Qingying cast several displeased glances at them.
“I just said I would slap anyone to death who moved before the Dragon Transformation Tribulation was over. What exactly are you all doing?”
Siruo gave Qingying a faint smile.
“We arrived later. We didn’t hear you say that.”
As she spoke, another enormous bolt of lightning crashed down from the clouds. It illuminated the black thunderclouds from within, while the entire tribulation blanketed the dragon-rising grounds, as if it meant to level them. The immense geomantic power of the three great dragon veins beneath them was drawn out all at once and converged upon that land.
Beneath the tribulation, Zi Yunshu rode the wind and clouds, churning the lightning around her. She stepped upon the geomantic force that linked and activated the three great dragon veins and charged straight upward, slamming into the colossal heavenly thunder!
The geomantic force formed by the three great dragon veins condensed into white vapor resembling rain mist. It poured into Zi Yunshu’s body and fused with her. In effect, she had the full power of three great dragon veins protecting her as she crossed the tribulation. Unless Heaven itself struck her with punishment, she would certainly pass through it smoothly without suffering a single injury.
Siruo’s scalp prickled, and her hair stood on end. Only Bao Gu could have both the audacity and the ability to set up something like this and pit it against Heaven!
She had long since seen that Zi Yunshu could not survive this tribulation on her own. She would not even have been able to withstand three bolts of heavenly tribulation. Yet now, her success was a foregone conclusion. Bao Gu had forcibly pushed a flood dragon doomed to die into the realm of the True Dragon.
The land where Zi Yunshu crossed the tribulation and ascended would also receive her blessings and undergo earth-shaking changes. The karmic consequence was far too great. It might even bring down heavenly retribution!
Siruo sprang to her feet and turned toward Qu Yirou.
“Bao Gu actually dared to do this!”
Qu Yirou was deeply shaken as well.
“Hasn’t she already done it?”
After knowing Bao Gu for so many years, Qu Yirou naturally understood what sort of person she was. Even so, she had never expected Bao Gu to go this far for Zi Yunshu.
As the ninth Purple-Cloud Lightning Tribulation descended, the thunderclouds over that stretch of heaven and earth dispersed.
From high above, myriad rays of golden light poured down.
Zi Yunshu twisted and soared within the golden light, releasing one dragon roar after another, each higher than the last. Her flood-dragon form rapidly underwent an earth-shaking transformation; every part of her body changed.
Each of her scales and every strand of her dragon mane shone with a gentle, snow-white radiance, illuminating the entire region with a sacred glow. The light spread from the place of her tribulation, flooding the mountains and earth below. Under the wash of spiritual energy, the vegetation across the mountains brimmed with powerful vitality.
The radiance and mighty energy surging through the world bathed even the nearby cultivators who had come to watch. Vast spiritual energy and true-dragon aura flowed into their bodies through every pore and with each breath, making them feel as though they had swallowed a priceless immortal elixir. Some cultivators even broke through on the spot—
Qu Yirou and Siruo exchanged grim looks. They even wondered whether Bao Gu was still alive.
The Heavenly Dao demanded balance. Bao Gu had altered this entire arrangement to aid Zi Yunshu’s transformation, and Zi Yunshu had succeeded, bringing even greater blessings to the surrounding lands. The more Zi Yunshu gained from this transformation, the greater the price Bao Gu would have to pay.
The fortune created by Zi Yunshu’s transformation even surpassed that of attaining the True Immortal realm. Unless Bao Gu possessed strength or fortune beyond the True Immortal realm, she was doomed to die. There was no hope of survival.
Both women understood the unspoken message in each other’s eyes, but neither dared say a single word.
Given the current state of the cultivation world, if word that something had happened to Bao Gu got out, who knew what sort of upheaval it would cause?
Standing aboard the Great Luo Scarlet-Gold Battleship, Zi Tianjun threw back his head and laughed triumphantly.
“Ha ha ha ha ha—”
His laughter seemed to shake the mountains and rivers, as though he were the one who had just survived the tribulation.
At the sound, Qu Yirou and Siruo both turned toward him. Seeing his smug, self-satisfied expression, they exchanged a startled look, then shook their heads in perfect unison.
Siruo said:
“To Shadow City!”
Qu Yirou said:
“I’m going too!”
With that, they hurried toward their respective conveyances.
Zi Tianjun shouted with boundless pride:
“Shu’er! Your father is right here!”
Zi Yunshu turned and glanced in his direction. Immediately afterward, she lifted the Demon Saint, who had somehow gone unnoticed until then, onto her back. She reached out one claw through the air, plunged headfirst into the void, and vanished in an instant.
Zi Tianjun assumed she was making a flashy exit and would suddenly appear before him. He waited with a broad smile for his precious daughter to appear in her true-dragon form. After a long while, she still did not appear, and suspicion began to creep in.
Nearby, Yu Jianming had already brought out and activated a teleportation array platform. He was just about to pull Qingying onto it when she kicked the platform away with a look of disgust, seized him by the arm, and stepped into the void.
Before he even had time to panic, a powerful force poured down from above. He realized that the Xuantian Cauldron had enveloped the two of them. His vision went black, then bright, and he found himself at the teleportation gate of Shadow City!
Yu Jianming froze for a moment, then understood. A light went on in his mind, and he thought:
*I absolutely have to ask how this trick works. Next time, I’ll use a giant cauldron as a teleportation platform too. I can save a fortune on teleportation-array expenses every year!*
As soon as Qingying left, cultivators from every direction gathered around Zi Tianjun. Congratulations poured in, and they all waited eagerly for a chance to admire the true dragon at close range.
They waited and waited, but Zi Yunshu never appeared. Only then did they realize that the newly transformed true dragon had long since left, abandoning her father and taking the Demon Saint with her.
Although Zi Tianjun felt a trace of suspicion, he remained delighted. He invited all the cultivators who had come to congratulate him to Xuantian Sect, where a grand banquet would be held to celebrate Zi Yunshu’s successful transformation.
After completing her tribulation, Zi Yunshu carried the Demon Saint and hurried back to Shadow City. The city was protected by the Qingzhou Grand Formation, and even after becoming a True Dragon, she could enter only through the teleportation gate maintained by that formation.
She went first to Immortal Stone Palace. When she learned that Xue Qing had already left with Bao Gu, she hurried to the Demon Realm. However, she found no sign of Xue Qing at the Demon Emperor’s Palace.
Xuanyue and Linger were astonished that Zi Yunshu had suddenly transformed into a dragon and then suddenly appeared before them. When they heard that Zi Yunshu wanted to see Xue Qing and ask about Bao Gu, their astonishment turned to shock.
Linger asked:
“Wasn’t Bao Gu in Shadow City?”
Zi Yunshu paused.
“You didn’t know?”
“Know what?”
Xuanyue’s gaze shifted, and her expression grew solemn.
“Did something happen?”
The Demon Saint recounted the entire matter in a few words.
Xuanyue and Linger’s eyes widened. Linger was especially frightened.
Xuanyue steadied herself, thought it over, and said:
“I’m afraid you won’t be able to see Bao Gu.”
The Demon Saint asked:
“What do you mean?”
Xuanyue looked at him.
“You understand.”
Zi Yunshu fell silent.
In the past, there had been many things she did not understand. But after transforming into a True Dragon, many matters that had once been obscure to her—even things she had never known—suddenly appeared in her mind. Things she had never understood became clear, including what Bao Gu’s actions in helping her transform meant and the price Bao Gu would have to pay.
Zi Yunshu had been fated to die under the tribulation, yet she had survived and successfully transformed into a dragon. That meant the death calamity had to fall upon Bao Gu instead.
Bao Gu had taken the lightning strike that shattered her heart, and Heaven’s execution had extinguished her life force.
Without saying a word, Zi Yunshu nodded lightly. Then she changed back into dragon form, carried the Demon Saint through the void, returned to the Ancient Desolate Mountain Range, and plunged headfirst into the deep pool in her dragon-rearing grounds.
Xuantian Sect held a lavish three-day banquet to celebrate Zi Yunshu’s successful transformation, but the guest of honor never appeared.
Zi Tianjun dispatched disciples to Shadow City to invite her.
A disciple of Xuantian Sect had barely emerged from the teleportation gate in Shadow City when the Cleaver Gang guards stationed there, acting under a decree the Cleaver Lord had issued ten years earlier, hacked him down with a single stroke!
When the news reached Xuantian Sect, Zi Tianjun was furious. He shot to his feet at the banquet and was about to go personally to Shadow City to demand an explanation, but Feng Yi stopped him.
Feng Yi said:
“Sect Master, a true dragon is like an immortal and does not descend into the mortal realm. Now that Junior Sister has become a true dragon, she is probably no longer suited to appear before mortals. Let us hold this banquet here and celebrate her from afar. She will know of it.”
Zi Tianjun’s expression eased slightly.
“Once matters here are settled, go to Shadow City in person and ask them what they mean by hacking down a disciple of my Xuantian Sect.”
Feng Yi answered:
“Yes!”
Yet he had no intention of actually going. Go to Shadow City and ask? Over the years, hadn’t enough Xuantian Sect disciples lost their lives after entering Cleaver Gang territory and being discovered?
Xuantian Sect held its grand banquet, and powers from every side sent representatives to offer congratulations. The entire sect was filled with festive cheer and noisy celebration.
Yet the people of the various powers watching from the shadows saw the situation clearly. Some even secretly inquired into Zi Yunshu’s whereabouts.
They paid particular attention to the movements of the four great ironclad powers—the Cleaver Gang, Xuantian Sect, Yue Kingdom, and Soul Chasing Pavilion—and noticed that not one of those powers had sent representatives or gifts to offer congratulations. All four remained united in silence.
One other piece of news, however, began circulating: Zi Yunshu had been able to survive the tribulation because the Cleaver Lord had personally used overwhelming means to lay out this grand geomantic configuration and aid her. Before that, the Cleaver Lord had been caught in a lightning tribulation and then taken away by a certain powerhouse from the Demon Realm.
All of them were cultivators, and all had at least some understanding of the Heavenly Dao’s laws, rules, and taboos. A little thought was enough for them to see the connection, and they guessed that the Cleaver Lord was in grave danger.
If the Cleaver Lord had suffered for this while Zi Tianjun continued to put on such a display, it was enough to make anyone despise him. Still, he had a daughter who had become a True Dragon, so everyone put on a flawless show of keeping up appearances.
Behind the scenes, however, their minds began turning.
Everyone knew that Young Lord Bao Nianhui was currently running the Cleaver Gang, and the Cleaver Lord’s presence or absence did not affect the gang’s operations. The cultivation world had only one concern now: if the Cleaver Lord had truly met with disaster, would that drought demon still be under restraint?
Judging by the spectacle when she slaughtered people in the Ancient Desolate Mountains, killing a person was no different to her from crushing a mosquito!
At this critical juncture, every power was extremely cautious. Not one dared provoke the Cleaver Gang, afraid that even a tentative probe would draw out Qingying, whose master had “died” and whose mood was surely foul.
With that enormous cauldron shielding her, Qingying could strike with ease, while they might bring annihilation upon themselves!
Yet they could not feel secure without gauging Qingying’s reaction. They could not keep avoiding the Cleaver Gang forever. Avoiding it for a short while was possible, but over time, retreating and yielding at every turn would damage the development and future of their sects.
They did not dare make the test themselves, but one man was currently riding high, making him the perfect candidate.
That man was Zi Tianjun!
The people from the various powers who had come to offer congratulations displayed rare unanimity on this point. Working both openly and behind the scenes, they needed only a few nudges to goad the notoriously vain Zi Tianjun—whom Feng Yi had just stopped from going himself—into a position from which he could not back down without losing face.
If he failed to bring Zi Yunshu back, he would be publicly slapping himself in the face before every power in the cultivation world at such a grand celebration.
Zi Yunshu’s aura imprint on the communication jade talisman had changed after her transformation and was no longer effective. He could not even contact the Demon Saint. He had no idea where Zi Yunshu was. To find her, he would have to go to the Order Envoy’s Manor and ask around.
Zi Tianjun had no choice but to send Xuantian Sect disciples to Shadow City to look for Zi Yunshu. Each one sent was cut down in turn.
He sent seven Xuantian Sect disciples there in succession, and every one had his head chopped off the moment he stepped through the teleportation gate, before he could get out even a single word!
This not only left the people of Xuantian Sect humiliated; even the various powers who had come to congratulate them erupted in uproar. Some loudly condemned the Cleaver Gang, but more made one excuse after another and took their leave.
In less than half an hour, every congratulatory guest had left Xuantian Sect.
Zi Tianjun was so furious that he kicked the jade table in front of him flying!
Within two days, all sorts of vicious remarks reached Zi Tianjun through Xuantian Sect’s informants stationed outside.
Enraged beyond control, Zi Tianjun charged straight for Shadow City. Even Feng Yi could not hold him back!
