Nine Nether Dragon Emperor

The passage ahead was at most a few hundred meters long. At the end of it, a vast galaxy came into view.

As his gaze returned, he indeed saw a massive Teleportation Array. Even someone as clever as he was completely baffled. What kind of trick is Luo Tianyi playing this time?

While he hesitated, Cheng Dabao had already dashed forward. Ning Xuan was about to speak but then decided against it. This is definitely the Bi Luo Palace. If they truly intended to make a move, they wouldn’t bother doing it here. It would be better to let Cheng Dabao scout things out.

Thinking this, Ning Xuan fixed his gaze on Cheng Dabao. He then saw Cheng Dabao making his way toward the destination, completely unhindered.

"Master Ning, if you please," Jiang Donglin said with another gesture, "I have other matters to attend to, so I can’t accompany you." He then retreated without another word.

"Luo Tianyi, I’d like to see just what you’re up to!"

As his words fell, Ning Xuan stepped forward. He had only taken a single step when he looked down and saw ripples spreading out from where his foot landed. The ripples expanded swiftly, and when he raised his head, he was no longer in the same place. He had arrived in another space.

"Just as I thought!" Ning Xuan wasn’t frightened or angry; instead, he breathed a sigh of relief. This fits Luo Tianyi’s usual style, doesn’t it?

"Hehe, Ning Xuan, aren’t you surprised? Isn’t this unexpected?" In the void ahead, Luo Tianyi’s virtual projection suddenly appeared.

Ning Xuan couldn’t be bothered with her.

"If you want to use the Teleportation Array, you certainly can, but you must pass four challenges first. I’m doing this for your own good! By now, you must have already gotten your hands on the Divine Martial Battle Armor. Remember to take good care of it, as it’s your reward for this."

After speaking, the virtual projection vanished. At the same time, Ning Xuan looked into the distance and once more saw the Teleportation Array he had noticed earlier. He was sure of it because Cheng Dabao was standing there, looking in his direction and appearing to say something.

Ning Xuan surveyed his surroundings, enveloped by the vast expanse of the cosmos. Here, he was as insignificant as an ant. Nevertheless, Ning Xuan resolutely took a step forward.

He had just taken that step.

BANG!

Ning Xuan himself heard the loud noise. Then he was stunned. He was still in the same place.

"What just happened..." Muttering to himself, Ning Xuan closed his eyes and quickly understood. A moment ago, he had shattered! With a single step, an utterly terrifying force had swept over him, instantly obliterating him on the spot.

What had appeared here was his consciousness! And naturally, what had shattered was also his consciousness. His physical body was still outside. Cheng Dabao wasn’t talking to his current self, but to his actual body.

"Such terrifying power!" Ning Xuan muttered, shedding any trace of contempt. The consciousness was another projection of his physical body. Anything the body could use, the consciousness could as well. Ning Xuan immediately activated his Cultivation Technique and harnessed his Bloodline Power.

Once more, he stepped forward. This time, the moment his foot landed, he was assaulted again.

BANG!

Prepared for it, Ning Xuan didn’t shatter but was instead launched like a cannonball, his trajectory extremely erratic.

"Such a terrifying wind!" After figuring out what had shattered his consciousness, Ning Xuan couldn’t help but feel a chill in his heart. With a roar, he quickly employed the Thousand Catty Drop. He estimated it could exert a terrifying weight of at least tens of millions of catties, but it had no effect at all.

Ning Xuan immediately used his Bloodline Power, manifesting the ancient divine beasts. After the White Tiger, Xuan Wu, and Chaos, he directly transformed his consciousness into an Azure Dragon, because all previous transformations had been useless.

A hundred-zhang Azure Dragon materialized, its cry resounding across thirty thousand li! Finally, Ning Xuan’s speed slowed until he stood proudly in the vast heavens.

"Not bad, not bad, but you’ve strayed from the path, you know." The voice of Luo Tianyi’s virtual projection echoed, but Ning Xuan couldn’t pinpoint her location. He immediately understood. This virtual projection was like a pre-set program. He had simply triggered a response; it wasn’t actually aware of his secrets.

He focused his gaze. From his perspective, the Teleportation Array had shrunk to the size of a single star. That was how far he was from it now.

Without a second thought, Ning Xuan self-destructed. After all, this was only his consciousness. His powerful Divine Soul and Mental State were strong enough to let him play around like this. The next moment, his consciousness manifested again at the starting point.

Having learned from his previous attempt, Ning Xuan immediately evolved into an Azure Dragon this time. But he still underestimated the terror of the wind on the correct path. Even as an Azure Dragon, he was instantly blown a thousand li away!

ROAR!

With a dragon’s cry, the Azure Dragon mutated! Golden light burst forth from its body. Immediately, the Azure Dragon began evolving into a Golden Dragon!

Ning Xuan was utilizing the True Blood from his dantian! Originally a Nine Nether Divine Body, his Bloodline had regenerated, allowing him to transcend the divine to become sacred. Now, within the sea of qi in his dantian, a golden lake shone brilliantly. His Bloodline had evolved into the Nine Nether Saint Body!

At this moment, Ning Xuan was harnessing the power of the Holy Body True Blood!

As the Azure Dragon transformed into the Golden Dragon, its size and might both grew immensely. Finally, the surrounding winds could no longer affect it. The Golden Dragon began to swing back into position, and soon, it was moving in a straight line toward the Teleportation Array.

Below, a path materialized. It resembled a bridge between heaven and earth, connecting the sky to the ground. As the Golden Dragon stepped onto the bridge, the celestial structure shook violently, as if rejecting him.

Ning Xuan was startled. Then the Golden Dragon vanished, and his consciousness was swept away, exploding into pieces a hundred li away.

At the starting point, Ning Xuan’s consciousness reappeared. This time, he didn’t rush to act but instead evolved on the spot. The Golden Dragon manifested, its dazzling brilliance illuminating the vast Milky Way. But soon, the golden light dimmed. The terrifying Dragon Might also began to dissipate. It continued until nothing could be sensed at all. This return to utter simplicity was the mark of the Ancestral Dragon!

"Still not enough!" Outside, at the start of the pathway, Ning Xuan’s physical body muttered with his eyes closed.

In the other world, as time passed, the colossal body of the Ancestral Dragon gradually shrank until it completely vanished from sight. A moment later, Ning Xuan’s consciousness emerged from nonexistence. His eyes opened, plain and unremarkable. But if one looked closely, they could witness oceans drying and mountains crumbling in an instant.

The next moment, his consciousness took a step forward. This was a terrifying hurricane that could effortlessly grind planets to dust—a storm that even his Azure Dragon transformation had been useless against. Yet now, it couldn’t even ruffle a single strand of his hair.

Ning Xuan had passed this trial.

But after that one step, as he went to take another, a sudden change occurred.

BOOM!

From above, it seemed as if the weight of the entire universe was collapsing upon him. Ning Xuan grunted. Then, he burst apart. He simply couldn’t bear the weight of the universe.

The next moment, Ning Xuan was back at the starting point. Then, a merciless voice rang out, "You think you were bearing the vast universe? Wrong. That was merely the weight of a mountain forest!"

Ning Xuan’s face remained expressionless. His Mental State remained perfectly calm, without the slightest ripple. This was his greatest gain from his time in the Stele Forest Blunt Stone Tower.

"Forget a mountain forest," Ning Xuan’s voice was extremely resolute. "Even if it were truly this vast universe, I could bear it!"

However, despite his words, he did not act rashly.