Chapter 275: Chapter 275: Fire Sparrow Divine Bone, Entering the Formation
That night, Dean Jiang and Yu Fei brought news to the rear mountain of Dragon Flame Academy...
The news was this: the Great Wu Envoy Team had left the Dragon Flame Royal Capital in disgrace.
Word was that they had followed Zheng Liling toward the Saint Bone Zheng Family’s Saint Zheng City. At the same time, many voices began to emerge from the Celestial King Academy, all of them deliberately spreading a certain narrative...
The only reason Lu Chao had been able to defeat Ming Yi was because he had benefited from the reputation of the *real* Lu Chao.
In other words, if Ming Yi hadn’t been intimidated by the real Lu Chao, he never would have been defeated by this Fake Lu Chao.
The goal of the Saint Bone Zheng Family and the Celestial King Academy was to deliberately downplay Lu Chao’s combat strength. They wanted the people of Dragon Flame to believe that the Celestial King Academy was the strongest and that Dragon Flame Academy was still nothing but trash.
In response, Lu Chao merely smiled, paying the rumors no mind.
’It was true that the fight against Ming Yi became incredibly easy because I intimidated him. But if we had truly fought, I was still completely confident I would win. There was simply no need to go all out in that situation.’
’It’s also unnecessary for me to reveal my full strength now. I’ll hold back for the time being. After all, the Three Academy Competition isn’t far off.’
Dean Jiang and Yu Fei left.
They had been very busy in the two days since returning from Beast Flame.
Thanks to the deliberate promotion by Marquis Longyin and others, word of Dragon Flame Academy’s performance at Beast Flame had spread throughout the entire Dragon Flame Royal Capital, and many young people now wanted to join.
The stories naturally included how Dragon Flame Academy had powerfully risen up despite being repeatedly suppressed and targeted.
Students from dozens of smaller academies also frequently wandered the Dragon Flame Royal Capital.
Having witnessed the three trials of Beast Flame firsthand, they constantly spoke of Lu Chao’s series of near-perfect performances...
After decades of continuous decline, Dragon Flame Academy was finally showing its first signs of prosperity.
The rear mountain of Dragon Flame Academy...
Once again, only Lu Chao, the new Nine Sons of Dragon Flame, and of course, Cheng Yunsu, remained.
At that moment, Lu Chao looked at the Demon Dragon Divine Bone, then at Cheng Yunsu in the distance. A thought struck him. ’What kind of change would occur if I had Xiao Su’er join the Divine Bone Nine Sons Array?’
’Cheng Yunsu has a Divine Bone now. Maybe she can trigger another major transformation in the Divine Bone Nine Sons Array.’
Without a moment’s hesitation, Lu Chao put the matter of the Great Wu Envoy Team out of his mind. He immediately had Cheng Yunsu enter the formation. At the same time, he had Wu Yue, one of the original Dragon Flame students, step out. And just like that, Cheng Yunsu was connected to the Divine Bone Nine Sons Array.
In that instant... VMMMM!
The Demon Dragon Divine Bone began to tremble violently. Immediately after, a powerful aura surged from Cheng Yunsu’s body. Although on the surface she appeared to only have a Heavenly Bone, the aura she was now emitting was incredibly potent.
Lu Chao fixed his gaze on Cheng Yunsu, thinking to himself...
’The surface-level Heavenly Bone is just the effect of Elder Sun’s concealment technique. In reality, the array patterns around Xiao Su’er are already suffused with the aura of a Divine Bone.’
’And Xiao Su’er’s Divine Bone aura is traveling along those patterns, transmitting to everyone...’
As Lu Chao finished his thought, Fan Jinxiang, who was closest to Cheng Yunsu, abruptly opened her eyes.
She murmured, "What a marvelous feeling. It’s like something is accelerating my cultivation of the Dragon Flame Heavenly Bone Technique."
Slowly, the same sensation spread to everyone.
Yu Xiaoping also said in a low voice, "I think I can see two Divine Bones. From them, I feel like I’m comprehending more of the mysteries of the Heavenly Destiny Bone. And the second Divine Bone is much clearer..."
Wu Caicai added quietly, "That’s because the second Divine Bone is from the Human Race, while the first is from a Demon Beast."
With that, everyone fully entered a state of cultivation.
The Dragon Flame Heavenly Bone Technique continuously strengthened their Heavenly Destiny Bones. When the sun began to rise, they opened their eyes, one by one.
Luo Wendeng said softly, "My Heavenly Destiny Bone has improved. The progress is very obvious."
It was the same for the others.
Within any given Destiny Bone Level, there are still variations in strength.
For example, even among those with Heavenly Bones, someone who just advanced from an Earth Bone is naturally not as powerful as someone born with a Heavenly Bone.
Take Zheng Zhuhe, for instance. He was born for the express purpose of a Saint Bone Awakening, so his was a top-level Heavenly Bone.
But now, with the *Dragon Flame Heavenly Bone Technique* and the addition of Cheng Yunsu, the Heavenly Bones of the Dragon Flame students would grow stronger at an incredible rate.
A stronger Heavenly Destiny Bone Level meant their Martial Dao talent was improving, and their True Qi would advance faster and more powerfully...
Looking at the group, Lu Chao thought to himself...
’I must have everyone improve across the board before the Three Academy Competition. The students of the Beast Flame Outer Courtyard are still relatively weak, and I can’t possibly rely on the students from the Seven Great Inner Courtyards to fight against the geniuses of the Great Wu Empire and the Nanye Dynasty.’
Right now, the Outer Courtyard and the Inner Courtyard were already at each other’s throats...
When the time came, the Inner and Outer Courtyards would likely have to compete for the chance to represent Beast Flame.
I can’t let what happened last time repeat itself for Luo Wendeng and the others.
In other words, the new Nine Sons of Dragon Flame cannot be as powerless as they were last time, when they faced seven members of the Inner Courtyard at the Innate Ninth Layer.
And with Cheng Yunsu’s participation, the Nine Sons of Dragon Flame would become the Ten Sons of Dragon Flame.
Therefore, they would have to rotate through the Divine Bone Nine Sons Array. The one left out of the rotation would focus on frantically honing their Combat Techniques, with Sun Shijin and the others constantly instructing them.
Time passed in a blur of frenzied cultivation.
「A few days later...」
Marquis Longyin and Marquis Jilong arrived together. They had come to discuss when to return to Beast Flame.
The negotiations were essentially over. The Six Great Flame Countries had been argued into submission and could only acknowledge the Beast Flame Outer Courtyard as its own independent faction.
It was just as Marquis Longyin had said: why would they suppress Dragon Flame Academy during the competition for spots, thereby humiliating Dragon Flame itself?
Faced with this, the Six Great Flame Countries had no rebuttal and could only agree.
"The Six Great Flame Countries won’t accept this in their hearts. We’ll still have to fight."
"Since a fight is inevitable, we should wait until just before the Three Academy Competition begins. It won’t be too late to head to Beast Flame then... I don’t think Beast Flame can be a long-term institution, so our Demon Dragon Divine Bone can’t be moved there."
This was Lu Chao’s reasoning...
When Beast Flame Academy was founded, the hope was, of course, for it to be a long-term institution. But given the current situation, that was nearly impossible. The Beast Flame plan was ultimately doomed to fail.
Besides, there was also the plan to re-establish the Azure Flame Sect. Therefore, Dragon Flame Academy’s assets certainly could not be moved.
"Since the Demon Beast Divine Bone is still here, we must continue to cultivate here."
"We’ll set out when the time is right."
The reason they weren’t leaving immediately was that they still needed to use the Divine Bone Nine Sons Array to raise everyone’s Heavenly Destiny Bone Level.
Marquis Longyin and Marquis Jilong agreed to Lu Chao’s proposal without a second thought.
...
Dragon Flame Kingdom, Saint Zheng City!
Ming Huawan and the rest of the Great Wu Envoy Team were indeed there. After a stay of several days, they were preparing to return to the Great Wu Empire.
Zheng Liling personally saw Ming Huawan off, his voice laced with menace as he spoke...
"Elder Huawan, the Six Great Flame Countries have already admitted defeat to the Dragon Flame Kingdom, acknowledging that the Beast Flame Outer Courtyard is its own independent faction."
"But in their hearts, they are all furious about it."
"As you travel back to the Great Wu Empire, I will have Zeng Quan and Li Wumian accompany you. Have them visit all Six Great Flame Countries and convince them to cease hostilities with your Great Wu Empire. This will allow them to focus all their efforts on dealing with Dragon Flame."
