Chapter 271: The Mysterious Dragon Standing Atop the Mountains and Sea of Clouds

"Boom boom boom…"

Continuous rumblings kept echoing throughout this secret realm. With each rumble, the ground quaked, caused by the falling rocks and boulders as the slumbering true dragon awoke and broke free from the mountain.

Yet to that enchanting woman, each and every one of those rumblings now struck like tremors in her very heart, making her heart quake and tremble with fear along with them.

"Heh heh hahaha…"

Gazing with hazy eyes at the master of the secret realm, who had now begun to fully awaken, although the great serpent was seeing the true form of the magnificent being that had created the three of them and this kingdom for the very first time, the moment it caught sight of the outsiders who had defeated them, the woman's drastically changed expression and stiffened body—even the great serpent, already powerless and able only to lie on the ground, couldn't help but laugh softly in sheer delight, its voice growing louder and louder.

In that laughter was pure exhilaration, pure vengeance, pure anticipation.

"See, did you see? Outsiders… your arrival… your deeds, have awakened a great being that should never have been awakened! Cough cough~~ You shall… shall pay a terrible price for this!!"

The piercing laughter of the great serpent rang out beside her, but the woman no longer had the leisure to pay it any mind.

With her heart heavy, she had no choice but to muster her courage and turn around to face head-on the terrifying being that had already awakened.

"Rumble rumble rumble…"

Amid those tremendous rumblings, the incomparably massive true dragon gradually broke an enormous hole through the thousand-meter mountain and slithered out. Its slender, seemingly endless body slid slowly down from the peak. From the perspective of the enchanting woman, the contrast was stark: she could only see the towering mountain wreathed in mist right before her, suddenly split open with a colossal hole, from within which a true dragon of unknown length emerged. She felt as if the entire mountain had been coiled around by that true dragon, for she could not see its full length—only a fraction at the edge. But even so, it filled her with overwhelming dread.

A few breaths later, the true dragon of unknown length slowly lowered an enormous dragon head from the heavens and sea of clouds above.

Upon that angular, majestic dragon head grew all manner of green plants that had taken root over countless years of slumber, along with massive boulders and clumps of earth clutched tight by their roots. Even the once flowing, beautiful, dense mane was covered in all sorts of local specialties from the earth and the depths of the mountain. If the head alone was in such a state, one could only imagine the body behind it. By all rights it should have been a slovenly sight, but now, framed by those dragon eyes that no longer blazed outward but had become wise, gentle, and restrained, it radiated an aura of primeval, ancient, timeless immortality.

As the dragon head drew near, the enchanting woman and Liu Laoer fell into a daze. In their trance, they seemed to see a world of utter mystery: gazing far into the high sky, there were only towering, endless mountain ranges. Through those steep, perilous peaks flowed an endless, boundless sea of clouds. From time to time, terrifying Fierce Beasts radiating powerful, blazing auras could be seen striding past with thunderous steps, or mysterious beast-shadows flashing by in an instant. Yet in this world of mountains and seas, atop the most towering divine mountain radiating waves of immortal brilliance, stood a mysterious dragon whose edges could not be seen no matter how one looked.

The next moment, that mysterious dragon seemed to sense their窥视, and slowly raised a pair of dragon eyes from the mountain peak—eyes that seemed to have seen through all things of the world. In an instant, an utterly unremarkable gaze crossed ten thousand waters and a thousand mountains, 跨越 endless obstacles and distances, to meet theirs.

Boom——!!!

"Hiss~~~"

"Heh~ ah—"

In an instant, as if struck by lightning, the enchanting woman and Liu Laoer awoke simultaneously, stumbling back step after step, staring with a mixture of shock and uncertainty at the true dragon that seemed both infinitely far away and right before their eyes.

Instinctively, they recognized that the mysterious dragon, whose massive body was hidden within the sea of clouds, was none other than the one before them.

"Wh-what manner of being…"

With her spirit shaken, the enchanting woman couldn't help but press a hand to her heart and murmur in awestruck wonder.

Just how powerful is this true dragon? And where is that world reflected in that vision? That majesty, that aura, that bearing—can such a being truly exist in this world?

She did not know, but she felt lost about this world. She had thought she already understood its truths, yet for the first time she had discovered an existence that far surpassed her entire worldview.

"Heh~~ huff huff—"

Some strange sounds of heavy breathing came from beside her, and the enchanting woman, startled, couldn't help but turn her head to look.

Only then did she discover that her companion, who had always shown no change in the past—that expressionless Liu Laoer—was now trembling all over.

She couldn't tell whether it was fear or excitement, but the next moment she knew—it was excitement, because—

"Ha ah ah~~~ Wh-what manner of being?! Only an enemy like this is worthy of me giving my all!"

"Ming, you truly did not deceive me!"

With a hoarse, straining roar, Liu Laoer was no longer the expressionless man from before—his face was now filled with wild fervor.

"Bang bang bang…"

Amid continuous explosions, the aura on Liu Laoer's body fully Burst forth. In an instant, a golden energy flame could be seen coiling around and enveloping him. Beneath that golden flame, his clothes slowly began to tear apart, revealing the muscular, brawny frame of the fervent man beneath. Rolling waves of air began to sweep outward, forcing the enchanting woman to retreat step after step.

"Th-this is?"

The enchanting woman could not make sense of the situation—not only the sudden appearance of the ancient, mysterious true dragon, but also the sudden transformation of a companion she had known so well.

Liu—Liu Laoer actually dares to call out the revered one's true name?

She vaguely recalled her first meeting with this man. Back then, he had been brought back personally by the revered one. Because of the revered one's inexplicable regard for him, and his perpetually expressionless face, as if nothing mattered to him—only killing and combat could stir even the slightest interest in him.

So much so that she had taken an interest in teasing him, wanting to see that expressionless man's expression change. But she never expected that what she had failed to accomplish after countless attempts had now been achieved by this ancient true dragon.

But in the end, am I the only one who is the most ordinary and insignificant?

At this moment, her companion's transformation and the terrifying enemy left the enchanting woman with a bitter thought.

"Great dragon, take this fist of mine!"

Unaware of the constantly shifting thoughts of his companion beside him, Liu Laoer now stared at the true dragon and roared excitedly at the top of his lungs.

The next moment, wrapped in blazing flames, he shattered the ground beneath him and shot up into the sky.

"Hold."

The true dragon made no superfluous movement. Watching the man charge at it with the momentum of a comet, an indifferent voice rang out in the air.

Yet beneath that single word, this stretch of space suddenly became like a frozen sheet of ice—seemingly slow but in reality swift, it solidified.

In an instant, all the flames around Liu Laoer's body vanished completely, like a firecracker that had gone dead. Then his entire body was fixed in midair, like an insect encased in amber.

"Wh-what is this? A paralysis spell? Wh-what kind of joke is this?!"

As if by association, the enchanting woman was also frozen by that utterance. Caught unaware and immobilized, she was thrown into disarray. As a member of the Heaven Reverers, she was no stranger to the paralysis spell—a signature technique of those Daoist Experts. In fact, having crossed paths with those long-nosed old Daoists countless times, she was more than familiar with it.

But when had she ever seen such a terrifying paralysis spell? Wasn't it only effective against the weak with less than five hundred years of cultivation? How could she have been frozen too?

Though her body was immobilized, her eyes could still move, and she saw with her own eyes that everything in her surroundings had been frozen—not only her and Liu Laoer, but also the debris, dust, and ash kicked up by the shockwaves, even falling leaves, even the invisible wind… everything within her field of vision had been frozen!

It was as if the entire world had been stopped by that single word, "Hold." Could a paralysis spell really do this?

With her Spirit in turmoil, the enchanting woman ranted and raved wildly inside, for she feared that if she stopped and calmed down, she would have to face the heavy, terrifying implications behind that technique.

"Crack~ crack~~"

Suddenly, a strange cracking sound rang out in the air.

Unlike the enchanting woman, who had nearly given up struggling, Liu Laoer at this moment was brimming with excitement. Born innately powerful, his strength growing as naturally as eating and drinking, he knew no fear. Even now, with his entire body flushed and engorged, being frozen did not stop him from resisting.

In fact, a contest of flesh against flesh with a being of this caliber was precisely the meaning of his existence.

He had come to this eastern "world" for exactly this!

That Ming had not lied to him!

At this moment, Liu Laoer… no, rather the one named "Cang," seemed to recall the Ming who had invited him to this Dongfang Quyu.

At that time, he was invincible throughout the entire world, almost unable to find an existence that could match him. Even those gods who fed on the faith of all beings and were immortal and indestructible would flee at the sight of him, because that reputation had been beaten out by him with his fists, one punch at a time. Perhaps only the Main God, the supreme being among gods who sat high above, could be his opponent. Unfortunately, such an existence avoided his challenges and paid no attention to his provocations.

Under such circumstances, the invincible but bored him received an invitation from his good friend Ming from the Dongfang Quyu "world." Ming declared, "Don't you want an opponent? Want a challenge? Then come with me. Follow me, and all the powerful opponents you could want will be there!"

Under these circumstances, the bored but curious him decisively came. Unexpectedly, what awaited him was day after day of weak opponents, not a single one of whom could exchange more than a few moves with him. Not one of the powerful opponents his good friend had spoken of had appeared, which left him somewhat disappointed. Perhaps the only benefit was that in this world, no one feared him or avoided his challenges, allowing him to occasionally fight to his heart's content against Main God Level powerhouses from his own world.

He thought that perhaps once he grew tired of killing, he would kill his good friend Ming who had deceived him, then destroy the entire dynasty and go back.

Unexpectedly, on this day, an ordinary task led him to encounter an unprecedentedly powerful enemy!

This aura deep as an abyss and heavy as a prison, this massive body—was this not the opponent he had longed for so long without obtaining?

"Ahhhh——"

"Crack~ crack~ crack~~~"

In wild joy and excitement, he began to ignite everything within himself. Since he could not break free from this restraint with his own strength alone, he would completely ignite and sublimate his entire body. After all, for him, no matter how he Burst, he would not die!

"Shatter——"

Accompanied by a shattering sound between heaven and earth, that terrifying world-freezing immobilization spell shattered.

Like an inexhaustible golden flame, it Burst forth once more, flaunting its power wantonly between heaven and earth as if it were substantial.

"Giant dragon, then let us begin the second round."

After wantonly venting, Cang, whose eyes had turned crimson, invited the incomparably massive giant dragon with fighting spirit brimming.

"This is the taste of the West?"

At this, Baichuan was somewhat surprised to see that this weak human had been able to break his immobilization spell.

Because although this immobilization spell was not cast with his full power, it was a brand-new version he had revised and improved countless times, and its might was truly extraordinary. After all, this was modified by him, who had comprehended a portion of the essence of Spirit Qi.

At the same time, the energy aura fully exposed from this human also stirred a trace of interest in Baichuan.

On the territory of this Dongfang Quyu, he had not expected to encounter the aura of a powerhouse from the Western region.

What was going on? Were those Eastern powerhouses both deaf and blind?

But Baichuan did not have much mind to pay attention to these things, because the peculiar biological aura on that human had caught his attention.

This was an aura different from the Western gods he had encountered before. This aura was extremely strange, faintly giving him the feeling as if he had met the Lord of Radiance from days past.

But what kind of existence was the Lord of Radiance from days past? A Main God Level powerhouse. And what kind of existence was this human before him? After carefully sensing, Baichuan could only shake his head and say that the human was too weak for him to discern what realm he was in.

But that aura faintly resembling the Lord of Radiance was undeniably real. It was not his boasting—after all, one must know that he was a grand master who had considerable insight and understanding regarding biological auras, the essence of Spirit Qi, and what effects they would produce on living beings.

And could the perception of an existence like him possibly be wrong?

Then, it should end.

As the true dragon began to take things seriously, a nameless oppressive pressure began to quietly spread out.

For a moment, it caused the enchanting woman who had become a mere spectator and Cang, who had been preparing to fight, to stiffen, as if they could not breathe.

Before they could react, the true dragon's eyes suddenly narrowed, its dragon horns flashed with a rumble, and in an instant a tiny dot emerged, followed by a dazzling radiance sweeping out from that dot.

Immediately after, the air throughout all of heaven and earth first suddenly congealed as if turning solid, and then began to shatter violently within this endless light.

Vast amounts of air began to turn one after another into solid, sharp, tiny fragmentary blades, which, carried by the light, cut toward all directions.

This was a terrifying great explosion, and also a mad cutting by invisible blades.

The one at the center of this attack had to simultaneously endure the scorching flames and the cutting of the solidified air blades.

If Baichuan, who suffered from difficulty in naming things, were to give it a name, then he would call it "Blasting Blade."

Based on the immobilization spell, combined with the all-purpose nature of Spirit Qi, it gave his own scorching high temperature another form of destruction.

"Plop……"

A few breaths later, two wretched corpses crashed down. This was still Baichuan deliberately leaving them with intact bodies.

But at this moment Baichuan's mind was no longer on this. He was recalling the illusion that had abruptly arisen in him when those two had seen him earlier.

At the instant the other party experienced the illusion, in fact he had sensed it too at that time.

That world of boundless mountains stretching endlessly and filled with seas of clouds, and the mysterious dragon standing atop the highest divine mountain in the entire world.

Who was that, after all?

If this question were asked of the enchanting woman and Cang, they would surely answer that it was him, Baichuan.

But was it really him?

Was it a future him?

Or was it the true source of the Dragon Blood he currently possessed—that nameless dragon?

……

(End of this chapter)