Chapter 309: And So, the Giant Dragon and the Little Girl Met; the Abyss Dragon Can

She looked to be only seven or eight years old, dressed in a black dress,

On a porcelain-doll-like, soft, plump little face, a pair of eyes were dark and bright, but it seemed she had bumped into something, and now her eyes were brimming with tears as she pouted, her small hand rubbing her own little head in pain.

She seemed to be holding back her tears.

Pink little eye-rims, brimming with tears, yet forcibly held in.

That look was both brave and gave one the feeling of a bullied little thing, making one unable to resist wanting to tease her.

At this very moment, as the nearly kilometer-long giant dragon drew close, a vast shadow instantly covered the entire rift, turning this place into darkness.

The disappearance of light and the appearance of shadow caused the little girl, who had been holding back her tears, to raise her head.

In an instant, the bright flame dragon eyes met the tear-bright large eyes.

"Strange... why do I feel a sense of closeness toward this little girl...?"

Looking at the clear, still gaze below, Baichuan couldn't help but feel a trace of doubt flash through his heart.

Just by looking at her, he had developed a sense of goodwill, closeness, and an indistinct connection toward her.

But if he examined it closely, he could find no reason for it.

This abnormal situation made his heart grow somewhat wary.

He had never seen her before, yet his perception of her had changed inadvertently, as if enchanted.

Moreover, in this desolate wilderness, near a rarely visited rift valley, a delicate little girl had actually appeared.

If anyone dared to say this was normal,

Baichuan would have to crack open their skull and see what was inside.

Whether it was all water!

Not to mention, he had only just discovered that this planet might be very special, and the moment he arrived, he saw this scene.

With all these circumstances, he had no choice but to raise his guard.

Of course, he didn't think she was targeting him; after all, not only was there a whole world between them, but he himself didn't even know his own whereabouts, wandering aimlessly wherever his feet took him — how could she possibly be targeting him?

Then was this special ability due to some mysterious power?

And one that activated passively on its own? Or perhaps...

Fortunately, he could still control this strange feeling in his heart.

The next moment, Baichuan released his perception, scanning her.

Yet the only feeling it gave him was one—

She seemed to be sheltered by some unknown power, carrying a quality reminiscent of starlight.

Besides that, she seemed to be continuously absorbing some kind of power — radiation, perhaps?

"Bad dragon!"

It seemed that Baichuan's unbridled scanning had caught her attention.

Just as Baichuan's gaze wavered, lost in thought.

A crisp, slightly soft and sticky child's voice rang out, interrupting his contemplation.

He raised his eyes and looked down again—

Those reddened large eyes were glaring at him, brimming with tears.

The complexity of the emotions within was such that even Baichuan couldn't read them.

But undoubtedly, she was angry.

Was it because of his actions?

Or did she recognize him?

—Just from a glimpse across the rift valley, she could recognize his current form, a dragon.

Silently telling him that she roughly knew him?

Was there a time when he had inadvertently destroyed her home, her family?

That shouldn't be right either; he hadn't returned for several hundred years, and if he added the time he had been sleeping, there shouldn't be many in the world who still knew him.

Baichuan's thoughts wandered without reason, but her hostility...

And being sheltered by unknown power, plus the suspected ability to absorb radiation...

He raised a sharp claw covered in dragon scales and reached down into the great rift valley.

The sky-covering Dragon Claw completely filled this place, carrying fierce, biting winds as it reached for her.

The strong gale kept blowing the little girl's hair, a claw wreathed in flames reaching down from above,

Facing this scene that would terrify any ordinary person, she didn't even blink her eyes, standing motionless as she glared at this claw — whose single claw tip was larger than her entire body — reaching toward her, as if she didn't know what fear was, or perhaps she was sulking?

The claw grew larger and larger, closer and closer...

Finally—

A single, unmatched, steel-like, razor-sharp claw tip came to a halt right before her eyes, three inches away.

Why three inches? Because within those three inches, a ball of black-gold flame burned quietly.

The flame burned silently, without a single trace of heat radiating outward, like an illusion.

But if touched by someone Baichuan had not acknowledged, they would turn to ash in an instant.

The surroundings fell silent; no one spoke, only the flame burned.

In her dewy eyes, a ball of flame flickered endlessly in reflection.

A long while.

The giant dragon's flame-like eyes flickered, then a soft laugh came down from above, like a ray of warm, life-filled sunlight falling to the bottom of the valley:

"You... want to come with me..."

"..." In the darkness, the little girl was stunned for a moment, blinked, and a faint warm current rose from her chest for no reason, her gaze, frozen and still as a waveless surface, seeming like ice beginning to melt.

She slowly raised her head and looked upward—

Under the flickering firelight, a pair of sun-like fiery eyes gazed down in silence.

"Whoosh…"

The petite figure stirred, causing the small stones in her arms to tumble down. She seemed hesitant, as if carefully, cautiously testing the waters,

After a few breaths, she extended her slender little hand, ignoring the silently burning flames, and reached out to grasp the sharp claws.

She hadn't expected the long-still claw tip to move—the great dragon withdrew it.

The girl who had just been about to grasp it froze, staring blankly at her own little hand that hadn't reached out. The warmth that had just risen seemed to turn into an icy, bone-piercing cold. For some reason, she seemed to recall the chill she had felt when she was first born. Was it just like now—being abandoned once again…

But just then, the great dragon's slightly puzzled, worried voice came with a gust of wind:

"My claws are that sharp…little girl, aren't you afraid your hand will fall off…"

As the words fell, followed by the warmth she had once hated most and a dizzying spin, the next instant what appeared before her was those flame-like eyes from before.

A single fiery eye, countless times larger than she was, was right beside her. Its very center, a pupil like the world's most beautiful crystal, was within arm's reach. Reflected within it was a delicate little girl with slightly disheveled hair, reddened eye rims, and a somewhat dazed expression—

Is that me?

In that instant, the little girl named Yuan looked at herself in the dragon's pupil. A flash of confusion and puzzlement crossed her eyes. Unconsciously, she lowered her small head and pressed her little hand to her chest. There, she didn't know when, she felt a warmth she had never experienced before—warm to the point of being hot—surge from her chest throughout her entire body.

The cold was gone, and even the beating of her heart seemed to quicken.

Only then did she suddenly realize that she had, at some unknown point, been sitting in the palm of the great dragon's claw, surrounded above, below, left, and right by swaying warmth—

It was clearly the light she had once hated most, but for some reason, at this moment, she couldn't summon even the slightest resistance.

She had clearly made a promise with 'Xing'—the moment she saw him, she would definitely get her revenge…

Was it because this strange flame was making her a little dizzy?

Yes, that must be it!

……

A strange and somewhat dazed mysterious little girl.

She seemed to carry a peculiar magic power?

This was Baichuan's first impression of the little girl he saw for the first time from the bottom of the valley.

However, although the feeling was somewhat strange and he was curious about her background—possibly possessing the ability to absorb radiation—he was not the type to randomly slaughter the innocent.

Especially when no one offended him and he himself had not detected any danger.

Therefore, he decided to observe a while longer, win her trust, and only after she completely let down her guard against him would he scan out her ability model.

Rather than using violence, directly killing, or bullying a child.

So, Baichuan decided to take her along and continue wandering this world.

……

Fifty years later.

Near the World Passage.

"Creak—"

A tall figure, holding the little hand of a petite figure, slowly walked out of the forest.

Behind them were countless animals that had gained Spirit and looked on with reluctance to see them off. A closer look revealed animals of all races—even those that had previously been in a predator-prey relationship had now set aside all instinctive opposition, closely following this pair that resembled a father and daughter, the youth and the young girl, to see them off.

"Are you really…willing to come with me?"

Though it wasn't the first confirmation, the youth still gently squatted down, his gaze serious as he looked at the little girl and spoke.

"……" The little girl, dressed in a dress and looking like a porcelain doll, didn't speak. Holding a mask in her hands, she merely gazed at his face for a while, tilted her little head as if scrutinizing or puzzled, then gently nodded.

"Alright…then, let's go. On the other side, there will be many big…big brothers and big sisters to play with you…"

In response, Baichuan also smiled gently, carefully picking her up: "You don't need to see me off either. Go back, and try to live a little longer. Perhaps we'll have a chance to meet again."

After saying this to the animals behind him who had already gained Spirit, Baichuan walked toward the enormous spatial tunnel.

The tiny human figure changed with every step, and the earth began to rumble.

Within a few steps, Baichuan had once again transformed into a flame dragon with a body length of a thousand meters, and the little girl in his arms appeared at the highest point of his dragon body—

The spot arched over by a pair of coral-like dragon horns on his head. This was the most important position for dragon-kind life, apart from the reverse scale.

The former represented the dragon's vital point—touch it, and death was certain—

Either the other party died, or oneself.

The latter represented the dignity of dragon-kind. Of course, not to mention dragons—even among humans, who would tolerate a stranger casually touching their head or trampling on it?

This was a place only those close to them could touch.

But at this moment, this petite girl had appeared at this position.

This was a treatment even the progenitor dragon, when young and still in need of his care, had never received.

But now, this girl had it.

This was the fiftieth year since he met her, and the forty-eighth year since he had discovered her true identity.

He had merely taken her along, and in less than two years, she had completely trusted him, without a single guard against him, allowing him to achieve his original goal.

Honestly, if this time was viewed according to human time perception, it was certainly nothing strange—in fact, it was on the longer side.

But the moment he saw her ability model, Baichuan was stunned.

Then threads of guilt welled up in his heart, and he even forgot his original purpose.

It turned out it wasn't that she possessed some special magic power, but that between her and him, there had long been, without his knowledge, threads of an unbreakable connection.

His meeting with her was merely due to this kind of pull, similar to bloodline or between creator and creation—guided by his own Light Point energy, they had met.

This faint pull, under normal circumstances, he would never have noticed, and would have dismissed as an irrelevant influence like gravity. But at that moment, he had opened his heart and followed the guidance within.

'Race: Yuan Dragon (Bai Xiaoyuan) / Unknown Lifeform'

'Abilities: Xingzhi Bihuo Lv4 (Limit), Radiation Absorption Lv4 (Limit), Spirit Energy Convergence Lv4 (Extraordinary), Fungal Energy Power (Negative) Lv3 (Limit Break)…'

【Fungal Power: Through some twist of fate, gained the ability to control and contain the fungal energy permeating between heaven and earth, transforming it into a negative form to unleash.】

Fungal energy, Light Point Power — the instant he saw this ability, Baichuan understood the whole truth.

She was a life born because of him!

A life born in the darkness, carrying countless failures and unbearable anguish.

And she had even been abandoned by him without his knowing…

Such an experience — a being born from all manner of negative energy and remnant spirits — even if she hated him and wanted revenge, like some great demon king who only knew destruction,

He felt it wouldn't be strange. Yet when he met her, all she said was a single "Bad dragon!"

And even later, over more than a year, he only gave her a little bit of care, and she trusted him completely.

Over that long stretch of time, she never once lost control… No — compared with the dark beings in his memory who wielded negative energy, sinister and somewhat unhinged in temperament, she was more like a clueless, love-starved but well-behaved child.

Only after she trusted him did she become a tiny bit clingy — but she would hold herself back.

What could he even say to this?

His Juanzhu was so well-behaved it almost made his heart ache.

If she hadn't had her own chance encounter, successfully sublimating from a perfect creation into a complete life — and if he hadn't come back this time either — she might have already died somewhere, in some corner.

Even if not right away, as the energy concentration dropped, she would ultimately not escape that fate.

By then, until death, he might never have known he once had a Juanzhu… such a lovely child!

On this point, Baichuan couldn't help sighing once more — that Canglan really was a great person!

This was the name he later gave her — this was the child's name, Baiyuan, though he felt the nickname sounded a bit nicer.

From her mouth he learned that, back when he was sleeping, a strange being called "Star" had appeared before her not long after she was born, and had even kindly helped her.

Hearing this, Baichuan only thought for a moment before linking all the information together.

The black-robed figure that had appeared before was Canglan's final true form — representing the unwillingness and compassion of old age.

As for why it appeared, and why it appeared in that guise,

It was simply the fault of some root of all evil — the Lord of Radiance.

……

(End of Chapter)