Is the true identity of the Heavenly Mansion Elder a dragon?
Gao Jing was filled with doubts.
This was contrary to his understanding. The Heavenly Mansion Elder was a present-day existence, while the dragon race had already disappeared from the world long before.
In the general sense, the present-day referred to the period from the first year of the Dao Calendar to the current year, 3918 of the Dao Calendar.
In other words, the dragon race had not appeared in the human world for nearly four thousand years, or even earlier.
If the Heavenly Mansion Elder's true form was a dragon, it should have been discovered long ago.
Could it be that the Heavenly Mansion Elder disappeared later because of this reason?
Gao Jing stopped his thoughts. Now was not the time to explore hidden history, and those things were not important. What was important was that since this place was named the Heavenly Mansion Dragon Palace, the opportunity for cultivating divine abilities was likely to be found here.
He didn't know how many people had discovered the path in the water before him.
Had someone arrived earlier? Or could everyone see a Heavenly Mansion Dragon Palace?Gao Jing stopped walking as he followed the long corridor.
Because behind the Red Jade Archway, he saw a person.
That cowardly boy from the Zhang family with a Circulating Realm cultivation... was his name Zhang Yong?
"You're alone here? Where are the others?" Gao Jing didn't have much thoughts about him at this moment.
Everyone had already entered the Heavenly Mansion Secret Realm, and there were no more spots available. It would be meaningless to rush out now.
But he wasn't polite with his questioning either.
As a rising star of the Gao family in the Qi Kingdom, Gao Jing had always disliked those ancient families. He believed that they clung to outdated traditions and should have been eliminated by history long ago. This was also the reason why he was dissatisfied with Zhang Yong, who had weak strength but obtained a spot through his ancestral background.
Zhang Yong didn't seem to mind what had happened by the Full Moon Lake earlier and casually pointed behind him, saying, "They're all in the Dragon Palace. There are a total of five Dragon Palaces in the water, and each Dragon Palace contains an opportunity for cultivating divine abilities."
Gao Jing immediately wanted to rush into the Dragon Palace, but he stopped his movement and asked cautiously, "How do you know?"
"Here." Zhang Yong pointed forward with his mouth, "It's written here."
Following his gaze, Gao Jing indeed saw simple rules engraved on the back of the Red Jade Archway.
There were five Dragon Palaces underwater, and the maximum number of people allowed in each Dragon Palace was ten. There was only one opportunity for cultivating divine abilities in each Dragon Palace.
And behind this Red Jade Archway, there was a "2" engraved, indicating that it was the second Dragon Palace among the five.
However, with the Heavenly Mansion Dragon Palace in front, most people probably wouldn't stop to look at the back of the Red Jade Archway.
"How many people have you seen entering?" Gao Jing asked.
"Five."
Gao Jing nodded and was about to enter the Dragon Palace.
Zhang Yong added, "By the way, another person from your Gao family has also entered. But I heard his miserable scream earlier, it seems like he has already been killed."
Gao Jing's face darkened slightly. He had already prepared himself for such situations when entering the Heavenly Mansion Secret Realm. It was just regrettable that he lost a helper.
After thinking for a moment, he said, "Don't think that by telling me this, I will go easy on you. If you dare to come in and compete with me for the opportunity, I won't show any mercy."
"It's okay." Zhang Yong finally shifted his gaze away from the Red Jade Archway and looked at Gao Jing with a smile.
"I just want you to die with a clear understanding."
...
The interior of the Heavenly Mansion Dragon Palace was still extremely luxurious, dazzling anyone who had an eye for it.
Jiang Wang, on the other hand, remained calm.
After all, he didn't recognize any of the materials. Pearls, precious woods, they were all just for appearances to him.
Before entering the Dragon Palace, he had observed the introduction on the back of the Red Jade Archway and knew that the Dragon Palace was the place for direct competition. However, he still didn't know what the opportunity representing the cultivation of divine abilities was.
This Dragon Palace was ranked fourth.
Jiang Wang estimated that he was the fourth person to discover the door in the water, as he had spent quite some time on the riverbank.
But it was also possible that the order of entering the Dragon Palace was disrupted, and he couldn't be sure about these things.
He had just searched around in the main hall when he heard footsteps behind him.
Jiang Wang suddenly turned around.
He had always maintained a state of readiness since entering the Heavenly Mansion Secret Realm. Especially in the Dragon Palace, he shouldn't let his guard down.
Because the back of the Red Jade Archway only described the maximum number of people allowed to enter the Dragon Palace, there was no minimum limit.
This meant... that all the people could be killed, and then one could calmly search the Dragon Palace without waiting for the opportunity to appear and competing with others.
Jiang Wang didn't plan to do this himself, but he couldn't guarantee that others wouldn't think the same way.
The person who entered seemed to come from a well-off family, and his actions carried an air of nobility.
"Are you a friend of the Zhongxuan family?" He smiled before speaking, "I saw you with Zhongxuan Sheng outside. I am Tian Yong."
"Jiang Wang." Jiang Wang maintained an appropriate distance.
Tian Yong didn't say much either. After looking around, he said to Jiang Wang, "I'll go to the left side hall, and Brother Jiang can go to the right. Let's rely on our luck."
"Alright." There was nothing to gain in the main hall anyway, so Jiang Wang turned around and walked towards the right side hall.
He didn't reject killing, but he didn't think it was the best method. Especially at this moment when the opportunity hadn't appeared yet and the competition hadn't started.
Tian Yong didn't intend to fight prematurely, but if he wanted to play any tricks from behind, Jiang Wang's hand had never left the hilt of his sword.
The concept of the Dragon Palace was very distant to Jiang Wang. Dragons were creatures from myths.
In many legends, the Dragon Palace represented the pinnacle of luxury and splendor, and what he saw now was indeed the case.
The side hall was very quiet, with only the sound of his own footsteps.
The hall was lit by eternal lamps, and it seemed like the flames had been flickering for thousands of years.
Since entering the Heavenly Mansion Secret Realm, he hadn't encountered any other living beings. Most likely, the only living beings in the secret realm were the cultivators who had entered.
This Dragon Palace was no exception.The reason he agreed to explore the right side hall was because his intuition indicated that Zhong Xuan Sheng was in this direction.
However, there were no traces of anyone having been in the Dragon Palace.
"Is the Heavenly Mansion Secret Realm a place where reality and illusion coexist? Half real, half fake?"
Jiang Wang walked and searched, not easily overlooking any place.
No one knew what the opportunity was, or in what form it would appear.
After searching several side halls in succession, he still found nothing.
Time slowly passed, and Jiang Wang gradually became a little restless.
Just then, he suddenly heard a scream!
It was Tian Yong's voice.
It came from the main hall they had just left.
Jiang Wang immediately turned around, darted through the hall and over the door, and in less than ten breaths of time, he had rushed back to the main hall of the Dragon Palace.
At this time, there were five people standing scattered in the hall.
To be precise, four people were faintly surrounding a man in the middle who was wearing a hat of wealth.
It seemed that they were all cultivators who had entered the Dragon Palace after he and Tian Yong had split up to search.
And at the feet of the cultivator wearing the hat of wealth, Tian Yong was lying stiffly on the ground, his face black and blue, his breath completely gone, he was dead beyond doubt.