Battle Through the Heavens: Starting with Cao Ying as an apprentice

The Fairy Doctor took a few steps lightly across the grass, carefully observing every inch of the land, and said, "But here..."

She paused, her voice tinged with uncertainty, and said, "It's all just grass."

Xuan Yi did not act rashly. She stood quietly at the edge of the grass, her peak Dou Zun perception spreading out like a spider web, carefully examining every subtle anomaly.

After a moment, she frowned slightly: "Something's not right. The spatial structure here... is too uniform, unnaturally uniform."

Su Baichen remained silent throughout, standing with his hands behind his back in the center of the grass. His white robes swayed gently in the breeze. He closed his eyes, and his spatial perception, at the Dou Sheng level, was fully activated.

After a while, Su Baichen opened his eyes again.

Wow, that spatial ability is amazing!

Su Baichen sighed inwardly: [They really hid it very well!]

"Did you find it?" Xuan Yi asked in a low voice when Su Baichen opened his eyes.

"No."

Su Baichen shrugged helplessly, turned his gaze to Zi Yan beside him, and said, "Your ancestor was probably already at the Dou Sheng realm in his lifetime, and his control over spatial power was far superior to mine."

"It seems I can only rely on you."

Upon hearing this, Zi Yan nodded slightly. She closed her eyes, held her breath, and a faint purple halo appeared around her.

Deep within his blood, a distant and ancient call is becoming increasingly clear and burning.

"Here!"

She suddenly opened her eyes, her golden-purple pupils gleaming.

Taking a few steps forward, Zi Yan reached out and gently probed the seemingly empty space in front of her.

The instant her fingertips touched it—

The space seemed to ripple like water, then quickly became illusory and transparent.

A dazzling golden light suddenly burst forth from nothingness, condensing into a semi-transparent light shield that isolated the scene inside.

"Spirit Beast Shield!"

Xuan Yi's pupils contracted slightly, and he gasped in shock. He then turned to the others and explained, "This is the final barrier that only an extremely powerful magical beast could create upon its demise. Only those of the same bloodline can possibly open it..."

At this point, her gaze fell on Zi Yan, her unspoken words clear.

Zi Yan met her gaze and immediately understood.

Without hesitation, she brought her index finger to her lips, her pearly teeth gently closed, and a trickle of crimson blood immediately seeped out.

She exerted her power, and a drop of blood, gleaming with a noble purple-gold luster, slowly emerged and hovered at her fingertips.

As the drop of blood containing the pure bloodline of the Ancient Void Dragon Royal Family fell, the seemingly impregnable golden light shield rippled violently, as if ice and snow were melting away.

The golden light receded inward, eventually transforming into a streak of light that, with a "whoosh," tore open a deep spatial rift in the air, revealing a stable entrance.

"go!"

Zi Yan sensed the increasingly powerful call from behind the crack, a call that resonated with her bloodline, and without hesitation, she stepped into it first.

Su Baichen, Xuan Yi, Cao Ying, and Xiao Yixian exchanged glances and followed closely behind, filing in one after another.

After a brief period of discomfort as they passed through the spatial rift, the scene before them suddenly changed dramatically.

The boundless ancient forest behind them vanished without a trace, replaced by a desolate plain stretching to the horizon.

The earth was a somber color, permeated with an ancient desolation. And in the very center of the plain, a majestic, ancient, and colossal altar stood silently.

The altar was built of unidentified gray-white boulders, its surface covered with the marks of time and mysterious patterns.

An indescribable pressure was spreading from the center of the altar, containing a terrifying ancient and powerful aura, as if a primordial beast was slumbering within.

"What...what terrifying pressure!"

Xuan Yi, Cao Ying, and Xiao Yixian almost simultaneously let out a muffled groan, their faces turning slightly pale.

This oppressive force wasn't directed at the soul or fighting spirit; it was more like an absolute crushing force on a life level, causing them to struggle to breathe and making the flow of energy within their bodies sluggish.

They had neither Su Baichen's unfathomable cultivation nor Zi Yan's shared bloodline protection, and at this moment they were as vulnerable as if they were carrying a mountain.

Su Baichen frowned slightly, and with a casual wave of his sleeve, a gentle and upright invisible force enveloped the three women, isolating them from the terrifying pressure.

The three of them immediately felt a sense of lightness and breathed a long sigh of relief.

At this moment, Zi Yan seemed completely unaware of the pervasive oppressive aura.

Her entire attention was completely drawn to what was at the top of the altar.

The boiling desire and yearning from the depths of her bloodline were burning her mind like raging flames. With a light touch of her toes on the wasteland, her figure transformed into a purple streak of light and flew straight towards the top of the altar.

Su Baichen moved slightly and followed silently.

At the top of the altar, instead of the expected coffin or remains, there was a flat stone platform.

In the soil in the center of the stone platform, a sapling no more than three feet tall was growing.

The sapling is entirely cast in purple gold. Although its branches and leaves are not lush, they exude a cold, hard metallic luster, making it appear mysterious and resilient.

At the top of the only slightly thicker branch, a fruit hung.

The fruit was about the size of a fist, with a deep and noble purplish-gold color, a smooth surface, and a subtle inner radiance.

What is most striking is that two lifelike phantoms naturally coalesce on either side of the fruit—one on the left and one on the right, with the shapes of a dragon and a phoenix surrounding and accompanying it.

The one on the left, with its scales and claws flying, is the form of the Ancient Dragon of the Void; the one on the right, with its magnificent wings, is the form of the Ancient Celestial Phoenix!

Although the sounds of dragons roaring and phoenixes singing could not be heard, the majestic aura of the ancient divine beasts that looked down upon the world was already overwhelming.

"This is……"

Zi Yan's breathing quickened involuntarily. She could clearly feel the blood in her body surging and roaring like boiling water, every bone and every piece of flesh emitting the most instinctive roar and desire—to obtain it! To swallow it!

Just then, Su Baichen's calm yet slightly solemn voice rang out beside her: "Dragon and Phoenix Origin Fruit."

He gazed at the strange fruit and slowly revealed its origin: "This fruit defies the creation of heaven and earth, truly a heaven-defying object."

"Its birth requires the simultaneous absorption of the life essence and bloodline essence of a fully grown Ancient Void Dragon and an Ancient Heavenly Phoenix, both at least at the Dou Sheng level, when they fell. Only after a very long period of time in a very special environment can it be conceived."

His gaze swept over the strange phenomenon of the dragon and phoenix entwined, and he said with certainty, "Moreover, even if these stringent conditions, which are almost impossible to achieve simultaneously, are met, the probability of it successfully condensing into its final form is..."

"Less than one-tenth!"

Chapter 280 Collecting the Dragon and Phoenix Ruins!

"Keep it safe and don't touch it!"

Su Baichen's voice carried an unusual seriousness, his gaze fixed on the Dragon and Phoenix Origin Fruit.

"This fruit has too much energy. In your current state, you might not be able to withstand it if you swallow it directly," Su Baichen said in a deep voice, his gaze falling on Zi Yan's eyes, which were already somewhat vacant and faintly glowing with a purplish-gold light.

"We must make thorough preparations, find a safe place, and set up an array to assist you before you can attempt to absorb it."

He remembered clearly—in the original trajectory, Zi Yan swallowed this fruit because of her blood pulse, and the resulting immense energy far exceeded her tolerance limit.

Not only did she fail to absorb it successfully, but an incredibly strong dragon and phoenix energy crystal layer condensed outside her body, sealing her entire body within it and plunging her into a deep sleep.

If Xiao Yan hadn't used various different flames to temper and refine it day and night, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Upon hearing this, Zi Yan swallowed hard, her small nose twitching slightly. The fruity fragrance mixed with the pure energy almost made her lose her composure.

She blinked hard, forcing herself to look away, and nodded emphatically, her voice strained with restraint: "I...I know! Don't worry, I can handle it!"

As she spoke, she took a deep breath, as if using all her strength, and her small hand swiftly reached out, her fingertips swirling with a faint purple-gold light, carefully picking the Dragon and Phoenix Origin Fruit from the sapling.

The moment the fruit was separated from the body, the entire altar seemed to tremble slightly, and the fragrance of the fruit became even stronger.

The moment Zi Yan held the fruit in her hand, before she could even savor the thrill of their blood connection, a flower bloomed before her eyes, and her palm was empty.

"I'll keep it safe for you first, just to be on the safe side." Su Baichen calmly put the purple-gold fruit that had suddenly appeared in his hand into the black storage ring on his finger.

A faint light flashed across the surface of the storage ring, isolating it from all other auras.

"You!" Zi Yan was stunned at first, then puffed out her cheeks, her big purple-gold eyes staring at Su Baichen, full of accusation.

"You really don't trust me that much?! I told you I'd hold back!"

"Of course I believe you!" Su Baichen glanced at her, his tone indifferent.

"Just in case."

But secretly, he thought: [I'd never believe you. This girl's "appetite" for rare and precious things is terrifying. If she actually gets her hands on one, and then loses control... that would be a huge problem.]

"Hmph! You big bad guy! An excuse!" Zi Yan stomped her foot angrily, leaving fine cracks in the ground.

How could she not hear the perfunctory tone in Su Baichen's voice? It was clear that he didn't trust her at all!

"Stop fooling around, we're not done with the important business yet." Su Baichen ignored the sulking Zi Yan and instead looked up at the magnificent and ancient altar beneath his feet.

The altar was built of unknown gray-white boulders, covered with traces of time erosion and mysterious runes, faintly exuding a desolate and majestic aura.

More importantly, beneath the altar...

With a slight thought, a warm white light flew out from between his eyebrows, spinning rapidly and transforming into a fist-sized, pure white pearl with an inner chaotic color—the Heavenly Profound Pearl.

"Huh? Master, what are you up to now?" Cao Ying's beautiful eyes flashed with curiosity. Little Fairy Doctor and Xuan Yi, who were standing to the side, also turned their attention to her.

Su Baichen did not answer, but simply pointed his fingers like a sword and pointed in the air.

The Heavenly Profound Pearl trembled slightly, and then a soft yet magnificent dark light beam erupted from the pearl, instantly enveloping the entire massive altar!

Om-!

A deep rumble echoed from the depths of the altar, as if a colossal beast that had slumbered for millennia had been disturbed.

The next moment, to the astonishment of Cao Ying, Little Fairy Doctor, Zi Yan, and Xuan Yi, the entire ancient altar, which covered a vast area and stood dozens of feet tall, along with the countless runes engraved on it, began to tremble violently!

On the surface of the altar, the mottled stones and mysterious patterns rapidly became ethereal and transparent in the mystical light...

"This...this is?!" Xuan Yi's pupils contracted slightly as she sensed an indescribable spatial fluctuation.

In just two or three breaths, the tremor reached its peak, and then, with a humming sound that seemed to come from ancient times, the huge altar vanished into thin air!

In its place, only a huge, smooth, and perfectly circular basin, hundreds of feet deep, remained, as if it had been precisely bombarded by a meteorite from outer space, with the soil and rocks at the edges exhibiting a glassy state of molten and then solidified.

At the bottom of the basin, two enormous, intertwined shadows could be faintly seen, emanating a chilling, lingering pressure, but the marks themselves had already faded away quickly.

The moment the altar disappeared, the entire ruins space seemed to lose a crucial support point and began to shake violently!