Chapter Thirty-Two: The Learned and Reasonable Elders

The bio-mechanical hummingbird carried the two of them away from the dragon’s wings, soaring toward the spire-filled Thorn District.

At the same time, on the opposite end of Skydome City—at the dragon’s head—the city’s most powerful figures were convening to discuss the latest incident...

·

9:01 p.m., Draconic Apex District, Dragonhead International Unified Administrative Building, 66th Floor.

In what was once the region of the great dragon’s head stood a vast blue building. Officially, it served as Skydome City’s governmental hub, staffed by representatives from nations around the world. Locally, students preferred to call it the Tri-National Dragon Mission, or more simply, the Government Building. Regardless of what name it bore, its status as the city’s true seat of power was unchanged, even though it wasn’t built downtown, but rather in the outlying dragon’s head.

Ding! The number 66 lit up, and the elevator doors slid open with a gentle chime. Polished leather shoes stepped onto the plush carpet.

The receptionist, facing the elevator, greeted the newcomer with a flawless professional smile: “Good evening, Headmaster Onoville. How may I assist you—”

Emerging from the elevator was a bald man with a pale golden beard. His eyes were a piercing blue, his suit immaculate, his posture upright, and his bearing imbued with the genteel courtesy of a cultured middle-aged man. Yet clear anxiety marred his composure, and even his gentle words sounded strained.

“Good evening, madam. Forgive my unannounced arrival—I have urgent business to discuss with Director Liu Zhongwu.”

The imperial receptionist bowed her head, quickly relaying the request inside, then replied, “Director Liu welcomes you at any time. This way, please.”

They walked down the hushed corridor of the 66th floor, glimpses of imperial clerks hard at work visible through the glass-walled offices. As they ventured deeper, voices drifted through heavy wooden doors—one in particular, booming and unrestrained, managed to pierce the barriers and reach the headmaster’s ears.

“We’ll all have to work hard tonight... Citywide energy cutoff... Check again... Ensure at least two hours of backup power... Confirm the details with the Kingdom’s people... His Majesty is watching us from above...”

Headmaster Onoville quickened his pace, glaring at the door ahead, his fine beard trembling with agitation.

The receptionist led him to the conference room and breathed a quiet sigh of relief—she had to hurry just to knock ahead of the striding man.

“Director Liu, sorry to interrupt—Headmaster Onoville is here.”

“Come in, come in!”

The doors opened inward. The receptionist smiled and retreated, and the bald, golden-bearded man strode in like a man charging the front lines.

The conference room was arranged in tiers, and from the entrance at the top, everything was visible: a massive screen at the bottom displayed a live feed of Skydome City’s skies, while dozens of imperial officials labored at their stations. A plump, ruddy-faced man, sweat gleaming on his brow and a hefty beer belly straining his shirt, barked out orders in a booming voice.

He turned, intending to greet his old friend, but the sight of the furious bald man wiped the smile from his face.

Director Liu shuddered, his belly quivering. “Goodness, Old On, what’s gotten into you today? Looking so fierce. Xiao Li, go fetch the good tea from my office...”

The bald man could bear it no longer. All his cultivated restraint was cast aside as he seized the fat man’s collar and roared before all present, “What on earth are you thinking?!”

The clerk Liu had called upon started to rise, but the shout made him jump and quietly sit back down.

“You come all this way just to lose your mind at your old friend...”

“Don’t play dumb!” Onoville’s voice thundered. “If Mo hadn’t informed me of the situation, I’d still be in the dark because of you. How did dragon cultists get into the undercity?!”

Director Liu grinned sheepishly, dabbing at his sweaty brow. “That person got in through your Federation’s tower. If you want to assign blame, I’m not your man.”

The bald man’s fury intensified. “It’s been an entire day since morning, and not a single Ritual Hall official has taken action. The only ones still involved in the pursuit are that Kingdom hunter and her impromptu companion—what a joke! The Mithril Pillar agents are making a mockery of taxpayers’ money, but do you dare make a mockery of the Emperor?!”

“Let’s talk this over—let me go now, everyone’s watching, you’re embarrassing me...”

With a huff, the bald man released his grip. The imperial officials pressed their fingertips to their palms, pinching themselves to stifle their laughter.

Director Liu straightened his collar and spoke calmly. “Old On, there’s something you don’t know. This enemy may have already reached the Manifestation Realm. Sending people in blindly would be useless...”

“Bullshit!” the man from the Federation spat, uttering a string of perfectly enunciated imperial curses, revealing his deep cultural immersion. “Useless? You, Liu Zhongwu, former Grand Preceptor of the Ritual Hall, afraid of a Manifestation-level lunatic? You have a thousand ways to kill him in broad daylight!”

Director Liu forced a smile. “If I’m so mighty, shouldn’t you, a prominent educator at the Lucidity level, show a little more respect for my office...”

His old friend seemed ready to burst into flames from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. If rage could raise body temperature, Onoville’s bald head could probably fry sausages.

“I ought to toss you into the Cecil Laboratory as a punching bag for the biochimps!” The bald man’s roar echoed through the conference room. “You must have seen the intel from the Kingdom this morning! The dragon cultists’ leader is wielding a genuine medium—the right eye of the Nether Dragon!”

The moment the conversation touched on his area of expertise, Director Liu’s expression turned grave. “You can’t call that a ‘medium.’ There’s no such terrifying medium. That’s the Nether Dragon’s remains—a fragment of a supreme being. Its mere existence erodes reality. Toss it anywhere, and in days you’ll see a ghost city...”

His voice grew quieter as Onoville’s breathing grew heavier.

“The Mithril Pillar consultant told me: if the dragon cultists’ madness succeeds, the one that descends will be the highest order evil dragon.”

Director Liu nodded emphatically. “Absolutely. Lesser minions aren’t qualified to bear the remnants of the Nether Dragon. This dragon phenomenon will be of the highest grade.”

“Then are you going to just sit by and watch the dragon disaster unfold?! Watch a repeat of the tragedy three years ago?! There are 5.7 million people in this city!”

“Most of them are walking time bombs...”

“Most of them are kids under twenty!” Onoville pounded his chest in dismay. “The Mithril Pillar consultant won’t say a word more... Old friend, give me a reason. Otherwise, I’ll do everything in my power to stop the dragon disaster, even at the cost of my life.”

Director Liu patted his shoulder and pulled out a chair. “Sit down and listen. If you act now, you’ll only make things worse for everyone. When it comes to major issues, I, as an official, know better than you. None of us wants to see a dragon disaster. But you know how it is—officials in every nation act on orders. If Lord Yan gives an order, doubts or not, we have to obey.”

Onoville regarded him suspiciously. “Lord Yan? Does the Empire have a higher-ranking official than you in Skydome City?”

Director Liu looked troubled. “Lord Yan holds no rank, but he carries an edict from the greatest lord of our Eternal Radiance Empire. That makes him lord enough, doesn’t it?”

“...God help us.”

The old educator slumped into his chair, his mind blank.

His friend smiled wryly. “Look on the bright side, Old On. At worst, it’ll be us, the dragon, and this city destroyed together. At least we’d be making a noble sacrifice for world peace.”

·

Central District, Central Union University Experimental Building, Rooftop.

This was Skydome City’s most renowned university, established by international funding. The notorious Cecil Laboratory operated on the fourth floor, churning out bioengineered creations, bizarre theories, and research accidents known as escapes, rampages, and explosions of experimental subjects.

This was also the university attended by Gongsun Ce and his friends. Shiyu Lianyi, who had left campus that afternoon, now returned at night.

The masked duo stood before him. The masked woman sat hugging her knees, gazing up at the stars, while the masked man lingered at the rooftop’s edge, muttering like a volunteer for self-destruction—a sight that seriously worried for his safety.

“What are you doing?” asked the masked woman.

The tall man replied irritably, “Can’t you tell? I’m calculating orientation.”

“That doesn’t look like any calculation to me.”

“Then, in terms you can understand, I’m gauging the local stability of reality.”

“Still not clear.”

The masked man clicked his tongue, annoyed. “Tsk! Shiyu, kid!”

Shiyu Lianyi smiled wryly, stepping in to explain. “He’s searching for the most probable coordinates where the dragon might appear, while trying to prevent its arrival at ground level or underground. That’s essentially the task.”

“I see, more or less. As expected of you, Shiyu—your communication skills are far better than this odd man’s.”

The tall man stepped away from the rooftop edge and called out, “Let’s move! We need to head down a bit further. Let’s rest a while, then find a better spot.”

“Okay.”

The masked man patted his backside and sat where he was. Propping his face in his hands, he looked at the girl gazing at the stars. “Kiddo! After reviewing the files of three Impermanent Law users and even fighting a Transcendent yourself, what’s your impression?”

“Impression?”

“Say whatever comes to mind.”

The masked woman pondered for a few seconds. “It feels like the Impermanent Law is a rather subtle ability.”

The tall man burst out laughing.

“Haha! Subtle, huh? You mean useless!”

The masked woman nodded. “It’s a strange power that can be very strong under certain conditions—but in terms of killing efficiency, it can’t compare to modern weaponry. For combat against people, the limitations make it even less practical. Judging by the Transcendent-level users, none of them could beat A-Ce. I can’t see why this technique is called ‘Dragon-Slaying Arts.’”

A fair assessment—but perhaps before evaluating the Impermanent Law, one should avoid describing friends as units of combat power.

You can’t even be sure you could defeat Gongsun yourself... The young man in the suit thought privately.

The tall man slapped his thigh, speaking like an outsider. “They all talk big, but can’t even take a nuke. And they have the nerve to call it ‘dragon-slaying’!”

An even harsher judgment. After all, humans shouldn’t be measured against nuclear weapons.

“Dragons aren’t afraid of nukes, right?”

“You could drop ten thousand nukes and not scratch a dragon’s scale,” the masked man drawled. “You’re absolutely right, kiddo. The Impermanent Law is completely useless.”

He harshly criticized his own discipline, ignoring his status as a practitioner. “There aren’t many with the talent to learn it, and most idiots can’t even reach the Transcendent Realm. Against dragons, you need at least to be at Manifestation level to count for anything... Hah! And they call it ‘dragon-slaying arts.’ Don’t bother learning this rubbish in the future—it’s useless!”

He stood up, waving for the others to follow. “Let’s go! Complaints over, time for business!”

Shiyu Lianyi silently followed, hearing his friend behind him ask, “If the Impermanent Law is useless, what about superpowers?”

Without looking back, the tall man replied, “Trash! At least you choose to study the Impermanent Law—superpowers are dumped on your head with no say in the matter. No freedom. Even worse.”

The young man in the suit smiled wryly. “I must be the trash among trash, then...”

“You’re the unluckiest one, what can I say? At least all those idiots at the Shiyu Institute are dead—take some comfort in that. Come on!”

The noisy group left, and peace returned to the rooftop.

A few blocks away, Gongsun Ce and Alice were just dismounting from the hummingbird.

With their own goals and fates entwined in this singular event, each began to make their move...