Chapter 871

Stelle: "How bold of you, Dragon Elder! I recognized at a glance that he is not human!"

Stelle: "Looking at him like this, it is obvious he has ties to the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus."

Brother Dan Heng: "Sigh, I truly never expected that a former Dragon Elder would end up like this."

Miss Lingsha: "He does not hesitate in the slightest to let others see his appearance."

Miss Lingsha: "Hehe, it seems he has already made his preparations."

The video continued.

"All of this is thanks to your previous life."

"If you had not acted arbitrarily back then, why would I have needed to seek a dangerous path to bear the burden of our entire race's liberation, transforming myself into this state of being neither human nor ghost?"

Long Shitao glanced at Brother Dan Heng,

then sneered coldly.

Hearing this, Brother Dan Heng remained silent.

"Mr. Dan Heng, you have returned twice, yet you never deigned to meet with us old fossils; what a pity."

"Now we must meet under such circumstances; truly, fate mocks us."

Long Shitao shook his head,

seeming somewhat emotional.

"I came today with Young Lady Lingsha not to reminisce about the past."

Brother Dan Heng explained.

"That is true."

"When the Cauldron Master sends an invitation, how could a Dragon Elder refuse to attend?"

Stelle: "This old fossil speaks with such sarcasm."

Brother Dan Heng: "His heart is filled with resentment; naturally, he cannot speak kindly."

Amber: "Is this person really very old?"

Amber: "But he looks so young..."

March 7th: "He is a Vidyadhara Elder; he is probably truly an old fossil."

March 7th: "He likely belongs to the same generation as Brother Dan Heng's previous life."

March 7th: "He might even be older than General Jing Yuan."

Diviner Fu Xuan: "Logically speaking, he has reached the limit of his lifespan; according to Vidyadhara rules, he should have reincarnated."

Diviner Fu Xuan: "But looking at his current state, he has clearly employed a forbidden technique of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus to extend his life!"

Diviner Fu Xuan: "This alone constitutes a grave taboo!"

Miss Lingsha: "Alas, I never expected that a Vidyadhara Dragon Elder would truly fall to this."

Miss Lingsha: "No matter the reason, he should not have done this!"

The video continued.

"I, Lingsha, am unworthy of the position of Cauldron Master; the Alchemy Commission had countless tasks awaiting revival, and only today can I speak with you; please forgive me, Elder."

"Regarding the prison break at the Shackling Prison, I have found some physical evidence to deliver; surely you, Dragon Elder, have already seen it."

Miss Lingsha was direct,

cutting straight to the main point.

"Hmm, you delivered the remains of a Mara-struck individual, a map of the Shackling Prison, and a pill of Returning Dust and Halting Form to my residence."

Long Shitao nodded,

indicating that he had already seen these items.

"Those remains belonged to an assassin who hid their tracks using Cloudhymn Arts, aiding the Borisin in moving unimpeded through the Shackling Prison."

"That marked map depicts the escape route taken by the prisoners of the Shackling Prison."

"Since a Vidyadhara artisan helped devise the construction of the Shackling Prison, I assume you, Mr. Shitao, also possess an identical copy of that map."

"As for this pill—"

Before Miss Lingsha could finish speaking,

Long Shitao took up the thread.

"It is a pill of Returning Dust and Halting Form."

"Correct; regarding the prison break at the Shackling Prison, I did contribute to the planning."

Long Shitao admitted it cleanly and decisively.

"So, the appearance of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus and the Lord Ravager within the Alchemy Commission, the chaos they wrought there, the introduction of the Stellaron, and the rebirth of the Ambrosial Arbor are all inseparable from the Vidyadhara?"

Miss Lingsha continued to question.

"Correct."

Long Shitao admitted it once again without the slightest hesitation.

"You admit it?"

Regarding Shitao's attitude,

Brother Dan Heng felt somewhat surprised and suspicious.

"Is it very unexpected?"

"You two were dispatched by the Seat of Divine Foresight as envoys; isn't your purpose simply to hear me confess with my head bowed?"

Mualani: "Ah, this... he admitted it so readily."

Mualani: "Does this mean he does not intend to resist?"

March 7th: "Huh? Even the Lord Ravager causing chaos on Luo Fu and the rebirth of the Ambrosial Arbor were due to his secret efforts?"

March 7th: "My god, how could he do something like this?!"

Stelle: "Sigh, no wonder Huanlong was able to sneak in so easily and reach the sealed Jianmu without any trouble."

Stelle: "So there was a mole on the inside helping her."

Stelle: "Damn, what a rotten bastard!"

Miss Lingsha: "It's just too disappointing."

Miss Lingsha: "Plunging Luo Fu into danger time and time again!"

Miss Lingsha: "He doesn't deserve to be a Long Shitao of the Vidyadhara!"

Ying: "But what was his reason for doing all this?"

Ying: "What benefit does he get if something happens to Luofu Xianzhou?"

The video continued.

【Ever since the Drinking Moon Calamity, the Vidyadhara population has dwindled day by day.】

【Long Zun was exiled, and I, along with several Long Shitao, had no choice but to do our best to prop things up, pulling the raging tide back from the brink of collapse.】

【The methods may have been extreme, perhaps misunderstood, but in the end it was all for one thing — the survival of the Vidyadhara.】

【Yet the Xianzhou people stubbornly insisted on eradicating every trace of the Mara-stricken calamity, standing idly by as the Vidyadhara suffered.】

【Brother Dan Heng, Miss Lingsha, as Vidyadhara yourselves, you should understand my painstaking efforts.】

【All I have done amounts to just two words: survival.】

Long Shitao struck a pose that made it look as if all of this had been done out of bitter necessity,

trying to convince Miss Lingsha and Brother Dan Heng.

【How could I not know the problems the Vidyadhara face?】

【Survival is no crime.】

【But the elder's actions went beyond the bounds a survivor should observe...】

【Like a beast that knows only breeding, without a shred of human compassion.】

Miss Lingsha could not accept Taoran's methods.

【Oh? Even if we call ourselves a noble dragon lineage, from beginning to end we are nothing more than animals walking upright.】

【The survival of the race is a matter of fundamental importance. If I do not act as a beast, the Vidyadhara may not even remain human!】

【The ancients spoke of sages being without compassion. Long Zun set down the duty of maintaining a clan's survival, so the only option was for me to take all the world's great evils upon myself!】

Miss Qingque: "Well, how righteous and indignant!"

Miss Qingque: "Acting as if he's got every reason to be proud of himself."

Paimon: "Paimon doesn't understand, how did all this get dragged into the survival of the Vidyadhara race?"

Ying: "He just mentioned that the Vidyadhara population has been dwindling day by day?"