I do not know how long they waited, but Mo Fan had already thoroughly scanned the information of all the cultivators on the mountain peak.
During this time, apart from the prodigies of various forces catching his attention, the two old men were the most noteworthy to him.
One was the black-robed demon ancestor from Dragon King Sea.
The other was somewhat beyond Mo Fan’s expectations, for he came neither from the righteous human path, nor the human demonic path, nor the demon clan, but from the barbarian tribes of the secular dynasties!
Mo Fan did not know much about the barbarians, but from the memories he had absorbed, although the barbarians called themselves a “clan”, they were still a branch of the human race.
Living on plateaus year-round, their physiques were far sturdier than most humans in the divine domain, and they were extremely resistant to cold.
Another striking feature was that they had their own faith.
Yet, for such a nation akin to a secular dynasty to produce a Nascent Soul cultivator left Mo Fan somewhat astonished.
It also made him realise that there might be more experts in the world than he had imagined.
With a high-pitched, mournful beast roar rising from below the cliff, the waiting cultivators on the peak finally stirred.
“It’s the earth dragon mourning!”
“The guardian beast at the True Dragon Lair entrance has finally died!”
“All disciples, follow this elder to the True Dragon Lair and seek your own fortunes!”
“Go!!”
In an instant, cultivators from all forces on the mountaintop sprang into action. They swiftly followed their sect elders, soaring on swords straight towards the cliff.
The cliff at this moment resembled a mysterious, unfathomable giant beast, opening its bloody maw to await their arrival.
“Let’s go too!”
Seeing this, Mo Fan waited no longer. He summoned the Soul Devouring Banner, sweeping the three women inside, then shot like an arrow into the abyss below the cliff.
Below the cliff lay a ten-thousand-zhang abyss shaped like the bloody maw of a terrifying giant beast, its depths unseen.
Mo Fan even suspected the abyss exceeded ten thousand zhang, for they flew for the time it takes an incense stick to burn and still had not reached the bottom.
Finally, Mo Fan saw the base.
It was a blood-red land of jagged giant stones, much like a vast valley.
Throughout this valley were scattered blood-coloured crystals, emitting faint light that kept the place from being too dim.
By this light, Mo Fan discovered many bones in the valley.
These bones varied in size and shape, clearly distinguishable as human skeletons and those of giant beasts.
Some of the larger bones were even as huge as a hundred-zhang hill!
This involuntarily reminded Mo Fan of the immortal skull he had seen in the fallen immortal land within the peach forest.
“Could these hill-sized bones be immortal bones?”
Mo Fan was shocked, but after seeing other cultivators landing in the valley, he realised there should be no danger here for now.
Thus, he and the three women revealed their forms, landing atop a massive bone mountain and looking around.
“Is this the True Dragon Lair?”
“Why is it not quite like the rumours?”
Hei Yi looked about curiously and could not help asking.
“This is not the True Dragon Lair, merely the periphery outside its entrance.”
Bai Shuang smiled lightly, then raised a hand to point at a distant cliff wall and said gravely, “Look there!”
Mo Fan immediately looked towards the wall and indeed saw a huge fissure upon it, from which blood-coloured light also shone.
“Could that be the true entrance to the True Dragon Lair?” Mo Fan asked curiously.
“No, to be precise, the true entrance to the True Dragon Lair lies within that space!”
Bai Shuang’s words puzzled the demons, so she explained, “The outer terrain of the True Dragon Lair is shaped like a horizontal gourd, formed by a valley connected to an underground cavern, one outside and one inside. We are in the outer valley.
It is said a guardian beast watches the True Dragon Lair entrance, living in the cavern inside the mountain.
Lei Yu Zi Dian and the other Ancestral Realm cultivators must have been dealing with that guardian beast inside earlier!”
“How do you know so much?” Hei Yi asked curiously.
“If you had explored this place countless times too, you would know no less than I do,” Bai Shuang smiled.
Hearing this, Mo Fan nodded, understanding what Bai Shuang meant.
As one of the former twin prodigies of Phoenix Cry Mountain Demon Domain, though her relationship with the Lei Yu family was not good, it did not affect her status there.
One could say that, apart from Lei Yu Zi Dian, no one on Wind Thunder Mountain could order Bai Shuang around.
Mo Fan was puzzled about this. He was unclear what purpose or thoughts Lei Yu Zi Dian had towards Bai Shuang.
Yet from Lei Yu Shan’s memories, he had gleaned some entanglements between the two demons. It seemed Lei Yu Zi Dian was the type whose heart stayed young despite his age, and he had likely put much effort into Bai Shuang, which was one reason she hated him so.
“I’ve actually always had a question,” Mo Fan suddenly said to Bai Shuang.
“Speak.”
Bai Shuang looked at him curiously.
“If I’m not mistaken, the Dragon Ruins have opened many times, haven’t they? Why has there never been such large-scale treasure hunting before?” Mo Fan frowned.
He had not thought much of it earlier, but when Bai Shuang mentioned possibly entering countless times, he suddenly realised the issue.
If cultivators entered the Dragon Ruins to hunt treasures each time it opened, over so many years, all the immortal treasures here should have been taken by the major forces, right?
Yet that did not seem to be the case.
From the various memories he had recently obtained, the clues were clear.
In previous openings of the Dragon Ruins, the Lei Yu family had not participated every time, and even when they did, they only sent some demon generals from Wind Thunder Mountain.
No King Realm great demons had ever entered the Dragon Ruins.
The reason was simple: the risk of falling for King Realm great demons entering the Dragon Ruins was too high!
Even a great clan like the Lei Yu family could not afford such losses, let alone Lei Yu Zi Dian coming personally.
But this time was completely different. The Lei Yu family had practically turned out in full force!
Mo Fan also noticed that not only the Lei Yu family, but human sects and other forces were much the same. Was it really just because the Dragon Ruins were about to close?
Lei Yu Shan’s memories offered no answer, so Mo Fan sought one from Bai Shuang.
“In fact, there have been similar large-scale treasure hunts before, even more exaggerated than this one. It’s said demon saint kings participated, and even Inverted Mountain once acted!”
Bai Shuang’s expression suddenly grew grave as she spoke seriously.
What?!
The three demons were shocked, and even Mo Fan had not expected not only demon saint kings to participate but Inverted Mountain to act too. This truly stunned him.
“But if so, all the immortal treasures here should have been taken already?”
Bai Tian Tian frowned slightly, then seemed to think of something and said with alarm, “Or is there some danger here we don’t know about?”
Mo Fan asked directly, “Did they all fail that time?”
“Yes, that time even Transformation Realm cultivators fell, and several Ancestral Realm great demons perished. It was after that the Dragon Ruins truly became a forbidden zone in the hearts of great cultivators.”
Bai Shuang nodded and continued, “Until over a thousand years ago, a human female emperor entered alone and emerged with immortal treasures, revealing the truth of the dangers here.
The emperor said the True Dragon Lair was guarded by terrifying dragon-blood creatures, and once our cultivation is suppressed upon entering, the chance of defeating those guardians is nearly zero.
But this answer was clearly not what everyone wanted. After several probes, the emperor finally left a prophecy.”
“What prophecy?”
Mo Fan and the three demons looked curiously at Bai Shuang.
“When the Dragon Ruins perish, that is when the immortal treasures emerge!”
