7 - A Farewell to Mr. Luo

Chapter 7 In a small pavilion at the rear mountain of Qingxu Sect, Li Xiaoyan sat with her arms crossed, her clean and beautiful boots swinging nonchalantly. Several disciples in the rear mountain were frantically searching for Liansheng. They had been looking around the garden for half a day without any sign of him, and their foreheads were sweating with anxiety. Among these disciples were two young Taoists familiar to Liansheng. The two had just emerged from Lao Zongzhu's room, where he had given them a good scolding. The reason for the reprimand was their failure to bring Liansheng over to Lao Zongzhu. When asked about Liansheng's whereabouts, they had no clue where Li Xiaoyan could have taken him. They had assumed that no matter what, they would eventually have to find Lao Zongzhu; who would have thought that Li Xiaoyan would lose the person. Seeing Li Xiaoyan leisurely sitting in the pavilion, the two disciples hurriedly chased after her. She neither ran nor dodged, merely dusting off her boots as if brushing away non-existent dust. "Senior Sister." "What is it?" Li Xiaoyan's tone carried no hint of guilt for being the instigator. "Where did you take the young sect leader? Lao Zongzhu is looking for him right now." "How should I know? He has his own legs. Wherever he wants to go is none of my business," Li Xiaoyan retorted, holding her head high, completely unfazed. "But it was you who said you'd bring him to the rear mountain," the young Taoist said, feeling utterly regretful. He swore never to get involved in such matters again. "I did bring him here, but he insisted on going off alone, so I didn't stop him. Now you ask me where he went—I have no idea." The young Taoist knew Liansheng's temperament well enough; from their previous interactions, it was clear that Liansheng was quite conscientious and would never act as frivolously as Li Xiaoyan described. Seeing Li Xiaoyan's dismissive attitude, the young Taoist could only swallow his frustration and leave to search for Liansheng. Li Xiaoyan watched the two Taoists leave, a sly smile curling her lips as she thought, "You'll never guess he's in the Secret Scroll Pavilion." Meanwhile, in the Secret Scroll Pavilion of Qingxu Sect, Liansheng and Bai Fan were completely unaware that anyone was searching for them, still quietly relaxing inside the small hall. Bai Fan, who was clinging to a column, had already fallen asleep. In the several decades since becoming a demon, it had never slept so soundly. Its entire snake body seemed to meld with the column as if becoming one. For those decades, Bai Fan hadn't dreamt at all; now, it finally entered a dream. In the dream, it was still a white snake but much smaller, just as it had been when it first emerged from its shell. Bai Fan flicked its tongue, raising its head to survey its surroundings. All around were dense tufts of grass that appeared like a vast forest from the perspective of the tiny Bai Fan, stretching endlessly before it. The white expanse resembled a water-ink painting, with ribbon-like black ink swirling as if dragons were flying past, causing the dense grass to sway like waves. Before Bai Fan could see clearly, a dragon flew over its head, the powerful gust tossing its tiny body far away. Thankfully, being in a dream, Bai Fan didn't feel any pain. Upon lifting its head, Bai Fan was shocked to see an ink dragon hovering three feet above it, its mouth wide open, blowing a gust that almost sent it flying again. Bai Fan quickly wrapped its tail around a blade of grass to withstand the wind. As the wind subsided, it finally heard the dragon speak. "Bai Fan!" It was the first time since becoming a demon that anyone had called its name. Other than Bai Fan itself, no one knew its name, so hearing these two words made its head spin. Terrified by the ink dragon's head, Bai Fan dared not move. Though there was no pain, the oppressive presence was overwhelming, as if standing before the great heavens. "You little snake, you have swallowed my dragon pill, yet upon meeting me, you act so timidly. Where is your sense of being a fierce beast?" The voice was filled with a kind of affectionate regard, as if looking at its offspring. Bai Fan was stunned. When had it ever swallowed a dragon pill? It had subsisted on ordinary meat for ten years, nothing more. "Indeed, your bloodline is too lowly. Transforming into a dragon will be unimaginably difficult, and your luck is weak." The ink dragon looked at Bai Fan with a hint of pity. Bai Fan, however, cared little about its lowly bloodline or luck. Its mind was preoccupied with figuring out when it might have consumed a dragon pill. Unable to recall, it finally asked, "May I ask, when did I swallow a dragon pill? I really can't remember." Its voice still had a childish quality, which felt odd to Bai Fan, since it had been decades since it emerged from its shell. "Do you remember the black snake you encountered on Moonwatching Mountain?" With this reminder from the dragon, Bai Fan finally recalled the black snake struck by lightning, which it had swallowed afterward. That black snake's consumption had allowed it to become a demon. Surprisingly, the black snake had now appeared in its dreams as a dragon. "I remember," Bai Fan said softly, never expecting that what it ate could come back to haunt it. "There's no need to be so afraid. I truly perished under the heavenly tribulation. What remains in you is merely a dragon pill, awakened by the true dragon's aura." "A true dragon?" "The column you cling to—it's likely called a Dragon Coiled Pillar, with a trace of true dragon aura. This aura entered your body and awakened the dragon pill, giving me a chance to appear." So that's it! Bai Fan looked up at the menacing dragon head, whose teeth resembled ground spikes—far superior to Bai Fan's fangs—and even had eyelids and eye sockets, so different from a mere snake. Sensing Bai Fan's envious gaze, the ink dragon, dragging its long, ink-like body, moved majestically through the air, showcasing the beauty of its power. Its front body even had small claws, something Bai Fan, a limb-less snake, greatly desired. After some flaunting, the dragon descended in front of Bai Fan, temptingly asking, "Do you wish to become like this?" "Yes," Bai Fan replied without hesitation. "I have a technique for transforming into a dragon. Would you like it?" Carefully scrutinizing the dragon, Bai Fan finally nodded its snake head. The dragon, pleased, expelled a bead of green light from its mouth, which slowly floated down to Bai Fan's head. Feeling the familiar, friendly aura, Bai Fan instinctively lifted its head to meet the light, which then merged into its head. Dazed, Bai Fan stood there absorbing the sensation for a long time. The dragon waited patiently, and once Bai Fan came to, it was delighted by the benefits it had received. "How does it feel?" "Thank you, senior!" Bai Fan said, its voice tinged with peevish glee. Bai Fan thought tales of fortuitous encounters in cultivation were fake, as it had never experienced anything special in over thirty years. Life had been uneventful since entering Moonwatcher Monastery, devoid of any surprises. Bai Fan had assumed it would live out its days peacefully. But the dragon transformation technique opened up a whole new world. Human cultivation techniques were useless to it as a demon beast. Previously, no matter how diligently it followed Daoist teachings, nothing worked. While it wasn't naturally discontent, it had felt some disappointment. Now, with a cultivation technique, there was hope. Although transforming into a dragon seemed an insurmountable challenge, hope was still present. "The transformation into a dragon is fraught with difficulties and dangers. I was once a black python who happened upon this technique due to my dragon bloodline. After comprehending it, I achieved some success. But you are merely a common white snake; without my internal pill, you wouldn't even have become a demon. You were fortunate to meet that young man outside. His exceptional destiny indirectly benefits you, allowing you to absorb part of the true dragon's aura from this Dragon Coiled Pillar. How far you can go from now on is up to you." The dragon leapt skywards with a soaring momentum. Bai Fan, stunned, called out loudly, "May I ask the senior's esteemed name?" "Nameless," came the majestic, echoing reply. "Where are you headed, senior?" "To where I came from." "And where is that?" "The heights of the nine heavens, the depths of the nine hells, everywhere in all realms." The dragon spiraled into the distance. The once swirling ink coalesced into a black dot, and the whole space turned pure white, with the pale shades of ink gradually fading from view. The lush grass regained its calm. Listening to the dragon's grand pronouncements filled Bai Fan with renewed zeal for cultivation. When Bai Fan finally awoke, it experienced a brief moment of darkness before its surroundings came into focus, revealing that it had emerged from the dream. At that moment, Liansheng had already picked up the orb, examining it closely. Though it seemed coarse at first glance, upon closer inspection, he could see a true dragon moving along the golden threads. Bai Fan slowly crawled down from the Dragon Coiled Pillar, which had lost its true dragon aura and was no longer truly a Dragon Coiled Pillar. "Big White, come over and look at this. It's really bizarre," Liansheng called to Bai Fan. Bai Fan glanced at the orb in Liansheng's hand, initially thinking it was nothing special. But with just one glance, it saw a small golden dragon, an astonishing sight. Twisting its snake body, Bai Fan hurried over, its snake eyes fixated on the golden orb as if seeing an enchanting beauty. Its eyes were filled with naked greed. “Hiss hiss.” Bai Fan hissed twice, then looked at Liansheng, acknowledging in its mind that this young man truly had extraordinary luck. A true luck star, this golden thread ball was a condensed true dragon aura, far denser than what it had encountered in the Dragon Coiled Pillar. "Big White, did you also sense something unusual about this?" Liansheng asked. Bai Fan nodded vigorously, pondering how it might swallow the golden orb in one gulp. "I've been examining it for a while and almost got lost in it," Liansheng said, placing the golden orb back with a lingering sense of dread, then adding, "Let's go out and see if anyone has arrived." “Hiss hiss,” Bai Fan agreed. --- Chapter Navigation Previous Chapter | Table of Contents | Next Chapter HomePage | Desktop Version | Bookshelf | Novel Catalogue | Popular Novels