1080 - The Re-Emergence of the Seven-Fingered People
Chapter 1080 - The Re-Emergence of the Seven-Fingered People
Currently, the domain of the Dragon Human Race was divided into three parts. There was a loose alliance between the high-ranking officials of the border regions, the Dragonblood Dynasty, and the War God Xu Wuya, who had splintered away from the current Dragon Emperor due to a conflict of interests. These three major factions ruled the domain, and it was apt to describe the current situation of this race as chaotic.
These three major factions could be considered rivals.
The places that Ye Qingyu had been to—the small chaotic city, Dragon Scale Province, and currently, Snow Dragon Province—belonged to the loose alliance of border regions, but strictly speaking, the Ancient Dragon Emperor should have belonged to the Dragonblood Dynasty. This felt a little strange for Ye Qingyu. Since the three factions were rivals, why would the Ancient Dragon Emperor and people from the loose alliance end up plotting to kill Ren Puyang together?
Also, where should they even begin to search for the Ancient Dragon Emperor?
Rumor had it that the Ancient Dragon Emperor was buried in the ancestral Dragon Tomb after he died. It was located in the divine underground cave beneath Peerless Dragon City, the capital city of the Dragonblood Dynasty. "Do I really have to go to the capital, sneak into the Dragon Tomb, and exhume the casket of the Ancient Dragon Emperor to uncover the truth?"
After all, it was the ancestral burial ground of the Dragon Human Race, and security there would be incomparably tight.
Even Ye Qingyu felt that it was a problem.
He knew, however, that he still had to go there, no matter how hard it was going to be.
Two days later, a few hundred kilometers away from Peerless Dragon City—
The skeletal wyrm was flapping its wings and cruising in the sky. It flew incredibly stable like an airship, and a faint silver glow formed an arcing light shield around it. The shield did not give off any energy wave and it kept its back ramrod straight.
Zhou Yuexin carried a long sword on her back and stood atop the draconic beast's back. She gazed forward, her eyes full of respect.
Ye Qingyu sat cross-legged in front of her on the beast's skeletal head. He was channeling his technique, preparing to readjust himself.
Someone whose power was at such a high level would find it hard to achieve a breakthrough just by using cultivation alone. They could only try to continually realign their body and uncover the amazing properties hidden within, or attempt to comprehend the forces of nature to improve further. Either that or perhaps meet with some chance encounter.
Over the past few days, Ye Qingyu had been observing the mechanisms of his own body and trying to comprehend the wonderfulness of nature.
He had seen more than one Quasi-emperor in battle before. The overall aura and image of the life and death struggles had had a huge impact on him, and he was still trying to comprehend and feel the fleeting moment of light. He needed to try to understand the meaning behind the struggle in the Dao over and over again to even get close to an opportunity to become an Emperor.
Currently, he had already understood a little of it.
He opened his eyes and gazed below.
There were mountains, valleys, and rivers in the vast landscape below them, which stretched out thousands of kilometers. It was an extremely beautiful sight; the terrain of the domain of the Dragon People was simply breathtaking. It was an ancient domain that had existed since early historical times, and it was still in very good condition. It was full of life and spiritual qi, and as Ye Qingyu and Zhou Yuexin looked on, the view was incredibly beautiful. They could see primitive forests within the mountains and valleys, and after using their martial eyes, they also noticed that the spirit vein beneath the ground was full of vitality and Saintly power.
It was worthy of its reputation of being one of the larger domains in the world right now.
The Ancient Sky Dragon Domain was considerably more shabby looking compared to the domain of the Dragon People. Its borders were smaller, and it had a shorter lifespan. Even though the Ancient Sky Dragon Domain still possessed a considerable lifespan, it ended up being annexed and destroyed.
The root cause of the Ancient Sky Dragon Domain's demise was because the strength of the humans alone was not enough to alter its fate. It was eventually invaded and taken over by Puppet Bloodworms like the wyrm Ye Qingyu controlled. If the Ancient Sky Dragon Sect was as mighty as the Dragonblood Dynasty, perhaps the Ancient Sky Dragon Domain would be thriving now.
"Master, I picked up the scent of some of my kind," the wyrm said.
It was flying at great speed, and it covered hundreds of kilometers with each flap of its wings. Soon enough, Peerless Dragon City was right before them.
Looking down, they could see the gigantic city, which symbolizes the pride and the might of the Dragon Human Race, and it looked exactly like a divine dragon lying upon a beautiful grassy plain. Wind blew across the plain, and the evergreen flora rose and fell as it passed them by, causing it to look like a vast green ocean. Ye Qingyu and company felt as though they had just seen a divine dragon rise out of the sea, and the terrain and feng shui of this land had obviously been designed and arranged by a greater power.
The wyrm's remark also meant that dark forces were hiding in Peerless Dragon City.
"Enter the city directly," Ye Qingyu said.
The wyrm contained its aura with great care and swooped down toward Peerless Dragon City.
"Wait a minute," Zhou Yuexin said suddenly. "Security is tight in Peerless Dragon City, and a [Divine Dragon Formation] has been set up here. If we swoop in like this, we're bound to be discovered..."
She had come to this place with her lover before and knew how terrifying the huge castle was. At the same time, she did not wish for Ye Qingyu to come into conflict with the people of Peerless Dragon City because of his forceful entry. After all, both parties were dear to her. This city was the pride of her people.
Before she could finish speaking, however, a cool breeze swept past her.
The skeletal draconic beast had already entered Peerless Dragon City.
Strangely, the formations that had been painstakingly set up with vast amounts of manpower, resources, and money by the Dragon Human Race did not react at all. The elite troops of the Dragon People stationed on the castle walls had also failed to notice the arrival of Ye Qingyu and company.
"Er..." She was very surprised.
That was because she had not realized how terrifying the skeletal wyrm's power was. It had absorbed both Wei Wubing's and Zhang Wuxin's strength and memories, which was to say that it had obtained a lifetime of experience in cultivation and martial prowess from both dark creatures. As such, it was already very close to reaching the Quasi-emperor realm, and compounded by the fact that it was well-versed in various secret martial arts techniques, only Ye Qingyu or a Quasi-emperor could subdue it now. Otherwise, there was no restricted area in the entire world that it could not go.
The wyrm was carrying Ye Qingyu and Zhou Yuexin and flying low in the sky above Peerless Dragon City. They had already passed through countless protective barriers, and none of the people weaving in and out of the streets below them could see it at all.
That was because it had refracted any light passing by them.
"Is there any place in this city where information is for sale?" Ye Qingyu asked.
Zhou Yuexin was still in a daze and hurriedly collected herself, "The largest underground source of information in the city is the All-Knowing Tower. It is said that there isn't any news in the Vast Thousand Domains that they cannot get..."
"Let's go then," Ye Qingyu decided.
The wyrm flapped its wings and followed Zhou Yuexin's directions.
"That person is coming."
Deep inside the royal castle, in a secluded and quiet yard—
The corner of the lips of an old Dragon Human dressed in plain robes revealed a serious expression. Invisible imperial qi circled around his body, as if a little bright yellow dragon was intimately cruising around him.
Two top-level martial artists of the Dragon Humans stood behind him. They were dressed in red armor and stood stiffly at attention.
I've really underestimated this Ye Qingyu. To think that he found his way to Peerless Dragon City so quickly just by obtaining a confession from Wei Wubing. He's proven to be an anomaly... Could it be that someone is supporting him from behind the scenes? It can't be; Li Xiaofei is already dead, and that old man fought with the descendants of the Ancient Human Emperor. He should already be on the verge of dying. So who could be helping him?
The old Dragon Human seemed to be thinking about something that caused him to hesitate.
Eventually, his gaze turned firm as he said, "You two, go and make preparations."
"Yes, my lord."
The two top-level martial artists in red armor received their orders.
"Don't alarm that person in the royal palace about this incident," the old Dragon Human added.
The two experts in red armor acknowledged again before leaving.
The old Dragon Human remained in the same spot and lifted his head toward the sky. A stern smile appeared on his lips as he thought, No matter who the person is, they will find that it's impossible to reverse the current situation just by making use of Ye Qingyu as an outer shell. The fate of the world has been decided, and only the Ancient Great Emperor himself can possibly change it... Hehehe, this time, I want to see if the mastermind will show themselves after I slay Ye Qingyu. Don't let me down.
On the second story of the All-Knowing Tower—
A Dragon Human innkeeper was serving Ye Qingyu and Zhou Yuexin warmly.
The wyrm had returned into the [Cloud Top Cauldron].
"What information would you like to know, sir?" the innkeeper asked. He was young but very steady, and his smile was warm.
Ye Qingyu's figure was surrounded by a flickering white glow, which blurred his facial features. He transmitted a message mentally to Zhou Yuexin, and she then spoke to the innkeeper, "My master would like to know about the changes within the Heaven Wasteland Domain."
"Oh, sure. Information about the Heaven Wasteland Domain is divided into three tiers. Tier three contains one hundred sixty pieces of news and has been gathered within ten days. Tier two contains two hundred pieces of news and has been gathered in five days. As for tier one, it'll contain one thousand and one pieces of news and has been compiled earlier this afternoon. They are all the latest and most accurate bits of information you can obtain," the innkeeper said cheerfully.
Lately, the news about the Heaven Wasteland Domain had become the hottest product in the All-Knowing Tower. After the War God Xu Wuya had led his huge army to attack the domain of humans, it drew the attention of various Dragon Human factions. Nearly all of the Dragon Humans believed that it was just a matter of time before the Heaven Wasteland Empire would be crushed by the iron hooves of the Dragon Teeth Army and were waiting to share the spoils of war. As such, they were very concerned about news pertaining to the domain. There had been many people like Ye Qingyu and Zhou Yuexin that concealed their true identities and came asking about news of the Heaven Wasteland Domain lately, so the innkeeper was not in the least bit suspicious.
"We want a set of all three tiers of information."
Zhou Yuexin told him and paid a huge sum of money to the innkeeper.
Very quickly, three jade strips landed in Ye Qingyu's palm.
He read through all of them once in great detail. He came to know that the Heaven Wasteland Empire had declared war against Xu Wuya and the Dragon Teeth Army, but they had not engaged the War God in actual combat yet. They had been retreating and maintaining a completely defensive posture. Things were not looking good, and the Dragon Teeth Army was beginning to bare its fangs. It had crushed and annexed a considerable amount of forces belonging to the empire.
Ye Qingyu understood what was going on after reading it.
After that, he told Zhou Yuexin to purchase information about Hu Bugui, the silly dog Little Nine, Nan Tieyi, and the others. Unfortunately, he only got piecemeal information about them. This tower was not truly all-knowing, and there was still not much news about his friends.
"Is there any news worthy of attention? Has any new power or expert emerged lately?" Ye Qingyu told Zhou Yuexin to ask him.
"You know, there is," the innkeeper replied mysteriously. "The Seven-Fingered People, who were supposed to have been exterminated years ago, have re-emerged in the Vast Thousand Domains. A young female martial arts expert has appeared and defeated all her enemies. She's looking to exact vengeance."