Why are all the people in my chat group rumored to be from the outside world?

Jing Yuan clasped his hands in a fist and bowed repeatedly: "Jing Yuan was just about to congratulate you all! This is a great joyous occasion, it's as if the heavens have blessed our Luofu Chiming lineage!"

"Who could have imagined it? Who could have imagined it!"

Jing Yuan's voice was filled with astonishment: "After countless years, an immortal envoy has actually graced my Luofu Immortal Ship with his presence! Even more wondrous is..."

Jing Yuan deliberately dragged out his words, admiring the pale faces and slightly trembling bodies of the Dragon Masters.

"This envoy has actually met our current Dragon Lord, Miss Bailu! I heard that after spending some time together, he was quite satisfied with Miss Bailu... This is truly an incredible coincidence! This is absolutely true; it was personally heard by Fu Xuan, the Grand Diviner of our Grand Divination Bureau, and there is not a single lie about it!"

"This...this...is it...truly true?" The Dragon Master's last shred of hope caused him to let out a dying scream.

Jing Yuan didn't speak, but instead turned on a projection screen.

Just at this moment.

The scene of the immortal dragon battling the destructive lord appeared before the dragon masters.

Even through images.

The Dragon Masters still felt the resonance of their bloodline.

Just then, Jing Yuan spoke again: "If you still don't believe me, you can report this matter to the Alliance and find out if what I said is true."

It’s over.

It's over now.

Jing Yuan quietly looked at the faces filled with despair, and a slow smile appeared on his lips.

He reverted to his gentle tone, as if he were merely giving an official instruction: "Oh, by the way, there is one more thing I need to inform you gentlemen. That gentleman... will personally escort Miss Bailu back to the territory of the Chiming Clan in the next few days, safe and sound."

"Therefore, I urge everyone to carefully consider this matter over the next few days..."

Jingyuan's gaze swept meaningfully over everyone.

"What kind of protocol and etiquette should be used to receive this esteemed figure from the Vidyadhara clan...?"

After Jing Yuan finished speaking, the entire space became eerily quiet.

Until a long time passed.

A dragon master standing behind him spoke with difficulty: "Jingyuan, we are Chiming..."

"By the way, regarding the humiliation suffered by that gentleman, he hopes to receive a satisfactory explanation. I believe the Ming Clan, as descendants of the immortals, will certainly be able to provide a satisfactory explanation," Jing Yan interrupted with a smile, as if adding a reminder to the Dragon Master.

Dragon Masters: ......

-

Watching those once proud and arrogant Dragon Masters now stagger away like defeated dogs, the smile on Jing Yuan's face slowly faded.

"When you were high and mighty, did you ever imagine that one day you would be trampled underfoot by those even higher? If you hadn't done such a thing, even under the pressure of the Envoy, Jing Yuan would have tried to fight for your survival. But you... Heh, I hope you can make the right decision, enlightened Dragon Masters..."

The Vidyadhara clan, indoors.

The oppressive air seemed to solidify, making it hard to breathe.

The dragon masters, who were usually dignified or arrogant, were now all ashen-faced.

A deathly silence enveloped the room, with only Jing Yuan's almost explicit and piercing words echoing repeatedly in their minds.

"Now... what should we do?" Finally, a dragon master managed to squeeze out a voice, breaking the suffocating silence.

"Should we... report this to the Alliance?"

Another dragon master suddenly looked up: "We are, after all, the Vidyadhara clan, they can't..."

“Of course they can!” a voice suddenly interrupted him.

The Dragon Master, who was speaking, swept his gaze across the crowd with a look of utter despair: "Everyone, wake up! We have... nowhere left to go."

"No way out? What do you mean!" The Dragon Master's voice suddenly rose after being rebuked.

"Don't you understand?" The Dragon Master's voice was heavy with weariness. "No one can save us from this! Even if we report it to the Alliance, we will not have a good ending! Let's face reality—we... are finished!"

"Then what exactly are you trying to say?" another dragon master demanded sharply.

The Dragon Master, whose name was called, heaved violently, as if each word he was about to say would exhaust his remaining strength: "All of you here... don't you know? That is the Immortal Envoy! A being that our Vidyadhara clan could not even produce, even in the ancient times when our bloodline was at its purest and most prosperous!"

“You’ve all seen it! That’s immortality! My soul and bloodline are telling me that he belongs to the immortal lineage, and you should too, shouldn’t you?”

His response was a deathly silence.

The dragon master's voice was distorted with excitement: "That is the bloodline of immortality! And we... are no longer the enlightened beings we once were!"

"Jing Yuan! He's forcing us! Using that great man's existence, using what we've done, using the future of the entire clan... he's forcing us to choose our own path! A satisfactory explanation? Ha... If we can't give one, Jing Yuan will naturally give one for us! A cleaner explanation, one that can quell everything! No one can help us! Nobody can help us! Nobody!"

He practically roared out the last few words: "Rather than sit and wait to die, becoming fish on someone else's chopping board, it's better... to make... that choice with our own hands."

As soon as he finished speaking, it was as if all his strength had been drained away. He slumped backward and fell heavily to the ground with a thud, his head drooping.

The remaining dragon masters stood frozen in place.

The unresolved choices, like a cold noose, hang silently over everyone's head.

Is it better to choose a respectable path and gain a glorious but empty reputation after death... or wait for others to take action and bestow upon you an even uglier, more humiliating, or even infamous ending?

The answer is self-evident in the deathly silence.

The artificial daylight was swallowed up by the deep night.

Time slipped away in this suffocating agony.

The door to the secret room opens.

The Dragon Masters made the same choice.

Not everyone is willing to do it.

A few stubborn individuals still harbored delusions in their eyes.

However, when the vast majority of dragon masters stared at them with mad and determined eyes, their feeble struggles were instantly crushed.

"We have decided to sacrifice ourselves for the greater good; if you choose to live on..."

"Who can guarantee that you won't bring up old grievances to save your own lives, or even fawn over Jing Yuan and slander us for committing suicide out of fear of punishment? In that case, we will not only die in vain, but also bear the infamy for all eternity!"

"Either you join this self-purification effort yourselves and earn a good reputation after death... or we'll make the choice for you!"

There is no third way.

Faced with the silent will of the majority, which is fraught with the threat of death, the resistance of the minority is silently crushed.

They were persuaded, just as Jingyuan had persuaded them.

During the day, after they had made all the preparations.

Night fell once again, and a celebratory dinner was held.

Under the smiling gaze of the dragon masters, the waiter served the first round of fine wine.

Those Ming clansmen who were locked in drank the first cup of wine at the banquet.

At that very moment, the Dragon Master revealed his sharp claws.

Within the Immortal Boat Alliance, there is a law concerning the Chiming clan: within the territory of the Chiming clan, no Chiming shall be allowed to bleed or be injured!

But it is of no use to the Vidyadharas.

One by one, figures collapsed, convulsed, and contorted their faces at the table, eventually falling into deathly silence.

The pungent smell of blood finally overpowered the aroma of fine wine and food, filling the entire hall.

Until the entire hall was almost shrouded in death.

Until the last spasm stopped.

until......

A dragon master who had been watching everything with indifference throughout—the very same dragon master who had first proposed a choice in the secret chamber—slowly walked out.

He walked to the empty space in the center of the banquet hall, a space surrounded by death.

He looked around, his gaze sweeping over the corpses lying scattered throughout the hall, and over his former colleagues and clansmen.

There was no grief on his face, only a hint of... relief?

"Everyone, everything is for the sake of Vidyadhara. You can enter the next cycle of reincarnation in peace. When you hatch, Vidyadhara... may undergo changes that we cannot even imagine."

Looking around and seeing that no one had escaped, the Dragon Master also drank what was in his cup and finally collapsed to the ground.

"Everything is for the continuation of the Vidyadhara clan..."

The three little dragons were completely unaware of all this...

Volume 1: Chapter 119 Embers: My Immortality

"How is it? Is there anything else you want to eat?" Yu Jin asked with a smile, looking at Bai Lu who was slumped on the bench.

"I don't want to eat anymore... I'm too full, I really can't eat anymore." Bai Lu's little face scrunched up, a mixture of happiness and pain on her face.

"With your abilities, you think you can eat your way through the entire Immortal Ship in just a few days? Dream on." Yu Jin mocked mercilessly.

As they were talking, Danheng walked over from a distance, carrying three drinks. He placed one of them in front of Bailu, but his face showed some worry: "Are you sure... you can still drink this?"

Bai Lu stared at the drink she had been longing for, and hesitated for once.

Want some?

If I drink any more, I'm afraid I'll throw up.

Not wanting to drink it? But it looks so tempting, it must be so fragrant and sweet...

Yu Jin rolled his eyes and lightly tapped Bai Lu's forehead: "You just said you couldn't eat anymore, and you're already thinking about it again?"

"Let's wait until it digests a bit before drinking it," Danheng agreed.

"No way! I finally got out here, I have to..." Before Bai Lu could finish speaking, Yu Jin gave her a light tap on the head, making her immediately clutch her head and cry out in pain, "Ouch! What are you doing!"

Yu Jin withdrew his hand: "Stop when you're full. If you really get sick from eating, you'll regret it."

"Hmph, I'm a doctor myself. If something goes wrong, I can heal myself!" Bai Lu muttered defiantly.

Yu Jin narrowed his eyes, his tone dangerous: "Oh? Then could you please treat your own aches and pains later?"

"What...what do you want to do?!" Bai Lu immediately became alert.

"Naughty children deserve a good scolding."

"I was wrong! Don't hit me!" Bai Lu immediately backed down.

"All talk and no action, let's give him a beating first."

Watching the two, one big and one small, bickering in front of him, Dan Heng sighed silently and opened the drink he had bought for himself to drink.

It has been quite some time since the seal on the Jianmu tree was broken.

The Vidyadhara clan... should have taken action long ago. Why have they remained completely silent until now? Could it be...?

Dan Heng's gaze fell on Yu Jin, who was pinching Bai Lu's cheek.

Is this part of their plan?

His gaze shifted towards the direction of Lin Yuan Realm—where Jianmu was located.

The seal there remains open, and only the power of the Wisdom Dragon Lord can reseal the Jianmu tree.

Although he denies that he is himself, he cannot shirk his responsibility as a member of the Luofu Vidyadharas.

Protecting the immortal ship and sealing the Jianmu tree are our duties.

"It seems... I'll have to go there myself."

Dan Heng made up his mind and silently breathed a sigh of relief.

I hope everything goes well.

Just as Dan Heng snapped out of his thoughts, he saw two faces close to his side.

Bai Lu: "His expression is so serious, what's wrong?"

Ember: "His eyes seemed to hold a certain determination; a person like that will succeed at anything."