The other side of the path led to an open area in the shape of a dome with a height of almost a thousand metres and double the width. The space was lightened by hundreds of Fire-Ice crystals stuck into the walls.
There was a huge lake in front with a small island in the middle, just a few tens of meters in size.
Over the island was a semi-transparent flower which was even brighter than those Fire-Ice crystals. No doubt it was the Yin-Lotus flower, beautiful as expected.
But its beauty was just as dangerous, to protect itself from thieves it had made a boundary around the whole Island which would be impossible for even Mahayana Realm experts to cross if they didn't practice Yin-attribute cultivation technique.
Even if they managed to cross the boundary, there was a Mortal-grade 3-star Silver formation waiting for them which was an even more difficult barrier.
And the most terrifying part was the Earth-fire Flood dragon deep down inside the lake which would wake up the instant someone enters the island.
The Yin-Lotus was even more important to him than for anyone, once he crossed the Heavenly Tribulation successfully the Yin-Lotus would be used to construct his new human body after balancing the Yang-attribute inside of him.
Only when Yin and Yang are balanced can a demonic beast become a spiritual beast. That's the reason all Yang attribute beasts are close to a Yin treasure and vice-versa.
When Tian said that he didn't want to fight him to death, that was never an option. Stealing the Yin-Lotus was even more foolish than crossing its territory. Ofcourse he didn't tell Lin Yingmei this or she might have changed her mind.
They both arrived near the lake, Lin Yingmei started to feel a little nervous after all she knew that she was taking a huge risk.
Tian gave her a little tap on her shoulder while handing her a talisman, " Even though it shouldn't be that dangerous, I don't want to put your life at risk. If things get out of control just use it and you'll be teleported out of the Thousand-Beast-Valley."
By the time she knew what was going on she was already standing on the island with the talisman in her hands. She didn't know what to feel about it, her master had already given her a teleportation talisman. But Master Tian was so nice and was thinking of her all the time when she was thinking of deceiving him.
A sudden outburst of energy woke her up from her thoughts , the violent waves indicated that the battle had already begun. Even though the water was crystal clear, nothing was visible from outside which meant that either it was too deep or there was an arch inside.
She put all her thoughts in the back of her head and entered inside, just after a few steps she felt an invisible barrier stopping her. It was the boundary that Tian had warned her , she circulated her Sect's core technique, "Jade Lotus Purity Mind" and felt the barrier disappearing .
But just as soon as the barrier disappeared, her Soul started to freeze. The Yin-Lotus was known for its Soul nourishing effect as Soul was considered of Yin-element. But this one had was already 100,000 years old and was fully matured, it became so potent that it could freeze someone's Soul directly.
The only reason she was barely standing was due to her Special Physique "Nine-Yin-Meridian-Constitution". It may seem similar to Shen Ziyen's Physique but actually they were different. What was the difference? We'll know soon.
Biting her lips to stay conscious she took the treasure her master had given her. It was a cubical box with ancient patterns over its surface. She didn't know where did her Master got this from, but this was definitely a Heavenly treasure.
The shockwaves from the fight were already gone and this made her worry, ' Did something happen to Master Tian?' she wasn't worried about her safety anymore but for Tian's.
She got to work fast and put the cube on the ground, it gave a dull shine as it started reading the formation. It took only five seconds for that, and it opened with a click sound. Inside was a small flag with runes flickering over its surface. The flag flew over to a specific place and stabbed into the ground.
With a buzz the formation was disabled, she quickly got near the Yin-Lotus but she was about to fall any moment. She took a Black wood box, the same as Zhao Li used but it was made of only 10,000 years old wood. But even this was considered a treasure in any Major Sect.
Though it can't suppress the 100,000 year old Yin-Lotus, but she can only neede to keep it their for some time before she gave it to her Master. Softly plucking the flower she kept it inside and as an additional layer of safety she put a suppressing talisman over the box which she got from her master too. Sometimes she would wonder how did her master had so many rare things.
She kept the box inside her space ring then only she breathed some air. This was so dangerous that she was still shaking a little, a little more delay and her Soul would have frozen completely and she would have died.
After this all was over she sat down in meditation to regulate her breathing and control her disorderly qi. Twenty minutes later she opened her eyes and stood up in a good conditions, some parts of soul were still frozen but it was nothing life-threatening.
She looked towards the lake again hesitating, ' It's been so long since the fight is over, did something happen to him?'
She was genuinely worried because she thought that this was her fault in some way too. She wanted to go down and check but thinking of how she was going to explain about the Yin-Lotus, she didn't know what to do anymore.
__
Deep inside the lake near the bottom there was an arch with a sideway, it led to an separate open space with no water. It was an air pocket, but still about one-tenth of the dome above. There was just some shallow water with an old tree in middle. It looked like a Plum tree with pink leaves occasionally falling down.
A straight halo of light was coming from the ceiling over the tree making it more picturesque. Near the tree there was a small beast about five metres long and a metre tall while resting. It had beautiful red scales and a pair of curved black horns, a whip like tail.
Tian was sleeping next to it peacefully with Ren lying on his lap. It was indeed a peaceful scene. That's what everyone would think.
But Lin Yingmei who came down and saw this didn't think so, her eyes were twitching and her fists were making a cracking sound. She had never felt so irritated in her life.
Taking a deep breath she walked near Tian, her arrival made the Beast open her eyes slowly as she took a glance at the newcomer, this made Lin Yingmei shudder as she felt a heavy pressure on her. But the Beast soon lost interest and closed her crimson eyes again.
With a sigh of relief she went next to Tian but didn't know what to say.
"Come sit here" Tian said giving a tap near him with his eyes still closed.
She went and sat next to him still puzzled, by now she knew that Tian was aware of all the things from start. But she didn't understand why he did such thing?
" Come closer " before she could ask anything, Tian already spoke. She wanted to refute but thought why bother anymore, and just stuck close to him.
For a while no one spoke, she also liked this kind of peace and didn't want to break it. The faint moonlight falling over the Plum tree and the sound of water drops falling in a rhythm. It made her feel good and relaxed.
She was already tired after she took the Yin-Lotus and then she had to come down so deep with her heart full of worry, but now it seemed like nothing mattered anymore, she just relaxed and felt asleep.
Don't know how much time passed when she opened her eyes again slowly , her head was resting back on the Little dragon's body which gave her a fright.
" Don't worry, Little Red doesn't mind. She likes peace as long as no one disturbs her." She heard Tian's voice next to her, he was rubbing his Little cat's belly and playing with her claws. He was smiling like he didn't care about anything else.
Lin Yingmei was at a loss of words, it looked like he didn't want to explain anything! But she had to know !
Taking a deep breath she looked at him intently, " Master Tian, please explain me what's going on."