Chapter 24: Die Once More

Shi Ran stared blankly at Mei Ruoxue, then suddenly lunged into her embrace—thank goodness, thank goodness it was only a dream, senior sister is still here! Everyone is still here! She never wants to see snowflakes filling the sky again!

Shi Ran said nothing, and Mei Ruoxue felt uneasy, anxiously asking, "Junior sister, junior sister, say something!"

Mei Ruoxue's movements woke Feng Shuangyu, who had been dozing with his head tilted; they gathered around her, and Xiao Muchu calmly took out Cheng Qingfeng, fanning Shi Ran vigorously.

"Did you drink pear blossom white again?" Luo Changfeng snorted, "How come you're acting like you're drunk?"

This sounded too familiar! Shi Ran sprang up—what's going on! Are they doing exactly what they did in the previous chapter? She glanced at Feng Shuangyu and the others, then said tentatively, "You… why are you sneaking peeks at me while I sleep?"

Sure enough, the next second she felt a familiar flick on the forehead—Mei Ruoxue said, "Who has time to watch you sleep? Tell me, what's wrong with you! Did you have a nightmare?"

Everything was just like the dream before—was this an omen? Or a dream within a dream? Shi Ran clutched her chest, her heartbeat pounding dong-dong-dong, as if it would burst out of her chest!

"Something's coming!" The night watch, Gu Yusheng, suddenly drew his Zhuyue sword, voice trembling slightly, "Everyone… be careful!"

It was Di Jiang!

Shi Ran didn't have time to wonder what was happening, but this time she would not let the dream's events repeat—she would not let Feng Shuangyu, Mei Ruoxue, Luo Changfeng, and Gu Yusheng all end up with boxed lunches.

"All stand behind me!" Shi Ran stared at Di Jiang, narrowed her eyes, and fiercely bit through her palms, chanting, "With my essence blood, I draw the spirit to form a shield—wind and fire fear nothing—solid!!" A red fishing net descended from the heavens, tightly protecting everyone.

The net was bright red as blood, like a burning fire cloud, suddenly unfolding in the dark night to illuminate half the mountain of Fumeng Sect, then like blooming crimson roses, standing against Di Jiang, vying for dawn.

This net was sturdier than the shield talisman in Shi Ran's dream—before Luo Changfeng could even draw his Broken Cloud Sword, he was bound within it, speaking incoherently in astonishment, "You… you how… who did you learn this talisman from…"

"I? Self-taught!" Shi Ran watched as Di Jiang's plump body soared into the air like a fire meteor, fiercely flapping its wings, countless streams of fire falling from its body, and Mingzheng Hall collapsed with a thunderous roar.

Mingzheng Hall was the ancestral hall of Fumeng Sect, housing golden statues of the Three Immortals and Five Sects, plus the golden statue of the sect's first patriarch, Yun Qingchen—but now, regardless of who they were, all had turned to dust, slowly vanishing into the dark night with the flames.

We can't stay here any longer, but though Di Jiang has no ears or eyes, it pursues closely—Shi Ran thought of quickly finding her master, then suddenly inspiration struck, and she shouted loudly: "Fantian!"

A dragon's roar—Fantian burst through the clouds, black dragon scales flashing with metallic cold light, eye sockets burning with dark red fire, fire patterns flaring on its forehead, dragon jaws opening to spit out countless droplets of water, drenching Di Jiang to the bone.

Di Jiang leapt up, looking furious, then spread its four wings and chased after Fantian.

While they battled without rest, Shi Ran led the group northward.

Besides Luo Changfeng, none of the others had seen Fantian before—Qing Chengshuang gripped her Yin Soul tightly, anxiously jabbing Xiao Muchu.

Xiao Muchu didn't want to ask, but Qing Chengshuang's jab hurt, so he gasped and asked, "Junior sister, where did this dragon come from!"

"From the Dragon Burial Abyss!" Luo Changfeng, while guarding Shi Ran's rear, took a moment to reply, "He's called Fantian, and he has acknowledged Shi Ran as his master!"

"What!!!" The remaining few exclaimed in unison, instinctively looking up at the sky where the black dragon and Di Jiang fought indistinguishably, then at Shi Ran's petite frame—no matter how they tried, they couldn't connect the two.

Gu Yusheng frowned, not knowing why, but he felt the black dragon named Fantian was strangely familiar, as if it ought to be his… just like…

"But… it's said the Dragon Burial Abyss was created solely to imprison this dragon—if it's discovered to have abandoned its post, wouldn't that, wouldn't that invite heavenly punishment?" Xiao Muchu worried.

Shi Ran suddenly stopped, turned to look up—Fantian and Di Jiang were rolling through the clouds, comparable to a divine palace.

She had forgotten about the heavenly punishment— in the original's side story, it was written that during the God-Demon War, Fantian, as commander of the divine dragon clan, handed over the divine realm map to the demon realm out of personal spite, indirectly causing the gods' downfall; Fantian felt guilty and self-punished, imprisoning himself in the Dragon Burial Abyss.

"Fantian!" Shi Ran urgently recalled Fantian—she couldn't break faith with the dragon; no matter what, she had to find the little immortal maiden Fantian longed for before she could let him go, and during this time, he must come to no harm.

Fantian entered Shi Ran's sea of consciousness with a dazed expression—what's going on? He was having a blast fighting, when suddenly he was called back.

Fantian, who had been restraining Di Jiang, was recalled to the sea of consciousness—none of them could match Di Jiang.

The master still hadn't appeared, the granduncle-master seemed to have vanished as well—no one came to help them, except themselves!

Gu Yusheng looked left and right—besides Shi Ran being a fire spiritual root, the other senior brothers were water spiritual roots, the senior sister was an all-elements spiritual root—since they all belonged to water, they had a suppressing effect on Di Jiang!

They now only lacked one armor unafraid of Di Jiang's fire!

And this armor could only be made by Shi Ran!

"Shi Ran!" Gu Yusheng's eyes flashed—"Can you drape this net over each of us!"

As expected of the male lead—his mind works fast, but he's making it hard for her!

To simultaneously cast five shield talismans, with Di Jiang's hong fire causing real harm to herself—"Good! I'll try!"

Shi Ran gritted her teeth, drew the talisman barehanded—in an instant, the shield net split into five; except for Shi Ran, the five others all wore battle armor, holding swords to oppose Di Jiang.

"Junior sister!" Mei Ruoxue and Luo Changfeng saw Shi Ran violently spit out a mouthful of blood and cried anxiously.

"I'm fine!" Shi Ran wiped her mouth, smiled, and said, "You must knock it down! Let me seal it!"

She was badly injured! Mei Ruoxue drew the You Ge, needing to end this battle quickly!

Mei Ruoxue thought well, but Di Jiang was an ancient divine beast—how could a few Golden Core cultivators like them defeat it?

The second mouthful of blood Shi Ran spat was from Qing Chengshuang being trampled by Di Jiang; the third was from Luo Changfeng being torn apart by Di Jiang.

Then came the fourth, the fifth…

Snowflakes filled the sky, Shi Ran lay on the ground—her golden core had shattered, and she truly had no strength left to crawl up!

Countless snowflakes drifted down like scattered silk, as if the heavens had torn open, also as if… wanting to bury…

"Soul of the floating dream, flowing fire illuminates bone and chill… crimson flame as guide, blazing the divergent path~ Soul dwells in night, eternity bears corpses still…"

Suddenly, a voice rang in her ears—amid the wind and snow, her master's face appeared in Shi Ran's vision—he still had stern brows and starry eyes, cool and aloof, white robe unstained by snow, dragon's chant never drawn from its sheath, that mole beneath his lip, shockingly red.

"Master…"

Why?