“You… you used music notes without any combat arts embedded in them to defeat the venerated enforcer?” The previous dragon lord looked incredulously at Lu Yun.
“Not me, Qing Di.” Lu Yun shook his head. “I only pointed out what he can do. He’s the one who seized victory with his own hands.”
“This…” blinked the dragon lord.
“I see Qing Di as a hidden talent—he only needs to be taught how to best use his strength. If he was a rusty sword, on the other hand, he wouldn’t have beaten his opponent even if I sent my great dao straight into his body.”
“It looks like the rules of the Dragonling Ranking will indeed change for you. Yours will be the only name on it this time.” The dragon lord changed the subject with a rueful smile, not knowing what else to say.
“What are the consequences if I’m the only one?” Lu Yun frowned slightly. He didn’t want that to happen, it was just something that his so-called disciples were doing of their own volition. With how things were progressing, he didn’t seem to be in a position to stop them.
“None,” came the answer. “It will at most elevate the Dragonling Ranking beyond the yet-to-come Soaring Dragon and True Dragon Rankings, and that will be a good thing. If you eventually ascend to titled kinghood as a high level king, the Dragonling Ranking will become a goal that all Hongmeng geniuses strive for.”
Lu Yun nodded. “So what’s the deal with the Azure Dragon King?”
The dragon lord’s heart skipped a beat and he gaped at the young man.
“I just want an honest answer. You guys have lied to me twice already,” Lu Yun continued solemnly. “The azure dragon told me that the Azure Dragon King never existed, that he’s always been the disguised demon of the immortal dao.
“You just told me that the Azure Dragon King is more like a pet for the master of the Hongmeng, but you forgot a crucial detail—the first dragon in the chaos is Leize, not the Azure Dragon King.
“Leize isn’t an azure dragon. He suppresses one and caused the azure dragons to never be a part of the chaos.”
Lu Yun’s eyes swept across the previous dragon lord’s face. “You were just rolling with the punches in continuing to lie to me.”
His audience finally recovered his composure. “Is it so important to you who the Azure Dragon King is?”
“No,” Lu Yun shook his head. “But who he is will determine how much I trust all of you.”
“Ai…” sighed the dragon lord. “We wouldn’t keep it from you if you were asking about anyone or anything else, but we really can’t speak more of this when it comes to the Azure Dragon King.”
“You can’t speak further?” Lu Yun frowned.
“Where was the first time you met him?”
“In a tomb,” answered Lu Yun.
“There must be something connected to you in that tomb, and that is where the Azure Dragon King resides. Him appearing by your side is a game of cat and mouse, a show of retreating when he is advancing. Therefore, you shouldn’t ask us who he is. You should be asking yourself.
“The demon of immortal dao helped you a great deal when he killed the Azure Dragon King! If you utilize the Scroll of Shepherding Immortals to revive him, you’d just be creating trouble for yourself.
“The answer is in Mount Cloudcover. When you gain the strength to enter it, you will find answers to all that you wish to know.” The previous dragon lord fell silent after this final exposition.
Lu Yun nodded silently. The dao fruit of his future self was very possibly buried beneath that mountain as well. After this degree of explanation, there was no point in asking further. Just as he’d said, it didn’t really matter who the Azure Dragon King was. It was much more important whether Dragonhollow Mountain had told him the truth.
……
Qing Di’s defeat of the venerated enforcer with aid from the zither music stunned the crowd. All candidates spread out across the mountain, entertaining no more thoughts of ascending to the peak.
Just as Lu Yun had said, Qing Di was a stunning talent himself once his edge was unsheathed. Lu Yun’s music had only told him how to best utilize his own strength.
Since Jade Dragon had lost to the venerated enforcer, she didn’t dare challenge Qing Di. She challenged Qing Ting instead, and was swiftly defeated in three strokes by a Qing Ting still immersed in the meaning behind the music notes.
With that, two thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight disciples of the Immortal King fanned out over the mountain. They refrained from hunting ghosts or vicious beasts, instead blocking the key routes up the mountain and forbidding other half step kings from passing.
Though the other half step kings were immensely resentful, they didn’t dare clash anymore with these Immortal King disciples.
It was almost impossible to reach the peak through other ways. There were also arcane beasts among the disciples, and they weren’t the sort to docilely stay put in one place. They barreled around in all directions and patrolled random spots. Anyone discovered trying to scale the mountain was swiftly mobbed and robbed of everything they owned—including the power of creation they’d collected.
The other half step kings tried working together to fight the disciples, especially the thirty-one hundred of Dragonhollow Mountain. But each time before they could fully team up, they were defeated by a joint force of Qing Ting, Qing Di, Azureclad, Crimsonclad, and Seven Slaughters. The small group employed the same tactics that Qing Ting and Lu Yun had once used against the Robber Slayers.
After a few times, the geniuses vying for a spot on the Dragonling Ranking gave up the fight and stayed at the foot of the mountain, hunting vicious beasts and ghosts to collect the power of creation.
This would likely be their only gain at this Dragonling Assembly. If they tried to force their way through the blockade, they might lose even this paltry bit of reward.
Bloodclad and Purpleclad tried challenging Azureclad and Crimsonclad. Both were defeated in decisive fashion similar to Jade Dragon’s challenge of Qing Ting.
Time passed day by day. On the seventh day, the candidates discovered that minor changes had occurred in the rules. The three hundred and sixty-five spots that should’ve existed on the Dragonling Ranking were shrinking until there was only space enough for one person.
The Champion Duke was the only name on the Dragonling Ranking!
Thus marked the end of the Dragonling Assembly after the rules completely changed.
……
“What went wrong?? Why is there only one name on the ranking?!” The various kings on the seventh floor could finally view the situation after the rules relaxed their hold over the mountain.
“Is the Champion Duke the only one who made it to the top? Or did something else happen?” The Dragonsea city lord looked around blankly.
“What is this?! Didn’t you say there would be three hundred and sixty-five names on the ranking? Why is there only one??” Discontent rippled through the assembled kings. Many of them had bet on whose children would succeed and how high they’d place. But with the dispersal of the rules, that meant everything was set into stone and the final result was exactly what they were seeing.
