Love

Watching all this happen yet powerless to stop it, the Red Dragon Demon's entire body trembled with rage, breaking out in a cold sweat and turning ice-cold despite the heat.

What he said earlier was indeed true; in his current remnant spirit state, he truly could not condense any more Pathway origin source.

Bai Xiaodu's actions basically meant that all the resources he had painstakingly scraped together from all over the Secret Realm since his awakening, scraping the very bottom of the barrel to gather what little savings he had, were now completely squandered!

The Red Dragon Demon felt as if the sky was falling.

Where on earth did this godlike weirdo come from?

Who the fuck sent him in here?

Seeing the Red Dragon Demon in such a state, Bai Xiaodu's expression turned a bit peculiar.

A phrase quickly came to his mind.

“A useless husband.”

Shaking his head, Bai Xiaodu cast the Roaming Dragon Technique once again, using the jump points to continuously ascend.

Within just a few minutes, he successfully reached an altitude of thirty thousand meters.

In any case, he had completed his task.

Upon returning, Bai Xiaodu tried to submit the quest, but the Red Dragon Demon remained unresponsive, as if he had crashed.

He originally wanted to wait for the Red Dragon Demon to snap out of it so they could continue the trial, but after Bai Xiaodu waited patiently for over ten minutes, the other party was still hovering in midair with his head hung low.

...Well, it seemed the blow really was a bit too heavy.

Seeing that he was still in this state, Bai Xiaodu couldn't help but take the initiative to ask.

“Hey, keep going. You're the one who said at the start that you're a fair, just judge who never acts on impulse. How can you shrink back over such a minor setback?”

The Red Dragon Demon cried out in deep sorrow.

“Oh, you're so noble! You're so amazing! It's easy for you to talk when you don't have to suffer! You got to feel great after letting off that blast, but what about me?!”

Bai Xiaodu immediately grew anxious.

“I'm warning you, speak normally! What do you mean 'letting off a blast' or whatever? People are watching me from the outside! You might not care about your reputation, but I still have to maintain my image!”

Liu Qingzhu had a bizarre expression, while the Winged human turned his head away, pretending he hadn't heard a thing.

The Red Dragon Demon still looked completely despondent and dejected. Bai Xiaodu spread his hands.

“If it's gone, it's gone. What's the big deal? You're already dead, so why are you still worrying about worldly possessions?”

“Since this batch is dead, just change to a new one. If you can't condense the origin source, just use ordinary ones. It's not like you don't have them, judging by the recording.”

The Red Dragon Demon's already red face turned an even deeper shade of crimson.

“You know shit! You're not a remnant spirit of a Secret Realm!”

“Usually, a Secret Realm is just a reenactment of the past in another form of expression, but we remnant spirits shoulder an important responsibility.”

“We are born from the intense emotional fluctuations of the original host during their lifetime, and we awaken from the unforgettable obsessions they held after death!”

“Our very existence is to help the original host fulfill their dying wishes and make up for their final regrets.”

Trembling all over, he pointed at the large pile of shredded meat below.

“But now, it's all gone!

It's all completely gone!”

Bai Xiaodu scratched his ear, not daring to make a sound.

The Red Dragon Demon continued his narration.

“My original host, Kiru Giandrololo Asasibigon Redhunt. In life, he was a 【Fearless】 Warrior of the red dragon clan, and even though he had achieved extremely glorious feats by the end of his life, he still regretted his past cowardice and resented his former incompetence!”

“As a half-breed of red dragon and human, Master was destined to be far more emotional and intelligent than those lizards who only knew how to eat, drink, and mate.”

“But his weak constitution, along with the exclusion and slander he faced for being a half-breed, filled his childhood with self-deprecation and resentment, making him never dare to accept the love of his silver dragon beloved, who had revealed her feelings to him after he saved her from bullying.”

The Red Dragon Demon showed a look of sorrow.

“To make himself worthy of this love, Kiru exhausted all his strength and never once treated himself like a human—it was fight, fight, and more fighting!”

“Combat and slaughter are the instincts of dragons, and only through this could he rapidly increase his strength, rising from a lowly half-breed to a sovereign of his own domain, forcing everyone who looked down on him to grovel.”

“You have no idea how much effort he put in, how much blood and sweat he poured out, and how many scars he bore on his body!”

“But what was the result? What was the result?!”

The Red Dragon Demon wrapped his arms around himself, clutching his heart tightly in a dramatic gesture of pain, as if he were too heartbroken to breathe.

“At a massive banquet held in his honor, a thoroughly exhausted Kiru finally stepped into the circle of pure-blood dragons, where high-and-mighty nobles paid tribute to him, and loyal servants cheered for his victory.”

“But Kiru could no longer stay, because he discovered that his beloved—that incomparably beautiful silver dragon—had long since become the beloved of another!”

“What made Kiru completely dumbfounded and threw his world into darkness was that this so-called 'other' was none other than the red dragon playboy who had ruthlessly bullied him and the silver dragon lady when they were young!”

“How could it be him? How could it be him?! Even if it were another brave soul who had fought his way up from the bottom...”

“He didn't have to sacrifice anything, he didn't have to do anything! Just by virtue of being born into the right family, he effortlessly obtained everything Kiru had dreamed of—status, wealth, cultivation, and even snatched away the dragon Kiru regarded from the bottom of his heart as the sole love of his life!”

“It's not fair! It's not fair!”

“If only he had been bolder, if only he had been more proactive...”

At this point, the Red Dragon Demon's voice grew low, filled with a deep, vast sorrow as wide as the ocean.

“If only he could have rushed to the silver dragon lady's side with the speed of a rabbit to embrace her, struck her heart with the accuracy of a flying eagle, and crushed all the enemies who coveted her with the strength of a wild bull!”

“Then... then everything would have been different...”

Liu Qingzhu wiped her moist eyes and couldn't help but murmur softly.

“Is this why he set up these layers of trials? To tell those who came after not to leave any more regrets... Sigh, those two dragons really were a pair of star-crossed lovers.”

The Winged human also had a complex expression.

“I originally thought the dragon clan was just a bunch of bloodthirsty, greedy, and terrifying creatures. I didn't expect them to have such delicate feelings.”

Hearing the two's laments with his own ears, the Red Dragon Demon couldn't help but be slightly moved.

As long as a resonance was struck, emotions could transcend species, connecting humans to each other, and humans to dragons.

Although he was in a remnant spirit state and had long lacked anything like tears, he still couldn't help but wipe the corner of his eye and let out a long sigh.

Turning his head, he looked at Bai Xiaodu beside him.

Although this guy had been an absolute bastard since the very first stage, given his handsome appearance, his emotional world must also be highly complex. Perhaps he, of all people, could better understand his feelings right now.

The remaining few all cast their gazes in the same direction, only to see...

Bai Xiaodu waved his hand dismissively at them, his cute face filled with impatience.

“That's enough. Two heretics actually falling in love? Just the fact that you're alive makes me sick to my stomach. Get lost!”

“Hurry up and open the third stage! Stop dilly-dallying. Let me tell you, don't bring that dragon crap over here. The United Federation has no shortage of people. If you can act as a judge, then do it. If you can't, then get lost!”

As these words fell, the entire area fell into dead silence.

Not to mention the Red Dragon Demon, even the remaining teammates felt their vision go black!