Qing Yu and the little fox didn’t know what’d occurred on the ninth floor of Dragonhollow Mountain. Thus, they listened quietly to Lu Yun’s retelling without interjecting.
The two pots of dragon soup had been cleaned out and everyone returned to their own camp. Anyone who’d eaten from the pots, regardless of identity, was now tagged with either the label of the Ten Valleys of Evil or the Immortal Pagoda. They were now these factions’ unwavering constituents.
News of the Empyrean King, eminent ruler of Hopeless Major, being the Immortal King’s dao partner was too stunning to believe. So the Immortal Pagoda was essentially Hopeless Major!
However, it remained to be seen whether Hopeless Major could represent the Ten Valleys of Evil.
None of valleys’ cultivators had partook in the pots of dragon soup. Though the Night King had challenged the old dragons of Dragonhollow Mountain, he’d only done so verbally. If the valleys were truly united, more would’ve gotten involved.
For now, no other faction stepped forward apart from Azure Dragon City and Coiling Dragon City of Azure Dragon Region, and Exalted Firmament Region.
“The Azure Dragon King is the real dragon lord?” Qing Yu found this incredulous. She was very familiar with this character—he’d lived in her Scroll of Shepherding Immortals when they were in the world of immortals and had helped her on a few occasions.
“What do you say?” Lu Yun looked at Miao instead of responding.
“The Azure Dragon King definitely isn’t the dragon lord!” the little fox responded firmly. “He’s still in the world of immortals as we speak, so what did you bring over??”
“What?!” It was Lu Yun’s turn to be shocked. “The Azure Dragon King is still in the world of immortals?! …so I brought over an unknown entity and not the Azure Dragon King??”
Now this was hard to believe. He was the one who’d summoned the Azure Dragon King to hell and then yanked him to the Hongmeng.
“That guy was once part of the Scroll of Shepherding Immortals and his core essence is still in it. The Azure Dragon King isn’t the dragon lord. Whoever you brought from home isn’t the Azure Dragon King!” Miao repeated herself with clear enunciation.
Lu Yun glowered with terrifying menace. “So where’s the real one gone to? Who’s the thing that was talking to us? He knows Lu Qing is my son!”
Qing Yu had no answers; a lost Dragon Butterfly and Long Batian also had no idea what to say.
“I keep feeling that the black dragon king in the Hongmeng Sea is very friendly. It’s this dragon lord that gives me a very unsettling impression,” mumbled Dragon Butterfly.
The little fox looked at Lu Yun while Qing Yu operated formula dao with her full strength, attempting to discern who the dragon lord was. To her, it didn’t matter if he was the dragon lord or not. What mattered was who he was and where the real Azure Dragon King had disappeared to.
“He knows everything about me, the combat arts of modern immortal dao, and the nascent spirit observation method. Probably the only thing he doesn’t know is that I left a back door on the ninth level of the mountain. I can go back anytime.
“All of you wait here, I’m going to meet the will of the azure dragon!” Lu Yun sat down cross-legged and projected himself to quietly enter the back door that he’d created.
He hadn’t trusted the dragon lord to begin with—throwing the cup of wine at his face had been a test, but who would’ve thought that the dragon lord would be able to keep his cool from that grave insult?
……
The previous dragon lord sat in the same spot on the ninth floor, smiling when he saw Lu Yun’s projected body arrive.
“You’ve returned.” He nodded at Lu Yun.
“You knew I’d come back?” the young man started.
“The ancestor dragon has been waiting a long time for you.” Instead of responding, the previous dragon lord made a welcoming gesture.
Lu Yun nodded and set foot onto the azure dragon vein. The dragon’s presence was everywhere, chaotic and brimming with the power of death. However, it was also unusually gentle and didn’t attack those present.
There was another world that existed on the ninth floor, one that was independent from its surroundings.
An enormous droplet of pale azure blood hovered in the center of this small world. It was like a deep azure sun, radiating immense smoothness and light. This was Dragon Butterfly and Long Batian’s goal: the azure dragon’s ancestor blood!
Countless vicious ghosts, zombies, and other lost souls utilized the ancestor blood’s illumination to maintain their minds. They lacked the overwhelming air of violence commonly found in ghosts outside and quietly cultivated in this world.
Lu Yun didn’t sense a strength from them that violated order—one so often found on ghosts. The ones here gave him the same feeling as the Meteorite King had projected.
A pale figure stood in the air beneath the drop of fresh blood, his back to Lu Yun. This was the projection of the azure dragon’s will. Brows furrowed tight, Lu Yun looked right at it.
“Do you still remember the four spirits of azure dragon, white tiger, vermilion bird, and black tortoise in Fuxi’s tomb?” came a voice from the dragon will. “They were the root of the curse on the dragon race, cast by the Curse King.
Lu Yun nodded. Fuxi’s tomb had been intimately connected with the Skandha Extinction Tomb in Dusk Province. When he killed the four spirits in Fuxi’s tomb, the other tomb had fallen apart on its own.
“I am the azure dragon that died in Fuxi’s tomb.” The azure dragon’s will turned around to look at Lu Yun.
It was an unfamiliar face that he hadn’t seen before, but the energy from the dragon’s thoughts seemed somewhat familiar.
Lu Yun inclined his head and committed the “Curse King” name to memory. “You are the source of dragons in both the chaos and the worlds.”
“Correct.” The azure dragon nodded. “The azure dragon’s will in the Hongmeng stirred to life only when the azure dragon of the world of immortals died.”
“Who is the dragon lord now?”
“The dragon lord did indeed enter the world of immortals, but he didn’t succeed. He failed just as completely as the Di Clan—a complete perishing,” sighed the azure dragon’s will. “The waters in the worlds are so deep that even a titan like the Di Clan was completely destroyed, to say nothing of a simple ninth step king.
“You should be able to guess now who you brought as the dragon lord.”
“So it’s him.” Inspiration struck Lu Yun. “Only he could kill the Azure Dragon King and replace him with none the wiser. Most importantly, he even fooled me. …does this mean he killed the previous dragon lord as well?”
“Many Hongmeng heavyweights who entered the world of immortals died in his hands. He took everything from them. He can be the dragon lord or any other ninth step king in the realm,” nodded the azure dragon. “It’s not necessarily a bad thing that he’s in the third realm now. At least that means he won’t make further trouble for you in the world of immortals.
“However, the stronger he grows in this realm, the more terrifying he becomes. When the world of immortals brings the second realm to rejoin the Hongmeng, you might discover that you are no longer his match.”
“This locale collects the aggrieved souls of past dragon lords and geniuses of historic Dragonling Assembles,” Lu Yun changed the subject. “Are you planning on killing them and borrowing their bloodlines to resurrect yourself?”
“Yes.” The azure dragon nodded. “I’m a living being complete with my own selfish desires and wants. I want to live too, even if it means sacrificing my descendants.”
