Chapter 215 Minor Hanger-On

required time accumulation and external stimulation.Little White chirped in Hao Ren's arms. Hao Ren simply tossed it into the Dimensional Space where Little White, after eating its fill, had even rel...Chapter 215: A Minor Drag~~

After a dizzying sensation, Hao Ren and Zhao Yanzǐ appeared on a barren piece of land.

The surroundings were shrouded in misty white fog, much like the early morning forest, where the air was slightly humid with poor visibility, only allowing for objects within one or two meters to be seen clearly.

Hao Ren and Zhao Yanzǐ wore thin Taoist robes and felt a bit chilly. Hao Ren activated his Concentration Formula to fend off the cold, but he managed fine. However, Zhao Yanzǐ, having lost her Dragon Pellet, shivered uncontrollably and was struggling.

Hao Ren quietly took hold of her small hand; she tried to struggle free but felt a warm current pass through her palm into her body, realizing Hao Ren was warming her up. She thought about it for a moment and placed her hand back in his palm willingly.

For the first time entering the Nine Dragons Palace, Hao Ren did not act rashly and stood still, taking out Zhao Hongyu's map to examine carefully.

Zhao Yanzǐ looked up at Hao Ren and then took out a mini compass from her bracelet, pointing in one direction, "This is east."

Hao Ren turned his head to look at her, thinking that she was finally useful. Once the direction was confirmed, he could orientate the map correctly. According to Zhao Hongyu's account, their location should be east of Yuanlong Hall, meaning they needed to proceed in a westerly direction.

"Follow me." Hao Ren put away the map and pulled Zhao Yanzǐ towards the opposite direction of east.

Zhao Yanzǐ was reluctant to be dragged along and walked hesitantly with uneven steps, resembling a minor burden or "drag oil bottle."

"Ah Zi," Hao Ren suddenly stopped and turned around to look at her.

"Hmm" Zhao Yanzǐ lifted her head.

"Firstly, I want to make something clear with you. Our entry into the Nine Dragons Palace is not for leisure. Secondly, as you've seen, those who can enter the Nine Dragons Palace are chosen talents from the Four Great Dragon Palaces after rigorous selection processes. The Nine Dragons Palace only opens every few decades, and it's not easy to gain access."

Hao Ren stared at her seriously, speaking slowly and deliberately.

Zhao Yanzǐ pouted. Hao Ren then continued, "Lastly, my purpose for entering the Nine Dragons Palace is not just to take a look around; I want to collect some divine pills to see if they can help restore your third uncle's strength."

Zhao Yanzǐ, who initially had an attitude of not wanting to listen to Hao Ren’s lecture, suddenly paused upon hearing his last sentence and bit her lip slightly.

"Three hours, or six hours in total, which is roughly the duration of afternoon classes. Therefore, during this time period, I don’t want you throwing tantrums. What we are about to do relates to whether your third uncle can recover his strength, as well as whether West Sea will have an advantage over us."

Hao Ren’s expression was incredibly serious. Zhao Yanzǐ looked at him and gradually tightened her lips.

"Let's go," Hao Ren tugged on her small hand and continued walking forward.

This time, Zhao Yanzǐ didn’t dawdle but quickened her pace to keep up with Hao Ren.

She turned her head to look at Hao Ren. Seeing the serious expression on his face, she suddenly felt that… Hao Ren can be quite handsome too.

Hao Ren was checking the map while silently counting the steps he took; using a stride of 500 centimeters and multiplying it by the total number of steps could estimate the distance from the teleportation point to the Yuanlong Hall.

These data might not be useful this time, but collecting them were important parameters nonetheless.

Zhao Yanzǐ didn’t know what Hao Ren was muttering. If she knew that he was calculating distances, she would secretly admire his meticulousness.

Perhaps because it was an abandoned dragon palace, the overall atmosphere was somewhat eerie, with thick white fog restricting visibility. Zhao Yanzǐ held onto Hao Ren’s palm, feeling the warmth flowing from him while leaning closer to him.

"Azi, are we off course" Hao Ren asked her.

"Hmm!" Zhao Yanzi took out the compass and looked at it, "Right, still heading west."

"12859 steps, that should be about 6000 meters," Hao Ren calculated mentally. "At a walking speed of five kilometers per hour, even if we quicken our pace, an hour has already passed."

Having thought this far, Hao Ren said to Zhao Yanzi.

"What An hour has already passed" Zhao Yanzi was startled.

"Let's pick up the pace!" Hao Ren tugged on Zhao Yanzi and jogged forward.

As Zhao Yanzi ran, she put away her compass. She hadn’t expected that an entire hour had already passed just from walking!

Although they needed to conserve energy in Jiulong Palace, time was also crucial!

Moreover, the ancient formations inside the Jiulong Palace were still operational, meaning they couldn’t use any spatial traversal techniques here!

Even walking was exhausting! Zhao Yanzi didn't feel it because Hao Ren kept transferring spirit energy to her. However, Hao Ren knew clearly that with each step he took, his own spirit energy was rapidly depleting!

This seemingly ordinary brownish-yellow wasteland was far from simple! If not for constantly counting the steps and absorbing the qi in this space to convert it into spirit energy, Hao Ren would have long since been unable to move a single step forward!

It was definitely because of these reasons that only people around fifty or sixty years old could enter Jiulong Palace before. Younger individuals were never allowed inside, even if they had the opportunity to enter it twice—there wasn’t enough spirit energy in their bodies for the palace ground's consumption!

In this process of running, Hao Ren felt his spirit energy pouring out from within him like a flood.

The originally scarce spirit energy quickly dried up!

Hao Ren hurriedly stopped and took a few deep breaths, realizing he had only run about two hundred steps!

"What's wrong You can't run anymore already" Zhao Yanzi turned back in surprise to look at Hao Ren. From her understanding, his stamina should be better than hers!

Hao Ren released her hand and said, "Try running yourself!"

"Running is not difficult at all!" Zhao Yanzi was the school's track champion after all; she flung her arms and started running.

She only managed to take five or six steps before feeling a heavy pressure pulling on her legs, causing her to collapse onto the barren land with a thump.

Hao Ren couldn't help but smile at her disheveled appearance and walked over to pull her up.

Blushing red, Zhao Yanzi only realized at this moment that Hao Ren had been carrying her, a burden, using all his spiritual energy to walk such a long distance!

"Let's go." Hao Ren held her delicate hand and said gently.

Zhao Yanzi nodded, but noticed that her cheeks were warm at the same time.

Feeling warmth in her palm as well, Zhao Yanzi looked back at Hao Ren while walking and asked hesitantly, "Am... Am I quite a burden"

"Huh" Hao Ren was momentarily puzzled before looking at her again. "No, you know how to read the compass, right"

The originally blushing Zhao Yanzi suddenly pouted and made an angry face, baring her white teeth. "Do I only know how to read a compass!"

"Come on, come on. Whether or not you're a burden, today I've been dragging you along anyway." Hao Ren quickened his pace and squeezed Zhao Yanzi's soft palm in his hand, leading her westward.Ren's left hand, then coalesced into a palm-sized water drop.Boom.The giant droplet splashed back into the bucket of water, reconstituting it as a full bucket once again, while the dark yellow dust ba...