Chapter 1485 - Father and Son

For now, Tianming had to do his best to understand how the formation worked without actually using it so that he would have some idea of how to work it when the time really came to use it. "Aunt Qian, give me a few days to study it."

"Alright. I also want to have a closer look at this impressive piece of ancient technology. I think I'll have no more regrets if I'm able to see it fly one day," Long Xiqian said.

"Alright. Actually, its name is the Ninedragon Cruiser." Tianming didn't even know what the ship looked like from the outside; the parts he saw during the Voidsky Skirmish were only the tip of the iceberg. No doubt, the day it resurfaced for good would be a majestic one. "I’ll meet you for real one day!"

He took a deep breath and continued exploring the tomb while checking on the growth of the saplings. After a few days, he noticed that he could convert the wheel formation back to the wardrum formation. There were some commands he could give through the divine celestial formations. For instance, when he was away from the tomb, he could knock on the drum using the Ninedragon Tribulation to summon the tomb to where he was, or at least that was his guess. He didn't dare to actually try it out, but he was more or less certain that this was its function as the owner of the cruiser. He was its captain! After having lit up six dragon palaces, it seemed that he had attained the first-level privileges and was able to pilot the ship around, and the more he learned about it, the more impressed he became.

"It’s a miracle!" The moment he got a miniaturized nova source, this ship would be no different from an entire Divine Moon Realm. Not only could it rapidly cruise, it could also launch attacks. No doubt the complexity of its formation was even higher than that of the Divine Moon Realm. Not to mention, it was almost entirely constructed out of top-tier divine ores.

"This ship represents the crystallization of the wisdom of millions of years and labor of countless more. It’s both a top-tier treasure and a terrifying war machine!" Nova source was everything for cultivators. Taking it from the star was something that could threaten the longevity of the star and its inhabitants. Even Bodhi from the Ninefold Hell had only wanted to get a stellunar source to help his kind survive on their dead planet.

Since the days divine astralships were invented, the era of astral warfare had arrived. No nova source world would ever be truly safe as countless threats lurk in the dark and ever-reaching astralscape. That was why Tianming was so moved by the functioning state of the cruiser. Without an astralship to rival the celestial orderians' Divine Sun Palace, the sun would forever be their domain. Tianming's first steps into the higher arena had been taken, from the unification of the Azurecloud Continent to the dedication of the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect and activation of the divine astralship.

......

The Dragonfang Springs were located at the Great Saintdragon Peak. Two men were there, one middle-aged and one young. They were the Torchdragon Emperor and Long Renshe, respectively. They were the most discussed father and son pair in the whole of Orderia as of late. With the date of Long Renshe and the Ninemoon Goddess' wedding set, they were constantly the topic of discussions.

With the Veildragon Palace occupying the Myriaddragon Mountains, the celestial orderians sent twenty million more troops to the place using the wedding as justification. The Xuanyuan Dragon Sect had also regained its top place on the sect rankings, with the relatively young Torchdragon Emperor who was still in his prime having overtaken the Saintdragon Emperor to become the true ruler of the sect. His reputation was even greater than the dreamless celestial emperor's. As for his son, the husband-to-be of the goddess, he was the top genius across the history of the Veildragon Palace and the heir of the number-one sect. He was ready to usher the sect into a glorious new era. These two had risen to the top practically overnight, attracting a lot of attention.

However, there was another matter aside from the marriage that had incited the rage of billions of celestial orderians: the death of Li Shenjian, allegedly at the hands of Tianming, who had injured him beyond recovery during the duel. The sun empress' grief was well known across the realm, and if it weren’t for the sun emperor's explicit order, hordes would have been sent to the Myriaddragon Mountains. Tianming was now the public enemy of all celestial orderians. In the eyes of the elites, a junior, no matter how talented, wouldn't be able to shape current events no matter what. After all, the Veildragon Guard alone would be enough to kill him. In the era of war and turmoil, talented geniuses weren’t worth that much; the best Tianming could bring the other side was some extra morale.

Naturally, with how well protected he was, there was little chance any assassination attempt would succeed. Not to mention, Tianming had made sure to send Yin Chen out in advance to scout out wherever he was about to go, allowing him to avoid many dangers. Regardless, the celestial orderians only needed one justification to head south with their armies and deal a definitive blow to the Myriad Solar Sects, making Li Shenjian's death both significant and insignificant at the same time.

However, that wasn't what weighed on Long Renshe's mind. Ever since the goddess's arrival and the setting of the date of the ceremony, he hadn't had a chance to talk to her even once. His father had asked him to talk to her to find out what demands Qingyu had about the wedding arrangements—everything had to be done to suit her every need and want, since she was the star of the show. On the way to the springs, he had told his son that he should obey the goddess's every whim and see himself like her slave. Though Long Renshe nodded, his feelings didn't match his actions. Right as they arrived at the entrance of the Dragonfang Springs, they were stopped by the Sunscorch Guard.

"Gentlemen, what’s this about?" the Torchdragon Emperor asked. They were soon to be the in-laws of the sun emperor!

"Apologies, Torchdragon Emperor, the goddess isn’t in a good mood for some reason and instructed us to not let anyone disturb her," said a guard.

"Not in a good mood? I suppose we should find another time then," the Torchdragon Emperor said with a smile.

"Dad, she won't even see you?" Long Renshe's expression turned cold.

His father glared at him to shut up. Then he smiled at the guard and asked, "Is Li Yunxi around?"

"Our leader is at the Saintdragon Shrine."

"Alright, I'll go look for her then." He left with his son.

"The goddess seems to be pushing me away a little too hard," Long Renshe said.

"That's normal. Just think about how different your statuses are. If it weren’t for this lucky opportunity, would you really have had a real chance with her? Don't forget..." He pointed at the third eye of his son and continued, "we’re outsiders, not part of their race, understood? It's no surprise that they discriminate against us, so. We’ve spent countless years to rise from the ranks of dogs to that of slaves. You're still a slave, yet you’re getting married to the goddess. What kind of divine karmic luck did you have for this to be possible?"

"Is that so..." Long Renshe sighed. He felt that they weren't in as bad a position as his father believed. The celestial orderians seemed to be rather respectful toward the Veildragon Palace, after all, but his father's views were far more pragmatic. The worst thing was that he knew his father was correct, but he still just couldn't bring himself to accept it.

"Just make sure you are aware of our place and learn to let go. Mulling this over will only get you into trouble. Even Li Shenjian could be decapitated just like that, let alone you."

"Yes, Dad, I know." Long Renshe was the understanding sort. He set aside his pride, smiled like his father, and lowered his head. People could call that cowardly if they wanted, but he was the one who was moving up in the world.