Li Longxiang headed north.
Along the way, more and more ruined remnants came into view.
There were crumbling buildings like those he had seen before.
There were enormous toppled stone steles.
There were damaged formations.
But Li Longxiang never stopped.
Instead, he picked up his pace.
The farther north he went...
The clearer that summons became.
By the end, it was almost as though someone were whispering in his ear.
"Child... come... come here..."
"Come find me..."
About two hours later...
A vast depression appeared ahead.
Its depths were impossible to see, and dense gray mist shrouded its surroundings.
Through the mist, he could vaguely make out stone steps descending below.
Li Longxiang stopped.
Standing at the edge of the depression, he looked down.
At the end of the steps stood an ancient palace, half buried underground.
The entire palace was bluish-black, its surface riddled with cracks.
Even so, he could still feel the weight and majesty emanating from it.
"An underground palace..."
Li Longxiang narrowed his eyes.
The source of that summons lay deep within this underground palace.
He was just about to descend.
Suddenly...
Several sounds of rushing air came from different directions.
Li Longxiang darted away, found a boulder that barely offered enough cover, and hid beneath it.
He suppressed his aura and watched quietly.
Soon...
Three figures landed outside the ancient, heavy stone doors at the palace entrance.
Their leader was a middle-aged man dressed in close-fitting red clothes. He was the strongest of the three, having reached the late-stage innate realm.
An extraordinary-looking saber was strapped to his back, and his expression carried a hint of wild arrogance.
The other two, a man and a woman, were hardly weak either. Both had reached the middle stage innate realm.
The red-clad middle-aged man glanced at the