Chapter 500: Chapter 323: The Confrontation of Refusal to Give Up_2
Upon hearing this, Xie Lan nodded. She had long understood the truth about time. Time was indeed the most crucial aspect of healing, one of the more elusive truths to gain insight into.
"Did you realize this from Yan Xiaobao’s Crystal Stone?" she asked curiously. The Crystal Stone had nothing to do with healing or time, yet somehow, it had sparked such a revelation.
Wang Julong nodded, "His movements are as if blending together. Like the air moves with him as one." She began to explain, her eyes brimming with excitement, "Merging with the air, forcing it to move the way he desires. It’s like how we command our flesh, bones, and veins to move." She continued.
"Watching him act this way, I realized seeing him was impossible; there was simply no time. He uses his speed to escape time, flowing and becoming one with the air. I use time to compress, force, and create. We all use time, but the way we manipulate it is distinct."
Hearing this, Xie Lan was utterly flabbergasted. She believed Yan Xiaobao hadn’t utilized time at all. She thought he was merely employing pure speed. However, ultimately, whether she understood it or not didn’t matter; the important thing was that Wang Julong had made a breakthrough. That was what truly mattered.
Not long after, Deng Wu awoke from his meditation. He was pleased to see Wang Julong no longer dazedly absorbed in her insights. The four Cultivators moved slightly closer to one another, speculating when their new plan might unfold and what it would be.
In the midst of this, Yan Xiaobao opened his eyes, seeing Wang Julong, Xie Lan, and Deng Wu chatting joyfully together, a satisfied smile spreading across his lips.
He stood up, stretching his weary body, then went on to join the others. Yan Xiaobao approached them, heading straight for Xu Biao.
"How far are we from the Dragon Core?" he asked, deeply tired of traversing this Underworld. Although this civilization was quite familiar to him, the constant ceiling overhead and the dark, dim tunnels made him feel like a prisoner.
"Not too far," Xu Biao replied. "We are just three caves away from the Dragon Core. The closer we get, the denser the population. In the last two caves, the entire region consists of two vast cities spanning thousands of kilometers."
Upon hearing this, Yan Xiaobao couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows. The closer they got to the Dragon Core, the more relieved he felt, and he couldn’t suppress his excitement.
While chatting with Xu Biao, Sha Yun woke up from his meditation, and the group settled down together not long after. They looked to Yan Xiaobao, waiting for him to decide the next course of action.
"We are quite close to the Dragon Core now," Yan Xiaobao said, sharing what Xu Biao had mentioned earlier. "Our goal is to navigate through the Dragon Core and find a way to leave these tunnels."
"We need to keep an eye on the laws," he continued, "Although they don’t directly concern us, they hold significance for Lan Feng. Therefore, we should look to him to see if we can uncover the truth of the situation."
Upon hearing Yan Xiaobao mention Lan Feng, Sha Yun, Deng Wu, and Wang Julong all nodded. The three of them understood that Lan Feng harbored a Divine Beast within him, while Xu Biao and Xie Lan believed Lan Feng was an expert whose soul had merged with Yan Xiaobao with the help of a Priest.
When Xu Biao heard of Lan Feng, he knew Yan Xiaobao would do whatever it took to uncover what truly happened. Yan Xiaobao was someone who repaid kindness tenfold. It was evident that he had thus far been the one accepting help from the hidden expert who walked behind him.
It was clear that he was indeed the hidden expert guiding their group of four as they ventured underground for combat. To the Guild Master, it was obvious: the hidden expert had saved Yan Xiaobao on many occasions, such as during the duel against the Demon Dance Family.
Xu Biao saw that Yan Xiaobao was ready to move forward, and he nodded solemnly, resolving to aid this young man. He had always considered himself a good friend to the latter and still felt remorseful for choosing to report their actions to Zhou Long.
Deng Wu’s eyes took on an even darker hue than usual, and anger was evident on the faces of Sha Yun and Wang Julong.
The trio vividly remembered the young grandchildren and children that had been captured. Although Lan seemed indifferent to her future, she was still a living being; she had emotions and was living her own life.
Seeing how the Dragon Army treated these laws left a bitter taste in Yan Xiaobao’s mouth. Though he knew he had no responsibility for the laws, he was still disgusted by the Dragon Clan’s treatment of other life forms.
Killing them was one thing. Yan Xiaobao understood he lived in the world of Martial Artists, a world where death lurked in every corner, and only the strong prevailed. It was something he had long since accepted, even finding it thrilling in its own way.
However, he believed in swiftly killing one’s opponent or enemy. Capturing laws was never about killing them. It was obvious that whatever actions were taken against them, these beings wouldn’t perish, and Yan Xiaobao strongly suspected they were gathered for gentler talks within the Dragon Army. Even the mere term "cargo" revealed how the laws were regarded.
Letting out a deep sigh, a determined expression appeared in Yan Xiaobao’s ice-blue eyes. He cracked his neck before signaling his friends to follow him, "Next stop, Dragon Core!"
Leaving the dark cave, Yan Xiaobao and the group began to battle through the shadowed tunnels once more. Before long, they followed the flow of people through illuminated sections of the tunnels.
They now approached their journey to the Capital entirely differently. Previously, they hadn’t been in a hurry. Encountering the Scar-faced Killer had caused the group to slow down even further, yet now they realized that Scarface wasn’t the only danger they might face along the way.
Truthfully, Hui Yue was slightly disappointed by Scarface. The man had appeared and started killing their team members but then suddenly stopped. He left behind nothing but a lingering sense of danger, as no one knew when he might strike again.
Initially, Yan Xiaobao was deeply concerned, but after considering the situation further, he concluded that perhaps Scarface wasn’t as dangerous as he originally thought. He had never seen the man initiate a full-scale attack. The tiger beside him had carried out strikes. Seeing him rely on stealth attacks proved he lacked confidence in facing groups, especially with two King Ranking experts among them.
With this realization, Yan Xiaobao was no longer worried about running into Scarface. Instead, his heart burned with an intense excitement; he longed for the battle he anticipated when they finally clashed.
Traversing the tunnels, the group soon reached another cave. This cave was entirely different from their expectations, as it was largely used for agriculture. Looking into the distance, one could see a vast city located within a valley.
"This place provides food for the Dragon Core and Dragon’s Avenue Cave," Xu Biao explained, and Yan Xiaobao nodded. It made sense. As Xu Biao had mentioned earlier, the last two caves—Dragon Core and Dragon’s Avenue Cave—both housed two cities that occupied the entire caves, leaving no room for farming. Instead, they relied on earlier caves, primarily this one, the Holy Festival cave.
Although Yan Xiaobao found this cave intriguing, he still moved swiftly through the landscape. The group only spent one night relaxing in the city before setting out again.
Traversing the Holy Festival cave took over a week. They traveled each day, resting for only a few hours each time. Entering another tunnel, they stayed within the brightly lit sections, all impressed by how much busier the tunnel was than previous ones. Carts carried harvested vegetables, corn, and meats to the two cities ahead.
Though the sight of all the carts surprised them, it had little effect on Yan Xiaobao or his friends. When they reached Dragon’s Avenue Cave, their journey through the tunnels had gone smoothly.
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