Chapter 260: Bone Dragon Leaves Sichuan

In the past, Lu Xingzhou would have felt a chill down his spine when Night Tinglan fixed him with a stare from her phoenix-like eyes. No matter how much he claimed he didn't view her as his master, she was still his private tutor, and he still owed her basic respect. Besides, she was incredibly strong; she could easily crush him with a single slap. Even if fleeting improper thoughts crossed his mind, he wouldn't dare to flirt excessively.

But at this moment, his courage had truly grown. He held Night Tinglan's hand and refused to let go. With so many people around and important matters ahead, would she really hit him? You faked your identity and deceived me for half a year. Does being the strongest person in the world give you the right to deceive others? No wonder Madam Ye always seemed to possess a concern for the nation and its people that didn't typically belong to a Master of the Pill Academy or a member of a reclusive sect. No wonder she placed such importance on King Yama's Hall—besides being Sister Yu, she was also a true adversary!

Madam Ye approaching him for the sake of King Yama's Hall could be seen as the concern of an impartial third party for the nation; but the National Teacher approaching him for King Yama's Hall, that was the act of a female spy. If he didn't take advantage of her a hundred and eight times, it would be a disservice to this treacherous deceiver who practically delivered herself to him. Any respect he once held for a master had long vanished into thin air.

Night Tinglan, having given him a glare, expected him to immediately let go. Her mind hadn't even registered him for a moment, but after a few breaths, she realized something was off. Why was he still holding on? Night Tinglan instinctively wanted to pull her hand away, but then she suddenly remembered they were surrounded by people and couldn't be too conspicuous. She held back the slap she wanted to deliver, and a cold smile appeared at the corner of her lips.

The next moment, Lu Xingzhou felt the sensation in his hand change. From soft and warm, it turned hard as iron, then tightened like an iron vice. Immense force pressed down, and the pain nearly made him cry out. "Then just cry out," he thought. "Would you dare let me?"

Lu Xingzhou immediately opened his mouth, but as he uttered a short sound, Night Tinglan swiftly clamped a hand over his mouth. People nearby were already looking over curiously. Only then did Night Tinglan realize the best strategy: the spiritual energy in her hand directly invaded him, sealing his meridians and acupoints, including his mute acupoint. Lu Xingzhou couldn't move or speak, his hand being kneaded and massaged by Night Tinglan, while she feigned concern: "Xingzhou, you don't look too good. Is it still too close to the glacier's center here? Is it too cold for you?"

Lu Xingzhou's face twitched from the pain, and he gave her the classic innocent, pitiful gaze of a puppy. Night Tinglan snorted coldly, finally letting go of his hand. "With such weak abilities, and still trying to take liberties," she thought. She didn't realize that if it had been anyone else taking liberties, their ashes would have been scattered. Yet, here she was, merely giving a harmless squeeze of his hand, not even truly angry, but rather feeling a mix of amusement and exasperation.

"Don't ask for a beating, be serious," Night Tinglan whispered in his ear. "The opposing leader is indeed Si Han, Lord of the Frost Nation. I don't think they're any match for the demon race. If the demons win without any casualties, what's the point of us hiding here?" Lu Xingzhou shut his mouth and didn't reply. Night Tinglan glared at him fiercely, then quietly unsealed his acupoints.

Lu Xingzhou coughed lightly and whispered, "Although they are being suppressed, there haven't been any additional casualties in the short term, apart from those who died in the initial ambush."

"So what?" Night Tinglan retorted. "If they continue, they'll surely die. Long Qinghuang is merely holding back her strength to deal with us... the Tianyao Sacred Land."

"So you know she's holding back her strength to deal with you... the Tianyao Sacred Land, right?" Lu Xingzhou asked. "Then I'd like to ask what the point of you attacking now is. Is it to make Long Qinghuang focus most of her energy on you?"

Night Tinglan fell silent. In truth, she wasn't unaware of this principle. It was just that the other party was, after all, human, and an ally in resisting the demon race. It felt wrong to let human allies be slaughtered by demons, even though she knew they had initially intended to entrap her. The racial animosity was inherent; she had fought the demon race too many times, so she naturally had a predisposition. Unlike Lu Xingzhou, who was so indifferent, viewing the situation with complete detachment, so much so that even if the people of the Frost Nation were completely wiped out, it wouldn't cause a single ripple in him. Rather than calling him a ruthless strategist, it was more accurate to say this was an essential quality for an advisor: not to be swayed by emotions. But you're so lustful, how can you not be swayed by emotions?

Lu Xingzhou looked at the battle, his eyes cold. "Just wait," he said. "If the demon race truly slaughters these people without suffering any casualties, then we won't intervene. Just let Long Qinghuang have her victory. What loss would it be to us? Anyway, my only concern is to keep you all safe. Nothing else is within my scope of consideration."

Night Tinglan pursed her lips and whispered, "What if I want you to consider more?"

Lu Xingzhou turned his head and glanced at her. They were standing very close, and when he turned, his lips almost brushed her face, making both of them simultaneously recall their private tutoring sessions at the Pill Academy. Their hearts inexplicably skipped a beat. Lu Xingzhou turned his head away and whispered, "That depends on Si Han. If these people are just waiting for us to make a move, and see that we refuse to act, they won't be able to withstand Long Qinghuang. The critical moment will then force them to reveal whether they have any trump cards..."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the suppressed situation of the Frost Nation in the distance suddenly changed. They couldn't even hold on for the brief time it took for these few sentences to be uttered. Seeing that the Tianyao Sacred Land, whom they had desperately awaited, did not appear, they finally revealed their trump card.

Si Han, Lord of the Frost Nation, took a blow from Long Qinghuang in mid-air, but finally couldn't withstand it. His vital energy in disarray, he spat out a mouthful of blood and crashed onto the ice layer below. The ice layer suddenly began to shake violently, revealing a fissure. Before Long Qinghuang could follow up with another blow, Si Han directly dropped into the fissure. The next moment, the ground trembled and mountains shook, the ice surface cracking like shattered glass as a dragon skull 'crunched' its way out. Then its spine arched out of the ice, its dragon feet pressing against the edges, supporting its entire dragon body.

In an instant, the ice layer below had collapsed into ruins. Amidst the wreckage, a bone dragon roared with its head raised, its eyes shining with phosphorescent blue flames.

Lu Xingzhou stroked his chin. "It looks like Sindragosa... It's a shame the Yin Corpse Sect didn't come. Hey, where's Old Ji?"

If Ji Wenchuan were here, he'd probably chop this 'woman-over-brother' fellow into pieces with a sword. Is he so engrossed in flirting with the mature version of King Yama that he doesn't even notice his brother is gone?

Night Tinglan, however, had no idea what Sindragosa was. Her expression had become very serious. This was indeed a still active dragon, its soul not entirely extinguished, likely related to its burial in the glacier. Whether it was from ancient times was unknown, but its power must be at the Transcendence grade. Only a Transcendence-grade being could have survived for so many years; anyone less powerful would have died long ago, no matter how frozen they were. Precisely because it wasn't dead, it likely instinctively arched upwards after waking, pushing up half an inch each day. Over time, it eventually emerged from the ice and was discovered. It had clearly been subdued by Si Han, Lord of the Frost Nation, long ago. As for those fragments, they were undoubtedly a trap.

There was a chain of bloodline suppression among the demon race. The suppression from natural enemy races went without saying. There was also the suppression of higher bloodlines like dragons and phoenixes over lower ones of the same class, such as snakes and chickens, as well as suppression in cultivation between members of the same race, and suppression based on bloodline purity, among others. The moment this bone dragon emerged from the glacier, the bloodline aura alone made many demon experts fighting nearby tremble uncomfortably, their strength visibly weakened by a third. This aura-like effect was a severe overall restraint on the demon race. Long Qinghuang couldn't completely absorb it for her subordinates; at most, she could weaken its influence. This was also one of the reasons Long Qinghuang was determined to acquire the so-called dragon bone. If it were subdued by an enemy, it would be extremely disadvantageous to them.

However, this bone dragon clearly lacked full sentience, retaining only battle instincts. Even if it was also Transcendence-grade, it couldn't possibly defeat Long Qinghuang. The only question was how much effort Long Qinghuang would need to subdue it. If there was even a slight stalemate, that would be the best time for the Tianyao Sacred Land to launch its attack.

At this moment, Night Tinglan was incredibly grateful to Lu Xingzhou for seeing through everything. Otherwise, if the Tianyao Sacred Land had engaged in a fierce battle with the demon race in the center of the glacier, and Si Han had attacked them with the bone dragon, something major would have happened. Now, they held all the initiative, comfortably in control. Long Qinghuang had received the same analysis from Lu Xingzhou. However, she was determined to acquire the dragon bone and had to make a move. Even knowing that the Tianyao Sacred Land was lurking and watching, she had no choice but to take this risk.

Amidst the roaring of the bone dragon, the fracturing of the glacier, and the chaotic spray of ice, Long Qinghuang remained in her human form and instantly teleported to the bone dragon's forehead. Compared to the colossal body of the bone dragon, Long Qinghuang in her human form was like an ant. When her slender, jade-like hand struck out, it probably didn't even look as substantial as an ant's leg. But as this 'ant's leg' touched the bone dragon's forehead, with a loud 'clang,' the roaring, awe-inspiring bone dragon was completely sent flying and crashed with a 'thud' into the now ruined ice layer. No matter how formidable the bone dragon's aura, this single strike completely shattered it. The air froze for a moment, and the demons fighting around them burst into thunderous cheers: "Your Majesty is invincible!"

Long Qinghuang's figure flashed like lightning as she pursued her target downwards. She knew clearly in her heart that the previous strike was merely a test. The result was that the blow could not penetrate the opponent's skull or interfere with its soul fire; it could only send it flying. This battle would not be easy.

"Bang!" Long Qinghuang smashed into the ice layer, and the shattered ice blocks around her exploded upwards with a roar, turning into wisps of icy mist in the air. With Lu Xingzhou's eyesight, it was already difficult to discern the core of the battle.

"No, something still isn't right about this..." Lu Xingzhou muttered to himself. "Now that the bone dragon has emerged and the situation is chaotic, if I were a Frost Nation member, I would definitely seize this opportunity to withdraw. Logically, the Frost Nation is merely an allied nation, so it's understandable for Si Han to stubbornly hold on. But others don't owe Si Han that much loyalty, so why are they all stubbornly entangled here? Are they all throwing their lives away?"