Chapter 2138: Sins

"Chu'er..."

The Dragon Lord's vision blurred, his weakened body barely clinging to life, yet he could still recognize the aura of his son—the son he had thought was dead.

"Father!!!!"

Long Wangchu rushed forward, ignoring his own injuries as he poured all of his power into his father, desperately trying to keep him alive.

"Lord!!!!"

The elders of the Ancestral Dragon Clan moved instantly, their expressions filled with worry and urgency. Before anything else, they first knelt before the Abyssal Monarch in deep reverence, then hurriedly surrounded their fallen lord, offering their aid.

"Yuan'er!!!!"

From the ruined battlefield, Meng Kongchan surged forward, his speed unstoppable as he reached Yun Che. Without hesitation, he held Yun Che tightly, as if afraid he would lose him again.

"Brother Yuan!"

"Yun Che!"

From a distance, figures from the Dreamweaver Divine Kingdom and the Heaven Breaker Kingdom rushed over. Their movements were swift but respectful, first lowering themselves into deep bows before the Abyssal Monarch, then immediately turning to check on Yun Che.

Seeing that he was completely unharmed, their collective breaths eased in relief.

"Father... everyone..."

Yun Che could feel Meng Kongchan's warmth, the tight embrace holding onto him as if refusing to ever let go. A single tear slipped down Meng Kongchan's face, the weight of his emotions overwhelming after almost losing Yun Che once again.

Deep inside Yun Che's heart, something he had suppressed time and time again—the warmth of family, love, and belonging—began to stir. It spread across his very soul, threatening to break past the walls he had built around himself.

But once more, he forced it back.

He refused to let it in.

From the edge of the arena to the countless spectators watching from afar, not a single word was spoken.

The silence was unnatural, heavy, and filled with unspoken realizations.

It had become clear—the Abyssal Monarch had saved both Yun Che and Long Wangchu from the very start.

Yet, he had stood by and allowed Meng Kongchan to brutalize the Dragon Lord, nearly killing him, before stepping in.

There was no doubt—

This was intentional.

There was something more at play.

"Snap."

A sudden, crisp sound echoed through the air.

In an instant, everyone found themselves transported.

The battlefield vanished—

And they were now seated in a vast, ancient arena.

It was the same arena from when they had first arrived in Pure Land.

Their positions were exactly as before.

At the highest seat, the Abyssal Monarch sat unmoving.

Below him, the Four High Priests remained silent, their expressions unreadable.

Further down, the Divine Regents, Divine Children, and elders of various clans were seated exactly as they had been before.

Yet, there was one difference.

A young woman lay beside the Abyssal Monarch.

Her face was pale, her aura weak, but her breathing was stable.

She was deep in sleep, her body having suffered great damage, leaving her with no strength to wake.

Still—

She was alive.

Her chest rose and fell faintly, a clear sign that she was safe.

"Long Xi!!!!!"

Gasps of shock and disbelief rippled through the crowd.

Many people's eyes widened in recognition.

The prodigy of the Ancestral Dragon Clan—

The most talented among her people.

Yet, because of what had happened between her and Hua Caili, everything had descended into chaos.

A sharp, grinding sound filled the silence.

It was Hua Qingying, her teeth clenched so tightly it threatened to shatter.

Despite all the chaos that had unfolded, she had never left Hua Caili's side.

Even now, as they were suddenly transported, she remained by her unconscious niece, unwilling to leave her even for a second.

Hua Caili's aura was much more stable now.

It seemed she would wake up very soon.

Meanwhile, Yun Che, still seated beside Meng Kongchan, never once took his eyes off the young woman floating beside the Abyssal Monarch.

His heart clenched. His soul trembled.

Pain. Guilt.

A storm of emotions swirled within him as he looked at her, yet he forced himself to remain silent.

"Whatever will come… will come."

A single thought echoed in his mind.

The air was thick with tension.

Everyone sat in absolute silence, waiting for the Abyssal Monarch to speak.

"Do you know why His Majesty allowed Dreamless to do what he did?"

The sudden voice of the Chief Priest shattered the heavy silence, drawing all attention toward him.

The gathered Divine Regents, Elders, and profound practitioners shifted uncomfortably, their minds racing to find an answer. Countless thoughts swirled through their heads, but none seemed to piece together the full truth.

"This..." Some hesitated, their confusion evident.

"Your subjects truly do not know."

Multiple voices rose in unison, echoing the collective bewilderment of both the Ancestral Dragon Clan and the Divine Kingdoms alike. No one could understand why the Abyssal Monarch had made such a decision. If he had long since saved both Long Wangchu and Meng Jianyuan, why had he still allowed Meng Kongchan to brutalize the Dragon Lord, nearly to the point of death? If he had the power to prevent it, why had he chosen not to?

No matter how many reasons they tried to come up with, none provided a satisfactory answer.

And then—

"Because they have sinned."

The Chief Priest's voice rang out, cold and absolute.

As Chief Priest answer, the Monarch once aged appearance seemed to ripple like an illusion, and in an instant, his face transformed into that of a young man, his aura imposing and divine.

His eyes, now sharp and merciless, swept over the members of the Ancestral Dragon Clan, freezing them in place.

In that moment, every dragon present felt their blood turn cold.

"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Everyone's eyes widened, their expressions shifting in shock as they processed the Abyssal Monarch's words.

His answer had caught all of them off guard.

"Everyone here should know that before the Abyss existed, I and the High Priests were all Gods from the Eternal Pure Land," the Monarch declared, his voice calm yet carrying an undeniable weight.

The crowd fell into complete silence, their attention locked onto him, their curiosity reaching its peak.

"Before that, I held a very high position in the God Clan."

The Monarch's words sent another ripple of disbelief through the gathered audience.

"I have known many Gods—many, many Gods during that time."

"!!!!!!!!!!!"

Though everyone present knew about the origins of the Abyss, no one had ever truly known the past of their Monarch.

To them, the Abyssal Monarch had always been the Abyssal Monarch, an existence that had ruled since the beginning of their world.

But now—

For the first time ever—

He was revealing his past.

And then—

"And one of the Gods I knew… was this young lady's mother."

His gaze shifted toward Long Xi, whose condition remained stable under his power.

The entire room trembled with the weight of his words.

A collective shockwave of realization spread across the arena.

The dragons, in particular, felt a cold chill crawl down their spines.

Sweat began pouring down their faces, their bodies stiff with terror as their minds repeated the revelation over and over.

"God... True God... Long Xi's mother is a True God!!!!"

The Chief Priest's gaze grew cold, mirroring the expressions of the other High Priests as they turned their piercing eyes toward the dragons. The Monarch cold eyes also turn toward them. The weight of their collective scrutiny bore down like an unshakable mountain, sending a suffocating chill through the air. Every dragon present felt their knees weaken as the truth set in, their minds struggling to process the full extent of what had just been revealed. The oppressive silence only deepened the sense of dread settling over them.

"And she isn't just any True God," the Chief Priest added, his voice cutting through the silence like a blade. "This young lady's mother is the only daughter of the Primordial Azure Dragon God—the True Ancestor of the Dragon Race."

A deafening wave of disbelief crashed over the room. !!!!!!!!!!

The impact of those words was immeasurable. Even the Dragon Lord, who had been silently focusing on healing his grievous injuries, trembled violently, his body betraying the sheer shock and fear rising from the depths of his soul. Everything he had learned today had already been too much to comprehend, but this—this truth shattered everything he had believed.

If Long Xi's mother was truly the only daughter of their Dragon Race's Ancestor, then that meant—Long Xi was royalty. She was the rightful princess of the Dragon Race.

Yet… the way he had treated her.

A cold sweat broke out across the Dragon Lord's body, an icy dread creeping through his very bones. It was not only him—the other Elder Dragons, the ones who had known about how Long Xi had been treated behind closed doors, felt the same suffocating terror seize their hearts. Their thoughts raced in chaotic fear.

Now, standing in the presence of the Abyssal Monarch and the High Priests, with their piercing gazes bearing down on them, they could no longer run from the truth.

They had wronged the daughter of their Ancestor.

And no sin was greater than that.

"So, Dragon Lord, do you understand your sin?"

The moment those words fell, all eyes turned toward the Dragon Lord.

For as long as anyone could remember, the Dragon Lord had valued Long Xi greatly. He had treated her with love and care, raising her as if she were his own child. That was what everyone had believed—what had always been portrayed to the world. Yet now, with everything that had come to light, it was clear that something far more sinister had been going on beneath the surface.

The revelation of her true heritage was already overwhelming, but what made it worse—what sent chills down everyone's spine—was her current state.

During her fight with Hua Caili, Long Xi had suffered barely any injuries. She had stood strong, almost unharmed.

But now?

The Long Xi that appeared before them was a wreck. Her aura was weak, her cultivation unstable, and had it not been for the Monarch's intervention, she might have already died.

What had happened to her?

If she had not been injured during the battle, then that meant something had happened afterward. Something that had left her in such a crippled state that even her powerful dragon heritage could barely sustain her life.

A dark realization settled over the gathered crowd.

After a long, painful silence, the Dragon Lord finally spoke, his voice hoarse, heavy with an inescapable weight.

"I… do, Your Majesty."

His words were slow, each syllable dragging as if forcing them out tore at his soul.

A True Sin.

An unforgivable betrayal.

A crime that could never be redeemed.

The moment the truth had been spoken, he could no longer deny it—he had committed the gravest sin a dragon could ever commit.

He had drawn blood essence from their own princess.

Not just any dragon.

Not just any prodigy.

But the sole descendant of their race's True Ancestor.

He, the Dragon Lord, had betrayed his entire race.

All the elders of the Dragon God Clan who had known the truth stood frozen in place. Their mouths opened and closed, yet no words came out. The reality of the situation had struck them like a hammer to the soul. It was clear that the Abyssal Monarch had yet to reveal everything to the crowd, but at this point, it was only a matter of time. Sooner or later, everyone would come to understand the source of the Ancestral Dragon God Blood Essence—and when that truth finally came to light, the disgrace of the Dragon God Clan would be irreversible.

Standing beside his father, Long Wangchu felt his entire world crumble around him. His mind raced, piecing together one truth after another, and each realization sent shockwaves through his soul. Even though his cultivation was lacking compared to the other Divine Sons, his intelligence was not.

Long ago, he had been told by his father and the elders that they had stumbled upon a great quantity of Ancestral Dragon God Blood by pure accident. As a junior, he had never thought to question it. It had been an invaluable blessing, one that had elevated him above his peers, one that had shaped his very future.

But now, he knew the truth.

It had never been an accident.

It had never been fate.

Every ounce of progress he had ever made, every bit of talent he had ever shown, the very foundation of his cultivation—

All of it.

Everything.

Was because of Long Xi. —she had been bled dry so that he could thrive.

A hollow laugh escaped his lips.

"Hahahaha..."

It was self-mocking. Bitter. Hollow. Disgusting.

No wonder the Monarch and the High Priests were furious. If they had known Long Xi's mother, or worse—if they had been friends with her in the past era—then seeing her daughter drained of her very Blood Essence would be beyond rage-inducing.

This wasn't just a crime.

This wasn't just a betrayal.

They had touched the very bloodline of their Ancestor.

They had destroyed the last true descendant of the Primordial Azure Dragon God.

Long Wangchu's shoulders trembled as he let out another bitter, broken laugh.

"Hahaha..."

There was no redemption from this.

None at all.

The atmosphere grew heavy and solemn as the full weight of realization settled upon everyone present. The truth was undeniable, and the sheer gravity of what had been done was suffocating. For those with higher cultivation, their perception and divine sight made the horrifying reality even clearer. The Gods had already seen it—Long Xi's Blood Essence had been drained almost entirely. Even if she were to recover physically, her talent would never be the same again. The boundless potential she once carried, the limitless future she could have had—all of it had been ripped away.

Even if she spent her entire life cultivating, she might never progress beyond Divine Extinction Realm Level One. What should have been a future bathed in glory had been shattered before it could even begin.

And the most devastating part?

The Dragon Race, a lineage that had already been declining for millions of years, had been granted a miracle.

Their Dragon Lord, despite his status, had only reached the peak of Divine Limited Realm, a mere shadow of what their ancestors once were. The heavens had taken pity on them, bestowing upon them a new hope, a chance to reclaim their lost strength, a future they could build upon.

Yet, they destroyed it with their own hands.

They had not just squandered their chance—they had annihilated it.

"Your Majesty, do you know where Long Xi's mother is?"

A sudden voice broke the heavy silence, startling everyone from their thoughts. What shocked them even more was who had spoken.

Hua Caili had awakened!

In truth, she had regained consciousness shortly after being teleported here, but she had remained silent until now, listening, absorbing everything. It was only in this moment that she chose to make herself known.

!!!!!!!!!!

"Caili!!!!!"

A wave of joy and relief swept through the Heaven Breaker Divine Kingdom. The Divine Regent, Hua Qingying, and every elder and disciple present rushed to check on her. Their tense expressions softened as they confirmed her condition.

"I'm okay, Daddy. Auntie… I'm okay."

Her bright, steady gaze met their worried ones as she reassured them. But even as she spoke to them, her eyes subtly shifted toward Yun Che.

He hadn't looked at her even once.

His entire attention remained fixed on the scar-faced dragon girl beside the Abyssal Monarch.

Hua Caili said nothing, but her heart did not waver.

She had seen a long, long dream—one that had shown her many things.

And now that she had found the answer within that dream, she would bear everything, no matter the cost.

No matter what the future held, she had already made her choice.

Her voice rang out again, unwavering.

"Your Majesty, do you know where Long Xi's mother is?"

The Abyssal Monarch's response was brief but absolute.

"I do not."

Then, with a slight shift in his gaze, his next words drew the attention of every soul in the ancient hall.

"Perhaps it would be best if you asked him."

The moment he spoke, his sharp, knowing eyes locked onto Yun Che.

In that instant, the weight of every gaze followed.

All eyes turned to Yun Che????