Chapter 1444: Hongmeng Pearl

“Tell us truly, what happened here? Why is the Immortal King the only one listed on the ranking?” General bewilderment spread at the final result. They weren’t surprised that the Immortal King had made it onto the Dragonling Ranking; they were very surprised that he was the only one on it.

As strong as he was, he couldn’t possibly dominate the competition to the point of preventing others from taking their proper place, could he?

However, no one dared raise any objections or protests. After Dragonhollow Mountain’s Scarlet Dragon King and body double for their dragon lord had been turned into stew, a true king had emerged from the faction to still wagging tongues and quiet derisive laughter. The assembled kings were swiftly cowed into respectful attention once more.

True kings had only ever existed in legends within the realm, just like the eminent rulers of the Ten Valleys of Evil. To peak ninth step kings like the Profound and Yin Yang Kings, true kings were existences that could only be gazed upon. They would never come within reach of these august personages.

Now that a true king had appeared, the Dragonling Ranking that was receiving slight criticism was immediately legitimized. No one dared raise further questions.

……

𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

The end of the Dragonling Assembly was the closing curtain on an enormously tumultuous event. However, currents still ebbed and flowed beneath the surface.

As the only name on the ranking, Lu Yun was immediately propelled to the forefront of everything. His name was more renowned than before and reverberated throughout the entire Hongmeng.

The Immortal King!

The Champion Duke!

Two names that represented the apex of two extremely different fields belonged to the same person! Employing zither music to instruct Qing Di on how to defeat the venerated enforcer was another beautiful tale to add to the legends of the land. The Immortal King’s two thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight disciples were even more stunning.

General anticipation built—what level would the Immortal King ascend to titled kinghood at? Would he break the shackles that’d enslaved the Hongmeng for endless eons and reach ninth step kinghood as soon as he broke through?

“It’s said that the eminent ruler of Hopeless Major, the Empyrean King, was an eighth step king when she ascended. She is the Immortal King’s dao partner—I wonder if he’ll surpass her and become an unprecedented ninth step king with his first step?” someone murmured as they looked in Lu Yun’s direction.

“Per… haps.” The Night King of Ingress Blood Island frowned. “Ascending to ninth step kinghood is forbidden within the Hongmeng. There have been many stunning geniuses who did so throughout time, but they all died in extremely horrific circumstances…

“If my guess is right, the Empyrean King ascended as a ninth step king and had to shatter one of her dao rules. She ultimately made use of the Immortal King’s Pills of Creations to return to her full prowess.

“The Immortal King is indeed very strong, but if he doesn’t want to end up like the others, he needs to break one of his dao rules when he ascends,” snorted the Night King.

“Night King, Hopeless Major is allies with your Ingress Blood Island, no?” asked a mystified seventh step king. “The ten valleys have acted in concert and jointly withstood the Immortal Region all this time, so why…”

“There is no why.” The Night King cast a cool look back. “We were indeed of the same breath and branches when the ancestors of the ten valleys were still present. But since they have all passed on and the immortal dao is about to meld into the Hongmeng, there is no need for the Ten Valleys of Evil to exist anymore.”

Shock rippled through the crowd.

“The ten valleys allied together only for the sake of the immortal dao. Since it is about to assimilate into the realm, the alliance is hereby defunct.” The Night King cast a meaningful look at Qing Yu. “Accordingly, the enmity between the valleys and Immortal Region is over.”

A true uproar fully broke out at this declaration. Any king with the right to congregate at the seventh level of Dragonhollow Mountain was an absolute heavyweight in the Hongmeng. Apart from a few sixth step kings, most of them were seventh step.

The level of affairs that they were privy to was nothing that the lower level kings of the realm could compare to.

Enmity between the Immortal Region and the Ten Valleys of Evil, and the disappearance of the Di Clan several hundreds of million years ago, were no secrets to kings of this social circle.

“No wonder the Supplemental Dao Alliance lifted the monopoly on supplemental dao. It had nothing to do with the Immortal King, but that the two sides were no longer enemies…” murmured someone in the crowd.

Qing Yu and the little fox giggled to each other not too far away, completely unperturbed by the conversation.

“Maybe they really don’t know what all of this means for the Ten Valleys of Evil.” Lu Yun curled his lip.

“What all of this means?” Miao blinked.

“The ten ancestors might be coming back,” Lu Yun grinned. “Wanna guess who they are?”

“God’s one of them! Origin World is his!” the little fox jumped up with a whisper.

“Heh heh heh, let’s just wait and see. They want to draw lines between us now? There’ll be a reckoning coming for them soon enough,” Lu Yun cackled. “Even the will of the azure dragon is playing nice with me, though he’s lying to me. Let’s go.”

“Go?” Qing Yu and Miao blinked.

“What are we staying for? Listening to them run their mouths? They’re not going to involve us in anything.” Lu Yun spread out his hands. The azure dragon had said that his identity was no secret, including Qing Yu and the little fox’s. So although these kings wouldn’t publicly announce his identity to the world, it was inevitable that they ostracize him.

The attitude from the other nine valleys was indicative of everything, and the Dao King had likely revealed Lu Yun and Qing Yu’s true identity to them.

Just as Shenyu had said, the Dao King was just another bird who wished to soar into the sky.

……

Lu Yun and the Hopeless Major delegation left without word or fanfare, but there were still some who detected their departure and joined them. Azure Dragon City, Coiling Dragon City, Blazing Phoenix Region, and their affiliated kings withdrew from Dragonhollow Mountain.

Since their juniors had drunk from the pots of dragon soup, they were tied to the Immortal King’s carriage and the Dragonhollow kings would never forgive them. The Scarlet Dragon King and body double for the dragon lord, in particular, would be returning soon since they weren’t dead.

“You guys are smart and didn’t become fence sitters,” Qing Yu looked at the Azure Dragon city lord. “But I will claim the ultimate Hongmeng treasure that you lost to me. I have long heard that your city possesses an ultimate treasure named the Hongmeng Pearl. It can transform into a world and its own order. I want it,” she said seriously in the air over the Hongmeng Sea.

“What a coincidence, I want the Hongmeng Pearl too,” sounded another voice before the city lord could respond. The dragon lord slowly materialized before everyone’s shocked eyes.

It was the dragon lord that Lu Yun had brought back from the world of immortals—the disguised demon of immortal dao.

The city lords of Azure Dragon and Coiling Dragon were taken aback. They looked at Lu Yun and Qing Yu, not sure of what to do. The dragon lord’s aura was the same as the true king that’d appeared from Dragonhollow Mountain earlier.

The dragon lord was also a true king!

Uhhh. What.