Chapter 0827: Nine-Colored Clouds

Chapter 0827 Nine-Colored Aurora

Qin Yun wanted to check out the Long family's secret base, which was likely a heavily guarded stronghold.

The Long family transported that black box to the secret base, clearly intending to train an elite force there.

Originally, Qin Yun was merely curious and knew it wouldn’t be easy to get into the base.

But now, with Long Tianji leading the way, reaching the base would be much simpler.

The Long family of Soaring Dragon Province was immensely powerful, capable of rivaling the entire Jian family.

The Long family also had many allies—other powerful clans and sects from various provinces.

Since the Jian family now monopolized Proud Star Province, other provinces felt threatened, fearing the Jian family might invade. Thus, they all pledged allegiance to the Long family.

The Long family assured these provincial forces that they would never invade other provinces or threaten their power.

The condition, however, was that they must unite to oppose the Jian family and its allies.

Xiao Yuemei, walking beside Qin Yun, explained the situation as they headed toward the secret base, with Long Tianji, the Venomous Dragon Spider, scuttling ahead.

"My goals against the Long family are twofold: first, to reclaim Qiao Feng’s spirit, and second—most importantly—to help Sister Baozi and Sister Shui break their curses!" Qin Yun seethed with hatred for the Long family.

"After we accomplish these two tasks, we’ll focus on hunting the Celestial Dragon!" Xiao Yuemei said with a laugh.

"Mm." Qin Yun sensed Long Tianji’s direction and, along with Xiao Yuemei, cloaked their auras as they followed.

The vast mountain range seemed endless, with thin spiritual energy—an ideal hiding place.

The Long family likely placed their secret base here for easier mobilization against Proud Star Province.

Three days later, Long Tianji recalled the smaller spiders and extracted numerous Alchemy Pills from their stomachs.

After obtaining the pills, Qin Yun retrieved the martial souls inside and rewarded Long Tianji with a large piece of dragon meat. He then sent her into the third bead of the Nine Yang Divine Pendant to stay with Yao Fang.

Not far ahead lay the Long family’s secret base.

Just as Qin Yun and Xiao Yuemei approached, they saw a patch of nine-colored aurora suddenly appear in the sky.

The aurora slowly churned, gradually forming a vortex.

"What in the world is that?" Qin Yun glanced at Xiao Yuemei, whose pretty face was filled with shock.

"It’s triggered by the Barrier Formation!" Xiao Yuemei exclaimed.

"The Barrier Formation?" Qin Yun seemed to recall something.

"It’s the barrier between the Immortal Realm and the Spirit Realm. Someone used a powerful formation to cross from the Immortal Realm!" Xiao Yuemei’s voice grew solemn. "And they’ve landed in the Long family’s secret base. Heaven knows what the Longs are planning?"

Suddenly, the massive vortex of nine-colored aurora released a colossal beam of light that struck the ground.

Qin Yun took out a far-seeing artifact and saw that after the thick beam landed, numerous figures gracefully descended.

Xiao Yuemei also observed and whispered, "Many people have come from the Immortal Realm!"

"Are they Immortals?" Qin Yun asked urgently.

"Definitely not! Full Immortals would be banished back instantly if they descended!" Xiao Yuemei shook her head. "They’re likely Six-Calamity Demi-Immortals—there are plenty of those in the Immortal Realm."

Qin Yun felt a strong sense of foreboding and sighed, "It seems the Dragon Clan can receive support from the Immortal Realm!"

Xiao Yuemei nodded. "If I'm not mistaken, this secret base of the Dragon Clan was also built by their ancestors—specifically to communicate with people from the Immortal Realm!"

"Does the Dragon Clan have strong influence in the Immortal Realm as well?" Qin Yun asked.

"Of course... The Heavenly Dragon Gate under the Dragon Immortal Emperor is extremely prominent in the Immortal Realm!" Xiao Yuemei said. "If those who descended from the Immortal Realm are from the Heavenly Dragon Gate, then we're in trouble!"

"Are they here to help the Dragon Clan deal with the Sword Clan?" Qin Yun grew uneasy. If a real battle broke out, the major forces of the Proudstar Continent would surely be dragged into a full-scale war.

"No! They're probably here for you! You have the Heavenly Lion Subduing Dragon Cauldron, captured their sacred clan dragon, and even wiped out the Dragon Clan in the Proudstar Continent. That’s more than enough reason for the Heavenly Dragon Gate to send people down from the Immortal Realm!" Xiao Yuemei explained.

Qin Yun shrugged and chuckled, "Yuemei, that can’t be, right? The Heavenly Dragon Gate must have cost them dearly to send those people down from the Immortal Realm. If it's just for me, it wouldn’t be worth it, would it?"

"It’s absolutely worth it! You’re likely their primary target, and helping the Dragon Clan dominate the Spirit Realm is probably one of the Heavenly Dragon Gate’s major goals!" Xiao Yuemei said.

Qin Yun had originally intended to investigate the Dragon Clan’s secret base, but now that a group from the Immortal Realm had appeared there—though their exact strength was still unclear—they were undoubtedly formidable.

With Qin Yun and Xiao Yuemei’s current strength, going there would be like walking to their deaths.

"Even though we can’t go to that base, we’ve still gained something. At least we know the Dragon Clan has powerful reinforcements!" Qin Yun said through clenched teeth. "It seems they couldn’t send people from the Mystic Domain and had to summon them from the Immortal Realm instead!"

"Brother, I’m really worried about you! The Heavenly Dragon Gate has marked you as their prey! Your Heavenly Lion Subduing Dragon Cauldron and your rare spirit-pattern abilities—even in the Immortal Realm, they’re prizes worth killing for!" Xiao Yuemei said.

"No need to fret, I’ll come out on top!" Qin Yun smiled. "Let’s head to Dragon King City first!"

...

Legend had it that Dragon King City was the most powerful and prosperous city in the Mortal Domain of the Spirit Realm.

Of course, this was mostly the Dragon Clan’s own boast—how much of that was true was hard to judge.

But one thing was certain: the city was indeed incredibly prosperous and vast, home to tens of millions of people.

Inside and outside Dragon King City, dragon carvings and dragon emblems could be seen everywhere.

Dragon Clan scions strutted about like royalty within the city, and no one dared to offend them.

Of course, infighting between Dragon Clan members within the city was a common occurrence.

A massive clan like the Dragon Clan was rife with internal scheming and backstabbing. While they might appear united on the surface, behind the scenes, they often clawed at each other over scraps of power—sometimes to the point of bloodshed.

"Dragon King City—the stronghold of the Dragon Clan!" Qin Yun remarked as he entered the city, gazing at the orderly rows of tiered buildings and the teeming thoroughfares. He couldn’t help but marvel.

This city was truly extraordinary.

At the very least, Qin Yun could sense a palpable energy permeating every corner of the city, making it very active.

The Dragon Clan’s stronghold was located in the Dragon King Manor to the east, while the city lord’s mansion stood at the center—a place where the city lord oversaw the city's affairs.

After entering the city gates, Qin Yun and Xiao Yuemei had no choice but to take a carriage to Dragon King Manor.

Within the city, even Dragon Clan members were barred from casual flight—a measure to maintain order.

Only the most outstanding Dragon Clan members, holding flight tokens, were permitted to take to the skies.

Those caught flying without permission faced severe punishment.

Aside from carriages, one could also travel around the city aboard sky barges.

In this way, the sky only had flying sky ships and some patrolling soldiers, keeping the skies clear and allowing one to look up and see the blue sky and white clouds.

If flying wasn't restricted, the city's sky would be chaotic, as everyone who could enter this city had some cultivation ability and could fly freely.

The flying sky ships were also a money-maker for the Long family to earn purple crystal coins. With so many people traveling daily, these ships were the fastest mode of transportation. Pricey, but within most people's budgets, they had to use them anyway.

The Long family raked in huge sums of purple crystal coins daily from these flying sky ships.

"Two to three thousand purple crystal coins per trip—what a rip-off!" Xiao Yuemei complained as she boarded the flying sky ship with Qin Yun.

This was nothing to Qin Yun, who had billions upon billions of purple crystal coins, all won from the Long family's casinos.

Qin Yun and Xiao Yuemei were now headed for the outskirts of the Dragon King Manor.

The Dragon King City had several prosperous districts, with the liveliest and most bustling being the hottest spots near the Dragon King Manor and the City Lord's Mansion.

Especially around the Dragon King Manor, everything was the most expensive, and many buildings were constructed there. A single small room cost tens of millions or even hundreds of millions—way out of reach for regular folks.

Those who frequented the area near the Dragon King Manor were mostly from prominent families in Tenglong Province. They stayed close to the manor to rub elbows with the Long family's members and stay in the loop about their dealings, ensuring better business opportunities.

Now, not only were big-shot families from Tenglong Province arriving, but even those from other provinces were being sent here, sending real estate prices through the roof.

Half an hour later, the flying sky ship approached the Dragon King Manor.

From the ship, Qin Yun and Xiao Yuemei could see the sprawling manor complex.

The Dragon King Manor was like a city within a city, capable of housing over a hundred thousand people.

From above, they could see towering palaces, numerous gardens, and even mountains and waterfalls inside the manor, like something out of a fairy tale.

Qin Yun had previously thought the two floating islands of the Jian family were impressive, but now he realized the Long family had them beat in that department.

"The Long family has a long heritage, with deeper foundations than the Jian family!" Xiao Yuemei sighed. "If they fought, it could go either way!"

From a distance, Qin Yun could sense the powerful barrier around the Dragon King Manor. Breaking in would be difficult, even with the Piercing Mystic Art.

"The Long family is stronger than I imagined!" Before coming, Qin Yun had heard rumors but assumed they were only slightly stronger than the Long family in Aoxing Province. Now, it was clear that the Dragon King Manor in Tenglong Province left the Weilong Mountain Manor in Aoxing Province in the dust.

After the flying sky ship landed, Qin Yun and Xiao Yuemei disembarked.

Xiao Yuemei had initially considered sneaking into the Rune Temple using her usual sneaky ways but decided to follow Qin Yun obediently, knowing he was on serious business and couldn't afford distractions.

She simply led the way, taking Qin Yun to a restaurant.

Most restaurants near the Dragon King Manor were lavishly decorated, some even built with gleaming gold crystal facades, towering a hundred stories high and dazzling at night.