Three Birds, One Lie

"Greetings, Your Majesty Dragon Monarch."

Yun Che nodded his head slightly as he greeted Long Bai.

Long Bai took notice of this, but he didn't think much of it. His mind was occupied with the thought of Yun Che knowing his realm's biggest secrets.

"Let's skip the formalities and talk about the main topic. Yun Che, how did you know about the Universe Dragon City and Withered Dragons?"

Seeing that Long Bai's face was full of confusion and anxiety, Yun Che sneered in contempt inside.

"Well, let's talk about it, shall we?"

Yun Che invited Long Bai to the small hut that he had built for himself in the Forbidden Land of Samsara. The hut was simply constructed with bamboo. A single bed, a table, and two chairs were the only pieces of furniture inside it.

He made it resemble his hut back in the Azure Cloud Continent in his past life with Su Ling'er as much as he could. This simple hut was his only comfort amidst the ridiculous situation he found himself in that he had yet to process.

Long Bai sat on one of the chairs as Yun Che poured a warm tea on his cup. After pouring his own cup of tea, he took a small sip of it and exclaimed. "Such a wonderful tea. Don't you agree, Your Majesty?"

Long Bai was snapped back from his daydreaming. He saw the young man acts so casually in front of him. If it was any other people, Long Bai would surely feel disrespected and offended.

But because it was Yun Che, he thought that the young man has what it took to be a little arrogant. Perhaps too much this time around though, so he made a mental note to gently remind the young man later on.

Long Bai indulged Yun Che's whims and sipped on the cup of tea. He was surprised, a look of genuine astonishment was shown on his face. Not because the tea was that tasteful, but because it tasted so ordinary. It had been so long since he tasted a tea this ordinary last time.

"Your Majesty, do you believe in past lives?"

Long Bai didn't expect Yun Che to ask such a random question. He was puzzled of why Yun Che would stall answering his question by spouting nonsense like this, but he still indulged him regardless.

He didn't want his impatience to get the better of him.

"I don't." Long Bai answered in a clear voice. There was no hesitation.

"You don't, Your Majesty?"

"I don't. Some extremely powerful profound arts provided its practitioners the ability to resurrect the dead. Some let them resurrect themselves, and some let them resurrect others. But it's just that, those were the things spoken only in legends and tales. Even if such techniques existed, I would argue that that is the same 'past life' that you referred to."

Yun Che was surprised. As much as he hated Long Bai, their perspective about past lives was the same. He wouldn't believe that such a magical thing existed had he not experienced it for himself. And as for the technique to resurrect the dead, he also thought the same.

"Why did you ask me about this random question, Yun Che? How does it relate to my question?"

Long Bai's patience was getting thin, and he wanted to hear the answer.

"You see, Your Majesty. I don't believe in past lives, either." Yun Che paused as he sipped on his tea, and continued after a while.

"But someone did. He was my master, back on my home planet. I was a cripple back then, but Master somehow found me when I was about to end my own life. He fixed my profound veins, gave me unparalleled talents, and chased away my inner demons. He was the person I indebted most."

Long Bai didn't interrupt Yun Che. He listened quietly to Yun Che's each and every single word.

"I took it for granted at first. Master found me, and all of his kindness following that, I attributed all of them to my luck and treated it as the heavens took a pity on me. But that isn't right. It didn't feel right."

"So I asked my master why he saved me that day. I asked him why he took me as a disciple and gave all of these blessings. My master only said two words, 'I owe you.'"

"He owe you?" Long Bai asked. He was invested in Yun Che's story now. He and practically everyone else had been wondering the origin of Yun Che's absurd talents and profound prowess. To learn about it straight from Yun Che's own mouth was a good thing.

Not to mention that it has something to do with Yun Che knowing the Dragon God Realm's secrets. He wouldn't talk in this roundabout way if it didn't have a correlation.

"I didn't understand at first, but I didn't pay it any mind. I treated it as Master's way to say that he didn't need a reason to save me and train me, but I was wrong. One day, Master's complexion keeps getting worse day by day. Master was dying."

"And in his very last moments, he gave me his Dragon God Soul and said a few things, 'Universe Dragon City. Withered Dragons. If one day you ever come across people who knew these words, treat them well. They are my descendants, and you can consider them to be your relatives.'"

"Ever since then, I thought long and hard about what master meant when he said he owes me. I could only think that maybe, Master know me in my previous life, and is somehow indebted to me. That's the only explanation I could think of. Otherwise, I don't believe a person could be as lucky as I was, even if he was favored by the heavens itself. Although master didn't say anything, I firmly believe so."

Long Bai was shocked after hearing this. He didn't doubt Yun Che's story at all, because everything made sense with Yun Che's story.

It would explain Yun Che's absurd talents and profound prowess, and it also explains why his Dragon God Soul felt so extraordinarily powerful compared to everyone else's, even his own.

Above all else, the dragons were proud creatures. They would think it was natural for Yun Che to be this absurdly talented and strong if it's because one of their own was his master. They would only take that as an explanation of Yun Che's origin of powers and refused to believe anything else.

Yun Che knew about this and he exploited it. He made up a story that would seem believable to Long Bai. And from Long Bai's own mouth, words would spread and everyone would take it as a fact.

No one would suspect anything about his relationship with Jasmine then.

Even though those who were smart enough had a very strong suspicion about it, at the end of the day, it was still a suspicion, speculation, and nothing more.

The Dragon Monarch's words would be more impactful than their own suspicion and as long as the story is believable, they would buy it just the same. He would reap all the benefits while erasing people's suspicion.

As for Brahma Monarch God Realm and Star God Realm who knew the real truth, he wasn't worried in the slightest. He had his ways to deal with them.

There's also one other thing that was crucial for his future plan. He planned to get it from Long Bai today, killing three birds with one lie.

"Is that all, Yun Che? Did your master say anything else? Anything at all?"

Long Bai was excited. It was thrilling to learn that the world's greatest prodigy of all time was related to his Dragon God Realm in such a way.

"Hmm... now that I remember it, master did say something after that. What was it? Oh yes, here it is. 'If you ever become strong enough to freely roam the Primal Chaos, remember to look for the Ancestral Sword."

"The sword is my master's treasured weapon, but he died before he could pass it on me. Master promised me the sword and told me to pass it on to my disciple, so the sword is yours and you're the only one who could use it."

Long Bai's face was twisted in shock.

The young man in front of him said these words casually as if he didn't know the meaning behind them, but Long Bai did! What Yun Che said practically flipped his entire world upside down!

The Ancestral Sword was a codename for the number one Heavenly Profound Treasures, the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword. Only the dragons knew that it belonged to their supreme God, the Primordial Azure Dragon, before the world turned to shit.

If what Yun Che said was true, then that means his master was a direct disciple of the Primordial Azure Dragon. In other words, a genuine True God!

What a revelation!

Long Bai's foreheads were riddled with sweats. It was too big of a shock, and he couldn't calm his madly beating heart.

Yun Che saw this but showed nothing on his face. He acted like he had no clue why Long Bai acted this way, or what his master's dying words meant.

Yun Che continued telling his story as he casually sipped on his warm tea.

"I don't know what any of that meant, and I was just trying my luck to see if Your Majesty know about the terms Universe Dragon City and Withered Dragons. I'm glad that Your Majesty does, so now I can fulfill my master's dying wish."

After regulating his breath for a while, Long Bai stood up and said with a serious expression on his face.

"It must be fate that let us meet, Yun Che. I know the identity of your venerable master, and indeed, we are his descendants. It is unfortunate that the venerable master has passed away, but the least we can do for him is to carry out his wish."

"Rest assured. As long as I, Long Bai, live, no harm will ever come your way. The Dragon God Realm is your home, and you are one of us. Let us, the descendants of your venerable master, fulfill our filial duty to our ancestor."

After saying this, Long Bai goes back to the Dragon God Realm to inform the Nine Dragon Gods, Dragon Masters, and Elders about Yun Che's identity and what they should do.

They all agreed about Long Bai's decision and were happy after learning that they have met the disciple of their ancient ancestor. Some even cried on the spot, betraying their grand status.

No one said anything against it, not publicly at least.

There were some who weren't happy about the entire thing, and they gathered around the current Crown Prince to make a minority opposition. They protested against the decision to put Yun Che on a pedestal and treat him differently, but the higher-ups like the Dragon Gods and Dragon Masters ignored them.

They thought the Crown Prince was immature and shameless to even think about going against their ancestor's wish. Even the Dragon Monarch himself was displeased, but he didn't let it show.

The Crown Prince didn't have anything to complain against if it's just the matter of Yun Che gaining the support of the realm. He was also a proud dragon, one that adhered to its tradition just like any other dragon. He wouldn't go against the wish of his ancestor if it's just that.

But he could see that everyone favored Yun Che more than him.

At this rate, he was going to lose his position as the crown prince to Yun Che. Because although Yun Che wasn't a born dragon, the purity of his dragon blood was comparable to any other dragon and that made him qualified to become one.

And that's not even counting his absurd talent and True Dragon God Soul into the equation.

He feels threatened. He had fought an extremely hard and bloody journey to get this far and reach this position. He wasn't going to lose it all in a single day to an outsider like Yun Che.

"Yun Che... don't even think about taking this crown from me. I won't let you do what you want."

In the meantime, in Yun Che's crudely built hut.

"Fate, huh? What a load of crap."

Yun Che then resumed his meditation as he thought hard about what he should do next.