Way of the Devil

Chapter 744: Leaving

Lu Hongye, the little fat golden dragon, and Nanni flew out of the room together. They quickly vanished in the afternoon sky.

Lu Sheng only came out of his study after they had completely disappeared.

He gazed in the direction where they left.

“The Golden Dragon Tribe isn’t exactly powerful, but the Dragon God System supporting it is interesting.”

He narrowed his eyes. One of the dragon gods had come to meet him before. The god came to state their friendly stance toward him.

‘Now that the black dragons have come invading, does this mean that this was the friendly term they meant?’

“My Lord.” Hank walked up the nearby stairs. “The Black Dragon Tribe has written in.”

“Let me see.” Lu Sheng took the jacket from Hank’s hand and wore it casually.

Hank presented the letter in black parchment and golden threads with both hands. An exquisite black dragon head was wedged into the center of the letter. This represented the Black Dragon Tribe.

Lu Sheng skimmed through the letter casually. The content of the letter immediately made him raise the corners of his lips.

“The Black Dragon King Svan sends his heartfelt and insignificant congratulations to the Arc Light King. We are deeply apologetic for the conflict between the Golden and Black Dragon Tribes. We would like to express our sincerest apologies for the great damage we have dealt the Golden Dragon Tribe before this. We are willing to offer compensation, and…”

Lu Sheng stopped reading from there. What followed was a list of the various compensations.

“Where’s the messenger?” he asked softly.

“He’s still waiting outside,” Hank said hastily.

“Tell him this: they can do whatever they want. I have no ties with the Golden Dragon Tribe. Just tell them to show mercy to my daughter, they can kill the others.” He was puzzled by the Golden Dragon Tribe, who had not once sent any envoy to him.

“Even the Black Dragon Tribe is making this smart move. Why is the Golden Dragon Tribe still playing dumb?” Hank commented with a snicker. “Have they lost their minds?”

Lu Sheng smiled, and said nothing.

***

Ancestral grounds of the golden dragons.

“Grand Elder, why are we not establishing a good relationship with the Arc Light King directly? For that person, defeating the Black Dragon Tribe will be as easy as pie,” asked one of the golden dragons softly.

“What difference does it make even if we’re on good terms with him? Do you know how many treasures we’ll have to offer up just to be on good terms with him? Do you know how much of our riches we’ll have to sacrifice?” The Golden Dragon Tribe’s grand elder laughed as he rested in the cavern. He had beautiful golden scales covering his slender and tough dragon body. He was covered in a dense spiritual light of blessing. This was a talent art unique to the golden dragons.

“Also, you mustn’t forget that the greatest hope of our tribe, the princess of the royal bloodline, is the Arc Light King’s daughter. Even if we don’t curry favor with him, can he really sit back and do nothing if his daughter’s in trouble?” The grand elder Johnnys had been alive for too long. He had already understood the workings of the world long ago.

“If you put it that way, you do have a point.” The adult golden dragon beside him nodded as he was lost in thought.

“Honestly, if there’s any trouble, all we have to do is push Lu Hongye to the front. With her powers, she’ll surely be unable to handle it. When that time comes, the powers the Arc Light King sent to protect her will naturally be of service to us,” said the grand elder languidly.

The plan of getting close to Lu Hongye had been within his grasp from the very beginning. He started by sending his tribesmen with cute appearance to get close to the girl. Then, they forged a deeper relationship with her by telling various legends, stories, and appealing to her emotional side.

The time for the harvest had finally come.

“As long as we have Lu Hongye, the Arc Light King’s support is unimportant,” said the grand elder with a smile.

“You really are smart, Grand Elder. You seem to always come up with the most brilliant of plans,” said the golden dragon beside him, offering flattery.

“Rarrgh!”

Suddenly, the wild roars of the black dragons came from the outside. The golden dragons were being pushed back; they could not even hold their ground. The defense lines set up by the golden dragons were melting away like snow to the touch.

“They’re here! Those wretched black dragons are here!” The golden dragon beside him stood up anxiously.

“Calm down. Don’t get all worked up. Lu Hongye is already on her way here.” The grand elder, endowed with extraordinary intelligence, appeared calm.

Sounds of houses falling apart and crashing boulders came from the valley outside. Black dragons and gold dragons tore at each other’s throats as they roared.

Soon enough, a golden flowing light shot into the cavern and landed before the grand elder.

“Report. Esteemed Grand Elder, Her Highness the princess says that she wanted to retrieve her harp back home. She isn’t done with her harp practice assignment yet! She… She… went back…”

The grand elder’s eyes widened. He got up to his feet without thinking.

“Come again?”

“The princess… Her Highness, she…”

“Stop her!”

“We couldn’t! Her Highness left as soon as she announced that. We didn’t even have the time to react when she…”

“Go after her! Quickly! Just tell her that we’ll help her with her homework! The ancestral grounds cannot do without her!” The grand elder was so distressed that his dragon scales stood on end.

“I… Understood!” The golden dragon turned around and flew away quickly.

However, the black dragons were already close to the position of the ancestral grounds’ cavern.

Hordes of adult black dragons, along with dragon Sorcerers, were pressing down upon the grand elder and the other golden dragons within the ancestral grounds.

There was no time left.

***

In the nearby skies.

Lu Hongye hovered in midair. She looked at the golden dragons’ ancestral grounds’ valley which was the battlefield in the distance.

“See that? Have you heard what the grand elder has said?” A fat seven-colored dragon danced around her. It was Bog who had been recuperating in Dawn City.

“The Golden Dragon Tribe is only using you! In the beginning, they were using your royal bloodline, and now they’re intending to use you as a conduit for our dragon king’s power.” After some years of experience, Bog had grown mature.

“In the end, the Golden Dragon Tribe hasn’t changed at all. They’re still a selfish bunch. They appear kind, but their have the highest pride and arrogance I know.”

Lu Hongye was silent. She was having difficulty accepting the fact.

After a long pause, she asked in a soft voice, “Was everything before this… fake?”

Her expression was helpless and desolate. She was feeling lost.

“They’ve pleaded for me to activate the ancestral grounds and stop the Black Dragon Tribe that’s trying to take over the world and enslave all humans. Is this all fake?”

“Huh? Take over the world? Enslave humans?” Bog appeared bored. “Are you kidding me? With those black serpents of the Black Dragon Tribe, they want to take over the world? Have they asked the Dark God Church or the Shadow God Church? Have they eaten the Glorious Light Lord? Let’s take 10,000 steps back. If our seven-colored dragons’ Arc Light King made no such statement, who in this world would dare to claim that they want to enslave the humans and take over the world?”

“Arc Light King?” This was the third time Lu Hongye heard about this name from Bog.

“Yeah, your father.” Bog licked his lips. He felt extremely lucky to have been born as a noble seven-colored dragon.

In the main plane now, every Tribe would treat the seven-colored dragons with reverence and respect.

Lu Hongye was finding it difficult to accept this.

The gap was too f*cking huge. A few days ago, he was still an ordinary storekeeper of an antique shop. Now, he was a terrifying Arc Light King who could take over the world.

“So… what do we do now? Are we really not going?” Lu Hongye’s mind was in a mess right now. She could not decide for herself anymore. This was especially true after she heard the private conversation of the golden dragon grand elder through the Arc Light King’s divine art. She was utterly confused.

“We’re not going. The Black Dragon Tribe will only loot the place at most. They’re still concerned about you, so they won’t dare overdo it,” said Bog as he shook his head.

“The main issue now is that the dragon king wants to move immediately. I heard that it’ll be a long journey, and it might be impractical to return here in the future. My Lady, it’s best that you make preparations now,” Bog reminded her.

“I’m a dragon… Can’t I just fly back here?” Hongye asked, puzzled.

“It’s useless… I heard that without God Fire, you won’t even be able to find the direction, let alone return here,” said Bog helplessly.

“Huh?

Lu Hongye fell silent again.

In truth, she was facing a huge dilemma.

Lu Sheng was not her actual father. No matter what, the Golden Dragon Tribe was the source of her bloodline.

If it truly was as Bog had said, that it would be difficult for her to return once they moved, she would have to carefully consider if she would stay here or move with Lu Sheng.

In the end, she could not abandon the golden dragons’ ancestral ground. It contained the hopes of her biological parents and her bloodline.

After all, it was her homeland.

Bog could see her struggles as well.

“My Lady, are you finding it difficult to part with this ancestral land? The dragon king has said that it’s up to you. You’re all grown up now.”

“I’ve… grown up?” Lu Hongye stared at the golden dragons’ ancestral lands in a daze. She was feeling lost.

***

Nine years after the Arc Light King came into the world.

The allied army of the three Tribes which invaded the main plane from another dimension began pulling back their forces and vanished. The allied army descended into the abyss and finally disappeared in layer 99th of the abyss.

Half a year later, it was as if the allied army had never showed up in the first place. They had retreated completely.

The next to follow was the Seven-colored Tribe, Abominations, and several wicked gods who’d joined the Arc Light King’s cause. They migrated into a huge war fort.

Shortly after, the Ocean and Ice Blue God Systems mysteriously dissolved. The god nations crumbled overnight. The two main gods fell into an eternal slumber in the Star World. The Red and Golden Dragon Tribes mysteriously lost many of their members. Their dragon gods were also grievously wounded, and fell into a deep slumber.

A fortnight later, the Arc Light King entered the war fort with his regalia and lesser regalia.

The Devil Shadow war fort was activated. A few days later, space-time distortion of a large scale appeared around the fort.

A few days later, a traveler went to explore the place, and found that the war fort had already vanished without a trace.

The Arc Light King, the Seven-colored Dragon Tribe, and Lu Sheng’s subordinates were never heard from ever since. An interesting thing to note was that the adopted daughter of the Arc Light King, the Golden Dragon Tribe’s princess Lu Hongye, did not leave with him. Instead, she chose to remain in the golden dragons’ ancestral grounds. There, she secluded herself to cultivate while taking on an alias.

A certain godly spirit went to check on her, and discovered that she was still protected by some terrifying and formidable mechanism.

The next year, the cleared off abyss and hell were restored to their barren appearance like before. They gradually returned to becoming as uninhabitable as ever.

Although the Arc Light King left, the legend he’d left behind in these lands was not something that the others would easily forget.

Countless tribes still sang of his deeds.

The Beast Tribes and half orcs got food and shelter because of him. The tribes of hell and the devils of the abyss had renounced evil because of him and walked freely in the light.

Countless fertile grass gave the other creatures an unimaginable stock of food. Although the allied army had left, the seeds of the Divine Grass Church remained.

The grateful believers of the Arc Light King began attempting various peculiar rituals under the leadership of their bishop Jonah. They attempted to summon the great Arc Light King from the void.

However, their voices had no way of reaching Lu Sheng right now.