“Mother, why hasn’t Father come back? Why don’t you send someone to check?”
Inside the White Dragon Clan’s palace, little Jianjia stood barefoot in midair, her small mouth pouted, her childish face full of displeasure.
It had been so long, and he still hadn’t returned. She was always worried about her daddy.
Bai Lu sat on the dragon throne, her cool pretty face expressionless.
She quietly looked at the documents in her hand and said lightly, “My husband is fine. Don’t worry.”
“How do you know he’s fine!” Jianjia looked up, her delicate nose wrinkling, feeling her mother was too irresponsible. “You should send someone in to check!”
Bai Lu ignored her and continued with her official duties.
Her White Dragon Mark was constantly connected to Jiang Huai, and she could sense his vitality was strong—he wasn’t even injured.
And even if she was worried about Jiang Huai, she was, after all, the Head of the Five Provinces.
She had too many matters to attend to and no time for cultivation, so naturally she couldn’t guard the Secret Realm entrance.
“Then I’ll go check the entrance. Maybe Daddy will come back today.” Jianjia observed her mother’s expression, shook her white tail behind her, and made as if to run outside.
Seeing that her mother didn’t respond, she was overjoyed and dashed toward the palace gate.
Just as she was about to step out of the hall, she bumped into an invisible soft wall and bounced back.
Jianjia held her dragon horn, lightly stomped her foot, and complained to Bai Lu:
“If you won’t let me out, then just say so! You’re so heartless. My father married you and got a…”
Bai Lu coldly lifted her gaze.
Those blue dragon eyes glinted with an unfriendly light, startling Jianjia into trembling and shutting her mouth.
“You’re not yet ready for formal cultivation. As for the Five Elements Mark matter, we’ll let your father decide when he returns.”
“But you have a half-dragon body. In terms of pure flesh, you can’t compare to a pure-blood dragon. Go back to the Cold Pool to temper your body.”
“Otherwise, even if your father returns, I won’t allow you to see him…”
Before she could finish, Bai Lu’s expression changed, and her delicate body began to tremble uncontrollably. “Mother?” Jianjia asked softly.
Bai Lu panted heavily. The white dragon scales on her body flickered in and out of visibility, as if she might transform into a dragon at any moment.
“Mother!” Jianjia quickly ran to Bai Lu’s side, shaking her arm, her tone anxious.
“I’ll go call Sister Bai Tan right now!”
Bai Lu grabbed Jianjia’s wrist, stopping her. She slowly stood up, her white dress fluttering lightly. The Two Energies of Yin and Yang swirled around her.
She could clearly feel that the Innate Primordial Qi she had originally obtained from Jiang Huai had become purer, and her Dragon Essence was gradually being replaced by Yin-Yang Power.
“So that’s it. Have you already gathered them all?” Bai Lu stared at her own fair palm, muttering to herself.
With that, she grabbed Jianjia by the collar. With a flash of white light, she rushed out of the hall.
“Mother, where are we going…” Jianjia couldn’t open her eyes in the air, shrinking her face as she asked.
“Haven’t you always wanted to see your father? He’s probably out.” Bai Lu tried to keep a calm tone, but couldn’t hide her anticipation.
By the time Bai Lu arrived, the Secret Realm entrance was no longer emitting the aura of Extraterrestrial Demons; it had become a normal entrance.
The surrounding air was much cleaner, no longer carrying that suffocating smell.
With a bang, a cocoon flew out of the entrance, followed by several streams of light.
Bai Lu recognized those streams of light as Qin Xuange and Ao Yao. That cocoon was…
She looked up, relying on the White Dragon Mark’s connection, and gazed at the large cocoon in the sky.
That cocoon swirled with five-colored light—black, white, cyan, red, yellow intertwined—heavy and dense.
“What happened? How did Jiang Huai become like this?” Bai Lu asked Qin Xuange, who had transformed into human form.
She felt it strange. How was this child looking more and more like Qin Qingyue?
Before, it was just his appearance. Now, every move he made was similar.
If not for sensing that his cultivation level wasn’t high, Bai Lu would have truly thought it was Qin Qingyue standing beside her.
“He gathered all five Dragon Marks, and he became like this. We’re not sure either. ‘Is that so.’ Bai Lu murmured to herself.” Qin Xuange briefly explained what happened in the Secret Realm, including the Great Tree, the Magical Crystal, and the matter of Cang Ling and Cang Jing sisters.
It was the first time she had seen a world completely occupied by Extraterrestrial Demons.
Before, such places were essentially lifeless, not even worth counterattacking, so no one knew they could transform into a great tree.
Two red lights flashed, and Chi Hong and Chi Huang arrived, landing beside Bai Lu.
“Is he out? Is he out?” Chi Huang asked Bai Lu enthusiastically, completely ignoring Qin Xuange beside her.
She craned her neck to look up at the sky, her red dragon tail swishing back and forth behind her.
The cocoon suddenly shook and began to break open.
Cracks spread from the top to the bottom of the cocoon. Five-colored light shot out from the cracks, growing brighter and more dazzling. Boom! The cocoon shell exploded, and the fragments dissipated into specks of light.
Jiang Huai emerged from within.
His black hair fluttered, his robes billowed without wind, and around him, the Five Elements Reincarnation and Yin-Yang Rotation cycled, his aura rising step by step.
From Golden Core to Divine Transformation, it was as easy as piercing a piece of paper.
Divine Transformation continued to soar, breaking through all the way, barely stopping at the peak.
He hovered in midair, eyes tightly shut, brows slightly furrowed. After a few moments, he slowly opened his eyes.
In those eyes, black and white swirled for an instant, then returned to calm.
Chi Huang stood beside Chi Hong, quietly watching this scene from afar.
Her previous competitive heart suddenly shattered at this moment, as if she finally saw things clearly.
When she was on par with Cang Jing and Cang Ling, she thought she should be stronger than those two sisters, that she was the number one among the Five Dragons’ younger generation!
When she was a bit behind Qin Xuange, she felt she could catch up soon—as long as she worked hard and had opportunities, she would eventually close the gap and defeat Qin Xuange.
But when she saw Jiang Huai’s realm and power, she could only smile in relief.
Any thought of catching up was crushed by this immense Yin-Yang Spiritual Qi.
Chi Huang knew that from this moment on, Jiang Huai had completely parted ways with their generation.
His momentum gradually weakened. Jiang Huai descended from the sky and landed in front of Bai Lu.
Jianjia quickly transformed into a small dragon, climbed onto Jiang Huai’s shoulder, and claimed her treasured throne, saying in a coquettish voice, “Daddy, I missed you.”
Jiang Huai smiled gently and rubbed her little head with his thumb.
He looked at Bai Lu and said softly, “You’ve worked hard.”
The White Dragon Clan Leader, who usually had a face as cold as ice and wouldn’t even smile, now gave a gentle smile.
She shook her head lightly without saying much.
‘I’m glad you could come back.’
But for the usually aloof Bai Lu, such words were better said in private.
On the other side, Ao Yao quietly approached her clan leader, looking a bit shy, and whispered:
“Honored Master, there’s something I want to tell you.”
Two petite green-dressed lolis stood together. Just from appearance, it was hard to tell which was the clan leader and which was the Saintess.
Ao Shuang’s black hair was tied in double buns, with two small cyan dragon horns on her head. Her emerald eyes were bright and clear.
Ao Yao was even a bit shorter, also with double buns and emerald eyes, but her expression was more nervous.
Ao Shuang looked from afar at the reunited group around Jiang Huai, raised her hand to pat Ao Yao’s head, her small face full of satisfaction:
“Good, good. I’m glad you could return. Your master was worried to death about you! She paused and then asked: ‘What is it? Tell your master.'”
Ao Yao took out the short sword, holding it in her hand.
The sword sheath seemed to have turned into a leather pouch, bulging with something inside.
She lowered her head and whispered, “I maintained this sword.”