Chapter 38

When considering the implications for the cultivation world, Ao Qing felt a wave of dizziness wash over him.

The Dragon Clan certainly produced remarkable talents. First, there was the rebellious and self-destructive Ao Xin, who clamored to wipe out the entire clan while recklessly diving into the God-Demon Tomb. Now, from a dragon egg that the Azure Dragon clan had nurtured for three hundred years, a golden dragon had emerged.

And this dragon had five claws.

Good heavens. Even Ao Qing, a powerhouse at the Immortal stage, only possessed four. Was a five-clawed golden dragon something this petty little cultivation world could even accommodate? Apparently, the Heavens did not permit it either.

Recalling the golden dragon soul that had surged from the black spiritual light and plunged directly into the eggshell as if returning to its true form, Ao Qing felt a blockage in his chest. He took a long, hard look at the little golden dragon. It was still coiled quietly on Yu Youyou’s arm, though it was secretly poking her soft, plump cheek with its golden tail.

He squinted, pondering for a moment, then withdrew his gaze and said to the awkwardly smiling Sect Master Yu, "Having everyone's attention focused on it is, in fact, for the best."

A golden dragon could not be hidden. The Azure Dragon clan had never intended to hide it. However, thinking of Ao Yong and his mate now made Ao Qing furious. He had figured it out: that egg certainly did not belong to them. After all, the dragon soul had been beneath the Gong family's ancestral temple for far longer than three hundred years; it was something that could not be explained by mere atavism. As for where they had actually obtained the egg, and why those two scoundrels had been so vague as to let people mistake it for their own offspring—Ao Qing did not want to dwell on it now. His "dragon liver" ached just thinking about it.

There wasn't a single reliable member of the Dragon Clan.

Just as he was contemplating hammering the clan leader to death upon his return, Sect Master Yu shook his head and said, "No. I understand your good intentions, Uncle-Master. But I desire health and peace for Youyou, and that should not be built upon the hardships of another child."

Sect Master Yu could not bring himself to use the little golden dragon as a shield to hide his daughter's abnormalities from the covetous eyes of others.

"I will cultivate diligently and protect my child with my own hands. I will not sacrifice others," the Sect Master declared solemnly. He had been immensely talented when he first became a disciple of the former Sect Master, but after inheriting the position, he had been constantly distracted by internal and external affairs, unable to focus on his cultivation. He had once felt satisfied with reaching the Mahayana stage and had no great ambitions for the Immortal realm. But now, with a daughter to protect, he had resumed serious practice, hoping to reach the next level.

If he could reach the Immortal stage, who in this world would dare covet his daughter? If he failed to achieve it, that would be his own incompetence, and it should not be the burden of another.

Furthermore, Sect Master Yu had a bold idea. His daughter was always hungry, and it pained his heart as a father. He wondered if, when he advanced to the Immortal stage, he could trick a few more lightning tribulations into striking him so that his little treasure could have a full meal...

"...Daddy is right!" The cub hadn't understood at first, but hearing this, she caught on immediately. She looked down at the little golden dragon, which lay silent and motionless like an ornament on her arm. For some reason, she felt a sense of familiarity, as if she had once snuggled against such an existence before. It felt both intimate and deeply satisfying.

She shook her head vigorously and said, "I am okay!"

She felt her cheek being gently nudged.

Looking down, she saw the little golden dragon pull back its tail and look up at her quietly. She met a pair of translucent golden pupils. Those pupils were clear yet profound, silent yet emanating a faint warmth. After holding her gaze for a moment, the little golden dragon nodded.

"It agrees as well," Ao Qing said, tilting his chin toward Sect Master Yu. "And this kid... well, it is a boy." Thinking of the golden dragon body he had seen outside, Ao Qing tightened his jaw and said slowly, "Its features are too distinct; they cannot be hidden." The golden divine dragon figure tumbling within the lightning could not be concealed from the divine senses of the curious powerhouses watching. "Since it is bound to be exposed, why expose someone else as well?"

Would that not be foolish? To have two targets of covetousness would surely exhaust those trying to protect them. Letting Yu Youyou hide under the cover of the golden dragon's anomaly would simply mean fewer troubles, which was better for everyone.

Sect Master Yu subconsciously repeated, "It's a boy." He felt something was off, but Ao Qing looked up at the sky, diverting the topic. "Just tell people the thundercloud was scattered by it. Didn't it seem to be rolling around in the thunderclouds quite happily earlier?"

The Azure Dragon had been struck half to death, yet this little golden dragon remained vibrant and shining. This remark successfully diverted Sect Master Yu's thoughts. If conditions allowed, the Sect Master certainly hoped his precious daughter could live a happy life without being targeted, and he began to ponder the matter.

Ao Qing slowly looked away. The little golden dragon slowly flicked its tail.

Chu Xingyun asked with a calm smile, "Will the golden dragon return to the Azure Dragon clan to cultivate?"

Ao Qing cast a deep look at Chu Xingyun, finding him more difficult to deal with than the Sect Master, but he nodded slightly. "It has just been born and has endured the brunt of the lightning tribulation; it should indeed return to the clan for quiet recovery."

As they spoke, the little golden dragon, which had been locking eyes with the cub, closed its eyes, bit its own tail, and clamped itself onto the cub's arm, looking very composed. Yu Youyou felt those eyes were exceptionally familiar, though she couldn't recall where she had seen them before. Hearing this, she reached out her little hand to gently stroke the dragon's slender body, feeling a pang of reluctance.

"Missing it!"

The tiny golden dragon remained indifferent, cool, and composed, as if it knew she was reluctant to part with it. The cub, so clingy to dragons—the golden dragon felt helpless!

"Go back." Although she loved it dearly and wished to be stuck to it every day, she was a sensible cub—since it had to return to the Dragon Clan to recover, she understood! She nodded her little head vigorously and said to Ao Qing, "Go, go!"

Go back and recover well. Although she was reluctant, she still had her father, her senior brother, and her senior sister; she wouldn't be too lonely.

The golden dragon: ...

The dignified golden dragon suddenly widened its pupils. The cub was not only clingy to dragons, she was also fickle!

"Youyou certainly likes this playmate. But she is right, let it recover its health first, then they can play together again." Hearing that it was unlikely for this little golden dragon to grow up easily in the cultivation world, the Sect Master felt it would indeed be a good companion for his daughter. He hurriedly said to Ao Qing, "If you need any spiritual herbs, Uncle-Master, just tell me." He was clearly very willing for his daughter to have a playmate. Ao Qing nodded. "I know."

Having finished regulating his breath, he stood up and said, "Let's go find those things."

The Gong family clan leader had once pointed in a certain direction, where there should be items useful to Yu Youyou. Sect Master Yu had long wanted to search the area. Before leaving, he looked back at the ancestral temple, whose barriers had been smashed to pieces, and sighed softly. "These will all need to be reset. It is a pity that Master is now..."

The former Sect Master was a grandmaster of formations; the arrays and barriers of the Gong family were all his handiwork. But now that the former Sect Master remained in a daze, Sect Master Yu felt a sense of melancholy, as if everything had changed. Fortunately, the Gong family clan leader's primordial spirit remained; even if he had been sent to the Upper Realm, making it difficult to meet again, at least he was still alive.

Thinking of the Upper Realm, Sect Master Yu lowered his voice and said to Ao Qing, "If they truly have gone to the Upper Realm, Uncle-Master, does this mean that the Lower Realm can still ascend, and that the connection to the Upper Realm has not been completely severed?"

Ao Qing paused for a moment before continuing forward. "Perhaps," he said coldly.

Sect Master Yu sighed, "Perhaps some of us in the Lower Realm can also cross those infinite dangers and reach the Upper Realm once more."

Ao Qing did not respond.

The cub listened, completely bewildered. She hugged her father's neck and asked curiously, "Ascend?"

"Millions of years ago, during the Great Ancient War between Heaven and Earth, countless ancient immortals, demons, gods, and spirits perished, and the entire Upper Realm continent was shattered by the conflict. Those continental fragments drifted away from the Upper Realm, transforming into numerous small cultivation worlds scattered in all directions. Our world is one of them." Seeing that Sect Master Yu's temples were beaded with sweat, Chu Xingyun took his heavy little junior sister into his arms and began to tell her a story with gentle warmth. "These fragments were cut off from the mainland and could no longer return to the Upper Realm across the void of the starry sea. For millions of years, many powerful Immortal-stage cultivators in this realm have broken through the barriers into the void, seeking a path to restore the connection. It is a very courageous undertaking."

The void is endless, and the location of the Upper Realm—having lost contact and guidance—is unknown. Even in the void, the Immortal stage is fraught with danger, and one can easily become lost in chaos. Even those of the Immortal stage can perish. None of the Immortal-stage cultivators who attempted to ascend through the fragments ever returned. No further clues to the Upper Realm had appeared.

Now that one had appeared, Chu Xingyun thought for a moment and smiled at the cub, whose little head was clearly overwhelmed. "Perhaps good news will come soon."

Previously, the divine sense of the Gong family ancestor on that scroll had never been triggered, so there was no way to know the path back to the Upper Realm. As for the Upper Realm itself, the continent fragments were scattered in the void of chaos, and there was no way to determine their locations either. Now that a strand of divine sense had returned to the Upper Realm from the Lower Realm, the two could be re-localized, which might be a great benefit for future cultivators.

Chu Xingyun felt this was a wonderful thing, whether for the cultivators of this world or otherwise. Because he remembered what Ao Qing had said: this world was likely not enough to let his little junior sister grow up. If the Gong family ancestor's divine sense could restore the connection between the two realms, perhaps he could escort Yu Youyou to the Upper Realm.

There, the spiritual energy was abundant, and the cub could grow up smoothly.

He smiled and patted the hair of the little one, who was grabbing her head in deep thought, looking not very clever.

"Good!" Although she didn't quite understand, her senior brother was smiling, so Yu Youyou felt it must be a good thing. She buried her little head into the crook of Chu Xingyun's neck and said obediently, "Good thing."

"Yes, it is a good thing." Seeing her happily snuggling with him, Chu Xingyun felt the heavy burden of worrying about her health lift from his heart.

They moved along more easily toward the place the Gong family clan leader had indicated, only to find it was the location of the Gong family's library. Entering the library together, they saw it had been tidied up and was no longer in disarray. Sect Master Yu entered and picked up the jade slips one by one, only to look troubled.