The exit from that small world was a region protected by runes connecting two teleportation formations. The channel between them remained semi-open, easily activated with Qi for a quick escape. This formation was created so that the draconic beasts could enter and exit safely when they reached their limit.
Since Mistie hadn’t returned yet, the High Elders on the other side wouldn’t close the channel, anxiously waiting for her to come back safely.
Alm and Bruno, upon receiving Ruri’s message, were already preparing for the imminent problems. They both activated their tattoos and removed the Qi from their bodies, as well as suppressed their bloodlines, pretending to be exhausted.
Mistie, still shaken, took a deep breath and used her metamorphosis to return to the height she had when they entered that small world.
The whale said lightly, "Our young master sacrificed himself to save everyone. However, at the last moment, I managed to save him with a similar power, and with his help, we miraculously escaped."
Mistie nodded, aligning with the narrative of what "happened." Alm and Bruno then extracted half of Mistie’s Qi to complete the disguise. They activated the teleportation, and space distorted.
When they arrived at their destination, they were met with numerous surprised looks. "Leader!" exclaimed the High Elders, emotional.
Mistie acknowledged them, quickly hearing that the six members who had returned didn’t tell them anything. A few minutes later, countless dragons from the Dragon Ascent Sect stormed the planet, gathering in the main hall. They were all in a secret meeting now.
The pair moved quickly, and as they emerged from the underground, Ruri appeared beside the whale, distorting the space with her arrival.
The whale approached Ruri with Haze in hand: "He burned his vitality to convert everything into Yin. Ask Coltia to balance it with Yang. The life he lost, his father will be able to restore later. He won’t die anytime soon."
Ruri nodded, and the whale and Mistie quickly headed to the meeting room.
They burst through the massive doors with a bang and soon found the six who had fled, along with a hundred Dragons in human form. Everyone had heavy expressions.
Their gazes turned toward them. Alm and Bruno quickly identified Yulong, the Azure Dragon Leader of the Dragon Ascent Sect and father of Yue and Yuan.
"What? How did you survive?" asked a demonic male figure. He was one of the six who had fled and was now leading the hero’s companions after the death of that old-looking human.
"That young Leviathan also came back alive," Mistie said dryly. "Why the surprise? He was able to make them flee, and my rector isn’t inferior to him. Everyone knows the level of his bloodline."
Everyone listened to her explanation. The Shadow of the Dragon, shortly after their escape, weakened a bit, allowing them to save Haze from death. Using the Behemoth’s power, they took him far away, fleeing desperately.
The young Leviathan had done all the work, saving the six and weakening the power of the shadow, which should be quite limited. Escaping, with the Behemoth’s land defense, was much easier and simpler.
Despite being extremely surprising, it made sense, and everyone nodded in understanding. Then, the demon leading the discussion spoke impatiently.
"The situation is critical. We won’t have time to wait for reinforcements. We need to reinforce the seal and prevent the Nefarious Dragon from accumulating more power."
Mistie nodded. "What do you plan to do?"
"We’re discussing that. This seal was built to be sustained by supreme draconic power. Only a dragon’s bloodline can suppress another. Unfortunately, Gistei didn’t manage to escape, and the heroic decree got trapped inside. With the decree, we would have other possibilities..." the demon said, with regret.
In response to the worried and anxious looks of those present, he continued quickly: "Only the companions of the heroes can use the decree. Even if it’s with the Nefarious Dragon, he has no way to use it."
Yulong spoke up: "We were urgently summoned by the companions. What can my race and my sect do? And about our bloodline?"
"You, unfortunately, don’t compare to the Primordial Dragon," the demon replied coldly. "But some of you still have very pure bloodlines. It will be like throwing a glass of water into a sea of lava. However, you are the only ones capable of reinforcing the seal until reinforcements arrive."
"You mean..." murmured another high-level dragon.
The demon snorted. "Yes. This isn’t a request or a discussion. Gather all those with the purest bloodlines, regardless of age or cultivation level. We need a group of at least a few million. You have three days to organize. I’ll use a technique from my race to ignite your bloodlines to the maximum; everyone will be sacrificed to temporarily reinforce the seal."
Yulong had a heavy expression, taking a deep breath to calm himself. The demon watched him, noticing a glimmer of rebellion in his eyes.
He was just a hero’s companion who had left; heroes were impossible to challenge, but for others, the hero’s companions were practically just powerful cultivators. Would they accept his orders like this?
"I’ll say this only once. I’ve summoned reinforcements, and we need to buy time. If you delay even a single minute past the deadline I’ve given... I won’t even say what will happen when the reinforcements arrive. Your sect? There won’t be a stone left unturned," the demon threatened furiously.
Yulong knelt respectfully and said, "Don’t worry. Our sect has created hundreds of heroes in the past. We are the most loyal race, and no one will back down out of fear of death. If this stops the strengthening of evil, we’ll die satisfied to fulfill our duty."
The demon nodded. Then he turned to Mistie: "Don’t worry, the failure was ours. You’ve perfectly fulfilled the duty of protecting this place. Something very wrong happened, and when the reinforcements arrive, everything will be thoroughly investigated."
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She nodded, not knowing what to say; inside her chest, a huge pain was growing. Not for herself, but for the Dragon race. The number one sect was going to suffer a heavy and unjust blow. Looking at Yulong, still kneeling, she felt his fluctuations; he was struggling to hide the despair consuming him.
The ones with the purest and most powerful bloodlines? All the Azure Dragons like him, his two sons, and his wife would never escape this fate. If it were just him, he wouldn’t care. But now, as a father, he was doomed to bow his head and accept that he would send his family to their deaths...
"Get moving. I need to make preparations, and I’ll be back in exactly three days." The demon spat the words out, devoid of any emotion. He moved quickly, leaving the hall in obvious haste, shooting out of the planet.
However, inside the meeting room, the mood among the Dragons remained dark and funeral. No one could believe or accept what had happened, but they also couldn’t oppose it, nor could they express their complaints.
Mistie kept her gaze fixed on Yulong, still kneeling. Her eyes grew wet, but she didn’t know what to say. Only one thought passed through her mind, and she slowly turned to the side, filled with hope.
There stood the imposing, round figure. He remained expressionless, as usual, but was coldly watching Yulong.
It took a few seconds until Yulong raised his gaze, drawn to the whale staring at him. He didn’t know what to do or who to turn to.
"Lord God of the Forge..." Yulong murmured, his eyes meeting the calm gaze of the whale. Something inside his chest, which he struggled to contain, finally escaped, and tears of despair filled his eyes.
"Please, my children... there must be a way to save them. No..." Yulong paused his plea and looked around at the other Dragons present.
"Everyone here has family. We’d jump into the abyss of death without hesitation... but we’d only do it because we want to protect our family. Now... what’s the point of this? Everyone will be killed. Our race grows and multiplies frighteningly slowly... The sect probably won’t recover from so many deaths, and from such important people. Everything will crumble, and we have no choice. We’re just going to be destroyed... our fate doesn’t even give us a choice..."
The whale listened to every emotional word from that Dragon but didn’t react. It continued to coldly observe Yulong.
Yulong stared into its eyes for a few seconds, feeling something he couldn’t understand.
"Do I need to say it?" The whale finally spoke, without any emotion. "Are you snakes or mediocre lizards that accept being trampled? When someone points a butcher’s blade at your family, will you just stand there?"
"But..."
"But what?" The whale spat disdainfully, a cold and bloody aura emanating from it. "Would you rather accept fate and be used and controlled? You’re pathetic in my eyes. I saw you bow your heads to that demon, and I wished I didn’t have to wait the three days. I wanted to kill everyone right then and there."
Everyone listened and swallowed hard, feeling that it really wanted to do that. The whale continued dryly:
"Fate, karma, misfortune... all of these are excuses from cowards who refuse to fight. Screw it if you don’t have a chance. Screw it if the universe and even the heavenly laws are against you. Are you just going to stand there and accept it?"
Those words ignited a flame inside each of them. Everyone felt an immense will rising in their hearts.
"I’ll say it again: do I need to tell you what to do?" The whale huffed dryly, looking into everyone’s eyes. They seemed to have understood something. "You must fi..."
"We will go!" Yulong quickly stood up, and the others around him nodded, clenching their fists with determination. "We trust you. We’ll follow your orders!"
’No, idiots... you need to fight,’ Alm murmured mentally, running a hand through his hair. Bruno, on the other hand, nodded enthusiastically, controlling the whale, excited to see this door opening.