Divine Emperor of Heavenly Destiny

Indeed, the moment he arrived at the mountain behind the Dragon Flame Inner Courtyard, Lu Chao had noticed the massive stone at its peak.

His Life-taking Star-devouring Bone seemed to be unceasingly telling him: ’Devour it.’

Yet at the same time, another voice seemed to be telling Lu Chao...

...that with his current realm, he was not yet strong enough to devour this Demon Dragon Divine Bone. He could only stare at it, unable to consume it.

At his side, Cheng Yunsu asked, ”Lu Chao, what is it?”

Lu Chao snapped out of his trance and replied softly, ”I was just thinking. Since the first Dean of Dragon Flame Academy was able to nurture the Nine Sons of Dragon Flame, if I can comprehend something from this Demon Dragon Divine Bone, could I also nurture nine geniuses for the academy?”

Anyone else who heard this would have surely laughed at Lu Chao for such a wild fantasy.

But Cheng Yunsu didn’t feel that way at all. She urged Lu Chao to go examine the Demon Dragon Divine Bone immediately while she stayed behind to get their rooms in order.

Just like that, Lu Chao left their courtyard and made his way toward the mountaintop.

He had been telling the truth. He couldn’t devour the Demon Dragon Divine Bone for now, but perhaps he could still comprehend something from it.

He had a faint feeling that there was something else around the Demon Dragon Divine Bone.

Soon, Lu Chao arrived beside the massive stone. He didn’t observe it right away, however, instead sitting down in a meditative posture.

He needed to enter his Bone Inner World first. Now that he had reached the Innate Realm, he had two tasks to accomplish.

First, he had to figure out how to extract the Fire Sparrow Bone, as he had planned before.

Second, he was now able to devour his fourth Star Heavenly Destiny Bone.

Bone Inner World...

All the Star Heavenly Destiny Bones became clearly visible once more.

’I’ve reached the Innate Realm. I should be able to devour and fuse three Star Heavenly Destiny Bones in total during this stage.’

’For now, it’s just the first one.’

In the Qi Gathering Realm, he had devoured one bone to advance to the Profound Bone level. In the Postnatal Realm, he had devoured two to advance to the Earth Bone level. It was highly likely that in the Innate Realm, he would need to devour three to reach the Heavenly Bone Level.

But as he was currently only at the Innate First Layer, he could certainly only devour one for now.

His gaze was still drawn to the deepest reaches of the void, toward that solitary Star Fire Sparrow Bone.

Suddenly, Lu Chao asked, ’How can I draw you out of my body?’

Perhaps the Bone Inner World had changed after he reached the Innate Realm, which was why Lu Chao posed the question.

”SKREEE—”

A sharp cry seemed to erupt from the Star Fire Sparrow Bone. Following it, a Fire Sparrow Bone Meridian Map—far larger and more complete than before—unfurled across the entire star-filled expanse.

The next moment...

The same vast, profound voice that had first explained the rules of the Bone Inner World echoed in Lu Chao’s mind. It informed him that to extract the Star Fire Sparrow Bone, he had to fully comprehend and operate the Fire Sparrow Bone’s Meridian Map.

Before, Lu Chao had only been able to see a small fraction of the Fire Sparrow Meridian Map. Now, having reached the Innate Realm, he could see it in its entirety.

Clenching his fists tightly, Lu Chao withdrew his gaze from the Star Fire Sparrow Bone...

The Fire Sparrow Bone Meridian Map slowly faded away. Then, Lu Chao made an unexpected discovery... In the distant void, level with the Star Fire Sparrow Bone, three new stars had appeared. They were invisible to him before but were now suddenly present.

Taking a deep breath, Lu Chao began to murmur to himself...

’The three Heavenly Destiny Bones in the lower void are the ones I devoured myself. They are at the Heavenly Bone Level.’

’The densely packed Star Heavenly Bone Destiny constellations in the nearer void, including the three I’ve already fused, are all at the Saint Bone Level.’

’In the far void, the Star Fire Sparrow Bone and the others I can now see... they should be at the Divine Bone Level.’

’As my realm increases...’

’I’ll be able to see more and more Star Heavenly Destiny Bones. And above the Divine Bone Level, there must be even more powerful existences. Just like the Fire Sparrow Bone that Xiao Su’er herself shattered—that was an existence that surpassed the Divine Bone Level.’

’In other words, even if I manage to extract this Star Fire Sparrow Bone, it won’t be as powerful as the one Su’er originally had.’

Lu Chao was gradually piecing together the current structure of his Bone Inner World.

He shook his head, deciding not to dwell on it...

The complexity of the Star Fire Sparrow Bone’s Meridian Map wasn’t something he could master overnight. Therefore, he needed to choose another Star Heavenly Destiny Bone to devour and fuse. His gaze fell upon the three newly appeared Divine Bone stars.

’Slaughter Sword Bone, Illusory Sound Bone, Dragon General Bone...’

As Lu Chao’s gaze swept over the three Star Divine Bones, information about them automatically surfaced in his mind.

The three Divine Bones represented combat, Secret Techniques, and the Soldier Dao, respectively.

’The Dragon General Bone... it’s of the same origin as Marshal Fan’s Tiger General Bone. It provides a natural enhancement to controlling troops, boosting morale, and the like.’

’In single combat, it’s not as good as the Slaughter Sword Bone, but it’s far more powerful in large-scale battles.’

’This is the one...’

The moment he made his decision, Lu Chao made a grasping motion toward the Heavenly Dragon General Bone. Instantly, the Dragon General Bone transformed into a meteor, plummeting from the distant void.

In an instant, it was swallowed by the earth of his Bone Inner World.

Lu Chao’s consciousness instantly returned from his Bone Inner World. He then felt his Life-taking Star-devouring Bone forcefully fuse with the Dragon General Bone. Immediately, the Meridian Map for the Dragon General Bone, along with its accompanying skills and Martial Techniques, flashed through his mind.

’The Meridian Map of a Divine Bone is truly complex and powerful. Even after fusion, I’ll need to study and cultivate it slowly.’

’Martial Technique: Fury Dragon Spear Slash... can be used both on foot and while mounted.’

Taking a deep breath, Lu Chao immediately entered a state of meditation to familiarize himself with and cultivate the Star Dragon General Bone. The True Qi in his body surged violently from devouring the Dragon General Bone, giving him the momentum to break through to the Innate Second Layer in one fell swoop.

...

Just as Lu Chao was meditating beside the giant stone of the Divine Bone...

「Celestial King Academy!」

”Bullshit Closed-door Disciple! That’s that damned Fake Lu Chao! The one who held me captive for nearly a month!”

”It was Marquis Jilong, Yin Ye, who brought him to Dragon Flame Academy.”

The one speaking was none other than the other Vice Dean of Celestial King Academy, Li Wumian.

Just as Lu Chao had suspected, Li Wumian had gone to the Tiger Flame Kingdom to negotiate the merger of the academies.

And as a result, he’d fucking almost died.

He had only returned to Celestial King Academy from the former site of the Azure Flame Sect two days ago, bringing with him the news that the Six Great Flame Countries had agreed to the merger.

That was what had prompted Celestial King Academy to launch its campaign of slander and attacks against Dragon Flame Academy.

But that campaign had failed because of the appearance of Yin Ye and Lu Chao, and ten Celestial King Students had died in the process.

The entire Celestial King Academy was now seething with rage.

Just as Li Wumian was telling Zheng Liyuan and the other upper echelons of Celestial King Academy that Lu Chao was not Sun Shijin’s Closed-door Disciple...

An aged voice suddenly echoed through the room.

”Dragon Flame Academy must be given no hope whatsoever. As long as they hold the Dragon Flame name, the Dragon Flame King will always look for a chance to support them. We must make them lose even the qualification to send twenty students from their Outer Courtyard to the competition.”

”Yin Ye will certainly try to place the successors of the Azure Flame Sect into Dragon Flame Academy.”

”To prevent any accidents, find a pretext to act when the Azure Flame Sect’s successors enter the Royal Capital. In front of everyone... eliminate them!”

Hearing this voice, Zheng Liyuan, Li Wumian, and the others all shuddered.

The voice belonged to the Patriarch of the Saint Bone Zheng Family—the true master behind Celestial King Academy.