Blessings Never Come Twice, Misfortunes Never Come Alone

At the deepest part of the Magma World lay a massive whirlpool.

"Rumble!"

With a wave of his hand, the whirlpool on the magma sea abruptly expanded more than tenfold.

As the whirlpool widened, a colossal pillar of magma, a full thousand zhang high, suddenly erupted from the magma sea and shot into the heavens.

"Splash!"

The thousand-zhang magma waves surged violently before crashing down with tremendous force, splashing molten rain across the sky.

The rapidly spinning magma whirlpool gradually slowed, and an ancient stone gate that stood between heaven and earth slowly rose from the magma.

As the magma receded from the stone gate's surface, an ancient, desolate aura immediately filled this expanse of heaven and earth.

It stood silently within the vast space, as though it had existed since time immemorial.

The grand and boundless stone gate towered there, radiating an ancient and vast presence. At its summit were four archaic characters.

"Ancient Emperor Cave Abode!"

The ancient characters were not particularly ornate, yet beneath their plain appearance lay an endless majesty that towered above heaven and earth.

This aura was unimaginably powerful. Even with his Seven-Star Dou Saint strength, he could not help but feel fear. It was an aura that transcended heaven and earth!

This was the treasured land countless experts across the continent longed for yet could never obtain.

His gaze shifted toward the Flame Sea beside the gate. Above the boundless Fire Domain, faint purple-gold scales could be seen, seemingly belonging to some magical beast.

However, this Fire Domain appeared to have been frozen by something. Not a single ripple could be seen, and even the figure beneath seemed unable to move.

"Roar!"

Sensing someone's arrival from outside, the enormous purple-gold dragon suddenly opened its huge eyes, which had been shut for a long time. High in the Void, a pair of enormous eyes that had remained closed for ages suddenly opened.

Those eyes held a faint golden hue, their pupils layered atop one another. A single one of those eyes was several hundred times larger than Xiao Xuan himself!

The moment those eyes opened, they locked onto Xiao Xuan. At the same time, an extremely terrifying pressure crashed toward him.

"Intruder... do you possess an Ancient Emperor Jade?"

A powerful aura surged from its body and pressed down on the two of them. At the same time, a thunderous voice emerged from its mouth, shaking the entire space.

The enormous pressure swept over him, causing Xiao Xuan's blood and qi to churn.

It was a creature so massive that it defied description. Following the movement of its body all the way into the endless space, its end could not be seen.

Even Lu Yunxiao could not help but look askance at the sheer size of this magical beast.

Among magical beasts, there were likely very few whose bodies could compare to its immense size.

An ordinary person would probably be unable to see the limits of its body at all.

This mysterious creature was entirely purple-gold. Icy scales covered its body, giving it an ancient, steel-like sense of strength.

"Greetings, Senior. I heard that the Ancient Void Dragon had mysteriously vanished.

"So Senior discovered the Ancient Emperor Cave Abode, came to investigate it, and unfortunately became trapped inside.

"As for the Emperor Jade, I do not have one. This junior merely discovered this place by chance.

"Besides, with this junior's strength, it seems I am not qualified to covet the Ancient Emperor's inheritance."

"Xiao Xuan, of the Xiao Clan? I never expected your clan to be the first among the Ancient Emperor Clans to discover this place.

"For the sake of this venerable one's peaceful days in the future, perhaps I can only keep you here."

"Senior, rest assured. This junior is not foolish. No matter how much one trusts another, it is still better to keep one's own mouth shut."

He truly feared that this fellow would do something foolish. If they started fighting, then forget secrecy—every expert in the Dou Qi Continent would probably learn of this place's extraordinary nature.

So what if he could fight above his level? The one before him was about to step into the Half-Emperor realm. The gap between them was simply too great.

After retreating some distance, Xiao Xuan took one last look at this unreachable place of supreme opportunity, coveted by experts throughout the Dou Qi Continent. Then he turned and returned to the surface. He vanished from where he stood, and when he reappeared, he was already outside Shengdan City.

"Have you found out what caused it?"

Dan Chengzi, who was teaching Xiao Ruo how to refine pills, asked without even raising his head.

"It was merely an epidemic. Fortunately, the local residents contained it in time, preventing it from spreading further!"

Xiao Ruo sometimes studied in Shengdan City and sometimes returned to her clan to learn from the old men of the Medicine Refining Pavilion.

Xiao Xuan did not break his promise. He gave her the Fallen Heart Flame and helped her refine it.

With his father and mother lending their support, Xiao Xuan could only get married.

On the day of the wedding, not only did representatives of the younger generations from the various Emperor Clans attend, but several elders also came.

The Dan Tower Master and the Fenyan Valley Master, both at the height of their influence in the Central Plains Continent, also sent generous gifts.

After getting married, Xiao Xuan traveled the continent with his wife, Nangong Ling'er, for several years before returning to the Xiao Realm.

Time flowed on, and several decades passed...

No matter how turbulent the outside world became, he remained within the clan.

A sorrowful atmosphere shrouded the Xiao Realm. Xiao Tian, the oldest surviving member of the Xiao Clan, had ultimately grown too old. Having lived for far too long, his lifespan finally reached its limit. Alone and without a sound, he passed away in the Xiao Clan's secret realm. By the time he was discovered, it was already too late.

Perhaps blessings never came twice, while misfortunes never came alone.

When Xiao Gong entered seclusion to attempt a breakthrough to the Nine-Star level, he too fell short at the final step.

When Xiao Yu, the master of the Medicine Refining Pavilion, attempted to refine a Tier 9 Profound Pill, he suffered a backlash and was severely injured.

As for the position of Xiao Clan Patriarch, it had already been passed to him ten years earlier, when he broke through to the Nine-Star Dou Saint realm.

"Buzz..."

Xiao Xuan, seated in the Patriarch's seat, suddenly sensed intense Dou Qi fluctuations from the far north of the Central Plains. Their intensity had reached the Eight-Star level. If his soul had not been on the verge of reaching the Emperor Realm, he would not have sensed them at all.

"What is going on?"

Xiao Xuan's figure vanished directly from the Xiao Realm. Following the sensation, he reached his destination in no time.

"Puh..."

When Xiao Xuan appeared, he saw two people tumble out of the Void in a sorry state.

Dan Chengzi and Tang Xiao had both reached the Six-Star Dou Saint level over the past few decades.

When the two worked together in perfect coordination, they could hold their ground against a Seven-Star Saint.

Yet now, the two of them were in a thoroughly miserable state.

That was because their opponent was an Eight-Star Dou Saint.

"Brother Xiao Xuan?"

"Xiao... Xiao Clan Patriarch?

"These two do not know their place. They offended my Hun Clan and showed disrespect toward the ancient clans.

"Xiao Clan Patriarch, please watch as this old man captures them."

Xiao Xuan looked at this fellow. His decades-long friendship with Dan Chengzi and Tang Xiao was no secret among the great ancient clans.

Yet this old man still acted like this. Was he provoking the Xiao Clan, or looking down on him?

In the eyes and hearts of these people, he was merely one of the younger generation. No matter how talented he was, what could he amount to?

At most, he was probably like their Young Patriarch, still some distance away from becoming a high-level Dou Saint.