Chapter 5715: Refining the Dragon Essence Through a Human
“Elder, have you obtained what you want?” Chu Feng asked.
“I have, but there’s a problem.” Long Lin suddenly changed his tone and asked, “Speaking of which, do you know how I found you?”
“I have been wondering about that,” Chu Feng replied.
When the Heaven-devouring Qilin told him that someone was spying on him from the shadows, he thought it was Tais.h.i.+ Xingzhong. From the looks of it now, it was likely Long Lin instead. The latter must have discovered him and decided to secretly follow him.
But Chu Feng had already disguised himself then. He was confident in his disguise, given that he had inherited Qin Jiu’s legacy, so Long Lin shouldn’t have known that it was him at that point. What could have prompted Long Lin to spy on him from the shadows despite not knowing it was him?
“We can slowly talk things through. Don’t you need to save your friend? Should we head over now?” Long Lin asked.
“There’s no rush, elder,” Chu Feng replied.
He didn’t fully trust Long Lin, given that he didn’t know the latter that well and the latter had staged a revolt. He would be inclined to help Long Lin if his story about Long Xue was true, since Chu Feng thought that he would have done the same too.
However, there was no way to verify Long Lin’s story, so he didn’t want to expose Bai Yunqing’s whereabouts yet.
Even though Bai Yunqing was severely injured, Chu Feng had stabilized his condition for the time being. He should quickly recover once he regained his bloodline, so there was no rush for this matter.
“Are you sure?” Long Lin asked.
“Yes, we can settle this matter first,” Chu Feng replied.
“Very well. Sit down. Let’s talk.”
Long Lin sat down cross-legged on the floor, not putting on airs despite being the overlord of the Totem Galaxy. His att.i.tude was so casual that he felt like an old friend.
Chu Feng did the same too.
Long Lin took out a peculiar but exquisite compa.s.s, and the compa.s.s was pointing toward Chu Feng.
“Elder, what’s this?” Chu Feng asked.
“I have obtained the ancestral dragon’s dragon essence, but its energy is violent. I’ll have to refine it before I can feed it to Xue’er, and it has to be refined via a human,” Long Lin replied.
“Please go on,” Chu Feng said.
“Most people can’t withstand the power of the dragon essence, and that includes me and the Totem Dragon Clansmen. I consulted an expert, who told me that only someone whose soul has reached a certain level of resilience can withstand the dragon essence’s energy. He gave me this compa.s.s to gauge a person’s soul resilience, saying that I’ll have to find a person pointed out by the compa.s.s to even have a chance at successfully refining the dragon essence. So far, I have never seen this compa.s.s move till you came along,” Long Lin said.
“Elder, you’re thinking that I’ll be able to help you refine the dragon essence?” Chu Feng asked.
“That’s right,” Long Lin replied with a nod.
“How do I go about it?” Chu Feng asked.
“I’ll first use a treasure to disguise you as a possessor of our Totem Dragon Bloodline before infusing the dragon essence into the fake Totem Dragon Bloodline. You’ll be able to use your body to refine the dragon essence then. It’ll be tough. The energy inside the dragon essence is extremely violent; you’ll have to adapt to it. The energy will slowly calm down as you adapt to it, and once it fully mellows down, I’ll be able to feed it to Xue’er,” Long Lin said.
“Elder, will you promise to return the position of the Totem Dragon Clan’s Clan Chief to its previous owner if I help you refine the dragon essence?” Chu Feng asked.
“Of course. That’s my original intention,” Long Lin replied.
“You might be willing, but what about those who partic.i.p.ated in the revolt too? Are they willing to do the same as well?” Chu Feng asked.
“Rest a.s.sured. I have my way of dealing with them,” Long Lin replied.
“Elder, I hope that you aren’t lying to me,” Chu Feng remarked with a smile.
“I have no reason to lie to you, young friend Chu Feng,” Long Lin said.
“Elder, can I meet them?” Chu Feng was referring to Long Chengyu and the others.
“Not now.”
“Just a quick meeting will do.”
“Young friend Chu Feng, I’ll let them go once you help me refine the dragon essence,” Long Lin said those words with a smile, but there was a threatening edge to his voice.
He was using Long Chengyu and the others as hostages to force Chu Feng to help him.
Chu Feng knew that he was in no position to refuse; Long Lin definitely had other means to threaten him too. While the atmosphere between them had been harmonious, just the disparity in their strength meant that they weren’t on equal negotiating terms.
On the one hand, it could be said that Long Lin had invited Chu Feng to their forbidden land as a guest, but to put it in another perspective, Chu Feng was currently a prisoner here.
“Where’s Elder Long Xue? May I meet her?” Chu Feng asked.
“She’s here as well. I was just about to bring you to meet her,” Long Lin said.
He brought Chu Feng above the clouds, where they quickly arrived before a formidable recovery formation sustained by countless natural oddities and treasures. At the center of the recovery formation, where all of the formation’s energy was channeled toward, was a pavilion.
Long Lin brought Chu Feng into the pavilion, where an unconscious grandmother lay on a bed. The grandmother was emaciated, her body was covered in wrinkles, and her hair had fallen off. However, she was dressed in a beautiful white dress that was elaborately embroidered.
Chu Feng could tell right away the grandmother was Long Xue.
However, Long Xue’s condition was worse than Chu Feng had imagined.
“Elder, may I inspect Elder Long Xue’s condition?” Chu Feng asked.
“Of course,” Long Lin replied.
Chu Feng placed his fingers on Long Xue’s pulse. The latter’s illness was extremely tricky to deal with. It was a problem with her bloodline, and it had spread to her entire body. At this rate, not even the exorbitant recovery formation could sustain her health.
Her days were numbered. She only had a year left, at the very most. Long Lin didn’t lie about the severity of her condition.
“Elder, I am willing to give it a try, but I’ll be candid with you. I will give up if the refining process poses a threat to my life,” Chu Feng said.
“Young friend Chu Feng, I’m already grateful to you for your help. If the refining process proves to be dangerous, I’ll stop you myself even if you wish to continue,” Long Lin said.
Following that, he brought Chu Feng back to where Long Chengyu and the others were imprisoned and told the latter to wait there for him while he gathered the ingredients required to refine the dragon essence.
“Not bad, lad. The Totem Dragon Clan’s Clan Chief is actually your friend,” the Heaven-devouring Qilin said as soon as Long Lin left.
“Was it the dragon essence that you sensed earlier?” Chu Feng asked.
“I’m not sure, but it’s very, very close to us now. It should be right here.”
“You should be able to tell once we see the dragon essence later on.”
“Wonderful! I didn’t expect you to be so well-connected. I didn’t misjudge you!”
What Chu Feng didn’t know was that Long Lin didn’t prepare the ingredients for refining the dragon essence right away. Instead, he headed to a palace, settled down on a main seat, and grandly waved his sleeves. The palace doors opened.
Tais.h.i.+ Xingzhong was kneeling outside the palace.