CHAPTER 2426  AWAKENING!

"WHAT WAS THAT!?" The Crown Prince stood up in alarm.

"That came from somewhere close by for sure." Ziran said sensing the intensity of the sound.

~THUD~ THUD~

The doors of the hall opened again as a frantic looking guard rushed in.

"My Prince! THE BLOOD DOME!" the guard shouted.

Hearing that, the people present didn't even wait a second before rushing out.

~WHOOSH~WHOOSH~WHOOSH~

The six individuals flew out of the palace and went to the lake beside it. Though rather than calling it a lake, it was more accurate to call it the blood dome now. The beautiful imperial lake had now been turned into an entirely different structure. A giant swirling dome of blood was now present there, with a red mist that constantly filled the area. If the commoners were to see this, they would be terrified and think this was some kind of forbidden area.

They would never be able to tell that this was the once pristine lake of the Imperial Grounds.

Thankfully for them, the blood dome was invisible due to a layer of mist and clouds that covered it from the outside. The blood dome was only visible from the proximity of the lake and was a special array created by the Saintess herself.

Even the Imperial Formation masters of the Dao Wind Empire were baffled at seeing the array and couldn't even comprehend where they would begin to study it. For twenty five years, this dome had stood almost peacefully, but today all that had finally changed.

~BOOM~

Another loud sound was heard as a giant pillar of red light shot out from the dome.

"What's happening to it?" the group finally reached it and witnessed all that was happening.

"Is it breaking down or something?" Daoist Chu wondered.

"Amithabha… I can sense the volatile energy." Monk Hushu gripped the prayer beads firmly in his hand, having a bad feeling about it.

"Where's the Saintess?" Ziran inquired. "I don't know." The Crown Prince replied. "Her whereabouts have always been unknown to us. But she should definitely know if something is happening to the lake." He added.

~HUALA~

And sure enough, his words rang true as a cluster of pure white clouds appeared above the Blood Dome. "There she is." Elder Hu pointed. The appearance of the Saintess was unmistakable as she stood atop the clouds, looking down at the blood dome and the light pillar coming from it.

"Open!" The Saintess made a handseal, causing the blood dome to seemingly 'bloom' like a flower!

~HUALA~

The group watched as the red light beam grew bigger with the opening of the dome. It was now clear that the light had actually been restricted by the dome and had burst through it. But now that it wasn't being restrained anymore, the full power of it could be felt.

"This… This is… Vitality?" Daoist Chu stumbled back.

"And Vital Essence." Monk Hushu could feel it as well.

Seeing the spike in these energies, the group was shocked, before hope started to rise within them.

"Is it… Is it time for him to…" Crown Prince Feng Shun almost couldn't believe it and felt like he was dreaming.

"It's time for Lin Mu to awaken." The Saintess spoke, appearing in front of them in the blink of an eye.

The words were the best thing they could have heard, and all of them collapsed upon hearing it.

Crown Princess Shang almost had tears in her eyes hearing that.

~SHUA~SHUA~

Just as they were learning about this, two more people appeared and landed next to them.

The one in the lead was a woman that exuded a mature beauty, while the one beside her was another beautiful woman who looked rather reserved.

These were none other than Lady Kang and her maid, Min Ju!

"Finally… it's happening." Lady Kang muttered, her eyes locked onto the large pillar of light.

"My lady, it won't be long now." Min Ju was happy about it and could sense the excitement within her master's heart too.

After all, Lady Kang had been waiting for this day for all these years. She had blamed herself for all that had happened to Lin Mu and his condition. Despite the fact that everyone had assured her that it was Lin Mu's decision to do this, she couldn't help but regret it a bit.

As such, she had poured all of her being into helping him and the Crown Prince in stabilizing the situation. is the owner.

The Saintess glanced at Lady Kang for a few seconds, her eyes trailing over to the woman's abdomen.

But they didn't linger long and she looked back at the lake as a few moments later, a beastly cry was heard.

~ROAR~

It came from the light pillar, and shook everyone.

In fact, it was loud enough that it covered the entire capital city, terrifying the residents. Many of them were frozen in fear, thinking that the city was being attacked, while those that were a bit strong were shocked by the sheer aura contained within the roar.

None of them knew what was happening, thus they could only look at the large red pillar with wide eyes.

But as they watched, they soon saw that the red pillar was shrinking.

It shrank until it was reduced to a red sphere. The sphere floated above the lake for a few seconds before it seemingly cracked apart.

~CRACK~

From the sphere appeared a ten meter tall bear!

"Isn't that… Lin Mu's Bloodline Image?" Daoist Chu recognized quickly.

"Yes." The Crown Prince muttered.

~SHUA~

They all watched as the Bloodline image of the Great Slumber Bear dived down into the lake and seemingly disappeared.

Waves rocked the lake for a few minutes before it finally grew still.

"Is it over?" Lin Mu's companions were left confused.

~SHUA~

But the Saintess moved at this time and came to a stop in the middle of the lake.

~bubble~

There, a man's body seemingly floated up to the top, a serene expression on its face.

The man's eyes twitched for a bit before finally opening up.

"Lin Mu!"