Three thousand and one hundred cultivators of Dragonhollow Mountain occupied the high ground and sneered down at the cultivators and arcane beasts that had come from other parts of the Hongmeng. Uniform contempt curved their lips.
“They don’t seem to think much of us,” Long Batian whispered next to Lu Yun.
“Dragonhollow Mountain is exceptionally rich in natural resources. They possess the greatest dragon in the Hongmeng and endless power of creation. It’s natural that their geniuses look down on geniuses from elsewhere.” Lu Yun nodded.
“Where’s Dragon Butterfly?” Long Batian looked around, but saw no sign of the other dragon incarnation.
“Dragon Butterfly became a titled king a long time ago, there’s no need for her to participate in the Dragonling Ranking,” Lu Yun replied.
Dragon Butterfly was a true king; her only goal at Dragonhollow Mountain was the azure dragon’s blood. Since that was no longer possible, there was no point in further participation. A Trueriver Sect disciple had stepped into her spot.
“I see.” Long Batian nodded. “But… I still want the drop of blood for some reason.”
“We’ll get it if there’s a chance to.” Lu Yun nodded. “That azure dragon’s not telling me the truth either, he’s holding some things back.”
Long Batian blinked.
“The will of the azure dragon tells me that there never was an Azure Dragon King, that it was always the demon of the immortal dao in the skin of the dragon lord…” A cold smile played on Lu Yun’s lips. “It’s true enough that the dragon lord is the demon of immortal dao, but the Azure Dragon King does indeed exist!”
After the little fox’s Scroll of Shepherding Immortals combined with the one from Origin World, some unexpected developments took place. The Azure Dragon King’s core essence within the painting began to awaken. By now, it was well on its way to becoming a spirit.
He had been dead, but was now resurrecting.
The real truth about everything would have to wait until he was fully revived.
“I hadn’t wanted to participate in the rest of the assembly, but I have to get to the bottom of this since that azure dragon isn’t telling me the truth,” snorted Lu Yun.
The azure dragon’s last words had been a substantial threat, but Lu Yun happened to be someone who couldn’t be threatened.
“Eh? What are all of you doing here?” He suddenly discovered that, apart from the ninety-nine geniuses of the ranking, the remaining two thousand nine hundred ninety-nine half step kings were all gathered by his side.
“Continuing the grand robbery enterprise with you, of course,” Qing Di chuckled merrily. “Imm—Champion Duke, I’m someone who drank dragon soup and am completely with you now. I’ll follow you wherever you go.”
“I wanted to drink from the pot too, but my faction’s representatives wouldn’t let me,” grumbled Golden Dragon.
“Alright… then.” Lu Yun smiled ruefully. “There are three hundred and sixty-five spots for those climbing the mountain. The three thousand of us…”
“Will block them at the halfway point!” roared Golden Dragon. “Only whoever hands over their treasures may pass!”
“That’s right!” clamored the other arcane beasts and cultivators.
“Why do I feel… that this Dragonling Assembly has turned into a Robber Assembly?” Golden Dragon murmured. “Historic assemblies have always been a show of blood and gore, reaping lives from Azure Dragon City to Dragonsea City, then up the mountain. But this time…”
“It’s been a road of robbery and intimidation. Mm, all of you are the victims!” Qing Ting declared proudly.
“Heh heh heh, so now it’s our turn to rob someone else and find some balance that way, no?” Qing Di interjected.
Qing Ting, Azureclad, and others had all drank from the pots and refined the dragon bloodlines within the soup. Their strength had improved by leaps and bounds—they were now many times stronger than before.
The top one hundred of the Dragonling Ranking were no longer a match for them.
“Come on, let’s go climb the mountain!” Lu Yun laughed heartily and beckoned with his hand. The group of three thousand set off with great fanfare toward the enormous mountain as the cultivators around them frowned at what they’d heard.
If three thousand titled duke half step kings truly robbed their way through the mountain, then even the local geniuses would have to capitulate.
“The mountain is gigantic, how are they going to stop us all?” scoffed the top one hundred of the ranking. They didn’t think that they’d still lose in the last trial of the Dragonling Assembly. Apart from them, there were also thirty-one hundred geniuses from Dragonhollow Mountain to contend with!
……
An enormous multicolored cloud abruptly descended from the sky, enveloping the peak of Dragonhollow Mountain and cutting off contact with the outside world. The kings watching from the outside couldn’t pierce through the cloud to see what was taking place on the mountain. Not even ninth step kings were an exception.
“What’s going on here?” Complaints rose from the audience. “What do you mean by this, Dragonhollow Mountain? Why are you isolating the mountain?”
“The last battle of the Dragonling Assembly isn’t as simple as just climbing the mountain,” laughed the Dragonhollow true king. “Dangers abound and only through fullest effort and employing all of their methods will geniuses defend their lives and successfully climb the mountain. You don’t want your disciples and geniuses’ repertoire to be exposed to the general public, do you?
“Impartial rules are in charge of the mountain, so not even those of Dragonhollow Mountain can observe what is taking place. The rules are fair, all we need to do is to await the results.”
As dissatisfied as the remaining kings might be, there was nothing else they could do about it. Their disciples and descendants vied for spots on the ranking, so what these kings should do was to sit down and thoroughly discuss how to split the gains to come.
Qing Yu and Miao met each other’s eyes and said nothing else. The rules were fair? Utter bullshit.
Bestial roars echoed from the mountain the moment the cloud appeared. All of the cultivators that’d gathered together were completely shuffled apart and sent to various parts of the mountain.
Qing Di and the others who’d planned on jointly robbing the geniuses saw their plans crushed by this development.
“So this is what battle servants are about… If we’d claimed any, they would be by our side now.” It wasn’t until now that everyone realized what battle servants were for. Their enemies weren’t each other on the mountain, but the unknown creatures around them.
Terrifying roars and howls shook them to the core—their owners were most likely titled duke or higher. There might even be true kings lurking around them. Hence, the Dragonhollow cultivators also remained on high alert.
“This is the dragon mountain?” Lu Yun smirked at the newly arisen azure mountain. He’d seen it before—a mountain formed by the azure dragon’s corpse on the ninth floor. The blood of the azure dragon, will of the azure dragon, and countless dragon ghosts were in its depths.
