At this moment, facing Zhu Li's urging, Lin Ming nodded, but his expression did not relax because of the previous description of victory. Instead, his tone First Revolution, and his face showed just the right amount of confusion and an indescribable solemnity.
"Elder Zhu Li, things should have ended perfectly here, and we should have returned safely with the Dragon Phoenix Origin Fruit. However, just as Zi Yan successfully collected the Dragon Phoenix Origin Fruit, we cleaned up the battlefield, and were preparing to leave the core of that ruin, something extremely strange and completely unexpected happened."
At this moment, Lin Ming's tone became low and mysterious, as if he were telling an incredible mystery.
After speaking, Lin Ming fixed his gaze on Zhu Li, his tone becoming extremely serious, even tinged with lingering fear:
"At that moment, without warning, a strange voice suddenly and clearly rang in Zi Yan's mind!"
At this moment, Lin Ming deliberately slowed his speech, emphasizing each word. "That voice... Zi Yan described it to me as ancient and vast, as if it had traveled through Eternal Space-Time, containing an indescribable majesty. It wasn't spoken in a tone of discussion, but rather with an unquestionable solemnity and command!"
Lin Ming mimicked the imagined tone and repeated, "It strictly forbade Zi Yan from telling anyone in the clan about obtaining the Dragon Phoenix Origin Fruit! Furthermore, it absolutely forbade her from returning to Ancient Dragon Island immediately!"
After finishing his sentence, Lin Ming paused, his voice growing even lower. "Furthermore, it issued a stern warning to Zi Yan: if she ignores the warnings and insists on revealing the information or returning to her clan immediately, she will... face mortal danger!"
"Zi Yan was startled by the sudden sound and immediately told me everything." Lin Ming shrugged, a look of helplessness and disbelief on his face, and continued:
"To be honest, Elder, when we heard this warning, our first reaction was bewilderment; we couldn't understand it at all! Where did this voice come from? Why issue such a warning? Was it a well-intentioned reminder, or was it malicious? We had no idea."
Taking another deep breath, Lin Ming explained the difficulty of making the decision at that time, "However, Elder Zhuli, you also know that the relationship between the Dragon and Phoenix Origin Fruit is so important! It is not only related to Zi Yan's personal evolution, but also affects the future destiny of the entire Taixu Ancient Dragon Clan, and may even cause changes in the continent's structure."
"Therefore, without fully understanding the situation and unable to accurately determine whether this mysterious warning is a well-intentioned protection or malicious obstruction, I dare not, and absolutely cannot, risk Zi Yan's safety!"
Lin Ming's eyes revealed the struggle and decision he had made at the time. "For Zi Yan's absolute safety, I ultimately had no choice but to temporarily believe the words of this voice of unknown origin. Therefore, after discussing it with Zi Yan, we decided not to reveal the information about obtaining the Dragon Phoenix Origin Fruit to Big Brother Hei Qing, who came to meet us, and we also suppressed the idea of returning to East Dragon Island immediately."
Finally, Lin Ming added details about how he dealt with Hei Qing, making the whole story more coherent. "So, later, outside the ruins, when Big Brother Hei Qing brought us out and proposed to take Zi Yan back to her clan, I had no choice but to step forward, fabricate a reason to temporarily stop him, and give that promise that 'within two or three months, I will personally escort Zi Yan back to East Dragon Island.'"
"My original intention was to use this buffer period to secretly investigate the source of the mysterious voice, find out the truth and intention behind the warning, and then decide on the next course of action."
Lin Ming sighed deeply, a sigh filled with unspeakable lingering fear and relief. Even now, the muscles in his face twitched slightly as he recalled the experience, as if he were reliving the helplessness and panic of that time.
"However, ever since the mysterious warning within those ruins..."
Lin Ming's voice was low, tinged with helplessness and confusion. "That ghostly voice then fell completely silent, never to be seen again, as if it were all just a hallucination caused by our excessive tension, as if it had never truly existed. We tried to trace it back, but couldn't find a single clue, which only intensified our unease."
He closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again, a lingering fear flashing in them. "Time slipped away in this anxious uncertainty. Until I helped Yun Yun resolve the Sect Master dispute at the Flower Sect, and after that, without a moment's rest, I fulfilled my promise to Big Brother Hei Qing, and with Zi Yan, officially embarked on the journey back to East Dragon Island."
At this moment, Lin Ming's eyes, which had been slightly narrowed, suddenly widened, and his voice rose sharply, his speech quickening, carrying the lingering fear of what had just happened, as if that terrifying moment were still fresh in his mind:
"After leaving the Flower Sect's territory and entering the skies above a relatively desolate mountain range, we thought we were about to return safely. But at that moment! The space no more than a hundred feet in front of us was suddenly torn open without any warning, like a fragile brocade, by an extremely brute force, leaving a huge, pitch-black rift with chaotic silver light shimmering at its edges!"
Thinking of this, Lin Ming's hands unconsciously clenched, his knuckles turning white. "An irresistible, terrifying devouring force, seemingly originating from the very source of heaven and earth, like an invisible giant hand, instantly seized the two of us firmly!"
"That power transcended Dou Qi; it was more like a capture at the level of rules! So much so that Zi Yan and I didn't even have time to cry out in surprise. The vast Dou Qi within our bodies was like a stream in the vast ocean before that power, leaving us no room to struggle. We were ruthlessly dragged into that bottomless spatial rift by that power!"
Although Lin Ming was speaking, he still seemed to be experiencing that brief but incredibly terrifying moment, so much so that his voice trembled as he continued speaking:
"Within that Space Passage, there was no smooth transmission at all, but a Deadly Land filled with turbulent currents of destructive energy and terrifying spatial pressure! The pressure was unimaginably immense, as if it would crush souls and bodies into dust! All around were bizarre and rapidly receding distorted lights and shadows, and in your ears were the piercing screams of space being compressed and torn apart to the extreme..."
"In the blink of an eye, the immense pressure acting on our souls caused everything to go black before Zi Yan's eyes, our consciousness completely sank, and we both fell unconscious."
At this moment, Lin Ming Zhu Li his hands towards Zhu Li, whose face was filled with both fear and confusion, his expression genuinely bewildered. "So, where exactly were we taken? Where does that Space Passage lead? What is its purpose? In our unconscious state, we knew nothing about any of this, completely losing our sense of the outside world."
A moment later, when Lin Ming spoke again, his voice became unusually low and slow, as if each word carried immense weight, imbued with a sense of mystery as if he were unveiling an ancient enigma:
"We don't know how much time passed; perhaps it was a moment, perhaps it was eternity. When we finally struggled to regain consciousness from the endless darkness and slowly awoke, we found ourselves in an absolute, silent, boundless space."
At this moment, Lin Ming immediately described the desolate and eerie atmosphere of the Ancient Emperor's Cave Mansion: "There was no light, no sound, no direction, and you couldn't even feel the passage of time. There was only an eternal, suffocating silence. It was as if the entire universe consisted of only the two of us. That sense of loneliness was enough to drive anyone with a weak mind mad."
However, while Zhu Li was pondering where such a place could exist, Lin Ming discarded that crucial object.
At this moment, Lin Ming's gaze was like Zhu Li, staring directly at Zhu Li's pupils, which suddenly contracted as if sensing something. He spoke clearly and deliberately, dropping a bombshell that was enough to stir up a monstrous wave within the Ancient Void Dragon Clan:
"And in that darkness that seemed capable of swallowing everything, besides us two uninvited guests, there was another figure quietly present—a middle-aged man dressed in a robe with purple and gold Dragon Pattern, with an ancient and dignified face, whose eyes seemed to pierce through eternity with every blink."
At this moment, Lin Ming's tone was filled with utmost solemnity and confirmation as he said, "This man, after we woke up, personally told us that his identity is—he is the Dragon Emperor of the Ancient Void Dragon Clan Ancient Dragon Clan, a supreme being who has been missing for thousands of years, and whose clan records all believe to have perished! He was once one of the strongest beings in the world! In other words—"
Lin Ming paused deliberately for a moment to maximize the impact of the name:
"--Zi Yan's biological father, His Dragon Emperor Zhu Kun His Majesty!"
"Your Majesty... Your His Majesty?!"
"Dragon... His Majesty the Dragon Emperor?!"
"He... he's still alive?!"
Zhu Li suddenly sprang up from the stone bench, the movement so powerful that it shattered the bench behind him!
However, he had no time to pay attention to the stone bench. At this moment, he gasped sharply, the sound so sharp and short that it seemed as if all the air in his lungs had been sucked out! He was as if struck by a bolt of lightning, standing frozen in place, his blood seemingly frozen in that instant!
His wrinkled, weathered face was now filled with utter shock, bewilderment, and an almost unbelievable disbelief!
Dragon Emperor Zhu Kun! This name is a belief engraved in the blood of all the Ancient Void Dragon Clan, a legend that led the clan to glory, and also a great regret and pain that has caused countless clansmen to sigh with regret for his disappearance for thousands of years and ultimately have to accept that he may have perished!
But now, this name, long buried by time, this existence regarded as a tragic symbol in the history of the ethnic group, is actually... still alive?!
This news was a million times more powerful than the impact of hearing about the Dragon Phoenix Origin Fruit! It directly shook the foundation of Zhu Li's understanding that he had built up over thousands of years!
For a long while, Zhu Li was still unable to recover from this earth-shattering news. He just stared intently at Lin Ming's lips, as if trying to find even the slightest trace of a lie.
Thus, in this secluded room, only Zhu Li's heavy, bellows-like breathing remained.
Time ticked by like a drop of water, its rhythm echoing through the air. Lin Ming did not disturb the astonished Zhu Li.
And so, after almost the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Zhu Li seemed to finally find his voice again, though his body was still trembling slightly uncontrollably, and his voice was hoarse and dry, like sandpaper being rubbed together.
"You... you... keep going! Tell me everything! Every single detail!"