Chapter 229: The Tattered Heavenly Dao Scroll

Chapter 229: The Tattered Heavenly Dao Scroll

The barrier around the Crystal Hall sizzled as dragon's blood dissolved it.

"Why is this barrier so thick? It's even thicker than the barrier around the Ancestral Dragon's Hall! Do I even have enough dragon's blood for this...?" Xiao Nanfeng wondered.

Fortunately, just as he was about to run out of dragon's blood, a hole had formed in the barrier large enough for him to pass through.

He wiped the remaining dragon's blood around the edges of the hole, then leapt through.

The hole closed up just as his body made it all the way in, sealing the interior of the Crystal Hall from the outside once more.

Xiao Nanfeng gasped in relief. He had almost faltered at a critical threshold, but fortunately, he had made it in the end.

The interior of the Crystal Hall shone with glimmering light. Everything seemed to sparkle. The entire hall appeared to be composed of precious crystals. The pillars of coiling dragons, an enormous dragon throne—everything formed of lustrous, shining crystal. The hall was lavish and ostentatious.

However, Xiao Nanfeng wasn't enraptured by the crystal. He knew that the most precious object had to be what lay in the middle of the hall—and perhaps the most dangerous, too. A huge mirror stood there, the height of two men, with countless crystals embedded on its back. It was particularly exquisite. A piece of tattered yellow cloth hung over the mirror's surface, covering all of it up. Where the cloth had frayed or formed holes, Xiao Nanfeng could see a small portion of his reflection. A lurid red dragon had been painted on the cloth's surface, and it seemed particularly sinister.

Xiao Nanfeng could sense a strong aura of intimidation imbued into the cloth. The blood dragon painted on it seemed to give off tremendous killing intent, as though warning him not to draw near.

"This yellow cloth is a talisman, isn't it? Is it sealing this mirror away?" Xiao Nanfeng murmured curiously.

Rather than step forward, Xiao Nanfeng carefully inspected the mirror and its surroundings. He searched the walls in case they held any hints. Unfortunately, there was no helpful text this time around.

"Madam Rouge, what's this mirror?" Xiao Nanfeng asked. nove(l)bi(n.)com

Madam Rouge's projection appeared again. She wrote, "You must be quite cautious if you haven't touched that mirror yet."

"Of course not! The barrier around the Crystal Hall is a few times thicker than around the Ancestral Dragon's Hall. The treasures within must be even more dangerous. I could easily get into trouble if I were to act rashly. What is it that you want?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

Madam Rouge didn't speak. She carefully examined the mirror in silence.

"What's the matter? Is something wrong with this mirror?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

It took some time before Madam Rouge wrote to Xiao NAnfeng, "The draconic palace is truly lavish. It has an incredible assortment of treasures—even something like this."

"Are you talking about the mirror, or this yellow cloth with a painted dragon?"

"Yellow cloth?" Madam Rouge scoffed. "Do you know what this is?"

"Isn't it just a bolt of tattered cloth? Is there more to it?"

"It's a scroll of the Heavenly Dao."

"The Heavenly Dao?"

Xiao Nanfeng waited for two whole hours as the red and black light gushed out of the token and the talisman, then fizzled away.

Suddenly, with an audible snap, a crack formed in Long Jiu's token. The majority of the dragon's might imbued within it had been consumed, and the token itself was falling apart. However, the blood dragon painted on the scroll of the Heavenly Dao had also faded to a surprising extent.

After another hour, Long Jiu's token finally vanished in a cloud of black fog as all the dragon's might within it was consumed. That black fog absorbed more bloody light as it vanished entirely.

Xiao Nanfeng retrieved Long Ba's token and held it up to the talisman.

Another two hours passed before Long Ba's token vanished in a cloud of black smoke as well. By then, the blood dragon on the scroll of the Heavenly Dao had been entirely consumed.

All that remained was a bolt of tattered cloth that hung loosely over the mirror.

Without the blood dragon rendering the mirror a talisman, it began to flap and furl, as though it could fall from the mirror at any moment.

"Can it be removed from the mirror now?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

"It can be hidden within your stellar lake. I advise you to immediately wrap any valuables on your body within it, bundle it up, then store it in your stellar lake."

"Why?"

"Something unexpected may happen."

"Something unexpected? What?"

Madam Rouge refused to explain. "Either trust me or don't."

Xiao Nanfeng frowned. "I feel like you've hoodwinked me..."

"After you store the scroll securely, all you need to do is stand before the mirror." Madam Rouge waited patiently for Xiao Nanfeng to do so.

Xiao Nanfeng thought it best to follow orders.

He removed the scroll from the mirror, which seemed perfectly ordinary. However, without any hesitation, he wrapped up all his treasures within the scroll and surrounded it with his spiritual power, as Madam Rouge had suggested, before storing it in his stellar lake. The scroll, like an ownerless possession, succumbed to Xiao Nanfneg's will without any hesitation.

"Now what?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

He turned around to find that Madam Rouge had vanished.

Xiao Nanfeng: ...

He felt as though the 'unexpected thing' that Madam Rouge had mentioned was just about to take place.

He carefully examined the mirror, but it didn't seem exceptional at all.

Suddenly, he narrowed his eyes. His reflection in the mirror was smiling in a sinister fashion.

He was certain he wasn't smiling; why was his reflection giving him such a ghastly smile? Goosebumps formed all over his body.