The illusory golden dragon was vivid and lifelike. It looked just like the real thing.
Still, Su Yi could tell that this was the manifestation of a drop of a true dragon’s blood essence, not a true living creature.
“Continue.” Su Yi waved to his companions, indicating that they could keep fighting. They looked at each other, and much of their earlier astonishment faded.
They feared that in Su Yi’s eyes, defeating a freshly-ascended Earthly Immortal like Sutra Crane didn’t amount to much!
“Flee!” The white-eyebrowed monk led his companions away. Half of them had fallen already. Add Sutra Crane’s death to the mix, and they were battered and shaken. How could they possibly linger?
But it was then that Lan Suo raised her right hand.
Whoosh!
A streak of silver soared through the air, growing mid-flight. In an instant, it shockingly transformed into a densely-layered current, blocking the gate to the first floor completely.
Lan Suo then applauded smugly and said in a crisp voice, “This is a Heavennet Rope. Once used, it’s like an inescapable net. It leaves foes with nowhere to run.”
Even Mu Xi’s gaze was somewhat heated as he exclaimed, “What a treasure!”
Ning Sihua sighed to herself.?Is this showing off? No, this is just daily life for her…
But when the monks saw this, their faces filled with despair.
Boom!
Combat broke out once more.
However, a battle like this wasn’t enough to draw Su Yi’s attention.
He took another step closer to the golden dragon, which flashed, then shot out, quick as lightning. It tried to flee, but before it got far, the edge of a sword blocked its path, leaving it no choice but to try escaping in another direction.
Alas, it was as if the sword had sprouted eyes. No matter which direction the dragon attempted to flee from, that sharp edge was always one step ahead of it.
And as Su Yi drew ever closer, the golden dragon retreated deeper and deeper into the corner.
“Don’t be afraid. So long as you do as you’re told, I won’t hurt you,” said Su Yi. He then let out a series of strange and complex syllables, like a low, obscure chanting. The sound carried a unique majesty.
This was the language of True Spirits! The ancient language created by the True Spirits of heaven and earth!
Furthermore, as Su Yi chanted, the sound carried the aura of his divine sense. Every syllable sounded like the whispering of an ancient.
The illusory golden dragon went rigid; it seemed dumbstruck.
Su Yi couldn’t help but exclaim to himself,?It’s just a drop of blood, yet it’s accumulated an unimaginable degree of spirituality. It’s practically a living thing; it’s truly unbelievable!
Were this a living, breathing true dragon, just how impressive would it be?
Su Yi thought for a moment, then flipped his palm. A palm-sized Buddhist statue appeared there, its arms crossed in front of it, its hands forming lotus seals. A true dragon was coiled around its shoulders and upper back.
This was the mysterious Buddhist statue carved of a True Spirit’s bones.
“I’ll give you a chance. Be obedient and go in on your own.” Su Yi pointed to the statue as he spoke to the illusory dragon. He was still using the complex, inscrutable language of True Spirits.
The dragon hesitated. It lingered in the corner, visibly uncertain.
Su Yi just stood there calmly.
Finally, the dragon turned into a streak of golden light and shot directly into the statue.
Bzzzz~!
A radiant red halo illuminated the statue, the light searingly bright.
Especially the dragon wrapped around the monk’s back; it seemed to come to life, and its tiny, exquisitely carved scales brimmed with incomparable life force and spirituality.
“Just as I thought; the statue must have been carved from the bones of a true dragon. That’s why the drop of true dragon blood fused with it so readily.” A hint of a smile rose on Su Yi’s lips.
The way he saw it, the statue might have been carved from a true dragon’s bones, but its spirituality had long been frittered away, and it wasn’t worth much. It was, at best, a crude shield.
By comparison, this single drop of true dragon’s blood was enormously valuable; this was no different from receiving a grand stroke of fortune. You could see it as an unparalleled spiritual medicine.
Even advanced cultivators of the Spirit Dao would drool over it!
Alas, it was still just one drop. If there were more… Even those mighty experts who’d long since stepped into the Imperial Realm wouldn’t be able to sit still.
Su Yi put away the statue once it fused completely with the drop of blood, then turned and looked into the distance.
The battle was nearing its end. Lan Suo had played a critical role and achieved the most merit of the three.
She’d used her seemingly limitless stash of treasures to shatter her opponents’ ranks, while Ning Sihua and Mu Xi exploited the resulting openings to attack. They cooperated well together, and they’d already swept through all seventeen Xiantian Martial Ancestors of Shanglin Temple.
Were this a fair fight, weapon against weapon, they couldn’t possibly have won so easily.
After all, these were experts who’d emerged from Shanglin Temple; they were far from comparable with mundane martial artists of their cultivation.
Lan Suo was quite excited, and it seemed she’d yet to get her fill.
Ning Sihua and Mu Xi, meanwhile, were rather rueful. They would never have guessed that with Lan Suo here, killing the Xiantian Martial Ancestors of Shanglin Temple would be so effortless…
“Young Lord Su, I didn’t realize you were so amazing! Even Earthly Immortals are no match for you!” Lan Suo walked right up to him and heaped praises on him. That exquisitely-carved face of hers was full of sincere admiration.
Su Yi thought nothing of it. “He forced a last-minute breakthrough, and his foundations in the Origin Dao were unsteady. Furthemore, he couldn’t master his newfound power so quickly. The power he displayed was far inferior to a true Grain Avoidance cultivator. Defeating him was no great feat.” 𝗼𝐯𝗹．𝐞𝘁
The Origin Dao was divided into three realms: Grain Avoidance, Origin Palace, and Gathering Stars.
Sutra Crane had only just barely entered the Grain Avoidance Realm.
“But you’re a second-level Grandmaster! Achieving that is still… still…. Really really really amazing!” said Lan Suo with the utmost seriousness. When it came to describing Su Yi’s strength, she couldn’t find a suitable adjective, so she could only link together several really’s for emphasis.
Ning Sihua and Mu Xi couldn’t help but laugh, while Su Yi fell silent.?This Lan Suo might look beautiful, lofty, elegant, and generous, but who’d have thought she’d have a charmingly silly side to her too…?
“This Buddhist treasure tower has nine floors. This is just the first. Come on; let’s go check out the second floor.” As Su Yi said this, he proceeded to the stone stairwell in the southeastern corner of the hall. His companions followed.
The tower wasn’t simple. How shocking was their earlier battle? Yet the tower’s interior—its walls, pillars, and floors—was perfectly intact, without the slightest damage.
From this, it was clear that the materials used to build it were utterly extraordinary.
Furthermore, Su Yi had subdued an illusory golden dragon manifested from a drop of true dragon blood in this very place.
They couldn’t help but feel eager. What fortune hid within the rest of the tower?
They climbed the steps—eighteen in total—and reached the second floor. However, all they saw was another vast and empty hall. The only object in the room was a thirty-foot-tall statue niche made of pitch-black stone.
However, the alcove was empty. There was nothing there at all.
But when he saw it, Mu Xi recognized it at a glance. “This is the very alcove from which I obtained the Qilin Blood Jade Pendant!”
Su Yi walked up to investigate, but he didn’t discover anything special about it. He promptly led the group further up the treasure tower.
But to his disappointment, every floor was just as empty, and there was either nothing there at all, or just a few household objects and utensils. There was nothing they could use.
They reached the ninth floor without making any further discoveries.
“Given how obviously mysterious this place is, why aren’t there any treasures here?” Ning Sihua asked in confusion.
They’d come all the way here, first proceeding deep into Treasure Temple Yao Mountain, then venturing into the ruined treasure temple, passing layers of formations and restrictions before arriving on the “head” of the dragon-shaped ridge and climbing all the way to the ninth floor of the treasure tower.
But aside from fighting a group of Shanglin Temple monks and seizing a drop of true dragon blood, they discovered nothing of value here at all.
This was naturally hard to understand.
“The Prajna Meditation Garden, the Evil Dragon’s Restricted Ground…” As Su Yi spoke, he seemed to recall something. “Don’t forget the markings on those two stone steles. This was never some treasured land to begin with. Odds are?its?true mysteries aren’t high up the tower, but rather, buried beneath it.”
They then hurried into the tower’s first floor. Once he was inside, he re-examined the worn-down, damaged murals lining its walls and pondered them solemnly.
When his companions saw this, they looked at each other. They instantly understood; perhaps some secrets were hidden within the murals they’d completely overlooked earlier!