A Goodbye
The dragon then lowered its head, just enough to be in front of Mu Yue. "You have her aura. How?"
"I do not know who is 'her'." Mu Yue replied.
"Hmm... strange. I am sure you are a royal. And the her I am talking about is the Queen, although she is not the ruler, not yet at least."
'Perhaps, the queen is my mother?' This was what's in Mu Yue's mind.
"I do not know my actual identity. However, I have a vague memory of my mother. She had to... abandon or at least have me away from her side since I was a baby."
"A baby? A newborn? I haven't heard of any new royals before I slept for a long time. But I cannot be wrong that you are a royal. Our race is highly dependent on bloodline, and anyone of us can sense who possess the royal bloodline."
"Perhaps I might be a royal, but why are you seeking me?"
"I am not of the royal bloodline, but I am one of the old ones, possessing thick blood that is refined through years of living. I was just surprised to see a lone royal in human territory, and you seem to just be a child. Tell me, what tier of ascension have you gone through?"
"I do not know what these tiers you are speaking. What am I?"
"We both are part of the blood race. We are deeply connected with blood. Have you experienced receiving power through your own blood?"
Mu Yue thought for a while. "I should have experienced that. A power that flows to me, the cost would be a slight loss of control."
"That would be the effect of the first ascension. Then have you felt the urge of drinking blood? Fresh blood."
"Yes"
"You have not been found out?"
"No, only me and Xiao Yan knows. I drank her blood when I lost control. I also received a boost in power after doing so."
"That girl?" The dragon looked at Xiao Yan's direction. "I should kill her or the secret will be leaked."
"N-no please don't! She is my partner... my dao companion. She won't tell anyone."
"You cannot be sure of that. Unlike us of the blood race that won't betray each other, humans are treacherous."
"She is special to me! Do not hurt her!" Mu Yue shouted.
It seemed to have an effect as the dragon was startled. "That bloodline suppression... You are indeed a royal. Since you said so, I will follow."
"Then are we done talking?"
"No. I am your elder, by age and thickness of blood. I might not be a royal but I still have a high place on our hierarchy. As a new royal that has already awakened until the second ascension, where you have the urge to drink blood, you must undergo the blood trial. It should've been done when you were just starting to grow strong, the Qi Condensation Stage of Human Cultivation."
"When should I do that?"
"As soon as possible. I can carry you now and go there."
"I can't leave. I promised Xiao Yan to be with her."
"The longer it takes for you to start it, the harder the trial and the lesser the benefit you will get."
"I do not care! I command you to leave!"
"HAHAHAHA!" The dragon laughed as it brought its head high. "Little girl, if you weren't a royal, I would have killed you. You are still far too weak for your royal bloodline to heavily affect me! I merely obeyed earlier as sparing that girl will not bring too much harm to you as I can always bring you away if things went bad. However, your future is heavily dependent on the trial. Our race does not need a weak royal!"
"And I do not need to be with the blood race!"
"And that is impossible. The royals have a heavy responsibility. I cannot tell you yet but something in the blood race, if destroyed, will kill all those who possess the royal bloodline. Do you think the other royals will be happy to have one of them do nothing on preserving it?"
"The other royals do not know I am one. I've been living away from my true family!"
"But now I know. I will take you away, even if I use force. Since I'm quite kind, I will let you say your goodbye to whoever you are close that are here."
A goodbye... how long would it take? Will it be longer than the 1 year she was supposed to spend outside the school? Mu Yue does not know but she does not have a choice, she was still too weak.