People fight and become emperors in advance

Chapter 188 High Priest

Chen Xiao had always believed that for cultivators, there was no difference between night and day, and the impact was minimal.

But when he actually experienced it once, he found that the so-called cold night was so long and unbearable. Although it was only a few hours, it felt like he had endured ten days or half a month.

"There are people on the streets. It seems the cold night is over. I really don't know how they've gotten used to this kind of life." Sensing people coming and going outside, Little Fairy Doctor shook her head and sighed softly.

"Perhaps they have never experienced the night, so they don't have the same sense of disparity as us. Their pace of life is slow, and the atmosphere for cultivation is not strong, but they live a very leisurely and carefree life. In their eyes, this place may be like a paradise."

Accustomed to a fast-paced life, Chen Xiao and his companion felt out of place in this small world.

Shaking her head slightly to clear her mind, Little Fairy Doctor withdrew the Netherworld Poison Fire at Chen Xiao's signal.

As expected, even without the Netherworld Poison Fire, the fusion of the Purple Spirit Cold Qi and the Battle Qi within the body proceeded smoothly.

At this moment, the Bone Spirit Cold Flame is in its extremely hot state!
Chen Xiao became increasingly certain and even more curious about where the Bone Spirit Cold Flame was hidden.

The sound of light footsteps came from outside, followed by a knock on the door.

"Big brother and big sister, are you awake?"

"Xingyao, you can't call me that like that."

The familiar children's voices reached my ears; they belonged to the two little saintesses.

The door opened, and Little Fairy Doctor and Chen Xiao walked out. Looking at the two girls' innocent smiles, the slight irritation in their hearts instantly vanished.

"Qinghuan, Xingyao, you're here."

"Yes, yes, we have already reported to the High Priest, and the High Priest has invited the older brothers and sisters to a gathering at the temple."

Qinghuan tugged at Xingyao's sleeve, feeling that it was a bit presumptuous to address him like that on the second day after they met.

Xingyao struggled with her wrist, determined to go her own way.

"Thank you. We'll have to trouble you to take us there. Xian'er and I don't know the way."

The two girls nodded at the same time and immediately stepped forward to lead the way towards the tallest palace in the city center.

"Qinghuan, Xingyao, it seems you haven't started cultivating yet?"

“Yes, the High Priest doesn’t allow us to cultivate. He said we can only start cultivating after we turn ten,” Qinghuan nodded and explained.

“Every Holy Maiden is like this, but once we start cultivating, our speed will be very, very fast, because every Holy Maiden in the past has been the most talented person in the Dream Realm!”

Xingyao's little face was filled with pride. She was already looking forward to the scene of catching up and surpassing everyone.

What was said in jest was taken seriously by the listeners. Chen Xiao and Little Fairy Doctor were somewhat puzzled by their words.

"How is talent determined before cultivation even begins?"

This seems like a paradox; it clearly doesn't make sense.

Upon hearing this, Xingyao shook her head slightly, uncertainly saying, "It seems that everyone in the Dream Realm shares the same bloodline through bloodlines, but I don't know the specifics."

Chen Xiao and Little Fairy Doctor nodded, "That's a good idea."

Just like dragons beget dragons and phoenixes beget phoenixes, those with stronger bloodlines obviously have an advantage, although there may be exceptions, but those are low-probability events.

"What about the previous saintess?"

"I don't know. Every Holy Maiden goes to a certain place when she turns thirty and never comes back."

Qinghuan shook her head, her little face filled with confusion.

Perhaps they will only be told this when they reach a certain age.

Chatting along the way, the four of them soon arrived at the foot of the majestic temple.

This colossal palace covered an area of ​​several hundred feet and soared into the clouds, visible from any open area in the city.

The atmosphere inside the temple was not solemn; there were still many people moving around, chatting and laughing. Two girls led Chen Xiao and Little Fairy Doctor in, greeting them constantly along the way.

After another ten minutes or so, the four of them climbed to the top floor and arrived at a study that looked extremely ordinary.

"Come in, no need to knock."

Just as Qinghuan raised her small hand, an old voice came from inside the room, and an invisible sense of vicissitude seemed to rush towards her.

Chen Xiao and Little Fairy Doctor both noticed that Xing Yao, who had always been quite lively, had become serious after arriving here, making it increasingly difficult to distinguish between her and Qing Huan.

Pushing open the door, a huge desk came into view, directly opposite the entrance. A slightly plump old man with white hair and beard was kneeling on the desk, writing something.

Apart from this table, the room contained only bookshelves filled with books and scrolls, resembling a small library.

As the four people entered, the old man looked up at them.

His eyes weren't as murky and weathered as one might imagine; instead, they shone with a clear brightness. A smile graced his face, as gentle as a spring breeze. The moment their eyes met, the description of him as "kind and approachable" from Qinghuan's words involuntarily surfaced in Chen Xiao and Xiao Yixian's minds.

"High Priest."

"Yes, Qinghuan, Xingyao, you two go and rest first. Let me have a chat with you two." The High Priest nodded and smiled.

The two girls agreed and left the study together, making sure to close the door behind them.

"Please have a seat, my two guests who have come from afar. I know you have many questions, and I can answer them one by one without reservation. With your abilities and knowledge, you can judge whether what I say is true or not."

Without much formality, the high priest invited the two to sit down and got straight to the point without beating around the bush.

Everyone who comes here is full of doubts; he's long been used to this situation.

Chen Xiao and Little Fairy Doctor nodded; the High Priest's behavior made them feel more at ease.

This high priest was the only Dou Zong powerhouse they sensed, whose apparent cultivation level was only comparable to Chen Xiao's, far inferior to Little Fairy Doctor.

Little Fairy Doctor looked at Chen Xiao, leaving everything to him. She would only supplement anything Chen Xiao had missed.

Chen Xiao then organized his thoughts before beginning to ask questions one by one.

"To be honest, High Priest, before entering this Dream Realm, I thought it was a ruin, but after entering, I discovered that it was more like a secluded little world than the rest of the world."

The high priest nodded slowly, his gaze slightly raised, as if he were recalling something.

"Your conclusion is correct; this is indeed a small world."

"Let me tell you a story. After you hear it, many of your questions may be answered."

"More than 100,000 years ago, many imperial clans were active on the Dou Qi Continent. Each of their clans had produced a Dou Di, and they possessed the bloodline of the Dou Di. However, the bloodline of the Dou Di cannot continue indefinitely. If no new Dou Di is born, it will decline over time until it is almost indistinguishable from ordinary people."

Chen Xiao nodded; he knew these secrets too. Of the eight ancient races on the Dou Qi Continent, the Xiao Clan existed in name only, and the Spirit Clan and Stone Clan were struggling to maintain their Dou Di bloodlines, making them far weaker than the other ancient races.

After the Soul Emperor's millennium plan was launched, the Spirit Clan and the Stone Clan were also targeted.

"At that time, there was an imperial clan called the Bai Clan. Their Dou Di bloodline had declined to the extreme, and their status had plummeted. They were even targeted by some imperial clans and regarded as fish on a chopping board."

"Finally, one day, those imperial clans made their move. The Bai clan was far inferior to their opponents and suffered heavy losses. Their small world was breached, and a calamity of annihilation was about to unfold."

"But at this moment, a top expert made a move. Although he was not a member of the imperial clan, he possessed strength no less than that of the patriarchs of the imperial clans, and even surpassed them. He came to the aid because he had a past relationship with the Bai clan."

"With such a powerful figure standing at the pinnacle of the continent protecting them, those imperial clans, though unwilling, had no choice but to retreat. Another important reason is that they could all see that this powerful figure was nearing the end of his life. At this time, no one dared to offend him. They only needed to wait for him to fall so that they could still annihilate the Bai clan."

By this point in the story, Chen Xiao and Little Fairy Doctor already had some guesses.

The so-called Bai people are very likely the people from the Dream Realm!

The high priest's voice rang out again: "That powerful figure also understands his own situation and cannot protect the Bai clan indefinitely. Moreover, he has already done more than enough by intervening once."

"However, seeing the millions of Bai people still remaining, he couldn't bear it and immediately decided to help them one more time. So, he told the Bai chieftain at the time that he could grant him one wish if he could do so."

"It is impossible to verify what the Bai chieftain was thinking, but his wish was to ensure the survival of the Bai people and prevent them from being targeted by the covetous imperial families again. He was willing to pay any price for this."

“That powerful man was a man of his word; he kept his promise and did everything perfectly.”

"He spent several years carving out an independent little world on the remote edge of the continent, secretly relocating the Bai people there. He found the Bone Spirit Cold Fire, which already possessed sentience, and used secret techniques to control it, making the hot and cold transitions of the Bone Spirit Cold Fire regular. From then on, when the Bone Spirit Cold Fire was in an extremely hot state, it was daytime, and when it was in an extremely cold state, it was cold night!"

"After doing all this, that powerful figure completely sealed off the small world. People inside could not get out, and people outside could not get in. It was completely isolated from the world, and only a powerful figure of equal strength could break through it."

"The Bai people are very lucky. Countless years have passed and they have not been found by those imperial clans. However, given the current state of the Bai people, it is impossible for them to produce any more top-tier experts."

"Time is a terrible thing. It can wear everything down and make people forget everything. 180,000 years have passed, and the Bai people have continued for countless generations. People who know these stories have also died one after another. A lot of the ancient books that recorded them have been lost or destroyed, and there are fewer and fewer left."

"In this generation, only one person in the entire small world knows everything, and the number of others who know that the real world is outside the small world is very small."

At this point, everything is out in the open.

The Dream Realm was created by that powerful being.

The only person who knows these secrets is the high priest standing before us!

After the high priest finished telling the story, he sighed softly.

If one hadn't seen it with their own eyes, who would have imagined that a clan that once produced a Dou Di powerhouse could be so weak that its strongest member was only at the Dou Zong level?

Even the Xiao Clan outside only had a gap of about a thousand years before another Xiao Yan emerged.

The Bai people have been worn down to this state by time.

This small world both sheltered them and restricted them.

As Chen Xiao and Little Fairy Doctor processed this information, many of their doubts were resolved.

This small world is indeed remarkable, and the Bone Spirit Cold Flame truly exists.

"Doesn't that mean that this Bone Spirit Cold Flame in the Dream Realm has been growing for at least 180,000 years?!" Little Fairy Doctor was shocked.

"It's not that terrifying. This Bone Spirit Cold Flame is controlled by that senior, so it can no longer absorb energy to grow freely. It can only rely on instinct. Moreover, if it cannot devour other flames to strengthen itself, the growth rate of the strange flame is not fast."

Different flames take a hundred years to form and a thousand years to become sentient; they cannot be viewed using human time concepts.

Not to mention a strange fire that has lost its mind and is completely controlled, its growth rate will be greatly reduced.

But in any case, this Bone Spirit Cold Flame is definitely much more powerful than the one controlled by Yao Chen!
Having dispelled Little Fairy Doctor's doubts, Chen Xiao turned to look at the High Priest opposite him.

“The High Priest just said that this Dream Realm is neither a place to enter nor a place to leave, but why were Xian’er and I able to enter? And before us, others had come here.”

"The problem is very simple. Even if a small world created by a peak Dou Sheng expert is not stabilized, it will eventually break down. That senior foresaw this and set up a large array in the small world. Every ten years, the array will be activated to absorb the energy of heaven and earth from the outside world. Incidentally, it can also replenish the small world. The two of you just happened to be there when the opportunity of Purple Spirit Cold Qi was drawn into the small world. The same was true for the previous ones."

Once every ten years, that's 18,000 times every 180,000 years!

This number sounds terrifying, but in this remote and sparsely populated Arctic sea, it might not happen for decades. The probability of encountering the great formation absorbing energy is even lower.

This explanation is somewhat far-fetched.

Putting that matter aside for now, Chen Xiao continued to ask, "According to Qinghuan and Xingyao, the Holy Maiden of the Dream Realm will leave at the age of thirty and disappear without a trace?"

Chen Xiao strongly suspected that this might be related to the test he was concerned about.

Upon hearing this, the Grand Elder shook his head and sighed silently.

"Actually, they didn't disappear without a trace; they all died."

"In ancient times, the Bai people had no choice but to live in seclusion in order to survive. But now, probably few of those imperial families have survived. Even if they have survived to this day, they have long forgotten these grudges. The Bai people can come out of the world now."

"However, without sufficient strength, even if we want to leave, we are powerless. The only way is to obtain the inheritance of that senior, which would give us a glimmer of hope. Before he passed away, that senior also came to this world and set up a test. Perhaps he anticipated that the descendants of the Bai clan would want to leave, so he left behind a sliver of hope."

"The trials set by a powerhouse of this caliber are far too difficult for the Bai Clan today. Previous Holy Maidens all perished during these trials. Qinghuan and Xingyao, what about their future…?"

The high priest shook his head, a trace of sorrow flashing in his eyes, as if he had already foreseen the ending.

Chen Xiao and Little Fairy Doctor exchanged a glance, both feeling a bit strange.

If that's the case, then Qinghuan Xingyao should have started cultivating earlier, so that she could improve her strength more and increase her chances of passing the test.

However, the two girls are clearly of age to start cultivating, but they have to wait until they are ten years old, which is obviously illogical.

Unless, of course, that test doesn't care about strength!
Having doubts in their hearts, neither of them spoke of them explicitly.

Faced with the current situation, they asked, and the high priest replied, "Which statement is true, which is false, or perhaps all of them are false? You must discern for yourselves."

If you believe everything others say, you'll only end up being taken advantage of and still helping them count the money.

"Can we participate in this test?"

"Naturally, the others who came in before also made the same choice. After all, few people can resist the temptation of inheriting the legacy of a peak Dou Sheng expert, but they still failed. If you two are interested, you need to be mentally prepared."

"Thank you, we will consider it carefully and inform the High Priest once we have made a decision."

Chen Xiao nodded in agreement, not making a hasty decision.

The information we have now is all from what the high priest said, and it is too one-sided.

"That's only right. If you two have any other concerns, you can come to me anytime."

(End of this chapter)