Everyone's eyes lit up. Wayne Shen grinned and said, "Going deep into the Southern Frontier, seeing if the rebels have any true masters—of course we have to go! We can't let these rebellious peasants look down on our Imperial Academy. As a monk, I want them to feel the Buddha's teachings, convert to my faith, and devote themselves to goodness!"
Quinn Shepherd secretly shook his head. These guys were still underestimating the danger of this journey.
This road was perilous indeed—a path you might not survive even if you tied your head to your belt.
"Life and death are up to fate. Now we'll see if the Imperial Preceptor, said to be the greatest under the gods, truly lives up to his name!"
The Imperial Preceptor, dressed lightly, strode southward. Quinn Shepherd led the group to follow, asking Serena Yunxiang and the others about their battlefield experiences. He couldn't help but sigh repeatedly.
Serena Yunxiang, Wayne Shen, and the others were much luckier than Quinn Shepherd. They had also been blasted away by the Nethervault Demon King, but hadn't encountered a freakish powerhouse like Drake Dandy.
The Dragon-Qilin landed not far from them. Its massive size made it an obvious target, so they rushed straight to where the Dragon-Qilin was. When the Skyfiends descended, the group fought fiercely around the beast.
And when the horde of Skyfiends surged in, the Dragon-Qilin fought back with astonishing strength. Thanks to its power, Serena and the others survived this ordeal.
Quinn Shepherd was surprised and glanced at the Dragon-Qilin. Lina the Spirit Fox whispered in his ear, "Young master, that big guy eats our food and drinks our drinks, but he doesn't lift a finger on the road. Now look, he protects others but not us. I think besides squeezing out Dragon Spittle Elixir, we could probably squeeze something else out of him too."
"I think so too," Quinn Shepherd nodded.
He looked back at the ever-more-distant Heaven-Wave City and thought, "Now that the Everpeace army has entered the city, Drake Dandy is probably dead in the chaos, right? And the Dragon King of the Dragon Tamer Sect is likely dead as well. What a pity about their unique techniques. As for the Redcrest Mountain Sect, they're surely wiped out—too bad I never learned their Demon-Repelling Command..."
When the Nethervault Demon King was summoned, the Redcrest Mountain Sect Daoists rushed over, trying to use the Demon-Repelling Command to send him back to the Nethervault. But the Demon King was too powerful—he wiped them out with a single move.
Still, the Demon-Repelling Command was a technique specifically designed to deal with summoned ghosts and gods—extremely refined. If wielded by someone stronger, it could have sent the Nethervault Demon King back.
Unfortunately, with the death of the Redcrest Mountain Sect disciples, this art has been lost forever.
Heaven-Wave City was in ruins. Soldiers were still repairing the city walls, clearing away rubble from collapsed houses, and hauling debris out of the city.
On the river, thousands of ships and boats surged forward, ferrying armies across. The troops didn’t linger in Heaven-Wave City—they marched straight south.
Some soldiers in Heaven-Wave City were hunting down the last remnants of the rebels, rooting out the Skyfiends from the Nethervault. They found a few surviving civilians. Some soldiers carried wanted posters, walking among the survivors, comparing faces to the sketches.
"This girl is beautiful."
A soldier approached a panicked young woman, quietly praising her. She wore a dark green dress that reached her feet, her hair styled in a palace bun, soft powder on her face, lips like two crimson pearls, and delicate arched brows—a true noblewoman of Heaven-Wave City.
The soldier glanced at her twice, then walked away. The girl's eyes were clear as autumn water, and a bright red jade earring dangled from her left ear. Suddenly, the earring moved, stretching itself.
That earring was actually a tiny red snake, looped through her earlobe like a piece of crimson jade, but it was alive.
If Quinn Shepherd were here, he would have ordered the soldiers to arrest this woman immediately.
He had seen Drake Dandy's true form—when Drake Dandy shed his skin, Quinn saw every inch of him. When this woman first crawled out of her old skin, she was unadorned; now, dressed as a daughter, she looked nothing like the flamboyant young master of the Dragon Tamer Sect!
Several soldiers were moving corpses from the city, tossing them onto carts, then pushing the carts outside the walls to bury them. Drake Dandy followed behind, crying, "Officer, is my father's body among these?"
The soldiers stopped. "Miss, there are too many bodies in the city—we can't tell which one is your father. Take a look at the cart and see for yourself."
Drake Dandy looked over the cart and shook his head. "I couldn't find him."
One soldier said, "Most likely he's at the mass grave outside the city. General Yu ordered us to dig several big pits there for burial. All the bodies are being taken there, and we haven't covered them yet. Why don't you come with us and look?"
Drake Dandy thanked them and followed the soldiers to the mass grave outside the city. There, she saw a huge pit, over ten zhang deep, filled with thousands of corpses.
Drake Dandy looked up and saw that, besides this pit, the gravefield held dozens more just like it. Soldiers stood by the pits, pushing carts up and dumping bodies in.
Drake Dandy looked around, then suddenly cried out, "Father! Father! Your daughter is here to find you—if you hear me, please answer!"
She called out several times, and the soldiers looked at each other, half amused, half exasperated. "This girl must be mad," one said.
Just then, a faint voice came from one of the pits: "I'm here... molting... but I'm too badly wounded..."
The soldiers at the pit edges were stunned. Suddenly, a commander shouted, "Something's not right! Everyone, be on guard!"
Drake Dandy heard the voice and smiled, chuckling softly. "Ruby."
The tiny red snake hanging from her left ear stretched its body, dropped to the ground, and instantly grew into a giant serpent. It opened its mouth and spewed a poisonous wind, scattering the soldiers at the graveyard.
The giant serpent slithered like the wind, devouring soldier after soldier, while Drake Dandy entered the pit, tossing aside corpse after corpse until finally unearthing the Dragon King buried among the dead.
"I thought you were dead, Father!" Drake Dandy giggled.
"Daughter?" The Dragon King of the Dragon Tamer Sect snorted.
Drake Dandy's expression changed slightly. He lowered his head and said, "Son... I thought you were dead, Father..."
The Dragon King sat up. "I faked my death and went into hibernation to fool that demon god. They dumped me in this pit with the corpses. But I don't know what happened to the Red Drake."