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"It’s truly astonishing. On one side, mastery of a hundred Temple martial arts, and on the other, the power to ignore attacks. The clash between the two is quite intense." Far from the sparring grounds, a water screen projected the image of our battle, and several elders were watching and conversing. One of them suddenly asked a middle-aged man in purple robes standing beside them, "Then, what do you think of the Temple’s martial prowess, Lord Sovereign Dragon?"

"Hmm, the opponent didn’t use the ‘Holy Ice Thorns Halo’ or any weapons, but Zhu Liya hasn’t cultivated her Aura to match the opponent’s level either, nor did she use advanced sword techniques. Judging by the level of martial skills used, it should be a draw. Although the opponent is said to possess the ‘Divine Punishment,’ that alone isn’t enough to gauge their overall strength. However, considering the wide adaptability of Temple martial arts, the limited number of ‘Dragon Auras,’ and the enhancement effects of the Temple’s fantasy beasts on warriors’ physiques, even with the addition of dragon beasts and dragons, our total martial strength still falls short of the Temple’s. We lack in numbers, reserves, and training cycles, so..."

"Is cooperation with the Temple necessary?" another elder remarked indifferently.

"Yes, that is my assessment. The details will need careful deliberation," replied the middle-aged man, known as the Purple Dragon Sovereign Knight. Despite his humble words, he had set the tone for Sacred Dragon Mountain’s future actions.

Meanwhile, completely unaware that her actions had influenced the negotiations between the “Two Saints,” the red-haired girl and I, who had vaguely guessed the truth but didn’t care, continued our intermittent sparring for three days before finally taking a temporary break.

It seemed that both sides had reached a certain consensus and agreed on basic terms, moving towards deeper discussions. Thus, the relationship between the “Two Saints” entered a honeymoon period. Non-negotiators like us were allowed to visit other peaks of Sacred Dragon Mountain, especially the highest and most famous “Sealed Dragon Cliff,” which was now open to us. After ending the sparring, I took Zhu Liya as a guide, along with Jin Luosha and Li Jia, and began touring Sacred Dragon Mountain. Of course, a certain bored artist and Holy Grail Knight also tagged along.

At the same time, in a valley far from Sacred Dragon Mountain, thirty-six mages maintained a massive circular magic array. Unlike usual arrays, this one had twelve energy rune pillars floating and rotating along special trajectories. At the center, a spherical light ball displayed everything happening near the “Sealed Dragon Platform” in minute detail.

A young woman stood in front of the magic array, directing her subordinates to adjust its workings. Dressed in white, her beauty akin to jade, with a long sword at her waist, she was Xue Lingpei, the successor of the Moonlight Tower.

Chapter 73: Dragon Soul Void Locks Man and Wolf

Sealed Dragon Cliff towered above the clouds, perpetually covered in snow, rising much higher than the other four main peaks. Its majestic and steep cliffs could only be climbed via a single, artificially carved, steep path. At the summit, a vast flat stone platform hundreds of feet across had been leveled by immense force. At the center of this platform stood the five-tiered golden gemstone altar known as the “Sealed Dragon Platform.”

Over a thousand years ago, the “Emperor Sealing Dragons” encountered the “Ancient Sacred Dragon” here. According to Zhu Liya, the flat summit was leveled by the “Ancient Sacred Dragon,” and the central area was where the dragon piled gold and gems to rest. After signing a contract, the dragon returned to the star realm, leaving behind treasures that became the capital for the first human empire. Later, to express gratitude to the dragon, the emperor vowed to build an altar of gold and gems to commemorate the Ancient Sacred Dragon. However, due to the hardships of the human nation and the mountain’s height, they used large stones coated with gold foil and embedded with gems and crystals. After the death of the “Emperor Sealing Dragons,” the empire crumbled, and the plan to build the “Sealed Dragon Platform” was shelved. Subsequent generations of dragon knights were too busy offering gold and gems to their own dragons to bother with the emperor’s debt.

Four hundred years ago, during the civil war in the “Land of Dragons,” three dragons were killed by the “Dominion Sword Dragon Slayer,” known as the “Dragon Slaying War.” Dragons did not mind dying in battle but could not tolerate being killed by their own kind. While contracted dragons couldn’t rebel against their masters, uncontracted dragons refused new dragon knights. This dispute led to decades without any new dragon knights until a great prophet communicated with the Dragon God, finding a solution. The five dragon knight families then spent nearly all their wealth building the grand “Sealed Dragon Platform” and used blood and three treaties to temporarily appease the dragons’ anger. First, except for those stationed on Sacred Dragon Mountain, dragons would no longer summon wyverns and dragon beasts for dragon knights. Second, dragon knights would withdraw from the Land of Dragons, later known as the Sovereign Dragon Empire, and never establish their own nations, even if they became protectors of a country, they could not participate in internal wars or invasions. Third, the “Dominion Sword Dragon Slayer” would remain on the “Sealed Dragon Platform,” only used for training by the “Supreme Dragon Saint” and taken away only in times of racial crisis after praying to the Dragon God.

In the past four centuries, the “Dominion Sword Dragon Slayer” left Sacred Dragon Mountain only once, during the rampage of the “White-Haired Magic Lion King” Leimen. The “Supreme Dragon Saint” led six “Dragon Sovereign Knights,” nine dragon knights, four tenth-level dragon language mages, along with thousands of wyvern and dragon beast knights and numerous mages, to besiege Leimen in the Everbright Mountains. After this battle, Leimen ended his campaign against humanity, while Sacred Dragon Mountain lost five Dragon Sovereign Knights, four tenth-level mages, two dragons, and seven dragon knights. According to rumors, even the “Supreme Dragon Saint” passed away a few months later. This battle established the “Supreme Dragon Saint” as the greatest human warrior.

Thus, when the peculiar “Sacred Dragon Mountain Tour Group” ascended to the fifth tier of the “Sealed Dragon Platform,” they saw the colossal sword, the “Dominion Sword Dragon Slayer,” towering over them.