Falling into Return to Ruins, Dragon-Kin Giant

After bidding farewell to Candle Dragon, Xuanyuan and Tongtian continued their travels across the East Sea.

"Fourth Brother, when Fellow Daoist Candle Dragon just now extracted his essence blood, did you also sense nine auras no weaker than our own?"

Tongtian rode the Upper Clarity Qi as he sped across the sea surface. Only after putting millions of li between himself and Candle Dragon's secluded cultivation site did he finally ask, unable to hold back.

"Those are the Nine Sons of the Dragon: Qiu Niu, Ya Zi, Chao Feng, Pu Lao, Suan Ni, Bi Xi, Bi An, Fu Xi, and Chi Wen."

"All are at Grand Unity Golden Immortal Perfection, none yet having become Golden Immortals of the Origin. Perhaps precisely because they have not stepped into that realm, they managed to seize a thread of life from the Dragon-Phoenix Calamity."

"The Ancestral Dragon is suppressed at the East Sea Eye. Candle Dragon and the Nine Sons gather here in the East Sea—they still harbor unwillingness in their hearts."

Turning to glance back, Xuanyuan shook his head helplessly.

The Dragon-Phoenix Calamity had no victors. The three Ancestors of the clans were steeped in heavy Karmic Force and Calamity Qi, all of them suppressed.

Yuan Feng was imprisoned in the Volcano of Immortality, the Beginning Qilin suppressed the Central Land, and the Ancestral Dragon was bound to the East Sea Eye—never to break free, never to know freedom.

Now Candle Dragon and the Nine Sons of the Dragon had gathered in the East Sea. Though they had not spoken openly, considering that in the future the Four Seas would still take the East Sea as their center, it seemed the Dragon Race had never truly given up on the Ancestral Dragon.

"Ten Grand Unity Golden Immortal Perfection cultivators—the Dragon Race's foundation is indeed formidable. No wonder they were once the Lord of Scales," Tongtian remarked with a sigh.

Ten at Grand Unity Golden Immortal Perfection—surely at least one or two among them would become Golden Immortals of the Origin?

Xuanyuan shook his head, neither confirming nor denying.

If the Dragon Race did not change, with Calamity Qi clinging to them and Karmic Force yet unspent, they would only decline further in the days to come.

Even if later Ying Long helped Xuanyuan seize the position of Human Emperor, and the Dragon Race became humanity's totem, sharing in their fortune, it would still be hard to prop up a collapsing mansion.

They would still be treated as draft animals by All Gods and Buddhas, still be served as Dragon Liver and Phoenix Marrow...

Hopefully this time, Candle Dragon could lead the Dragon Race onto the right path.

Xuanyuan and Tongtian continued their travels across the East Sea. They roamed for an entire Eon, constantly surveying the water veins and using the Primordial Measure Heaven Ruler to sense the space, yet they still could not find the Three Immortal Islands.

One day, Xuanyuan's brow twitched slightly. His Primordial Spirit sensed something, and with a flash of inspiration, he struck out with the Primordial Measure Heaven Ruler in his hand.

"Kacha, kacha—"

The void ahead shattered like a mirror into inch-sized fragments. Then a surge of Chaos Residual Qi, carrying the lingering pressure of Pangu Opens Heaven, poured forth. Space-Time Turbulence twisted into a colossal vortex that seemed to grind heaven and earth to pieces.

Before the two brothers could react, they were swept into the depths of the vortex by a force strong enough to annihilate an ordinary Grand Unity Golden Immortal.

When their Spiritual Senses cleared, Xuanyuan and Tongtian had fallen into a land of deathly stillness and nothingness.

Thick Sha Qi, dark as ink, churned and surged. Chaos Turbulent Flow rampaged wildly. Fortunately, the two had treasures to protect themselves; otherwise, being caught in such a place would have meant Death and Dao Annihilation even for Grand Unity Golden Immortal Perfection cultivators!

Looking up, they saw a massive vortex. Dark mist cascading from above tangled with the waters of the East Sea, forming a whirlpool that stretched across heaven and earth like a shackle sealing the Primordial World Heaven and Earth, exuding an aura of extinction.

In the distance, six scorched tortoise shells, each ten thousand li in size, floated in midair. Their surfaces bore scorch marks from heavenly thunder and mysterious patterns etched by earthly fire, as if they were runes carved by time itself.

Around the tortoise shells, thick Sha Qi spread, capable of corrupting Primordial Spirits and eroding the spirituality of treasures.

"Fourth Brother, look! Could those be the immortal islands we've been searching for?"

The merit treasure light radiating from the Coiling Dragon Flat Crutch parted the Sha Qi. Tongtian's eyes lit up as he pointed into the distance.

There, millions upon millions of li away, two faint immortal lights flickered in and out of view. They appeared to be two immortal islands, but they were wrapped tightly in a barrier woven from Innate Restrictions.

"They are immortal islands, but not the Three Immortal Islands we seek. Elder Brother, if I'm not mistaken, this place should be Guixu Land."

Looking at the six enormous tortoise shells, Xuanyuan let out a soft sigh. He now knew exactly where he had ended up—Guixu.

These six tortoise shells were surely the Golden Ao that had once carried the immortal islands, fished up by the Dragon-Kin Giant.

Guixu lay at the end of the East Sea, where the Primordial World's heaven and earth met. It had no direction and no time—the place where all things in heaven and earth returned to their origin, and also the place abandoned by the Heavenly Dao.

No reincarnation, no karma, no revelation of heavenly secrets.

If an ordinary Great Divine Power were to stray into this place, it would be Certain Death.

"Guixu? Then those two immortal islands are the ones formed from the other Chaos Fragments?" Tongtian caught on quickly.

Earlier, Xuanyuan had said there were originally Five Immortal Islands, and now only three remained. So the other two had fallen into this Guixu Land?

"Exactly—the two immortal islands Yuanqiao and Dai Yu. Well, since we're here, we might as well make the best of it. There should be opportunities within these two islands as well."

Xuanyuan nodded.

An ordinary Grand Unity Golden Immortal who fell into Guixu would face certain death, but the two brothers were not among such ranks.

With the Chaos Supreme Treasure Chaos Pearl, the Houtian Merit Supreme Treasure Primordial Measure Heaven Ruler, and the top-grade merit spiritual treasure Coiling Dragon Flat Crutch, this Guixu Land could not trap them.

"Fourth Brother speaks truly. Whether it's the Three Immortal Islands or the Two, since we've come, it would be a waste not to explore them," Tongtian agreed.

With that, he gripped the Coiling Dragon Flat Crutch in one hand and the Qing Ping Sword in the other, flying toward the two islands. The Purple Lightning Hammer and the Fishing Drum were swept along by his Spiritual Sense, emitting waves of yang thunder and yin lightning that circled around him.

Tongtian took the lead. The sharp sword intent of the Qing Ping Sword cleaved through layers of Chaos Turbulent Flow. Just as he was about to close in on the outline of the two immortal islands protected by Innate Restrictions, a hoarse, venomous curse tore through the deathly stillness of Guixu like tearing silk:

"Damned heavens! We divined and sacrificed to the high heavens, asked the will of heaven, honored heaven as supreme—yet for the sake of a few tortoises, you cut down our land, annihilated our people, and shrank our bodies!"

"The heavens have no eyes! This hatred will never fade!"

Before the Words Fell, a violent aura strong enough to stir Space-Time Turbulence erupted and swept forth. Dark Purple Sha Qi condensed into solid form, tearing countless fissures into the surrounding Chaos Turbulent Flow.

"Elder Brother, be careful!"

Xuanyuan quickly pulled Tongtian behind him, holding the Primordial Measure Heaven Ruler horizontally across his chest.

Then, before them, a black figure slowly emerged from the void ahead:

He stood only four feet nine inches tall, yet the ominous aura spilling from his body was even more venomous than the Sha Qi of Return to Ruins.

Dense golden runes coiled around his entire form; with every cycle they made, charred black flesh peeled from his skin, falling to merge into Return to Ruins and dissolve into nothingness—these were the curse marks imposed by the Heavenly Dao.

"So it's a Dragon-Kin Giant."

Xuanyuan's gaze sharpened as he stared at the ancient aura faintly revealed between the runes, speaking slowly.

Indeed, this ill-intentioned Great Divine Power was none other than the Chieftain of the Dragon-Kin Giant Clan among the Hundred Innate Races.

In the past, he had fished up Golden Ao, causing the Two Immortal Islands to sink into Return to Ruins and the Heaven and Earth Five Elements Origin to become incomplete. For this, he suffered Heavenly Punishment, his clan's land vanished, his entire race perished, and even he himself lost his once-majestic towering form under the Heavenly Dao's curse.

Moreover, judging by the aura emanating from him, he had surely stepped into the realm of Golden Immortal of the Origin back then!

Hearing this, the black shadow suddenly jerked his head up, as if struck by some trigger. Crimson fury churned in his bloodshot eyes, and the Heavenly Dao curse runes writhed violently from his rage, with pitch-black blood seeping through the gaps between the runes:

"In the past, I could cross the East Sea in a few strides, yet now the Heavenly Dao has shrunk me into this dwarf-like form! I will not accept it!"

He raised his hand, and an immense force that devoured all things erupted abruptly. The Sha Qi in Return to Ruins was forcibly drawn to him. "Since you have entered this place and carry treasures to protect yourselves, you must be favored by Heaven—then pay back that thieving Heaven with your lives!"

Before the words fell, the Dragon-Kin Giant had already charged at the Two Brothers, wrapped in curse power and surging Sha Qi.

"Fourth Brother, it seems this battle will decide both victory and death—let us slay him together!"

"Ancestral Shaman True Form, manifest!"

Tongtian roared, revealing an Ancestral Shaman True Form of one hundred twenty-nine thousand six hundred zhang, his Three Heads Six Arms churning the Space-Time Turbulence.

One hand gripped the Qing Ping Sword, another held the Coiling Dragon Flat Crutch;

One hand wielded the Purple Lightning Hammer, another struck the Fishing Drum;

The remaining two hands unleashed streams of Yin Yang Law power, charging to battle the Dragon-Kin Giant.

"Then let us have a fight."

Xuanyuan nodded, also manifesting his Ancestral Shaman True Form. The Primordial Measure Heaven Ruler in his hand tore through the void, the Chaos World Projection Suppressing Heaven and Earth, while the rare treasures Qiankun Bow and Zhentian Arrow worked in tandem, shooting arrow after arrow.