1689 Change Fate
The Azure Dragon's blue hair was much more vibrant than the Dragon Emperor's and he also looked a lot younger than him. His soft blue robes seemed to be made of a much better quality as well.
"Your Majesty," the Dragon Emperor quickly spoke. "I-I need your help."
"Calm down," the Azure Dragon said. "What's wrong? Tell me slowly."
"It's my wife," the Dragon Emperor started and explained the situation in its entirety. "Please, tell me what I must do. Is there anything I can do?"
The Azure Dragon let a frown show on his face. "This… is not a matter I am familiar with. I, unfortunately, don't have any alchemy skills despite my roots. You should try asking the senior in the Realm of Trials for now. If that doesn't work, I have a few more ideas."
"The Realm of Trials?" The Dragon Emperor was a little confused. "Ah, you mean the Azure Dragon soul in there? I see, I will do that."
"Go," the Azure Dragon said. "You should be able to enter there with those swords of yours."
The Dragon Emperor nodded. He left the secret realm, leaving for the Xuang Kingdom in the north where King Xuang governed the region of gold. He used his Ivory sword to tear into the realm's spatial walls and entered to find the dragon soul inside of it.
After relaying all he could and asking for help, he was let down in the end when the dragon soul told him that he couldn't help him.
The Dragon Emperor returned to the Azure Dragon's realm and told him all of this.
"Hmm, let me try the other way then," the Azure Dragon said. "Tell your wife to prepare to leave. I will take her to the other monarchs and see if they can help."
"Other monarchs? You're taking her to the other continents?" the Dragon Emperor asked.
"Yes, that is the only way," the Azure Dragon said. "Why? Do you believe it to be a mistake?"
"No," the Dragon Emperor said quickly. "I was just surprised. Please do what you think is best in this situation."
"Get the teleportation formation ready as well. We will leave as soon as possible."
The Azure Dragon left the very next day with Jie Tianyue and didn't return for nearly 3 years. The Dragon Emperor was worried even though he knew he had no reason to.
3 years later, they were back with good news that the Empress had been healed. The Azure Dragon left after the Dragon Emperor thanked him.
"We went to the Western Continent in the end," Jie Tianyue explained. "The Phoenix couldn't help us, so we went over to the White Tiger's place. One of the White Tiger's wives helped me and made a pill for me. I've eaten the pill and it's started restoring me, but it will still take me centuries to get with a child."
"Centuries?" the Dragon Emperor said. "That's fine. As long as we can have children. But… did you really go to the White Tiger?"
"Yes, why?" Jie Tianyue asked, curious. She had noticed for a while that the Dragon Emperor didn't like it when someone mentioned the White Tiger. She had been wondering for a while why that was.
"No reason," the Dragon Emperor said.
"Tell me," Jie Tianyue said. "I know something is troubling you. Just tell me what it is."
"It's…" the Dragon Emperor, after contemplating for a long time, decided to tell his wife exactly what was troubling him.
Jie Tianyue couldn't help but be shocked at the accuracy of the divinations and worried about the prophecies.
"The first 3 have come true already," the Dragon Emperor said. "Now I'm waiting for 3 more."
"That… surely that can't be right," the Empress said. "There has to be a way to stop it."
"I don't know if there is," The Dragon Emperor answered. "It keeps coming true no matter what. It is true."
"No, you're just saying this because of one dead man," Jie Tianyue said. "You should stop trusting him."
"No, I'm not," the Dragon Emperor said before pausing. "Wait, dead man? Who?"
"Didn't you say you learned about this from that leader of the Snow Immortal sect?" Jie Tianyue asked.
"Yes," the Dragon Emperor said.
"Well, he's dead. Did he see his death coming?" the Empress asked.
The Dragon Emperor was shocked. "What? No, that can't be. He told me he would go on to live for a long time," he said.
"He's dead. And he didn't just die, he took his sect along with him. It happened years ago, the Northern Continent is a mess right now from what I managed to gather during my brief visit there," the Empress explained. She had visited the continent with the Azure Dragon to see if the Black Tortoise could heal her.
"Huh? But… but he told me about his…" The Dragon Emperor's mind spun thoughts faster than he could speak. What did it mean that Xue Kuangren was dead? What about his future? About becoming immortal?
Had he lied to him? That couldn't be. He had no reason to lie. In fact, he was even correct on when he would break through to the Immortal realm.
However, he had died. Albeit for the worse, he had changed his fate. He had changed his destiny.
He had overcome his own prophecy.
"Then I can do it…" the Dragon Emperor said softly. A sense of relief filled him as if something very heavy had been lifted off of him. "I… I don't have to be confined to my fate then. I can overcome this."
Jie Tianyue could feel the relief in her husband. "What was it that had been troubling you this much, dear?" she asked him. "What did the prophecies say?"
"The last one told me how I would die," the Dragon Emperor said. "I've been trying not to think about it all this time, but I'm still worried. But… if it is true that I can do something about it then maybe I can change my future."
"What prophecies are these exactly?" she asked him. "The exact words I mean."
"There were 3 of them," the Dragon Emperor said. "The first two went something like this."
"Three shall be your children; Men of honor. The One that rules, the one that leaves, and the one that is left behind."
The Empress gave a surprised look. "So that's why you said we would have 3," she said. "But what does it mean that you would leave behind one? What about the one that leaves?"
"I don't know," the Dragon Emperor said. "We will have to wait for it to come true if we want to know."
The Empress nodded. "The others?" she asked.
"The next one goes: By your hands shall they fall and 7 colorful lights shall take their place," he said. "I have no idea what this means at all."
"7 colorful lights?" the Empress was confused too. "Yeah, that doesn't make sense for me too. What about the last one? The one you say tells of your death."
The Dragon Emperor sighed and spoke the final prophecy.
"Above your realm shall they proclaim your end. A King, A son of a King, and a Tiger pure White."
