Chapter 3026
Translator: Silavin & Tia
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
Yang Kai squinted at the sinister and vicious-looking man flying towards them and asked, "What's so special about this person? Why is he able to communicate with Dragon Palace?"
Lu San Niang sighed after hearing that question. She understood that there was no escape for Yang Kai and Li Jiao at this point. Where could they go with a member of the Dragon Clan here? Her expression was full of guilt, knowing that she had dragged the two men into her mess as she quickly said, "That person's name is Yuan Wu. There is nothing special about him. He just got lucky. He has a Second-Order High-Rank Dragon Vein and speaks eloquently in front of those with power; therefore, he has always been in charge of communicating between Dragon Palace and Half-Dragon City.
"What about that Green Dragon?" Yang Kai glanced at the Dragon Clan member standing in mid-air.
Her expression became complicated, "His name is Fu Qi. He is a Fifth-Order Dragon."
It was only natural that she knew of Fu Qi. She lived in Dragon Palace for 200 to 300 years after all. Besides, there were only a few members of the Dragon Clan.
"His surname is 'Fu'?" Yang Kai was surprised, [I thought all the Dragon Clan members on Dragon Island had the surname 'Zhu'.]
Li Jiao spoke up, "It is said that there are two surnames among the Dragon Clan living on Dragon Island. One is 'Zhu' and the other is 'Fu'."
Yang Kai nodded, "A Fifth-Order… barely passable."
Lu San Niang was shocked as she stared at Yang Kai in a daze and secretly wondered, [What kind of background does Big Brother Li's friend come from? How can he speak so brazenly? How can he say that a Fifth-Order Dragon is just barely passable?] The strongest in Half-Dragon City only had a Second-Order High-Rank Dragon Vein, and they were nothing compared to a Fifth-Order true pure-blooded Dragon Clan member. The differences between the Dragon Clan and the Dragonborn in Half-Dragon City were like night and day. Hence, she thought that Yang Kai was simply bluffing.
On the contrary, Yang Kai was simply stating facts. The only Dragon Clan members he came into contact with before were the siblings, Zhu Qing and Zhu Lie, both of whom had Eighth-Order Dragon Veins and were Eighth-Order Dragons. Moreover, Zhu Qing had broken through to the Ninth-Order after becoming intimate with him, so what was a Fifth-Order Dragon in comparison?
Even without Lu San Niang's explanation, he could tell that the Green Dragon called Fu Qi did not have an extremely pure bloodline because Fu Qi's true appearance as a Dragon had only been a few dozen meters long, a far cry from Zhu Lie's 200 meters long body.
"What is a Dragon Clan member like him doing here?" Li Jiao asked with a frown.
Lu San Niang regained her senses and explained, "It's probably for the Dragon Blood Flowers."
"The Dragon Blood Flowers?" Li Jiao's eyes lit up when he heard the words as he whispered, "Are there Dragon Blood Flowers in Half-Dragon City?"
What Lu San Niang went through had left him feeling humiliated; unfortunately, the enemy was a member of the Dragon Clan. In terms of pure cultivation, Li Jiao believed he would not lose to that Dragon; after all, he was a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master. However, in terms of bloodline, he was unworthy of even polishing their shoes.
Therefore, he had to bolster his bloodline first if he wanted to get revenge, and the best way to do so was using Dragon Blood Flowers. That was why Li Jiao suddenly lit up with interest at the mention of these exotic flowers. If he could strengthen his bloodline with them, then he might stand a chance against that Dragon Clan member in a fight.
To his surprise, Lu San Niang shook her head, "How can there be Dragon Blood Flowers in Half-Dragon City? Dragon Blood Flowers are the foundation of the Dragon Clan and can only be found in Dragon Palace."
"But, you just said…"
She continued "The Dragon Blood Flowers need to be watered and nurtured with Dragon Blood. There are so few members of the Dragon Clan in Dragon Palace that it wouldn't be of much use to the Dragon Blood Flowers even if they drained their blood dry. What's more; doing this kind of thing will have a negative impact on one's strength if done frequently; hence, the Dragon Clan will not use the blood of their clan members to nurture the Dragon Blood Flowers unless absolutely necessary. Fu Qi came here for Dragonborn. While Dragonborn bloodlines might not be very pure, they make up for that in numbers. Using the blood of Dragonborn to water the Dragon Blood Flowers has shown to be effective too."
Upon hearing her explanation, Yang Kai and Li Jiao immediately understood the situation.
Li Jiao had cultivated a Dragon Blood Flower before and similarly used his own blood to nurture it at the time.
Dragonborn numbered as many as tens of thousands in Half-Dragon City, which made them a good choice for this task. From another perspective, it could be said that Dragon Palace was using Half-Dragon City as a source of Dragon Blood for watering the Dragon Blood Flowers. Their scheme was truly ingenious.
That explained the disparity the two of them had noticed in Half-Dragon City. It had puzzled them as to why the higher the cultivation, the fewer the Dragonborn among them. Among the Human and Monster Race there were several Third-Order Emperors, but not a single Dragonborn was in the Third-Order Emperor Realm. This was clearly the answer to that conundrum. The Dragonborn with higher cultivations had been dragged to Dragon Palace to nurture the Dragon Blood Flowers, and after years of repeated bloodletting, it would be a miracle in itself if their cultivation did not regress. How could they even expect to improve in their cultivation?
Lu San Niang turned to look at Li Jiao and said uneasily, "Big Brother Li, Yuan Wu will definitely take you away."
Li Jiao's expression was incredibly ugly. When he attacked Yuan Wu earlier, he had revealed his identity as a Dragonborn; moreover, he had overpowered Yuan Wu in both bloodline and cultivation.
It was only to be expected that Yuan Wu would not let Li Jiao get away with that behaviour, especially now that he had been ordered to search for Dragonborn to nurture the Dragon Blood Flowers. It was easy to tell just by looking at his flight path that Li Jiao was the first person he was approaching for this task.
Li Jiao suddenly became a little uneasy and looked to Yang Kai for help. If he were dragged to Dragon Palace to nurture the Dragon Blood Flowers, he might have to bleed himself dry in the worst-case scenario. Only Yang Kai could save him from this predicament. Even an Eighth-Order Red Dragon couldn't do anything in front of Yang Kai, so what was a Fifth-Order Green Dragon to him?
"Let's watch how things develop for now!" Yang Kai said in a soft voice and took a sip of tea.
Li Jiao felt reassured, knowing that Yang Kai was not going to abandon him.
Things progressed as they had expected. Yuan Wu headed directly to the teahouse and flew into the second floor. He glared at Li Jiao coldly, the fear and horror from before gone completely. Instead, he gave off the sense of a small-time villain intoxicated by a feeling of success. He had been humiliated by Li Jiao because his bloodline and cultivation were both inferior to Li Jiao's; however, he now had a Fifth-Order Green Dragon behind him so what was there for him to be afraid of? Rather, he was eager for Li Jiao to resist; that way death would be the only ending waiting for Li Jiao.
"I come under the orders of Senior Fu Qi. I need 200 Dragonborn to go to Dragon Palace to serve. All Dragonborn above the Dao Source Realm are to gather here immediately. If anyone does not appear within a quarter of an hour, all will be killed without mercy!" Yuan Wu announced, his voice not loud but still resounding enough to spread throughout Half-Dragon City.
As soon as those words rang out, all the Dragonborn above the Dao Source Realm panicked and their expressions became extremely troubled. Needless to say, they understood the reason why Fu Qi came looking for Dragonborn to go to Dragon Palace. There could be no other reason aside from watering the Dragon Blood Flowers with their blood. It was a difficult and unrewarding task. Throughout the ages, every Dragonborn who went to Dragon Palace would suffer severe damage to their foundation and in severe cases, they might even suffer regression in their cultivation. There were also cases where some died on the spot.
Naturally, no one wanted to do such a difficult and unrewarding task. It was just that Fu Qi remained above Half-Dragon City so no one dared to resist even if they wanted to. They couldn't escape from this place, nor could they escape from Dragon Island, so they were fated to be oppressed by Dragon Palace for life.
For that reason, all the Dragonborn above the Dao Source Realm began moving from all directions to gather at the teahouse after Yuan Wu's announcement.
"You! Get over here!" Yuan Wu shouted, pointing at Li Jiao.
Li Jiao's expression changed slightly. Although he had known from the beginning that Yuan Wu would definitely target him, it was still upsetting when it happened. He would have slapped that man again if not for that Green Dragon's presence. Unfortunately, doing that under the Green Dragon's watch was tantamount to declaring war against the entire Dragon Clan. Li Jiao did not have the guts to do so.
"The rest of you, get over here too!" Yuan Wu suddenly pointed again, including Yang Kai, Lu San Niang, and her daughter in their midst.
Lu San Niang's expression changed abruptly.
Similarly, Yang Kai frowned. He did not know what that man was up to. [Dragon Palace should only be looking for Dragonborn to nurture the Dragon Blood Flowers. Lu San Niang, her daughter, and I are not Dragonborn, so why are we included in the mix? Is he trying to take revenge on us by abusing his authority? But, I don't think he has the courage to do so….]
Although the Green Dragon kept his eyes closed, the commotion here was no secret to him. If Yuan Wu tried to do anything by borrowing his authority, Fu Qi would definitely not allow it; after all, he did not consider Yuan Wu to be worth his time, so why should he let Yuan Wu take advantage of him?
"I'm talking to you! Are you deaf?!" Yuan Wu deliberately shouted loudly with a displeased expression when he saw that no one at the table was moving. At the same time, he secretly glanced in Fu Qi's direction. It was clear that he wanted to make a large commotion.
If Yang Kai and the others defied direct orders, then he could openly kill them; therefore, he was not mad at Yang Kai's current behaviour. Rather, he was happy. He couldn't help wishing that Yang Kai and his friends acted as arrogantly as possible. [Acting so high and mighty in front of the Dragon Clan… He must not know the word 'death'.]
Meanwhile, Li Jiao glanced at Yang Kai. He was all out of ideas. In contrast, Yang Kai continued sipping his tea with an indifferent expression.
"How brave of you! How dare you disobey the orders from Dragon Palace!? You court death!" Yuan Wu looked angry on the surface, but he was dancing with joy inside. [Go on; keep being arrogant! Soon, you'll be begging for death!]
The other people in the teahouse had incredulous expressions on their faces as they glanced at Yang Kai's table. [These guys sure are not afraid of death. It has been many years since Half-Dragon City last saw thorns like them.]
Yuan Wu continued to yell, "Don't blame me for not warning you! None of you can afford to pay the price for causing a delay in Senior Fu Qi's affairs!"
When those words rang out, Fu Qi, who had been floating above the Half-Dragon City with his eyes closed, suddenly opened his eyes and snarled angrily, "Why are you wasting time on nonsense?! Hurry up and finish this!"
Yuan Wu jumped in fright and his complexion paled. He knew that his performance had upset Fu Qi and he did not have the leisure to rub his authority in Yang Kai's face anymore. Thus, he immediately opened his mouth and announced, "Senior Fu Qi has ordered 500 ordinary people to be brought to Dragon Palace. Those that I selected are required to prepare for departure immediately; otherwise, no mercy will be shown to those who resist!" After saying that, he pointed at Yang Kai and the others again and ordered "You, you, and you…"
He circled his hand around and picked out all the people in the teahouse.
Everybody in the teahouse had terrible expressions on their faces and looked extremely uneasy.
In the past, the Dragon Clan only came to Half-Dragon City to look for Dragonborn. In their eyes, ordinary people had no value except for becoming outlets of their sexual desires. Therefore, nobody knew the reason why Dragon Palace suddenly wanted 500 ordinary people to be sent there as well.
Those who had been picked out by Yuan Wu looked depressed. [If we had known this would happen, we would never have come here for tea.] Dragon Palace was not a place people came and went at will. In fact, they might never leave that place alive if they went there.
When it came down to it, Yang Kai and the others were undoubtedly the cause of this incident. If they had not clashed with Yuan Wu before, the latter would not have rushed to the teahouse directly. This was truly a disaster.
All of a sudden, many people looked at Yang Kai and the others with resentful expressions, silently pinning their hatred on him and his group.
