Heavenly Jewel Change

“Huh?!” When Zhou Weiqing heard the Tenebrous Demon Dragon suddenly ask him if he had fallen for Dreamwake, his jaw dropped and his eyes popped out. He never would’ve imagined that a powerful figure like the Tenebrous Demon Dragon would actually be such a nosy busy-body.

He scratched his head, then let out an awkward laugh. “Senior, don’t make fun of me. I’m merely an upper level Zun Stage, while Dreamwake is a Heavenly Emperor. How could she possibly take any interest in me?”

“Enough, enough. Don’t try to hide it from me. Although you are only at the six-Jeweled cultivation level, this entire time I’ve been able to sense a whiff of danger emanating from you. That means that your actual, full power isn’t as low as the level of power you are displaying. Although Dreamwake didn’t say too much about you, she did mention that you are even more talented than her. And… I’ve watched her ever since she was a little girl. Aside from you, I’ve never seen her take a second glance at any man.”

Zhou Weiqing blinked. “But… I already have a wife?”

The Tenebrous Demon Dragon snorted coldly. “Just divorce her. Let me tell you something, kid. If you dare to mistreat that girl Dreamwake in any way… heh heh heh…”

Although the dragon didn’t release its terrifying aura upon Zhou Weiqing, the mere fact that a Heavenly God powerhouse was threatening him was enough to cause his heart to turn clammy. However, he really didn’t understand why this great dragon had suddenly decided to play matchmaker.

Divorce Shangguan Bing’er for the sake of Dreamwake? Impossible. In Zhou Weiqing’s heart, Shangguan Bing’er occupied a special position which was irreplaceable. Even though he also loved Tian’er, Xue’er, and Fei’er, and had a fling with Little Witch, there was no way he would abandon his Bing’er for anyone.

But of course, he wouldn’t say that to the Tenebrous Demon Dragon. That’d be asking for trouble. Zhou Weiqing said, a miserable smile on his face, “Senior, all this is talk for later. Marriage isn’t something I can decide upon myself. You should ask Dreamwake for her opinion as well, right? Let’s finish dealing with the Terror Sea Dragon first.”

The Tenebrous Demon Dragon said rather unhappily, “Kid, are you seriously trying to gloss over this topic with me? Fine, then. I’ll first deal with the Terror Sea Dragon, then deal with you. That girl Dreamwake isn’t getting any younger. She needs to find a man, if only for the sake of Xuantian Palace’s future. I’ve taken a liking to you. You have six different Jewel Attributes, which means that the children you two have will be even more extraordinarily talented.”

Zhou Weiqing felt completely speechless. He really wanted to say to the Tenebrous Demon Dragon, “You might be planning things out a bit too far ahead.”

The Tenebrous Demon Dragon continued, “Kid, if you can win Dreamwake’s heart and take her as your bride, I guarantee that within three years, I’ll ensure that you skyrocket to become a Heavenly King and Consolidate your Heavenly Core Nucleus.”

“Huh?!” Zhou Weiqing was shocked. “It’s possible to ‘help’ someone else upgrade their cultivation level?”

The Tenebrous Demon Dragon let out a chortle. “Why wouldn’t it be? There are many things in this world that you have no clue about. The Tenebrous Bloodline has access to a unique, secret technique which allows for the transfer of power. So long as we can acquire the Terror Sea Dragon’s Heavenly Core Nucleus, after I use it to evolve I’ll use the remainder of the power within the core to help you upgrade. It won’t be too hard. You’ll be a Heavenly King, kid! Spend some time and think carefully about this.”

Rising in cultivation to become a Heavenly King was an enormously alluring prospect for any Heavenly Jewel Master. Alas, the Tenebrous Demon Dragonhad chosen the wrong person to make this pitch to. Zhou Weiqing was already at the nine-Jeweled stage and had access to Saint Energy. He didn’t need this sort of help at all. However, the Tenebrous Demon Dragon’s words had accidentally given Zhou Weiqing a great deal of information. For example, he now knew that Dreamwake had probably received such an energy transfer thanks to the Tenebrous Lineage, which was why she had such enormous power.

When Zhou Weiqing realized this, he immediately felt much better about himself. If Dreamwake had purely relied upon her own innate talent to train to the Heavenly Emperor level at age twenty-nine, Zhou Weiqing would’ve suffered a severe blow to his own self-confidence. Zhou Weiqing knew that while this sort of external help could grant you tremendous power within a short period of time, the bottlenecks you later encountered would be far sturdier and tougher than those which normal cultivators had to face. Although Dreamwake had become a Heavenly Emperor at a very young age, it would probably be incredibly hard for her to breakthrough to become a Heavenly God.

As Zhou Weiqing continued to chat with the Tenebrous Demon Dragon, he suddenly felt his skin feeling a bit cold. He glanced downwards unconsciously, only to be shocked by what he saw.

The sea below the Tenebrous Demon Dragon within the region surrounded by the thirteen experts of Xuantian Palace had actually turned black as ink, making it impossible to see to the bottom. The dense Tenebrous Attribute energy continued to rise upwards from the region.

The Tenebrous Demon Dragon’s scales rose upwards slightly as it began to absorb that dense Tenebrous Attribute energy into its body. Zhou Weiqing could clearly sense that the aura and might of the Tenebrous Demon Dragon was rising at a furious pace.

So this was the Tenebrous Demon Sealing Formation? What incredibly strong ripples it is generating! Zhou Weiqing was secretly shocked by this. This grand formation was able to counter even Heavenly God powerhouses. Its might was unquestionable! The Terror Sea Dragon might be powerful, but it was facing the full might of a Great Saint Land. From what he was seeing, it seemed very possible that Xuantian Palace would succeed in slaying the Terror Sea Dragon!

This was not, however, what Zhou Weiqing wanted to see. If Xuantian Palace won a complete victory, he probably would stand no chance of even seeing the Spatial Teleportation Gem.

To him, the ideal outcome was one where both sides were wounded. Only then would there be a chance that the Spatial Teleportation Gem would be used. Only then would he have a chance to acquire it.

This was an incredibly important battle for Xuantian Palace, and the same was true for Zhou Weiqing. He had already made a full analysis of all potential outcomes, and had fully prepared for all of them.

On the whole… although Xuantian Palace’s lower-level cultivators were very corrupt and decadent, Zhou Weiqing could tell that the high-level members were all quite decent. If at all possible, he would prefer to take away the Spatial Teleportation Gem without causing Xuantian Palace any harm. He would slip away with Shangguan Bing’er.

But of course, that was just an ideal outcome. Actually achieving it wouldn’t be easy.

The Tenebrous energy below was growing stronger and stronger. He was now able to clearly see that the twelve distant streams of black light had grown increasingly dense. What surprised Zhou Weiqing the most was that the only person of the thirteen who hadn’t entered the Tenebrous Demon Sealing Formation was Dreamwake, rather than the Xuantian Palace Lord. She flew from one position to another, seemingly giving orders to do something.

Zhou Weiqing frowned slightly. He didn’t reveal any traces of an expression on his face, but a few strange ideas were beginning to come to mind.

It took them two full hours to completely set up the Tenebrous Demon Sealing Formation. Finally, those twelve pillars of black light began to slowly vanish, while the Tenebrous energies below began to dissipate as well. The sea returned to its normal deep blue color, as though the enormous power which had circulated through it earlier had never been there.

Zhou Weiqing could clearly sense that the Tenebrous Demon Sealing Formation hadn’t failed; rather, it had been completed. However, he didn’t know what technique they had used to retract and mask the formation’s aura so perfectly. The only reason why he was able to sense the formation was complete was because the Tenebrous Demon Dragon’s aura didn’t weaken despite the water below it having gone back to ‘normal’.

A shooting star seemed to streak out of the seas, dazzling Zhou Weiqing. In the next instant, a second person was atop the dragon. It was Dreamwake. The other twelve had already disappeared from the surface of the seas.

“Our preparations are complete.” Dreamwake nodded at the Tenebrous Demon Dragon.

The Tenebrous Demon Dragon said, “Go ahead. Weiqing, you can step back now.”

Dreamwake flashed forwards to land atop the Tenebrous Demon Dragon’s head. The Tenebrous Demon Dragon had a single thick and sturdy horn on its head, and Dreamwake was standing right in front of him, her back leaning against it. Her heroic, bold posture wasn’t that of a God Tier Consolidating Equipment Master’s at all. This was clearly the posture of a dragonrider!

“Why haven’t you beat it yet?” Dreamwake couldn’t help but frown when she saw Zhou Weiqing staring dazedly at her, and so she barked out at him.

“Oh.” Zhou Weiqing nodded, his body flickering as he unleashed the Demonic Change State. He flapped the two wings which appeared on his back, then flew off the Tenebrous Demon Dragon and off into the distance.

Dreamwake watched as he flew out of the reach of the Tenebrous Demon Sealing Formation. Only then did her face turn soft.

“Little lass… if memory serves, humans tend to prefer gentler women. If you really like him, be a bit nicer to him.”

Dreamwake’s face sank. “What the hell are you babbling about?”

The Tenebrous Demon Dragon chortled. “I’m not ‘babbling’ about anything. Do you really think I can’t tell that you rather like him? This is the first man that you’ve liked. I don’t think it’s just because of his talent and his abilities.”

Dreamwake’s face turned slightly pink. Clearly, she had thought of some unspeakable memories. “We’re about to deal with the Terror Sea Dragon. You actually are in the mood to speak of such nonsense?”

The Tenebrous Demon Dragon let out a sigh. “You cheeky, impudent girl. From a bloodlines standpoint, I should be considered your uncle and senior. When your father departed from this world, he asked me to take good care of you. You aren’t getting any younger. Am I, your uncle, not supposed to help you find a good husband?”

Dreamwake blinked, her gaze becoming much gentler than before. “Uncle, stop wasting your time worrying over this. He already has someone he loves. I can tell that his feelings towards his wife are genuine and deep.”

The Tenebrous Demon Dragon said in an absolutely dominating manner, “We’ll just have him divorce her. If he dares to disobey, I’ll kill him. Or, I’ll just kill his little wife.”

“You can’t!” Dreamwake was shocked, and she hurriedly spoke out to object. “Uncle, you absolutely cannot do this. If he’s the type of person who would be willing to abandon his own wife, do you think his feelings towards me could possibly be genuine? In fact, if you kill his wife, it’ll be even less likely that we can be together.”

The Tenebrous Demon Dragon fell silent. Dreamwake took a deep breath, calming her stirred emotions. “Let’s make our preparations, Uncle.”

The Tenebrous Demon Dragon suddenly suggested, “How about… you marry him as well? I just feel that this is letting the kid off too easy.”