As the dragon imperials were overwrought and deeply troubled, Tianming returned with news of the Azurespirit.
“Is that it?” The four elders solemnly stared at the little fish swimming in Tianming’s eye as if eager to pry his eyelids apart.
“Do you see anything special about it?” the Azuredragon Emperor asked.
“No,” the Saintdragon Emperor answered.
“It’s really strange. It’s an unusual thing, yet it completely fits his eye.”
The four exchanged a look.
“The relationship between us and the dreamless celestial emperor is rather poor. Since we have something of his in our hands, we should take advantage of it if we can.” The Saintdragon Emperor came to a decision.
“I agree.”
“It’s a matter of life and death. What’s left to fear?” The other dragon imperials were resolved.
“Tianming, prepare yourself. In a few days, I’ll use the Azurespirit to lure the dreamless celestial emperor out and secretly meet with him. Let’s see how he reacts when the time comes,” the Saintdragon Emperor said.
“Understood!” Tianming nodded.
“If there’s a threat or conflict at the time or, you might injure your eye—”
“It doesn’t matter. We must win, even if it means losing my eye,” Tianming said.
“Alright.”
The gazes of the Dragon Imperials were filled with admiration.
“If it really works, this may be the breakthrough we’ve been looking for.” The Saintdragon Emperor grit his teeth.
“Hope it goes well!”
They knew in their hearts that it would be unrealistic to expect that they could force the dreamless celestial emperor into joining the war with just the Azurespirit alone. There were too many variables, and each of them could prove fatal.
…
Just as they were about to leave, Lingfeng suddenly walked in, his expression ugly and eyes red. The Primordial Gate in his chest was spinning faster than usual.
“Brother Tianming, you’re back?” He asked hoarsely.
“Yes. How’s it going? Have you spoken to Qingyu?”
With unwavering resolve in his eyes, Lingfeng nodded and said, “I want to do something, not sit around and wait.”
“This is a fight between the elders and powerhouses. There’s nothing you or I can do.” Tianming said helplessly.
Tianming understood Lingfeng’s anguish. However, hundreds, or even a thousand years of cultivation was an insurmountable gap. Once the war broke out, it would be a battle of millions of constelliers while the most they could kill was hundreds. Unless they could each kill upward of a million cultivators, they would basically be useless.
“I know it’s no use, but I don’t want to repeat the same thing, waiting for an answer and backing down. If I can grow stronger, even a little….”
He couldn’t change the deaths of all eighty thousand of his people, nor could he resist being separated from Qingyu and sent to the xenomemory space. How would it feel to watch as his beloved was escorted to the gallows and do nothing while the sect faced a calamity? The resentment and grievance he felt was stronger than Tianming’s.
“What do you want to do?” Tianming asked.
Sweeping his gaze past Tianming, Lingfeng looked at the four dragon imperials. “I’d like to ask the dragon imperials for divine pills. It doesn’t matter what grade they are, I’ll take what I can get even if they’re broken or scrapped.”
Tianming understood what he was thinking. Lingfeng wanted to quickly improve his strength without regard for his foundation or the stability of his strength and allow full play of the Primordial Gate’s extraordinary power. It would be an even bigger shortcut than the one Xiaoxiao took. It wasn’t a good thing, but it was his choice.
“Alright, I support you,” Tianming said without hesitation.
Lingfeng was extremely excited because Tianming’s support was what he needed most. Life was filled with risk; Tianming often risked his own life so how could he stop Lingfeng from making a desperate attempt? There was no predicting whether or not they would emerge victorious. Even if the destination was hell, he would still charge right ahead.
“If I miss this, I’ll never have another chance in this life,” Lingfeng said, his voice low and affectionate. Rarely did he appear so emotional.
When they turned to the dragon imperials, the four were looking at one another in dismay.
“How much do we have on hand? Give it to them,” said the Saintdragon Emperor.
The Azuredragon Emperor and Violetdragon Empress shook their heads. “When Wanying set off with the juniors a few days ago, we handed over all the divine pills.” The Xuanyuan Dragon Sect disciples were their descendants and the future generation. They needed the pills.
“I still have a few grade-six divine pills, but they’ve taken the rest. The Veildragon Palace currently holds all our divine pills,” the Azuredragon Emperor said.
Their expressions were bitter; Lingfeng was too late. While Tianming tried to think of other methods, the Azuredragon Emperor walked up to Lingfeng and handed him three divine pills.
“Feng, you can use discarded pills? Are you sure? They’re defective products, failures. Although it’s undeniable that the materials for these pills are great, they’re either ineffective, less effective, or even highly toxic. Some are even extremely harmful to the body. No one would take them.”
“I’ll be fine.” Lingfeng opened the formation on his chest and revealed his Primordial Gate.
For the four dragon imperials present, a void in one’s chest was an unbelievably strange thing. They stumbled back in shock.
“What’s this? A hole in his chest?”
“Are you alive?”
They stared at Lingfeng, dumbstruck.
“I’m fine.” Lingfeng was flushed with excitement.
“Azuredragon Emperor, do you have defective pills? With this thing, Feng can fully absorb divine pills, perhaps even defective ones. If you have any, you can let him try.”
Tianming knew that the Azuredragon Emperor was one of the Myriad Solar Sects’ top alchemy gurus. He was the second dragon imperial in the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect and his achievements in alchemy rivaled the Tumulus Pill God. According to the grapevine, he had successfully refined grade-six divine pills. An alchemy guru who had been practicing for more than a thousand years must have many failed products.
“Do you really possess such a miraculous ability? Aren’t you the perfect pill tester for an alchemy guru?” After the shock wore off, the Azuredragon Emperor’s eyes lit up.
“Let him try,” said the Saintdragon Emperor.
“Alright. Come with me!” The Azuredragon Emperor wasn’t one to procrastinate and left at once with Tianming and Lingfeng following behind him. Against the violent howling wind, they flew out of Little Saintdragon Peak. Tianming turned and looked at Lingfeng, whose eyes were filled with obsession. This time, the young man no longer cared about life or death.
“Feng has grown up.”
If a person could throw caution to the wind and sacrifice themselves for love and responsibility, that was growing up. He knew what Lingfeng was planning—he was looking for an opportunity to duel Long Renshe and kill him without interference from anyone.
