Divine Emperor of Heavenly Destiny

A sharp glint flashed in Lu Chao’s eyes. ’The Great Wu delegation has arrived at the Dragon Flame Royal Capital?’

At that moment, Yin Ye approached and said, ”I was going to keep this from you, since I thought it had nothing to do with you, Lu Chao. But now, it seems it does.”

Originally, everyone thought he was just a fake Lu Chao, but now they all knew he was the real one from the Great Wu Empire.

But Lu Chao shook his head and replied, ”It’s not a big deal. As long as it’s not Lu Dingtian and his two sons, I don’t care.”

He held no great animosity toward anyone else from the Great Wu Empire.

However, Lu Chao furrowed his brow and asked, ”But in the current political climate, for the Great Wu Empire to suddenly send a delegation across the Hundred Countries to Dragon Flame... I wonder what their purpose is.”

Setting his personal grudges aside, Lu Chao considered the question from the perspective of the Dragon Flame Kingdom.

”Ostensibly, they’re here for business and trade, but the specifics aren’t yet clear.”

Yin Ye gently shook his head. ”But I don’t think it’s that simple. Either they hope Dragon Flame will coordinate with them to attack the Hundred Countries, or they have another destination in mind. For example... heading directly to the Nanye Dynasty.”

At this, Yin Ye added softly, ”Lu Dingtian’s family is not part of the Great Wu Envoy Team.”

And with that, Yin Ye left once more.

He had only come to give Lu Chao a heads-up, to inform him that the Great Wu Envoy Team was about to arrive.

Perhaps someone in the delegation would recognize his true face, so it would be best to avoid them.

Although Lu Dingtian had forced Lu Chao to wear a mask back in the Great Wu Empire, there were still some who knew what he truly looked like.

Just then, Lu Chao caught up to him. ”Marquis Yin, please tell my patron that I will reveal my identity during the Tri-Academy Tournament.”

Yin Ye turned back and replied firmly, ”Alright!”

Watching Yin Ye depart, Sun Shijin finally came to his senses. ”Lu Chao, telling us your true identity now... is it...?”

Sun Shijin trailed off, unsure of how to phrase his concerns.

Lu Chao, of course, understood what he meant and replied softly, ”Elder Sun, you’ve forgotten again. We are bearers of the Life-taking Bone.”

Sun Shijin’s unspoken question was whether the Dragon Flame King could truly be trusted to treat Lu Chao genuinely.

But they were bearers of the Life-taking Bone.

To give someone with a Life-taking Bone free rein was not something an ordinary person was capable of doing.

At the same time, as people with the Life-taking Bone, if anyone wanted to abandon them, all it would take was a public announcement, and they would be forced to become fugitives for the rest of their lives.

Sun Shijin understood. Whether the King’s intentions were genuine or not...

...those who possessed the Life-taking Bone couldn’t stir up too much trouble, because the Life-taking Bone was despised by the world.

In that instant, Sun Shijin was again overcome by a sense of sorrow and helplessness.

”And our ultimate goal is simply to vindicate the Life-taking Bone within us, to fight unyieldingly to the very end.”

”To prove that the Life-taking Bone is also a true Heavenly Destiny Bone.”

Lu Chao declared suddenly, his voice firm and resolute.

Sun Shijin stared blankly at Lu Chao. This goal completely transcended everything else. Although he didn’t know much about the Heavenly Destiny World outside, like the Cyan Sword Great Empire...

...he was certain that the attitude toward the Life-taking Bone was the same everywhere.

Without another word, Lu Chao bid farewell to Sun Shijin and returned to his courtyard at the foot of the mountain.

He told Cheng Yunsu what had just happened...

He gently put his arm around his wife and said, ”In the past, I was always consumed with my origins—who abandoned me in the Great Wu Imperial City. I thought that if I couldn’t find the answers in this land, then I would have to break out of it.”

”The Cyan Sword Great Empire is heavily guarded, so I planned to hone my Martial Dao and Soldier Dao. Maybe one day I could fight my way out.”

”And now, the Azure Flame Sect’s Forbidden Land might be a second path.”

Cheng Yunsu listened quietly. Although her husband rarely spoke of his origins, she knew it weighed heavily on his mind.

He had told her before that he had fragmented childhood memories he didn’t want to touch.

Lu Chao looked at Cheng Yunsu again and said, ”And your mother’s whereabouts... finding her also requires us to break out of this land.”

Her entire body trembled slightly...

Cheng Yunsu said nothing more, as they had already talked about these things long ago.

They just hadn’t discussed it in depth. For them, such goals were still too distant; they needed to take things one step at a time. Besides, when Lu Chao was researching in the Great Wu Empire, he hadn’t only looked into the Cyan Sword Great Empire.

There were also records of various mysterious experts and accounts of the Heavenly Destiny World, though it was hard to tell truth from fiction.

”Old Yu also said that six hundred years ago, the Nine Sons of Dragon Flame were incomparably brilliant, but then they vanished from this land.”

”Perhaps they also left this land.”

As Lu Chao spoke, his gaze drifted toward the Demon Dragon Divine Bone on the rear mountain. Perhaps it still held secrets yet to be revealed.

However, Lu Chao was currently unable to devour an external Divine Bone.

...

Elsewhere, Yin Ye asked in a low voice, ”Your Majesty, since Lu Chao is the real one from Great Wu, aren’t you worried that he...”

Before he could finish, the Dragon Flame King’s profound gaze drifted toward the night sky...

”Some people cannot be shackled by a small land like this one. Just like the Nine Sons of Dragon Flame and their leader six hundred years ago, who simply left this land behind.”

”The specifics are only legends, but the supreme Martial Dao is what people like that truly pursue.”

Upon hearing this, Yin Ye’s entire body trembled slightly as he immediately understood.

With Lu Chao’s talent, his future would definitely not be confined to this land. One had to have a higher and more far-reaching vision.

...

「For the next two days, the Dragon Flame Royal Capital remained calm.」

The small institutes had not left immediately; negotiations between the Dragon Flame Kingdom and the Six Great Flame Countries were clearly not over yet.

As for Lu Chao, he was, of course, leading the new Nine Sons of Dragon Flame in their daily cultivation with the Divine Bone Nine Sons Array.

On this day, the delegation from the Great Wu Empire finally arrived.

They were received by Marquis Longyin and escorted into the Dragon Flame Royal Capital...

However, just as they were about to reach the Dragon Flame Palace, the leader of the Great Wu delegation suddenly announced, ”Marquis Longyin, I am from the Saint Bone Ming Family of the Great Wu Empire. I must first pay a visit to the Saint Bone Zheng Family.”

With that said, the Great Wu delegation passed by the Dragon Flame Palace without entering, heading directly for Celestial King Academy.

”The Patriarch of the Saint Bone Zheng Family is at Celestial King Academy. I will return after I have seen Patriarch Zheng.” Leaving these words behind, the leader of the Great Wu delegation departed without another glance.

They left behind Marquis Longyin and his retinue, their faces ashen with fury.

To arrive in the Dragon Flame Kingdom and immediately go to visit Zheng Liling, the Patriarch of the Saint Bone Zheng Family—the meaning could not have been more obvious. It was a direct insult to the entire Dragon Flame Kingdom.

And as for Zheng Liling, what audacity.

The next moment, a young man suddenly leaped down lightly from one of the carriages of the Great Wu Envoy Team.

He smiled at Marquis Longyin and said, ”We thought that upon our arrival, your Dragon Flame Kingdom would present us with the head of the man impersonating a Great Wu criminal. We didn’t expect you to fail to make even this small gesture. In that case, you’ll just have to forgive us.”

After speaking, the young man gave a cold laugh and leaped back onto the carriage.

Marquis Longyin’s face grew even darker. The Great Wu Envoy Team’s meaning was obvious: they wanted... Lu Chao’s head.