The sky was a brilliant blue, the land stretched vast and wide, and in the midst of the void, two figures stood there in a daze, frozen in place for a long while without reacting.
These two were none other than Yang Kai and Li Jiao, whose journey had been nothing but eventful. Following the light orb to find the exit, Yang Kai had torn through space to arrive here—but the scene that greeted their eyes was nothing at all like what they had imagined. For a moment, both of them simply stood rooted to the spot.
"Palace Master Yang, is… is this Dragon Island?" Li Jiao turned his head to look at Yang Kai, his face full of astonishment.
"I don't know." Yang Kai was just as bewildered.
He had assumed that once they emerged from that void labyrinth, they would definitely arrive at Dragon Island. But right now, he couldn't be sure whether this place was truly Dragon Island, because it wasn't an island at all.
This was a small world!
After feeling it out briefly, he found that the heavenly laws here were extraordinarily complete—even more so than his own Minor Secret World. Looking up, there was even a blazing sun hanging in the sky.
If someone ignorant of the situation saw this, they would probably assume it was just somewhere in the Star Realm.
But Yang Kai knew this was no part of the Star Realm. He had entered and exited many small worlds and possessed the Minor Secret World himself, so he was extremely sensitive to existences of this nature.
This was a small world—a very complete small world—and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth here was remarkably rich.
It wasn't that the energy was especially dense. The Star Realm was vast, with countless cultivation holy lands, and every major sect was situated in a place brimming with spiritual vitality. Though the energy in this small world was fairly rich, it wasn't necessarily superior to those cultivation holy lands of the Star Realm.
The key was purity.
The spiritual energy here seemed extraordinarily pure—several times purer than any cultivation holy land Yang Kai had ever encountered.
Such a cultivation environment was undoubtedly superb. Purer spiritual energy meant faster cultivation, and what martial artist wouldn't long for that?
"We… didn't go to the wrong place, did we?" Li Jiao wore an expression caught between laughter and tears.
"What makes you say that?" Yang Kai turned to look at him.
"Where's the island?" Li Jiao said with some disappointment. In his imagination, Dragon Island should transcend the mortal world, standing isolated above the sea, with great dragons coiling across it, swallowing clouds and breathing mist.
This place was certainly fine, but it differed greatly from what he had envisioned.
"Who says Dragon Island has to be an island?" Yang Kai countered.
Li Jiao paused, then considered—Dragon Island, Dragon Island, passed down through generations by word of mouth. Everyone assumed it was a海岛, but no one had ever actually entered Dragon Island to confirm what it truly looked like.
"I actually think there's a very good chance this is Dragon Island," Yang Kai said. He took a deep breath. The pure spiritual energy filled him with comfort, making every pore on his body feel as though it were opening wide. He broke into a grin. "No—I'm not saying 'chance.' This definitely is Dragon Island!"
In all the world, aside from the legendary Dragon Island, what place could possibly be better than this? Of all the cultivation holy lands Yang Kai had seen, none could compare to this place.
Li Jiao nodded gently, choosing not to argue the point. "Then what do we do now?"
Yang Kai frowned in thought for a moment. "Since we're here, we might as well make the best of it. Let's first survey the surroundings."
"Agreed!" Li Jiao nodded.
The two of them immediately flew off in one direction. To avoid revealing themselves, they both suppressed their auras as much as possible, keeping their altitude low and their speed modest.
This small world seemed enormous—larger, if anything, than the Wheel Revolution World they had visited some days ago. As they flew over mountain ranges and great rivers, they didn't encounter a single member of the Dragon Race.
Though the Dragon Race was known to be scarce, Yang Kai had understood that Dragon Island should at least have some dragons living and breeding here. It made no sense for there to be not a single trace of them.
Yang Kai couldn't help but wonder if his guess had been wrong. Could this really not be Dragon Island? Had he and Li Jiao wandered into some random small world? If so, that would put them in a truly awkward position.
They did encounter a few demon beasts along the way—some weak, some powerful. A number of the stronger ones even carried traces of Dragon Race bloodlines, their auras terrifying as they roamed freely through the forests and mountains.
The appearance of these demon beasts with dragon bloodlines boosted Yang Kai's confidence considerably, but the dragons themselves remained nowhere to be found.
After two days had drifted by, a massive city suddenly appeared on the horizon.
The city was built upon an enormous plain, occupying nearly a third of it. From a distance, the buildings within were packed tightly together, their streets—wide and narrow alike—interweaving in an intricate, jagged pattern.
A city of this magnitude could hold at least a million inhabitants.
Yang Kai and Li Jiao were struck dumb in an instant. A sense of foreboding crept up through their hearts.
"Brother Li, does Dragon Island have a city?"
Li Jiao managed a bitter smile. "I've never heard of a city on Dragon Island. But with the Dragon Race being so few in number, what would they need a city this large for?"
Yang Kai considered this—and he was right. The Dragon Race would have absolutely no need for such a massive city. So this really wasn't Dragon Island? The moment that thought crossed his mind, his expression darkened. Just two days ago, he had confidently assured Li Jiao that this place was definitely Dragon Island, and now his face was being slapped.
But if this wasn't Dragon Island, then where were they?
After a moment's deliberation, Yang Kai spoke. "Let's go take a look."
No matter what this place was, they were already here, so they might as well have a look.
The two of them didn't rashly fly into the city. After all, neither knew what this place was or who might live within. They landed about thirty li from the city walls, found a concealed spot to hide, and prepared to observe quietly for a while.
From closer range, they could see that there were indeed quite a few figures moving about inside. Even if the population wasn't a full million, it had to be in the hundreds of thousands.
This discovery only deepened Yang Kai and Li Jiao's disappointment.