I've had a cold for several days now — my head is spinning, my nose and tears are flowing together, and when it gets bad I can barely even open my eyes. It's miserable.
……
It was said that the first generation of great dragons on Dragon Island had come from beyond the heavens, leaving behind the fire of life for their race in this world. But this matter was so ancient, so impossibly remote, that even Zhu Yan and Fu Zhun could not confirm the truth of it.
Yet now, having heard Yang Kai's words, they felt a measure of confidence in what their ancestral records had described.
"That giant, then..." Zhu Yan ran his fingers along the Azure Dragon Spear. "This spear was a gift from that giant?"
"Exactly." Yang Kai nodded. As he recalled the giant called A Da, an involuntary smile touched his face. Even now, the memory of what he had seen that day still shook him. His own hundred-zhang dragon body was already a colossal thing, yet before the endearingly clumsy A Da, it was as insignificant as an insect. He had no idea what kind of race could give rise to such an enormous frame. Fortunately, A Da harbored no ill will — otherwise, Yang Kai would never have made it back alive.
The two Elders exchanged a glance, both reading the shock in each other's eyes.
Yang Kai reached out and grasped the Azure Dragon Spear. A shimmer of light immediately flowed across the dragon-scale-covered shaft, gleaming brilliantly, while the dragon breath within the spear seemed to slowly awaken like a sleeping great dragon, setting off a tremor in the dragon bloodline essence of both Zhu Yan and Fu Zhun.
Zhu Yan began to cough again.
"Grand Elder's injuries..." Yang Kai looked toward his abdomen, where faint traces of blood were seeping through.
"Nothing serious, but I'll need some time to rest and recover." Zhu Yan waved his hand, dismissing the matter.
Yang Kai smiled. "Perhaps I can help the Grand Elder recover quickly — and even... enhance both of your strength."
At these words, both Zhu Yan and Fu Zhun stared at him in astonishment. The two of them had cultivated for tens of thousands of years. Their strength had long since reached a level where any further advancement was extraordinarily difficult. For dragons, growing stronger was not simply a matter of grinding away in arduous training — it required awakening the essence within their bodies. The more completely that essence fused, the more powerful they became!
Ordinary Dragon Blood Blossoms had long since ceased to have any effect on them. Only the most exceptional specimens could aid their essence fusion by the tiniest fraction. But such supreme Dragon Blood Blossoms were nearly impossible to find — even with Dragon Island's resources, only a handful could be cultivated over the span of several millennia, and the last time, Yang Kai had swept them all clean.
Without Dragon Blood Blossoms to rely on, arduous training was equally futile; all they could do was wait for time to do its work. So when they suddenly heard Yang Kai say something like this, their first reaction was disbelief. But when they recalled the hundred-zhang dragon body Yang Kai had revealed in the Star God Palace three days ago, Zhu Yan and Fu Zhun could not help but feel a surge of excitement.
They still remembered that the last time they had seen Yang Kai perform the Dragon Transformation technique, his dragon body had been merely thirty-something zhang. To have grown to a hundred zhang in barely over a decade was astonishing in itself. If Yang Kai could achieve it, perhaps they could too. And it suddenly struck them — what flowed within Yang Kai was the essence of the Gold Holy Dragon. As that essence continued to fuse, he would surely inherit the legacies and memories of many dragon ancestors. Perhaps he had glimpsed some profound secret within them.
"How confident are you?" Fu Zhun pressed, struggling to contain the excitement within, though the shimmer in her eyes betrayed everything.
"That depends on how much the two of you can endure." Yang Kai smiled faintly.
Zhu Yan chuckled. "If such an opportunity truly exists, I'll show you just how much the dragons can endure."
He and Fu Zhun had been fighting three Demon Saints for years now. Though they had managed to barely hold their own, they had taken losses more than once. On several occasions, the husband-and-wife pair had been forced to rely on their combined technique to make Xue Li and the others wary enough to back off temporarily.
If they could truly grow stronger while recovering, they would no longer have to swallow such humiliation. With two against three, they might not necessarily end up at a disadvantage again — never mind seizing the initiative in this war, at the very least they would no longer be forced into such a passive position.
"Good. There's no time to lose — let me make a few preparations and then we'll set off." Yang Kai put away the Azure Dragon Spear and rose to his feet.
"Where are we going?" Zhu Yan eyed him with suspicion.
"Dragon Island!"
At this critical juncture, Yang Kai and the two Dragon Clan Elders needed to make a trip to Dragon Island, and by the most conservative estimate, it would take at least a month.
A matter of such secrecy naturally could not be freely disclosed. No one could guarantee that there weren't remnants of the Demonic Path lurking among the various armies currently stationed across the Star Realm. Should word get out, the Demon Saints would certainly seize the opportunity to act while the two Dragon Clan Elders were away returning to Dragon Island — and when that time came, no one would be able to withstand an attack from Xue Li and the others.
From beginning to end, only Li Wuyi knew about this.
The official story was that both Yang Kai and Grand Elder Zhu Yan had entered seclusion to heal from their injuries.
Fortunately, there were Spatial Teleportation Arrays — come without a trace, leave without a shadow. After a brief handover of affairs, Yang Kai set off on the road back to Dragon Island alongside Zhu Yan and Fu Zhun.
A day later, the three of them had already entered Dragon Island's pocket world. Without any pause, they headed straight for the Dragon Hall.
Only at this point did Zhu Yan and Fu Zhun finally understand Yang Kai's intentions.