“That’s weird… why aren’t there any battle servants next to them?” someone raised the question.
According to general sentiment, the top one hundred of the Dragonling Ranking was sure to claim battle servants. Those they claimed would be servants in name and truth; they wouldn’t leave their master’s side before the assembly ended.
The issue of battle servants hadn’t been public knowledge until the Dragonling Assembly began. If the kings had known about it beforehand, they wouldn’t have let their faction’s juniors participate in the gathering. Apart from the top one hundred, the rest of the candidates were all voluntarily present.
Though the top one hundred remained exactly as they were in ranking and number, none of the spectators had imagined that there would be no battle servants with them!
“Can it be… that none of the cultivators from the rainbow bridge made it past the dragon gate? That the old dragon ate them all?” Unease began to stir through the audience. The only possible explanation for the lack of servants was that none of the alternative candidates had leapt over the dragon gate!
“How could that old dragon…” A fifth step king started shaking. One of his juniors was fortunate enough to be one of the three thousand to pass through the rainbow bridge, but they’d died to that black dragon!
“That’s right, the old dragon went on a rampage and broke the rules. Even the Champion Duke and Coiling Dragon’s Qi—eh, the Champion Duke and Qing Ting are out!” This speaker stopped halfway through his passionate declaration like something was caught in his throat.
The kings watched as the Champion Duke and Qing Ting walked out in front, followed by Qing Di, Azureclad, Crimsonclad, and the others. All two thousand nine hundred ninety-nine cultivators and arcane beasts walked out of the door in neat rows.
“This is… two thousand… nine hundred ninety-nine titled dukes?!” The kings gaped at the second batch that emerged and swallowed hard.
“My Gan’er was just an ordinary half step king. How did he suddenly gain the strength of a titled duke??” A third step king with white hair at his temples gently shook his head, finding it hard to believe. He hadn’t come with the Dragonsea city lord. Rather, those of Dragonhollow Mountain had specifically extended an invitation to him after his disciple passed through the rainbow bridge.
Anyone who set foot onto the floor of dragon qi had their faction senior invited to the rest of the proceedings.
“Where’s, where’s my little one? Didn’t they say he successfully made it through the rainbow bridge?” An old donkey scanned the crowd with an increasingly woeful expression.
“The little donkey… ah, he was the first to try the dragon gate and ended up in the black dragon’s stomach,” Golden Armor said apologetically when he heard the old donkey’s words.
Tears trickled down the old donkey’s face, but it didn’t dare say anything else. This was Dragonhollow Mountain and the Golden Armor Dragon Beast possessed a noble bloodline. It couldn’t afford to offend such a lofty individual.
“What are you lot doing still following us?” Qing Ting suddenly grumbled with annoyance. “Go back to your homes and your moms.”
“Umm…” Cultivators and arcane beasts respectively came back to their senses. This part of the Dragonling Assembly had concluded. They could convene with their faction’s elders and make appropriate adjustments for the ranking battles to come.
Many cultivators and arcane beasts remained where they were, staring ardently at Lu Yun and refusing to leave. Those who departed first looked back at him every three steps, reluctance marking every unwilling bend of their bodies.
Meanwhile, the top one hundred of the ranking glared hotly at Lu Yun and Qing Ting, their eyes almost spitting fire.
“What’s going on here?” The kings looked around blankly.
“They… no they didn’t… Did they rob the top one hundred geniuses of the ranking too?!” exclaimed the Dragonsea city lord.
“Hmph!” snorted Zhan Lingge after being called out so blatantly. He wished for nothing more than to find a hole in the ground to burrow into. Apart from a very select few like him who’d truly been robbed, the rest of the top one hundred had voluntarily handed over their wealth without even being prompted to.
He’d been made an example of and had been the first to be robbed!
“So you really were robbed?!” Incredulity filled the city lord’s eyes.
“Robbed? What is this?” asked baffled kings who hadn’t been present in Dragonsea City for the earlier part of the assembly.
“Ahem!” A Dragonhollow king stepped forth. “There are three days until the ranking battles begin. Until then, we have arranged residences for everyone and invite you to rest well.”
Bridges unerringly extended to the bottom of everyone’s feet. No mistakes were made and their occupants were lifted into the air to be transported to a Dragonhollow address.
……
Dragonhollow Mountain erupted in an uproar shortly afterward. Word of what had taken place from Dragonsea City to the rainbow bridge and beyond spread throughout the mountain.
Champion Duke of the Trueriver Sect and Qing Ting of Coiling Dragon City had robbed everyone starting from Dragonsea City, continuing their enterprise in the mountain! Whether it was ordinary cultivator or one of the top hundred, no one had been spared!
Well, that wasn’t quite true since there was Long Batian and Dragon Butterfly, but many chose to ignore the lucky two. It felt much better to think that every single person and beast had been robbed.
In his last operation, the Champion Duke took out Pills of Creation as compensation for helping him corral the top one hundred geniuses.
Pills of Creation!
Pills that contained the power of creation!
Apart from the Immortal King being able to refine eighteen such pills at once, there was no one else in the Hongmeng who could manage such a feat.
“You say that the Champion Duke’s teachings helped you suddenly see the light and vault into the ranks of titled duke strength?” Shenyu asked an ordinary titled duke cultivator.
“That’s right, the Champion Duke himself taught me.” The cultivator’s face filled with veneration when he mentioned the name. Not only had the Champion Duke taught him and helped him advance to a new level, but he’d also received a Pill of Creation that helped him progress to a more rational state of being.
“Very well, you are dismissed.” Shenyu waved a hand.
“Master… just who is that Champion Duke??” Li Yiran snarled with indignation, wanting to rip the person in question to shreds.
“Champion Duke? What Champion Duke!” Shenyu sneered. “He changed his name to the Champion Duke and snuck into the Dragonling Assembly to profit from troubled waters. I won’t let this stand!”
He suddenly rose into the air.
“To think that the mighty and noble Immortal King would take on the alias of Champion Duke and cavort with ordinary cultivators. As one of the great heavyweights of the realm, your thick skin knows no bounds!” His voice traveled throughout the mountain to everyone on the seventh floor.
“What?! The Immortal King?!” General shock reigned at his announcement.
“The Champion Duke is the Immortal King??”
“Don’t they say that the Immortal King is just a supplemental king? That his true battle strength is pitiably weak? That he makes use of supplemental dao to exert his dominance?”
“But when I watched him rob others in Dragonsea City, he didn’t use any supplemental arts other than the Stellar Sword…”
“Runaway King, is the Champion Duke really the Immortal King?”
Shenyu’s face darkened when he heard the usage of his title. He suddenly felt that he’d set foot into a massive trap.
Okay, once a shithead, always a shithead.
