Lu Yun nodded silently. âYou probably saw how I revived Fuxi, right?â he suddenly asked.
âHeh heh heh, hahahaha!!â laughed the azure dragon. âI 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.â
âBy the way, who is the real Azure Dragon King?â Lu Yun changed the topic.
âWhat real Azure Dragon King? After the demon of immortal dao killed the dragon lord, he took the dragon lordâs skin to become the Azure Dragon King. If it wasnât for his endless sabotage from the shadows, how would the world of immortals have broken so easily a hundred thousand years ago?â snorted the azure dragon.
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 heâd been by Lu Yunâs side all this time! Heâd watched over everything the young man had done in the world of immortals and couldâve killed the master of hell at any time, multiple times over.
Thankfully, heâd wanted to use Lu Yun to travel to the Hongmeng. The consequences wouldâve been inconceivable otherwise. Even now, everything in the world of immortals was infested with the demonâs 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 hadnât been able to fully control his emotions after coming to the third realm! Itâd 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.
âAre you saying that it wasnât the Dao King who destroyed the world of immortals a hundred thousand years ago, but the demon of immortal dao?â Lu Yun quickly asked.
âThe Dao King? Why would he destroy the world of immortals?â the azure dragon responded with surprise. âHe entered the world for the same reason as the other heavyweights of the realmâto 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.â
Lu Yun nodded; at least the demon hadnât lied about the relationship between the Hongmeng and the world of immortals.
âThe 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.
âThe 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, itâs quite different from the others,â chuckled the azure dragon. âI know you wonât believe me as too much has happened after youâve 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.â
âMmhmm.â Lu Yun nodded. âWhat about Dragon Butterfly and Long Batian? Do you really want to refine the two little girls?â
âRefine 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.â The azure dragon shook his head with a wry grin.
âIf that dragon lord hadnât said that youâd refine the two girls, I might still have full faith in him.â Lu Yun curled his lip.
âAlso, your identity is no secret to the true kings of the realm. You should refrain from being too blatant about things,â warned the azure dragon.
âI see.â Lu Yun spread out his hands. âI havenât really set myself against the true kings either. That Metal Potentate was a true king, right? I didnât stop him from taking my friend away.
âAlright, Iâm going to head back and leave the demon of immortal dao in your hands. I canât fight him and donât really want to at the moment. Since heâs in Dragonhollow Mountain, I give him to you.â Lu Yun smiled at the azure dragon and dismissed his projected body.
âAncestorâŚâ The other dragon ghosts came crowding over.
âForget it, let him go.â The azure dragon smiled and opened his hand, distributing a cultivation method. âWe 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.â
The ghosts around him blinked.
âThere is none other than him in the Hongmeng who knows of such a cultivation method. Very well, all of you will cultivate well.â The azure dragon waved his hand.
âUnderstood!â The dragon ghosts dispersed after receiving a copy. Plainly, theyâd voluntarily sacrificed their bloodlines so the azure dragon could come back to life. The azure dragon had also done good by his people. Heâd 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 Yunâs trust. Sadly, heâd been a bit too hasty in their last meeting.
Lu Yun felt a great weight lift off his shoulders after clarifying everything.
âAre you still going to participate in the Dragonling Assembly?â Qing Yu leaned against Lu Yunâs shoulder.
âOf course, why not?â Lu Yun nodded. âWeâre 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. Iâm going to prove that Iâm very strong without it!â
âYour easy defeat of Jin Yue in front of everyone has already proven your capabilities,â Qing Yu smiled.
âThatâs not enough. Who knows what theyâll say behind my back if I donât beat my superiority into their brains?â Lu Yun stretched lazily.
The final battle of the Dragonling Assemblyâthe Dragonling Rankingâwas about to begin.
The ranking was also a product of the azure dragonâs 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.
Indistinct azure radiance blossomed when the mountain appeared. An immense figure appeared at its peak.
âThe final stop of this Dragonling Assembly is about to arrive.â The immense figure slowly sharpened into focus. It was a young man with azure hairânot the dragon lord or any of the old dragons thatâd 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.
There were true kings on Dragonhollow Mountain!
âThe 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 dragonâs will. Let us begin.â
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? Theyâd thought thereâd 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 thatâd remained out of sight all this time finally showed themselves.
There were three thousand and a hundred of them!