"According to the deduction of our predecessors, this is the backbone of the alternative dragon," Helian Xunxue said.
The backbone, whether for humans or Demonic Beasts, was the very most important bone. It was even more important than the skull. If this was the backbone of a dragon, then no wonder it was capable of connecting the heavens and the earth.
"The dragon's might is gone." Ling Han pressed his hand down on the "colossal tree". The bone patterns were translucent white, and even though it had experienced who knew how many millenia, it was unscathed. Yet, there was no longer any little sliver of the aura of an elite circulating within.
Otherwise, if such an important part like the backbone randomly released a sliver of aura, most likely any ordinary cultivator in the ninth layer of the Shattering Void Tier would be suppressed so much that his legs would become weak.
"Don't be careless. Although this place does not have dragon's might, as long as you ascended to a certain level, there would be an intimidatory effect. Furthermore, the higher you go, the more terrifying this intimidation would be," Helian Xun Xue warned.
As if giving a demonstration for her words, peng, they saw a person fall down from above. He landed solidly, and was directly shattered into pieces. He was a member of the Sea Race, but was not one of the True Dragon Bloodline. Instead, he was a prodigy of the Willow Octopus Race. There was not a single bone in his entire body, and his race was known for being hardy and possessing strong recovery abilities. Yet, he had lost life here.
"Ah!" Another person fell down, but this time, he did not die. However, at least half of all the bones in his body had still shattered, and blood poured from him like pillars. Soon enough, his blood had dyed the ground underneath him crimson.
He struggled to get up, and forcefully used his Origin Power to condense his broken bones. He took out a few alchemical pills and swallowed them before he sat down in a cross-legged position and began to refine the medicinal effects to heal his wounds.
This bone tree was really too big. Perhaps there would be people falling down from it at every instant, and they merely had not seen them due to their limited field of vision.
"Do you want to enter the Black Tower?" Ling Han asked Helian Xun Xue.
"Heng, are you looking down on me?" Helian Xun Xue asked with displeasure. In any case, she was the bright pearl of the north sea, and her current battle prowess was possibly even superior to Ling Han's.
Ling Han raised his hands with a smile, and said, "Ai, you are unable to tell good from bad. I just care about you, so I wanted to let you have the chance to take a rest."
"No need!" Helian Xun Xue immediately began to climb up the bone tree. Her speed was extremely fast, and in a short while, she had rushed up to more than three hundred metres in height. However, very soon, her speed slowed down.
"Hu Niu, let's go too."
"En!" Hu Niu nodded crisply, and together with Ling Han, started climbing.
As expected, when they had reached about three hundred metres, there was a slight pressure exuding from the bone tree. Because no one could fly here, and they could only climb up the tree, they had to hold onto the branches tightly, and were forced to withstand this kind of pressure at every single moment.
Facing pressure of this level, Ling Han and Hu Niu naturally paid it no heed. They both transformed into lightning, and quickly climbed up the tree trunk as fast as if they were lightning.
Helian Xun Xue was not slow, either. She had not only learnt the Thunderclap Ninth Heaven, but she herself was a super genius, and the height of her talent was in no way inferior to that of Xu Xiu Ran and his group.
Over two hours later, they had passed a considerable number of people on their way. Some were still okay, and merely concentrated on climbing the tree. However, there were some that actually attempted to attack Ling Han and the others. Then, Ling Han would naturally have no reservations, and moved with no mercy. He shook these people that could not control their hands down the tree, and it would be up to fate whether they lived or died.
Ling Han and the others became slower and slower. By now, they had already climbed up two-thirds of the tree, and the dragon's might was becoming stronger and stronger, which caused even Ling Han and Helian Xun Xue to sweat bullets.
Only Hu Niu was completely nonchalant. At one moment, she would scuttle high up, and in the next, she would climb down and urge Ling Han to pick up his speed.
Ling Han thought that if one was to lay an ambush at the entrance to the third floor, the effects would be extraordinary, and the chances of falling for the trap was possibly more than ninety percent. However, this backbone was really too big, so who knew where the target would climb up from. Thus, if one wanted to lay an ambush, they would at least need a few thousand people to form a circle.
Furthermore, every single one of them would have to have battle prowess at the peak of Heaven Tier, or still would not be able to do anything against Ling Han.
However, Hu Niu was completely unaffected by the dragon's might, and with this scout, who would be able to ambush them successfully?
Their speed became slower and slower, but after another two hours, the three of them still reached the top of the bone tree and entered into the third floor of the Ghostly Dragon Cave.
The environment here was different again. All around them, they were surrounded by bare mountain rocks, but every rock was crimson in color—from afar, it looked like a land of blood, but also like a burning sea of flames.
Crimson was the main color tone of this place, and aside from it, there was no other color here.
"Dragon's Blood Grass would also grow in the cracks of the rocks here," Helian Xun Xue said. Although they had already gathered over a hundred, and furthermore, also had an abundant supply of tree hearts from the Blood Locust Tree Men, this kind of treasure would never be too much.
Ling Han nodded. As the tree of them journeyed on, they continued to search, but did not waste too much time on their way. After all, the main focus of this journey was the True Dragon's Tooth. This was the most valuable treasure. If they wasted too much time here, when the closing time of the Ghostly Dragon Cave arrived, they would be thrown out. Then if they wanted to come in again, that would be something for five hundred years later.
Their luck was not too bad, and they had quite a considerable harvest on their way. This naturally was because Ling Han had used the Eye of Truth, and could see through everything—big or small—clearly, which naturally contributed greatly.
In this way, their speed would definitely be affected, but the Ghostly Dragon Cave would be open for at least half a month every time. And they had only spent five days here by now, so no matter what, they still had about ten days left.
"There's a big guy up ahead!" Ling Han withdrew his gaze, and rubbed his eyes. He had been using the Eye of Truth continuously these few days, which made his eyes feel slightly sore, which in turn was quite uncomfortable.
"Could it be the Demonic Ape?" Helian Xun Xue mumbled to herself. When she saw Ling Han's questioning expression, she explained, "The monsters on the third floor mostly look like a kind of ape or monkey. However, according to deductions, these are possibly the fleas of the alternative dragon, and were formed after absorbing the dragon's blood."
Ling Han could not help but wear a strange expression as he asked, "Such a powerful creature like the alternative dragon would still have fleas?"
"When it was in its prime, of course not. But in its old age, as its life waned, it might not even have been able to move a single finger. By then, it would be normal to have fleas," Helian Xun Xue explained.
The Dragon Race had a very long lifespan, and even in its old age, with only a single breath left, it might only really die after another eight to ten years. Then, it did not seem that strange to have parasites feeding off it in that period. Just like the Bloodworms on the first floor, they probably were also bizarre mutations given life in its old age and when its life declined.
"The fleas absorbed the dragon's blood, and actually could grow to a height of about thirty meters. That is really quite amazing," Ling Han said, smiling. "However, this huge flea is sitting there motionless as if it is guarding some kind of treasure. Who knows, there may be yet another Dragon's Blood Grass."
"Come, let's go and take a look."
They walked on, and in a short while, they saw that there was indeed a huge red monster crouching ahead of them. It had the shape of a monkey, but had six limbs, so indeed, it still looked more like a flea. And underneath this flea, there was a huge blood-colored rock, which had a much deeper color than the other rocks.
Helian Xun Xue was slightly excited as she asked, "Could it be the True Dragon's Bloodstone?"