Hu Yuan stood quietly by the Spirit Pool in the Sun Bead Lesser World, his fingertips gently brushing against a yet-to-unfold bud of the Chaos Purifying Lotus. Dewdrops clustered upon its twenty-four petals gleamed with crystal-clear brilliance in the faint light, resembling the purest tears of heaven and earth. These dewdrops reflected the swirling patterns of the Star Essence Jade Bead at the bottom of the pool, which danced like stars beneath the water, mystical and breathtaking. Yet Hu Yuan had no heart to admire this scenic beauty; his brows were tightly furrowed, and his eyes brimmed with anxiety, as though he were dreading the journey ahead.
Not far away, Mother Long Xianjun was leaning against a light-jade couch, her pale visage appearing exceptionally fragile under the flickering candlelight. The golden scale patterns unique to the Dragon Clan flickered faintly beneath her skin—scars left behind by the erosion of the Star-Devouring Formation, like stigmata branded upon her by fate. Long Xianjun's gaze was gentle yet resolute as she looked at Hu Yuan, her eyes filled with deep concern and reluctance to part with her son.
Her eldest uncle, Long Xianxiong, sat cross-legged on a futon, wreathed in intermittent ripples of dragon might. Although the Nine-Turn Life-Prolonging Pill he had taken had barely sustained his vitality, he remained as far from his peak condition as a myriad of towering mountains. The fractures on Long Xianxiong's dragon horns were clearly visible—…
Chapter 363