363 I’m Back!

On the Hilly Lands of The Wind in the Myriad Mountain Domain.

An Lin flew through the sky on dogback and was greeted by the sight of a series of tall mountains extending straight into the clouds.

"Big Brother An, are there really sexy women in there, woof?" Da Bai asked in disbelief.

An Lin replied with a serious expression, "Of course! There's a princess that's being held captive in the dark palace, awaiting her knight in shining armor to rescue her!"

"Dog-riding knight, woof!" Da Bai yelled excitedly.

In contrast to Da Bai's excitement, Xiao Chou and Xiao Hong were a lot more subdued. Xiao Chou couldn't go in anyway, so he was mostly just here for a change of pace, whereas Xiao Hong was lying peacefully in An Lin's pocket as always; it really didn't make much difference whether she was dead or alive.

On a tall mountain which extended straight into the sky sat the White Cloud Lake, which was surging with waves.

An Lin flew into the air above the White Cloud Lake and yelled in a loud voice, "Senior, Jiang Anlan, are you there?!"

His voice exploded over the lake like a clap of thunder. Jiang Anlan should definitely be able to hear him as long as he hadn't become deaf since the last time they met.

Xiao Chou asked with a quizzical expression, "Don't we have to capture a Rainbow Cow and use that as a sacrifice to summon Senior Jiang Anlan?"

An Lin smiled lightly in response. "Who needs all that when we're such great pals with one another?"

Boom!

A massive wall of water exploded from the lake, and a huge dragon with azure scales over a hundred feet in length appeared before An Lin.

"An Lin? Is that you?" The horned dragon faltered as he caught sight of An Lin.

The young man before him had been ingrained deeply into his memories. After all, this was the man who had emptied his treasure vault; it was difficult to forget someone like this.

"Haha, Senior Jiang Anlan, it's great to see you again." An Lin greeted Jiang Anlan with a smile.

"Long time no see, Mr. An Lin. What business do you have here?" Jiang Anlan didn't believe, even for a second, that An Lin was here just to visit him.

"Oh, Senior, I'm here to explore the ruins of the White Cloud Lake." An Lin cut straight to the point.

Jiang Anlan's lips twitched after hearing An Lin's response. "Again? Didn't you get kicked out by the mastermind last time?"

"Hehe, that's all in the past, I'm no longer the same person that I once was!" An Lin smiled confidently with battle intent burning like a raging flame within his eyes.

After all, he was now a powerful Spirit Nurturing Final Stage cultivator, and he had a myriad of trump cards to boot.

Were the Purple Star ruins still a frightening place to him? No way!

The ruins barred all Soul Formation Stage cultivators and above from entry. The reason why An Lin hadn't attempted to break through to Soul Formation Stage was just so he could empty these ruins!

If he couldn't plunder the 88th Purple Star Research Institute of all its treasures, then there was no one else in this world that could. At least An Lin had yet to encounter a Spirit Nurturing Stage cultivator that was more bada*s than himself.

"Alright, do whatever you like." Jiang Anlan conceded as he looked at An Lin's confident expression. He then turned his yellow eyes upon An Lin with a quizzical expression. "Where's the Rainbow Cow?"

"Haha, Rainbow Cows are very hard to find. We're old friends already, can't we just skip the formalities?" An Lin laughed with a confident expression.

The corners of the horned dragon's lips curved upward. "Hehe."

After that, he remained silent and didn't move.

Everyone fell silent.

The situation quickly became extremely awkward.

Da Bai was struggling to suppress his laughter. So this was the old friend Big Brother An was referring to?

Why did they seem like old enemies?

An Lin's chest tightened as he cursed Jiang Anlan for his dogmatic ways.

A pained expression surfaced on his face, and he retrieved ten dazzling white vital stones from his storage ring.

"Haha, Brother Jiang, I know you might not really be fond of things like this…"

As if he had something to say, Jiang Anlan's eyebrows perked up slightly at the sight of the vital stones in An Lin's hands.

However, An Lin continued his sentence at this moment, "However, I'm an extremely shallow man with nothing else but money… It's not every day that good friends like us get to reunite so this is a little present for you, I hope you may accept it…"

He passed the ten vital stones to Jiang Anlan as he spoke.

Jiang Anlan's expression instantly did a 180-degree flip after receiving the ten vital stones. "Haha, you're far too kind, Brother An Lin, please don't go to the trouble of bringing presents for me next time."

The horned dragon then transformed into a middle-aged man who stowed the vital stones into his storage ring with a gleeful expression. The two of them immediately began to converse freely with one another as if they were extremely good friends who had been reunited after a long time apart.

Da Bai's mouth fell open, and a gate seemed to open in his heart as he stared blankly at the scenes unfolding before him.

"Brother An, you obviously have important business to attend to, so I'll leave you to your work. Remember to be safe and I wish you the best of luck in your adventure in the ruins!"

Jiang Anlan parted the lake beneath them to reveal a metal gate before bidding farewell to An Lin.

"Alright, we'll meet again some other time!" An Lin waved toward Jiang Anlan in farewell before turning to Xiao Chou and said, "Xiao Chou, you'll have to stay out here and stand guard in case unforeseen circumstances arise."

Xiao Chou was already at Soul Formation Stage so he was unable to pass through the restrictive film of light into the Purple Star ruins.

After delegating the duties to Xiao Chou, An Lin rode through the blue film of light on dogback and entered the ruins.

Did An Lin lament over those ten vital stones? Not in the slightest!

He was confident that he would be able to get it all back a hundred-fold from Lin Junjun!

On the peak of the Cloud Mountain.

A woman with delicate brows was staring blankly at the canvas positioned before her.

"Achoo!" The woman sneezed out of the blue.

Huh? What's going on, is someone thinking of me?

Perhaps father or one of my sisters?

The woman shook her head with a smile before focusing her gaze once again on the canvas before her, but she could only continue to stare ahead blankly.

She had drawn many exquisite pieces of artwork, including beautiful scenery, vibrant life-forms, and a series of unforgettable images. She had many more images lined up in her mind for her to manifest onto the canvas before her…

But she suddenly didn't want to draw anything, and she was no longer capable of drawing anything either.

Had she gotten bored of drawing? Was she suffering from artist's block?

She didn't know.

Right at this moment, her voice transmission talisman suddenly sounded.

"Master Tianyu, there's another cultivator who has voluntarily come to explore the ruins of the 88th Purple Star Research Institute," Jiang Anlan's voice sounded from the voice transmission talisman.

"Oh," Lin Junjun replied dismissively. Ever since that experiment had progressed to the third stage, her requirements for information on the Purple Star inheritance had dropped significantly.

"Master Tianyu, aren't you curious about who it is this time?"

"Is that important? Regardless of who they are, just bring them to me for their reward once they succeed." Lin Junjun gripped her voice transmission talisman in a slender hand and was just about to end the transmission.

However, the words that came from the other side of the line made her falter in her movements.

"It's Mr. An Lin who has gone into the ruins," Jiang Anlan said.

"What? An Lin?!"

Lin Junjun's hands trembled as her expression took a drastic turn.

Meanwhile, within the Purple Star Research Institute.

Da Bai was extremely shocked at the scene before him after passing through the blue film of light.

"Holy f*ck! What kind of f*king ruins are these?!"

He was greeted by the sight of a cavernous hall with a spotlessly-clean, smooth, white metallic floor. The room was lined with intricate, artistic sculptures, creating an ideal combination of technological and antiquated beauty.

"Oh dear, aren't these the two Gundams?" Da Bai yelled again.

"Shhh… Be quiet!" An Lin patted Da Bai's head before making his way surreptitiously toward the mechanical creations hovering in the air before him.

These were the Purple Star technological products with the fused bloodlines of a hundred beasts…

A sly grin appeared on An Lin's face. He only had a chance to steal two Gundams before he was kicked out last time, so there were still three Gundams left. After seeing just how useful these Gundams were, how could he just give up on them?!

He whistled a cheery tune as vital energy began to gather on his fingertips. He then proceeded to carve out a series of complex veined patterns from memory in order to dispel the spatial barrier.

"Big Brother An…" Da Bai's voice suddenly sounded from behind An Lin.

"Shush, can't you see I'm busy?" An Lin waved his hand dismissively.

"But Big Brother An, you…"

"Tsk, let me finish what I'm doing first, stop interrupting me! We don't have much time, we'll both be screwed if the female tiger in here notices us."

"Big Brother An, if the female tiger you're referring to is this beautiful woman here, then we're already screwed…"

"Huh? What nonsense are you spouting now!?"

An Lin turned to look at Da Bai with an angry expression, but he was instead greeted to the sight of a woman in a flowing white dress, looking at him with a dainty smile…