"So you don't know how to get into the Thunder Pond Sanctuary either, huh?"
After following Feng Yuan around near Thunder Pond for quite a while, Pei Yu said disdainfully. Xiao Ji on top of Feng Yuan's head glared angrily at Pei Yu and turned its head only to find Feng Yuan speaking to the Dreaming Dragon Baby. The furious Xiao Ji pecked directly toward the Dreaming Dragon Baby lying on Feng Yuan's shoulder.
"Ow! Xiao Ji, what are you doing? It hurts!"
"Ji!"
The Dreaming Dragon Baby floated up and dodged Xiao Ji's attack before it could hit. Xiao Ji viciously pecked Feng Yuan's shoulder instead, and seeing Feng Yuan rubbing his shoulder, Qi Chen said with a laugh,
"Are you still planning on raising the Dreaming Dragon Baby? Be careful, it might cause a ruckus."
Feng Yuan glanced at Qi Chen dismissively and said,
"We're roommates, so you won't be able to escape if Xiao Ji causes trouble."
"Uh..."
"Keep your Xiao Ji in check! Don't let it make a mess in the dorm."
Seeing Xiao Ji fighting merrily with the Dreaming Dragon Baby, Feng Yuan sighed helplessly and said,
"How am I supposed to manage it in its current state?"
"Roar!!!"
Seemingly hurt by Xiao Ji's peck, the Dreaming Dragon Baby howled angrily. As it did so, the entirety of Thunder Pond suddenly started to tremble,
"No way?"
"How did you know we needed the Dreaming Dragon Baby?"
"This is truly unbelievable."
"Tch, just a fluke."
As everyone watched an altar slowly rise in the middle of Thunder Pond with an ancient stone door at its center, archaic stone stools surfaced, forming a pathway from the pond's edge to the altar. They looked at the Dreaming Dragon Baby in surprise, and finding that Xiao Ji was no longer chasing it, the Dreaming Dragon Baby floated over to Feng Yuan's other shoulder, stepped around on the clothes to make itself a nest, then continued to sleep,
"Ji!"
"Hey! Xiao Ji, don't be mischievous! You just pecked me so painfully and now this again!"
"Ji!"
As Xiao Ji prepared to rush over and continue attacking the Dreaming Dragon Baby, Feng Yuan quickly grabbed Xiao Ji, who struggled and wriggled in his arms. Feng Yuan then had no choice but to placate Xiao Ji with comforting words.
After a while, noticing that Xiao Ji had finally calmed down, Feng Yuan placed Xiao Ji on top of his head and looked at the stone door covered in archaic mossy patterns and said,
"Let's go take a closer look."
"How did you know the Thunder Pond Sanctuary required the Dreaming Dragon Baby for entry?"
After examining the patterns on the door for a bit, Zhong Liuyan looked at Feng Yuan, somewhat puzzled. Feng Yuan rubbed Xiao Ji's head on his and said,
"I guessed. Considering all the legends about Thunder Pond have always been related to dragons, and since we have a dragon-related Dreaming Dragon Baby, of course, we should come and try."
Feng Yuan said and reached out to touch the door. The Dreaming Dragon Baby yawned, emitting a faint light, and as the light brightened, the stone door opened slowly on its own.
"Coming for an adventure?"
Feng Yuan said with a smile, inviting everyone. Qi Chen, unsatisfied, looked at Feng Yuan and said,
"Enough, now that we've found the gate, we can go back. There's less than half a month until the school competition, and if you cause any trouble now, Squad Leader Chen will go crazy."
"It won't happen! According to various legends, there are no records of the Thunder Pond Sanctuary harming anyone – it should be safe."
"I also think this secret realm isn't dangerous. Secret realms with special access restrictions are typically defined by those restrictions in terms of danger, and since this one is likely to require a dragon-related Spirit Beast, it probably relates to inheritance or a race-exclusive secret realm of sorts, so there's not much chance of danger."
Zhong Liuyan looked somewhat tempted as she gazed across. Feng Yuan said with a smile,
"Right? So I'm heading in first then."
"Hey!"
As Feng Yuan took the lead and walked through the stone doorway, the others hurriedly followed. With the group's entrance, the stone gate closed slowly, and the altar gradually sank back into the water.
"Ah! We're too late!"
"Strange, who opened the Thunder Pond Sanctuary? Really, it's all because you guys were too slow."
"Jun Yu, did you finish collecting the data?"
"Not yet... on it now!"
Upon hearing the middle-aged man next to him, a short-haired youngster by Thunder Pond quickly dropped his backpack, rummaged through it, and started collecting data with his equipment. Meanwhile, an energetic long-haired girl ran to the pond's edge and summoned a pale blue miniature crocodile,
"Shallow Blue Crocodile, go into the water for a recon, and share your vision."
After a pale blue glint appeared in the Shallow Blue Crocodile's eyes, it dove into the pond. A while later, the woman retrieved the disappointed Shallow Blue Crocodile and said,
"There's actually no trace at all."
"If it were so easy for you to find it, Thunder Pond Sanctuary wouldn't be a legend."
The middle-aged man said with a laugh, casually picking up the preliminary data the youth had handed him and started analyzing it.
"This is the Thunder Pond Sanctuary?"
Seeing the various tall trees beside the stone path, Qi Chen said with some surprise. Feng Yuan looked at the runes sketched on both sides of the stone path and said seriously,
"It seems it's not without danger."
"What!"
Hearing Feng Yuan's words, Qi Chen quickly turned around, only to find that the Gate of Light they had come through had disappeared. Seeing Qi Chen's reaction, Feng Yuan said with a smile,
"Don't worry, as long as we don't leave the stone path, there's no danger."
"What did you find?"
Zhong Liuyan looked at Feng Yuan with some puzzlement. Feng Yuan pointed at the runes sketched on the stone path and said,
"See those runes? They are the special runes of the Yimu Qingling Path."
"Yimu Qingling Path?"
"It's the path humans used to take when they worshiped the Divine Beast Yimu Qingling in the past. After all, unlike now, aside from a few highly dangerous areas, there weren't many dangers. And since the Temple of Yimu Qingling couldn't be located within human residential areas, the Yimu Qingling Path was created to ensure the safety of humans who went to worship Yimu Qingling. Walking on the Yimu Qingling Path, other Spirit Beasts generally wouldn't attack you."
"Eh? Then why don't modern railways and such have this?"
"How would you set that up? Establishing the Yimu Qingling Path requires the permission of Yimu Qingling, and nowadays, apart from the Divine Beast Hall, who else can easily get the permission of Divine Beasts?"
"Ji!~"
Feng Yuan said with a smile, rubbing Xiao Ji's soft belly. Everyone curiously observed the runes at the edge of the stone path. Pei Yu simply took out his phone and, together with Duomeng, started taking photos at the edge of the stone path. Seeing Pei Yu do this, the others followed suit and whipped out their phones to take photos with the Yimu Qingling Path as a keepsake.
"Alright, done taking photos, let's go back and make them envious~"
Feng Yuan put away his phone contentedly and signaled for everyone to move forward. Xiao Ji, who felt somewhat disgruntled because the Dreaming Dragon Baby was always perched on Feng Yuan's shoulder during the previous photo session, now sat discontentedly on Feng Yuan's head, gazing around.
"I guess the destination should be the Yimu Qingling Temple,"
Feng Yuan guessed along the way. Zhong Liuyan asked with some curiosity,
"Why have we not heard of such a thing nowadays?"
"Because establishing a Beast Path requires communication between Divine Beasts and the Spirit Beasts around them, ah. Now that Divine Beasts no longer need to find contract partners through worship, of course, they won't set up new Beast Paths. And with the decline of the original Temples, the old Beast Paths have gradually deteriorated. It's quite normal you haven't heard of them."
"But how come you know about this stuff?"
"Guess~"
"Tch, I bet you saw it in the history section of the Maomu Grand Library, right? That's the only place you guys can dig up such information."
Pei Yu said disdainfully, looking at Feng Yuan who was calming down the slightly angry Xiao Ji and said,
"If you think it's that way, then so be it~"
"Alright, alright, Pei Yu, enough talk,"
"Hmph!"
After walking a good while more, they were almost at the end of the Beast Path. Looking at the buildings in the distance, Feng Yuan couldn't help but sigh,
"I actually guessed wrong."
"What?"
"The end is actually not the Yimu Qingling Temple."
"How can you tell? You already know it's not before seeing the plaque?"
Looking at the cluster of buildings not far away, Feng Yuan said exasperatedly to Pei Yu,
"The Yimu Qingling Temple could only have one main hall. Those are a cluster of buildings ahead; how could it possibly be the Yimu Qingling Temple?"
"Just because you say it's not, it isn't? Maybe they just have a special style?"
Feng Yuan shook his head and did not argue with the stubborn Pei Yu.