"Argh!"


    Overwhelmed with grief, Edmund coughed up a mouthful of blood and copsed to the ground. Wilbur, who had been holding on, also could not resist any longer. He spat out blood too and slumped to the ground.


    The howl of night wind filled the air as the Vermillion Bird Mountains returned to silence. Wilbur and Edmund, one slumped on the ground resting, the other lying prone, had both exhausted their energy.


    It was hard to believe that their battle hade to a draw.


    "It looks like I made a mistake. I shouldn''t have pried into your past. I can''t believe


    I still couldn''t defeat you even after exhausting all of my clone''s energy," said Edmund.


    Wilbur suddenly remembered something when he heard that. He turned to look at Edmund and said, "Oh, right. You have another clone. If you tell that clone toe over, perhaps you can kill me."


    "Hahaha!"ughed Edmund abruptly.


    He said, "There''s no need. My clone and I share the same devoured energy, and now that it''s exhausted, both my clone and I have be very weak. I can''t possibly kill you now."


    Wilbur looked at Edmund and said, "I can''t kill you either."


    Edmund was silent for a moment. He said, "Let me ask you this, Wilbur. Do you wish to cultivate in the upper dimension and be a powerful cultivator?"


    Wilbur replied, "Of course. I''ve always dreamt of entering the upper dimension." "So, why can''t we tolerate each other when we''re both dragon n cultivators?" asked Edmund.


    Wilbur looked at Edmund and asked, "Lord Edmund, are you trying to be nice to me?"


    Edmund looked at Wilbur with deep hatred in his heart and said, "Regardless, you and I have endured great hardships to attain our current status. We both wish to continue cultivating and refuse to be beneath others. Since the nine major towns can''t amodate us, why not form an alliance? At least we''ll have our status in Buck Town."


    Wilbur said, "Lord Edmund, you can''t kill me, so you''re afraid that I might reveal to others that you''re a dragon n cultivator. It would certainly attract the attention of the Dragon yer Organization. That''s why you want to form an alliance with me, so we can join forces to maintain control over Buck Town."


    "Ha! You''re a smart one, Wilbur Penn. We had a gruesome battle today and exhausted our energy. I''m afraid we can''t recover within two weeks. We''ll both be in danger if we don''t look out for each other when the Dragon yer Organizationes for us."


    "I think you''re the one in real danger, Lord Edmund. You''re the lord of this town, so all eyes are on you. Meanwhile, I''m only an ordinary cultivator. The cultivators in Buck Town only know that Felix Horne is the new head of the Chris family, but no one knows who I am. You want me to work with you so I can help you in the future, and I can ensure you won''t die for now. Am I right?"


    Edmund struggled to support himself, he barely stood up and clenched his jaw. He said, "You''ve seen right through me. This is humiliating. I''ll be leaving first since you won''t agree to it."


    Wilbur watched Edmund leave and he called out, "Wait!"


    Edmund paused and asked, "What is it?"