Xiao Yan followed Gu You out of the Serene Bone Hall deep underground and returned to the cave. As soon as they emerged, Gu You and Xiao Yan saw the enormous ice dragon guarding the cave entrance. Its entire body encircled the opening, and silvery-white flames spread across its skin. A terrifying, soul-stealing might emanated from every part of it, as though a true dragon had awakened. It seemed sacred and inviolable, stirring an urge to bow down and worship it from the bottom of one's heart.
"Roar!"
Seemingly sensing Gu You and Xiao Yan's presence, the dragon shifted its coiled body and leaped into the air. Turning its head toward the opening that led straight underground, it let out a series of low roars.
Two sounds of rushing wind rang out as two white figures emerged from the opening. They stopped in midair and stood side by side.
Xiao Yan looked at the ice dragon and smiled faintly. Though it had been formed from a formation, it possessed intelligence, which was indeed extraordinary. Its relationship with Elder Gu also seemed unusual; presumably, Elder Gu did not regard the ice dragon as a mere formation either.
Looking at Xiao Yan's warm smile, the ice dragon opened its enormous mouth slightly and nudged him with its massive head. It also let out several roars, causing the entire cave to tremble continuously. The dragon's breath exhaled from its nostrils plastered Xiao Yan's robes tightly against his skin, making him rather uncomfortable.
Gu You chuckled softly and stroked his beard, smiling as he looked at the ice dragon, a trace of reluctance showing in his eyes. The dragon seemed to sense Gu You's feelings at that moment and nudged him with its enormous head, a hint of humanlike reluctance appearing in its own eyes. Gu You reached out to stroke its head and smooth its ice-blue fur, then stepped back and stood in midair. The seals formed by his hands began to change again, and waves of powerful energy spread around him, forming ripples like those on water.
Gu You's hand seals changed continuously as beams of milky-white energy shot from his hands, disappearing into the ice dragon's body. Hazy white halos lit up across its enormous form, while its previously vigorous state grew listless. It gradually descended from the air and curled up, closing its eyes like an elderly person about to fall asleep. Xiao Yan could sense, however, that the ice dragon had not been weakened. Rather, Gu You was condensing all the power it had released back into its body. From the looks of it, Gu You intended not only to seal that power away, but also to put the ice dragon to sleep. Presumably, if no one triggered the great formation in the future, the ice dragon might sleep forever. And since Gu You had gone to such lengths to conceal the Serene Bone Hall, he would certainly not allow the formation to be easily discovered. That made it even less likely that the ice dragon would ever awaken. At that thought, Xiao Yan could not help but sigh sadly. Though the ice dragon was itself a formation, it and Gu You had spent a thousand years together and had long since become old friends. Whatever formation or servant it had once been was a thing of the distant past, but an ending like this was more than anyone could bear!
Gu You spent a long time setting the formation, but Xiao Yan cooperated by keeping quiet. He cleared a wide space and waited silently to one side. With old friends parting under such circumstances, Xiao Yan, at least, could not have finished quickly himself, regardless of anyone else.
After Xiao Yan had waited patiently for several hours, Gu You finally walked slowly over to him, a hint of bitterness on his aged face. When he reached Xiao Yan, he gave him a faint smile. Without another word, he led Xiao Yan flying toward the exit.
To avoid triggering the formation, Gu You had to lead Xiao Yan through a series of left and right turns at its exit, advancing step by step above the bottomless abyss in the cave. Xiao Yan followed with a look of utmost caution. It was not that he mistrusted Gu You; rather, the bottomless abyss made one's back break out in sweat with a single glance. Even Xiao Yan found it hard to bear, so he proceeded somewhat carefully. Gu You paid no attention to Xiao Yan's feelings and simply led the way. The atmosphere remained oppressive until they saw the sunlight in the distance. Only then did Gu You shake off his earlier gloom and say to Xiao Yan with a smile:
"Come! Let this old man see what outstanding talents the continent has today. I wonder how they compare to the person chosen by Tou She Ancient God at my side. Ha ha!"
With that, he quickened his pace and flew toward the light. Xiao Yan had moved slowly when he first entered the mountain cave because wave after wave of heat blowing from within had battered and blocked him. Now, however, Xiao Yan had broken through those heat waves. Though he had not completely dispelled them, with their master Gu You present, the heat waves formed by Bone Spirit Cold Flame naturally vanished. The two of them therefore traveled out much faster, flashing out of the cave, which was several thousand zhang deep, in only a few breaths.
As soon as they emerged, even Gu You could not help squinting. The once-towering mountain had long since disappeared. Only enormous rocks hundreds of zhang across and a thick layer of lime covering the ground for more than a hundred zhang remained to tell people that a colossal thing had once fallen here; that a towering peak from which one could look out over the continent had once come crashing down.
It was a pity that people could not see any of it. No one would know that a great mountain had once stood here; no one would know that a small plaza had once been here. No one knew any of it...
"Whew!"
Gu You slowly opened his eyes and exhaled the stale breath he had long held in his chest. Raising his head with renewed vigor, he looked up at the sky high above him. A dazzling silvery-white flame blazed in his eyes as he shot toward the horizon, his piercing gaze fixed on the heavens. Xiao Yan frowned at Gu You's strange behavior, wondering whether Elder Gu intended to set up some sort of formation or restriction.
Before Xiao Yan could reach a conclusion, Gu You, who had charged toward the horizon, flashed over to the top of the highest cliff. He stood with his hands behind his back, silver-white flames filling his eyes as he gazed at the sky.
Suddenly, Gu You burst into a laugh that shook the heavens and the earth. His laughter intimidated magical beasts for ten thousand li around and made heaven and earth tremble!
"Ha ha ha ha! I, Gu You, have waited a thousand years, and today I have finally found the inheritor! Since I was born of heaven and earth, I swear here today: heaven and earth gave birth to me, and I shall forge a transcendent being for heaven and earth, thereby joining with them!"
The moment he spoke, Xiao Yan's pupils abruptly contracted and his expression changed. Before Gu You's words had even faded, the distant sky, which had just been clear for ten thousand li, was filled with rolling dark clouds and roaring thunder. Yet Gu You remained utterly unmoved. He stood quietly atop the cliff, watching lightning bolts that made even Xiao Yan's heart tremble explode around him.
Xiao Yan swallowed and stared blankly at the scene, the corners of his eyes twitching. He could clearly sense that the lightning descending from the heavens was no ordinary lightning. Though it looked no different from the heavenly lightning he usually saw, judging by the power released when it exploded, Xiao Yan was not confident he could withstand a single strike. He was not even the slightest bit confident he could withstand its aftershocks.
"Th-this... how powerful would it have to be... to cause such tremendous destruction? Could it be... that even a Dou Di is nothing more than... an ant?!"
Xiao Yan murmured to himself, his voice trembling slightly.
"Hey, kid, you haven't been scared silly, have you?"
Gu You had just come down from the cliff. Seeing Xiao Yan's stunned expression, he could not resist teasing him. Only then did Xiao Yan come to his senses and realize that the lightning in the sky had long since vanished, and the dark clouds had completely dispersed. As soon as he recovered, he saw Gu You standing before him and immediately started to ask a question, but Gu You spoke first. He said slowly:
"That heavenly lightning is called Nine Heavens Divine Lightning. It can destroy all things of utmost yin and evil in the world, making it the bane of evil things. But it is also a divine creation of heaven and earth that binds people and is used to make a Heavenly Lightning Oath. It possesses the might of heaven and earth and can shake the heavens!"
Xiao Yan was startled. He had not expected his own thinking to have been so limited. He had assumed that with Elder Gu's strength, no matter how formidable Nine Heavens Divine Lightning was, it would at most be evenly matched with him. He had not expected the heavenly lightning to be so powerful that even Elder Gu would be bound by it.
"All right, let's go. That heavenly lightning is formidable indeed. You'll understand how powerful it is in time. For now, the most important thing is to find a city and let you learn about this continent, so you'll know how to survive here."
As soon as Gu You finished speaking, he transformed into a streak of light and entered Xiao Yan's body. Xiao Yan was startled at first, then asked in puzzlement:
"Elder Gu, what are you doing?"
"Heh, those two little fellows inside you are still injured. If they recuperate slowly, it'll probably take at least three or four months. If I don't enter your body, how am I supposed to heal them quickly? Besides, it's true that I'm quite strong, but you're getting a little too carried away with your hopes, kid. You've been thinking that as long as I'm outside, even if you meet someone stronger than you, no one would dare touch you, haven't you? Heh!"
Gu You replied with a grin. Xiao Yan looked dumbfounded, then fell silent. Curling his lip, he flew off toward the edge of the forest.
After a while, Xiao Yan frowned slightly and looked into the distance, where the forest remained vast and boundless. He had already used his soul power to investigate, but all he found within a thousand li was endless green forest. No matter how he searched, he could not find the slightest way out. With no other choice, Xiao Yan asked Gu You in his heart:
Elder Gu, what's going on? Could you help me search the surroundings and see if you can find a path with signs of human presence? Otherwise, if we keep going aimlessly like this, we'll never get out in our lifetimes. So I'll have to trouble you, Elder Gu.
Gu You chuckled before slowly replying:
"Kid Xiao Yan, watch what you say next time. If something really happens, heh heh, you'll be the only one who can't get out, not me! Heh heh, all right, I'll stop fooling around with you. Head southeast. There's a human presence eight thousand li that way. You should be able to use him to leave this forest."
Xiao Yan's mood greatly improved. He moved and flew in that direction.
A short while later, Xiao Yan slowly came to a stop and looked down. On the ground below, a young figure covered in blood was fighting a huge wolf-shaped magical beast. The beast appeared to be seriously injured, but it was still in much better shape than the human. As time passed, the young human finally faltered for a moment. The wolf-shaped magical beast seized the chance and struck his chest with a claw, sending him flying through four or five large trees before he stopped. The giant wolf showed no sign of giving up the chance to kill him and thrust a claw at his chest again. If it struck, he would surely die. The human slowly closed his eyes in unwilling resignation, waiting for death to come in the next instant.
"Whoosh!"
A piercing sound cut through the air, and the giant wolf fell. The young figure opened his unwilling eyes again and immediately saw a white-robed figure landing on a tree branch. Then his head lolled to one side, and he fainted.
(Please give me recommendation votes! I'm losing motivation! Recommendation votes!)