Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Temporarily Holding Hands (3)
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Seoran asked with a dumbfounded expression.
“Who... who are you?”
From appearances alone, the other looked younger than Seoran.
But she was definitely not human.
The pure spiritual power rivaling a Foundation Establishment cultivator and the deer-like antlers sprouting from her head were proof enough.
The girl shouted.
“You’re the one who stole my Dragon Pearl’s owner!”
Seoran reflexively shot back.
“Dragon Pearl? You mean... a dragon?”
The dragon was the legendary spirit creature that freely commanded rain and wind, clouds and lightning, soaring loftily through the skies.
To fully ascend beyond the mortal realm, a dragon absolutely needed its Dragon Pearl.
In a word, the Dragon Pearl was the dragon’s inner core.
The dragon said.
“That’s right! I am that dragon! So hand over the Dragon Pearl, quick!”
With that, she grabbed Seoran by the collar and shook her vigorously.
“Gak, gaek!”
Seoran made desperate choking noises as her throat was throttled.
The startled dragon loosened her grip.
Her blocked breathing resumed.
The fresh air rushed in with her inhale, racing through her blood straight to her brain.
Seoran immediately reviewed her recent memories.
Dragon Pearl—must be some round orb, she thought.
Amid the lantern-slide of past scenes flashing by, one image popped out.
It was the crystal orb she’d picked up from the mud puddle.
“Is the Dragon Pearl you lost maybe a crystal orb about this big?”
Seoran urgently clenched her fist to show the size and asked.
“Yeah, it was definitely about that size.”
The dragon answered, slightly flustered.
This was not how she’d imagined capturing the Dragon Pearl thief.
She’d fantasized during her travels about delivering horrific punishment to the shameless rogue who’d brazenly deny everything.
She hadn’t expected the thief who stole the priceless heavenly treasure to confess so meekly.
“Here’s what happened.”
Seoran explained in detail, from start to finish, how she’d come across the crystal orb.
The dragon released her collar for now.
She listened calmly to Seoran’s explanation.
Soon, she understood the whole story.
The culprit was the altar the dragon herself had built.
Her poor craftsmanship had left the structure shoddily finished, unable to withstand the wind and rain, and it had crumbled.
The Dragon Pearl had tumbled down the rocky mountain, landing in the mud, where the coating acted as an insulator.
In the end, it couldn’t contain the lightning and remained an incomplete Dragon Pearl.
The dragon plopped down in despair.
“So that’s how it happened... It was all my fault...”
Seoran encouraged the deeply dejected dragon.
“Don’t be too heartbroken. We can just capture lightning again. I kept it safe in a box. I’ll give it back to you.”
The trembling dragon snapped her head up and said.
“You’ll return the Dragon Pearl you found on the ground?”
If it wasn’t stolen but lost by accident, the finder became the new owner.
And a dragon could never ascend if it took another’s Dragon Pearl.
Naturally, sneaking it away or tricking someone into handing it over was impossible too.
So the dragon spoke honestly.
“You don’t seem to know, but a Dragon Pearl a dragon accidentally drops belongs to whoever finds it. Aren’t you a cultivator pursuing immortality? And still you’d return it? Even though with the Dragon Pearl, you could easily reach the immortal realm?”
Seoran nodded.
“How long did it take to make the Dragon Pearl?”
“Roughly six hundred years...”
“Then I don’t need it. My conscience would bother me and hinder my cultivation. Besides, I’m a genius, so I’m confident I can ascend without something like a Dragon Pearl.”
The dragon, who’d despaired of never ascending in this life, said with tears welling up.
“Really... thank you so much...”
“Come on, let’s go.”
Seoran and the dragon set off amicably toward the Black Bamboo Sect.
But after a few steps, the dragon flopped face-first onto the ground.
Having spent half her life in water and the other half in the sky, she was terribly clumsy at bipedal walking.
She looked just like the clay doll Seoran had made.
Seoran felt a strong pang of sympathy.
“You can’t fly anymore because you lost your Dragon Pearl?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
A dragon without its Dragon Pearl could no longer fly.
She was no different from a carp now.
All she could do was flop and jump.
Seoran crouched down, offering her back.
“Get on.”
The dragon lifted the hem of her straw mat garb and climbed onto Seoran’s shoulders.
It was a bizarre sight: a little earthling piggybacking another little earthling.
Cold skin touched the nape of Seoran’s neck.
Huh, I thought it was male because of the horns, but it’s female.
Having resolved her small doubt, Seoran dashed to the nearby fallen stone lotus flower and hopped on.
*****
At the visitor pass issuance desk, Seoran asked.
“By the way, what’s your name? I need it for the visitor pass.”
The dragon’s voice came from above her head.
“A true, complete dragon needs no name.”
“Then I’ll just call you Dragon Maiden.”
“Fine, do as you like.”
Seoran went to the counter and said.
“This is Dragon Maiden. She has business at the Black Bamboo Sect.”
The weary clerk asked.
“Her name is Dragon Maiden?”
“It’s just a nickname.”
“No name. Then what’s her race? Human? Doesn’t look like it.”
Seoran thought for a moment before answering.
“She’s a spiritual being.”
“Hm, race: spiritual being. Length of stay and purpose of visit?”
“Purpose is visiting an acquaintance, stay within three days.”
“Visiting acquaintance, within three days. Let me check her face.”
Seoran bent her knees deeply so the dragon and clerk could make eye contact.
Pretty small.
The clerk noted the visitor’s features along with his idle thought.
Deer antlers on the head.
Iris pale blue.
Extremely small.
Then he diligently filled out the form.
Visit duration, purpose, race: spiritual being.
Guarantor: Foundation Establishment cultivator Ryu Seoran.
No name, nickname...
What was the nickname again?
Dragon Maiden something?
No, something Dragon Maiden?
The clerk poked his head out the window and looked up at the dragon.
Dragon Maiden, tiny Dragon Maiden.
His eyes lit up.
Right, Little Dragon Maiden!
He promptly carved “Little Dragon Maiden” onto the wooden pass.
Moments later, the clerk handed over the pass.
Little Dragon Maiden took it and tied it to her horn.
It didn’t seem particularly meaningful—just instinct.
Seoran shouldered Little Dragon Maiden and headed home.
She went straight upstairs and upended the souvenir box.
A jumble of trinkets spilled out.
Tree fruit seeds, Diamond Lake Toad scales, glowing stone mole-man figurine, the bamboo hat bought to match Golden Spirit Root, and more.
Among them, she picked up the transparent crystal orb and passed it overhead.
“Here you go, Dragon Maiden!”
“At last!”
Little Dragon Maiden joyfully received the incomplete Dragon Pearl.
She immediately infused it with spiritual power to attempt resonance.
But the Dragon Pearl rejected Little Dragon Maiden’s primal spiritual power.
Startled, Little Dragon Maiden peered closely at the Dragon Pearl.
Inside the transparent crystal orb, yellow spiritual power floated like mist.
Focusing her gaze, she saw Seoran, brimming with Pure Earth Spiritual Power.
The Dragon Pearl had bonded to a new master.
Little Dragon Maiden’s antler flashed briefly.
Dragons were spiritual beings that could read heavenly omens.
Sometimes, with those deer-like antlers, they communed with the heavens to receive secrets of the myriad things.
Like a lightning rod, in a manner of speaking.
Having instantly read the heavenly omen, Little Dragon Maiden realized.
It was due to Seoran’s innate genius for sensing spiritual energy.
Her unbelievable talent, reaching to the heavens, had unconsciously subjugated the Dragon Pearl.
From that perspective, Seoran finding the mud-caked Dragon Pearl wasn’t chance but fate.
Little Dragon Maiden quickly thought of a solution.
But she also realized another possibility.
So she asked Seoran.
“Has your resolve to return the Dragon Pearl to me not changed?”
Seoran asked, puzzled.
“Pardon? Didn’t I already give it back?”
“The Dragon Pearl has already chosen you as its true master. Handing it over like an ordinary object won’t change the bond.”
“Then what should I do?”
“You need to fully control the Dragon Pearl before transferring ownership.”
“Is there special meaning to that?”
Little Dragon Maiden answered gravely.
“Only dragons can wield a Dragon Pearl. Conversely, if you fully control it, you could become a dragon. Returning it to me means giving up the chance to be reborn as a dragon.”
It was worlds apart from merely using a lost Dragon Pearl to accelerate cultivation.
If Seoran proved worthy to the Dragon Pearl, she could ascend not as an Incarnation cultivator, but as a dragon.
Attaining eternal life, the ultimate goal of any cultivator.
Little Dragon Maiden asked once more.
“Even so, your resolve hasn’t wavered? You’d forsake immortality, the dream of all cultivators, for a mere act of kindness? You could become an immortal being.”
After a brief silence, Seoran countered.
“Why did you start cultivating, Dragon Maiden?”
“At first, pure instinct. After becoming a dragon, solely for ascension.”
“Then I’ll return it all the same.”
“Even forsaking eternal life?”
“Yes.”
Little Dragon Maiden’s draconic eyes fixed on Seoran.
A dragon’s eyes could discern truth from lies.
Seoran spoke the truth.
Little Dragon Maiden asked blankly.
“Why?”
“I started cultivating to become a noble person. I don’t want eternal life at the cost of crushing your dream, Dragon Maiden. It just doesn’t sit right with me.”
Finishing, Seoran gave a shy smile.
Little Dragon Maiden couldn’t tear her gaze from Seoran.