Chapter 122
Chapter 122
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 122
Chapter Title: Dragon God (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The expedition arrived on the eastern coast of the Western Continent.
And depending on their destinations, they split into two groups.
The Black Bamboo Sect direct group and the undersea city via group.
The first group planned to head straight to the Black Bamboo Sect.
They were inherently busy people, so it couldn't be helped.
They had also packed materials brought from the Southern Continent, like formation texts and desert giant observation logs.
An archaeologist who had been part of the think tank greeted them.
"Liu Investigator, we'll head out first."
Seoran returned the greeting.
"Yes, take care. But isn't your luggage a bit much? Are you really taking all of it?"
"I just can't wait to study the Southern Continent's formations even a day sooner. They were truly advanced techniques. They might even help clarify the operating principles of ancient teleportation arrays."
"Ooh!"
Hearing the archaeologist's words sparked Seoran's interest.
She wanted to learn about it herself when she had time later.
It seemed applicable to puppetry as well.
After finishing their farewells, the Black Bamboo Sect direct group departed.
The sailboat floated up lightly and vanished into the western sky.
Loaded heavily with books and spirit stones, its movements were sluggish.
After seeing them off, Seoran spoke to the remaining group.
"Alright, then let's head to the undersea city ourselves."
The undersea city via group was not small in number either.
Naturally, they weren't going deep sea for fun.
This was a proper business trip for them too.
Seoran and Damcheong were going to play the role of gods.
The other experts each had their assigned roles.
Studying merfolk ecology, field surveys related to secret scripture rituals, or undersea resource exploration, and so on.
The group boarded the Feast Mountain Great Peng and moved to an uninhabited island far from the coast.
That island was the agreed meeting spot with the Merfolk Church.
The visit schedule itself had already been sent a few days prior.
Showing up without any prior notice would undoubtedly turn the entire undersea city into chaos.
As the destination came into view near the horizon, Seoran asked.
"Damcheong, is the Merfolk Church fully prepared?"
Damcheong, whose dragon eyes were gleaming, shook his head.
"They seem busy moving around, so probably not yet."
"We came too early, huh."
"Noon is the appointed time, so yes, a bit too early."
For reference, the current time was the hour of the rabbit.
In other words, just as dawn was breaking.
They had arrived excessively early.
The Feast Mountain Great Peng immediately changed its flight direction.
And began circling the sea.
They planned to kill some time.
Seoran asked.
"Would you like some honey tea?"
Damcheong nodded.
"That sounds delicious. Let's do it."
Seoran filled the kettle with water.
Then she climbed the ladder next to the cylinder.
To place the kettle on top of the cylinder.
Damcheong, who had been silently watching the series of actions, asked.
"Is it alright to use that cylinder like that?"
"Hey, I'm not hammering it with an iron mallet or anything. Just boiling some tea water—what could go wrong?"
"Well, now that you mention it, true."
Before long, the water in the kettle was boiling vigorously.
Seoran climbed the ladder again and retrieved the kettle.
Pouring water into a teacup and adding plenty of honey completed it.
Seoran took a sip of the honey tea she had made herself.
"Mmm, delicious."
"Your skills are improving steadily."
"Still a long way to go."
They leisurely enjoyed the honey tea until noon arrived.
*****
The massive bulk of the Feast Mountain Great Peng landed on the uninhabited island.
Having witnessed the god's majesty, the merfolk played their instruments in ecstatic emotion.
The deep tones of conch shell trumpets and drums made from whale skin resounded repeatedly.
The Feast Mountain Great Peng's enormous beak opened, revealing a pair of girls.
Two gods descending, wrapped in radiant five-colored clouds.
The Earth Mother Goddess Liu Seoran and the Second Dragon God Damcheong.
Seoran, half-lidded eyes, murmured softly.
"Everyone, let's love diligently."
Seoran's short slogan that had swept through the Merfolk Church and undersea city.
Its fervor still heated the seas to this day.
The culprit behind rising sea temperatures and coral bleaching.
It was only natural that the merfolk went wild.
They chanted "Earth Mother Goddess! Dragon God!" while frantically waving yellow or blue flags.
Merfolk fainted one after another whenever Seoran and Damcheong shifted their gazes.
The land-based welcome ceremony ended relatively quickly.
They were fish, after all—they couldn't stay out of water for long.
In truth, the main event would take place underwater.
Seoran and Damcheong boarded a luxurious coral carriage.
A mode of transport prepared solely for gods.
Soon, twelve one-horned sea horses pulled the carriage and shot downward below the sea surface.
An expedition member who had watched the entire process commented.
"Liu Investigator and Dragon Girl, your popularity is incredible."
"Yeah, I didn't expect it to be like this."
"Come on, enough chit-chat. Let's get going too."
"We're leaving the Feast Mountain Great Peng like this?"
"It's not like we're taking it to the deep sea, so no choice."
"No need for guards... right?"
"It'll be fine. Just look at the size of that puppet."
"True, not exactly something you can steal."
The expedition members chatted as they boarded the transport prepared by the Merfolk Church.
It was a building constructed on the back of a turtle yokai's shell.
Unlike the two gods touring the Merfolk Church's deep sea branch, they were heading straight to the undersea city.
Seoran, Damcheong, the Merfolk Church, and even the expedition members left the island.
Only the Feast Mountain Great Peng remained alone on the uninhabited island.
It was quiet, save for the occasional chirps of birds.
Time passed, and the world was dyed red by the sunset.
Two female harpy birds flew in from the forest.
They landed on the enormous beak of the Feast Mountain Great Peng.
The two harpies began chattering to each other.
"Bird, big!"
"Big, big!"
"Don't copy me!"
"Don't copy, don't copy, eek!"
Suddenly, they started pecking and clawing at each other.
In the midst of kicking with their talons, the scuffle abruptly stopped.
They felt something strange.
The harpy underneath said.
"Ground, tilting!"
The one on top retorted.
"No, beak is tilting!"
The tilt grew increasingly severe.
Before long, the two harpies lost their balance and toppled over.
They tumbled and rolled down the slope.
The two harpies hurriedly fluttered into the air and witnessed it.
Round eyes blinking blink.
Snow-white head tilting tilt.
Hips and tail feathers wiggling wiggle.
The giant owl-eye was moving on its own.
*****
No matter what happened on the sea surface, the merfolk were drunk on happiness just shy of lethal overdose.
A god had descended below the surface after twenty-some years.
It was truly the event of a lifetime.
The merfolk continuously shouted about the god's blessings.
"I worked hard wanting to offer more tributes, and my income doubled! It's the blessing of the Earth Mother Goddess and Dragon God, Dragon God and Earth Mother Goddess!"
"I faithfully followed the teaching to love others, and my family became even more harmonious! A blessing!"
"I frequently traveled the canals for pilgrimages to the holy sites, and I became remarkably healthy! A blessing!"
"I swam a lot too, and lost weight!"
"A blessing!"
No matter how you thought about it, those weren't results of blessings.
But Seoran didn't bother pointing it out.
To preserve the merfolk's innocence.
She simply kept her smile and said one thing.
"Let's love."
A massive cheer.
First-class believer Hong Lin-eo announced the notice.
"To commemorate the Second Dragon God Festival, the Earth Mother Goddess and Dragon God, Dragon God and Earth Mother Goddess have declared a special tribute week! As a result, for this quarter, you may offer up to 75% of your income as tribute!"
Another massive cheer.
The usual tribute cap was 50% of income.
75% meant they could offer 50% more than usual.
The merfolk flailed about in happiness.
Having completed their tour of the deep sea branch, the Earth Mother Goddess and Second Dragon God headed to the undersea city for the next schedule.
*****
The Merfolk Church's pontiff, whom they hadn't seen in a long time, said this.
"Dragon God, you've finally completed the Inner Pellet and been reborn as a true dragon!"
Damcheong asked in surprise.
"No, how did you know?"
"I could tell from the faint five-colored glow emanating from your horns."
Seoran and Damcheong turned to look at each other.
Damcheong's deer antlers had begun to glow exactly 100 days after completing the ritual.
At first, the light was so faint it was barely visible in the dark.
It had only recently become noticeable even in bright places like now.
Seoran posed the question.
"By any chance, the previous Dragon God's horns too?"
"Yes, that's right. It happened a couple months after the ritual. I still vividly remember that day. The Merfolk Church built the ritual altar ourselves. It was truly an honorable task."
Seoran and Damcheong simultaneously had the same thought.
A dragon's horns didn't glow right after the ritual.
The pontiff had personally witnessed the Dragon God's horns shining.
Thus, there was only one conclusion.
The previous Dragon God, who had also completed the Inner Pellet, had likewise overcome the blind longing for ascension, just like Damcheong.