Ten Thousand Years of Lovesick Heartbreak Red, Merging

On the bank leaning against the boundary line between red and blue, there stood a rock as black as ink.

At the very center of the large stone sat a small white flower, shaped like a peony and devoid of leaves.

Across those glazed white petals, a streak of crimson was smeared, breathtaking and soul-stirring.

This was one of the goals of Dragon Emperor's journey:

The Goddess of Love's tears, reflecting upon the mortal realm.

--Lovesick Heartbreak Red.

A Grade 12... Divine Herb.

Above the mortal grade:

Grade 10 requires special methods of consumption;

Grade 11 requires unique harvesting conditions;

Grade 12 requires arduous growth environments.

For instance, Lovesick Heartbreak Red can only grow and mature when irrigated with the purest true love in the world.

Moreover, every Grade 12 Divine Herb signifies the legacy of a deity.

According to myth and legend.

Once a Lovesick Heartbreak Red passes through the "heart's barrier" of a spiritual illusion and gathers its own spirituality and independent wisdom, it becomes qualified to trigger the God of Love's divine trial.

Just like another herb growing on a deity's grave: the Thunderous Hell-Prison Vine.

After enduring ten thousand thunderbolts and contending with the lightning tribulation for fortune, once it achieves one hundred thousand years of cultivation and gathers a clear consciousness, it too is qualified to invoke the power of the God of Thunder.

Similar myths exist, such as the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, which can attract the attention of the Evil God King after achieving one hundred thousand years of cultivation.

And so on, and so forth; the list is endless...

Dragon Emperor leaned over slightly, examining this small, reddish-white flower that appeared so unremarkable compared to the enchanting, colorful garden surrounding it.

He let out a long sigh: "Fortunately, it is truly here; otherwise, this trip would have been in vain."

Just as Dragon Emperor prepared to touch the flower bud...

A ring of red-gold light rose slowly from behind him.

A beauty in ancient red and white attire: the Goddess of Love.

She appeared without being summoned.

"I never thought a drop of my tears would be here; presumably..."

She looked up at the sky, shrouded in seven-colored poisonous mist, and sighed: "It was above this very land that I fell."

She lowered her head to gaze at the Lovesick Heartbreak Red, mourning softly: "This is my first drop of blood-stained tears."

Who would have thought that upon hearing this, Dragon Emperor would pick up the Crow-Absolute Stone, which was the size of a basin, and hand it to the Goddess of Love, saying: "Come, try it."

"Test it and see if your love is still as pure as it once was."

The Goddess of Love offered a poignant smile and shook her head slightly: "Although I learned to hate after my death, love..."

"Remains my gift to this world, so how could I ever betray my own past tears?"

The Goddess of Love placed her hand upon the small flower.

The entire surface of the Lovesick Heartbreak Red shrank and then expanded, slowly blooming like a flower bud.

At the same time.

Dragon Emperor felt the Crow-Absolute Stone in his hands grow light, then suddenly heavy, as if the divine-grade mineral were reluctant to part with the divine-grade herb, only to finally choose to let go for the sake of the other's love.

Under the gaze of three pairs of eyes, a circle of vermilion slowly traced itself across the white jade petals of the Lovesick Heartbreak Red.

Immediately following, a golden flower heart sprouted rapidly from the center, swaying against the water and fire dragon energy like a flower fairy in a beautiful dream.

As one who shared a body with the Lovesick Heartbreak Red, Dragon Emperor could clearly perceive that the lost spirituality of this flower had finally found its home within the illusion.

The dream-like trap that had imprisoned the Lovesick Heartbreak Red was the very question the Goddess of Love had posed to true love when she shed her tears before falling.

Thus, Grade 12 corresponds to the 120th level of cultivation for a Second-Tier God.

Now, with Dragon Emperor's guidance, the Goddess of Love had finally cleared the lines between love and hate; the one who tied the knot must be the one to untie it, and the confusion she left behind was naturally resolved by her.

The faint, unawakened spirituality of the Lovesick Heartbreak Red flew out from the flower heart like a fledgling returning to its nest, guided back into the body by the Goddess of Love's slender palm.

Replenished by a wisp of her former divine consciousness, the Goddess of Love's illusory soul became much more solid, and the halo of balanced love and hate on her body returned to a state of more red than white.

Dragon Emperor used his other hand to cradle the golden-red peony that had detached from the Crow-Absolute Stone.

With this, the one-hundred-thousand-year Lovesick Heartbreak Red and the one-hundred-thousand-year Crow-Absolute Stone.

Both were obtained.

Dragon Emperor glanced at the Crow-Absolute Stone and sighed: "What a lovesick fool."

If he were to discard the Crow-Absolute Stone, whether by throwing it into a volcano or a snowfield, this mineral with one hundred thousand years of cultivation could have transformed into a mineral-type fierce beast like the "Flame Lord."

Yet, this Crow-Absolute Stone had actively clung to him, its unawakened consciousness conveying a sense of reluctance to part.

The Dragon Emperor clenched his palm, and the Crow-Absolute Stone, hailed as the hardest material under heaven, instantly liquefied into black gold and burrowed into his hand.

Only a handful of soil and impurities remained, falling with a soft rustle through the Dragon Emperor's fingers.

In mythology, the Crow-Absolute Stone was originally a part of the Flower Immortal Physique; now that they were reunited, it could be considered a fulfillment for both.

Just as the Dragon Emperor raised his hand, intending to press the Lovesick Heartbreak Red into his own chest, the Goddess of Love wore an expression of hesitation.

"What is it?" the Dragon Emperor asked, turning his head.

The Goddess of Love did not hide her intentions: "I wish to make use of this hundred-thousand-year cultivation."

"Ever since I was enlightened by you and grasped the true meaning of the Hatred of Emotion, my soul state has remained in an imbalance of strong love and weak hatred, which is the root cause of my soul's instability."

"Now that I have reclaimed a wisp of my divine consciousness from before I passed, my soul is beginning to stabilize. If you can give me this hundred-thousand-year cultivation, I can produce another God Ring for you."

"No problem." The Dragon Emperor agreed without the slightest burden.

Because what he lacked was not cultivation, but the growth progress of the Flower Immortal Physique.

After all, no matter how much this hundred-thousand-year cultivation amounted to, it was far less than one percent of his own soul cultivation.

The Goddess of Love placed her hand over his again, clasping his hand through the peony.

A powerful wave of soul power surged out from the red-gold peony.

In an instant, the Goddess of Love absorbed the hundred-thousand-year cultivation into herself, then transformed into a soul spirit and returned to the Flower Immortal Physique, quietly absorbing the hundred-thousand-year accumulation.

Meanwhile, the Lovesick Heartbreak Red merged into the Dragon Emperor's body.

As they fused, being of the same origin, the Crow-Absolute Stone within his body let out a joyful hum.

In the blink of an eye, the Dragon Emperor's child-like body returned once more to the youthful form he had possessed when he first walked out of the Tear Lake.

He raised his left wrist before his eyes and activated his god-level body martial soul. A red and white flower bud broke through the skin of his wrist, and a stunning red-gold peony bloomed upon his palm.

A delicate floral fragrance overwhelmed the herbal scents of the entire valley, standing firm against the aura of the Water and Fire Dragons.

That was right, the Dragon Emperor's body martial soul had begun to bloom; it was no longer the red and white budding flower of the past, but this red-gold peony that eclipsed all other blossoms!

Although it had not fully matured, it had already grown to a strength sufficient to bear a second god-level martial soul.

Bathed in the oncoming elegant fragrance, the Holy Dragon King's eyes flashed with joy.

After a mere six years of waiting, not only was his Dragon Emperor steadily returning, but he was also accelerating his own progress.

Compared to the treacherous path his own son had taken, Di Guangming could not help but feel fortunate for his choice.

He immediately bowed low and proclaimed: "Congratulations to My Emperor on this double blessing! The revival of the Dragon Race has taken another step forward!"

Before his words had even faded, at that very moment, the Goddess of Love reappeared amidst the garden of flowers.

She pushed her hand forward, sending out a red-gold ring, and clapped her hands. "Done."