Chapter 62: Drastic Turn of Events
Nie Tian’s eyes flickered when saw the Flame Dragon; he had already guessed to some extent the reason why the Frost Python didn’t kill him.
His guess was that there was a hint of the Flame Dragon’s aura on him.
Perhaps, his animal bone was originally from a Flame Dragon…
Even though he didn’t bring it into the Green Illusion dimension, he had probed the wonders of the dragon bone with his psychic awareness on more than a few occasions. Moreover, his soul had entered the drop of blood inside the bone a few times, traveling into an unknown blazing world.
He had studied it every day in an attempt to further understand its wonders, which perhaps caused him to absorb some of the Flame Dragon’s aura.
Nie Tian was also convinced that the reason he possessed such strong psychic power was because of him constantly probing the dragon bone and sending his soul into that mysterious blazing world.
Several days ago, when he feared that the Ghost sect or the Blood sect might send people over again to kill him, he constantly extended his psychic awareness to detect any movement in the surrounding area.
It was very likely that the Frost Python had detected the aura of Flame Dragon in the psychic power that he had released to examine the vicinity.
Having a rough idea of the Frost Python’s intentions, Nie Tian climbed out of the crescent-moon-shaped well, and walked towards the central area of this immeasurably wide stone palace.
He soon arrived in the front of a stone column that had a Flame Dragon coiled around it. He examined it closely, before turning around and checking the other nearby columns.
One thing that was immediately noticeable was that every single one of the twelve stone columns had a different dragon coiled around it.
Six of them were blazing Flame Dragons.
The other six stone columns featured life-like dragons whose silver scales were identical to the type sported by the Frost Python.
“Frost Dragons?”
Rubbing his chin, Nie Tian’s mind drifted as he pondered what Pan Tao had told him earlier.
According to Pan Tao, the Frost Python was an ancient species, and it was possible that some of them carried the bloodline of ancient Frost Dragons.
As long as a Frost Python possessed the blood of ancient Frost Dragons, no matter how faint, there would be a possibility that the Frost Python could awaken its bloodline and eventually turn into a Frost Dragon.
According to the legends, Frost Dragons were one of the most formidable types of giant dragons in the ancient era, similar to Flame Dragons.
“I have a Flame Dragon’s aura on me, and this Frost Python, on the other hand, probably has a Frost Dragon’s bloodline within. Furthermore, it must have awakened its bloodline when it reached the third grade.
“It must have brought me here to help it with something, presumably by means of the Flame Dragon’s aura.
“Otherwise, it would have killed me long ago, instead of wasting so much energy to bring me here.”
Pondering the situation, Nie Tian continued to study his surroundings in search of an answer.
All of a sudden, he noticed that there was a prismatic altar in the middle of the twelve stone columns.
The altar was made out of dark-brown stones that were piled up together. Numerous grooves could be seen on the altar, each of which was filled with sparkling, translucent dragon bones.
The dragon bones emanated rays of bright light, illuminating the central area of the dim stone palace.
Obviously, those dragon bones were completely different from the ones Nie Tian had seen in the past.
He knew very well that only the bones of high level spirit beasts would be translucent like jade and unceasingly emanate bright light, which was due to the abundant energy they carried.
Dragon bones that could emanate light must contain surging waves of energy within, and were thus extremely useful.
The numerous grooves on the altar were aligned in a particular way, with the dragon bones inside radiating light of various colors.
Light implied energy.
“Twelve stone columns, an altar in the middle, and dragon bones brimming with energy…
“This is an inter-spacial teleportation portal!”
Nie Tian had a sudden epiphany: this prismatic altar was actually an inter-spacial teleportation portal.
The twelve stone columns carved with Frost and Flame Dragons, the altar, and the dragon bones brimming with energy, were all part of the inter-spacial teleportation portal!
In the next moment, he guessed the Frost Python’s intent: to use this inter-spacial teleportation portal to get out of the Green Illusion dimension!
“Yes, that must be it. All the powerful spirit beasts in the Green Illusion dimension were wiped out by the four sects. The spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth here is also gradually drying up. All of these make this place no longer suitable for any living beings to practice cultivation for long periods of time.
“The Frost Python probably also realized that the only reason why it’s still alive is that the four sects deliberately spared its life.
“Lingering on in the Green Illusion dimension, not only will it be impossible for it to continue to evolve, but there is also a possibility that it will be killed by the trial takers of the four sects. This is simply a dead end for it.
“Fully aware that staying in the Green Illusion dimension means death, the Frost Python must wish to leave.
“And this inter-spacial teleportation portal hidden beneath the desert is the key. The reason it had led me here must be that it wants me to activate it.
“Otherwise, it would have escaped from the Green Illusion dimension long ago, and headed off to a new dimension that is more suitable for it to continue evolving.”
A series of thoughts popped up in Nie Tian’s mind. Following the right direction, he got increasingly closer to the true answer.
HISS! HISS!
At this moment, the Frost Python hissed and shot out rays of ice shards mixed with mist from its mouth.
Six rays of ice shards were shot at the six dragon-coiled stone columns, which instantly froze, becoming as translucent and sparkling as cold jade.
The moment the Frost Dragons on the columns were struck by the ice shards, they all seemed to have been activated.
They began to pulse with a powerful, freezing aura, making Nie Tian, who was standing nearby, cold to the point that his teeth were chattering.
The temperature in the stone palace was plummeting at a frightening speed, making him feel as if he had fallen into an ice cave.
His bones, blood, and even his thoughts seemed to have been affected by the coldness.
In shock, he looked over towards the Frost Python.
It was looking back at him, and in its piercing gaze, he saw nothing but coldness.
From the look of it, if he couldn’t come up with a solution, he would be completely frozen and turned into a ice sculpture by the surges of extreme coldness that kept emanating out of the stone columns.
“It’s pushing me!”
Nie Tian suddenly understood that the Frost Python was forcing him to release his power in its own way.
The only thing that could resist the frost waves were flames. Without them, he would soon be frozen to death!
He cast a look at the stone column beside him; he knew that only by activating the Flame Dragon on that stone column, causing it to release surging flames from that stone column, would he be able to survive.
As the frost aura in the stone palace grew increasingly denser, he found that his ability to think even seemed to be compromised.
If he failed to find a solution quickly, he might soon lose the ability to ponder.
He reached out one hand, and thrust it violently towards the stone column.
The psychic awareness, that he had exerted all power to cultivate recently, flowed like a river out of his soul and into the stone column that had a Flame Dragon coiled around it.
The moment his psychic awareness flowed into the stone column, he saw wisps of crimson flames started flashing from within the Flame Dragon on it.
In the next moment, a raging surge of flames exploded from within!
BOOM!
In the blink of an eye, incomparably furious flames were unleashed from within the entire stone column, causing the temperature in the stone palace to rise considerably.
Coiled up by the foot of another stone column not far from him, the Frost Python’s eyes shone with the light of incomparable excitement.
Shortly thereafter, however, surges of even more bone-piercing coldness emanated from within the six stone columns that had Frost Dragons coiled around them.
Nie Tian immediately realized that only activating one stone column wouldn’t be enough to resist the coldness filling the stone palace.
With no time to think, he sent his psychic awareness charging towards the other five stone columns with Flame Dragons.
His psychic awareness was like a lighter. The moment it made contact with the stone columns, the Flame Dragons on them seemed as if they had come to life.
BOOM! RUUUUUUMMMMBLLLLE!
With a faint tremble, the stone columns also burst into flames.
As such, there were six ice columns that were emanating cold auras, and six fire columns that were emanating blazing flames.
Two drastically different forces, one cold and the other hot, were clashing inside the stone palace, before suddenly merging and pouring into the altar in the middle.
As of that moment, the translucent and sparkling dragon bones placed inside its grooves immediately exploded into fragments!
Countless sparks of flame splashed out from within the dragon bones, which instantly converged back onto the altar.
Soon after, a grotesque and variegated light screen took shape on top of the altar, distorting and changing unceasingly, like a mysterious gate.
HISSS! HISSS!
Only until then did the Frost Python finally slide forward and rush towards the colorful light screen.
Arriving in front of the light screen, the obviously intelligent Frost Python took one final glance at Nie Tian before jumping determinedly into the light screen.
BOOM!
The moment it entered, the strange light screen exploded into pieces, forming a sky full of various colors.
After it exploded, the twelve stone columns that had previously been unleashing the power of flame and frost, also became still again.