Chapter 390: Star Sea Suspense

"Did I learn a fake Nine Dragons Imperial Cultivation Technique, and the cowherd actually possesses the true one?" Ling Yuxiu was somewhat bewildered. The "Nine Dragons Imperial Cultivation Technique" Qin Mu taught her, while bearing resemblance to the Ling family's initial stances, quickly diverged from and ultimately surpassed their version.

What was most astonishing was that the Ling family's Nine Dragons Imperial Cultivation Technique seemed like a mere branch developed from an initial stance, whereas Qin Mu's version appeared to be the main trunk itself, with the family's technique being only one potential offshoot.

The original Nine Dragons Imperial Cultivation Technique was like a sapling just emerging from the ground. The Ling family's perfected version was like a broken tree trunk that had only grown a single branch, while Qin Mu's version had developed into a full trunk.

The Ling family had perfected the Nine Dragons Imperial Cultivation Technique over generations, finally reaching its peak during Emperor Yanfeng's time. However, it had reached its limits, with no further potential to be unearthed. Yet, Qin Mu's Nine Dragons Imperial Cultivation Technique revealed infinite potential to her!

But why did the tireless efforts of countless Ling family generations pale in comparison to Qin Mu's brief moment of "enlightenment"? Could he also be one of the sages born every five hundred years?

Qin Mu, however, didn't dwell on it. The "Nine Dragons Imperial Cultivation Technique" he had comprehended from the True Dragon Lair was also incomplete. He merely taught Ling Yuxiu what he had understood, considering it a form of compensation to the Ling family. He couldn't return the Imperial Disc to the Ling family. It was a treasure given to him by the Cripple, and according to the rules of the Great Ruins, gifts once given were not returned. Moreover, the True Dragon Lair and the Imperial Disc were a pair, indispensable to each other. The Ling family would gain nothing by possessing the Imperial Disc alone, as the complete Nine Dragons Imperial Cultivation Technique could only be seen when the true dragon entered its lair.

After Qin Mu retrieved the Imperial Disc from the dragon lair, the pressure on the flood dragons and dragon qilin immediately vanished. They rose, looking at Qin Mu with a hint of awe. Qin Mu ordered them to continue towards the Heavenly Dragon Star Palace. He then looked at the dragon lair, a thought striking him. He smiled and said, "I have an excellent place for cultivating the Nine Dragons Imperial Cultivation Technique. Sister Yuxiu, come with me; let's jump into this dragon lair." With that, he grabbed Ling Yuxiu's hand and leaped into the lair.

Ling Yuxiu's heart jolted. She was wondering how they could jump into such a tiny miniature mountain and pond when suddenly, she saw the "bonsai" they were aiming for growing larger and larger. Their bodies plummeted rapidly, as if falling from thousands of feet in the air. The "bonsai" transformed into a vast space, spanning over twenty li in every direction! The circumference of the ninth layer of the dragon lair alone was over ten li!

As soon as they landed, a startled cry echoed from above. Si Yunxiang had also jumped down. Upon landing within the True Dragon Lair, she discovered the hidden depths and was naturally amazed! Hu Ling'er saw the three vanish from the dragon's back and immediately hopped onto it, peering into the "bonsai." Qin Mu and the others appeared as tiny as ants, seemingly becoming part of the miniature landscape. Yet, the three of them were still moving and talking, though their voices sounded faint and indistinct, as if coming from dozens of li away.

The three looked around with great curiosity. Although Qin Mu had entered the dragon lair with the Dragon Herder before, most of it was submerged in magma that time, preventing him from seeing its full extent from the inside. This time, he finally saw the interior of the dragon lair in its entirety.

The dragon lair was divided into nine layers, each containing numerous glowing pillars. Some resembled stalactites, others dragon teeth, and some just ordinary columns. On the ground and pillars, constantly shifting patterns and characters flickered, containing profound mysteries.

Ling Yuxiu took a breath and instantly felt an incredibly dense surge of dragon qi, causing her to exclaim in surprise. The dragon qi in this True Dragon Lair was far denser than that in the capital. Compared to the Nine Dragons' Qi in the capital, the quality here was like heaven and earth, utterly incomparable! The dragon qi here seemed superior, far surpassing the Nine Dragons' Qi. After all, the Nine Dragons' Qi was formed from the convergence of nine dragon veins, while the dragon qi here gathered qi from dozens of dragon veins from Yan Kang Nation and the Great Ruins, forming the dragon qi of a True Dragon Lord!

"Cultivating here is much faster than in the capital!"

Ling Yuxiu activated the Nine Dragons Imperial Cultivation Technique that Qin Mu had taught her, and immediately felt her cultivation soar, her vital qi becoming even purer! The Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scripture also contained methods for observing divine dragons. Si Yunxiang tried it out and felt an endless influx of dragon qi. In just a short while, this technique felt as if she had painstakingly cultivated it for dozens of days, startling her.

If one could cultivate here for just over ten days, it would likely be equivalent to decades of arduous cultivation outside. If there were no cultivation realm restrictions, the mastery of techniques and divine arts would reach an unimaginable level! Of course, even with realm restrictions, it was still extraordinary—an absolute holy land for cultivating dragon-type techniques and divine arts.

"Too bad it's not very useful for me," Si Yunxiang shook her head. Her main focus was the Creation Chapter of the Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scripture, passed down from the young Patriarch. The young Patriarch had developed the seven Creation chapters to their utmost, imparting his various insights to her. Furthermore, Qin Mu had completely taught her the Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scripture, though without the Grand Unification Technique. Even so, Si Yunxiang was considered one of the few top young experts of her generation.

Qin Mu was also absorbing the True Dragon Qi. Unlike Ling Yuxiu, who cultivated the Nine Dragons Imperial Cultivation Technique, he was trying to integrate the body-tempering aspects of the Nine Dragons Imperial Cultivation Technique into his Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique. The Nine Dragons Imperial Cultivation Technique's strength lay in its profound magical power, no less potent than that of the Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique, and its extremely powerful body-tempering method. The Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique, however, precisely lacked a body-tempering method, and this flaw could be remedied by incorporating the Nine Dragons Imperial Cultivation Technique.

He had already integrated the Nine Dragons Imperial Cultivation Technique passed down by Emperor Yanfeng into his Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique. However, the version he had now comprehended was far more complex, and the dragon clan's language and script differed from those of humans, making integration incredibly difficult. Even just absorbing its body-tempering method proved challenging and not something that could be accomplished quickly.

Not long after, Hu Ling'er's voice came from outside: "Young Master, we've arrived at the Heavenly Dragon Star Palace!"

Qin Mu left Ling Yuxiu, who was in meditative cultivation, within the dragon lair. He then took Si Yunxiang and flew out of the lair. As they exited, their bodies gradually returned to normal size, and they felt no discomfort throughout the process as their feet touched the ground.

"The Dragon Herder is truly remarkable," Qin Mu praised. "He didn't just shrink the dragon lair; he refined and compressed the very space where the lair existed." Qin Mu marveled, noting that this ability was similar to a Gluttonous Pouch, but while a Gluttonous Pouch contained space internally, the Dragon Herder forcibly shrank a space dozens of li in circumference to seven or eight chi in size.

"The Heavenly Dragon Star Palace is ahead!" Hu Ling'er said.

Qin Mu looked forward and saw a sprawling expanse of dilapidated palaces. The Heavenly Dragon Star Palace consisted of clusters of ancient buildings, with many villages nestled among them. Above the palaces, colossal, mountain-sized stones of various colors—black, red, blue—floated in the air. These stones were riddled with holes and occasionally collided, sending showers of debris downwards. The colossal stones in the sky were pitted from collisions, yet the falling fragments never struck the villages, instead landing outside them. The once tall and majestic divine palaces and temples had become ruins, yet they still provided sanctuary for the people living there.

Qin Mu felt a sense of familiarity upon seeing these simple villagers dressed in animal skins. Si Yunxiang, however, blushed slightly. Even in winter, these villagers wore animal skin shorts and short jackets, and some teenage children, squatting, had half their buttocks exposed, which she found quite embarrassing.

"I was like that too back then!" the Grand Cult Master Qin exclaimed excitedly.

Si Yunxiang imagined the Grand Cult Master Qin in his youth, with half his backside exposed like that, and couldn't help but inwardly scoff.

Qin Mu stepped forward, greeted an elder in the village, and inquired about the exact location of the Star Sea. A moment later, Qin Mu returned, excitedly stating, "That elder said the Star Sea is very dangerous; it constantly spews out 'stars,' and it's incredibly brilliant at night! Let's hurry over!" Si Yunxiang secretly complained in her mind.

They led the dragons to a large canyon. Below the canyon lay a profound, unfathomable abyss. However, countless points of light dotted the darkness within the abyss. Looking down from above, it indeed resembled gazing at a starry sky, with the lights appearing like celestial bodies.

"How beautiful!" Hu Ling'er exclaimed excitedly, "It really looks like the night sky! There's even a milky way down there!"

Si Yunxiang's scalp tingled. The "milky way" in the Star Sea Abyss did indeed resemble the celestial Milky Way, but the "stars" within it were constantly colliding, like a boiling pot of porridge, clearly indicating extreme danger!

*Whoosh—*

A black, strange wind blew from the abyss, and a "star" was expelled from it. It was as large as a mountain but didn't fall; instead, it floated in the air. Suddenly, another "star" flew out from the abyss. The two colossal stones collided, emitting a muffled roar, and a burst of power erupted, unsettling Si Yunxiang. She quickly said, "Cult Master! This Star Sea is not a place for those of our realm to enter. Even beings at the Divine Bridge realm might enter and never return!"

"Don't worry, we have the flood dragons to help us; there will be no danger."

Qin Mu glanced at the Star Sea Abyss, feeling a slight unease himself. He said, "The Sun Well is very far from here, located at the center of the Great Ruins. However, Yan Jingjing said that the Sun Herders emerge from the Star Sea and return to the Sun Well from it. Could there be a passage within this Star Sea that leads quickly to the Sun Well?"

He pondered for a moment, then blew his golden flute, controlling the flood dragons to fly into the Star Sea. Si Yunxiang became instantly wary, then suddenly relaxed, shaking her head. "If all these stars collide, my resistance would be useless. I might as well see what the Cult Master can do."

Qin Mu cautiously activated his Dragon Control Art, avoiding the "stars" one by one as he approached the "milky way" within the Star Sea. This place was clearly underground, yet it didn't feel like it; it felt like another world entirely. They seemed to have entered vast, deep space, surrounded by mountain-sized "stars." Qin Mu looked back and saw that the place they had descended from was a colossal fissure, and the surface was nowhere in sight.

The brilliant "stars" emitted multi-colored light, and the "milky way" coiled like a stardust vortex. Millions upon millions of so-called "stars" moved within this vortex, constantly colliding, and waves of power surged towards them, making their faces feel as if cut by knives.

"Divine Dragon Shield!" Qin Mu shouted, and the flood dragons changed their forms, connecting their tails, clasping their hind claws, and turning their heads downwards, forming an inverted dome to protect them in the center, fending off the impacts.

Qin Mu looked towards the center of the "milky way," where he saw yin-yang fish shapes reminiscent of a Taiji diagram, resembling two colossal deep wells. Countless "stars" rotated ceaselessly around these deep wells, and above the wells, there appeared to be two more fissures. That must be the surface of the Great Ruins, the location of the Sun Well and the Moon Well!

Qin Mu's heart pounded. This Star Sea didn't seem man-made; it was more like another world, countless times smaller!