"Lord Dragon Duke!!!" The horrified cries of the Heavenly Court immortals echoed in his ears, yet to Dragon Duke they grew fainter and fainter — at first they had been like the roar of mountains and the crash of waves, but in the next instant they dwindled to thin, wavering echoes at the edge of the sky.
This... is what death tastes like?
Am I, Dragon Duke, finally going to die?
To die here?
Flickers of thought still danced through Dragon Duke's mind.
To die here?
He asked himself again.
Exhausted — truly, utterly exhausted.
All the way to this point, he had carried burdens and hopes as heavy as mountains, sins and responsibilities as vast as the sea.
Sometimes he genuinely wished he could just die!
When he had first entered the Immortal Tomb, when he first fell into slumber, his thoughts had wandered aimlessly: if he simply died like this, it wouldn't be such a bad thing, would it?
But could he?
Could he?
He asked himself.
He couldn't...
He couldn't!
Throughout his entire life, Dragon Duke had walked forward under heavy loads. He carried the expectations of his parents, his master, his companions. He bore the weight of the Heavenly Court and the human race. He bore the responsibility of a disciple's betrayal and the catastrophe it brought upon the world. He bore the sin of personally slaying his own blood descendants.
He could be wounded. He could grow old.
His body had grown stooped, his gaze gradually dimmed.
He had fallen and been sealed within the tomb, but when the moment came, he had to rise again and continue shouldering his heavy responsibilities and mission!
"That's right — I cannot die, I must not die!"
"There are still powerful enemies I have yet to crush! Sins I have yet to atone for! Mistakes I have yet to correct!"
"The Immortal Tomb is destroyed. If I fall now, Feng Jiuge will surely be unable to hold the line alone, and the Heavenly Court will be annihilated by Fang Yuan and his kind!"
"How can I afford to fall?"
"I must not fall!"
"My companions need me! The Heavenly Court needs me! The human race needs me!"
"They need me, Dragon Duke!!"
"And so..."
"No matter how tired, no matter how utterly spent — even if I must sleep in the tomb forever, even if I am dead and my head has been severed!"
"I, Dragon Duke... absolutely cannot fall!"
"I will stand. I will..."
"Fight on!!!"
In that single instant, it was as though the entire world and all the heavens responded to his indomitable, unyielding will!
A miracle occurred!
Dragon Duke's eyes, which moments ago had grown dim, suddenly erupted with blinding radiance that pierced skyward. The blood gushing from his severed neck surged back in reverse. Countless strands of qi in the surrounding air rapidly coalesced, carrying his head back onto his shoulders.
An aura of supreme profundity descended into his body, bearing within it a true inheritance. His grievous wounds vanished in an instant — within a single breath, he had made a full recovery.
"That is Immortal Venerable Primordial Origin's handiwork! And this Dao inheritance of qi... so the Return of the Three Qi serves this purpose as well!" Dragon Duke grasped it all in a flash, and overjoyed delight spread across his features.
"Lord Dragon Duke — he's been resurrected!" The miracle unfolded before their very eyes, and the entire Heavenly Court erupted in jubilant cheers. Morale, which had plummeted to rock bottom, rebounded with explosive force.
Fang Yuan's expression remained as calm as ever: "It's Immortal Venerable Primordial Origin's doing. As expected — he still had contingency measures!"
"Is this the depth of the Heavenly Court's resources?" Wu Yong murmured to himself, his face darkening, a wave of helplessness washing over him.
Dragon Duke raised his head, hovering high in the sky. He spread his arms and legs wide, his body forming the shape of a great character: "I, Dragon Duke, will never fall at this moment. Fang Yuan — let me show you what the true... Return of the Three Qi looks like!"
"The Return of the Three Qi?!" The name carried far too much weight. The moment Dragon Duke uttered those words, the immortals of the three domains faltered, their attacks visibly slowing.
Fang Yuan's face was marked with gravity. He had personally witnessed the terrifying power of the Return of the Three Qi.
Back then, it was this very move that had secured Dragon Duke's victory, allowing him to defeat Purple Mountain True Monarch cleanly and decisively.
"The Return of the Three Qi consists of three forms: the first is the Return of Human Qi, the second is the Return of Earth Qi, and the third is the Return of Heaven Qi. The Return of Human Qi drains a Gu Immortal's human qi, causing their condition to deteriorate. The Return of Earth Qi extracts earth qi, severely damaging the immortal aperture until it teeters on the brink of collapse. The Return of Heaven Qi empties heaven qi, and when its damage accumulates with that of the first two forms, the immortal aperture collapses entirely. Once struck by the first form, the second and third become impossible to defend against. Therefore, the key is the first form!"
In an instant, a flood of intelligence information cascaded through Fang Yuan's mind.
He twisted his dragon body and retreated cautiously. Although he had transformed into an Ancient Sword Dragon and appeared to have shed his human identity, he was not entirely certain whether the Return of Human Qi could still drain his human qi.
Since this move had been created by Immortal Venerable Primordial Origin — even if transformation Dao had not existed in his era and such a loophole was possible — after passing through Dragon Duke's hands, it had surely been refined and improved accordingly.
Whoosh!
In the next moment, the atmosphere churned violently. Massive currents of air surged inward from every direction, rolling like torrents and wild floods, all converging upon Dragon Duke alone.
Vast quantities of human qi, earth qi, and heaven qi concentrated within Dragon Duke's body, transforming into countless Dao marks of qi that branded themselves upon him, simultaneously doubling all of his parameters!
In that instant, Fang Yuan narrowed his eyes: "What is happening? All three forms of the Return of the Three Qi are activating simultaneously, harvesting enormous volumes of qi and bolstering it all onto Dragon Duke. Is this an anomaly triggered by Primordial Origin's earlier intervention?"
The manifestation of the Return of the Three Qi had already deviated from its conventional state.
Powerful. Powerful. Unprecedentedly powerful!
A sensation of overwhelming strength flooded Dragon Duke's body and mind. He lifted a foot and stamped lightly — BOOM!