Chapter 353: If we have no shame, anything can be done

Uncarved jade is not a vessel.

No matter how rebellious the brat, as long as he gains more experience and endures some beatings of worldly affairs, he will surely grow up, become humble and low‑key, knowing that no one will indulge him outside, what he can do and what he cannot do.

The North Sea Dragon King stroked his beard, "If even this cannot be corrected… then we can only give up on him, treat him as hopeless, and shift our hopes to the next child."

"Exactly." Several Dragon Kings echoed, "After all, our Dragon Race is not so dominant as to suppress all races and be the sole protagonist of heaven and earth… If we raise a brat who doesn't know the height of heaven and depth of earth, constantly stirring up disasters, he will eventually bring a huge trouble we cannot contain, disaster for the whole clan."

It's like being dragged into the slaughter calamity sparked by those Taiyi‑level Luo giants fighting over Pangu's exalted position… Such a Great Calamity would swallow countless of our people and still not be enough.

The South Sea Dragon King sighed, his gaze distant, as if recalling the previous eon, the great calamity known as the Dragon‑Phoenix.

Countless Dragon Race powerhouses roared heaven and earth, blood‑staining the cosmos… Dragons battled in the fields, their blood mingling with the primordial.

Countless fell, the price was by no means small.

Even the Dragon Ancestor was left out in the cold for a while, and only with difficulty did he manage to log back in.

Yet in the end, the fruits of victory had little to do with the Dragon Race; it could be called a blood‑loss.

"What a pity." The East Sea Dragon King shook his head, "If we really encounter that kind of slaughter‑calamity, even if our Dragon Race stays low‑key, our huge numbers sit there… Even without troublemakers among us jumping about, someone would still want to use us as tools."

Just like now.

Obviously the original target was the Golden Crow on the sun, yet they were eyed by others.

But after a while, things turned around and ended up with our Dragon Race… The most outrageous part is that even the recipe for the so‑called Dragon Wine has come out!

I don't even know which scoundrel stirred this up.

The East Sea Dragon King gave a cold snort, "Utterly shameless!"

"Hey, who else could it be?" the West Sea Dragon King sneered, "Chopping off the Golden Crow's legs—who else would be in such a hurry but the Golden Crow lineage on the Sun Star?"

So the instigator, we can guess who it is.

But even if we guess, what can we do?

The Dragon King sighed, "The two Demon Emperors of this race are both top‑level powers standing at the edge of the Taiyi realm."

What's more, the Old Ancestor has been active again this era, his figure appearing among the mighty experts who cause trouble for the Heavenly Court, and our Dragon Race is not on good terms with the Demon Race to begin with.

The Dragon King spread his hands, lamenting how hard the world is.

The Four Sea Dragon Kings, the Nine Sons of the Dragon, stared at each other for a long time, each feeling an unspeakable knot.

"This matter must be resolved." The East Sea Dragon King let out a long breath, "On the side of my East Sea Dragon Palace, some of our people have already suffered…"

He said this, his face dark as ink, "A blow with a club, and when he wakes up the whole dragon is several dozen pounds lighter… The attacker was too ruthless."

"Same here." The North Sea Dragon King gave a dull nod, "About several hundred of our people have suffered brutal harm… and those who acquired the Dragon Race later—let's not even talk about them—I don't know, the number might become horrifying."

After all, such a thing is extremely embarrassing for the Dragon Race—who would go around announcing they've suffered disaster?

Most just hide in their caves, waiting for their injuries to heal before daring to show their heads outside.

Both in public and in private, they strive to avoid mentioning it.

This adds to the difficulty of our defenses.

But however it is… when did our Dragon Race fall to the point of not daring to step out, and even when we go out we have to be anxious and fearful?

For fear that the moment we close and open our eyes, a black mark appears in our history.

The Dragon King slammed the table hard, extremely angry.

But after his anger reached its peak, he let out a helpless sigh.

"Or should we just throw this black pot onto someone else?" the South Sea Dragon King hesitated, "Find another group that can take the blame?"

"The Golden Crow dumped this on us, and who can we dump it on?" the West Sea Dragon King muttered, "To be frank, there are many similar things in heaven and earth, and thousands of them have roughly the same effect as that so‑called Dragon Wine."

But why are so many eyes fixed on our Dragon Race?

Because some bastards have blatantly hyped our Dragon Race as number one in this regard!

Gifts, health tonics… and so on, it's always just about getting the best, suitability be damned.

It's killing by praise!

If this continues, unless we strike back, one day we'll be harmed into a race that needs protection.

Alas!

Just thinking about it makes me angry!

We haven't even awaited that Dragon‑Slaying Technique.

We'll first trip over human greed…… utterly unreasonable!

The West Sea Dragon King rubbed his brow.

I actually think the Dragon‑Slaying Technique arose precisely because those eyeing our Dragon Race researched it, combined and combined, until it became a highly specialized field of study.' The East Sea Dragon King said helplessly.

At once, the other Dragon Kings fell silent.

——What you say makes perfect sense!

"This… may I say a couple of sentences?"

Suddenly, Prison Ox Great Sage of the Dragon Ancestor's Nine Sons pondered and spoke.

"Your Highness, please speak." the East Sea Dragon King said solemnly.

"I think we seem to have fallen into a misconception." Prison Ox Great Sage said gently, speaking slowly.

He possesses a very special aura; standing there, he interacts with the cosmos, sounding a note of the heavenly earth's lattice, immortal music flowing through the ages, transcendent and independent.

Of course.

Aura is aura; it cannot fully judge a person's entirety.

Just like the interesting words now coming from Prison Ox Great Sage's mouth.

"Why do we have to worry about so much?"

"As the saying goes——"

"As long as we don't care about face, no one can say we're shameless."

As long as we don't care about morality, no one can criticize us for lacking virtue.

Our Dragon Clan is now stuck in a quagmire, just like the Golden Crow Clan before—it looks utterly terrible… but we're actually not the same.

The Golden Crow Clan has a Monster Emperor, so basic dignity is still required.

Our Dragon Clan, however, can completely do without caring.

Some methods, therefore, can now be used.

For example……

Since everyone thinks our Dragon Clan is very special and firmly believes it,

Then……

We might as well create such a professional, targeted place, put up a sign, and tell all beings——the Way of Yang Science, surely to come to the Dragon Clan!

You see, this way, wouldn't the problem be greatly alleviated?

Qiu Niu Dasheng smiled, "Although this method, indeed, is somewhat lacking in decorum."

Such a great clan, actually diving headfirst into such an unspeakable field for outsiders.

However, the Dragon Clan now has many dragons but little money; many clansmen must work outside, doing house‑guarding, cart‑pulling, chauffeur work to earn wages and support the younger generation……

Now, let them switch positions, after a brief infusion of information, send them out to guard the water‑pulse rivers as a dedicated Advisor…… I suppose they wouldn't be too unwilling?

Moreover, according to my estimate, this line of work could be very profitable…… because those who can worry about that aspect usually have some surplus——otherwise where would the motivation come from? Plus, cooperating to boost our clan's reputation, letting those who come for advice raise their fees, should be no problem.

Doing this, the only drawback is——" Qiu Niu Dasheng laughed and laughed, then sighed, "It really just cemented the label sent by the behind‑the‑scenes black hand."

In the future, when clansmen go out, in the eyes of other beings their first impression will be that they are all seasoned experts, adept at mastering many arcane arts……

They will be looked down upon by countless female cultivators of the Kun Dao with the utmost contempt——of course, likewise, many cultivators with problems needing solution will see them as hope in life and earnestly come seeking advice.

Tsk…… how to put it?

It probably isn't too much of a loss, right?

Qiu Niu commented.

The Four Seas Dragon King no longer knew what to say.

The other Nine Sons of the Dragon, moreover, stared at this brother of theirs with a very strange gaze.

You guys, don't look at me with that expression……" Qiu Niu Dasheng shook his head, "Who put us in such an awkward position? Either it's for face, making the clansmen endure countless years of longing from those shameless cultivators, and even then it might not improve much—there are always some who firmly believe.

Or we go with the flow, directly admit it…… then implement a set of operations, seriously running our Dragon Clan's special trait, showing that the Dragon Clan will have such a trait, naturally because of the 'Dragon Clan Secret'…… and out of compassion for humanity, we are willing to open the doors and give guidance.

Two paths, pick one." Qiu Niu said calmly.

This…… does our Dragon Clan really have any secret?" Suan Ni asked, peeking his head out.

Before there was none," Qiu Niu answered, "but now I say there is, so naturally there is.

Then, collect some 'Tiger Wine', 'Ox Wine' and such medicinal wines, add a bit like goji berries, seriously adjust the proportions, and they can be put out for sale.

With our cultivation, organizing some medicinal wines that actually work and taste great—is that difficult?

Add a hint, let people feel they can…… All set! All set!

Qiu Niu Dasheng clapped his hands, 'I won't do outright deception; at most there's just a little bit of untruth.'

A little bit……

The Dragon Clan's managers twitched at the corners of their eyes.

At this very moment.

They felt a myriad of conflicts in their hearts.

That method, naturally, is a good method without doubt.

It's just that in terms of decorum, they've lost quite a bit.

And decorum, once discarded as a habit…… becomes hard to pick up again.

However?

"Think about it—this also adds a brand‑new channel for the whole clan and can resolve the crisis…… trading decorum for gain should not be a loss, right?"

Several Dragon Clan elders exchanged glances, and together, with great sorrow, they passed Qiu Niu Dasheng's proposal.

……

The Golden Crow Clan, because of a baseless 'secret', is frazzled, one side struggling to explain, the other shifting blame, dumping the pot onto the Dragon Clan.

And the Dragon Clan, after undergoing the most agonizing deliberation, decided to lower that bottom line a little, genuinely compiled the Dragon Clan version of the 'secret', widely promoted it abroad, thereby opening a new world's door for the clansmen, spreading throughout Honghuang.

In the shortest time——

Just like the flyers that once touted the miraculous efficacy of the Golden Crow, they were posted all over Honghuang.

One after another, the special sanatoriums built by the Dragon Clan covered the entire universe.

Wherever a river's flow had matured, if the Dragon Clan dwelled there, that special building was invariably indispensable.

Efficiency, it's simply terrifying.

Thus it can be seen, the previous harmful actions, whose threat to many Dragon Clan members was great, have now caused them to erupt with unbelievable power.

Horns can be broken.

Scales can be removed.

Only dignity must not be lost.

For dignity, these Dragon Clan members even exerted their utmost focus, obeying the arrangements of the clan's elders, letting their countless shrimp soldiers and crab generals' true 'navy' go wild on the offensive, reversing the winds, all kinds of mystifying tricks, rumors, fabrications out of thin air, ultimately shifting attention slightly onto the Dragon Clan's legendary secret.

That effect was quite significant.

After all, each Dragon Clan member's individual strength is high, so even striking a dull stick isn't easy.

However, before it was a zero‑sum game, influenced by the hidden unnamed Monster Emperor, things like 'damage the strong to aid the weak'…… out of greed, they cut a bit of the Dragon Clan members' dignity, making minor repairs.

Now?

There's a taste of win‑win now.

One hand gives money, the other delivers the goods.

One hand earns money, the other gains a satisfying experience—the dragon clan is said to be so divine that one would think they're trustworthy, right?

Everyone is very happy.

It is here that the dragon clan's overall reputation plummeted so terribly that it once hit rock bottom in the universe, becoming the lowest-ranked among the countless groups of Honghuang; those complaints and criticisms nearly overwhelmed the review‑collecting system.

This rumor even, for a time, eclipsed the Heavenly Court's ardent effort to collate human ideas… The ideological debate between Emperor Donghua and Taiyi seemed trivial at that moment.

For a long time.

Female cultivators of Honghuang turn black‑faced at the mention of 'dragon'.

Even places such as West Kunlun, Phoenix Perch Mountain, and Taiyin Star solemnly declared they would temporarily not receive dragon‑clan visitors.

However.

The dragon clan's reputation damage grew even worse.

They ultimately ended up safe; the clansfolk no longer had to live in dire straits, yet each outing left them feeling a chill all over, as if someone spiteful bore a grudge.

This left a certain behind‑the‑scenes manipulator, who had been waiting to see the show, deeply regretting it.

"Consider you've won."

A demon emperor chuckled, casually tossing aside the dragon clan's earnest efforts—flyers plastered all over Honghuang, even eager little notes sent to the Heavenly Court—all of which were promoting how amazing a grandmaster residing in the dragon clan was, plus the dragon clan's ancestor giving an endorsement.

"You're completely shameless—short of actually drawing swords, I really have no other recourse."

"When one is utterly base, they become invincible… This truly is no empty saying."

The demon emperor shook his head.

"However, having embarked on such an absurd path, wanting to correct it now is no easy feat!"

"What's more, using this to contend for the protagonist of heaven and earth… sigh, there will be plenty of headaches for that Azure Dragon fellow down the line."

"I, too, don't consider it a loss…"

(End of chapter)