In the end, Yun Ruoyan finally agreed to let her brother join her and Li Mo on their expedition to the Jiyuan continent.

“Lad, you’re an eighth-rank blademaster. Do you want to advance further?” the demonic dragon forefather asked.

Yun Moxiao’s eyes brightened, and he immediately cupped his fists toward the demonic dragon forefather. “Elder, I’ve been stuck at this bottleneck for many years. If you’re willing to help me break through, I would be immensely grateful.”

Though an eighth-rank blademaster was considered an expert on the Chenyuan continent, Yun Moxiao would be nothing more than the most ordinary of people on the Jiyuan continent.

“As the brother of my clan head, it’s only natural that I’d help you out, huhut,” the demonic dragon forefather laughed. His spirit might have looked far fainter than before, but he still seemed as energetic as ever. Because Yun Ruoyan had promised to shoulder the responsibility of the clan head, the demonic dragon forefather’s last wish had been accomplished, and he now seemed almost glowing and radiant.

“Lass, you’re a peak ninth-rank blademaster, almost a sword saint. I’ll help you break through too!” the demonic dragon forefather announced.

“It’s been less than a year since I reached the peak of ninth rank, so I should be able to break through on my own.” Yun Ruoyan glanced worriedly at the demonic dragon forefather. Strong though he was, she knew how taxing helping another cultivator break through was, and she was worried that helping both of them do so would be challenging.

“I know, but you’re headed to a place far more dangerous than the Mingyuan continent. Without enough strength, you’ll be unable to achieve your goal,” the demonic dragon forefather replied severely. “And it’ll help Qiuqiu too.”

“Qiuqiu? What’s the matter with Qiuqiu?” Yun Ruoyan immediately asked.

Not long after returning to the Chenyuan continent, Qiuqiu again entered closed cultivation. It had absorbed the energy in the sage-grade spirit crystal she had obtained on the Mingyuan continent almost in its entirety, and it thought it would be able to break the silver bracelet’s seal with this advancement.

“Do you know why Qiuqiu’s been stuck in closed cultivation for so long, lass?” the demonic dragon forefather asked.

Yun Ruoyan thought about it for a moment. “Could it be because my cultivation’s too low?”

“Exactly. If Qiuqiu wants to break the silver bracelet’s seal, he’ll need your help. Unless you become a sword saint, you won’t be able to help it.”

“In that case, I hope it won’t trouble you too much, Elder.” Yun Ruoyan acquiesced.

“Oh, it’s no trouble,” the demonic dragon forefather replied happily. In the past, because he had continued to threaten her, Yun Ruoyan had never addressed him as Elder, and doing so now had made him very happy.

In a secret chamber of the Rong manor, Rong Yueshan held a shard of the heaven-transcending mirror in her hand. This was the only shard she had found after dragging her crippled body back to the scene of the fight, and whether or not she would be able to contact the silver dragon elder depended on it alone.

Rong Yueshan was very badly hurt, and if she weren’t able to contact him, only death awaited her. Even if she did manage to contact the silver dragon elder, she might very well be punished for her failure in this mission, but she still had to give it a try—after all, what if the silver dragon elder saw fit to give her some holy water?

Rong Yueshan placed the shard of the mirror in front of her before drawing a sharp dagger which she disinfected with fire. Then, stuffing her mouth with a rag, she thrust the dagger into her heart. The sudden, unbelievable pain almost made her pass out. She leaned forward, splayed against the shard of the heaven-transcending mirror. Her vital blood dripped down her wound and onto the mirror, dyeing it red.

“Rong Yueshan, wake up,” a cold, stern voice sounded against her ear. Rong Yueshan frowned and slowly opened her eyes. The blood-red fragment of the mirror was hovering in front of her, and the silver dragon elder’s image appeared in it.

“Elder!” Rong Yueshan crawled up. The gesture tore at her wound, triggering another cascade of pain so blinding she almost fainted again.

“What’s going on?!” Because the heaven-transcending mirror had been dyed red, the silver dragon elder’s visage seemed to be coated with blood. His furious expression, combined with the red tinge, was frightening.

Rong Yueshan glanced up at the mirror fragment before quickly lowering her head. “Elder, yesterday, while Yun Ruoyan’s brother was getting married and the Yun family hosted a grand banquet, I tried to finish the task you set for me.”

“And did you manage to catch Yun Ruoyan and Li Mo’s child?”

“Well, I—I was very, very close,” Rong Yueshan stuttered, trying to hold in her gasps of pain from her chest.

“Meaning, no.” The silver dragon elder’s voice seemed to have frozen over. “You made a move of your own accord, and not only did you fail to catch your target, you even destroyed the heaven-transcending mirror. I thought highly of you, but it seems like you’re no better than Pi Yan or Pi Batian! I don’t need someone as useless as you,” the silver dragon elder spat out.

Rong Yueshan clearly felt his rage and fury, and she couldn’t help being reminded of Yun Ruoyan’s words—she was just a tool that the silver dragon elder planned on using and disposing of. Just like Pi Yan and Pi Batian, once she had no value, she would be discarded.

The silver dragon elder had already raised his hand and was just about to claw at Rong Yueshan’s head when she spoke, “Although I wasn’t able to catch that child, Elder, I accomplished a huge feat. Please allow me to speak.”

The silver dragon elder hesitated. “Alright, I’ll give you a chance. If I find that you lied to me, your fate shall be worse than death.”

Rong Yueshan gulped, then took a deep breath. “The demonic dragon forefather is dead.”

“What?” The silver dragon elder was shocked by the news. “What did you say? He’s dead?!”

“Yes,” Rong Yuehsan replied. “He caused the Feilai Blade to crash into the heaven-transcending mirror in my hand, perishing with the mirror.”

The silver dragon elder couldn’t believe Rong Yueshan’s words. After all, the demonic dragon forefather’s cultivation was above even his own, and the two of them had fought for millennia. If not for his cunning, the silver dragon clan’s plan couldn’t have succeeded: the demonic dragon forefather could have fought them off all by himself.

How could he have died, just like that? The silver dragon elder was flummoxed—happy, surely, that his worst nemesis had passed away, but what flooded his mind was disbelief.

“Are you certain?” His gaze raked Rong Yueshan like knives.

Even though Rong Yueshan’s head was still lowered, she could still feel his gaze as though it were a knife against her neck. Despite her uncertainty, she decided it was more important to prioritize her life in the present. “Yes, Elder. The impact between the heaven-transcending mirror and the Feilai Blade caused a huge explosion.”

To prove that she wasn’t lying, Rong Yueshan raised her head and looked the silver dragon elder in the eye. “Although I was prepared for the encounter, I still had one of my hands blown off, and my body was terribly injured.”

She lifted her damaged hand up for the silver dragon elder to see, “After the explosion, the resulting fireball burnt for an entire day and night. I believe the demonic dragon forefather has met his end.”

“Wonderful, wonderful! That old codger’s finally dead, hahaha!” The silver dragon elder began laughing uproariously, his dignified image all but shattered. Only long moments later did he finally seem to notice his gaffe, and he coughed twice. “A mirror for that old codger’s life is an excellent trade!”

“Elder, would you be willing to save my life on account of this contribution?” Rong Yueshan only dared present her request when she saw how jubilant the elder was. In order to summon the elder with just a fragment of the mirror, she had used her vital blood, and she could feel the life draining away from her.

The silver dragon elder glanced askance at her. “This is indeed worthy of merit. I’ll keep your life for the time being.”

“My eternal gratitude, Elder. I’ll carry out whatever task you set for me.”

“This is the holy water of the silver dragon clan. Drink it, and it’ll save your life.” With the wave of a hand, the silver dragon elder deposited a white jade bottle in front of Rong Yueshan.

Her hands trembling, Rong Yueshan uncorked the bottle and downed the liquid within in its entirety. Immediately afterwards, her body underwent an unbelievable transformation. The wound in her heart slowly scabbed over, then healed without a trace. Her vitality was replenished, and the hand that had been blown off in the explosion, like a sprouting seed, began growing back at a rate visible to the naked eye.

“My hand, my hand!” she murmured, her voice quavering.

“You’ve consumed the spiritual energy of this shard of the heaven-transcending mirror, and you won’t be able to contact me again using it. I’ll grant you an artifact that will allow you to contact me in times of need.” The silver dragon elder handed Rong Yueshan a talisman, one she could use at most three times. He instructed Rong Yueshan to continue staying on the Chenyuan continent and finish the task at which she had failed the first time: kidnapping Li Yan.

“This time, don’t act on your own again. If you fail this mission…” the silver dragon elder warned.

“I understand, Elder.” Rong Yueshan bowed deeply toward the silver dragon elder. By the time she raised her head, his image had vanished, and the shard of the heaven-transcending mirror dropped to the ground and broke into smithereens.

“Yun Ruoyan, I’ll make you taste what it’s like to lose your loved ones,” Rong Yueshan vowed.