Chapter 116: Ao Guang: Every clan has a hard‑to‑chant scripture!

Fox people and the Upholding Brightness each have their own farewell rites. I have seen Fox clan warriors place the deceased in a star raft, letting it drift toward distant stars— they call this 【Correct-first Green Hill.】

As for the Upholding Brightness… they are rather mysterious. It is said that when an Upholding Brightness lives long, or is injured and near death, they transform into a pearl‑like egg, then hatch anew in the form of a child…

My mother calls the Upholding Brightness 【Dragon descendants】; when I was young, hearing her stories, the Upholding Brightness clan could all transform into giant dragons—I don't know if that's true… Su Shang showed a look of both longing and curiosity.

Hearing Su Shang mention the Upholding Brightness, Dan Heng said lightly: 'Only special Upholding Brightness can transform into dragons.'

What a good partner, 'Mister Mute Gourd' has spoken up.' Su Shang looked at Dan Heng with a surprised expression.

Dan Heng ignored her teasing and calmly explained: 'Your mother is right—the Upholding Brightness are dragon descendants and also the heirs of the 【Immortal】 Star God. Thus among the Upholding Brightness, some have been able to transform into dragons, but not everyone possesses the aptitude.'

This power is a rare inheritance; it must be received through numerous rites and trials. As for the one who takes over… it's hard to say whether it's a blessing.

Are the ancestors of the dragon clan Star Gods? According to his words… that girl Bai Lu is not a descendant of our Four Seas Dragon Clan, but a dragon descendant from beyond the Star Sea. Ao Guang's eyes held a hint of disappointment.

Could the elder brother be feeling envious? Ao Run noticed a fleeting sadness in the elder brother's eyes.

……

North Sea Dragon King Ao Shun came over and said: 'Elder brother, there's no need to be envious. Although they are descendants of the Star God, their bloodline is quite thin; every member of our Four Seas Dragon Clan can achieve dragon transformation, while they only have a tiny few who can do so, and their power is far inferior to ours.'

These words seemed to strike Ao Guang's sore spot even more, and he sighed involuntarily: 'What use is power, then? We Four Seas Dragon Kings still have to obey the Heavenly Court's edicts, guarding the sea‑bottom monsters… day and night we dwell with this magma… Although the Upholding Brightness are weak in power, they roam free and unbound on the Celestial Vessel.'

What the elder brother says makes sense, but if that's all there is to it, there's no need to be envious.

Ao Run swam over gently and said in a low voice: 'The Upholding Brightness only speak of self‑sustaining reincarnation, yet they never mention how to propagate. What Su Shang Miss said was merely "injured and near death," not true death—but have you ever considered what would happen if one day the Upholding Brightness truly died?'

If the Upholding Brightness cannot reproduce, and their self‑sustaining reincarnation is broken, does that not mean there would be none left of their kind in the world?

Hmm… Ao Guang admitted she had a point: if the Upholding Brightness were death‑less and could reproduce endlessly, then over these thousands of years they would already be everywhere on the Celestial Vessel—why would we need to go through all this trouble to obtain an Upholding Brightness marrow via the Medicine King's secret transmission?

Although free and unfettered, one must still worry about the clan's survival… In that light, the situation of the Celestial Vessel dragon descendants is not necessarily better than that of the Four Seas Dragon Clan.

After Ao Run's words, Ao Guang's heart felt somewhat relieved and at ease.

——

I have heard the tale of the 【Immortal Dragon】 and its offspring. Many myths praise it for possessing a complete, immortal life. Rakshasa wondered, 'But for some reason, it vanished among the stars, as if it had never existed—leaving only a faint remnant of descendants.'

All natural lifespans have limits; every life has a finite boundary. Even a Star God cannot truly be called immortal—it will eventually reach the moment of demise. Rakshasa gave a meaningful glance at the coffin he carried.

Um, I'm being nosy… do you know the person in the coffin? Su Shang suddenly asked.

Yes, I know them.

Are they a friend?

……No. Rakshasa shook his head.

Then… uh, a lover?

She asked the question I once dared not ask. Li Su Shang chuckled, she eagerly awaited Rakshasa's answer.

Could it really be Karen's isotope?!

You Lan Dai Er seemed to see through Li Su Shang's thoughts, speaking lightly: 'It probably isn't Karen; I just noticed that when mentioning the Star God… Rakshasa's gaze at the coffin is quite complex.'

Su Shang, haven't you noticed? Since Rakshasa appeared, every topic related to him has been tied to 'death'—that's partly because of the coffin beside him, but he himself also seems quite interested in the subject.

You Lan Dai Er took a deep breath and said, word by word: 'So I suspect that what's in his coffin is not an ordinary human corpse, but something linked to the Star God. Perhaps it is an emissary of a deceased Star God… or something else.'

'Related to the Star God? If so, I wouldn't find it strange either.' Li Su Shang took it in stride, saying lightly: 'Doing earth‑shattering things in secret—indeed that fits his usual style.'

'Haha, where are your thoughts taking you, miss?' Rakshasa couldn't help but laugh: 'The one lying in the coffin is neither kin nor stranger to me—we merely met once. By chance I promised someone, so I had to make this trip.'

Let's stop here; everyone's rest is about done.

Dan Heng and Su Shang nodded, then teamed up again and pressed forward.

They had taken only a few steps when they saw a short‑haired girl not far off, surrounded by several Dark Yin entities.

The girl clutched her arm, gasping continuously—her injuries seemed grave.

The three hid nearby to observe. Su Shang poked her head out, scanned the surroundings to confirm no other foes, then hurriedly called out: 'Mute Gourd, Rakshasa, let's all go up, finish them quickly and rescue that girl!'

'Didn't we agree earlier that you'd handle everything?' Rakshasa still teased Su Shang at this moment.

'I‑I…' Su Shang, embarrassed, scratched the back of her head, then clasped her hands and lowered her voice further, pleading: 'I'm two fists against four hands! Please, please! After this, I'll award you both the "See Courage and Act" prize!'

'Don't dilly‑dally—go!' In the end, Dan Heng cheerfully grabbed Exit Cloud and rushed out first.

The three were formidable; they quickly wiped out the three Dark Yin entities. Su Shang was also the first to reach the girl's side, asking anxiously: 'Miss, are you alright?'

'…You're asking the obvious.' Her voice, however, was as cold as a March day.

Wait! Look at that girl…

Inside the Fontaine Science Academy, several researchers stared in shock at the light‑screen showing the shattered, damaged body of Snow Clothes.

'This isn't a human body; it's more like some kind of mechanical form—similar to the Black Tower Lady on the space station, but the joints are more natural, the skin texture more lifelike… practically identical to a real person!'