"Oh, you finished already?" Lan sat on a reclining chair in the middle of the snow-covered landscape. He seemed as if he was enjoying himself greatly.
His face had been looking up at the clouded sky all this time. His lips were curled into a slight smile which grew in size when he spotted them in the distance.
"Revenge does not always take a long time," Xue Wei said honestly. "I am from the Kingdom of Heping, but it is for the best that I do not meet my old acquaintances after killing so many of their kingdom’s most important people."
"So you have a bit of reason left within you," Lan praised while nodding his head. "Well, in that case, I will create a transdimensional tunnel for you," he said and stood up in an elegant fashion.
Lan was as always wearing white clothes with blue embroideries of a snake with four wings – a mingshe. Mingshes were known as treasure hoarders, and the mingshe on Lan's clothes was embroidered with blue thread.
As to whether or not this meant that Lan had something in common with the beast, since he too seemed to enjoy hoarding treasure, or if there was another reason, Xue Wei did not know, but he realized that all the clothes the prophet had worn so far had had this four-winged snake as a pattern.
Lan seemed to notice his glance, but he said nothing and just smiled. "So how is a transdimensional tunnel made?" Xue Wei asked curiously. As far as he was aware, he and the others were not going to leave the dimension they were in, so how could it be called a transdimensional tunnel?
"This tunnel is similar to the one used when leaving this world," Lan said seriously; for once the smile on his lips had vanished. "If I were to make a normal space tunnel towards the Demon Phoenix Continent, it would take you at least a year or two to arrive, but the transdimensional tunnel can expedite that down to only a few months."
"The reason it is so much faster is that you will actually be leaving our dimension and traveling through the void. This is extremely fast, but it is also quite dangerous," Lan continued.
"Dangerous?" Xue Wei frowned. Why had he not mentioned this before?
"Well, I did mention the spatial storms, right?" Lan asked. Xue Wei had a pondering look on his face. It did sound somewhat familiar.
"Anyway, if you have not heard about it before, then let me explain it now. Spatial storms are dreadful because they consist of heavenly tribulation lightning. It is impossible to survive if you get blindsided by one, but it is quite rare to encounter a spatial storm. So hope for the best!"
"Maybe we should take a spatial tunnel instead?" Xue Wei asked with a little vexation. He did not like the idea of hinging his chances of surviving the trip on luck. Certain death was something he was not a big fan of.
"They can appear in spatial tunnels, too," Lan grinned, "but don't worry. The storms move very slowly. So even if you see one, you should be fine as long as you don’t get caught. You should be able to outrun it."
Xue Wei thought through the pros and cons and finally nodded his head with gritted teeth. "I cannot make a decision for the others as this is a question of life and death," he began, "but I understand that with rewards come certain risks. If I want to get to the Demon Phoenix Continent faster, then I ought to take said risk and hope to not encounter any spatial storms."
"I am with you," Hei Gou said casually. He would follow Xue Wei anywhere, as he was his most trusted friend.
"I am also going," Bai Tianyi said with a slight smile on his face. Even if he encountered heavenly tribulation, he would not die.
Lin Xiao was the one who was quiet for the longest time, but then he spread out his arms in defeat. "Life has been boring for me," he said smilingly, "so I might as well risk my life and go to another continent. If I don't make it, then I can only blame my bad luck, but if I make it, then I will be able to experience a whole new world. That will be so exciting! So I am going with you too."
"So four people are going through the tunnel," Lan summarized and smiled with a nod of his head. "That will require a rather large tunnel. I guess I should lend you one of my treasures," he said, and suddenly a small miniature carriage appeared in his hand. It looked like a toy carriage and was only around ten centimeters high and long.
The carriage did not have anything pulling it. It was made from gold and looked incredibly exquisite. Four blue phoenixes decorated its four walls.
"I stole this before I left home," Lan said with a snicker. "Actually, I stole many treasures from my father before I left home, but he never bothered coming to pick them up again. Now I will lend you this carriage. It is called the Blue Phoenix Carriage."
Xue Wei looked at the carriage very curiously. What could a toy carriage like that even do?
But the moment it left Lan's hand, it expanded until it was a full five meters long and two and a half meter tall. The carriage was massive!
"You can ride this," Lan said smilingly. "Before you leave the transdimensional tunnel, just send it back and it will return to me naturally."
Xue Wei felt great gratitude towards Lan for taking out such a marvelous treasure to make their travels much smoother.
"Don't mind it," he said when he saw Xue Wei was about to thank him, "just get me the Thunder Flame Crown. I don't want anything else."
Lan grinned. Xue Wei suddenly had the feeling that this crown would be much harder to get than his initial estimations. If it was easy to get, Lan would not constantly remind him about it. He also would not be as helpful as he was.
Xue Wei grit his teeth, feeling that he had been cheated by Lan. Was it even possible to get the Thunder Flame Crown?
Still, he was not going to mention it out loud. He had already agreed, and even if Lan had tricked him, he had his pride. He was going to do everything in his power to retrieve the Thunder Flame Crown for Lan.
"When you are inside the Blue Phoenix Carriage, you will be safe from basically everything apart from a spatial storm. As soon as the carriage senses a spatial storm close by, it will change course and find a different path through the tunnel."
Xue Wei nodded his head. This was truly a great boon. "In that case, I will see you when we return to the Chang'an Continent," was Xue Wei’s note of departure, but Lan just smiled mysteriously. "We might see each other before then," he said and laughed. "I might come visit you at some point to see how it is going with the Thunder Flame Crown."
Xue Wei could feel a headache coming his way. Lan was truly outrageous. There was no way that he could not get the Thunder Flame Crown if he wanted to do it himself, but he clearly did not want to and instead sent Xue Wei to do it for him.
"Oh right," Lan suddenly looked at Xue Wei. "I almost forgot! If you can, get close to the Vermilion Bird Clan. They are at the Demon Phoenix Continent, and they have something that can prove to be very beneficial to you."
"The Vermilion Bird Clan?" Xue Wei was surprised. "I am an Azure Dragon. What exactly does the Vermilion Bird Clan have that could be of use to me?"
Lan smiled mysteriously but said nothing. It was clear that he did not want to tell the young man just yet.
"Get ready to go now!" Lan grinned. "Also, remember, your mother was the holy maiden of all beasts. There was a reason for this. You definitely have to visit the Vermilion Bird Clan."
“Also take this,” Lan tossed a ring to Xue Wei, who caught it out of the air. When he saw it, he recognized it right away. He was stunned. This was the heritage ring that his uncle had given him. Why did Lan have this?
Unfortunately, he had no time to ask before Lan repeated, “Vermilion Bird Clan!” and then turned around, clearly not willing to talk any longer.
Xue Wei was extremely puzzled, but seeing how Lan had offhandedly given him the heritage ring and that he had kept reminding him quite a few times about the Vermilion Bird Clan, he could only nod his head. He had no idea what he was supposed to in the Vermillion Bird Clan, but hopefully he would find an answer when he got there.
"Thank you.” Xue Wei said to Lan, who just raised his hand and waved dismissively.
“Well then, one thing at a time," Xue Wei said with a sigh. "Let us first get through this transdimensional tunnel and survive. Then we’ll find the Thunder Flame Crown, and while we’re at it, we’ll find the Vermillion Bird Clan."
"Seems like we have a lot of exciting adventures in front of us." Lin Xiao grinned when he heard Xue Wei sum up their plans, and even Hei Gou and Bai Tianyi gave excited looks.
"Ever since I split the world into continents, I have not been away from the continent of Chang'an," Bai Tianyi complained slightly. "I am excited to see how the other continents have developed throughout the many years."
Having said this, the group of four stepped up the small ladders into the carriage. All of them were shocked when they saw the luxurious interior. The four sides of the carriage had four benches, big enough for one to lay on them and sleep comfortably. Fierce and Primordial Beast furs were laying all over the benches and cushions made from the finest silks were also placed everywhere.
The only thing that was lacking for this to be the most extravagant ride was refreshments, but considering that it was a carriage that grew in size, it made sense that there were no such things.
They each took one of the benches and sat down. Lin Xiao began cultivating. Bai Tianyi also began cultivating, but he quickly stopped as the carriage entered into the transdimensional tunnel. There was no such thing as soul power within this tunnel. There was only heaven-and-earth essence here, and it was even denser than the essence in the center of the Chang'an Continent. This could perhaps very literally be called heaven for Qi cultivators.
Xue Wei pondered for a moment before he looked at Hei Gou. "So far, we have mutated your bloodline once," he said. "We are going to mutate it one more time, but we needed somewhere safe to do it all this time. I don't think that we will find any place safer than here."
"Although there is a chance we might run into a spatial storm, the truth is that the carriage will try to avoid it on its own. We should be fine so long as we are inside."
Hei Gou's eyes shone in excitement. He had been the weakest of their group for a long time, but it was likely that he would jump in cultivation base and once more become a reliable support for his friends with that second mutation.
Xue Wei and Hei Gou each cut a long wound on their arms. The blood from Xue Wei’s arm dropped into the wound on Hei Gou's arm and mixed with the blood within. A sizzling sound could be heard as the blood mixed. Hei Gou suddenly started grimacing in pain.
Sweat poured out from his forehead and he was clenching his teeth so hard that Xue Wei feared that they would shatter. His eyes bulged, his body trembled, and he collapsed on the ground, his entire body spasming.
"Seems like the second mutation is much more perilous," Xue Wei said with worry. It was definitely different from last time, but he was not too worried. He was certain that Hei Gou could make it through, and what waited at the end was a much greater and more fearsome version of him!
All the heaven-and-earth essence in the surrounding tunnel was drawn to Hei Gou. It poured into him like a maelstrom, and his body was greedily absorbing it all. He kept panting in pain and sometimes released a groan.
Xue Wei, Lin Xiao and Bai Tianyi were all observing the changes in Hei Gou with rapt attention. They were clearly worried that something might go wrong.