On the absolute summit, battle garments and hair fluttered.

He remained tall and mighty as he stood quietly. He had neither turned his head nor moved, as if completely fascinated by the distant sight of the boundless land below the peak. His burly figure seemed undisturbed by the pa.s.sing of time and completely cut off from the worldly hubbub.

"Old thing, do you not know how to say a word of thanks?" Little Nine waved its paws disdainfully.

Ye Qingyu shook his head.

He looked with some uncertainty at the back-facing figure which gave off an immense saintly pressure. He wondered why the [Dragonblood Halberd] would let out a shrilling lament when it clearly recognized its owner and returned to its rightful sect, as evident from its response that was the sudden explosion of battle-level spiritual qi. He vaguely felt that the state of the old emperor was not quite right, albeit he could confirm from the latter's aura that it was undoubtedly the old emperor, for no one else could possess such an overbearing dragon blood aura. And there was no chance that his judgment was wrong, given that his body now contained the True Dragon formation prints which made his perception of the Dragon Race aura most sensitive and clear.

However, it was meaningless to wait on if the old emperor continued to be unresponsive.

Besides, the tactless dog on his shoulder might, at any time, say something that provoked the pinnacle Great Saint. If that should happen, it would promptly be turned into stewed dog meat, and he would be left to clear up the mess it caused.

After waiting for a while longer and seeing that the old emperor remained motionless, he cupped his hands and said, "The treasure has been returned to its owner in perfect condition. I shall now take my leave."

With that, he released yuan qi and was about to turn into flowing light to leave.

But just then, a strange change occurred.

Roar!

A dragon roar which contained infinite sadness and rage was heard from within the old emperor's body, momentarily resounding through the world.

The Void around the peak was torn apart by the nearly-tangible sound waves evoked by this roar, while black clouds frantically churned.

Swis.h.!.+

A clear whistling sound rang out.

As a red radiance flickered, the blood-red divine dragon which had plunged into the old emperor's body suddenly flew out and circled in the air above, emanating a layer of extremely dazzling blood light and piercingly cold evil qi.

Roar roar roar!

Bouts of dragon roars were heard once again, sounding very much like shrilling, mourning cries.

Interweaving in gold and red, a beam of electric splendor flickered as the divine dragon swept across the air like a rainbow and unexpectedly descended into Ye Qingyu's hands, once again turning into a [Dragonblood Halberd].

Huh?

Ye Qingyu was stupefied.

Why has the [Dragonblood Halberd] returned to me?

Wh... what's going on?

Lowering his head, he saw that the blood light lingering around the halberd had become somewhat dull. Like a warrior which had fought to the death on a battlefield and prevailed with a bloodied body, it softly let out a quivering cry which contained a mix of heroism, sorrow, and grief.

Ye Qingyu did not understand what was going on.

Could it be that the old emperor no longer wants this [Dragonblood Halberd] and thus bestowed it to me? That's impossible. Its importance to the Dragonblood Dynasty is equivalent to that of the imperial jade seal. Having recovered it after so much trouble, there's absolutely no reason why he would give it to an outsider.

But he had no time to dwell on it, for something even stranger happened.

As a strange wave motion circulated at the peak, the vast and surging True Dragon aura suddenly disintegrated and dissipated. At the same time, the originally-upright figure of the emperor swayed gently and collapsed like a suddenly-felled ancient tree.

Thump.

As stiff and motionless as a corpse, the burly and valiant body fell on the ground.

What's going on?!

Ye Qingyu was greatly shaken.

What happened? The old emperor... collapsed? How can this happen to an expert like him? Could it be a sudden illness... That's impossible, a being of his level is immune to all diseases, and wouldn't suffer lapses... Could this figure actually be a fake? But that can't be, otherwise, why would the halberd respond and change as it did?

For some time, Ye Qingyu could not find any clues, and simply felt that everything happening in front of him was extremely unimaginable. As such, he did not rashly draw near.

From afar, the old emperor's body appeared as stiff and straight as a fallen tree. All of its divine might and vigor were nowhere to be found, such that it resembled the body of a normal person.

Without needing to release divine consciousness, Ye Qingyu could already sense that the body was devoid of all breath, and that there was not a strand of vitality oozing out of it.

The old emperor of the Dragon Human Race was like a dead man.

As he sensed all this, Ye Qingyu's countenance dullened.

"Senior?” he cautiously tried asking.

There was no response.

A mountain wind glided by, stirring up the black clouds.

After hesitating for a brief while, Ye Qingyu nervously operated his yuan qi as a precaution and then slowly drew near.