e thought talismans of one's life were at least Shaking Level before they could be refined.“Yes, the Talisman of One’s Life is a magical item that can communicate with your mind and soul, usually stor...Chapter 214: Weakest Partner

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The "Kingship of Heaven and Earth" that Zhao Hongyu used was undoubtedly a high-grade magical treasure. It could pierce through the void in the blink of an eye, breaking through ordinary cloud layers.

There are nine levels of heaven: middle level, Cen Tian, Cong Tian, Geng Tian, Pi Tian, Kuo Tian, Xian Tian, Shen Tian, and Cheng Tian. The fifth level is Pi Tian, which is the first layer outside the range of ordinary human realms.

After crossing the ninth level of heaven lies the true domain of Heaven, so these five levels to eight levels serve as a buffer zone between the human realm and Heavenly Realm.

The dragons' roaming area is below the fifth level of heaven. If not for the Nine Dragons Palace being open, they generally wouldn't exceed the fifth level. According to Zhao Hongyu's explanation last time, dragon clans associated with wood, water, fire, and earth can only fly up to the seventh level, while gold dragon clans could reach up to the eighth level.

Hao Ren was brought by Zhao Guang to observe rainfall from the sky last time. It seemed very high but was still within the human realm's range at just two levels!

The altitude of an airplane is only above ordinary cloud layers, which is merely one level!

Considering this, one can imagine how high the fifth level is!

With Zhao Hongyu using her rarely used flying magical treasure "Kingship of Heaven and Earth," it still took half an hour to reach the fifth level!

Bang!

The seven-colored light from the Kingship of Heaven and Earth broke through a layer of pale blue spell array, reaching thick auspicious clouds above!

Fifth level of heaven!

Hao Ren stood on the Kingship of Heaven and Earth and looked around to find lush green mountains stretching endlessly!

This was an earthly paradise!

Zhao Hongyu stood in front of the Kingship of Heaven and Earth, oriented herself according to a direction, then controlled it to fly towards somewhere!

However, at this point, the pace wasn't as swift as before. The seven-colored radiance of the Heaven and Earth Map had also quietly withdrawn.

The Heaven and Earth Map floated among these mountains. Zhao Hongyu turned slightly towards Hao Ren and said, "The Nine Dragons Palace consists of a central Yuanlong Hall and nine other areas arranged in a circular formation, each with its own hall. They are: Qiu Niu, Ya Zi, Chao Feng, Pu La, Ji Zhen, Ba Xia, Gu Qian, Fu Qi, and Shun Kun. These represent the nine ancestors of our dragon tribe. When you enter the Nine Dragons Palace, you will appear at four entrances to the central hall. Our East Sea Dragon Palace is in charge of the eastern entrance."

"Understood," Hao Ren listened attentively, knowing that this mission was no simple task and could be crucial for the future development of the East Sea Dragon Palace.

"Here's a map." Zhao Hongyu retrieved a scroll from an unassuming ring on her finger. "It details the route to enter the central hall and also includes information about the other nine halls which we have already explored."

Hao Ren took the map, infused it with spirit energy, and unrolled it, revealing some very detailed and some vague sections of the map.

"This is a map that has been painstakingly drawn over generations by our East Sea Dragon Palace. It's extremely precious; make sure it doesn't fall into anyone else's hands," Zhao Hongyu cautioned Hao Ren.

"Understood." Hao Ren stowed the map away in his own dimension space, as he didn’t have to worry about Little White eating it since it wasn’t food.

“Since the Nine Dragons Palace can only be opened every fifty years and those who enter must be under a hundred years old, but too young is also a waste of an opportunity. Therefore, only cultivators with fifty or sixty years' worth of cultivation are given this chance, meaning no one has ever entered twice. I myself, along with Zhao Guang, have only been in once before, and the items we retrieved were quite ordinary," Zhao Hongyu said somewhat regretfully.

"Mom, my luck is really good! This time, I'm definitely going to get something great!" Zhao Yanzi shouted.

“Going inside isn’t a game. Although there are no traps in the Nine Dragons Palace, it’s not entirely risk-free,” said Zhao Hongyu sternly at Zhao Yanzi, causing her to immediately stop talking.

Zhao Hongyu looked at Zhao Yanzi and then turned towards Hao Ren. "Ancient grand formations have been laid out within the Nine Dragons Palace. Even though the Dragon Palace has been abandoned for thousands of years, these formations are still operational. The Yuanlong Hall is located in the center of the Nine Dragons Palace, while the nine small halls are distributed around it. However, their positions aren’t fixed; every time someone enters, they will find that the locations have changed. As each entry only occurs once every few hundred years and lasts for a brief three hours, along with the individual information possessed by the four sea dragon palaces not being shared among them, no one has been able to discern the pattern of how the small halls move—whether it's based on celestial movements or some other system. Whether you can enter which hall and obtain what treasures entirely depends on fate."

“What was Uncle and Aunt’s last entry into” Hao Ren asked.

"Our last visit was to Fu Qi Hall, where we obtained this Heaven and Earth Map," Zhao Hongyu replied.

"Only one item can be taken" Hao Ren immediately asked.

“No. How much you take depends on your abilities. Within the Nine Dragons Palace, everything except what's in the main hall cannot be moved; all other items are ancient treasures left behind and can be taken away. Originally, it was due to the inability of the four sea dragon palaces to fairly distribute the wealth within the Nine Dragons Palace that they came up with this idea of opening it only once every hundred years, sending just two new members each time to retrieve whatever fortune or skill allows them."

“Looks like Dad and Mom weren’t so strong back then,” Zhao Yanzi said proudly.

Zhao Hongyu smiled helplessly while Hao Ren looked at the expression on her face, thinking: ‘No matter how weak they were, it was certainly not as weak as this time around—myself and Zhao Yanzi, one a Step 6 cultivator just stepping up to Level 7, the other still without a dragon core’.

"In any case," said Zhao Hongyu bringing the topic back on track and speaking in earnest. "If you can obtain three ancient treasures or medicinal pills, it’s considered a great harvest; two is good enough while one would be rather unfortunate, but better than coming out empty-handed."

"Alright!" Zhao Yanzi and Hao Ren answered in unison.

By the time they were talking, the River and Mountains Diagram had already floated to the center of a circular valley. Below, several people had gathered on the grassland, among them Old Zeng and Zeng Yitao.

Zhao Hongyu controlled the River and Mountains Diagram and slowly descended.

"Mrs. Zhao!" The leaders from the South Sea and North Sea came over to greet Zhao Hongyu.

"Senior Xu, Senior Hu, it's been a while!" Zhao Hongyu smiled in response.

The number of participants was small; each Dragon Palace sent only two people plus one leader, totaling 2 individuals. The person partnering with Zeng Yitao was another boy who appeared to be about two years younger than him, seemingly serving as his scribe or training partner.

From the South Sea side were a man and a woman both around twenty-three or twenty-four years old; their fingers clasped tightly together, indicating that they were a couple. On the North Sea side was a strong boy and an older sister-like girl of similar age, who seemed to be siblings.

"Mrs. Zhao came so late; I thought you weren't brave enough to show up," Old Zeng said with a sidelong glance at Zhao Hongyu in a cold tone.

“Hehe, your West Sea is eager to open the Nine Dragon Palace, and how could we not come along " Zhao Hongyu replied coolly.

"Opening the Nine Dragon Palace is for new talents from the Four Seas' Dragon Palaces to participate in trials. But looking at you two, it seems like you don't have any talent left" Old Zeng squinted his old eyes towards Hao Ren and Zhao Yanzi before throwing out another sarcastic remark.

Zhao Hongyu restrained herself from arguing back and pretended not to hear him by shifting her gaze elsewhere.

Old Zeng was the highest-ranking and most powerful person here; without his engagement, Zhao Hongyu’s cold silence was a clear indication of her disdain.

The eight participants in this trial included Hao Ren and Zhao Yanzi from East Sea, who were Level 9 and no-level respectively;

the man and woman from South Sea were both rising stars in recent years who had already reached the Upper Rank of Level 8; thus, they had been paired for joint cultivation. In response to West Sea’s request to open the Nine Dragon Palace, South Sea had enthusiastically endorsed it hoping these new talents would take this opportunity to break through;

the brother and sister from North Sea were the eldest son and second daughter of the North Sea Prince, destined to inherit the throne; both already at Level 7, breaking through to Level 8 was a crucial milestone;

Zeng Yitao from West Sea had reached Level 7 half a year ago, with his scribe purely serving as assistance—upon entering the Nine Dragon Palace, all benefits would go to Zeng Yitao.

Hao Ren and Zhao Yanzǐ are indeed the weakest among the eight, even weaker than previous trial participants who at least had a cultivation level of the Trembling stage. Therefore, when Old Zeng mocked them, Zhao Hongyu could only pretend not to hear.

This time, with the Blade Year period not yet over and the Dragon Palace being opened again after just one Blade Year, the Four Seas sent relatively younger cultivators. After the Blade Year, there would still be another formal opening of the Nine-Dragon Palace, plus one more after a Rush Year. In other words, cultivators under Power Years could participate in this trial three times. This made it worthwhile for the Four Seas Dragon Palaces to send particularly young cultivators to try their luck.

"Hehe, it's about time; the Nine-Dragon Palace should be manifesting now," seeing the atmosphere somewhat unpleasant, Elder Xu and Elder Hu looked up at the sky and said in an attempt to smooth things over.

This time, the South Sea and North Sea were coerced by the West Sea into agreeing to this additional opening of the Nine-Dragon Palace. The West Sea's excuse was celebrating Zhao Kuo’s successful tribulation crossing in the East Sea. The East Sea had no choice but to go along.

Actually, this period is when the East Sea Dragon Palace is at its weakest: young talents haven't emerged yet; Azi hasn’t made much progress and still doesn't have a dragon pearl; Hao Ren has just started his cultivation journey; other inner disciples of the various sea palaces are ordinary. Opening the Nine-Dragon Palace now is most disadvantageous for the East Sea Dragon Palace.

Bang!

Just as Elder Hu and Elder Xu were looking up, a gigantic palace appeared in the sky, wider than an entire mountain range!

The overwhelming aura made everyone feel like bowing down!

Old Zeng muttered and raised a giant umbrella to temporarily resist this oppressive force.

The palace was grayish with no special features. However, the black lightning arrays around it warned that it should not be approached carelessly!

This area is almost as big as an entire city!

A small white array fell from the sky, and in each of its four directions appeared a circle: red, yellow, green, and blue.

"Azi and Hao Ren, go to the deep red circle on the east side," Zhao Hongyu instructed.

Zhao Yanzǐ was stunned upon seeing the Nine-Dragon Palace for the first time. Hao Ren pulled her over to the red circle.

“Little Azi, you are mine,” said Zeng Yitaocrossing his arms and standing opposite them in a green circle.

Bang!

The white light flashed, and the array patterns on the grass vanished.r stalls instead.Zhao Jiayin and his group felt a bit embarrassed. Although they had extorted Hao Ren into treating them to a meal, no one even asked any questions, which was rather disappointing."Gu...