The Dragonling Ranking as established by this time’s Dragonling Assembly was of paramount importance. Dragonhollow Mountain wanted to fill the role of leader of the realm. Hence, they expended their greatest efforts to ensure this gathering would be a success—even offering the power of creation as a reward.
Naturally, the last battles of the ranking wouldn’t be a simple affair either. Blood had to be shed if one wanted to scale the mountain. The vicious beasts and ghosts here were free game. Only through obtaining the power of creation within their bodies could one make it up the mountain.
At the same time, cultivators and arcane beasts needed to fight each other and claim the power of creation from other candidates. Once a participant accumulated sufficient power of creation, the rules would automatically take them to the peak and list them on the Dragonling Ranking.
The stronger one was, the faster one would collect power of creation and the higher one’s name would be on the Dragonling Ranking.
No one was aware of these rules; the half step kings had to fumble their way forward and utilize both brain and brawn.
Qing Ting and the others didn’t know of the rules, and neither would they care if they knew. Robbery had become a way of life. When they saw opponents, their first thought was to rob the other, not how to defeat them.
Qing Ting, Qing Di, Azureclad, and Crimsonclad were forces to be reckoned with before considering anything else. After taking Lu Yun’s Pills of Creation and drinking the dragon soups, their strength was so far removed from what they used to command that they couldn’t be considered against the same backdrop at all.
The four of them robbed one Dragonhollow genius after another, leaving their victims befuddled. Why had this happened? Why were there robbers on the mountain?
Those who were robbed remained in contention for the ranking, but there were new owners for their treasures and seed storage.
As time went on, more and more cultivators and arcane beasts gathered around the four—the original crew that’d robbed the top one hundred of the Dragonling Ranking.
……
The previous dragon lord bowed and scraped with utmost humility in front of Lu Yun, but also kept a sharp eye on the young man to ensure that he wouldn’t cause mischief. However, he was dumbfounded by the events on the mountain.
“They… they…” He gaped at what was taking place halfway up the mountain, not sure of what to say.
“Now do you finally understand?” Lu Yun sighed. “It was never my idea to rob others. On the contrary, I’d be a bit nicer if I was down there. I wouldn’t take their signature treasures.”
The previous dragon lord shook his head. “It’s their own fault for being weaker than their opponents. This outcome is well justified.”
“Who is the Azure Dragon King of the world of immortals?” Lu Yun suddenly demanded.
“He is the Hongmeng Tower—eh??” The dragon lord started and shut his mouth.
“He’s the Hongmeng Tower??” Lu Yun’s eyes widened.
The previous dragon lord glared at Lu Yun and wouldn’t say anything else for the life of him.
“That would make sense if he’s the Hongmeng Tower… The azure dragon’s core essence is in little fox’s Scroll of Shepherding Immortals, so it makes sense that it’d help her to the degree it has,” Lu Yun murmured to himself.
“Don’t try to trick more information out of me!” the previous dragon lord snapped alertly. “You better not ask more about this matter either, there’s nothing in it for you!”
Lu Yun also looked at the man in front of him. “Alright then, I’ll teach you the dao of ghost immortals. Ghost dao is actually another great dao in the Hongmeng and ghosts are living beings too, just in another form.”
He talked circles around the previous dragon lord; the latter didn’t know how to respond anymore. However, he was ever more on guard against this young man who looked like an unassuming half step king, but was more difficult to handle than a peak ninth step king.
Lu Yun dropped the Azure Dragon King topic and began explaining the path of ghost dao. Since the immortal dao was not yet part of the Hongmeng or even present in it, all he spoke of was theory. However, his comprehension of ghost dao was far more comprehensive than the previous dragon lord’s.
The dragon lord stayed vigilant at first, but when Lu Yun delved into a deeper explanation, he couldn’t help but lose himself in it.
“The four divisions of the azure dragon, white tiger, vermilion bird, and black tortoise are present in both the worlds and the chaos. They must be present in the Hongmeng too, right?” Lu Yun asked.
“Mmhmm, they are the ancestor gods of the realm and the first connate spirits to be born in the land,” the dragon lord nodded and responded with forthright candor. “Our old ancestor was born of the great Hongmeng dragon, thus becoming the first dragon of the realm. Vermilion bird, white tiger, and black tortoise were also born from the land. However, they view each other with unfriendly eyes and sometimes outright hostility.”
“Is it the Hongmeng Tower in charge of the realm’s orders at the moment?”
“No, six cities are in charge of the realm’s orders, not the tower. Ever since the tower’s master went missing, the tower lost its control over the land. All it does now is bestow titles and help cultivators coalesce their dao rules.” The dragon lord very naturally accepted a wine jug that Lu Yun brought out and poured a large gulp into his mouth.
“What about the keys to the tower?” Lu Yun frowned.
“You’ll know everything there is to know when the eleventh key appears.” Cheeks faintly flushed, the previous dragon lord couldn’t help take another large mouthful.
“The Azure Dragon King isn’t the spirit of the Hongmeng Tower, is he?”
“No.” The slightly tipsy dragon lord shook his head. “He’s an incarnation of the first azure dragon within the chaos and the first being to reach the third realm from the second. He bears the six great orders of chaos and wanted to replace the Hongmeng orders with them, so that he might rule the realm.
“The master of the Hongmeng Tower—the overall master of the realm, really—suppressed him within the tower and turned him into a guardian beast.
“When the master went missing from our realm, that was because she’d traveled to the world of immortals to practice immortal dao and become a life form under the immortal dao. She wanted to combine the Hongmeng and the immortal dao this way, thereby breaking our layout of a great tomb.
“The guardian beast traveled to the world of immortals with her. Hmm… the Dao King didn’t enter the world of immortals to destroy it or refine the immortal dao. He merely wanted to form a karmic relationship with the master of the Hongmeng—hic!”
He belched and continued in fine tipsy form, “Who would’ve thought that the master would travel through time and space in another time period, thereby rendering the Dao King’s efforts fruitless?”
“I see.” Lu Yun understood. So the azure dragon hadn’t told him about the Azure Dragon King not because of the king’s own identity, but because the azure dragon had wanted to conceal the fact that there was a master of the Hongmeng.
As the once true ruler of the realm, her whereabouts were too important.
“So who’s the master of the Hongmeng?” Lu Yun frowned, mentally paging through everyone he knew.
“Wait!!” The dragon lord jerked convulsively. “What have I been telling you?! What what what kind of wine did you give me?!”
