Chapter 1201: The First Dream

A black dragon soared through the sky, overlooking the black mountains and white waters below. The clouds in the sky were thick and murky yellow, like unmelting mud; thunder and lightning pressed down upon the mountains, while the earth was torn asunder, with only molten magma surging everywhere as the sole living thing.

The world was a murky yellow, making it hard to distinguish day from night.

The black dragon flew for ten thousand miles, witnessing thousands of volcanoes erupting with all their might, yet it could not find a single trace of green.

The ten thousand miles of rivers and mountains were nothing but a ten thousand-mile-long purgatory of living fire.

Ignoring the saltpeter splashing in the air, it flew another few hundred miles and finally descended slowly by the East Sea.

Here lay an oasis, a massive light barrier separating it from the outside world. Outside, the heavens were collapsing and the earth was splitting, but inside the light shield, the grass and trees remained green, and living creatures ran about.

At the edge of the oasis stood one hundred and eight glowing stone steles, which together supported the light barrier. Inside the oasis, humans and groups of demons came and went in a hurry, busier than worker ants, yet they largely ignored one another.

The black dragon landed and walked straight toward the stele in the eastern position. This main stele was the largest and tallest; only upon close inspection could one see the faint cracks appearing on the magic artifacts upon it.

Supporting this light barrier was no easy task. Once it shattered, the living beings inside would surely suffer.

Thus, the black dragon pried off a scale from its own chest to replace it.

Seven figures in the center of the light barrier stepped forward: "We have troubled the Divine Venerable. How is it outside?"

The black dragon lifted its head toward the outside of the light shield and spoke in human tongue: "The human world is just like this. I only found two shelters, one twenty thousand miles to the south and another seventeen thousand miles to the west. The living beings there number no more than a billion, and the living humans are fewer than a million, yet each is presided over by a Demon Venerable."

Descending like this and contrasting with the surrounding scenery, the black dragon's massive size was revealed—from the tips of its horns to the tip of its tail, it exceeded a hundred zhang. Its scales were black tinged with gold, and only its pupils were the coral-red of fire.

The humans standing before it were as tiny as green beans.

Hearing its words, the seven figures breathed a sigh of relief: "Fortunately, there are more than we had imagined."

One of them, wearing a green jade crown and sporting a flower-white beard, said: "Living beings are resilient and ignorant; given time, they will flourish again. It is we who are in danger of losing our Daoist heritage."

The sky above the oasis was still clear. All living things looked up to see a massive gap in the firmament, as if someone had slashed a heavy blade across a canvas, nearly splitting it in two.

Fortunately, this gap had already healed by seven or eight tenths, and countless streams of light rose from the ground, flying into the gap and vanishing.

The Green Jade Crown sneered: "These Heavenly Demons are quite clever, knowing to rush back before the heavenly rift closes."

"If they remained, they would only face death."

At this moment, a brilliant red light suddenly erupted from the heavenly rift, so piercing that the living beings below instinctively closed their eyes and turned their heads.

One must know that the great beings within the light barrier could stare directly at the Sun's True Fire, yet they were dazzled and shaken by this red light, their hearts pounding.

The living beings in the oasis had long since prostrated themselves in fear; some of the weaker humans were frightened to death on the spot.

"The heavenly rift has stopped closing! How can this be?"

The faces of the group changed drastically, and their hearts sank to the bottom: "Could it be that the flesh and blood of seven thousand Immortals and Sages of our world were still unable to mend this rift?"

This final battle, which condensed the destiny of ten thousand living things and concerned the fate of the world and the survival of the Immortal Dao, was it to end in failure?

"Does the enemy still have a trump card?"

Before the words could fade, the black dragon changed from its crouching posture and stood up, its whiskers and hair bristling: "Not good, we have been deceived!"

As it grew angry, its invisible dragon might covered the oasis. All living things trembled in fear, and many weak humans fainted on the spot.

The Immortals were shocked and hurriedly asked the reason.

The black dragon said: "We originally thought the Heavenly Demons had retreated beyond the heavens because they were defeated, but they actually still had the strength to fight—you and I know this very well."

The Immortals nodded.

"Now it seems they were advancing by retreating." The black dragon looked up at the heavenly rift. "They seem to have refined a supreme treasure, taking advantage of the world's damage and the chaos of the laws to merge into the Heavenly Dao, and are currently altering the laws of nature."

Green Jade Crown hurriedly asked: "How are they altering them?"

"If this object merges completely with the barriers of this realm, it will surely derive new laws favorable to the Heavenly Demons. We cannot sit idly by!"

The Immortals said: "The Divine Venerable is of one heart with heaven and earth, while we are far inferior. Please, Divine Lord, point out a path for us!"

The black dragon suddenly fell silent, its divine eyes like lightning, sweeping across the faces of the seven, as if wanting to see through them.

But these seven were all Immortal Venerables with boundless magic power, their hearts deeper than the sea; how could they reveal their true intentions? It seemed to understand something.

In the blink of an eye, the black dragon withdrew its gaze and looked back at the heavenly rift and the red light.

"The fusion has already begun. I will attempt to interrupt it. But this is a heavy weapon capable of merging the laws of a realm; I have no certainty." It spoke with a voice like a booming bell. "After I go, you must carefully observe the changes in the laws of heaven and earth, and at the same time, care for the human world and support the billions of living beings!"

"This is our duty." As it stepped forward, the crowd rejoiced and bowed to it: "The Divine Venerable's merit is boundless!"

Even when the black dragon chuckled softly, the volume was like rolling thunder: "You must all remember the promise you make today: uphold the heart of heaven and bestow blessings upon all living things! Otherwise, even if you escape the calamity of this moment, you will inevitably face endless tribulations later, until your bodies die and your spirits vanish!"

This voice could be heard by all living things within the oasis. The Immortals bowed in salute, respectfully following the holy teachings.

The black dragon glanced at the oasis once more, letting out a sigh that only a few could understand the pity within.

Following this, the black dragon soared into the sky, the wind it generated blowing the objects in the oasis into disarray. Its form grew larger and larger in the air, until it reached a length of a thousand zhang, almost shrouding half the oasis in its shadow.

This was its true form! Even the chaotic beasts in the Panlong Ocean were not as large as it.

With just a few flaps, the living beings on the ground saw it flying higher and higher, straight into the clouds. The sky had been clear for ten thousand miles, but suddenly it was overcast with dark clouds.

The black dragon dove into the sea of clouds, turning the clouds into a massive vortex that churned incessantly. The thunder and lightning in the sky revealed the massive dragon form shifting within the sea of clouds.

Seeing this miraculous sight, the living beings on the ground prostrated themselves, praying sincerely.

Immediately after, a mass of black and gold light collided with the massive gap in the sky, moving forward without hesitation.

A loud boom shook heaven and earth.

The seven did not blink, clearly seeing the black-gold cloud mass collide with the red dot in the heavenly rift, exploding with even more dazzling light. The shockwave generated in that instant even plowed the cracked earth surface once more from top to bottom, and even the violently erupting volcanoes seemed to be suppressed into silence.

The light barrier trembled violently; in the face of such heavenly might, it was as fragile as a soap bubble blown by a strong wind.

At this moment, the black dragon scale on the main stele glowed faintly.

Thus, the entire light barrier stabilized quickly and was not shattered.

Under the cover of the intense light, a point of red light and a streak of black light flew toward the west and east respectively, their landing spots unknown.

Time seemed to freeze for a few seconds.

Afterward, the red light in the heavenly rift dimmed, and the massive gap in the firmament slowly healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

(End of Chapter)