“They’ll say whatever they can because they’re still looking for us. If that dragon lord finds you, both of you will definitely die awful deaths!” Lu Yun hastily transmitted to the two girls. Masked by the power of karma, his transmission didn’t stir up any ripples and was wholly undetected by the group of ninth step kings.
Dragon Butterfly and Long Batian calmed down only when they heard his urgent warning; the color drained from their small faces. They were respectively a seventh step king and a half step king—if one of Dragonhollow’s old monsters caught them, they wouldn’t even have the chance to commit suicide.
These two incarnations of Hongmeng’s greatest dragons were incredibly important. If someone refined both of them at the same time, that person would gain control over the second and third greatest dragons of the realm.
Though the two girls had lived for a long time, they were inexperienced in the ways of the world and unaware of why they existed. They didn’t even know that they were overhearing a conversation purposefully held to draw them out.
Dragonhollow Mountain was certainly aware of their arrival at the Dragonling Assembly; only their exact location remained a mystery. The faction had pinpointed Dragon Butterfly and Long Batian’s identities when the two suddenly vanished, but could only utilize this kind of subpar strategy to lure the two out. It was one more suitable for tricking children.
“Listen carefully to me and don’t make any brash moves,” Lu Yun transmitted solemnly.
“Do you think he’ll refine us?” Long Batian stuck her face next to Dragon Butterfly’s.
“Nope!” came the firm response.
“How are you so sure?” A mystified Long Batian looked at her own kind.
“I just am.” Still in the form of a young man, Dragon Butterfly puffed out her chest. “Birds of a feather flock together and like begets like! I am a modest gentleman of noble character, so those I set my eyes on are the same as well!”
Who knew where she’d learned those nonsensical things from?
Lu Yun didn’t know what the two girls were thinking. He was focused on carefully manipulating the air currents in their surroundings to shift their particle as far away from the terrifying ninth step kings as possible. Approaching the entrance to the ninth floor was out of the question for the moment. Surely Dragonhollow Mountain had sent up a tight encirclement for them.
“…wait a second, they already know we’re here!” Alarm rang in Lu Yun’s mind when he discovered multiple consciousnesses sweeping through the void like waves of mercury, making sure to cover every nook and cranny.
“Dragonhollow Mountain… the intelligence of these old dragons really can’t be underestimated!” Lu Yun took a deep breath. His projected body suddenly froze in place and disintegrated into a cloud of pure thought. He wrapped around the two girls in his new form.
“What is it?” They jumped with shock and froze as well. Both of them remained quiet inside Lu Yun’s projected body.
“Don’t believe a single word from these old dragons and don’t react to what they say,” Lu Yun’s voice rang in their minds. “No, wait, seal off your senses and consciousness and give everything over to me!”
He took another deep breath, his thoughts in a bit of disarray. This was his first time going against a ninth level king and there were nine of them, not just one! He had to bring out everything he had and remain on high alert.
His true self sat down cross-legged and focused all of his attention on his projected body. He wasn’t a ninth step king and lacked the strength to withstand a ninth step king, but was now battling wits and strength with nine of them at a time. This was both daunting and a little exciting.
Vast storms swept through the eighth floor as nine consciousnesses continuously searched through the disturbance, attempting to uproot anything hidden on their floor.
However, the ninth step kings only thought that the two girls were using a special method to hide themselves. Never would they imagine that Lu Yun had used the Size Manipulation death art to turn the trio into something even smaller than the imperceptible particles hovering in the air.
Additionally, Lu Yun’s Silence Talismans were refined from karmic fruit, perfectly concealing the user’s presence. Even the tiny ripple of a combat art was completely erased.
Such was the fullest capabilities of his supplemental dao. He was using pure supplemental dao to battle the ninth step kings.
Lu Yun’s projected body fully disassembled in the void and bundled up the two girls with pure power of thought. They burrowed into another tiny dust particle and fully concealed themselves. At the same time, his mind directed this particle of dust to follow other particles and slowly drift toward the entrance to the ninth floor.
Each of the nine old dragons occupied their own mountain peak. They sent out their consciousness like the tidewaters, searching through everything suspicious in this part of the void.
“Nothing.” The dragon lord opened his eyes with a displeased expression. “Why is this… one of those dragons is a seventh step king and the other not even a king. How can they possibly avoid our detection??”
“Maybe they’re not here?” a huge black dragon asked hesitantly.
“They’re absolutely here and already on this floor.” A resolute look remained unwavering in the dragon lord’s eyes. “They must be here. Someone’s helping them from the shadows.”
“…the Immortal King?” Another dragon subconsciously named Lu Yun.
The dragon lord didn’t respond. “The Immortal King is on the seventh floor and he’s sunk into meditation after his battle with Jin Yue…”
However, he wasn’t very convinced of what he’d said. If the Immortal King was helping the two dragons on the eighth floor while he was on the seventh floor… that would be too frightening.
“Can it be…” ventured the scarlet dragon who appeared brash, but was very shrewd. “That a true king is helping them?”
“A true king?” The dragon lord shook his head. “If a true king is here, they can just break right into the ninth floor. We wouldn’t be able to stop them! So it can’t be a true king…”
“Don’t listen to their lies!” Lu Yun split out a tendril of thought when he felt the two girls waver and knocked their foreheads. While these two may not be true kings, their strength rivaled one. The ninth step kings were mentioning this level in another attempt to tease out the two girls that they couldn’t find.
A true king?
Perhaps the black dragon king had been a true king, but he’d been trapped in the mountain all the same to be one of the tests for the Dragonling Assembly.
“Good thing I decided to accompany them today. How would these two girls be a match for this group otherwise?” mumbled Lu Yun as he directed their dust particle to the next floor’s entrance.
