Female Bandit

This trip to the Secret Treasury, though I didn't obtain any substantial treasures, being able to condense a Natal Celestial Talisman and become a One-Seal Talisman Master, along with a Spiritual Map recording the location of a Halberd Spirit, was not a loss.

Seven days passed in the blink of an eye. The Valley Stone Gate slowly opened, and the first to step out was Liu Qing in his green robes, his aura much stronger than when he entered—clearly a fruitful harvest.

Following him, Ji Xian, Tai Feichen, Ji Wentian, and the others also appeared before the stone gate, their cultivation auras all stronger than before.

After them came the Blue-Haired Woman, Lan Xinhuang, with Long Jiuyyao appearing around the same time. The two stared at each other with wide eyes.

The first to react, Long Jiuyyao's heart was in turmoil. When he was teleported out, he had already left at the very moment the Teleportation Array closed, just to avoid meeting her—yet he still ran into her face-to-face.

The last to react, Lan Xinhuang clenched her fists, her Spirit Eyes fixed firmly on Long Jiuyyao.

Long Jiuyyao immediately ran to the side of Great Elder Tian Sha. Seeing Long Jiuyyao again, Lan Xinhuang naturally wasn't willing to let him off so easily and followed after him.

Liu Qing, standing before the stone gate, saw Long Jiuyyao again and noticed he was different from when he'd seen him in the clan. Though his cultivation was still at the Heaven Origin Realm, his overall strength was worlds apart from before.

"Jiuyyao, looks like you gained a lot this time!" Liu Qing also came to Long Jiuyyao's side.

"Clan Brother Liu Qing, I've made a small gain," Long Jiuyyao replied with a smile.

Ji Xian and the others behind also came forward one after another to greet Long Jiuyyao, and he returned their greetings in turn.

"Grandpa Tian, I want to talk to Long Jiuyyao alone!" Lan Xinhuang said.

"But I don't want to talk to you!" Long Jiuyyao said indignantly.

"Shut up," Lan Xinhuang said fiercely. "Come!" She actually grabbed Long Jiuyyao by the sleeve and dragged him to a stone pillar in the distance.

"Jiuyyao, we'll wait for you on the warship!"

By the stone pillar, Lan Xinhuang was silent for a moment, then said, "Did you see it or not!"

"See what?" Long Jiuyyao asked, puzzled.

"My, the tattoo on my body!" Lan Xinhuang stammered.

"The tattoo on your body? What tattoo? A mosquito landed on you?" Long Jiuyyao pretended to look behind her.

"Just tell me, did you see it or not," Lan Xinhuang said impatiently.

"Even if I did, I wouldn't look, got it? Can I go now?" Long Jiuyyao said softly.

"You, get lost right now!" Lan Xinhuang pointed beside her.

"I never want to see you again," Long Jiuyyao said, waving his hand.

"I don't want to see you again either," Lan Xinhuang shot back.

But just as Long Jiuyyao was a few meters away, he suddenly said, "Tattoo a little chicken and call it a phoenix—who do you think you are, a bandit?"

Lan Xinhuang, hearing this from afar, fumed, "Get back here!" and chased after him.

Long Jiuyyao naturally wasn't going to let himself be caught so easily and sprinted forward swiftly.

Seeing she couldn't catch him, Lan Xinhuang cursed, "You shameless bastard!"

Long Jiuyyao acted as if he hadn't heard and kept running forward.

This Secret Treasury trip ended perfectly.

After a month of roughing it outdoors, Long Jiuyyao lay on his bed and sighed with feeling—there was nothing like sleeping in his own bed.

With the speed of the Dragon Clan Warship, they were back in the clan in no time. As soon as Long Jiuyyao got off the warship and returned to his Courtyard, Elder Yan came to his side holding a Message Jade from the Great Yan Dynasty in the Eastern Xuan Domain.

Long Jiuyyao took the jade and read the message within, his expression becoming quite varied.

The message said that the future Martial Ancestor, Lin Dong, had been born just half a month ago, which surprised Long Jiuyyao slightly.

Rubbing his chin, Long Jiuyyao murmured, "Looks like there's still fourteen years until the plot starts. After all, Lin Dong only gets the Ancestral Stone at fourteen. Time is enough."

Ten minutes later, Long Jiuyyao handed back the Message Jade and instructed Elder Yan to give it to the Three Monitors of Lin Dong.

He told them to act as usual and not to monitor them deliberately.

After all, Lin Dong was still far too young. Only after he obtained the Ancestral Stone would Long Jiuyyao have someone guide his cultivation—since he was only at the Body Tempering Realm when he got it, it wouldn't be too late.

Time slipped by quietly. Long Jiuyyao had been back in the clan for half a month. During this time, his Yuan Power cultivation hadn't increased much—still at the Heaven Origin Realm late stage—but his Spiritual Power cultivation had improved considerably. His Natal Celestial Talisman, originally very blurry, was now quite condensed and clear.

These past half-month, aside from occasionally cultivating Spiritual Power, he spent the rest of his time searching for a new "home" for the Gale Ancestral Rune in his Mud Pill Palace.

Within the ten-thousand-mile Dragon Domain, at its center, the Dragon Clan had no shortage of places rich in wind elements. But after half a month of searching, Long Jiuyyao had found three locations with the densest wind elements.

They were: the Fierce Hurricane Gorge, a ten-thousand-mile canyon with year-round hurricanes swirling around, utterly devoid of Heaven and Earth Yuan Power. Anyone entering the canyon would find their own Yuan Power silently consumed and drained.

The Black Wind Dark Dragon Abyss, though only half the size of the Fierce Hurricane Gorge, was even more dangerous. The black wind suppressed Yuan Power—for example, a One Yuan Nirvana expert entering would only be able to exert Creation Realm strength. The higher one's Yuan Power cultivation, the weaker the suppression, though experts above the Life Profound Realm could ignore this black wind. Yet this black wind was merely the most ordinary breeze in the Black Wind Dark Dragon Abyss.

Swift Wind Thunder Mountain, the smallest in area, was merely a thousand-mile mountain. However, its wind had the strongest destructive power among the three, earning it the nickname "Wind Light Lift, can sever thunder and cut lightning"—meaning its wind, with just a gentle blow, could split lightning in two.

The wind element density in these three places was nearly identical, which was exactly why he was troubled—he didn't know which place to go first to settle the Gale Ancestral Rune.

Today, he planned to ask his Cheap Old Dad. After all, this concerned the ninth Ancestral Rune of Heaven and Earth. He alone couldn't bear the burden, nor did he have the strength to.

And Yuan Gan, the Dragon Clan Lord, with his Reincarnation Realm strength, could bear it all within the Dragon Clan.

Of course, there were countless Old Monsters in the Dragon Clan. The moment he revealed the Gale Ancestral Rune, those Old Monsters would likely sense it immediately, awaken one by one, and stir.

Every single Heaven and Earth Ancestral Rune was worth such attention, let alone one that didn't belong to any known Ancestral Rune—a brand-new Newborn Ancestral Rune.

Even he himself had not fully grasped just how many Old Monsters slept within the Dragon Clan; he only knew that the number was by no means small. These slumbering Old Monsters were the true foundation of the Dragon Clan. Aside from the clan leader, fewer than ten people knew of their existence.

Of course, this did not include Long Jiuyyao. Even though Yuan Gan had not told him, he himself understood that his current strength did not yet qualify him to know such things. But unfortunately for that logic, he possessed memories that were not his own.

And most importantly, one of the three great Demon Suppression Prisons that sealed the most Yi Mo lay directly beneath the Dragon Domain. It suppressed and imprisoned an incalculable number of Yi Mo. Although the Dark Lord also lent his power to the seal, it could not be taken lightly.

The Yi Mo within the Demon Suppression Prison were merely suppressed for now, not yet completely annihilated. And the Yi Mo's loathing for Ancestral Runes was no less than the world's love for them—perhaps even greater. If the Yi Mo inside the prison sensed that a new Heaven and Earth Ancestral Rune had been born within the Dragon Clan, they would stop at nothing to destroy both the Newborn Ancestral Rune and the Dragon Clan.

The Heaven and Earth Ancestral Rune possessed absolute killing power against Yi Mo, so they would do everything in their power to eliminate either the rune's master or the rune itself.

Long Jiuyyao knew that the Thunder Emperor, the previous master of the Thunder Ancestral Rune, had died under the siege of Yi Mo.

Long Jiuyyao even knew the whereabouts of several masterless Ancestral Runes. Within the Sky Thunder Sea Region of the Chaotic Demon Sea lay the Thunder Ancestral Rune left behind by the Thunder Emperor. Within the Yuan Gate of the Eastern Xuan Domain lay the Space Ancestral Rune. And the most mysterious of all, the Devouring Fu Zu, was held by a trash sect that didn't even have a single Nirvana Realm expert. But he would not touch it—or rather, when the time was right, he would help Lin Dong obtain that rune.

As for relocating the Gale Ancestral Rune to the "New Home," relying solely on his own strength was utterly unrealistic. Just considering whether he could even reach the Three Great Perilous Lands alone, and if he did, how far he could go and how long he could survive—all of that was a complete mystery.

Thus, calling on his Cheap Old Dad was the most important first step. Without this step, there would be no follow-up at all.

Long Jiuyyao had never been one to drag his feet. Once he made up his mind, he acted on it. He immediately strode out of the Courtyard and set off toward his Cheap Old Dad's location.