Chapter 477 486: Celestial Dragon Garden

Yang Wuji's courtyard was in a dilapidated state. This was, of course, because the man had attempted alchemy numerous times, and the countless cauldron explosions had taken their toll.

Fortunately, however, his cultivation chamber was built from Profound Stone. It could withstand the blasts and was the only building in the entire courtyard that remained perfectly intact.

At this moment, Yang Wuji invited Ye Tian inside and carefully took out two scrolls from a box.

Yang Wuji didn't open them right away. Instead, he looked at Ye Tian with a serious expression and said, "Ye Tian, I am willing to share my greatest secret with you. I won't go into the reasons why. I have only one condition: this matter must remain between you, me, heaven, and earth. Without my permission, you absolutely cannot tell a third person!"

Ye Tian thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

At that, Yang Wuji slowly unrolled the first scroll.

As the scroll opened, four ancient, bold words came into view: Soul-Locking Pill Formula!

"This is the Pill Formula for the Soul-Locking Pill. Let me first tell you its origin."

Yang Wuji organized his thoughts for a moment before continuing, "The greatest secret of the Imperial City Academy isn't what it appears to be on the surface. Everyone thinks the Empire recruits all sorts of talented people and trains them for the sake of the Empire's future, to have them serve it loyally. But that's not the whole story. That's only part of it. The more important reason is for a place called the Celestial Dragon Garden!"

"The Celestial Dragon Garden?"

This was the first time Ye Tian had heard this name. Neither the information Luo Chen had given him nor anything Zhang Xinlan had told him mentioned the Celestial Dragon Garden.

"That's right! The Celestial Dragon Garden is the Celestial Dragon Empire's greatest secret and the very core of the Imperial City Academy. However, ordinary students are not qualified to enter. Only those who pass the assessment and earn the right to become an instructor get the chance to enter the Celestial Dragon Garden.

The instructors of the Imperial City Academy have one chance to enter the Celestial Dragon Garden each year. If they haven't discovered its secret after three years, they can only leave the academy and join the Empire's military or government."

As he said this, Yang Wuji's gaze shifted to the second scroll on the table.

"The secret of the Celestial Dragon Garden? Does this have something to do with the Soul-Locking Pill?"

Ye Tian quickly connected the two.

"Yes, that's right. The secret of the Celestial Dragon Garden... Since the Imperial City Academy was founded, countless instructors have entered, but no one has ever truly discovered its secret. And I... I've only found a few clues.

You could say that if one can't unravel the secret of the Soul-Locking Pill, then one can never know the secret of the Celestial Dragon Garden. Therefore, only by solving the mystery of the Soul-Locking Pill can one obtain the subsequent clues. Before you arrived, I studied it for a whole year. Although I managed to refine the Soul-Locking Pill, for some reason, it had no effect at all!"

Hearing Yang Wuji say this, Ye Tian understood. 'So that's why this all-around genius suddenly decided to specialize in the Alchemy Dao.'

'And his desperation to know how I made the Soul-Locking Pill work... his ultimate goal is related to the Celestial Dragon Garden!'

While Ye Tian was lost in thought, Yang Wuji unrolled the second scroll.

When the scroll was opened, it revealed a tattered and incomplete map with very faint markings.

Yang Wuji gave Ye Tian a deep look and said, "I found this in the Celestial Dragon Garden. It has an inseparable connection to the secret in the core area of the garden. I'm tentatively calling this place the Dragon's Nest. But for ordinary people, forget about entering to explore its secrets—they can't even get close!"

After hearing so much from Yang Wuji, Ye Tian had a good grasp of the situation. He picked up the map scroll, studied it carefully, and said, "So, one must consume the Soul-Locking Pill and use its effects to be able to truly enter the Dragon's Nest within the Celestial Dragon Garden?"

Yang Wuji nodded. "Correct. The rest of the Celestial Dragon Garden is completely empty. So if there is a secret, it must be inside this Dragon's Nest!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Tian couldn't help but recall some of the things Zhang Xinlan had told him. The Imperial City Academy was not as peaceful and simple as it seemed on the surface; it held a secret so profound that even the Holy Lands would be tempted by it.

Thinking of this, Ye Tian suddenly asked, "Back when you discovered this fragmented map and the Soul-Locking Pill Formula, did anyone else find them?"

Yang Wuji pressed his lips together, a flash of anger in his eyes, as if recalling something that infuriated him. "Yes," he said. "Those bastards... they were too strong! After entering the Celestial Dragon Garden, they banded together. I was no match for them alone. I fought with my life on the line just to snatch one of the three Pill Formulas. As for the five map fragments, they took three of them!"

"The people you're talking about... are they Zhang Rufen, Xue Lingyan, and Tang Murong?"

Ye Tian listed three names. They were three people from the academy instructor files. Zhang Xinlan had told Ye Tian that these three were representatives from the Holy Land, each representing a powerful Sect!

Although they are three independent Sects, they form a tightly-knit alliance. Especially when dealing with the Shen Li Palace, their combined power is almost enough to match it, making them a formidable rival.

"How do you know that?"

Yang Wuji was stunned. 'Ye Tian has only been at the academy for a few days. He couldn't have guessed so accurately.'

"You don't need to worry about how I know. Just tell me if I'm right or wrong. Also, you mentioned three Pill Formulas and five map fragments. If I recall correctly, there should be one more map fragment and one more Pill Formula in someone else's hands, right?"

Ye Tian was now extremely concerned with the secret of the Imperial City Academy. He had a faint feeling that this secret would affect his future success or failure in the Holy Land!

Ye Tian trusted this intuition implicitly. Because of the Soul Refining Pearl, his soul had gained a new ability: premonition!

Because his soul wasn't strong enough yet and his control over the Power of Soul Origin was too limited, his premonitions weren't very clear. However, according to some notes in his Soul Skills, once his Soul Power was cultivated to the Late Stage, he could even foresee the tiniest details of events thousands or even millions of years in the future—he could even predict where and when a single leaf would fall...

But Ye Tian didn't dwell on it. After all, he was too weak, and that level of power was still impossibly distant.

"You're right. You should be familiar with that person. He's from the Ouyang Family."

The mere mention of the Ouyang Family was enough for Ye Tian to understand. A name immediately came to his mind—a name that shone like the scorching sun in the Ouyang Family, in the academy, and throughout the entire Imperial City: Ouyang Yeyu!

"Ouyang Yeyu. It seems it was him."

Ye Tian said with certainty.

"That's right. Neither Ouyang Yeyu nor that gang of domineering bastards are people to be trifled with. And according to the news I've received, an unusually powerful person has arrived among this year's new students. His arrival made those bastards overjoyed. The Soul-Locking Pill that they couldn't successfully refine even after a year of dedicated research was concocted by that new student in a single day!"

When Yang Wuji reached this point, Ye Tian's brows furrowed deeply. He knew clearly in his heart that the reason he could make the Soul-Locking Pill fully effective was because he cultivated Soul Fire.

'And now someone from the Holy Land can also achieve this? Could it be that they've also mastered Soul Skills and cultivated Soul Fire?'