"What?"
When Xue Qinghe heard Duan Yu's words, his pupils contracted. "The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon is an inferior dragon? The Mountain Dragon is far stronger than the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon?"
How was that possible? The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon was universally acknowledged as the strongest beast martial soul on the continent.
Yet Duan Yu was telling him that the Mountain Dragon was vastly more powerful than the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon. It was undoubtedly a heavy blow to Xue Qinghe.
"That's right. There's no doubt about it."
Duan Yu nodded. "Qinghe, have you heard of the legendary nine great Dragon Kings under the Dragon God?"
"The nine great Dragon Kings?"
Xue Qinghe froze. She had never heard of any nine great Dragon Kings before. Shaking her head, she asked, "No. What are they?"
"The nine great Dragon Kings are the Water Dragon King, who controls the seas; the Fire Dragon King, who controls flames; the Wind Dragon King, who controls the breeze; the Earth Dragon King, who controls ultimate earth; and the Black Dragon King, who controls the power of darkness and extinction."
"The Holy Dragon King, who controls light and prayer; and the Time Dragon King and Spatial Dragon King, who control time and space."
"You've only named eight Dragon Kings. What about the last one?" Xue Qinghe quickly noticed something was wrong.
Duan Yu smiled faintly. "As for the final Dragon King, it is the Mountain Dragon King behind us—the earth itself."
"The Mountain Dragon King?"
Xue Qinghe looked shocked. "You're saying the Mountain Dragon King is one of the nine great Dragon Kings under the Dragon God?"
"That's right."
Duan Yu continued explaining, "It is said that while traveling through the universe, the Dragon God accidentally discovered a planet that happened to be suitable as a habitat for the dragon race."
"But the planet the Dragon God found was completely covered by oceans. Though dragons did not fear water, they could not settle in the sea. Thus, the Dragon God created the ninth Dragon King—the Mountain Dragon King."
"The Mountain Dragon King transformed its body into mountains and continents, providing the dragon race with a place to reproduce and dwell. Its lineage paid an enormous price for the dragon race. That lineage was the Mountain Dragon King's lineage."
"Because the Mountain Dragon King clan had to become mountains and continents to support the dragon race's reproduction and survival, they faced immense difficulties reproducing themselves. Their numbers were extremely small, and once they reached adulthood, they had to transform into mountains and continents for the other dragons to multiply and survive."
"Moved by their contributions, the Dragon God bestowed a saying upon the Mountain Dragon King lineage: Mountain Dragons shall forever be kings. In other words, every Mountain Dragon could bear the title of king upon reaching adulthood. They lost their freedom, but gained exalted status."
Duan Yu's words left Xue Qinghe utterly stunned. Even her grandfather had never told her such secrets.
After recovering herself, Xue Qinghe took a deep breath and said, "So the secret treasure that the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan has treasured all this time is this Mountain Dragon King's Crown."
"But now that you've taken their greatest treasure, I'm afraid they won't let this go." As she spoke, Xue Qinghe looked at Duan Yu worriedly.
"Ah, what's there to be afraid of?"
Duan Yu patted Xue Qinghe on the shoulder and said indifferently, "They don't even know who I am. What can they do to me? Besides..."
"Just give me another five years. Even if I openly show off this divine artifact, they won't have the ability to take it back."
Duan Yu spoke with absolute confidence. With the Time and Spatial True Dragon martial souls within him fusing with each other, his cultivation speed far surpassed that of ordinary people.
Not to mention that he had the Icefire Yin Yang Well, a treasure heaven had blessed him with. By the time he broke through to Soul Saint, those Shrek members hailed as geniuses would probably still be struggling at the Soul Elder and Soul Ancestor levels.
Watching Duan Yu's confident expression, Xue Qinghe smiled. "Alright then, you're getting cocky again."
"Of course."
Duan Yu raised his chin. "Qinghe, once I become stronger, I'll make Xue Ye step down early and let you take that position ahead of time."
"By then, even if you want Xue Ye's head to use as a football, I'll get it for you."
Duan Yu spoke without restraint, showing absolutely no regard for Xue Ye, the ruler of a nation. Pufferfish and Snake Lance, standing not far away, could not help twitching their mouths.
It was as though the person standing before him was not the crown prince of the Heaven Dou Empire, but a rebellious son plotting to seize the throne.
Well, he was not actually the crown prince of the Heaven Dou Empire to begin with.
Xue Qinghe rolled her eyes at the serious-looking Duan Yu. "Duan Yu, if you weren't my brother, I could have you thrown into the dungeon and executed for what you just said, you know."
"Ha, no way."
Duan Yu said carelessly, "If you weren't my brother, I wouldn't say any of this. What crown prince doesn't want to become emperor?"
"If you ask me, that bastard Xue Ye has been emperor for far too long. It's long past time for my brother to sit on that throne."
Xue Qinghe: ...I've known him long enough to be used to this, but this guy is still far too reckless with his words.
Forget it. She would wait a little longer, until her forces had gradually infiltrated the Heaven Dou Empire and Spirit Hall's grand plan of unification was complete.
By then, everything would naturally be resolved.
"Why aren't you saying anything?"
Duan Yu had been talking to himself for quite some time, yet there was no response from beside him. When he turned around, he saw Xue Qinghe silently staring at him.
Even knowing that Xue Qinghe was Qian Renxue in disguise, Duan Yu still felt somewhat uncomfortable under that gaze. He said:
"Qinghe, if you have something to say, just say it. Don't stare at me like that. It scares me."
Xue Qinghe had been thinking about how she would face Duan Yu after the Spirit Hall Empire unified the continent. Duan Yu's words interrupted her, and her face instantly flushed red.
Still, she said righteously, "What's wrong with looking? We're both men. Is a piece of flesh going to fall off because I look at you?"
"Oh?"
Duan Yu teased her and leaned closer. "Qinghe has a point. Then go ahead and look all you want."
"Who wants to look at your face?"
Xue Qinghe's face turned bright red. She shoved Duan Yu away. "Who wants your face? I don't have that kind of preference."
Duan Yu nodded in agreement. "Of course. Qinghe could be anything, but he definitely couldn't have that kind of preference."
If Xue Qinghe had that kind of preference, he would eat the entire Heaven Dou Empire.
"Heh."
Xue Qinghe rolled her eyes at him and said irritably, "What if I really did have that kind of preference? If I set my sights on you, you'd be finished."
Duan Yu merely smiled and said nothing.
Duan Yu was not worried in the slightest about whether Qian Renxue might set her sights on him. In the original story, Qian Renxue never truly liked anyone until her death. How could she possibly like him?
Duan Yu looked at Xue Qinghe, thought for a moment, and decided to give her a heads-up. "Qinghe, after this, once I finish refining the Immortal Herb for you, I'm afraid I'll have to leave again for a while."
"Oh, no, this time I may be gone for a long time. But I'll still make time to come back and visit you."
"What?"
Xue Qinghe froze, then said in shock, "You're robbing again? Didn't you just finish robbing someone? Which poor sucker have you set your sights on now?"
Before you continue