The disruption of the eighth floor gave rise to disturbances all over Dragonhollow Mountain. However, most denizens were unaware that there was an eighth and ninth floor to the mountain. Thus, they couldn’t locate the source of the mysterious confusion.
Masses of overwhelming aura descended from the skies, filling the air around the mountain. This was aura unique to ninth step kings.
Nine enormous dragons drifted in and out of sight in the sky, sending tremors of fear through everything on the mountain.
……
“What are those old dragons on about?” Shenyu frowned at the nine ninth step kings in the air. “Can it be… that the Immortal King’s helped those two girls get the azure dragon’s blood? But that’s not right. If that Long Batian has the blood, there would be some changes in Myriad Dragon Valley…”
Shenyu thoughtfully stroked his smooth chin. He knew about Long Batian’s existence and what she was planning, but the Immortal Region wasn’t aligned with Dragonhollow Mountain. Though they were both apex factions of the Hongmeng, they didn’t quite see eye-to-eye.
Since he knew what Dragonhollow Mountain wished to do, he naturally also knew what the dragon incarnations wanted. This was a game with multiple players; it remained to be seen who would have the final laugh.
However, he hadn’t anticipated that Lu Yun would become involved as well. Having the big dragon of Redbud Mountain befriend the one of Myriad Dragon Valley? That was a bit startling.
This was why Shenyu hadn’t been able to sit still and exposed Lu Yun’s identity.
“Young lord, should we make a move?” asked the experts of the Immortal Region and Supplemental Dao Alliance that were sitting next to him.
“There’s no need, we can just sit back and watch tigers take down each other.” Shenyu shook his head. “I already put myself forward when I revealed the Immortal King’s identity. They can have fun with their own nonsense.”
“Understood.” The experts stood down, dismissing the power they’d gathered.
……
The ninth step kings continued to sharpen into focus until they resolved themselves as nine dragons of different colors circling outside Lu Yun’s residence. The dragon lord revealed himself over the clouds—he was a domineering man in blue robes. The Hongmeng qi around the residence dispersed when he waved his hand; a lack of energy meant Lu Yun’s formations instantly crumbled away.
Lu Yun remained sitting cross-legged in the center of the yard, seemingly unaware of the events happening around him. He was fully focused on controlling his projected body.
“You’re living quite the leisurely life, Immortal King.” The dragon lord loftily regarded the young man on the ground and addressed him in gentle tones. He didn’t seem to be here to demand answers. It was as if the vast and imposing commotion from earlier was just to emphasize how mighty they were.
“The Immortal King isn’t living a leisurely life at all, he’s cultivating.” Qing Yu walked up with a frosty look.
“How dare you! My lord speaks to the Immortal King, there is no room for you!” shouted the scarlet dragon next to the dragon lord. “Immortal King, the dragon lord addresses you. It would behoove you to keep your dao partner under control.”
“You think I don’t have the right to address the dragon lord?” Qing Yu chuckled.
“Hmph,” snorted the scarlet dragon. The dragon lord hadn’t responded to the girl from beginning to end; this was how suppression targeted at Lu Yun would take shape.
Everyone knew that the Immortal King’s mysterious dao partner was a powerful titled king. But to Dragonhollow Mountain, a king was just a king. This level of being had no right to speak to their dragon lord.
At the same time, neither did the Immortal King. It was a paramount honor for him that the dragon lord had favored him with an audience.
“You piece of shit!!” echoed an angry yell. A young man with white hair and black robes abruptly appeared in front of the scarlet dragon and delivered a ringing slap.
The scarlet dragon king shrieked with pain and flew backwards, smashing into a nearby mountain peak and knocking it over.
“Profound King!” the dragon lord identified with irate shock.
The other dragon lords also clamored with censure, but they didn’t take action. The Profound King was the greatest king of Hopeless Major—one of the Ten Valleys of Evil! He was an unfathomably supreme powerhouse who overlooked the entire Hongmeng from the height of peak ninth step kinghood!
Hopeless Major geniuses had naturally been invited to the Dragonling Assembly, and it went without saying that an invitation had been delivered to the Profound King since he was the strongest of the faction. Who would’ve thought that he would suddenly attack and gravely injure the Scarlet Dragon King of Dragonhollow Mountain??
“Hmph!” The Profound King ignored the group of outraged dragons and landed in front of Qing Yu. He sank to one knee, much to the utter shock of everyone present.
“Greetings to the eminent one!”
“Greetings to the eminent one!”
“Greetings to the eminent one!” All Hopeless Major kings attending the assembly also sank to one knee and bowed to Qing Yu.
“The… eminent ruler of Hopeless Major?!”
“She’s the eminent ruler of Hopeless Major?!”
“How is this possible?! The Immortal King’s dao partner is the eminent ruler of Hopeless Major!”
“Rumors speak of civil strife in the ten valleys and Origin World sealing itself away. The remaining eight valleys attacked Hopeless Major, but couldn’t breach its defenses.”
“How is a young girl the ruler of Hopeless Major?!”
……
“You may rise.” Qing Yu waved her hand.
“We hear and obey!” The Profound King stood up. “Your Eminence, that scarlet dragon disrespected you. Shall we kill him?”
Hearts pounded painfully at his words. What kind of being was the Scarlet Dragon King? One of the few ninth step kings of Dragonhollow Mountain! Indeed, he’d given offense to the ruler of Hopeless Major in his ignorance, but was he to die for that??
It would seem that the tyranny of the Ten Valleys of Evil was even more outrageous than how it was described in the stories.
Scarlet Dragon struggled to his feet—still in dragon form. He ground his teeth and glared at the Profound King. Though they were both peak ninth step kings, he was so much weaker than the Profound King.
“Mm, kill him.” Qing Yu nodded. “The little fox has been talking about trying dragon tendon soup. That scarlet dragon’s tendon will do.”
“WHAT?!”
“Hopeless Major, don’t you go too far!”
Her words raised the roof off the mountain. Kill and cook one of their ninth step kings?! This was so ludicrous that it couldn’t be put into words! They were at Dragonhollow Mountain!
“Hopeless Major, are you dead set on becoming enemies with us?!” roared the dragon lord as he exploded with power, directing it at the Profound King.
“You know perfectly well why we are here. We also know why you are here. We’re enemies to begin with, so there’s no possibility of easing tension between us,” Qing Yu chuckled softly.
“Save me, Dragon Lord!” wailed the scarlet dragon as a black and white surge of power cut across him like two enormous blades.
Plop!
A huge dragon head fell from the sky. A young man with white hair and black robes held a headless dragon corpse, slowly peeling out a crystalline dragon tendon from it.
They really had stripped the dragon tendon from the Scarlet Dragon King!
