Gu Longyu didn’t waste any time. He immediately went to work refining the dragon bones. Upon absorbing the finished product, he felt his Supreme Dragon Martial Body reach perfection. He did not undergo his Soul Nourishing Heavenly Tribulation like Tianyi and instead collected the dragon bones. Aside from their hardness, they were rather worthless with their essence refined. Even if an artificer forged them into artifacts, he would have to use much more material to make up for the lost essence.

  From there, Gu Longyu explored the rest of the Dragon Grave Grotto. Unlike what the Rising Dragon Sect and many other forces expected, it didn’t look like the grave of a cultivator. Rather, it seemed like an immortal grotto formed naturally around a dragon’s corpse—or at least part of it.

  Despite the abundant dragon qi in the air, Gu Longyu only discovered bits and pieces of other dragon descendants. Nothing else could compare to those true dragon bones. Once more, Gu Longyu cursed Tianyi. He was like a fly that always spoiled the meat, and when chased away, never failed to return.

  During his exploration, Gu Longyu clashed with many cultivators, both loose cultivators and geniuses of the present and past generations. Through this, his name became resounding. He had only some fame before, despite his many adventures, because he had always gone incognito, but now he no longer hid his name.

  In every encounter, Gu Longyu always won the confrontation, deeply etching his name into his peers. Even against venerables, he did not lose out. Only when the seal loosened enough for immortals to enter did Gu Longyu retreat.

  When the Dragon Grave Grotto vanished completely, many forces and major powers remembered Gu Longyu. Most contemporary geniuses had one common feature: they always possessed a heavenly spiritual root or some powerful constitution. Comparatively, Gu Longyu seemed ordinary no matter the angle. He only had a flawless spiritual root—not even a perfect grade. With such a black sheep, it was impossible not to remember him.

  However, Gu Longyu cared not. In his view, he already had enough power to defend against any unexpected accidents, barring an immortal monarch attacking him. Yes, he had the confidence to escape from a true immortal unless he was especially unlucky. That was unlikely, as the heavens had always favored him.

  Right now, he was reporting to his grandfather.

  “Good, good,” Peak Master Gu said when he heard of his son’s spoils. “I’ll take thirty percent. You keep the rest for yourself.”

  “Thirty percent—isn’t that too little?” In truth, Gu Longyu had only reported a few rare materials and most of the common resources he found. Even so, he found his father incredibly stingy toward the Rising Dragon Sect.

  Peak Master Gu glared at his son. “What do you know? Thirty percent of what you handed over is already a lot. I kept careful records of who you fought and what you won. After adding some items in consideration of discoveries without any encounters, this is just perfect. If you show off too much wealth, many people will eye you—even those from the sect. Remember, Yu’er, never completely trust anyone and keep your trump cards to yourself.”

  “What about you, Father?”

  “No, I can’t guarantee that I won’t turn against you in the future, so you must not tell me everything—like how many spoils you got.”

  “I understand,” Gu Longyu said. However, he wasn’t done.

  “Oh, you have more spoils? Didn’t I tell you to keep some secrets?”

  “It’s not useful for me,” Gu Longyu said. He waved his hand and revealed the dragon bones.

  After inspecting them, Peak Master Gu’s eyes lit up. “These are undoubtedly among the best finds in the Dragon Grave Grotto. I was just wondering who got ahold of the true dragon corpse, but it turned out to be you, you rascal.”

  “Don’t be too happy, Father,” Gu Longyu said. “Their essence has been stolen.”

  Peak Master Gu originally thought the bones had lost their essence from the passage of time, but now that he learned they were stolen, it was an entirely different matter. “Who stole it?”

  He quickly calculated the possible scenarios. If the perpetrator was stronger than his son, his son would not have been able to take them. And even if his son stumbled upon them later, why wouldn’t the perpetrator have taken the bones with them?

  “It was Tianyi. He was hidden among the loose cultivators. When I encountered him, he absorbed the essence inside these bones and underwent the Soul Nourishing Heavenly Tribulation. After fighting him, he retreated, leaving the bones behind.”

  “So he’s the one who quickened the seal’s weakening.” Despite his words, Peak Master Gu felt no gratitude toward the exiled sect member. If anything, his killing intent grew. Although he wronged Tianyi first, it was still a stain on his reputation. The faster Tianyi died, the sooner everyone would forget what happened.

  Peak Master Gu gave Gu Longyu a look. “You did well, but remember: if anyone asks you about the matter, you must say that you only arrived after Tianyi left. In no way must you hint that you had a hand in the matter.”

  Clearly, Peak Master Gu knew his son. It wasn’t like Gu Longyu put on much of an act in front of him. After all, no one knew about the Dragon Emperor on Dragonsleep Planet, and the three hegemonic forces did not exist here. He must have known his son hid much more than he said about the encounter, but he did not dig deeper.

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  Despite himself, Gu Longyu felt a warmth in his chest. He didn’t have a good home in his first life, which had been the trigger for his rise. He thought it wouldn’t matter because he had found many women who loved him, but it turned out that wasn’t the case. Gu Longyu swore never to let down his guard again around people close to him, but despite this, his father’s dedication still thawed his icy heart.

  “What do you plan to do after this?”

  “I’ll transcend my Soul Nourishing Heavenly Tribulation,” Gu Longyu said.

  Peak Master Gu nodded. “Go do it with peace of mind. I’ll take care of the dragon bones and Tianyi. I don’t believe the sect will be so lenient once they learn what he holds!”

  Gu Longyu smiled. This had been his intention when he decided to give the dragon bones to Peak Master Gu. “Oh, right. I think he’s going to be a father. When he was in disguise, I saw him with a pregnant woman. I suspect that was Daoyi.”

  With that information, finding Tianyi and Daoyi would be easier. Before long, the net should slowly close around the clone. If he were smart, Tianyi would flee to another continent, but Gu Longyu didn’t think he would. He had been surviving without catching the Rising Dragon Sect’s eyes, so he must have entrenched his roots on the continent. Most people would not abandon everything and the connections they built just for the possibility of being caught and executed—at least not until the very end.

  Upon returning to the Dragon Spine Mountain Range, Gu Longyu did not delay long before undergoing the Soul Nourishing Heavenly Tribulation. He waited only twenty-seven days for his body to adapt to the true dragon blood essence he extracted from the marrows before initiating the heavenly tribulation.

  Gu Longyu was now a dual grandmaster of the spiritual and martial paths, but he wasn’t satisfied. One reason he fell in the Huang Realm was because of his weakness in his soul, so he planned to mitigate that. He wasn’t planning on mastering the soul path; he knew his strengths and weaknesses. No, Gu Longyu wanted to focus on his defenses—and maybe master a brute-force soul attack method.

  While embarking on the soul path, Gu Longyu kept his ears open for news about Tianyi. If before, the Rising Dragon Sect only spent sixty percent of its possible effort to search for Tianyi, with the percentage lowering with each passing year, now the Rising Dragon Sect was deploying a hundred and ten percent effort to locate him.

  This did not surprise Gu Longyu. The most powerful method of the Rising Dragon Sect was the Dragon Gate Diagram, a martial cultivation method. To reach the highest level required the cultivator to absorb dragon blood. So how could they allow a mere grandmaster like Tianyi to hold on to such a treasure trove? Even immortal monarchs would be tempted to capture Tianyi and drain him of his blood to strengthen their bodies.

  Of course, the benefits of such actions would only increase their body’s potential by a little. At their level, it was practically negligible. The best way to maximize such resources would be to bestow them upon immortal seeds before they underwent the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation.

  Gu Longyu expected to hear news about Tianyi soon. And he did, but when he arrived, Tianyi had already successfully escaped. He could only return in frustration. Many such situations occurred, and just as he was about to search for the clone himself, his father summoned him.

  Peak Master Gu showed an extremely fatigued expression. It didn’t surprise Gu Longyu, as he had been concocting pills nonstop. Although Gu Longyu didn’t know what kind of pills they were, he could tell they were peak true-immortal–rank pills from the aura he felt outside the alchemy chambers. Some of them even touched the threshold of monarch-level pills.

  “Here.” Peak Master Gu handed Gu Longyu a sheathed saber.

  Before even touching it, Gu Longyu could feel his body calling out for the blade. Once it was in his grasp, he pulled it from its scabbard, revealing an ivory-white blade. He recognized the material—true dragon bone.

  Gu Longyu stared at his father.

  A tired smile graced the immortal alchemist’s face. “Just take it. I’m an alchemist and rarely fight, so what use is a weapon for me? Besides, I already have an immortal-rank cauldron. Oh, and you don’t have to worry about the other elders coveting the artifact, but you still have to be careful outside.”

  It was rare for a true immortal to possess an immortal-rank artifact in the Huang Realm, but it was even rarer on Dragonsleep Planet. The resources were almost as plentiful, but they had lost much of the heritage, making them unable to utilize all the resources. If a true immortal possessed a weapon, they were definitely not weak among true immortals. And now, a little grandmaster possessed one such weapon.

  Gu Longyu finally realized why his father had been continuously concocting pills. He didn’t say anything and nodded, but he kept this matter in his heart.

  He gave it a simple name, direct and to the point: the Dragonbone Saber. He spent a few days adjusting to his new weapon. Although it was an immortal-rank weapon, it had not yet reached that level in power. It needed to bathe in the blood of enemies, absorbing their power to reach its full potential. Right now, it was a weapon comparable to a venerable-rank artifact, which suited Gu Longyu just fine. He was more satisfied with it being a better carrier of his saber intent compared to his previous weapon.

  No longer able to wait, Gu Longyu left the Dragon Spine Mountain Range. Along the way, he killed any dragon-blooded creature he saw, and before long, the Dragonbone Saber gained a slightly baleful aura. It was still in its infancy, but in the future, just the aura alone would be able to shock weaker cultivators stupid.

  Gu Longyu spent many years outside. That did not mean he was not up to date. He always had his ears open for news about Tianyi. He expected to hear news of Tianyi from the sect, but he actually sensed him through his induction technique while flying nowhere in particular.

  His first reaction was disbelief, but Gu Longyu quickly verified that the technique had not malfunctioned. He immediately concealed his presence. Although he was the true Dragon Emperor, it did not mean his clones couldn’t sense him. In fact, if a clone killed him, the backdoor left in his technique would allow the clone to absorb all his memories. This did not mean Gu Longyu would take over the new clone’s body. Rather, it meant the new clone would become the new Dragon Emperor reborn, while he would be nothing but a failure who perished before he could rise.

  However, Gu Longyu had no intention of falling.

  He concealed his presence and searched for Tianyi. It was surprisingly difficult. Along the way, he found his senses being disturbed. Had he not cultivated the soul path, it would have taken him much longer to notice—and perhaps even alerted Tianyi. He did not think it was Tianyi’s handiwork but Daoyi’s.

  Gu Longyu found his target in the courtyard of a secluded mansion. He saw Daoyi sitting under the shade while Tianyi moved through several stances with his sword. Watching him was a child around ten or older, and there was no mistaking his heritage. He’d recognize those eyes anywhere.

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