By the time Princess Qianqian and Yue Yu returned, five days had passed.
Yueyang had already successfully developed the War Beast Bracelet — and had borrowed the Blazing Divine Eagle back from Future to serve as the first test subject for the bracelet’s bonding system.
Being first carried real risk. The process could, in principle, kill the subject outright. The potential reward was proportionally significant.
After purifying a small measure of Ground-origin Yin Flame through Nirvana Flames and White Frost Bloom Sword energy, Yueyang fused it directly into the Blazing Divine Eagle’s body. What had been a Sky-rank tier three beast broke through on the spot, surging to the peak of tier four and pressing against the threshold of tier five. Its fire had changed entirely — in ordinary circumstances, the flames it radiated were eerily calm, almost imperceptible, the heat utterly absent. But let something provoke it, and what followed would make a volcanic eruption look like a candle being blown out. The Ground-origin Yin Flame’s essential nature had been fully absorbed and inherited.
On account of this, the Drunken Cat Imperial Lady gave it a name: Iris.
After a pot of irises she had grown as a child. Also because the Blazing Divine Eagle’s flames had shifted to a deep, tranquil violet-blue — and from a distance, the way they rippled looked very much like a cluster of irises in full bloom.
“So this is the War Beast Bracelet made from Drip-Flame Crystal Gold?” Qianqian turned it over in her hands with admiration, then promptly asked: “Why not make one from moonstone?”
Yueyang stared at her. “Do you think moonstone grows on trees?”
“Didn’t we get quite a bit of good material off that two-headed dragon?” she said, grinning.
“Eventually, yes. But not yet — making the premium version now would just waste materials. Better to work out the process first.”
He did want to use sun stones, moon stones, and star crystals to build the highest-tier version possible. Reality, however, required working up to it.
“What you’ve made is already remarkable,” Yue Yu said warmly, giving her younger brother the encouragement he was due. “This exceeds Gold-rank — it’s Platinum. Push the research further and you’ll be looking at Sacred-rank.”
She wasn’t wrong. When news of the bracelet’s completion reached His Majesty, the Emperor was moved enough to send three successive waves of envoys to express his congratulations — each delegation arriving with effusive praise and not a single repetition. It said something about the depth of his feeling.
His Majesty still refused to receive Yueyang in person, but had issued a formal declaration of intent: when the day came that Yueyang produced a Sacred-rank bracelet forged from sun stones, His Majesty would deliver the commendation himself. Yueyang wanted nothing more than to achieve that immediately. For now, his current understanding of the craft left him limited to Platinum-rank Drip-Flame Crystal Gold bracelets.
Fourth Mother’s pride needed no words.
At the Yue family castle, they celebrated properly.
Jun Wuyou had been napping when the news arrived. He ran out barefoot without pausing to find his shoes and proceeded to get comprehensively drunk with Elder Yuehai and Old Fox and the rest of them.
The Warrior Guild, Mercenary Guild, and Thief Guild all released public announcements to the continent within the day.
The bracelet was not a Summoning Grimoire. It was understood to be a lesser thing. But for the vast majority of cultivators who would never have the chance to bond with a Grimoire, a bracelet that grew alongside its owner — that shared a genuine soul connection — meant they no longer had to face their futures without protection. For noble families whose talented heirs carried Grimoires they hadn’t yet grown into, it meant a meaningful safety net. Deaths of promising successors during training expeditions were not uncommon; losing an heir could destabilize an entire clan. That particular problem now had a solution.
Yueyang’s public declaration, posted through all three Guilds, was unambiguous: any disciple across the Longteng continent with Sky-rank potential would be matched with a compatible Sky-rank war beast to grow alongside them, according to their effort and contribution. Those with Ground-rank strength would receive Ground-rank companions in kind.
In other words: work hard enough, show enough potential, and regardless of birth or background, the path to Innate, Sky-rank, or beyond was open.
Jun Wuyou’s Imperial Guard Commander Wanggu Ku Fengkuang, Eagle-Eye Xiahou Weijie, Wind Shasha, Yan Pojun, and over a hundred other publicly recognized cultivators — all of them having already qualified as full Dragon Rider Legion members — appeared at the Warrior Guild simultaneously to display and formally register their individually attuned bracelets. Three tiers were announced for public reference: the Fine Gold War Beast Bracelet, inlaid with energy crystals up to Sky-rank tier three; the Secret Silver War Beast Bracelet, inlaid with Ground-rank tier five and above; and the Red Copper War Beast Bracelet, inlaid with Ground-rank tier four and below. Dragon Rider Legion membership required at minimum a Secret Silver bracelet, with exceptions only for candidates with genuinely extraordinary and unusual talents.
“Nearly three thousand slots remain open in the Dragon Rider Legion. Ten thousand in the Dragon Blood Guard. Warriors who want to become stronger — what are you waiting for?”
When the three Guilds posted Yueyang’s recruitment declaration, the cultivating world caught fire.
I’m going to become a Dragon Rider.
No one could count how many young people swore that oath in the days that followed. The wyverns were visible. The bracelets were real. An opportunity that had never existed before in all of recorded history was sitting open in front of them, extended to anyone willing to reach for it. For a warrior whose entire life was the pursuit of strength, it was a stairway to the heavens.
Two days later, when Yueyang brought back Sea Fatty, Ye Kong, and Snow-Hungry Wolf from Conquest City — all three of them looking roughly like men who had been put through a press and left to dry — even Gray Wolf had a new Drip-Flame Crystal Gold bracelet around its neck.
The war beast it had bonded was not, strictly speaking, the most logical choice. Gray Wolf refused to contract with anyone. Except, apparently, the Golden Dragon — who had been quietly nursing ambitions of one day becoming Yueyang’s personal mount.
The Golden Dragon had a difficult time of it.
Yueyang had originally requisitioned it as a display piece for the Great Xia signing ceremony, then handed it off to Jun Wuyou, who had installed it in the warrior plaza as a living demonstration of what the Legion offered. The dragon had endured this with quiet dignity, entertaining private hopes that its patience would eventually be rewarded.
Gray Wolf found out about those hopes.
Gray Wolf was not pleased.
The warning it delivered was concise. Nobody was going to be Yueyang’s mount except the wolves and whatever they chose to permit. And since Gray Wolf wasn’t currently serving as a mount itself, it had decided to simply contract the Golden Dragon directly and resolve the question permanently.
You want to be the master’s mount? That position is unavailable. Come be mine instead.
The Golden Dragon weighed its options. Gray Wolf was the most favored war beast in the household. Crossing it risked becoming a snack. And when Gray Wolf produced a ball of ancient dragon flame as both demonstration and incentive — be a cooperative little brother and I’ll look after you; cause trouble and you’re dog food — the math became straightforward.
It contracted with the wolf.
A dog was still a dog, technically. But this particular dog was a world-ending demon wolf of the highest order. If it couldn’t cling to the master’s leg, at least it could cling to the master’s war beast’s leg. That wasn’t nothing.
“Gray Wolf, that’s not fair!” Sea Fatty was practically vibrating with indignation. “You have a Sky-rank war beast now and I’ve still got nothing? Where’s the justice? I need to move fast — I need to find myself a Sky-rank beauty war beast, show you all what’s what—”
Ye Kong and Snow-Hungry Wolf simultaneously turned to look at something in the opposite direction.
“A Sky-rank beauty war beast, is it?” Sea Wind Seabird — who had by now evolved a fully human torso and head, only her legs still the original bird-type, a second pair of wings having sprouted at her back, her power pressing ever closer to Sacred Beast — said with crisp precision. “You want one of those? I’ll give you something.”
She gave it to him with both feet.
Sea Fatty hit the ground in a collection of lumps. Gray Wolf, finding the spectacle entertaining, joined in for a few enthusiastic stomps.
Ye Kong and the others continued to observe the middle distance with great interest.
For those who already held Summoning Grimoires, the War Beast Bracelet was still extraordinary — an additional war beast in genuine soul-communication meant an additional life-guardian in every engagement, functionally. Not quite equivalent to a true life-guardian beast, but approaching it. Yueyang declined to make bracelets for this group immediately — finding appropriate Sky-rank partners for each of them would take time, and more pressingly, he needed them to remain in the Longteng continent for a while and help anchor the Dragon Rider Legion’s presence.
“You can’t just train all day,” he told them. “Work and rest, find a balance. Stay here, help the capable ones coming through, do what you can — that’s what it means to be the new generation of Sky Stairway talents. Once I’ve cleared the Sixth Valley — the Devil Valley — I’ll bring you all back to Conquest City properly.”
Sea Fatty and Ye Kong both had families who hadn’t seen them in some time. With the Dragon Rider Legion’s founding being the kind of event it was, their absence from it would raise questions. There were good reasons for them to be visible.
“Understood,” Ye Kong said simply. He never questioned Yueyang.
“One thing,” Snow-Hungry Wolf said, just before leaving. “Conquest City. There’ve been a lot of new arrivals lately.”
Yueyang turned this over.
Central Temple? Unlikely — their people couldn’t penetrate Conquest City’s defenses. The snake-haired sorcerer who’d identified him? Also unlikely — that meeting was arranged for White River City in the Tianhua Domain. The Poison Wasp King, Longma, and the sickle weasel bringing their clanspeople to join up?
Thinking of the snake-haired sorcerer, Yueyang felt a thread of genuine interest.
The man was a legitimate descendant of one of the Four Great Clans. Whatever he wanted from the meeting might be genuinely useful — and even in the worst case, he’d be a source of intelligence worth mining. And then there was the Mirror of Suffering, a sub-divine artifact. Could it be connected to the Three Divine Mirror, one of the six divine artifacts? There was also the spirit mirror that Inan had acquired in the Virgo Palace — possibly some relationship there as well. The six divine artifacts had been scattered for a very long time. If this trip turned up any useful leads, it would be worth the journey.
He made his decision and went to find Qianqian.
“Qianqian. Let’s go. We’re taking a trip to White River City in the heavenly realm.”
“I’m not going,” she said. “Take Yue Yu.”
“You’re jealous.”
“I’m not jealous. I need time with the sword — when I’ve fully made the Prison Emperor’s divine sword my own, I’ll go anywhere with you.”
She hadn’t finished the sentence before he had her by the hand and was already moving. “Sword comprehension — I’m actually very good at that. Let’s work on it together. Oh — Wuxia, were you looking for me? Storm Valkyrie has sensed an ancient rune formation? Hold on, Qianqian and I are both in — count us for the team—”
“Don’t make decisions for me!” Qianqian protested.
“Wuxia, let’s go!” Yueyang said, not hearing anything. His hand remained firmly around Qianqian’s. She wasn’t actually angry. In a moment she wouldn’t even be pretending to be.