Lu Yun nodded silently. “You probably saw how I revived Fuxi, right?” he suddenly asked.
“Heh heh heh, hahahaha!!” laughed the azure dragon. “I would be stamped with your label and become your subordinate if you resurrected me. The Azure Dragon King of the world of immortals was unwilling to fall under your banner, and that is naturally the same for me.”
“By the way, who is the real Azure Dragon King?” Lu Yun changed the topic.
“What real Azure Dragon King? After the demon of immortal dao killed the dragon lord, he took the dragon lord’s skin to become the Azure Dragon King. If it wasn’t for his endless sabotage from the shadows, how would the world of immortals have broken so easily a hundred thousand years ago?” snorted the azure dragon.
What… the…
It felt like a bucket of ice cold water had been dumped over Lu Yun. So the Azure Dragon King had always been the demon of immortal dao, and he’d been by Lu Yun’s side all this time! He’d watched over everything the young man had done in the world of immortals and could’ve killed the master of hell at any time, multiple times over.
Fuck.
Thankfully, he’d wanted to use Lu Yun to travel to the Hongmeng. The consequences would’ve been inconceivable otherwise. Even now, everything in the world of immortals was infested with the demon’s preparations. His plots were completely entangled with the power that Lu Yun wielded in the world.
Numbness crept over the young man and it took conscious effort to keep his hands from trembling. What a great blessing it was that the demon hadn’t been able to fully control his emotions after coming to the third realm! It’d sounded the slightest offkey note and helped Lu Yun to discover the truth. To be forewarned was to be prepared. Despite this frankly crazy revelation, at least he was no longer in the dark.
“Are you saying that it wasn’t the Dao King who destroyed the world of immortals a hundred thousand years ago, but the demon of immortal dao?” Lu Yun quickly asked.
“The Dao King? Why would he destroy the world of immortals?” the azure dragon responded with surprise. “He entered the world for the same reason as the other heavyweights of the realm—to protect the world of immortals and ensure that it successfully becomes one with the Hongmeng. Only in this way will the layout of the great tomb be broken.”
Lu Yun nodded; at least the demon hadn’t lied about the relationship between the Hongmeng and the world of immortals.
“The demon of immortal dao is different. He wants to destroy the world of immortals and create a world of demonic dao so that he can complete his own great dao. You must be careful, he is not a being from our Hongmeng.
“The worlds, chaos, and Hongmeng coming together as one will break the layout of the great tomb that our Hongmeng suffers under. The demon wishes to prevent this from happening, but our Hongmeng… heh, it’s quite different from the others,” chuckled the azure dragon. “I know you won’t believe me as too much has happened after you’ve come to Dragonhollow Mountain, but I trust that you have your own thoughts and know what to do. I tell you all this because it benefits me too.”
“Mmhmm.” Lu Yun nodded. “What about Dragon Butterfly and Long Batian? Do you really want to refine the two little girls?”
“Refine them? Why would I want to refine them? I need legitimate bloodlines of my descendants to exist if I wish to come back to life. I need to return to my origins and be reborn through borrowing the strength of the later generations. They are the first breed of dragons born in the realm. If I refine them or turn them into my replicas, then the only possible outcome for my strand of will is to ultimately return to being a senseless dragon of the land.” The azure dragon shook his head with a wry grin.
“If that dragon lord hadn’t said that you’d refine the two girls, I might still have full faith in him.” Lu Yun curled his lip.
“Also, your identity is no secret to the true kings of the realm. You should refrain from being too blatant about things,” warned the azure dragon.
“I see.” Lu Yun spread out his hands. “I haven’t really set myself against the true kings either. That Metal Potentate was a true king, right? I didn’t stop him from taking my friend away.
“Alright, I’m going to head back and leave the demon of immortal dao in your hands. I can’t fight him and don’t really want to at the moment. Since he’s in Dragonhollow Mountain, I give him to you.” Lu Yun smiled at the azure dragon and dismissed his projected body.
“Ancestor…” The other dragon ghosts came crowding over.
“Forget it, let him go.” The azure dragon smiled and opened his hand, distributing a cultivation method. “We owe him a favor, after all. This is a legitimate cultivation method for ghosts. Practicing it to the utmost will set you on the path of ghost dao under the immortal dao. When the immortal dao arrives, you will be a legitimate part of it as well.”
The ghosts around him blinked.
“There is none other than him in the Hongmeng who knows of such a cultivation method. Very well, all of you will cultivate well.” The azure dragon waved his hand.
“Understood!” The dragon ghosts dispersed after receiving a copy. Plainly, they’d voluntarily sacrificed their bloodlines so the azure dragon could come back to life. The azure dragon had also done good by his people. He’d transformed these dragons into ghosts and protected them with his last remaining drop of blood.
Lu Yun spoke no more of obtaining the ancestor blood. Everything the demon had said was to set him against Dragonhollow Mountain. The demon had spoken a mixture of truth and falsehood, thereby gaining Lu Yun’s trust. Sadly, he’d been a bit too hasty in their last meeting.
……
Lu Yun felt a great weight lift off his shoulders after clarifying everything.
“Are you still going to participate in the Dragonling Assembly?” Qing Yu leaned against Lu Yun’s shoulder.
“Of course, why not?” Lu Yun nodded. “We’re in the Hongmeng now, so we must participate in all of its major events and try our best to meld into this realm. Many of its denizens think that the Immortal King is complete and utter trash apart from supplemental dao. I’m going to prove that I’m very strong without it!”
“Your easy defeat of Jin Yue in front of everyone has already proven your capabilities,” Qing Yu smiled.
“That’s not enough. Who knows what they’ll say behind my back if I don’t beat my superiority into their brains?” Lu Yun stretched lazily.
……
The final battle of the Dragonling Assembly—the Dragonling Ranking—was about to begin.
The ranking was also a product of the azure dragon’s will; it would delineate some order to the vaguely defined Hongmeng. At the same time, the ranking was an honor that would motivate many geniuses.
An enormous mountain slowly rose from the seventh floor and shot for the horizon.
Hummm.
Indistinct azure radiance blossomed when the mountain appeared. An immense figure appeared at its peak.
“The final stop of this Dragonling Assembly is about to arrive.” The immense figure slowly sharpened into focus. It was a young man with azure hair—not the dragon lord or any of the old dragons that’d appeared before, and not the azure dragon. He seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, and his strength was so domineering that he hinted at a level above ninth step kinghood.
True king!
There were true kings on Dragonhollow Mountain!
“The final stage of the Dragonling Assembly is to climb the mountain. There are three hundred and sixty-five spots on the ranking. The first three hundred and sixty-five to arrive at the peak are the geniuses who will be listed on it. They will be bestowed with creation qi and ultimate treasures of the realm from the ancestor dragon’s will. Let us begin.”
Three thousand ninety-nine half step kings looked blankly at each other when the speaker finished, not sure of what they should do. Just climb the mountain? They’d thought there’d be countless rounds of grueling battle. So… what was the point of telling them to claim battle servants?
But soon enough, they realized why that had been a task. The Dragonhollow half step kings that’d remained out of sight all this time finally showed themselves.
There were three thousand and a hundred of them!
