Chapter Eleven: The Need for Greater Strength

With the thunderous assistance, Feng Shang escaped into the heavens and vanished into the clouds.

None of this was clear to Han Tianyue and his companions. After the Ten Overlord Flowers were dealt with swiftly by Crown Prince Mao’s single move and disappeared into the distance, although Han Tianyue was eager to set off in pursuit immediately, Feng Shang’s capture forced him to stay behind and discuss with Mao Xuanci and the others about how to rescue Feng Shang.

The woman dressed in white revealed to Han Tianyue and the others the most formidable forces of the Daughter Kingdom: the Seven Great Tremor Flowers, the Four Guardians, the Shaman Matron, and the Ninth Matron.

“They are the elite warriors of the Daughter Kingdom throughout history,” she explained, “but in recent years, a certain neither-male-nor-female figure called the Doom Star arrived in the prison. Wherever he goes, an aura of malevolence follows. I have always opposed keeping the Doom Star in the Daughter Kingdom, but the Shaman Matron was adamant about letting him stay. The Ninth Matron rarely ventures out, so under the Shaman Matron’s persistent insistence, the Doom Star has remained in the prison ever since.”

The woman’s expression darkened as she added, “Since his arrival, many outsiders have come to stir trouble in the Daughter Kingdom. The most recent were that woman and man wielding lightning!”

Han Tianyue and the others had glimpsed the Doom Star from afar — he was clearly no good. Han Tianyue remarked grimly, “Such a being left in your kingdom is surely a curse.”

The woman in white responded, “If I ever ascend to the throne, I will make it my mission to expel the Doom Star from our land.”

They discussed for a while longer, but with no viable plan to rescue Feng Shang and night falling, they found a place to rest.

Between Fang Zhe and the woman in white, an unspoken harmony blossomed. As the woman began to play a flute, Fang Zhe responded with his zither, and the entire Purple Bamboo Forest was enveloped in the celestial music they created together.

Under her accompaniment, Fang Zhe’s melodies gradually formed into a structured composition.

Watching this, Han Tianyue’s thoughts turned to Crown Prince Mao. She would never disappoint him. Gazing toward the direction where the Crown Prince had vanished, he silently vowed, “Prince, I will not let you down either!”

Having interacted with the dragons within the space inside the ring several times, Han Tianyue now realized it was a secret training ground — his adversaries were dragons themselves. Though his current strength could only awaken one dragon, he understood that once he grew powerful enough, he could awaken the second, third, and ultimately all nine dragons.

Closing his eyes, Han Tianyue’s consciousness slipped back into the ring’s inner space.

Meanwhile, sitting nearby, Mao Xuanci recalled the scene with Crown Prince Mao. The prince had summoned his spirit beast with astonishing speed. Having been competitive since childhood, Mao Xuanci covered his chest with his hand; beside his heart, the fiery dragon egg absorbed warmth from his body.

Only when the dragon egg absorbed enough heat would it hatch. Yet Mao Xuanci lacked sufficient internal heat to nourish the egg. He lifted his gaze toward the direction where Crown Prince Mao had disappeared and resolved, “I must find a way to absorb more heat!”

There were two ways to generate heat: one, to gradually produce it within the body; or two, to harness external heat and convert it internally — a perilous process. If Mao Xuanci could locate such a place, he would undoubtedly attempt to absorb and transform external heat, for only then could the dragon egg hatch faster and he could grow stronger.

Back in the forest, under the woman in white's collaboration, Fang Zhe’s music began to transform qualitatively. The bamboo forest itself, a natural creator of earth’s melodies, amplified the evolution of Fang Zhe’s zither tones.

Half-awake, half-asleep, Han Tianyue resumed his contest with the dragons. “It seems you’ve grown stronger again!” The dragon coiled above his head, but Han Tianyue launched a full assault. One colossal dragon was no longer able to touch his body.

“Ice Blade Slash!” After multiple battles with the dragons, Han Tianyue combined the power of his previous ice blade with some of the dark ice pill’s energy to form a giant black ice blade slash. As the blade unleashed, the temperature within the ring’s space plummeted sharply. The second dragon leapt from the gate above, and both dragons lunged at Han Tianyue, who was forcefully expelled from the ring’s space.

Suddenly opening his eyes, Han Tianyue glanced at Mao Xuanci, Fang Zhe, and the woman in white, who were each absorbed in their own affairs, unaware of his abrupt awakening. Exhaling deeply, he quietly gazed at the sky and thought, “With two dragons out, I can’t even stand within the ring’s space anymore. I must seriously consider how to face two dragons at once!”

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