Lin Changqing had barely finished speaking when Ao Ying's eyes widened.
"The senior disciple personally taught by a Sage!"
"Daoist Brother Changqing, I never imagined you were the Sage's eldest disciple!"
"Oh my goodness!"
Ao Ying stared at Lin Changqing in shock, the astonishment in her eyes lingering for a long time.
What was a Sage? The mightiest beings in the Primordial World, exalted above all. Beneath a Sage, everyone was but an ant!
And it wasn't just Ao Ying. Even Ao Guang, Dragon King of the East Sea, together with the entire East Sea Dragon Clan, was no more than something the size of a finger before a Sage.
A Sage could crush ants with a single finger!
In the Primordial World, the status of a Sage's personally taught eldest disciple carried far more renown than that of any Golden Immortal or Grand Unity Golden Immortal!
But...
Ao Ying looked at Lin Changqing, whose cultivation was only at the Mystic Immortal level. Could a Sage's personally taught eldest disciple really be this weak?
Then again, if he weren't a Sage's disciple, who else could kill a mid-stage Golden Immortal while only at the Mystic Immortal level?
She thought of the Golden Condor, who had grievously wounded her without even being forced to use its full strength, yet had fallen at Lin Changqing's hands, its soul somehow annihilated as well.
Ao Ying felt that it all made sense now.
Who else could do such a thing besides a Sage's disciple?
"Daoist Brother Changqing! Are you traveling the world to temper yourself, too?"
At that moment, Ao Ying became somewhat cautious around Lin Changqing.
After all, even if her father was Ao Guang, Dragon King of the East Sea and ruler of the East Sea Dragon Clan, his status probably wasn't as high as that of a Sage's personally taught eldest disciple.
Naturally, Ao Ying had become a little more deferential.
"Mm."
"I've come down from the mountain to temper myself and seek an opportunity to break through."
Lin Changqing smiled, a flicker of meaning in his eyes. Then he turned to look at Ao Ying.
"Fellow Daoist Ao Ying, I've traveled the Primordial World for thousands of years and come across a secret realm connected to the Dragon Clan. I've never entered it."
"I was planning to go to the East Sea and discuss exploring it with the Dragon King, but I never expected to run into you by chance."
"Why don't we explore that secret realm together?"
In the Golden Condor's memories, it hadn't told anyone about the Dragon Clan secret realm.
Lin Changqing's words were half true and half false. Since Ao Ying had brought up traveling to temper herself, his suggestion didn't make her suspicious.
"Really?!"
"Daoist Brother, could it be an ancient Dragon Clan secret realm?"
Ao Ying asked excitedly.
The ancient Dragon Clan had been tens of thousands of times stronger than the Dragon Clan of today.
During the era of the Three Clans, Dragon Clan powerhouses had appeared one after another. Grand Unity Golden Immortals had been countless, and even Primordial Golden Immortals, comparable to Quasi-Sages, had existed in groups.
The Dragon Clan had been the strongest of the Three Clans, occupying half the resources and treasures of the Primordial World.
Even the remnants and scraps they left behind had been enough to build the Four Seas Dragon Palaces, which were renowned throughout the Primordial World for their abundant treasures.
Even the Monkey during the Journey to the West Great Tribulation had gone to the East Sea Dragon Palace to look for treasure.
That showed just how many treasures the ancient Dragon Clan had possessed.
A Dragon Clan secret realm meant wealth beyond measure!
If Lin Changqing was telling the truth, then this was the greatest opportunity Ao Ying could have hoped for on this journey!
"Of course. But I'm not of the Dragon Clan, and I don't want to damage the secret realm, so I planned to find someone from the East Sea Dragon Clan to explore it with me."
Lin Changqing spoke with a mixture of truth and falsehood, and Ao Ying nodded in delight.
"That's wonderful! Daoist Brother, let me explore it with you!"
"I'm a nine-pattern True Dragon of the Azure Dragon line. I'm sure I can open the secret realm!"
"This is the greatest opportunity we could find while traveling the Primordial World!"
Ao Ying exclaimed to Lin Changqing in delight. Lin Changqing gave a barely perceptible smile.
This little Dragoness really was only seventy thousand years old—so young and so gullible that he almost felt bad deceiving her.
But none of that mattered in the face of the treasures in the secret realm.
Besides, he wasn't planning to do what the Golden Condor had done and kill the goose after getting the eggs.
"Good. The Dragon Palace is still some distance away. We shouldn't waste time, in case the secret realm appears and attracts the attention of others."
Lin Changqing smiled at Ao Ying, dispelled the barrier around them, and burned the Golden Condor's remains to ashes. Two streaks of light shot into the sky and sped toward a corner of the East Sea.
With their destination fixed, they traveled in a straight line. Even so, it took them three hundred years to reach a swamp.
The swamp stretched for tens of millions of li. It teemed with miasma and poisonous fog, and countless vicious monsters and fiendish beasts lurked within.
A hundred-zhang crocodile moved like a bolt of lightning, tearing apart a mountain as it leaped.
A crimson bird strode upon golden clouds. With every movement, it scorched thousands of li with its red flames, leaving the land barren!
A spirit beast lurked beneath a hundred-li-deep pool. The slightest movement of its body sent towering waves surging forth!
Yet now, this swamp, teeming with countless ferocious beasts and endless malice, was strangely silent.
The giant crocodile had been ripped to pieces, its remains scattered across the ground.
The bird had had its wings plucked, then been roasted by even more powerful flames until a faint aroma wafted from it.
The spirit beast was a frog. It had been skinned and gutted, then fried and roasted.
"The Dragon Clan secret realm is supposed to be here, but I can't find it."
Lin Changqing casually picked up a leg from some kind of bird-beast and took a bite, then frowned as he looked around.
He had no idea which unfortunate creature the leg belonged to. He only remembered it being a True Immortal monster from some clan.
Ever since eating the Golden Condor, Lin Changqing had often killed monsters along the way to fill his stomach and refine their flesh and blood.
The Divine Demon Power within him had grown richer by about a tenth. Unfortunately, he hadn't found any more high-quality Golden Immortal ingredients like the Golden Condor.
But what he lacked in quality, he made up for in quantity. The harvest from three hundred years had still been decent.
Lin Changqing looked over at Ao Ying, who was enthusiastically gnawing on a chicken wing.
"Xiao Ying, do you sense anything?"
"No, but it should be somewhere in this swamp."
Ao Ying shook her head and continued gnawing on the wing.
They had been wandering around this swamp for more than ten years. They had eaten everything edible, including three Mystic Immortal monsters, but still hadn't found the secret realm.
If Ao Ying hadn't sensed something, Lin Changqing would have started to wonder whether he had come to the wrong place or the Golden Condor's memories were mistaken.
Even so, Lin Changqing was beginning to have his doubts.
Some treasure sites could only be opened during a certain period. Could they have come at the wrong time?
Just as they were walking forward, a vortex suddenly appeared in the center of the swamp.
Towering waves surged out, sweeping up the swamp waters for thousands of li around and drawing them violently toward the center.
"Daoist Brother Changqing, I can sense it!!"
Ao Ying put down the wing and called out to Lin Changqing in delight.
Lin Changqing's mouth twitched. It was right there in front of them—did she really need to tell him?
As he looked at the enormous vortex before them, Lin Changqing's expression quickly turned grave.
Was this the Dragon Clan secret realm, the source of their opportunity?
If it could help him break through to the Golden Immortal realm, so much the better!
"Should we go in?"
Ao Ying frowned as she studied the vortex.
The True Dragon blood in her body had already begun to surge. Something inside the vortex was clearly calling to her.
But Lin Changqing slowly shook his head and looked around.
"I didn't expect there to be another fellow Daoist here. Come out!"
Lin Changqing gave a cold snort and shouted toward his surroundings.
Ao Ying started slightly. Someone was here?
How had she not sensed them?
"Heh heh heh! Hahahaha!"
"Mystic Immortal humans and Golden Immortal dragons—both fine meals!"
Before you continue