Chapter Seven

1

Coyalu and I lit a fire and sat by the sea, the dragon who had put on clothes indeed looked feminine. After a night of correcting his views, this dragon had learned to dress like a man, and his name was translated into the dragon language as Tengyun.

"How long did you sleep for? Your brain must be mush by now!" Coyalu jabbed Tengyun's head hard with his finger. The dragon's comprehension was exceptionally strong. It was very unusual that he had survived for so long, but his intelligence was definitely questionable. The problem seemed to lie in his sleep-deprived mind.

"Um, I think I saw a colorful phoenix while I was sleeping."

"Wow, that was a long time ago."

I didn't participate in their conversation. Freshly caught fish by the sea needed to be carefully prepared to fully bring out its flavor. For us, all seasonings could be conjured out of thin air.

"By the way, could you add more salt, Father?"

"This fish is magical. It should be eaten raw." Tengyun's statement left us feeling helpless. Eating raw could help absorb the magical properties of an animal, but how could one be so uncouth in enjoying food? He remained a primitive dragon.

"The dragon culture shouldn't be that barbaric, right?"

"Surviving in a desolate world, what's there to uphold in terms of culture." Tengyun picked up the raw fish and ate. In my eyes, he still carried the shadow of the ancient dragon culture. The dragon culture of old was inevitably lost as the eons passed, and the dragons of today needed to learn to assimilate into the culture of this world. The past destruction wrought by dragons was intended to make the dragon race stronger, transplanting both dragons and culture into a world created by the dragons themselves. We cannot afford to make the same mistakes in the future.

Tengyun missed out on the delicious fish, perhaps his loss for not being able to savor it.

"Tengyun, what can you see when you look out?" Coyalu asked Tengyun with seriousness.

"A vast sea."

"No, look further."

Tengyun stared at the sea, past the sea and mountains, and saw towering structures, his recently established cognition told him these were called buildings.

"Is that the 'city'?"

"Yes, this world is no longer desolate, teeming with abundant life and traces. What we see now mostly consist of the Demon race and the Fallen Angels. The other races of the gods and humans are in a neighboring yet distinctive place. It has truly become a colorful place."

"Are you all intending to preserve this place? But this doesn't belong to the dragon race."

"Yet this is the original Dragon Realm, the place dragons should cherish the most. But dragons destroyed it; I don't know if you've experienced that history, but it's happening all over again now."

Suddenly, Tengyun hesitated, the name Dragon Realm was not something he could easily forget.

"I remember the Dragon Realm I was born in never had nights."

"That was the Dragon Realm that came later, brother. This is the world where your dragon race originated."

Upon hearing this, Tengyun suddenly felt a wave of emotions. We had discussed a bit with him before—Tengyun had offended the Dragon Emperor in the newly constructed Dragon Realm, resulting in his exile. Back then, the dragon race, much like the current gods and demons, conveniently ignored the truths of the past. The Dragon Emperor and all others below had forgotten the origins of the Dragon Realm.

"You are the Dragon Emperor, and with a word from you, I can be at your beck and call. Why bother telling me all this?" Tengyun's mind began to clear, and through a battle and cognitive stimuli, he was fully awake.

Tengyun looked at me, and I looked at him, saying, "There is not just one Dragon Emperor, at least there are now four Dragon Emperors. You must decide who to help, who is worth your assistance. You have to choose yourself; it's not a world where the strongest makes all the decisions." In essence, what I said meant that Marutian might be stronger than me, but since I held three out of the four Dragon Emperor positions, I had the upper hand.

The Dragon Emperor who exiled me back then was nothing like you."

"Well, that Dragon Emperor is probably either dead or stranded in another world by now, no need to remember him."

"Dragon Emperor, where might the dragon you are looking for be, can I help?"

I took out the map of The Demon Realm, which marked only five places where dragons could be found, one of them being the Cloud Soaring Place. There are really not many true dragons left at the moment, but dragonlike beings are everywhere.

"Do you still remember where that dragon is alive, and where?"

Cloud Soarer closed his eyes and searched in his long-unused brain, finally finding the memory of a dragon he had sealed away countless years ago. He felt the seal was still intact, indicating that the dragon was still alive.

"Where is it located?"

"Um... I need some time to think, so many years have passed."

"Oh dear, my father is running out of time. Here's the plan! Cloud Soarer and I will go find the dragon, while my father continues to the other four places. Otherwise, Marutian will reclaim the Dragon Spine from us, and he will surely come looking for my father immediately."

"That's the only way. The other demon kings are selecting elite soldiers to counterbalance the hatred towards the divine race and advance into The Divine Realm. Hopefully, everything goes smoothly."

"Father, do you think it's really necessary to win the war between humans, gods, and demons? There isn't a true winner in continuing this war. I want the divine race to realize their mistakes and return to where they belong."

"Then, causing chaos, is that where our demon clan belongs?"

"Unless you don't want to cause chaos!"

The Human Realm. The ocean battle has temporarily ceased, and the main artillery carrier has returned to the defensive area. The Azure Carrier is stationed at the rear to provide entertainment for the wounded. Qin Ying descended from the warship, able to catch the tail end of the performance.

After the performance, Qin Ying wandered behind the stage and ran into Situ Liyao, who was also strolling around.

When the two met, considering the relationship between their families and the actions of the former head of the Situ family, Qin Ying should not have shown any kindness. However, ignoring the issues with the Situ family, when facing Situ Liyao as an individual, Qin Ying did not associate Situ Liyao with the Situ family. She understood how burdensome it was for a young girl to take over a major family, and she herself was in a similar situation. Even though there were some disagreements in the past, they were no longer relevant.

"Of all the people I've encountered recently, you're the only one who hasn't irritated me." Situ Liyao and Qin Ying stood together, enjoying the cool breeze from the ocean. Passersby in the distance saw the Qin family's heir and the Situ family head standing together, so no one dared to approach. Who knows what confidential information they might be discussing; any leakage would lead to major trouble, as the two families supported eighty percent of the nation's military power.

"Because of your father's actions, they have given you special treatment, but I won't do the same."

Mentioning Situ Liyao's father made Situ Liyao somewhat uncomfortable, even though he had already passed away.

"To be honest, I despise my father a lot. He left me with so many scars, even physically abused me before his death. But I eventually stood up against him."

"Seeing you smile, it's clear that your father failed as a parent. When I think about it, my own father wasn't that bad either." Qin Ying's father had forced his illegitimate daughter to participate in the heir selection process, but eventually granted her the inheritance. Although it was essentially handed to Qin Ying by Qin Yang, she still believed her father was terrible. However, at this moment, compared to Situ Liyao's father, her father seemed much better.

“Speaking of which, that Qin Yang is such a bastard, making your brother meet Pluto so quickly, and in the end, you're the one bearing the burden.”

“Given the situation, I'll bear this responsibility as well. Besides, it's not Qin Yang's fault. It's the Divine Clan that caused your brother's death. Those pills are poison!”

"Are you speaking up for that bastard?” Qin Ying glanced at her with suspicion, harboring some doubts.

Situ Liyao felt awkward and quickly changed the topic: "Speaking of the Divine Clan's medicine, how far has your Qin family's research progressed? I have to say, many people in our Situ family have taken it. It corrodes their bodies like a slow-acting poison. Without counteracting medication, they would quickly become invalids. Besides us, many other families have people in a similar situation."

“We already have some preliminary trial products. I'll have our research lab send you all the data. Unity during times of war is the right way forward.”

Situ Liyao breathed a sigh of relief, thanking Qin Ying for her assistance. Regardless of the effectiveness of the trial products, at least those dependent on Divine Clan medicine had a glimmer of hope.

“When will the head of the Situ family show their might on the battlefield? As a Duke, you may need military achievements!”

"Tomorrow. Tomorrow, I will lead our Situ family's army into battle. People often say for close combat, look to the Qins; for ranged attacks, trust in the artillery of the Situs. We will ensure your rear firepower.” Situ Liyao exuded a sense of determination. Swiftly reorganizing the internals of the Situ family was not a problem at all, and the external war environment only accelerated the process.

“We welcome you at the frontline.”

“My current concern is that the Divine Clan may start using their medicine. Today, you've already encountered the first Divine Clan member joining the war. These gods without faith rely on this medicine as a strategic necessity. However, their lives are extremely valuable. They won't use it without sufficient safety guarantees. Once they do, it means success.” Situ Liyao's worries stemmed from the fact that the Divine Clan had been conducting experiments on humans for a considerable amount of time. They had gathered all the necessary data to develop the medicine. Moreover, the Divine Clan hesitated to involve the upper-tier gods in combat, fearing losses such as Qin Yang's "Dragon Consort." If the "Unvirtuous Angels," originally intended as strategic weapons, failed to become the key players in the decisive battle on the battlefield, the upper-tier gods would have to step in. Humans didn't want to encounter the upper-tier gods — their artificial elemental weapons weren't strong enough, and humans lacked the combat prowess of the upper-tier gods. The hope lay with these few girls and the minority of god-tier beings willing to use artificial elements, as human god-tier beings were always inferior to their divine counterparts. Yet, they still didn't want to face the upper-tier gods, and their inherent resistance to artificial elements remained unaddressed, with only a few willing to use them.

“War is ever-changing, and nobody can predict it. Every day, we have new weapons being deployed. The collective creativity of humankind is not illusory!”

At that moment, Qin Ying suddenly spotted someone in the distance. The person was dressed in dazzling attire, and it was easy to recognize her as Jiang Moana. She smiled faintly at Qin Ying, giving off a strange feeling. However, Qin Ying couldn't pinpoint the source of that feeling. Although she wasn't familiar with this person, her smile felt oddly familiar.

“Jiang Moana has a connection with the bastard you mentioned, and it's no ordinary connection. But she seems different than before.” Qin Ying and Situ Liyao both looked toward Jiang Moana.