?
No! This was impossible!
If others didn't know, didn't he know? When his power was dispersed back then, it was scattered in several places! The cultivation world was one thing, but the ghost realm and other continents... he couldn't cross over!
He regained his composure, suppressing the shock in his heart! He raised his staff high, dispelling some of the pressure, and allowing those behind him to feel slightly better...
"Dragon Ancestor, you must understand that this Upper Realm continent is no longer the same as it was a thousand years ago. Cultivators have long become true leaders! If your Dragon Clan were to obediently stay put, I could pretend that none of this ever happened!"
Before the battle even began, the enemy threw out an olive branch with a weak tone. Even Jin Bao'er couldn't help but look down on him. It was clear that reconciliation was impossible between them, so why was the other party talking so much?
Long Li Xing withdrew his smile, his gaze scrutinizing the old man in front of him with surprise, then shaking his head in disdain.
"An old fool is indeed an old fool! So much nonsense, are you actually afraid of dying?"