“I have my reasons.” That was the only response the voice gave. Its tone banished any thought of a discussion.

Long Jiao said nothing more and departed shortly after, knowing that tomorrow would only be more of the same.

****

Bam!

A figure shut out of a large stone door into the arms of another who expected it.

The body of the one who caught the figure shot back at an insane speed!

Boom!

He crashed into a rock wall quite some distance away.

“Pwah!”

A mouthful of blood erupted from the impact.

“Hmph! What a useless human!”

Long Huangdi refused to acknowledge the existence that came to ridicule him.

“Catch!”

He sensed the draconic salve that hurtled towards him and held a hand out towards it.

Chichichi!!!

The draconic salve was accompanied by a shredding force, just like always. However, this time the provoking dragon was slightly surprised, for he saw that though the salve mutilated Long Huangdi’s hand, the latter’s expression remained unchanged.

He executed a bow to the door as he thanked the presence inside for the salve before proceeding to leave.

The entire time, he paid no attention to Long Jiao, which sparked the latter's ire!

“Insignificant human!”

Long Jiao then proceeded to make his way towards him.

"Ruler Long Jiao, steady your claws."

Long Jiao froze when it heard the low guttural growl of words that came from the room.

"Royal emi—"

"Don't act on impulse, Ruler. Know your place and carry out your duty!”

Long Jiao snorted as he turned tail and left, but not before he shot a gaze filled with contempt at Long Huangdi’s retreating back.

Long Huangdi had no idea that his actions just now nearly brought a calamity unto himself. Still, the only goal he had was to bring his wife to the encampment they had whilst at the bastion.

It was a closed-off area that none of the dragons or dragonkin were allowed to enter. He had just entered the encampment when a figure ran over to him in a hurry.

“You’ve returned Family Head Long!” It was Long Chen who arrived, Long Huangdi’s most trusted aide.

When Long Chen saw the gaunt look on his Family Head’s face, his countenance fell, but it completely turned dark when he sighted the lady in Long Huangdi’s hands.

“Those monsters!” Long Chen’s aura and cultivation base erupted and the pressure of a Martial Adept could be felt.

“Your pressure is very impressive.” Long Huangdi said what he felt at that moment.

“Family Head Long is too kind!” Long Chen cupped his fist. “How is the Lady?”

“She’ll be okay as soon as I get the chance to apply the draconic salve,” replied Long Huangdi.

They both headed deeper into the encampment. Long Huangdi could see the members of the Long family and all who were taken with them cultivating bitterly. Even the servants were not spared this fate.

It was not that they weren’t worried about Lady Nuhuang; it was quite the opposite. They all feared for her well-being every day. However, this was the only thing they could do to make the most of their time. This was why it was Long Chen’s duty at the very least to welcome them back.

The Dragon Bastion was a rough and unforgiving place for most living things to reside in. The reason was because dragons unleashed an aura unique to them known as draconic aura.

This aura reflected their properties and was therefore overbearing and inherently arrogant. It would stifle most life forms from growing if they didn’t have an indomitable will themselves.

Grass, flowers, and even trees didn’t grow where the dragons roamed. The environment was not suitable for them to survive, much less to bud.

The members of the family found it unbearable in the beginning. Long Nuhuang was the one who rallied them to cultivate in this type of environment to temper their will and to aid in their own cultivation.

It proved to be the correct choice as when Long Chen and Long Huangdi currently passed the members of the family, they could feel the pressure that the collective family gave off and it was truly impressive.

Long Chen led Long Huangdi and his wife to their tent to recover in peace. He already knew where to go, but he allowed Long Chen to lead him along anyway, as the latter never relented in his duties as his aide.

When the couple entered the tent, Long Chen advised. “I’ll gather the core family members so we can start the meeting as soon as you’re finished here.”

“It’s been hard on you.” Long Huangdi thanked him for this.

Long Chen only gave a wry smile when he heard this, “I should be saying that to you, Family Head.”

He then executed a bow to both Long Huangdi and his wife as a sign of respect and retreated.

Long Huangdi stared in the direction his aide disappeared in for a while before he turned his attention to his wife.

“The situation in the family has become a bit… complicated,” he muttered to himself. However, this was something that could be saved for later rumination.

He didn’t want to waste too much time, so after he gently laid her down, he softly undid her robes. He didn’t want to jolt her to cause her to awaken to this. The pain would be immeasurable.

There were deep bloodstains in certain areas where the robe stuck that he tried his best to remove with as much tact as possible. Other areas were ripped to shreds, where horrific injuries could easily be seen.

Finally, the robe slid from her body to reveal a gruelling scene. Where there was peerless skin without the slightest blemish in the past was now beaten black and blue with large gaping gashes that ran diagonally from shoulder to waist and another, and another that travelled the length of her midsection to her thigh.

He quickly took out the salve that was in a leathery black bag and dipped his hand on the inside.

Ttsssssss!

Just as always, the salve started to very slowly burn away Long Huangdi’s hands. The wounds he suffered from the shredding force caused the pain to become bone-deep, evident by how he gritted his teeth as he allowed the salve to cover his hands.

The salve was a deep red, thick, syrupy liquid that the royal emissary advised them to use for the injuries.

However, it had an unusual effect to it. That was, whenever Long Huangdi used it to treat his wife’s wounds, the salve caused harm to him.

Long Huangdi was sure that this was why Long Jiao always sent it with a shredding force. So that it would cause him pain whenever he treated his wife.

Not only that, but it also seemed to have a long-lasting effect on him as well. Such as, it seemed to eat away at him mentally and physically over time. This was the reason why he appeared so gaunt and weakened.

The most curious thing about it, though, was that his wife suffered no pain from it. The same steam rose from the places it was applied to, but Long Huangdi could see how the wounds and injuries stitched themselves up.

His wounds, however, were being worsened by the salve. But as long as it could heal her, this pain was nothing.

Once the salve was applied to where the injuries were present, Long Huangdi took a deep breath and used the leathery bag to wipe the rest off his hands.“Hhmmm”

Not long after, a soft groan could be heard coming from her.

“Dear! You’re awake!?”

Long Huangdi was aware of another trend that took place over the past few days. It was that each day his wife emerged from the training room and was treated, the time it took for her to recover was shortening.

He was over the moon at the moment, because it was the first time he applied it only for the effects to be so immediate.

“Dear husband, you’re here.” Long Nuhuang’s feeble voice came out. She weakly reached out her hand to touch his rugged and haggard face. “It’s been hard on you,” she said.

He closed his eyes and smiled at her selfless words. “I should be saying that to you.” He said, following the words of his aide. Tears welled up in the corner of his eyes as he held her hand up to his face to kiss it.

“Today’s the meeting, right?” She asked him.

He nodded to confirm her question. “But don’t worry, I can cancel the meeting to spend ti—”

She placed a finger to his lips, “We are not to waste a single second while we are here. In addition, they are waiting for you. Go on, I will still be here when you get back.”

He quickly held her when he saw her getting up. “Why don’t you rest properly tonight? You’ve been pushing yourself so hard every day since that day.”

She shook her head at his suggestion. “This is the only thing I can do to avenge him Huangdi, besides,” she placed another hand on his. “This is one of the few things that bring me a reasonable amount of peace.”

He stared at her for a while before he stopped holding her back. With her current strength, he could no longer hold her back if she wished to do something, even in her weakened state, but it was only with him that she was like this. She would only ever show this weaker side of herself to him and him alone, and he knew it.

When she was properly sitting up, she assumed a meditative pose and started to cultivate. Long Huangdi quietly retreated from the tent and went to the central tent where they held meetings while they were here.

After all, they had to communicate any new developments and plans that could be shared regarding their current predicament.

As Long Huandi neared the tent, he could hear a heated argument coming from the tent. “They started the meeting without me?”

He suddenly paused his steps when he heard his name being called.

“Why should we be led by such a weak leader!? We should let Lady Long Nuhuang lead us!”