Cultivating Immortality, Starting from Childhood Sweethearts-Chapter 412 - Don’t Ask Why the Choice Was Made.

Eastern Sea Dragon Palace.

The Eastern Sea Dragon King, Ao Zhi, stood with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing at the towering Dragon King’s Soar, fifty meters tall.

His eyes narrowed slightly, lost in thought.

Perhaps he was still hesitating—hesitating over whether he should truly go through with this.

“Are you certain the plan will succeed?”

Ao Zhi turned to the woman beside him.

She wore a flowing red dress, her long hair cascading down her back, just reaching her slender waist. A red jade flute hung from her belt.

Her features were delicate, her skin smooth, exuding the grace of a gentle elder sister.

Mei Hongyu smiled slightly. “At this point, does it even matter whether our plan succeeds or not? From your position, Your Majesty, does the outcome truly make a difference?

Do you truly believe that after today, the North Sea’s ruler will let you go?”

Ao Zhi remained silent, but his frown deepened. freeωebnovēl.c૦m

“Your Majesty should stop hesitating over such matters.” Mei Hongyu’s voice was calm, yet her words were absolute. “As the saying goes in the Central Plains—’Once the bow is drawn, there’s no turning back.’ Since you’ve already made your choice, there is no point in questioning why you chose it.”

Ao Zhi fixed his gaze on the woman before him. “If your End Mountain dares to deceive me, the Eastern Sea will not rest until your entire sect is annihilated.”

“Rest assured, Your Majesty. Integrity is the foundation of End Mountain. From ancient times to now, we have never broken a promise to anyone. Otherwise, I doubt Your Majesty would have chosen to work with us in the first place.” Mei Hongyu’s voice was steady, unwavering.

“Hmph!” Ao Zhi let out a cold snort, saying nothing more as his eyes returned to Dragon King’s Soar.

“I understand Your Majesty’s concerns,” Mei Hongyu continued. “It’s about Prince Ao Jin and Princess Ao Yiner—both are still in the North Sea Dragon Palace. If things take a turn for the worse, the Dragon Empress will never let them go.

But, Your Majesty, to achieve great things, one must not be bound by trivial concerns.

Furthermore, our people from End Mountain have already infiltrated the North Sea and will do everything in their power to bring Prince Ao Jin and Princess Ao Yiner back safely.

Of course...” She paused briefly. “Rescuing them from the hands of the Eternal Dragon Empress will not be easy. We can only promise to try. If we fail, we ask Your Majesty not to blame us.

I believe that when Your Majesty made this decision, you had already prepared yourself for the consequences.”

Mei Hongyu laid out all of Ao Zhi’s worries in plain words.

Ao Zhi remained silent.

At this point, he knew all too well—by choosing to side with End Mountain, he had aligned himself with the Southern Demon Kingdom.

When the great upheaval of the era arrived, he and the human race would be sworn enemies.

“The time has come, Your Majesty. We should begin.” Mei Hongyu reminded him.

“I know.”

Even so, a stifling frustration filled Ao Zhi’s chest.

He wasn’t sure whether that frustration was directed at others—or at himself.

Stepping forward, he pulled out a small blade and sliced open his fingertip.

Crimson blood dripped onto the formation beneath Dragon King’s Soar.

The array beneath the totem flared to life, radiating an intense, dazzling light.

The light surged upward, converging upon the towering structure.

The energy condensed further and further, until it transformed into a golden-yellow liquid that filled the entirety of Dragon King’s Soar.

The once-static dragon carvings now seemed ready to take flight from the totem itself.

“ROOOOAAARR!”

Resonant dragon cries thundered through the palace halls.

From Dragon King’s Soar, phantom dragons emerged, spiraling through the grand hall. Their deafening roars, vast as the sea, echoed through the entire palace.

Mei Hongyu bent down and reached for a basin of water.

Inside the basin lay a fish.

It had sharp teeth, a golden body, and two whiskers at the corners of its mouth.

This fish looked almost identical to the one Ao Jin had placed in the pond before.

Mei Hongyu reached out, grasped the fish firmly, and carried it to Dragon King’s Soar.

She produced a small blade and swiftly severed the fish’s head.

Blood dripped onto the towering totem, its golden hue seeping into the ancient carvings. Even without its head, the fish continued to writhe, struggling against its fate.

As the fish bled out, Mei Hongyu chanted an incantation.

Time passed—just long enough to steep a cup of tea. By then, every last drop of the fish’s golden blood had been absorbed into Dragon King’s Soar.

Mei Hongyu formed a seal with her fingers.

The absorbed fish blood transformed into golden threads, which began to weave themselves tightly around the totem, like unbreakable bindings, wrapping around every dragon carving.

“ROOOAARR!”

The phantom dragons roared with greater intensity, thrashing as though they were on the verge of being shackled.

The golden threads stretched tighter and tighter, straining to their limits, as though they might snap at any moment.

But just then, the Eastern Sea Dragon King produced his Imperial Seal.

The jade seal slowly floated upward, its radiance stabilizing the golden threads and suppressing the carvings on the totem.

At last, the dragon roars ceased.

Every dragon engraving settled obediently onto Dragon King’s Soar, their resistance completely subdued.

—

Meanwhile, in the North Sea Dragon Palace, the Dragon Empress slowly ascended into the air.

Xu Ming instinctively looked up.

It wasn’t intentional—his gaze simply followed the movement.

But in that instant, he found himself looking directly beneath the Dragon Empress’s dress.

That said... he saw absolutely nothing.

Of course.

How could the Dragon Empress make such a careless mistake?

His vision only reached her heels—anything beyond that was pure darkness, an abyss-like void that revealed nothing at all.

Everyone was still puzzled by the Dragon Empress’s words.

Why had she revealed this to them? What was her true intention?

No one knew.

But one thing was certain—she had her own plans.

No one dared to question her.

They were merely spectators, after all.

As she approached the phantom projection of Dragon King’s Soar, the Dragon Empress took a deep breath.

Spiritual energy gathered at her fingertips.

Then, with a light touch, she pressed her finger against the illusionary totem.

In an instant, the entire Dragon King’s Soar trembled violently.

“Go!”

Two figures—one in the North Sea, one in the East—lifted their fingers at the same moment.

The phantom projection of Dragon King’s Soar in the North Sea extended upward, transforming into a brilliant beam of light, its trailing edge stretching toward the East.

At the same time, the physical Dragon King’s Soar in the East seemed to sense an unseen force pulling it skyward.

It tore itself from the ground—soaring toward the North.