Chapter 107
Chapter 107
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 107
Chapter Title: Dragon's Blood (3)
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“…That is.”
Even he, known as the Omniscient One for his boundless knowledge, was too stunned to speak.
He had clearly never expected to find something like this inside the Black Dragon's lair.
Ouyang Jue, too, blinked once before starting toward the wall covered in countless drawings.
“I would have expected that Black Dragon to have skulls hanging everywhere, but a mural…?”
“Don’t approach it carelessly.”
“Well, I doubt the Black Dragon would play tricks with something like this.”
Having fought a battle of life and death, Ouyang Jue had caught a glimpse of the Black Dragon's character.
‘If he intended to use cunning tricks, he would have done so long ago.’
It would be strange for one of the Eight Evils not to possess such abilities in the first place.
But aside from the initial surprise attack, the Black Dragon had not resorted to any cowardly acts.
He had simply faced them calmly, without uttering a single excuse or curse.
In the end, he had even admitted defeat cleanly before leaving, had he not?
It was an unsettling departure for a demonic beast. Perhaps that was why Ouyang Jue's curiosity about the mural grew.
*Tap.*
Ouyang Jue ran a hand over the mural and shrugged.
“See? It's perfectly fine.”
“Still, it is a trace left by one of the Eight Evils. Ten times the caution would not be enough.”
The Omniscient One's hand seemed to move toward the inside of his robe for a moment, then in an instant, he scattered over ten talismans.
Ouyang Jue's eyes lit up at the immense profound energy emanating from the talismans.
As if noticing his gaze, the Omniscient One added.
“These are some of the talismans used to seal the Black Dragon here. A legacy left by our predecessors.”
“Hah!”
If that was true, it meant these talismans had been here since the era when the Eight Evils ran rampant and Lü Dongbin roamed the martial world.
‘To maintain their power for such a long time is incredible in itself. The capacity to contain such energy is also immense.’
Ouyang Jue roughly gauged the power contained within the talismans with his eyes.
Each one held twenty years of internal energy.
And perhaps because it was purified by the energy of the Maoshan Sect, it was incredibly pure.
Ouyang Jue could no longer hide his admiration. At the same time, he felt a sense of lament.
“To think the world I knew was so small.”
“It is not that you are lacking. Even if you gathered all the martial artists in the Central Plains, fewer than twenty would know of the Eight Evils.”
“…Mmm.”
“Fortunately, there seems to be no unusual energy on the wall. As you said, it appears the Black Dragon didn't play any tricks.”
The Omniscient One walked over to Ouyang Jue's side and began to carefully examine the drawings on the wall.
Unlike the dazzling scholarly fervor he had shown for the talismans just a few days ago, his eyes now held the composure of a scholar studying history.
Ouyang Jue asked the Omniscient One.
“There are all sorts of strange characters here. Can you make any sense of them?”
At his words, the Omniscient One wore a vague expression, as if he couldn't quite grasp it.
A large part of it was that he had never imagined the Black Dragon would have drawn something like this on the wall.
The Black Dragon he had known until now had always been arrogant, a mighty demonic beast that would never harbor a single regret.
And so, the Omniscient One delayed his answer, studying the mural a little longer before finally reaching a conclusion.
“This… could be seen as the Black Dragon's own memoir.”
“What?”
Ouyang Jue immediately turned his head back to the mural.
***
Long ago, in an age when demonic beasts roamed the nine provinces, tormenting and killing people.
In that era, each mountain had its own spiritual beast that defeated demonic beasts and revered good.
The dragon that had made its home on Mount Yuntai was one such spiritual beast.
When the soil grew parched, it would draw water from the earth's veins for the farmers, and it would sometimes pick dogwood berries for a wife whose husband had fallen ill.
In this way, the dragon earned the acknowledgment of the nearby villages and was respected as the master of Mount Yuntai.
As time passed, the dragon came to be called the Divine Dragon of Mount Yuntai.
Then one day.
“If there is a beast in the land I govern, you should have reported it immediately! How dare you lowly things!”
A magistrate with a goatee, having heard rumors of the dragon, came to Mount Yuntai.
Because of this, all the mountain keepers who knew the dragon told it to flee, but the dragon simply shook its head.
“If I were the type to pick and choose which humans to meet, why would I have ever thought to form a bond with you?”
“But…”
“Besides, if I disappear, won't you all go naked and hungry?”
The dragon said with a smile.
“You need not worry so. Though I am young and weak for a dragon, I can still protect myself.”
Since I was young, I associated with the Daoists of the Maoshan Sect, learning their spells and talismans.
Especially since I was born a dragon, my innate physical abilities were exceptional, so I had nothing to fear.
Thus, the dragon was always overflowing with confidence.
It did not think that a magistrate, no matter how wicked, could do anything to it.
Seeing this, the mountain keeper felt a little worried, but did not voice his concerns.
“…I understand.”
However, they made a pact to flee together so the magistrate could not commit his evil deeds.
As far from Mount Yuntai as possible, to a mountain region where they would not be found even if the magistrate brought cavalry.
A few days later, the magistrate gathered the government troops and went to the mountain.
“You coward!”
The dragon roared in a voice full of fury. Its pupils, stained with grief, seemed unusually slit and long today.
“A magistrate who should rule humans wisely, why do you take hostages to insult me!”
“Insult? I am merely asking you to do a few things for me.”
The magistrate sneered. Then, he pointed demonstratively at the kneeling villagers.
“But… why must I rule these lowly things wisely?”
“What did you say?”
“I'll use my servants as I please, what business is it of yours, a mere beast? I even heard you tried to flee from me.”
The magistrate stopped talking and kicked one of the villagers hard in the stomach.
Seeing this, the dragon grew enraged and was about to swing its left hand, but had to stop at a single gesture from the magistrate.
“If you move, I will cut their throats right here. And even if I die, I've already given orders for all the villages in this area to be burned to the ground.”
“You bastard!”
“Go ahead and test me. Hmm, I've heard that if spiritual beasts like you commit evil acts, all the merit you've accumulated disappears, is that right?”
The magistrate approached the dragon with a greasy smile.
*Thud, thud.*
With each step he took, the dragon's hatred for the magistrate grew. It could also clearly sense the intentions he harbored.
A desire for longevity by taking its primal energy.
And the malice of wanting to use a non-human spiritual beast as his own power to eliminate his political enemies.
If it were to obey the magistrate's commands… the thought alone was horrifying.
All the good deeds it had accumulated would vanish, and only evil deeds would tarnish its divine soul.
“…”
The dragon slowly looked over the faces of the farmers forced to their knees.
Each face held sorrow.
Some worried for the families they left at home.
There was even one who shook his head at the dragon with a firm expression.
But they could not hide the trembling in the corners of their faces.
The dragon wore a sad expression.
The years it had spent with the Daoists of the Maoshan Sect, as naturally as breathing, in place of the parents who had disappeared when it was young, allowed it to understand their hearts.
That was why it had settled on Mount Yuntai, not a pure, sacred place like Potala Monastery.
It cleared mountain paths to help good people at any time, and sometimes it would return a lost child home to ease their wariness.
As it spent its time like this, many years passed without it ascending to the heavens.
The lost child grew into a middle-aged man and became the head of a household.
The wife who had wept for her husband was now buried in the earth. Occasionally, her filial son and his wife would visit to pay their respects to the dragon before leaving.
In the torrent of time, the dragon had a warm dream.
The dragon that once yearned for the heavens began to hold the mortal world dear.
‘The years have been long. It is because I have spent too much time on the ground.’
The dragon tried hard to convince itself of this.
The dragon answered in a suppressed voice.
“I will do as you wish, so release the people.”
“For someone asking a favor, your words are rather curt.”
The magistrate's smirking face instantly stiffened, armoring itself with an icy coldness.
“Will you not bow your head and show me respect!”
“…”
The dragon clenched its teeth and looked up at the sky.
Why… why is this happening?
Muttering those words, the dragon lowered its head from the sky and stared at the ground.
*Thump!*
A loud sound echoed as the dragon's two hands hit the ground. Yet the magistrate did not flinch in the slightest, watching the dragon's actions.
Just then, an arrow flew from the mountain ridge.
“…Gak!”
A soldier guarding the magistrate clutched his neck and collapsed.
Stunned by the sudden event, the magistrate's eyes darted around as he tried to swallow his shock.
The magistrate's next move was incredibly swift and decisive.
“You bastards! If you don't stop this instant, I'll cut this man down!”
The magistrate shouted, grabbing the hair of the farmer he had kicked.
A palm-sized blade glinted in the sunlight, as if to say he would slice the man's throat if they didn't come out immediately.
“…Kuh.”
A grief-stricken voice flowed from between the trees. Soon, with a rustling sound, a group of mountain keepers emerged with their hands raised.
“We surrender. So…”
“Fire.”
At the magistrate's command, the soldiers readied their bows and aimed at the group of mountain keepers.
The shooting happened in an instant.
*Thwip, twang! Thwack!*
“Gaaah!”
“Keuk!”
Blood splattered onto the tree trunks and flowed down, staining the ground where they stood red.
But the experienced mountain keepers dodged the arrows and prepared to counterattack.
If not for a single, momentum-breaking remark, the soldiers would have suffered great losses.
“If you do not die quietly, you will only see more blood. You haven't lived so long as to not understand that, have you?”
The magistrate asked the mountain keepers hiding behind the trees with a smirk.
“To aim an arrow at me now means you are making an enemy of the government, which is the same as placing a burden on your entire families. Unlike that beast over there, don't you people know the laws of the Central Plains?”
“Laws, my foot!”
A mountain keeper roared.
“How can someone who knows them act so wickedly!”
“Hmph, let's say that's true. At least I'm not incompetent like you.”
The magistrate pointed a finger at the dragon.
“How could you know of such a treasure and not make use of it? A spiritual beast is still born and raised on the lands of the Central Plains. Naturally, it must repay its debt to the Central Plains!”
At those words, the dragon's body trembled slightly.
The good deeds it had accumulated until now.
The principles and the celestial path that the Daoists of the Maoshan Sect had drilled into its head until it was sick of hearing them—all turned to dust and scattered.
Had it ever felt such deep rage? Was there any need to endure so much just to uphold good?
The dragon pondered for a moment.
It did not take long.
“Enough.”
“?”
“Rather than be dragged around by the likes of you, I will chain myself.”
From now on, I will not even look up to the heavens.
The dragon abandoned the celestial path.
Instead, it unleashed the instinct that lay deep within its heart.
“W-wait.”
The magistrate, realizing the situation too late, waved his hands frantically, but it was already too late.
*Crunch, craaack!*
The dragon's fangs tore the magistrate to shreds.
***
“…”
Having read the mural's contents to the end, the Omniscient One was in great shock.
And for good reason—to think the Black Dragon was actually a spiritual beast that had been close with the Daoists of a past generation!
He wanted to believe it was a lie, but it was not entirely incomprehensible.
‘There were records stating that the Black Dragon had wished to be sealed on Mount Mao itself, but…’
To think it was true.
The Omniscient One had assumed the Black Dragon's thoughts had changed with the passage of time.
Just then, Ouyang Jue, who had been carefully examining the mural, exclaimed with a brightened face.
“Look at this!”
There, along with a few lines of text, was a mark that was clearly a deep groove.
Full of rage and regret for being unable to ascend because I myself bit an evil man to death, I pulled out a fang and forged a sword.
I have named it the Dragon's Tear Sword.
“It would be nice if its inner core was here, too.”
As Ouyang Jue clapped his hands and tried to open the stone wall, the Omniscient One let out a hollow laugh in disbelief.
“Anyone who saw you would think you were a grave robber.”
“The owner himself permitted it, what grave robbing?”
Ouyang Jue wore a deep smile.
“Let's just say I'm borrowing it.”
At his words, the Omniscient One was about to object but quickly shut his mouth.
“…This is.”
Hundreds of years had passed since the dragon fell and became the Black Dragon.
Despite the long passage of time, an immense primal energy was still alive within the ancient sword.
Forged from a dragon's fang, its sharpness was also formidable.
Its mystical power would surely surpass that of any mediocre divine weapon.
The Omniscient One turned to Ouyang Jue, his face filled with covetous desire. But Ouyang Jue simply shook his head.
“Didn't you call it grave robbing?”
“Grave robbing? The Black Dragon and I were neighbors for hundreds of years.”
Since when did a life-and-death enemy of hundreds of years become a neighbor?
Ouyang Jue, letting out a hearty laugh, put his hands together apologetically.
“I have someone to give it to.”
In Ouyang Jue's mind, an image of Liu Zhangming wielding the Dragon's Tear Sword with perfect freedom surfaced.