After use, the sealing card turned blank.
“Stay here and protect Long Chen!”
As long as the Ten Thousand Poison Python doesn’t die, it can keep living, which is quite good. After all, it’s a peak eighth-level ferocious beast, making it a decent mount or bodyguard for Long Chen.
“Roar!”
The Ten Thousand Poison Python hissed and nodded.
Ling Xiao was very satisfied. He took the blank sealing card to the place of the previous battle, aimed at the Black Dragon King’s corpse, and shouted, “Seal!”
The already shattered Black Dragon King was indeed sealed into the card, and it remained intact.
The top left corner showed its strength: Half-Step Heavenly Venerable (ten percent power).
The top right corner showed its usage count: three times.
It seemed that at this stage, Half-Step Heavenly Venerable-level monsters could be used three times, which was pretty good.
Ling Xiao was very pleased with this.
It was a pity he only had three sealing cards, otherwise he would have sealed the Poison Dragon King too.
Though not as strong as the Black Dragon King, the Poison Dragon King was still quite powerful.
Speaking of the Poison Dragon King, Ling Xiao was determined to kill him. He was the Black Dragon King’s loyal lackey, and since Ling Xiao had taken his dragon pearl, not killing him would cause trouble.
So, after eliminating the Poison Dragon King, Ling Xiao reinstated an elder from the Poison Dragon clan who was respected and opposed to the Poison Dragon King.
Putting away the Book of Sealing, Ling Xiao went to bid farewell to Long Chen and the others.
Then, outside the Land of Dragons, he took out the treasure “Land of Dragons” obtained from the Black Dragon King and stored the entire Land of Dragons within it.
At that moment, the Moonlight Pagoda shook violently, startling several people who were cultivating.
However, their luck wasn’t bad. After this energy fluctuation, the monsters in the third stage that would have caused trouble stayed hidden in their lairs.
This effectively gave the trial disciples more time to cultivate.
Outside the Moonlight Pagoda, the sect’s higher-ups, including the Moon Lady, were dumbfounded.
They saw a golden divine dragon coiled around the Moonlight Pagoda, lingering for a while before departing.
What had happened inside?
Why did a golden divine dragon appear?
This was a scene never witnessed in previous pagoda-climbing ceremonies.
Countless questions swirled in the minds of the Moonlight Sect’s higher-ups. They were desperate to know what was happening inside.
Unfortunately, even the vertical eye of the Heavenly Eye Venerable couldn’t see through the situation.
They could only wait.
Leaving the Land of Dragons, Ling Xiao didn’t seek out Dai Yuling, Leng Hao, or Shangguan Lei.
Each had their own opportunities, and from here on, they had to rely on themselves.
Ling Xiao needed to find clues to the fourth stage, so he headed toward the next secret realm.
It was already the second day since they entered the third stage. Normally, an eighth-level ferocious beast would cause trouble today, putting Dai Yuling, Leng Hao, Shangguan Lei, Liu Lie, Wu Yang, Qin Wu, and others at risk of elimination.
But due to the influence of the Land of Dragons, the eighth-level beast didn’t appear, so one could say they benefited from Ling Xiao’s actions.
Unintentionally, Ling Xiao had significantly improved the overall results of this pagoda-climbing ceremony.
Back then, the Demon Flame Heavenly Venerable and Sect Leader Chang Yueying had only lasted two days in the third stage before being eliminated.
Each additional day set a new record.
But this meant little to Ling Xiao. He didn’t care for such fame. His goal was the fourth stage, a place no one had reached in nearly a thousand years.
Half an hour later, Ling Xiao arrived at a barren desert. The usually active scorpion-like ferocious beasts were now hiding beneath the sand, saving him a lot of trouble.
Otherwise, those elusive desert poison scorpions would have been a major threat to any trial disciple.
This was likely due to the terrifying dragon aura released by the Land of Dragons.
“Black Spirit City!”
Ling Xiao stopped. Before him stood a city fortress in the desert, heavily damaged but enveloped in a mass of black energy, making it hard for outsiders to enter.
Every brick exuded an evil, ancient aura, bearing the marks of countless years.
“Could this be the fortress built by the Black Spirits after they entered the Mysterious Realm ten thousand years ago?”
Having learned some of this history from the dragon clan, Ling Xiao quickly connected it to the terrifying war that erupted ten thousand years ago.
This architectural style was completely different from that of the Mysterious Realm. Even buildings preserved from ten thousand years ago didn’t match this.
“It must be built by the Black Spirits.”
After observing for a while, Ling Xiao confirmed his theory.
These structures built by the Black Spirits were full of distinct foreign flair. More importantly, there were many things Ling Xiao couldn’t understand, unrecorded in ancient texts.
“Let’s go in and see what’s going on!”
With that thought, Ling Xiao released a sword soul clone to pass through the black energy barrier, and no accidents occurred.
This suggested the black barrier posed no danger to disciples participating in the pagoda-climbing ceremony.
The moment he stepped into the black barrier, he unexpectedly found people inside.
And there were two of them!
Wang Nan, the clone of the Demon Flame Heavenly Venerable, and Bai Feifei.
“Ling Xiao!”
“It’s you?”
Ling Xiao smiled faintly. Now, as an early eighth-level Mortal Realm martial artist with multiple trump cards, he wasn’t afraid of Bai Feifei.
Even with Wang Nan, he might not be scared.
The Book of Sealing had given him formidable combat power.
“Perfect timing, kid. How about we cooperate?” Wang Nan, the Demon Flame Heavenly Venerable’s clone, said with a smile.
“Cooperate with you? I’m afraid there wouldn’t even be bones left,” Ling Xiao said, shaking his head.
“Kid, when this venerable speaks, I mean what I say. I’ve long wanted to enter Black Spirit City, but I fell short in the end. This isn’t a secret realm one person can conquer. You have no choice,” Wang Nan said calmly. “When we succeed, the three of us will split the gains equally.”
“Godfather, why beg him?” Bai Feifei said, displeased.
“Be quiet. I know what I’m doing,” Wang Nan said, glancing at Bai Feifei before turning to Ling Xiao. “I believe you’re smart enough to agree. No one knows Black Spirit City better than I do. There are mechanical puppets made by the Black Spirit clan guarding it. Without my guidance, you’ll waste a lot of time and energy.”
“Mechanical puppets? Interesting.”
Ling Xiao had heard that the Blue-Eyed clan’s puppet technology came from ancient tombs.
It seemed likely that the Blue-Eyed clan’s puppet technology was brought to the Mysterious Realm by the Black Spirits.
