The Three Thousand Worlds comprised thirty-six Heavenly Caves, seventy-two Blessed Lands, and one hundred and eight peak powers. Thanks to the World Tree of the Star Boundary, Yang Kai had encountered quite a few Upper-rank Open Heaven cultivators hailing from those Heavenly Caves and Blessed Lands—but not all of them.
The Dragon Clan's Dragon Altar and the Phoenix Clan's Phoenix Nest each counted among the thirty-six Heavenly Caves.
However, both of these Heavenly Caves were extremely well hidden, and ordinary people had no idea where they were located.
For years now, Yang Kai had been searching for the Dragon Altar without success. He had asked Bixie, but the old man had refused to say anything more than that when Yang Kai's own dragon lineage advanced to a certain level, he would naturally sense the Altar's location.
He had never expected such a surprising discovery today.
Could this bizarre place be the Dragon Altar? If it was, it certainly seemed rather shabby for one. But if it wasn't, then how to explain the strange resonance of his dragon lineage power?
Earlier, Xia Linlang had mentioned a rumor that deep within the Shattered Ruins, many Sacred Spirits gathered—though she herself had never ventured deep enough into the Ruins to verify whether the rumor held any truth.
Having just arrived, there was simply too little information to go on. He had no real idea what kind of place this was.
Yang Kai could only clear his mind and focus on recovering.
Before long, however, he confirmed yet another of his suspicions. There existed in this world a peculiar power that could be drawn into his body through his breathing exercises, stimulating the growth of his dragon lineage power.
The time had been too short for any significant advancement, but the effect was unmistakable.
He immediately activated some of the bloodline-cultivation techniques that Bixie had taught him.
Ever since he had exhausted the Dragon Blood Flowers obtained in the Taixu Realm, his dragon lineage power had stagnated. Although Bixie had passed down certain techniques for advancing his bloodline, Yang Kai had rarely had the time to settle down and practice them. Now, arriving at this place, it was practically heaven-sent.
The moment he activated those techniques, Yang Kai felt something different. The strange power in the world seemed to respond to a summons, surging into his body all at once. His flesh and blood churned, his dragon lineage power roared, and deep within his heart rose an impulse to transform into a dragon.
At last, Yang Kai was certain—this place was absolutely connected to the Dragon Clan in some way.
Meanwhile, at the spot where Yang Kai and Xia Linlang had appeared, a towering figure suddenly descended from the sky. The figure carried with it a terrifying pressure that was in no way inferior to that of Divine Lord Shengyang.
He sniffed the air and snorted coldly. "What a disgusting aura!"
He reached out and grabbed a clump of blood-stained earth in his palm. Rolling it between his five fingers, the tall man raised an eyebrow. "The scent of the Dragon Clan!"
He turned his head to the side and asked, "Is it that person?"
Not far from him, a strikingly handsome young man in white and a young girl holding a peach blossom branch stood respectfully. Had Yang Kai been there, he would have recognized both—the very same man and woman he had clashed with before. The white-robed man had left a peculiar bloodline mark on Yang Kai during their fight, and it was using that mark that Divine Lord Shengyang had pursued Yang Kai relentlessly.
How the white-robed man and the peach-blossom-bearing girl had come to this place was another matter entirely.
The white-robed man answered respectfully, "That should be correct. I did sense him plunging into the Divine Ability Sea before. It appears he has now escaped—and has even arrived here."
The tall man heard this and broke into a sinister grin. "Now that is good news. It has been many years since a member of the Dragon Clan appeared here. To think I would run into one today! Can you still sense his position?"
The white-robed youth shook his head. "I cannot. He must have dissolved my bloodline mark. The only question is whether he has already fallen into Divine Lord Shengyang's hands."
After all, Divine Lord Shengyang had pursued him all the way into the Divine Ability Sea. Over a decade had passed since then, and no one knew what had transpired in the interim. During that time, Yang Kai had naturally dissolved the bloodline mark—otherwise, there would have been no shaking Shengyang's pursuit.
"Search!" the tall man bellowed, raising an arm. "Turn over every inch of ground if you must, but find me this Dragon Clan member!"
The white-robed youth and the girl beside him received their orders and shot off at high speed.
The tall man scattered the remaining soil from his hand, then suddenly turned his head to look to the side. At some point, a graceful figure draped in purple had appeared there, staring at him in silence.
The tall man broke into a grin. "I hear the Dragon and Phoenix Clans have been close since ancient times, their bloodlines often resonating with one another. Zhuoyue, did you sense something?"
The purple-clad woman called Zhuoyue fixed him with her gaze and parted her lips lightly. "Kun'ao, you cannot touch this Dragon Clan member."
Kun'ao sneered. "What a joke. Is there anything in this world I cannot touch? Forget some Dragon Clan member whose bloodline isn't even pure—even if a true great dragon stood before me, I would lay a hand on it just to show you."
Zhuoyue replied evenly, "Feel free to say that to a great dragon's face."
Kun'ao snorted. "Back when the Dragon Clan left their ancestral homeland, they vanished without a trace. Who knows if they're not all dead by now!" He shot a glance at Zhuoyue and continued, "But don't worry—even if I find him, I won't kill him. The seal left behind by the Dragon Clan back then still needs to be broken with his help and yours. The power of the ancestral homeland grows weaker with each passing year. Surely the Four Phoenix Pavilion doesn't want to watch its descendants' bloodlines grow ever thinner?"
Zhuoyue frowned. "That seal was laid down jointly by the Dragon and Phoenix Clans in the primordial era. No one knows what lies within. Breaking it rashly—are you not afraid of causing irreversible harm to the ancestral homeland?"
Kun'ao said, "We have both watched the changes in the ancestral homeland over the years. If nothing is done, sooner or later it will be a homeland in name only. Rather than let that happen, we might as well take a gamble. Don't tell me the Four Phoenix Pavilion hasn't harbored thoughts of opening that seal all these years!"
Zhuoyue said nothing.