Chasing after her husband? Is it even possible to win him back?

For example... those meticulously arranged houses near the imperial city of the Demon Kingdom.

But it's definitely inappropriate to ask this kind of question now.

He could only nod to indicate that he understood.

Further ahead, Hong Ji, who was leading the way, stopped. "Hong Ji will wait here for Your Highness and Young Master Chu."

Ao Ning did not stop walking, and Chu Xunfeng followed closely behind. After walking through a long corridor, they turned a corner and a library with its doors wide open appeared before them.

"That is my mother," Ao Ning whispered a reminder.

Chu Xunfeng withdrew his gaze, nodded with an air of self-reflection, and followed Ao Ning up.

"Mother, I have heard rumors circulating in the Imperial Prefecture and Bianzhou about the person who consumed the Phoenix Blood Dragon..."

"Oh dear, Ningning, you're so old-fashioned." A childish voice interrupted Ao Ning. "How many times have I told you, I don't like you talking to me like that. There are no outsiders here."

“Mother…” Ao Ning’s voice was a mixture of laughter and tears.

"Alright, alright, come here, human boy, I'll ask you, what's your name?" A childish voice approached Chu Xunfeng, and the young man had no choice but to slightly raise his drooping head to look at the loli in the palace dress who only reached his navel.

"You... are the Azure Dragon God? Ao Ning's... mother?"

Xing! This husband of the Azure Dragon God is truly deserving of punishment!

"I am... Stop talking nonsense, I'm asking you!" The little girl's eyes widened as she stared at Chu Xunfeng's face. "Answer me, tell me, what's your name?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, my name is Chu Xunfeng." The young man bowed.

"What innate abilities did you inherit from that pill? Can you demonstrate them?"

"I've made a fool of myself." Chu Xunfeng took two steps back, took a deep breath, and whipped his leg through the air, using the power output of the Phoenix Blood Burning Cloud Qi.

The sudden explosion of clouds startled Ao Ning, while the Azure Dragon God stared at Chu Xunfeng in disbelief, "You... you also inherited the Phoenix Clan's innate divine abilities?"

"Shouldn't it be like this?" Chu Xunfeng looked at the Azure Dragon God, puzzled himself.

"It's not that it's impossible, but... nothing like this has ever happened in hundreds of years." The Azure Dragon God-King crossed his slightly chubby arms and looked up at Chu Xunfeng. "The Phoenix Blood is just a medicinal ingredient. To be able to draw upon the Phoenix Clan's power from it should be considered an extraordinary talent..."

"Your bloodline ability to inhale and exhale cloud energy has some potential, but your use of cloud energy and your exploration of phoenix blood are too superficial." The Azure Dragon God-King crossed his arms, looking down at Chu Xunfeng with an imposing aura despite his head being tilted back. "Chu Xunfeng, I ask you, are you willing to join my Dragon Clan?"

"..." Chu Xunfeng fell silent.

To be honest, if the Ning family only made him sad and upset, then what happened in Baidi City a few days ago really chilled his heart.

"Why me?" Chu Xunfeng asked softly.

"Because you ate the Phoenix Blood Dragon Bone Pill." The fair-skinned, even slightly chubby, loli-like goddess looked at Chu Xunfeng with suspicion. "The Phoenix Blood Dragon Bone Pill, as the name suggests, is made from the blood of the Phoenix Clan and the bones of the Dragon Clan."

"After you took this pill, you will have a trace of my dragon bloodline..." The loli goddess paused here, and suddenly began to whisper, "That Suzaku guy won't try to steal my son, will he? It shouldn't be that way. My taking in a son has little to do with her. She's never been a mother, so she wouldn't try to steal this identity from me... Hmm."

After quietly muttering his innermost thoughts, the Azure Dragon God looked up again at the human youth with a subtle expression. "In short, you have inherited the bloodline and supernatural powers of the Dragon Clan. As the royal family of the Demon Clan, my Dragon Clan naturally needs to examine you. If you are willing to join my Dragon Clan, I can take you as my adopted son."

"What's the point of doing this?" Chu Xunfeng stared at the Azure Dragon God with a puzzled look.

"It's pointless. I just want to take you in as my godson. After all, who knows what kind of bloodline my relative is in that pill you took that was out of reach? Four-fifths of the dragons in the world are blood relatives."

"What if I refuse?" Chu Xunfeng couldn't help but ask.

Chu Xunfeng knew he shouldn't have asked that question, but this Azure Dragon God Lord wasn't intimidating in appearance, and... he looked a bit simple-minded.

"Xiao Ningning brought you back, which proves that you have passed his test. If you insist on refusing to be related to our dragon clan by blood, I will give you some insights into cultivating bloodline supernatural powers and send you back to the Nine Provinces. You can do whatever you want."

"However, if you choose to leave, you must cast a poisonous curse and not use the name of the dragon clan to do anything, whether it is good or bad. That's the only rule."

"Just choose according to your heart. Just like we won't do anything to you if you don't join, actually, even if you join, if you don't have the ability, you won't get any benefits. The things that the demon race believes in are different from those of the human race, so don't have too high expectations."

The Azure Dragon God Lord crossed his arms and looked at Chu Xunfeng, who was deep in thought.

Ao Ning unfolded his folding fan, gently fanning himself as he looked at Chu Xunfeng.

What would you choose?

Brothers Chu?

Chapter 44, The Rise of Soldiers and Generals

The Azure Dragon God, who looked like a girl of about ten years old, looked up at Chu Xunfeng, who was frowning and deep in thought, and waited quietly.

Ao Ning waved his folding fan, his eyes fixed intently on Chu Xunfeng.

"I'll join, but I don't want to be someone's son." Chu Xunfeng lowered his head to look at the Azure Dragon God. "What does the Azure Dragon God think?"

"Hmm... no." The Azure Dragon God shook his head. "Since you are a dragon, you must naturally come under my command. Otherwise, you can only serve as a servant to other true dragons for a period of time."

Chu Xunfeng frowned.

“Hong Ji is a carp. Before she could cultivate and form her core, she crossed the Dragon Gate. However, she has not yet shed her fish form and become a true dragon. She can only stay by my side to cultivate for the time being and has to take on some servant’s work.”

"Without a public identity, there will always be gossip. Our royal family is an example for the demon race, and there are some rules that cannot be avoided."

"I insist on my idea, what should I do?" Chu Xunfeng looked at Ao Ning.

He no longer wanted to live under someone else's roof.

In the Demon Kingdom, where demons roam freely, he wanted to establish himself firmly. In the future, even if he had to leave, he, Chu Xunfeng, would rely on his own abilities to leave the Demon Kingdom!

"Cultivate bloodline supernatural powers, transcend the Dragon Gate." The Azure Dragon God Lord stared at the young man whose gaze had turned to him. "There have been people in history who shared your thoughts. If you, as a human, could cultivate your bloodline supernatural powers to the point of being able to wear dragon scales like armor..."

"At that time, the vast sea will be yours to leap across, and the high sky will be yours to fly over."

"Thank you for your guidance, Divine Lord." Chu Xunfeng took a deep breath and turned to look at Ao Ning, who had a smile on her face. "What should I do?"

"It's all up to you." Ao Ning tapped his folding fan in his palm as he stared at the human youth. "You made your choice, so you can't blame my dragon clan for bringing you here and then abandoning you."

"A place to live, a little start-up capital, you should have that, right?"

"That's all." Ao Ning stared at Chu Xunfeng. "So, do you still want to insist?"

"Of course." Chu Xunfeng nodded firmly.

"Good, Brother Chu, that's ambitious." Ao Ning nodded. The Fourth Prince turned to his mother and asked, "Mother, shall I take the person away then?"

"Yes, go ahead." The Azure Dragon God nodded slightly, his gaze fixed intently on the departing figures of his son and Chu Xunfeng.

Does he have something to rely on? Or is he really just a naive fool?

The Azure Dragon God sat back down at his desk and chuckled softly.

Wait and see.

Leaping over the dragon gate is not as easy as outsiders think.

Half an hour later, Chu Xunfeng was taken to a mansion in the demon race's imperial city. It faced south and had a small courtyard and a house, making it a very nice place to stay.

This small courtyard was one of Ao Ning's residences. According to the Fourth Prince, it was given to Chu Xunfeng as a gift to express his gratitude and also as an apology.

After seeing Ao Ning and Hong Ji off, Chu Xunfeng sat on a stone chair in the courtyard, seemingly lost in thought, but actually communicating with the system.

The so-called Dragon Gate is formed by the convergence of the 'intentions' left behind by the ancient dragon race.

The term "leap" is merely a figure of speech; if a description is needed, it would be more accurate to say "break through."

[Only by understanding the overwhelming pressure of the True Dragon's will and merging oneself with it can one break through the barrier and leap over the Dragon Gate.]

In other words, if a user, as a body cultivator, wants to cross the Dragon Gate, they must abandon their current intention of 'breaking' and re-concentrate their intent.

Alternatively, one could approach it from the perspective of military or magical cultivation.

"What's your suggestion?"

[User, you are the one cultivating; I am merely a system.]

“Okay.” With the system pointing the way, Chu Xunfeng continued to think along that path.

The gunsmith's intention was that Chu Xunfeng had already grasped some of his own skills while rescuing the young lady and fighting the man in black for the weapon, and he didn't want to give up.

Moreover, he didn't even know what the so-called "true dragon's intent" was. It was really unnecessary to give up the intent, which he had already grasped a trace of, for something he couldn't understand.

Let's start with practicing the Dharma.

"System, progress bar?"

[Third New Player Bonus: 1.4%]

As for the weapons and techniques required for martial arts cultivation, I don't yet know the way to them, so for now I can only continue to exploit the Blood Refining Technique.

[User, system notification: Only by cultivating all three simultaneously and entering the Human Profound Realm can you achieve unity of mind, body, and skill.]

What do you mean?

If the three cultivation methods cannot be pursued simultaneously, they will hinder each other. However, if they complement each other, the user can make rapid progress in the Three Profound Realms.

"Understood." Chu Xunfeng stood up. "We need to train our troops."

【Yes. 】

Chu Xunfeng has already grasped the essence of body cultivation. Although he is still lingering in the Qi and Blood Realm, the Blood Refining Technique only requires slow cultivation. Entering the fourth realm is as easy as drinking water.

We can't exploit the body cultivators anymore, it will affect future development, so we have to exploit the soldier cultivators instead.

"We just parted ways, do I really have to go see them again?" Chu Xunfeng sighed, but then he thought that it didn't seem necessary. It wouldn't be too late to go to the demon city first and then make a plan.

So Chu Xunfeng stood up and went out.

As it turns out, Chu Xunfeng's decision not to go directly to Ao Ning was indeed the right one.