Chapter 411: Zishu, You Have Committed Countless Evils

"Let—let go! Help! Someone's going to die! Someone's going to die!"

Under the agony of suffocation, Dangya Heyan finally came to his senses, his face flushed red to the point of purpling, wildly rolling his big white eyes as he slapped at the Dragon Claw gripping his collar…

Inside the pure-white mysterious space, Dangya Heyan, who had finally recovered, collapsed to his knees on the ground like a corpse, gasping for breath in great gulps, easing his purpling complexion.

If word of this got out, no one would dare believe it—a dignified Banzhu of Earth Immortal caliber who could survive briefly in outer space had nearly lost his life to suffocation one day.

"Speak up~ A little suffocation shouldn't leave you unable to even talk…"

To one side, Baichuan ignored the other's feigned weakness and spoke lightly, for he could see the still vigorous life aura within the other's body.

"Cough~ Your gaze is sharp as a torch, my lord, I truly cannot hide it from you…" He scratched his head with a bitter smile. Dangya Heyan was too lazy to get up, simply sitting cross-legged on the ground, gazing up at that extraordinary True Immortal mythical being—he had misjudged and picked the wrong target.

Yes, the moment he realized that the Space Shuttle he relied on for escape had failed, he knew that the other party was definitely not the ordinary Banzhu he had mistakenly assumed during his distant observation at the start.

After all, what Banzhu could directly tear open space and drag him out just as he was about to flee?

Naturally, how could one who carries the blood of that one's kin possibly be weak?

He sighed, closed his eyes, and struck a pose of resigned martyrdom, saying: "Whatever my lord wishes to ask, please ask. I will tell all I know without reservation."

"Why did you seek me out?"

"Because my lord is a dragon-shaped mythical being…"

"Dragon? What does that have to do with the high elves you mentioned before?"

"Yes…" Dangya Heyan sighed with a complicated expression, as if making some major decision. "At this point, I won't hide anything from you, my lord. As for the reasons behind this, I wonder if my lord would be willing to hear the story of a down-and-out young man?"

"Once upon a time—"

"No, I don't want to hear it."

"—Huh?!!!"

Just as he had worked up the emotion to tell his story of redemption, he had not expected to hear such an answer. Dangya Heyan froze on the spot, mouth agape, unable to speak for a long while. The story he was about to tell could neither be told nor left untold.

Hey, why aren't you playing by the rules?!

Looking at the meaning clearly shining in the other's single eye, Baichuan raised his right claw and lightly tapped the side of his brow, sending off a string of sparks. "Get to the point. It's nothing but a story of some down-and-out kid being redeemed—I'm not very interested."

"…" Silently closing his mouth, Dangya Heyan didn't know what expression to make. The memories he treasured like precious gems—when he was finally willing to share them, the other party didn't even want to listen.

Organizing his thoughts, he spoke as if to himself: "What my lord wishes to know should be why I sought you out, right? That's right, it's exactly the reason I mentioned before—the dragon!"

"One hundred thousand years ago, before the Lingneng Clan was even born, this place still belonged to that one's—Chenlong's—domain. And among them, the Mother Goddess of the high elves, Niya, was one of Chenlong's capable subordinates."

"Until that one suddenly disappeared, this star domain remained peaceful. Then one day, chaos erupted, and the 【Ancestor】 of the Lingneng Clan descended, defeating the elves with tremendous might…"

"Afterwards, the Mother Goddess of the elves vanished, and that Ancestor forcibly infected the elves' Tongguang Tree, causing it to mutate, so that the beings born from the Tongguang Tree took on the appearance of today's Lingneng Clan…"

"But what does this have to do with you?"

"…" Dangya Heyan was silent for a while before saying, "That elven Mother Goddess Niya showed me kindness. I cannot stand by and watch her race be desecrated like this, but my strength is insufficient. I can only seek out powers that might help us…"

"It just so happens that the Lingneng Clan is holding a Ruling Assembly this time, so…"

"So you snuck in, searching for any beings related to dragons? Because the high elves carry the name of Chenlong's subordinates, you were hoping to encounter other dragon-kind beings, preferably ones with a significant connection to Chenlong, who might lend a hand?"

Baichuan finished the other party's words for him. Staring at the other's silent expression, he knew he had guessed correctly. And judging by the other's familiar tactics, this probably wasn't his first time.

However, this time the other party really had found the right dragon!

Because he, Baichuan, happened to have an inextricable grudge with Zishu. Now, upon hearing this news, it was merely adding a new grievance on top of old ones.

Zishu, you have committed countless evils!

"By the way, have you ever seen Chenlong? Was there by his side a being who controlled thunder and rode upon giant claws?"

Suddenly, just as he was about to leave, Baichuan seemed to remember something and asked.

"My lord, you think too highly of me…" Dangya Heyan shook his head with a bitter smile, a trace of longing in his single eye. "Such a great existence—how would I be qualified to know anything about them…"

"True enough…" Baichuan wasn't too disappointed by this. A being suspected of surpassing the Ancient Immortals was hardly something a Banzhu could know about—it was just a casual remark.

"Ah, right!" At this moment, Dangya Heyan suddenly seemed to remember something and cried out, calling after Baichuan who was about to leave: "My lord, my lord, wait! I just remembered—there's a high elf I once saved, one whose status is extraordinary even among the high elves. She might know information about this. What do you think?"

Baichuan stopped his steps and gave this scheming one-eyed fellow a deep look.

Was it really a sudden recollection? He doubted it.

However, he had no intention of exposing the other party.

One who could survive so long on Lingneng Clan territory at the Banzhu level without incident—how could such a person casually meet a stranger and pour out all his information wholeheartedly?

Right now, he was merely weighing the pros and cons, attempting to gamble once.

Thinking that there were still a few months until the Lingneng Clan's wretched assembly, Baichuan didn't hesitate.

"In that case, take me to meet her, shall we?"

"Right away!"

……

Two months later, as the Lingneng Clan's Ruling Assembly drew ever closer, the arriving civilizations and races grew increasingly numerous. The star ships coming and going at the space city's starport grew crowded at a visibly rapid pace, with all manner of unimaginable races everywhere.

"Boom! Boom!! Boom!!!"

After three thunderous roars from the horizon, the Tongguang Tree on the planet's surface, whose countless roots entangled the planet's outer layer, seemed to come alive, continuously stretching out its branches.

Finally, a large number of branches slowly transformed into a semicircular, dazzling vortex of light—a gateway connecting to a vast, boundless Subspace attached to this planet!

This was also the venue where this assembly would be held.

Recalling the information previously obtained from the one-eyed alien, Baichuan stepped in alongside beings from many civilizations. Behind him was a one-eyed alien with a smiling, gentle expression; behind that was a young man whose body was covered in scales, resembling both a lizard and a great dragon; and behind that was a cloaked figure whose appearance could not be seen.

The next moment, as the scene before his eyes shifted, what appeared was a magnificent, spectacular building resembling an ancient Roman colosseum. Ring upon ring of seats appeared to be adjacent without any barriers, but in truth, each seat was its own small space.

Inside the small space, Dangya Heyan carefully and cautiously observed this space that was transparent on all sides as if he were personally present on the scene, occasionally using faint spatial power to detect any factors that might affect his escape.

Normally, Dangya Heyan would not have ventured this deep into Lingneng Clan territory, but Baichuan had his own purposes. So, to secure this True Immortal combat power that was finally willing to help them, as well as the "dragon clan" forces behind him, they could only take the risk and follow him in.

Time began to slowly pass. Baichuan paid little attention to the commotion below. He appeared to be conversing with Dangya Heyan's group, but in truth, his vast perception had already spread out invisibly, searching for a familiar aura.

According to Dangya Heyan, this assembly was held once every thousand years by the three super civilizations of this star domain for diplomatic relations and rulings. According to tradition, the conflicts that had arisen between the many civilizations during this period would be brought forward and resolved under the public gaze of the ten thousand races.

Afterwards, they would pass judgment on races and civilizations that had overstepped the rules, upholding justice for them and maintaining the rule of this star domain. Finally came the grand trade that all civilizations and races looked forward to most.

However, this time the situation was a little special — an extra item had been added to the program above.

Because not long ago, Zhenyu — one of the most important resource planets of the Lingneng Clan, one of the three super civilizations — had actually been destroyed! Not only that, but a powerful, invincible True Immortal had even directly fallen!

Such a tremendous loss, even for a behemoth like the Lingneng Clan, was an extremely painful blow, and more importantly behind it, the Lingneng Clan's face had been damaged.

This point was the most important of all!

Face, dignity — these were closely tied to whether the foundations of their rule remained stable!

It was just like, in Baichuan's previous life's world, one of the strongest countries in the entire world, or even the strongest, suddenly having one of its most important heavily-defended key cities destroyed by someone, and being powerless to do anything about it — even after deploying its most powerful forces, still returning empty-handed.

In such a case, with its dignity damaged, if it showed no response at all, would outsiders think the Lingneng Clan was already strong on the outside but hollow within? That it could be defeated with a single blow?

Once that happened, what would follow would be a pack of wolves eyeing it covetously, each wanting to tear off a great chunk of flesh from it!

Originally this had nothing to do with Baichuan — in fact, he was happy to watch the Lingneng Clan's show — until—

"Clang clang…"

At the center of the enormous venue, on the 360-degree, no-dead-angle screen, a disheveled woman with her hair in a mess was brought up under heavy guard by Lingneng Clan soldiers, and along with her, a snow-white planet appeared — emanating a heavy mass like a small ecosystem, yet covered entirely in cold, hard ice.

Looking closely, one could even see many tiny figures within it, shivering in the cold, their faces full of terror.

Baichuan stood up directly, his gaze fixed dead on the figure in the image.

"This is?"

"What a terrifying method — to actually use tremendous power to forcibly imprison an entire planet within a World Bubble!"

Behind him, Dangya Heyan also leapt up, his face full of shock and even tinged with a trace of fear as he exclaimed, seemingly marveling at how ruthless the method was.

As his exclamation rose, it seemed to trigger something — one exclamation after another around them, whispers and murmurs continuously reaching their ears, some of pity, some of schadenfreude, some of worry:

"But what did this planet do? To make the Lingneng Clan go to such great lengths?"

"And that woman?"

"Hiss, I remember now! Isn't that a princess of the Lingneng Clan? How did she get captured by her own people and treated like this?"

"At such an important moment, bringing her up to the center of the venue — I think this conference is going to have quite a show!"

"What do you mean? Brother, could you explain?"

"Oh, haven't you been following the major events happening in the Lingneng Clan recently? I heard that wasn't the Lingneng Clan publicly slapped in the face by some mysterious existence, with Zhenyu and an invincible True God destroyed? I think this time the Lingneng Clan is going to retaliate head-on, to let them know the Lingneng Clan is not to be trifled with."

"Sigh, I don't know who was so foolish as to provoke the Lingneng Clan, and now they're hiding — this is great, now it's dragged others connected to them into it, isn't it?"

"Those who follow him must have had the worst luck of eight lifetimes~~"

"What a pity, what a pity~~"

Amid one exclamation and whisper after another, Dangya Heyan had also been watching the Lingneng Clan's misfortune with schadenfreude, until he noticed something was off about Baichuan in front of him — his heart suddenly leapt, and he kept scanning the disheveled woman in the image, as well as that dragon-shaped mythical species at the True Immortal realm — could it be?

Although this development was undoubtedly more in line with his hopes, this was not the time to act rashly — even if this lord was a True Immortal, he didn't want the powerful combat force he had just won over to simply perish.

"Lord Bai, does the person on the screen have some connection to you?"

Staring at the figure before him, Dangya Heyan carefully spoke up, "Lord, please stay calm~ Right now this is the Lingneng Clan's most important occasion, their ancestor is very likely present too — we're no match for them!"

"If we act rashly and get surrounded by the Lingneng Clan, then that would…"

Hearing this, Baichuan, who seemed to finally come back to his senses, turned his head, the corner of his mouth curving into an inexplicable smile, and said nothing — yet within those dragon eyes, a small flickering flame slowly began to burn, and in an instant it expanded, transforming into an eternal, inextinguishable blazing fire.

In that instant, Dangya Heyan instinctively shut his mouth — clearly the mythical species before him was smiling, yet he saw a vicious dragon baring its fangs, opening its bloody maw, about to devour!

His intuition told him that if he continued speaking, what awaited him would be extremely dire.

The next moment, Baichuan stepped out of the place with one foot.

At the same time, outside.

"Moo~ Roar——!!!"

A dragon's cry rang out, bright and clear enough to easily shake the heavens, even distorting space itself.

In the clear, cloudless skies of the Subspace, boundless, oppressive, heavy black clouds instantly gathered and rose.

The wind rose…

(End of this chapter)