November 27th.
Only three days remained before the Secret Realm ended.
The Land of Dragon’s Fall was filled with fierce battles everywhere, with frequent cries of agony from those losing limbs in the chaos.
Since the heirs of the Sixth and Seventh Branches fell, the survivors had grown eager and more active, their fighting spirit soaring. Once they secured a spot in the top seven, it meant stepping halfway into the future core of power.
This was a leap to the top—a once-in-a-lifetime achievement. Who wouldn’t be tempted?
This was a battle that would reshape the Su family’s future power hierarchy, and everyone had poured their all into this final struggle.
In one corner of the Secret Realm, Su Qingshi emerged from her retreat, laughing wildly.
Her curvaceous body was wrapped in the virtual image of a Blue Dragon, and her triumphant laughter was laced with unrestrained ambition.
“Su Liumeng, I have already fused the Blue Dragon’s true blood. How will you compete with me now?”
“Oh, I almost forgot—you probably won’t see tomorrow’s sun. What a pity for your sister…”
“This is an era that belongs to me. You’re destined to be nothing but a mere backdrop.”
Meanwhile, deep within the Secret Realm.
In a resource-scarce area few dared to enter, a young girl sat cross-legged, her delicate form covered in withered branches and leaves, motionless for a long time.
After a while, her eyes suddenly snapped open, radiating a burst of golden light.
“Eight strands of true Dragon marrow in total, with the bloodline purity all elevated to eighty-five percent. It’s time to emerge.”
During her secluded days, she had fused all the Dragon blood she previously absorbed into her marrow in one go, raising the number of true blood fusions to an unprecedented eight. She felt she was now at the limit of her body.
After all, nine is the ultimate number, a turning point where quantitative change sparks qualitative transformation, representing the power ceiling of the Heavenly Evolution Nine-Dragon Technique. To accomplish the miraculous feat of Nine Dragons Flying Together, she still needed one crucial opportunity.
For now, this was enough for her future use.
She was confident that when she fused the ninth marrow, she could elevate the bloodline purity ahead of schedule to ninety percent, thereby achieving the true Dragon Transformation Ritual and becoming a living myth.
By then, bloodline-wise, she would no longer be an ordinary human but more like a true Dragon who had completed its transformation. Once she unleashed her true form, she would be an ancient creature reborn on Earth, with countless people trembling beneath her mighty dragon body.
Just as Su Liumeng ended her seclusion and slowly stood upright, a pillar of light blending eight colors shot straight into the sky, churning the clouds into a swirling vortex.
On the other side of this magnificent whirlpool, it seemed connected to something else.
Such an astonishing phenomenon naturally drew the attention of the entire Su family.
The Elder Three gently stroked his beard, frowning deeply as he stared at the sky. “Has another treasure appeared in the Land of Dragon’s Fall?”
“Doesn’t seem like it.”
Faced with this terrifying anomaly capable of influencing celestial phenomena, the Elder Three’s own Dragon blood seemed to be slowly boiling, as if being drawn by a superior primal existence. It gave him an instinctive urge to worship.
He sensed this was not a treasure’s appearance, but a phenomenon related to the Heavenly Evolution Nine-Dragon Technique.
The Elder Three racked his brain, pondering cause and effect and the key factors involved.
Suddenly, his frown deepened.
Had he seen a similar description somewhere before?
The next moment, his eyes widened dramatically, losing all focus as he stared blankly at the sky, as if witnessing something incredible.
In the depths of the churning clouds, a pitch-black object was slowly emerging.
Then the phenomenon shifted again.
Nine true dragon shadows nearly a thousand meters long appeared abruptly in front of the vortex, their bodies entwined and coiling as if constructing a passage to the mortal world, awaiting the birth of whatever lay behind.
Unlike the true dragon images the Su family had seen before, these nine dragons seemed sentient, their piercing dragon eyes filled with countless thunderstorms, their size more like true ancient beings awakening.
Thud—
Some from the Su family could no longer bear the overwhelming pressure, collapsing in submission and trembling miserably on the ground.
“True dragons—”
“This has to be the real emergence of true dragons!!”
A fanatic shouted loudly amidst his trembling.
Rumble—
Accompanying the appearance of the object behind the clouds was a roar like a raging storm.
The next moment, everyone closed their eyes simultaneously.
It seemed that the world only contained this single beam of light, the very first ray before the creation of heaven and earth.
In the blink of an eye, all color vanished from everyone’s sight, as if the world had lost every trace of light.
Utmost darkness and brilliance coexisted in stark opposition.
It felt like a sharply defined boundary had formed at that moment, displayed crystal-clear before all eyes.
“What… is this?” The Elder Three’s voice trembled.
Countless starry lights suddenly appeared in the dark world.
This was not the starry sky people imagined, but more like a true Milky Way descending upon the mortal realm.
Clang—
The metallic resonance of a divine sword vibrating rang out, like the battle cries of armies charging on the battlefield, suddenly awakening everyone from their daze.
Only then did some realize that this was not an actual Milky Way descending, but a breathtakingly beautiful divine sword refracting the universe’s myriad phenomena.
A lone long sword quietly stood in the sky, as if dimming the brilliance of the entire world.
What kind of artifact could this be?
The Elder Three, having seen much in his lifetime, could find no fitting description.
The sword’s blade was divided into two sides—one black, one white.
Countless stars twinkled along the blade before sinking back into silence. Darkness contained all its sharpness within, yet no one doubted that when this blade was wielded, it would be a scene of world-shattering creation.
“Could it be… that gods or buddhas truly exist in this world?” The Elder Three’s legs trembled uncontrollably, his voice shaking as he murmured to himself.
If not explained this way, he could not fathom who could have forged such a thing. It far exceeded his experience.
After a breath, the divine sword traced an elegant arc through the air, falling into the hands of a girl standing amidst the heavens.
Her brows were sharp, her features breathtakingly beautiful. On her gradually opening face was a stunning radiance that seemed to disdain the world.
The moment she grasped the divine sword, nine enormous dragon shadows bowed beneath her feet.
What a shocking and awe-inspiring sight. The entire Su family was left speechless.
The Elder Three stood at the entrance of the Secret Realm, completely stunned and unable to speak.
“Heavenly Evolution Nine-Dragon Sword.”
“This is the Heavenly Evolution Nine-Dragon Sword!!!”
“No wonder none of the predecessors could possess it—it had been concealed high above the heavens all along.”
After a breath,
With the divine sword’s emergence, the Secret Realm’s depths erupted into chaos, everyone recklessly surging toward the skies.
Once a divine artifact has a destined owner, that fate can be snatched away by others.
“Everyone, charge together! Seize the divine sword!”
“That’s right! Why should she, Su Liumeng, be the one to possess it?”
“She’s just a bit luckier, the first to rush into the sky while everyone else was stunned.”
This reasoning gradually gained acceptance among the crowd.
No one considered that the divine sword never emerged on its own but was triggered by someone’s aura—no one noticed that Su Liumeng was the very center of the swirling pillar of light.
Su Qingshi was also flying toward the sky, sneering coldly.
“Hmph, Su Liumeng, consider yourself lucky to be alive. Trying to wield the divine sword without knowing if you’re worthy?”
“I bet you’re just bluffing. There’s no way you fused the sixth true Dragon blood, which is why you barely survived.”
“This time, there will be no luck. I will tear off all your false masks.”
“Just watch—I’ll trample you underfoot and make you see clearly who is truly the unparalleled prodigy of this generation of the Su family.”
At the Secret Realm’s exit, the Elder Three was using a Transmission Talisman to notify the other elders.
This major event was no longer something he could handle alone.
Once the Secret Realm opened, no one could enter or leave at will; all had to wait for the array to unlock the seals on its own.
Whoever obtained the Heavenly Evolution Nine-Dragon Sword would elevate the Su family’s strength to new heights.
“Ha ha ha.”
The Elder Three’s aged face was filled with satisfaction.
The opportunity for the Su family’s rise had finally arrived.
As for whether the divine sword’s emergence was triggered by someone, the Elder Three never entertained such a ridiculous idea.
The divine sword, elusive for so many years, could never favor just one individual.
That was impossible.
When the Elder Three saw the divine sword, he had already discarded his previous guesses, concluding it was simply the sword’s destined time to appear, allowing Su Liumeng to take credit by chance.
Of course, a free opportunity would inevitably be contested.
The Elder Three still doubted that Su Liumeng could fully seize this chance.
After all, she faced the combined assault of all the younger generation of the Su family. What could one person accomplish?
The sooner they tossed the divine sword away, the better the chance of sparing at least one life.