Dragon Cour
Wu Shuai is smart and resolute, not weak-willed like most dragonman Gu Immortals, and under his leadership the dragonman race grows stronger. He secretly gathers resources for a rank eight Immortal Gu House. The humans turn more antagonistic and use underhanded methods, and many are very jealous. Even Wu Shuai admits that much of the dragonmen’s growth comes from occupying human Gu Immortals’ benefits. Because of Duke Long, the human Gu Immortals do not make trouble over many things. ch. 1840
On Duke Long’s birthday there is a huge celebration, and the dragonman Gu Immortals bring carefully prepared gifts such as white python grass and a soft jade flower. Little Seventh, Duke Long’s favorite grandson, offers a happiness seahorse, a desolate beast he captured alive despite his rank six cultivation. Duke Long happily accepts it. When Wu Shuai’s turn comes, Duke Long stops smiling, calls him his most accomplished grandson and warns him against going too far. ch. 1840
That night Duke Long has Wu Shuai called secretly to his study room and orders him to return South Flower Island. Wu Shuai refuses, saying he won it fair and square. Duke Long answers that the island belonged to Wind Cloud Manor and was snatched through a scheme, and he demands to know what Wu Shuai wants. Wu Shuai first claims a better life for his people, then admits ambition. Duke Long accuses him of trading on his grandfather’s name to seize territory and his sect’s benefits. Duke Long says dragonmen and humans are no different and favors Little Seventh for never seeing a difference. ch. 1840
Wu Shuai answers angrily that dragonmen are born with horns and tails, that he was mocked and ostracized as a child, and that humans look down on them. He says they are born with enslavement path dao marks, tougher bodies and longer lives, and that humans who become dragonmen for lifespan still look down on them. Duke Long slams the table with an extremely dark face and shouts that this is enough. Wu Shuai calmly says Duke Long created the dragonman lifespan extension method and should not side with humans. He swears not to return the island even if he dies, and leaves. Duke Long does not stop him and wonders whether he was negligent or only pushed open the floodgates. ch. 1840
Wind Cloud Manor goes to Duke Long to settle the matter, but Wu Shuai refuses to listen, and the manor keeps finding trouble for him. Duke Long gives his grandson no help, while the other dragonman Gu Immortals help secretly or openly. With their help and the manor’s wariness of Duke Long, Wu Shuai relocates all his people to South Flower Island. Even after a hundred years the manor keeps trying to reclaim it and cannot. ch. 1840
After a hundred years Wu Shuai sheds tears of joy at the finished rank seven Immortal Gu House, for which he had taken the island as a secretive site. His father says his son is more capable than himself. Wu Shuai credits fortune and dragonman help, despite the sects suppressing and isolating the island. Wu Shuai says a few hundred more years might make it rank eight, and that he overruled every suggestion to name it Dragon Court. His father calls the name inappropriate, and when Wu Shuai laughs that it complements Heavenly Court, warns that human Gu Immortals will read it as a rebellious sign. Wu Shuai laughs coldly that they can think what they want, and cuts his father off to keep the name. ch. 1840
