The Disturbance in the Deepest Reaches

The entrance to the Heavenly Snake Mansion's forbidden grounds had always been guarded by three to five High-Rank Dou Zong from the sect. Even if a Dou Zun attacked, they could use the formation to hold the attacker off for a while.

They were all part of the Heavenly Snake Mansion's hidden strength, never exposed to the outside world.

Venerable Snake led Xiao Xuan and his companions there.

"You may all withdraw!"

"Yes, Elder Snake!"

The Heavenly Snake Mansion's Dou Zong had some questions, but Venerable Snake had held sway over the Heavenly Snake Mansion for many long years. Even though he was no longer its mansion master, his authority remained.

"Senior, sorry you had to see that."

Venerable Snake spoke with a chuckle, but wariness was the stronger emotion in his eyes.

There hadn't been so many people there just now. They had only shown themselves after the senior took action himself.

Judging by that display of spatial technique, the senior was probably no weakling even among Dou Sheng. No wonder he had been able to learn of the Ancient Heavenly Snake ruins.

What frightened Venerable Snake even more was the unfathomable presence behind him.

Apart from the two young girls, who were clearly the senior's disciples, there was the remaining old man.

What he radiated was unquestionably a Dou Sheng's might!

Even though he had restrained it, and ordinary people could only sense the presence they chose to reveal.

But Venerable Snake's insight was different. He had truly seen a Dou Sheng before, and although that Dou Sheng had long since died, he still had some distinctive understanding.

A Dou Sheng's might was elusive, but it was real.

That was why he was so certain.

Venerable Snake felt even greater awe for the unknown senior who had appeared at the Heavenly Snake Mansion without explanation.

"A small world?"

"No, it's a distorted spatial barrier!"

Xiao Xuan was a little surprised at a glance. What had this Ancient Heavenly Snake been thinking back then? Instead of using a safer small world, it had insisted on using a casually erected spatial barrier for protection.

That line of thinking... Xiao Xuan didn't know what to make of it.

No wonder the Heavenly Snake Mansion had been able to discover these ruins, then guard them for so many years without anything going wrong.

The Ancient Heavenly Snake had practically handed them the chance!

However ordinary a Dou Sheng might be, they wouldn't go exploring the continent at random.

Besides, even if one did travel around, they wouldn't stoop to wandering aimlessly inside spatial barriers. Those who normally used spatial barriers were Low-Rank Dou Zun; even Dou Zong were capable of it.

The only difference was the degree of spatial protection.

The Heavenly Snake Mansion really had been rather lucky.

"Stay outside and keep watch! There are some things it wouldn't be proper for you to know."

After giving the instruction, Xiao Xuan simply left Venerable Snake outside.

Knowing too much could get one killed on the spot.

Venerable Snake had long since taken that principle to heart, so he didn't dare slacken in carrying out the order in the slightest. After Xiao Xuan and his companions disappeared from view, he even went further.

He had the sect's other disciples stay more than a thousand li away from the forbidden grounds.

Inside the forbidden grounds.

Beyond the spatial barrier lay a whole different world.

It was an ordinary mountain range filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers, but the magnificent presence concealed within it caught Xiao Xuan's attention at once.

This Ancient Heavenly Snake had probably developed its bloodline to the stage of great mastery, falling just a fraction short of being able to break through to Dou Di.

But that hurdle was like an impassable chasm!

How many proud geniuses had fallen on the road to Dou Di?

Xiao Xuan let out a sigh.

Beside him, Mo Xuan looked around with great interest. He had only known about many of these things before, and this was his first time seeing this rare Ancient Heavenly Snake, so of course he had to take a good look.

"This little snake wasn't much! It was a bit worse than Yun Yangtian before."

Mo Xuan soon lost interest.

What was all this stuff in here? There wasn't a single useful thing, yet the Heavenly Snake Mansion treated the place like a treasure.

"The outskirts have only a little of the Ancient Heavenly Snake's bloodline scattered about, so of course there's nothing much to see."

After looking around, Xiao Xuan had worked out the layout of the Ancient Heavenly Snake ruins.

Perhaps it had been arranged deliberately, but the Magical Beasts in the ruins were mostly without intelligence, remaining in a perpetual daze.

For protection?

Xiao Xuan had never thought much of Magical Beasts' brains. An entire race didn't even regard low-tier Magical Beasts as members of their own kind, treating them instead as expendables.

No wonder there were fewer and fewer experts from the Magical Beast races, most of whom relied on their bloodlines.

Once a bloodline became even slightly mixed, each generation was worse than the last.

"Qing Lin, which Magical Beast do you like? I'll catch it for you as a pet!"

The two young disciples beside him had remained silent the whole time.

"Master, they all look so fierce! Will they bite?" Qing Lin looked a little frightened.

That made Xiao Xuan laugh despite himself. His soul power drifted out, and he captured several Magical Beasts with relatively great potential, choosing ones that also looked fairly good.

"Try refining these first!"

He didn't spend much effort on it. The Magical Beasts in the Ancient Heavenly Snake ruins were almost all snakes; other kinds were rarely seen.

"All right, Master!"

Qing Lin answered softly and activated her Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils.

Given the limits of her strength, she couldn't yet refine too many Magical Beasts as subordinates, but with Xiao Xuan suppressing them beside her,

it wasn't much of a problem.

"Phew~"

Qing Lin had already progressed very quickly in her cultivation, reaching the Da Dou Shi level, but in Xiao Xuan's eyes, it still wasn't enough. He had to push her a little harder. As for tempering her Dou Qi?

That was a small matter. One didn't solidify one's foundation at the lower levels.

Doing so would only yield half the result for twice the effort.

Xiao Xuan knew of several treasured places he thought would be well suited to his two disciples. Once they developed a little resistance, they would naturally advance a thousand li in a single day there.

Of course, the prerequisite was a sufficiently solid foundation.

That had to come from quickly increasing their strength.

Otherwise, if they didn't even reach Dou Zun, those treasured places would become death traps.

"Master, my eyes feel a little swollen. The space inside is almost full."

A little sweat showed on her small face. She was still having a hard time.

Xiao Xuan felt a little regretful. She had only refined a few Tier 5 and Tier 6 Magical Beasts, but that was all right. He could leave the rest here for now and come back for them when needed.

"Let's go farther in and take a look!"

There was little wariness in his eyes. If the Ancient Heavenly Snake had been here in person, he would have had to take it seriously.

Every Peak Dou Sheng was a being who could not be underestimated.

At the very least, they deserved basic respect.

But it had been dead for who knew how many years. Even if it had left some tricks behind, how much effect they could still have remained unknown!

Without a care, Xiao Xuan and his companions barged straight through the ruins.

Even when they saw natural treasures along the way, they couldn't be bothered to collect them.

They weren't very useful, just medicinal ingredients for refining pills, and the pills they corresponded to were all obscure ones, making them even less worth wasting time on.

If they truly found nothing in the end, they could always collect them to fill out their Storage Rings.

In the deepest reaches of the ruins, there was another spatial barrier.

Quite an elaborate setup. Xiao Xuan saw the little trick the Ancient Heavenly Snake had laid down.

A spatial storm held in readiness?

Wasn't that exclusive to the Ancient Void Dragons? Had the two races been so close in that era? Weren't they supposed to be hostile races that ate each other?

Xiao Xuan shook his head slightly and gave it no further thought. He gathered his soul power into a fist and smashed it hard against the weak point in space.

He had to dispel the storm.

But then a sudden disturbance occurred.

In an instant, Qing Lin's body was brought under the control of something in the deepest reaches.

"Master!"