With the Great Elder's escort, the journey back to Danta was peaceful.
Furthermore, after the Great Elder's seal, the Dou Sheng's remains would be protected from exploding upon being stored in his ring.
However, to ensure complete safety, the Great Elder temporarily stored the Dou Sheng's remains in his own ring.
Chen Guan had no objection to this.
This Great Elder was trustworthy.
As for how to acquire the Heavenly Rank Fighting Technique without triggering the Dou Sheng's remnant, this was a somewhat complex matter. Even with the Great Elder's abilities, it was impossible to accomplish this quickly, so he would have to return to Danta for further research.
...
Ten days later, at Qingce Manor.
With a sudden distortion in space, the group emerged.
Looking at their familiar surroundings, their expressions relaxed.
"It's better to go home. Being out all day makes me feel like the Soul Palace is about to stab me at any moment. How can I be so comfortable at home?"
"Indeed, I have to say, although you, old fellow, may look a little shabby, your choice of location is quite good. This place is perfect for retirement."
Skyfire Venerable routinely mocked Ghost Poison Old Monster, drawing the crowd's deep approval.
Ghost Poison Old Monster was already accustomed to this kind of situation. He rolled his eyes at the Venerable, then bowed to the Great Elder in front of him. Then, with a rather arrogant snort, he found a place to relax.
No one paid him any attention, least of all the Great Elder.
"I've been concentrating on studying the remains all along the way. If I don't trigger the remnants within, and just take a few ribs, I have a good chance of retrieving them. Within half a month, I'll help you resolve this matter,"
the Great Elder said confidently, looking at Chen Guan.
After investigation, he had determined that the owner of the ruins was no ordinary Dou Sheng, perhaps even more powerful than himself.
But remnants are still remnants, and such a minor concern wouldn't faze the Great Elder.
Upon hearing this, Chen Guan's face also broke into a smile.
"Thank you, Great Elder. I also need to prepare for my trip to Ancient Dragon Island."
"Okay, I'll let you know when I'm done."
Leaving this sentence, the Great Elder's figure quietly vanished, coming and going without a trace, leaving everyone yearning.
Dou Di existed only in legend; no one, except Chen Guan, had ever considered it.
Dou Sheng was already the highest goal anyone could aspire to!
"Young Master, I'm also in seclusion. I've been seeing some signs of a breakthrough these past few days. Let's see if I can make it in one go."
Qing Lin suddenly spoke, drawing everyone's attention.
Unable to resist a closer look, they found that, as predicted, the aura was fluctuating.
Noticing this fact, not only Skyfire Venerable and the others, but even Chen Guan was a little amazed.
How long has it been?
After subjugating the Nine Nether Earth Python and several other Dou Zun, is the Green Snake's Three Flower Pupils finally ready to truly unleash its power?
"Go ahead. There won't be anything else to worry about soon. Just focus on your retreat."
Qing Lin smiled and greeted everyone before quickly heading deeper into the manor.
"It seems this Green Serpent Triple Eyes is even more powerful than my Evil Poison Body."
"Not much. The Green Serpent Triple Eyes uses snake-like magical beasts as 'nutrients.' The stronger the creature it controls, the greater the benefit to itself. This time, she's captured several Dou Zun masters. The benefits are obvious, no less than if you had discovered an ancient poison," Chen Guan replied noncommittally.
Green Serpent Triple Eyes, Evil Poison Body...
both are exceptional physiques. Big Brother, not to mention Second Brother.
Sensing a hint of bitterness in his tone, Little Medical Immortal couldn't help but smile. It's
innate. There's nothing you can do about it. You can't envy it."
After a brief banter, the group dispersed.
Chen Guan and Medusa headed to Danta together, to pay a visit to Xuan Kongzi and retrieve their daughter.
...
Day and night reversed, and as time passed, the matter of the ancient ruins in the Beast Realm gradually came to an end, and various unverified news spread in Zhongzhou through the mouths of some returning participants.
"Xingyun Pavilion gained a lot this time. They even got a Dan Beast in the Dan Palace. I was there at the time. That Dan Beast was extremely spiritual and could even speak. I'm afraid it's already the legendary ninth-grade!"
"Hiss! So outrageous? Why did it fall into the hands of Xingyun Pavilion? I remember that person from Dan Tower and many other famous and powerful forces went in. Although Xingyun Pavilion is not bad, it doesn't have that kind of strength, right?"
"You don't know this. At that time, Master Chen Guan had just started a war with the Jiuyou Diming Python clan. All the famous Dou Zun masters participated. Afterwards, they didn't have time to go and were preempted by Xingyun Pavilion."
"Yes, yes, I was there at the time. If you ask me, Master Chen Guan suffered a lot this time. He put in the greatest effort, but the benefits in the end were average."
"That's right. Yesterday I heard the people from Glacier Valley gloating. It's still unclear who has the heavenly-grade fighting skills in the ruins. The only thing we can be sure of is that Master Chen Guan didn't get them."
"Actually, I'm very curious about what Master Chen Guan got in that golden light shield when the first war broke out."
"This time in Burning Flame Valley..."
The outside world was buzzing with discussion about the ruins.
It was foreseeable that this would be a major topic of conversation for the next few months.
While they were discussing this, Chen Guan had already received a message from the Great Elder, instructing him to retrieve the remains of the Dou Sheng.
Inside the secret chamber of Qingce Manor,
Chen Guan sat cross-legged on the bed. After a moment's hesitation, he flipped his hand, and three jade-white ribs appeared in his palm.
These three ribs were naturally the ones the Great Elder had helped to remove from Xiao's skeleton.
Even Chen Guan felt a surge of excitement at the thought of the secrets of a heavenly-level fighting technique hidden within them.
As the enemy grew stronger, his previous trump cards were no longer sufficient. The only
thing that remained effective was the Five-Whirl Fire Technique. However, relying solely on the Five-Whirl Fire Technique was too limited.
He had used it so often that his opponent was likely familiar with it and would undoubtedly be prepared for the next encounter.
At this time, adding more tactics was crucial.
Returning to his present position, the ribs felt cool and warm, without the roughness of bone. Instead, they felt like the finest jade, smooth and cool, offering a truly wonderful touch.
The ribs were covered in tiny, strange characters.
More accurately, they looked like runes.
These runes were incredibly profound, giving off an obscure feeling.
Chen Guan carefully examined the three ribs, memorizing the strange runes, but he couldn't decipher them.
"This thing, most people really have no idea how to handle it."
He pressed the ribs against his forehead, and his soul power emanated. But upon contact with the ribs, it was instantly repelled. Seeing this, Chen Guan chuckled, as if he had expected it.
There was also a seal on the bones!
To achieve this heavenly-level fighting skill, the owner of the ruins had been incredibly treacherous, setting up a series of tests.
First, nine fakes and one real, then a regretful regret, and finally a seal...
Inwardly complaining, Chen Guan clenched his palms, and a blazing flame rose from his palms, enveloping the three ribs as white as jade.
The terrifying heat quickly dried the air in the room.
"Sizzle!"
The flames seared the bones furiously, yet the seemingly fragile bones remained motionless, not even their color changing.
Chen Guan wasn't surprised by this situation. If the seal set by a Dou Sheng master could be broken so easily, it would be a bit of a joke.
Maintaining a calm composure, Chen Guan allowed the strange fire to continue searing the three ribs while he studied the method the old Dragon Emperor had given him to neutralize the Dragon Phoenix Origin Fruit.
This method could be considered a pill recipe, no, a medicinal formula,
as it produced a medicinal liquid.
The difficulty lies in gathering the ingredients, but with the necessary ingredients, any seventh-grade alchemist could create it.
"If I unravel it, I can probably come up with a similar pill recipe."
Within the room, purple-brown flames burned fiercely, and the three ribs within emitted a faint glow.
Lying on the bed, Chen Guan pondered deeply, occasionally writing and drawing, like a scholar reading by lamplight.
This state lasted from sunset to sunrise, a whole night.
And those three ribs, under the frenzied calcination of the strange fire, gradually underwent changes.
The jade-white color of their surface slowly faded, replaced by a deep dark gold. Upon closer inspection, the golden light was subtly shimmering, with strange fluctuations quietly spreading.
"Swish!"
Suddenly, a strange sound of flowing liquid was heard in the quiet room, attracting Chen Guan, who was immersed in researching a new pill formula.
Now, within the flames, there was no trace of the ribs; instead, there was only a pool of strange dark golden liquid!
The liquid flowed slowly within the flames, as if possessing its own intelligence, occasionally condensing into various bizarre shapes.
"It's a bit like the Three Thousand Thunders back then,"
Chen Guan muttered. Without hesitation, he gently extended his palm and dipped a finger into the flames, then plunged a finger into the pool of dark golden liquid.
"Zizizi!"
As his finger plunged into the liquid, something unexpected happened. The liquid suddenly began to wriggle violently, tightly wrapping around Chen Guan's finger, instantly enveloping his entire palm.
"Hiss!"
Even with his fingers connected to his heart, he couldn't help but gasp.
The dark golden liquid enveloped his entire right palm, and an uncontrollable, sharp pain suddenly shot through his fingertips, causing Chen Guan, who was sitting cross-legged, to tremble slightly. He gritted his teeth to endure it, but sweat continued to flow uncontrollably from his forehead.
Encased in the dark golden liquid, his palm began to wriggle strangely, and even a faint sound of bones crushing could be heard.
It felt as if the palm would explode at any moment!
The squeezing sensation grew stronger, until Chen Guan was almost overcome with doubt when the excruciating pain abruptly ceased.
The dark golden liquid, like a tide, quickly seeped into his hand and vanished as quickly as if it had never existed.
Before Chen Guan could even marvel at the bizarre scene, his head suddenly shook, a faint dark golden light flickered in his eyes, and a low murmur escaped his lips.
"Great Heaven... Creation Palm!!!"
(End of Chapter)