A while ago, the east of the academy had Violet Dragon Empress, the south had Metalkin War God, the west had Brightking Buddha, and the north had Holyfrost Emperor.

In terms of fame, the first three overshadowed Holyfrost Emperor.

Violet Dragon Empress had total authority and military power - virtually matchless among the young generation in terms of aura.

Metalkin War God was enamored with fighting, true to his title. He fought numerous battles and made his enemies wail in agony. Just mentioning his title alone made people shudder.

Brightking Buddha needed no introduction. His Buddhist arts were peerless, enough to save the living beings and make a name for himself as one of the greatest Buddhists.

On the other hand, Holyfrost Emperor kept a low profile and rarely showed herself outside of her system. Moreover, she was also the youngest of the four. Thus, she had less popularity outside of the academy.

The arrival of Violet Dragon Empress made people breathless. A few big shots were intimidated by her regal aura.

“Now this is interesting.” An expert quietly said.

The other side had just received an immense boost of power, especially the legion.

“Rumor has it that when she’s in command of the legion, she can summon a true dragon with immense power.” Another who has seen her in battle before revealed.

“I don’t think anyone can stop her legion under her command outside of progenitors.” An elder added.

Not only was she powerful, but she was also a capable strategist. Divine Beast Legion was immensely effective under her control.

Thus, people felt that this could be a test for Li Qiye since he was facing something only barely beneath a progenitor.

“We’ll see how strong he is, depending on how he faces the legion.” Many were waiting to see both Li Qiye’s true strength along with the empress’ leadership.

The empress stood on her dragon and looked around the crowd with her sword-like gaze, seemingly able to cut others.

“I commanded you here to train in both willpower and actual battle, not for personal feud or face!” She suddenly scolded the legion with a stern tone.

The members didn’t expect this. They lowered their head, not daring to disagree.

“Venerable, you are the commander yet you act on personal feelings with wanton regards for your duty. I sentence you to 300 years of no salary and eight years of confinement, effective after this operation!” She then stared at Celestial Dragon Venerable.

“I accept.” The venerable didn’t defy her in the slightest and bowed his head.

No one expected this development. In the beginning, they thought that she would personally take command to fight Li Qiye for the prestige of her court.

After all, a powerful entity normally cared about their image. This wasn’t the case here. She seemed to be supporting and protecting Li Qiye instead of her own men.

“Hmph, leave now.” She loudly commanded.

The venerable and the legion bowed towards her before departing towards the horizon of this desert.

The empress then jumped off her dragon and came up to Li Qiye’s group, cupping her fist.

“Dao Brother, my men were ignorant and let emotions cloud their judgment, please forgive them.” She said with a bow.

This act looked natural and full of sincerity to the astonishment of the crowd. The imperious empress was actually apologizing to Li Qiye?!

“You’re far smarter than them. Very well, big shots are always benevolent, right? I won’t pursue this any further.” Li Qiye smiled and shook his head before leaving.

The empress actually followed along with the group.

Meanwhile, the spectators had no choice but to scatter away since a battle wasn’t going to happen.

***

“Dao Brother, I heard you were able to open Sir Yinxi’s boulder.” The empress asked Li Qiye.

“Looks like you have figured out something to come here.” Li Qiye smiled.

“Metalkin and Brightking were the first to come here. However, the matters here are above my station. I’m not here for the treasures, only to train for a bit.” She smiled and said. Her style was different yet still on the same level as Holyfrost in terms of attractiveness.

“You’ve noticed then.” He smiled, not particularly interested.

“Yes, this is the idea of those two. A progenitor has left several things behind here.” The empress revealed.

She didn’t dwell on this matter, seemingly not interested in competing for the treasures.

“Dao Brother, do be careful of the dangers here since you’ve only just arrived.” She continued: “Evil comes out once night falls, impossible to destroy and hard to resist. It’s best to hide in the temple at that point.”

One could easily imagine how dangerous it was considering her power. She was just as strong as Holyfrost and sincerely reminded them out of kindness.

“We’ll keep that in mind.” Li Qiye nodded.

She pondered for a bit and added: “I’m sure you’ll go deeper eventually. Just be aware that Metalkin and Brightking are antagonistic towards you, tread carefully.”

She wasn’t fond of gossip so she must have heard something to make a statement like this.

In fact, this wasn’t strange at all since he had destroyed their dao avatars previously.

“I’ll be waiting.” Li Qiye didn’t mind at all.

The empress was moved to see his nonchalant attitude. Remember, those two were renowned for their strength.

Thus, Li Qiye was either an invincible master or insane. The latter was clearly not the case so she realized that her estimation was correct.

“Your court has a decent secondary dragon bone.” Li Qiye suddenly brought this up. [1]

The empress became frozen and shocked. Fewer than few people knew of this.

“The purity of blood is indeed at the true dragon level.” Li Qiye continued: “Quite a big deal and very profound.”

“I’m afraid I don’t quite understand, Dao Brother.” She smiled wryly, looking a bit nervous.

“Don’t worry, I have no intention of taking it.” Li Qiye shook his head after seeing her unnatural expression.

“You’re teasing me, Dao Brother.” The empress heaved a sigh of relief.

For some reason, she felt as if he could actually do it and they would only be able to watch him take it away. Her True Dragon Court could take on any other lineage or system in Immortal Lineage so she didn’t get why she had this feeling.

“However, I actually thought about taking it before. The profundity inside a pureblood true dragon is worthy of pondering, quite precious indeed.” Li Qiye said.

Her heart skipped a beat again.

“But, we can be considered acquaintances now and you have been courteous and proper. I’m no longer in a position to rob your treasure. I would have had a good justification to do so if your legion attacked me earlier. I would have massacred everyone and then take that dragon bone later on.” Li Qiye continued on.

. The word for secondary has too many meanings so I’m not sure. Picking a neutral term just in case