The whale and Ruri arrived at a large open courtyard. Millions of human-shaped figures were gathered there, all extremely anxious, waiting for their arrival.
Yulong hurried over to the whale. He sensed what had happened as soon as he arrived in the city. He didn’t forget to scold his daughter for wasting his time. After that, Yue, looking grumpy, joined her brother and their race, who were also there.
"Sorry about her. I think I protected her too much; she got too laid back. But I guarantee she’s loyal," the worried father said.
Ruri smiled and replied, "Yue can’t fake anything at all. Don’t worry, master approved her and Yuan a long time ago." Then Ruri got a thoughtful look. "It may not seem like it, but master actually finds her a bit cute. Please, show him that he can’t spoil her too much. Or in the future, he’ll end up doing the same, and it’ll backfire on him."
Ruri had a genuinely worried expression, remembering how kind they had been to her in the past. Meanwhile, Bruno mentally spat: ’Don’t come at me with that same old joke again. This is your fault now. You don’t know how to be tough when you need to be. When Ruri was really young, you were the one who spoiled her.’
Alm cursed, but before they could argue, a small black figure, just a few centimeters in size, silently landed on Ruri’s shoulder.
Runula stared intently at Deryu, who refused to use her metamorphosis to take human form. After sighing, she transformed into a small Wyvern with blue scales, also just a few centimeters long, and perched on Ruri’s other shoulder.
Without delay, they were led to an altar in the center of that enormous courtyard, standing above all the gathered figures. The leaders of the nine dragon races were already waiting at the top, ready to hear what the whale had to say.
The whale received a basic explanation about the pure dragon races. They were divided into three groups: Sacred Dragons, Divine Dragons, and Demonic Dragons.
The Sacred Dragons were the main races, made up of Azure Dragons, who mastered anything they focused on; Golden Dragons, who dominated the laws of space-time; and Rainbow Dragons, who controlled the five natural elements, as well as Yin and Yang.
The Divine Dragons were so named because they had a cultivation method similar to divine beasts.
Among them were the Violet Dragons, who controlled the power of the mind and soul; the Earth Dragons, the most defensive race in the universe, who cultivated by absorbing minerals and metals from the earth; and the Sky Dragons, with an incredible life force, being the longest-living race in the universe.
The Demonic Dragons, on the other hand, were closer to demonic beasts. Among them were the Evil Dragons, who devoured life forms and converted them into cultivation resources. Although any cultivator was nutritious for this race, they limited themselves to devouring those who violated the rules, making them feared by other races throughout the universe.
The Crimson Dragons were the best in hand-to-hand combat, balancing defense, regeneration, and powerful attacks. They cultivated in the midst of blood and battles, with their bloodline becoming denser and more powerful with each fight.
Finally, there were the Abyssal Dragons, whose power was mysterious and little understood. According to Yulong, they could connect to an individual’s karma. The darker their opponent’s karma, the more the laws seemed to want them destroyed, granting the Abyssal Dragons the power to grow stronger. Essentially, they were the nemesis of the wicked, and their power could grow explosively and suddenly.
The whale nodded; in his home universe, only three of these races existed. Now, he had a broader view of the nine. He turned to Ruri, who nodded back.
’The Primordial Dragon said she can only communicate for a short time before running out of energy; afterward, she’ll need a day to recover,’ Ruri quickly relayed through the array. ’She mentioned she can help. She remembers many superior techniques and methods for dragons. Just by observing these dragons, she can tell that their bloodlines have weakened a lot. They don’t seem to have techniques beyond the intermediate level.’
Alm and Bruno nodded in agreement. ’Great, ask for everything she knows. Give them just a bit above the intermediate level. If they pass the test, we’ll give them the high-level techniques.’
Ruri closed her eyes in concentration, and the fragment of the Primordial Dragon’s soul, stored in the primordial rune, began transmitting information to her. Meanwhile, the whale turned to face the millions of dragons.
"As I said before, I will test you first. Now, we have less than three days. You don’t have the time to take things easy. Until six hours remain, that’s the deadline to complete everything."
The whale spoke calmly, and everyone listened in silence, nervous. Yulong had already informed everyone, except his children, about what would happen in three days. They had no choice: either accept death or pass the ’God of the Forge’s test,’ gaining a chance to live and ensure their sect’s survival in the future.
"I see you’re motivated. Good," Alm said with a dark smile. "The test is simple and will depend only on your willpower. Ruri will hand out some interesting things to you. But, you won’t have time to study or think too deeply…"
The whale then explained the Chaotic Enlightenment and how it worked. This was the sect that had produced the most heroes in history. Naturally, they had the method to create Empyreans. All the dragons of the nine races were True Empyreans, except for the two siblings, who were Ancestral Empyreans.
The plan was to test and save the dragons, to ultimately free the Chaos Dragon. For that to be possible, they needed to turn these dragons into allies. But they had to be trustworthy. The test in the illusory world of the Chaotic Enlightenment was perfect for separating those who would be useful.
However, there wasn’t enough time to complete the full test. Alm and Bruno created runes with one-hundredth of their usual power, something simple that could be completed in two days.
Those who weren’t trustworthy or might betray the group had weak minds and would never pass. As for those with malicious intent, Alm and Bruno would immediately sense them. So, the rest who passed this challenge would be enough.
Each dragon would receive a rune on their body, and using their souls, they would pass the test. The only assistance they would get were the techniques provided by Ruri. Since there were literally millions of dragons, to speed up the process, Bruno infused a bit of his faith power into each rune.
Once they completed the test, he could use this small amount of faith power to remove any influence from the Queen and alter their Empyrean mark.
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The dragons had already shown honesty, but as with all races, there were both good and bad individuals. This test would serve to identify who they could trust. The mission would be dangerous and risky, and they couldn’t afford to take chances.
Once everyone received the Chaotic Enlightenment rune, Ruri opened her eyes and sent the basic techniques to Runula. The two quickly split up, delivering them first to the nine race leaders and then to everyone else.
In just a few hours, nearly all the millions of dragons were sitting in a lotus position with their eyes closed. In their minds, they were in an illusory world, facing their greatest fears.
The only one not among them was Yulong. Alm and Bruno held him back to ask him a few questions. After Ruri returned, she confirmed to the whale something that the Yin Chaos Dragon had sensed. Then, they turned to Yulong.
"Your sect has something from the Yin Chaos Dragon, right?"
The whale spoke, and Yulong’s eyes widened. That was a well-guarded secret of the sect. For some reason, they had no clear records of who brought it or when it was found, but they knew that in the past, someone from the sect had discovered it on an adventure.
"Yes..." Yulong confirmed. "But no one has ever been able to open or figure out what it really is. We only know who it belonged to because of the energy fluctuations, but that’s it."
"Great, take us there. Ruri has absorbed almost all the reverse scales from that dragon. If anyone in the world can open it, it’s her." The whale spoke calmly, and Yulong agreed without hesitation.
They quickly moved toward a secret inner area of the sect. Along the way, Ruri spoke through the array.
’She gave me her final words, explaining everything before her energy ran out. What they have is an inheritance, or an ancient legacy, left by her. Before being sealed, she knew the Queen was plotting something, but didn’t know what. So, she prepared this in secret without telling anyone. Luckily, she didn’t have time to reveal it to her partner at the time.’
’This legacy was created with her technique. It’s a small closed world, independent of the universe, where even heroes wouldn’t easily break in. Of course, if they insisted, they could, but she hid it very well and created a variation of the technique. Inside this place, no Qi exists or is allowed, making it undetectable.’
’She told me how to enter. But the only way she programmed for someone to enter and retrieve what’s there is by using a specific bloodline of the Azure Dragons. After all, this legacy was meant for the races to access in the future.’
The whale asked, ’And how come they never got in?’
’She was betrayed and sealed unexpectedly, shortly after creating this. She didn’t have time to leave clear instructions for the races. The reason is they took too long to find the legacy, and the power of their bloodlines weakened rapidly without the right techniques. She allowed entry only to those with their bloodline at its peak, because that way, their laws could cut the external domain within them. Since no one had that level anymore, if someone did manage to get in, it would be like handing everything over to the heroes,’ Ruri explained quickly.
The whale nodded. ’And what’s inside?’
’Besides countless treasures for the dragons to improve, she left behind two eggs... They weren’t hers, as she was never able to have children. But they belonged to a race of pure dragons that, in theory, no longer exists in this universe. The Azure Dragons are the kings among dragons now, but this race was destroyed by the Queen in the past because they were too powerful. They were above all nine races we know. These two eggs are all that’s left of that race, and to ensure they would hatch and not be found, she did all of this.’
Alm and Bruno nodded. Acquiring those treasures would increase the power of the dragons, and consequently, theirs as well.
However, as they approached the location, a subtle sense of danger was felt by their instincts. Could there be something else waiting for them there? The two began seriously considering this possibility.