Return to the Panlong Ruins!

He could actually breathe freely amid wild sands that would suffocate anyone else, strolling leisurely through the Panlong Desert that struck terror into merchants and travelers alike. Only before him was this desert of death restrained, subdued, and even somewhat gentle. Soon, he left the Red Cliff Road and stepped directly into the desert. This was the domain of Three Corpse Worms and departed souls; whether it was the wild sand season or not, anyone who dared to do this would most likely meet a gruesome end. Yet He Lingchuan walked several tens of yards without anything happening. Colossal tornadoes swirled around him, drawing tens of thousands of tons of yellow sand into the sky before sweeping across the desert faster than flying arrows. Yet a faint red glow radiated from He Lingchuan's body, granting him complete immunity to it all. This was the origin power of the Gale Army, and also a transit pass through the wild sand season. At this very moment, this desert of death was his personal world. He could treat it like his own back garden, roaming at will without hindrance. In all the world, this was a singular privilege. A pity no one else was there to witness such a wondrous sight. Just then, a colossal creature suddenly surged out from the sand dunes, resembling an eel yet also an earthworm, only magnified several hundred times. An earth dragon. This was a creature He Lingchuan was intimately familiar with; the last time he had entered the Panlong Desert, the Blackwater City troops had baited earth dragons to haul their sand-boats. The one before his eyes was larger than any He Lingchuan had seen before, over nine zhang—nearly thirty meters—long. Such a massive beast suddenly blocking his path gave He Lingchuan quite a start. Yet the earth dragon did not open its jaws to attack. Instead, it slowly swam up before him, submerging most of its body into the sand and leaving only a section of its ridged back exposed before falling completely still. Its meaning was conveyed loud and clear. Who had sent it? He Lingchuan knew in his heart. Skilled and bold, he felt no fear. With a single leap, he landed on the earth dragon's back and sat down upon its arched, segmented ridge. Then, the earth dragon set into motion. It started somewhat slowly, but swam faster and faster, gliding past sand dune after mountainous sand dune. Riding upon its back and gazing out at the vast, desolate sea of sand, He Lingchuan felt as though he were riding a whale across tempestuous, surging waves. The boundless expanse of the heavens, the vastness of the mortal world. After admiring the view for two quarters of an hour, He Lingchuan closed his eyes to rest. It seemed he had no need to worry about the earth dragon; it would automatically carry him to his destination— The Panlong Ruins. ... In the wild sand season, there was neither sun nor moon. He had no idea how much time had passed when the earth dragon's pace slowed. With a final flick of its tail, it ground to a sudden halt. Before him lay the endless Chipa Plateau. The earth dragon stopped in front of the land bridge. He Lingchuan leapt down from his mount and strode swiftly forward, coming face-to-face with the immense Panlong Ruins. The South Gate watchtower remained as imposing and desolate, as ruined and dilapidated, as when he had last left, preserving the look it had borne for the past hundred and fifty-odd years. The mighty border fortress of bygone days had long since become a heroes' tomb. The earth dragon did not depart; instead, it followed behind him into the South Gate. Inside the city, there was no wind or sand, much like the calm at the eye of a storm. He walked through the empty ruins, moving with familiar ease on this second visit. After many twists and turns, he soon found the original entrance to the Panlong Secret Realm— The pool-well in front of the Mitian Temple. After the climactic battle between the He family father and son and Sun Fuping, Nian Songyu, and the rest, the pool-well had ceased to function as a passage when one wished to reenter the secret realm. He Lingchuan walked over and looked: the pool-well remained as dry as before, though the bottom had a faint reddish tinge. To open the passage connecting illusion and reality, water had to be poured into this pool-well. He had come prepared. Several storage devices on his person were filled with fresh water, which should be barely enough to cover the bottom with a shallow layer. Yet before he could act, the earth dragon behind him suddenly arched its body and lifted its massive tail into the pool-well. Hm? What kind of posture was this? He Lingchuan called forth Fusheng and gave the saber a flourish before the earth dragon. The flashing cold light did not scare the monster away. Understood. He leapt onto the edge of the pool and delivered a longitudinal cut to the earth dragon's tail to bleed it. The beast was nine zhang long. Pale red blood gushed forth like an open faucet, a heavy metallic stench spreading in all directions. The bleeding went on for a good while. By the time its wound stopped bleeding on its own, a finger's depth of liquid had gathered at the bottom of the pool-well. To be honest, it was not a pleasant sight. Only then did the earth dragon shudder, turning and fleeing outward without looking back. The mysterious force controlling it from the shadows had finally vanished. He Lingchuan stood by the edge of the pool facing the temple and called out loudly: "Dafang Pot! I have tried several times to communicate with you through the divine bone necklace to no avail, so I had no choice but to come in person." Perhaps due to the vast emptiness around him, his words stirred layered echoes. "I have risked life and limb for you, earning no small merit. Now, I demand equal return!" He Lingchuan paused for a few breaths, hearing the echoes trail off around him: "...Return... return... return!" "Our fates are intertwined. I have traveled thousands of li to return here, only to ask you for a definitive answer—" Each of his words landed with ringing certainty. "—Can you help me deal with Nailuotian?" The echoes persisted, rebounding everywhere, until all that met the ear was 'deal with Nailuotian'. Fusheng Saber suddenly trembled twice, ringing out with a long clanking hum. Taking advantage of the moment, he thrust the saber into the pool water. Though it was clearly only a finger deep, this time the blade sank all the way to the hilt, and he still could not feel the bottom. Sure enough, the passage between illusion and reality was open again. He Lingchuan popped a turtle pearl into his mouth, pinched his nose, and leapt into the pool of scarlet blood! Splash. The water within was indeed immensely deep. He Lingchuan found himself once again in that red ocean. Whether he swam up or dived down, it stretched out boundless and infinite. This time, he had entered with his true body, rather than his soul entering as usual. Perhaps because he held the turtle pearl in his mouth, he could breathe freely underwater. To him, this ocean was usually just a transitional scene, flashing past in an instant before he entered the Panlong world. Yet today was an exception. He Lingchuan had assumed he would enter the Panlong world in his true body this time, but instead he remained stranded in this vast ocean, with no idea where to swim. However, he felt no panic, because the divine bone necklace also began to glow. This was likely the Dafang Pot's response to him. Before long, a dark mass vaguely emerged from the ocean depths. Small at first, it grew increasingly colossal as it drew near. He Lingchuan naturally knew what it was— Aside from He Lingchuan, no other living thing had ever appeared in this ocean. The sovereign of this ocean was one, and only one. The colossal red silhouette. This time, the colossal red silhouette swam straight toward him, neither hesitating nor turning aside along the way. He Lingchuan finally experienced the pressure that the Hundred Faces Nightmare had once felt. The closer this thing came, the more incomparably massive it appeared! How long was this gigantic silhouette? By He Lingchuan's estimate, it had to be over a hundred zhang—more than three hundred meters. Ever since the pot lid was recovered, the colossal red silhouette seemed to have grown even larger. After dealing with it so many times, he still had never seen its true face. Now the behemoth was swimming toward him, closer and closer, closer and closer... Then it opened its abyssal maw and swallowed He Lingchuan whole!