Upon hearing this, Ji Jiuying's first thought was of Gong Mingyue. She raised her hand to glance at the Phoenix Frost Bracelet, her eyes flickering slightly.

Ah Yue, is that you? Even if you lose your memory, you'll still protect me, right?

Feng Che and Yin Han exchanged a glance, a guess forming in their minds, but...

Ji Jiuying struggled to sit up and weakly asked, "Senior Long, I wonder if those who intercepted the Heavenly Punishment will be harmed?"

The horned dragon glanced at Ji Jiuying, and remembering that she was the master of the Kunpeng, it said in an annoyed tone, "Of course it will. Such behavior is going against the heavens. Those who intercept the heavenly punishment will suffer double the backlash. If their strength is not strong enough, they may even be annihilated."

Ji Jiuying didn't pay attention to the horned dragon's tone. When she heard that she would suffer double the backlash, her heart ached and her eyes were full of worry. She wondered how A Yue was doing.

Now that the divine punishment had passed, Feng Che and Yin Han put away their spiritual weapons and simultaneously removed the array and barrier. Sensing something in her chest, Ji Jiuying looked up at Feng Qingxue. Although she had just fainted, she was still conscious and naturally knew what had happened.

Although this was her first time encountering the Heart-Protecting Scale, she guessed that it was a rare treasure. She learned from what the Evil Fire said in the space that taking out the Heart-Protecting Scale required enduring the pain of having one's heart ripped out of one's body. She was surprised that she could do all that for her.

To be precise, she did all this for her second uncle, but no matter what, he was someone who had helped her. Although she wasn't a saint, she understood the principle of repaying a small kindness with a great one, and she would do everything in her power to help him in the future if he ever needed her.

"Sister Feng, thank you for the Heart-Protecting Qilin. I will return it to you once I have recovered. These are pills that I cultivated myself, so please don't find them too expensive." As Ji Jiuying spoke, she used her spiritual power to deliver several bottles of pills to Feng Qingxue.

Feng Qingxue took the pills from her hand and smiled, "You've already called me 'elder sister,' so how could I possibly mind? As for the Heart-Protecting Lin, Little Sister Jiu is still injured, so she can take it with her for now."

Ji Jiuying nodded. She could sense that Feng Qingxue's eyes held only sadness, without any other emotion. This showed that she genuinely loved her second uncle and that her feelings for him were deep.

Ji Jiuying looked down at her own appearance, and considering her second uncle's behavior just now, she guessed that she must have misunderstood something, but now was not the time to tell her about her relationship with her second uncle.

Hei Xiangling had almost recovered as well, and quickly stood up. She pulled Ji Jiuying over and looked her over from head to toe, saying with self-reproach, "Girl, how are you? Are you alright?"

"I'm sorry, it's all my fault. I shouldn't have eaten that dragon without permission. If I hadn't eaten it, you wouldn't have suffered these heavenly punishments because of me."

Hei Xiangling's words were like a thunderbolt, and Feng Che and the others stared wide-eyed, stunned on the spot.

What did they hear? Eat a dragon? One! Is this why Ji Jiuying suffered divine punishment?

They had always known that Hei Xiangling was very strong and that she was Ji Jiuying's contracted beast, but they had never heard her mention what kind of beast she was, nor had they ever asked. But at this moment, they were curious! They were curious about what Hei Xiangling's true form was and why she even ate dragons.

Even if Feng Qingxue were stupid, she should have realized that Hei Xiangling was not human, but she actually ate a dragon. This was too shocking. Dragons were sacred beings in the Heavenly Realm, but this man actually ate one! Feng Qingxue shook her head slightly, unable to digest this matter for a while.

Ji Jiuying looked at Hei Xiangling's nervous and self-reproachful expression. She had always known that Hei Xiangling was greedy, and she also knew that she did it on purpose. She did not know what the consequences of eating the dragon would be. If she had known in advance, based on her understanding of Hei Xiangling, no matter how greedy she was, she would never have done it.

Having spent time together, she had seen all of Hei Xiangling's concern, her nervousness, and her worries. Holding Hei Xiangling's hand in return, she smiled and said, "Xiangling, I don't blame you. I know you didn't mean it."

Hearing Ji Jiuying's words, the tension in Hei Xiangling's eyes disappeared. She was afraid that Ji Jiuying would blame her. She reached out and hugged Ji Jiuying, "You brat, thank you for forgiving my mistake. I promise you it won't happen again."

"good."

The horned dragon stared fiercely at Hei Xiangling with its dark eyes. This damned Kunpeng had eaten its brothers who had been with it for ten thousand years. It originally thought that its master would not survive the heavenly punishment, and that it would die as well. But the last heavenly punishment was intercepted halfway. What angered it the most was that it was no match for her and could only swallow this bitter pill.

At this moment, Hei Xiangling frowned, looked into the distance, and said in a solemn voice, "Someone is coming."

The group cautiously followed Hei Xiangling's gaze, their magical artifacts tightly gripped in their hands. Hei Xiangling glanced at Ji Jiuying, then with a wave of her hand, she transformed back into her original elegant gentleman appearance.

"Let's go, ignore that person." Ji Jiuying narrowed her eyes, a white figure flashing through her mind. She had a feeling that the person might be the woman named Hua Li.

The group nodded in agreement and were about to leave when the horned dragon's round eyes darted around rapidly. Since they didn't want to meet the people behind them, it wouldn't let them have their way. Suddenly, it blocked their path and said, "This is not a place for you. Leave now."

Ji Jiuying lowered her eyes, unwilling to give up so easily. "What if we insist on going in?"

The horned dragon's expression turned cold, and it said indifferently, "This is a forbidden area for the dragon race. If you insist on going in, you won't be able to come out."

The horned dragon hadn't lied to them; it was indeed a forbidden area for the dragon race. Even the Phoenix Clan needed the Dragon King's approval to enter this forbidden area, let alone them, mere humans. The group remained silent for a long time, clearly unwilling to leave. At that moment, the footsteps grew closer and closer.

"It's you." A cold female voice rang out, and a woman in white appeared in their line of sight.

"Hua Li." Feng Che and Yin Han spoke at the same time.

Feng Qingxue stepped forward and greeted the deity with neither humility nor arrogance: "Goddess Hua Li".

"What a coincidence."

Hua Li glanced at the messy scene and the group of people. Sure enough, the commotion had come from here. Her last look fell on the horned dragon behind her, a look of surprise flashing in her eyes, but it quickly disappeared. Clearly, it wasn't her target.

Although they cannot compare to the Azure Dragon, in the Heavenly Domain Continent, all dragons are sacred, noble, and inviolable beings, especially the dragons in this Dragon Clan Secret Realm, which have lived for tens of thousands of years.

Hua Li stepped past the group and respectfully addressed the Horned Dragon, saying, "Senior Horned Dragon."