The bestial nature about to suppress Long Ji's reason heard this voice, and like a morning drum and evening bell, it caused her eyes to regain clarity.
Long Ji anxiously looked towards the source of the sound. The boundless sea of lightning that had just fallen was gradually dissipating.
And in the center of the increasingly thin lightning sea, a girl floated in mid-air, her appearance tragic.
The girl's neon robes had been torn to shreds by the lightning, yet there was no risk of exposure.
This was because large swathes of charred marks and wounds that went bone-deep made it impossible to believe that this was the Hanhai Dragon Girl who had once smiled so charmingly and danced through the night.
"Long'er!!!" Long Ji uttered a cry as mournful as a cuckoo's lament. As a mother, witnessing her daughter in such a wretched state was the most vicious form of torture in the world!
But Long Ji dared not take another step forward. Otherwise, under the influence of the nascent immortal aura, the true dragon tribulation, whose power had surged, would turn Linglong into ashes!
Chen Luo calmly pulled Long Ji back behind him and shouted to Linglong, "Don't be afraid! You did very well! Linglong!"
"At the moment the ten thousand lightning bolts tore at your body, you unleashed all the spiritual energy within you externally in its most primal form. In that moment between life and death, you ultimately managed to preserve your life, Linglong! Well done!"
Hearing Chen Luo's praise, Linglong twitched the corner of her mouth, as if trying to smile. But the next moment, the intense pain caused her lips to contort, revealing a rather tragic smile:
"Heh... heh... Master, your disciple is amazing, isn't she!"
Chen Luo nodded seriously, "Very amazing! Get ready! The next wave is coming!"
In the sea of lightning just now, under the gnawing of ten thousand bolts, Linglong had given her all.
Under the impact of life and death, she felt as if she had grasped something.
However, that wave of lightning had nearly exhausted Linglong's spiritual energy, and even the spiritual energy supporting her suspension was about to fail!
At this moment, hearing Chen Luo's words, Linglong once again pulled at her wounds and revealed a smile to Chen Luo that was not beautiful, but extremely moving:
"Master, I believe in you..."
BOOM!!!!
The heavenly lightning seemed to be enraged by the girl below's disregard!
A bright silver lightning bolt, thinner than the first dragon of lightning that had struck, descended again!
But the power it contained was even more terrifying than the sea of lightning formed by countless bolts earlier!
The True Dragon Tribulation was simply not something ordinary cultivators could overcome!
Merely the second strike was a death sentence for Linglong, whose spiritual energy was almost depleted!
Yet, Chen Luo still seemed to have no intention of using the Heaven-Deceiving Technique!
The extremely panicked Long Ji rushed to Chen Luo, pleading pitifully, "Master! Young Master Chen! Chen Luo!! I beg you, use the Heaven-Deceiving Technique!!!"
"You can do it! Such a tribulation is merely child's play for you, a Grandmaster of Five Arts! But Linglong cannot! She's still a child!!!"
"I beg you, Chen Luo! I'm willing to give you everything, even become your slave, just to save Linglong!"
As a True Immortal at the sixth level of Ascending Immortality, and as a quasi-supreme existence in the Way of Formations, Long Ji knew very well that the second wave of lightning alone, once it struck, would absolutely kill her daughter!
She could even vaguely see her daughter's form turning to ashes the moment the lightning struck!
Chen Luo ignored Long Ji's pleas. No, if one looked closely,
One would notice that Chen Luo's entire attention was focused on the lightning about to descend.
In that fraction of a second, Linglong! Seize it! This is the great fortune your master has given you!!!
As Chen Luo roared in his heart and Long Ji wept and pleaded,
Linglong entered a state of neither joy nor sorrow.
For cultivators, their lives were too short. Linglong's life flashed before her eyes,
But the first memory that surfaced was so unfamiliar to Linglong:
....
She was immersed in a transparent liquid,
And a dragon-horned woman of extreme beauty was looking at her with a gentle expression:
"The dragon bloodline is powerful, yet on this primordial land, it is still suppressed by humanity."
"You are a human-dragon hybrid. I hope that besides the powerful dragon bloodline, you will also possess the seven-apertured, exquisite heart of a human."
"Yes, let's call you Linglong, my daughter, Linglong!"
....
Figures exuding terrifying fluctuations looked at her with indifferent gazes,
And among the crowd, the beautiful woman who felt familiar to her was also present.
She instinctively reached out her hand to her. She smiled. She was so beautiful.
But the malice from the other figures seemed even more intense:
"The experiment failed. Despite being a human-dragon hybrid, it did not inherit the dragon's powerful physique. Its spiritual energy aptitude is decent. But such an experimental subject cannot survive the True Dragon Tribulation!"
"The organization is very dissatisfied with this creation! The human-dragon hybrid project is suspended! Long Ji! Destroy it! It is our disgrace!"
"No! She is my daughter! Her life should not end here!"
...
She was held in the arms of that beautiful dragon-horned woman, while towering, terrifying figures looked down upon the woman and herself.
She seemed to sense the beautiful woman's trembling. Her body was so cold, and she seemed a little scared.
She touched her face. She smiled at her, and seemed less afraid.
Seeing her smile, I felt a warmth.
I? ...Who am I?...
Right... she called me...
Linglong...
"Long Ji, are you sure you want to do this? As a Grandmaster of Formations, your value to the organization far exceeds that of a failed experimental subject."
"I know the organization's rules, but I cannot abandon her! The dragon blood within her comes from me!! I am her mother!!"
"I am willing to give up all the contribution points I have accumulated since joining the organization! Just let me take care of her until her natural end!!!"
After a long silence from the colossal figures, a voice said:
"Let it be as Long Ji requests. It is just a waste who will never be able to survive the True Dragon Tribulation anyway. Even if the Heaven-Deceiving Technique is used, it will only extend her life by a thousand years."
"A thousand years, we can afford to wait, after all, we have been waiting for too long...."
"But Long Ji! According to the rules, before your return, you must seal away the memories related to us, and only on the day of the agreed appointment will you be allowed to recall them!"
The dragon-horned woman's face flashed with hesitation. She looked at the infant in her arms, her eyes filled with determination.
Her palm was wrapped in immortal essence, and profound spiritual patterns flashed rapidly in her hand.
The next moment, her palm pierced directly through the dragon-horned woman's chest:
"Ah!!!!"
Amidst a piercing scream, the dragon-horned woman tore a corner of her own soul, sealing away the memories she could not take with her.
The colossal figures withdrew the fragment of her soul and quietly departed.
All that remained was a dragon-horned woman holding an infant, floating quietly in mid-air.
This woman, named Long Ji, regained clarity in her dazed eyes as the sun rose again.
She looked at the child in her arms, a gentle smile appearing on her face, and then she stepped into the air, heading towards the distant eastern Hanhai:
"Linglong... Mom is taking you home..."