“The Great Elder flatters me. Since the Dragon Clan wishes to test my strength, I naturally cannot disappoint them, can I?” Lin Yun said with a smile.
“Very well. I said that if you could win, I would support you becoming an honorary elder of the West Sea Dragon Palace, and I keep my word,” the Great Elder conceded.
Though the Dragon Clan was proud, they did not go back on their promises, honouring their word.
“Excellent.”
Little Azure Dragon nodded with satisfaction, then turned to the other nine elders.
“Elders, you previously agreed that if Lin Yun won, you would have no objections, correct?” Little Azure Dragon asked.
“Well… yes.”
“Since he won, we’ll honour our promise. We agree to him becoming an honorary elder of the West Sea Dragon Palace.”
The nine elders of the West Sea Dragon Palace could only assent.
“My thanks to the esteemed elders for their support.”
Lin Yun immediately clasped his fists towards the ten Dragon Clan elders.
“Then tomorrow at noon, we’ll hold a ceremony in the Dragon Palace’s main hall to officially appoint Lin Yun as an honorary elder of the West Sea Dragon Palace!” Little Azure Dragon declared.
“Yes.”
The ten elders of the West Sea Dragon Palace responded in unison.
With Little Azure Dragon and all ten elders in agreement, the matter was settled.
“Dragon King, while I have no objections to appointing him as an honorary elder of the West Sea Dragon Palace, I will never agree to an alliance with the human race. Even if you punish me, even if it costs my life, I firmly oppose it!” the Great Elder stated resolutely.
“Dragon King, we also firmly oppose an alliance,” the other nine elders chimed in.
Even among Little Azure Dragon’s trusted elders, they felt compelled to oppose the alliance with the human race.
From the Dragon Clan’s perspective, it brought no benefits and only harm, especially given their high self-regard and disdain for humans.
“This matter is tabled for now. Let’s end here for today, everyone is dismissed,” Little Azure Dragon said.
Securing Lin Yun’s appointment as an honorary elder of the West Sea Dragon Palace was already a significant achievement. Pushing for an alliance today was clearly unrealistic.
“We take our leave,” the elders said, rising to depart.
The Dragon Clan members who had been watching also dispersed, discussing among themselves.
Soon, only Lin Yun and Little Azure Dragon remained.
“You rascal, you were impressive today!” Little Azure Dragon gave a thumbs-up, smiling.
“Thanks to the last time I soaked in the Sacred Pool, my physical realm improved significantly. Honestly, today’s challenge was quite a close call,” Lin Yun sighed.
“It seems that in the years since I left you, your progress has still been extraordinary,” Little Azure Dragon remarked.
Then, his tone shifted, “However… even though you’re about to become an honorary elder of the West Sea Dragon Palace, an alliance with the human race will be incredibly difficult. The resistance is too great.”
“We’ll deal with that later,” Lin Yun could only say.
He knew full well how immense the obstacles to an alliance were.
“By the way, you rascal, once you become an honorary elder of the Dragon Clan, you’ll be able to learn some of our secret techniques!” Little Azure Dragon said.
Without the honorary elder status, Little Azure Dragon couldn’t easily allow Lin Yun to study Dragon Clan secrets, as that would break their strict rules.
The Dragon Clan fiercely protected their secret techniques and ultimate skills, treating them with utmost seriousness.
Appointing Lin Yun as an honorary elder was permissible, as the role was designed for outsiders, though achieving it was exceedingly difficult.
“Really? But aren’t many of your Dragon Clan’s secret techniques and ultimate skills exclusive to true dragons?” Lin Yun asked.
For instance, the techniques used by Ao Qirui, like Vast Ocean Surge, Dragon Tail Sweep, and Dragon Soaring Nine Heavens, were Dragon Clan ultimate skills. Without them, defeating Ao Qirui would have been much easier for Lin Yun.
Ao Qirui’s combat strength, bolstered by these techniques, was comparable to a human at the third-tier All Things realm, though his defensive power alone surpassed that level significantly.
“Indeed, many Dragon Clan secret techniques and ultimate skills require Dragon Clan bloodline to learn, so as a human, many will be inaccessible to you,” Little Azure Dragon said.
Then he added, “However, we do have a small number of secret techniques and ultimate skills with less strict bloodline requirements, which outsiders can learn. After you’re officially appointed as an honorary elder of the West Sea Dragon Palace tomorrow, I’ll take you to see them.”
“Good,” Lin Yun replied, somewhat expectant.
The next day.
At noon, the ten elders of the West Sea Dragon Palace gathered in the Dragon Palace, joined by other honorary elders and Dragon Clan protectors.
The appointment of an honorary elder involved a formal ceremony, with strict protocols that had to be meticulously followed.
Little Azure Dragon personally presided over the ceremony.
After half an hour, the ceremony reached its final step: refining the Dragon Clan’s essence blood.
Only by successfully refining the essence blood could one officially become an honorary elder of the Dragon Clan.
Little Azure Dragon produced a small vial.
“Lin Yun, this contains a single drop of Dragon Clan essence blood. Once you refine it, your blood will carry a trace of Dragon Clan aura, symbolising your status as an honorary elder,” Little Azure Dragon explained.
“Just one drop?” Lin Yun asked, surprised.
Little Azure Dragon rolled his eyes helplessly, “You think one drop is too little? Dragon Clan essence blood is extremely precious. Even this single drop contains immense power. Without sufficient strength, forcibly refining it could lead to backlash, and this one drop could destroy you.”
The Six-Fin Seal Clan chief, standing nearby, couldn’t help but add, “Lin Yun, don’t underestimate this drop of Dragon Clan essence blood. When we honorary elders refined it, we suffered greatly. There are even historical cases of people perishing from the backlash of failing to refine it.”
“Indeed,” other honorary elders of the West Sea Dragon Palace nearby couldn’t help but sigh.
Even powerful figures like the Six-Fin Seal Clan chief, who had earned their honorary elder status through great contributions, struggled immensely with refining this drop of essence blood, underscoring its formidable difficulty.
