"The Ruins of Return..." Xiao Yan frowned slightly as he read the words on the slip of paper. He knew a fair amount about the Black-Corner Region, so naturally, he had heard of the so-called Ruins of Return. But he knew only the name and had never been there, because the Ruins of Return were actually out in an ocean.
For people who lived on land year-round, the ocean was another world entirely. Even in his previous life, Xiao Yan had never ventured into it. Still, he had read in ancient texts that many powerful Magic Beasts inhabited the ocean, and even some unusual races made their homes beneath its waters.
Strictly speaking, the Ruins of Return were not part of the Black-Corner Region. They were said to be ancient ruins that, for some reason, floated on the ocean's surface, drifting along a fixed course. Only once every fifty years did they approach the Black-Corner Region, and only during that period could the region's inhabitants reach them.
This year happened to be the year the Ruins of Return approached the Black-Corner Region again. The rumors of a Heavenly Flame appearing there had come from the people who entered the ruins fifty years ago. As time passed, however, few people still knew about them. Now that the Ruins of Return were drawing near again, that information had resurfaced.
For Xiao Yan, however, this was hardly good news. The Black-Corner Region had plenty of powerful fire-attribute cultivators, and no shortage of them coveted Heavenly Flames. Since he had received this intelligence, other powerful cultivators would surely have received similar news. In other words, if a Heavenly Flame really was discovered in the Ruins of Return, seizing it would probably not be as simple as his previous attempts.
"To think there's a Heavenly