59 - Divine Mastering Dragon System

## Chapter 59: Justice Night had fully settled when they arrived at the Zhu residence. Xiang Shi Yan sat cross-legged on the bed, while Du Ruo squirmed restlessly in her sleeve pocket. Although Du Ruo could easily shrink to this size, her original form was much larger, akin to the width of a bowl. It felt as if she was being forcibly compressed into a narrow space, becoming increasingly uncomfortable and frustrated over time. After scanning the room with her spiritual senses and securely sealing the area, Du Ruo finally felt safe enough to crawl out of Xiang Shi Yan's clothing. The little snake wriggled on the floor a couple of times, gradually expanding from the size of a newborn snake to a massive python as thick as a large bowl. Most of her body remained coiled on the ground, while her head rested on the bed, not too far from Xiang Shi Yan. They had agreed that within the Zhu residence, Du Ruo would not assume human form. This way, if discovered, she could simply be explained as Xiang Shi Yan's spiritual pet. In the imaginations of mortals, demons were creatures that gained intelligence after cultivating. Upon reaching a certain level, they could even assume a human form. In reality, such demons were rare among all demon cultivators; they were referred to as acquired demons. Whether spiritual beasts or ordinary animals, very few could reach the intelligence level of humans or innate demon tribes; it required innate talent, effort, and great fortune. Most creatures, even if they possessed spirituality, would at most have the intelligence of children under ten, and were essentially still beasts. The innate demon tribes, on the other hand, were intelligent beings somewhat akin to humans. They had complex societies and their own civilizations, which bore a striking resemblance to the human civilizations on the continent of Shenzhou. Many human cultivators refused to acknowledge that demon tribes possessed intelligence comparable to theirs, derogatively labeling them as savage and inferior beasts. Some even believed them to be hybrids, inferior to humans. To Xiang Shi Yan, such rhetoric was somewhat laughable. If the demon tribes were truly ordinary beasts, how could they have competed with human cultivators since the primordial era? However, given the current tense relations between humans and demons, this kind of self-deceptive rhetoric was mainstream in the cultivation world, leaving Xiang Shi Yan with no means to change it. Innate demon tribes were inherently highly intelligent, distinct from beasts, yet their appearances were not entirely human-like. They were broadly categorized into three major species: the Scaled, the Beasts, and the Feathered. Typically, when they were born, their form could resemble either a beast or a human. Between the ages of seven and twelve, they would gradually transition to the other form. Once stabilized, they could freely switch between the two forms. When Du Ruo was born, she was almost indistinguishable from a human female infant, aside from a slightly lower body temperature. At seven, she began showing changes like altered senses and began growing scales over her human skin. She was extremely grateful that her transformation had just begun when she met Xiang Shi Yan, as she still looked relatively human. After her scales fully covered her body, her muscles, skin, and bones slowly transformed, making her not only immensely painful but also horrifying to look at. The entire process lasted two or three years. During a significant portion of that time, Du Ruo was a bizarre half-human, half-snake creature until her "beast form" was fully developed, allowing her to shift naturally between human and snake. Some demon tribes were born in beast form, and they would gradually shed their animal traits, transforming toward a human appearance in their maturation period. The end result was the same for both. During the most difficult period of growth, a young creature might not even be able to move by itself, relying entirely on parental support to survive. For this reason, the familial culture of demon tribes was much stronger than that of humans. They were exceedingly cautious about reproduction, with children forming deep bonds with their mothers. That winter, Du Ruo had run away and was found mid-mountain by Xiang Shi Yan, who wrapped her in her cloak and carried her up the mountain. After slaying the master of the Du residence, dubbed the "last pure-blooded Jade Fox," Xiang Shi Yan had no intention of involving his wives and children. Yet, having witnessed their domineering "master" easily killed by this woman, the entire Du household was engulfed in terror. Madam Du was from a side branch of the Du family, chosen to ensure the purity of the next generation. She knew her elevated status entirely depended on her husband, so upon seeing him losing to Xiang Shi Yan, she hurried to help, only to have her hand severed by Xiang Shi Yan, who was an entire realm higher in cultivation. Xiang Shi Yan recalled the events vividly. She remembered wrapping the wounded, scaled child she had found on the road and placing her under the magnolia tree in the courtyard. After confirming her enemy was slain, she returned to find Du Ruo, who had fallen into unconsciousness from loss of blood and fever. Though she knew the little snake had escaped from the Du residence, Xiang Shi Yan didn't know who her mother was. Thus, she held the child up for Madam Du, who was kneeling in the snow begging for mercy, to identify. The Jade Fox's nature, lustful and with a physique that bolstered cultivation by dual-cultivating with or consuming others, meant the residence was filled with countless beauties, and offspring were abundant. Though only one of Scaled lineage existed, Du Ruo appeared entirely human, wrapped in a large cloak, and Madam Du couldn't recall the child. However, forced by this threat to identify the mother, she could only gather the women of the residence. The concubines of low cultivation huddled together, few daring to meet Xiang Shi Yan's gaze when she sternly demanded they look up. Among them, it seemed the child's mother wasn't present. Given the apparent harshness in her life, Xiang Shi Yan was inclined to take the child with her. However, amidst the heavy snow, a woman stumbled forward. Dressed in nothing but a sheer garment, the woman, who appeared to have just awakened, staggered towards Xiang Shi Yan in the dead of winter—not a time for the Scaled to wake. Her entire body had lost color, frozen stiff as a corpse in the snow. Stretching out trembling hands, the woman uttered, "She's… mine…" Ordinarily, the Scaled tribe would not easily awaken from hibernation, but as a cultivator, Du Ruo’s mother had woken with a start when the children, originally intending to bully her daughter, had screamed in fright due to Du Ruo. As soon as Xiang Shi Yan placed the child in her arms, the woman cradled her close with utmost care. A sudden discomfort nudged at Xiang Shi Yan, and she asked, "What is her name?" The woman replied, "Du Ruo." It was then she noticed the numerous bloodstains on her daughter's body, hastily uncovering her to check for wounds. After a long silence, she muttered, stammering, hoping she could be like the master… Du Ruo's name did not originate from fragrant herbs. Mixed blood was looked down upon among the demon tribes, labeled mongrel. However, mixed blood offspring would fully inherit one parent's dominant trait. Therefore, the Du family had gathered various strange bloodlines in a gamble, hoping some woman would birth another pure-blooded Jade Fox. Yet, most mixed-blood children followed their mother’s dominant trait, and the Jade Fox lineage was too potent to easily pass on, leaving the Du family’s ambitions unfulfilled. A discouraging implication, so Xiang Shi Yan omitted this part when revisiting her past with Du Ruo. Du Ruo noticed Xiang Shi Yan gazing at her in a daze and swiftly blinked at her, the serpentine body squirming as her head nudged against Xiang Shi Yan's hand. For some reason, Xiang Shi Yan perceived a hint of enchantment in the snake's expression, awkwardly averting her gaze and withdrawing her sleeve trapped under Du Ruo. Originally thinking Xiang Shi Yan was interested in her snake form, Du Ruo was disappointed, nudging the bed disheartenedly. Just this morning, she had reveled in Xiang Shi Yan’s caress over her scales; how could she not like it now? Mixed with human blood, they were indeed fickle. "Come on, pet me," Du Ruo coaxed, curling her tail around Xiang Shi Yan’s ankle. "Am I not your spiritual pet? Do you not like a cool, sleek little snake?" Or maybe she only liked small snakes and not large pythons? Xiang Shi Yan nudged her head away from her leg, but Du Ruo seemed annoyed, tightening her grip on Xiang Shi Yan's thigh and pretending to sleep. After all, Du Ruo needed her help. Xiang Shi Yan sighed, letting her have her way. With Du Ruo purposefully disrupting her cultivation, Xiang Shi Yan resigned to achieving mindfulness in an awkward posture, consciousness sinking into a complete connection with the system. A screen of light appeared before her eyes, the system adeptly presenting the world's text. Xiang Shi Yan manipulated the interface and inquired, "How's Huai Ye doing?" "Qin Miao has been bitten by a venomous snake, incapacitating him temporarily," the system began, habitually reporting the status of Qin Miao, always shadowed by UAV surveillance. Xiang Shi Yan glanced at the status bar, noting Qin Miao's halo value had dropped to 85%. At this stage, Qin Miao’s "invincible halo" weakened, allowing him to suffer non-lethal injuries that provided no future advantage. Once the halo value fell below 10%, the world would no longer recognize him as the "male lead." Then, this QD-sequence world would reset under Xiang Shi Yan’s JJ halo, acknowledging her as the protagonist upon reboot. The system continued, "Huai Ye's team was attacked by a group of beasts approximately 17 basic time units ago. Since the beasts were relatively weak, most of the disciples were unharmed though the team was scattered. Huai Ye is currently combatting the beast leader, presumed to have a cultivation level of Golden Core's peak, with a victory probability of 94.17%. The survival rate for the least experienced disciple in the squad is 91.51%." A beast horde. Depending on the circumstances, these disciples could be wiped out, but since the system calculated no major issues were likely, Xiang Shi Yan felt reassured. After a moment of silence, she asked, "How is He He doing?" The system hesitated briefly before replying, "The system does not advise you to focus too much on non-original characters." Precisely because she is a non-original character, I... Xiang Shi Yan knew the system could read her thoughts. She averted her eyes slightly and, somewhat moodily, said, "Just report." "Deploying mini-cameras to survey, target identified as the individual recognized as 'He He,' searching..." "You can't find her?" "Searching, please remain calm, Host." Xiang Shi Yan, feeling a bit irritated, swiped the light screen in front of her twice. Shortly after, the system's simulated female voice leisurely replied, "Confirmed, target unit's life signs are normal, no visible injuries on the surface." Xiang Shi Yan noticed a sigh of relief escape her, then awkwardly followed the operatives' instructions to input the command: "Mute voice module." A transparent message box appeared before her eyes: [Automatic response module of Quick Reaction System 8503 has been disabled, retaining voice command window.] Xiang Shi Yan slowly exhaled the stale air from her chest, forcing herself to calm down and once more review the words of the creator, hoping to glean some clues regarding the captive pregnant woman at the Zhu residence. Unfortunately, by the time the original storyline reached the part involving Zhu Yun, Zhu Cheng had already died suddenly, leaving eighteen-year-old Zhu Yun not only as the youngest head of the three families in Huai Hai City but also its only mortal. Born into an old, noble family, Zhu Yun—a head of the Zhu family and expected heir—was a mere mortal. Although it's unclear exactly what transpired, by the time the male lead arrived in Huai Hai City eight years later, Zhu Yun had settled everything. There were no objections from the clan, no gossip from townspeople, and no further crises faced by the Zhu family. Xiang Shi Yan admitted she couldn't achieve that; she didn't know the process, but knowing the outcome and methods, she developed a sense of admiration for this young girl's strategic mind. The Zhu family's main challenges arose from two aspects. First, the decline in the family's overall strength led to a chain reaction affecting its status in the cultivation world. Forces larger than theirs sought to engulf them to secure their own unshakable position in the long term, while smaller forces aimed to seize this opportunity to elevate themselves and rise. Consequently, the Zhu family's assets and resources were gradually devoured piece by piece by various factions, exacerbating their already difficult-to-break cycle. In Huai Hai City, their neighbors, the Bai and Xu families, were the two hungriest wolves. Though in Zhu Cheng's generation, a delicate balance had somehow been achieved with the Bai and Xu families, the threat remained unresolved, only staving off the Zhu family's doom temporarily. Second, the Zhu family was no longer capable of supporting its sprawling reach, and the main family's influence over the branch families was weakening. At a time when unity should prevail, a few stronger branches were secretly eyeing the patriarch's seat. From the perspective of traditional families with clear male-preference inheritance systems, having only two female successors was highly insecure, posing an obstacle to Zhu Yun's ascension as the head of the family. Xiang Shi Yan understood the logic—if Zhu Yun were to marry, the Zhu estate could fall into outsider hands from the clan perspective. Conversely, if Zhu Yun declared she wouldn't marry, her sister Zhu Yu’s children would become primary heirs, which would not only create trouble for Zhu Yu but also hinder Zhu Yun when deciding the heir. An intriguing fact that Xiang Shi Yan overlooked in her three centuries within the cultivation world was immediately noted by logistics operatives when analyzing the story's background. Female cultivators suffered a direct hit to their cultivation upon childbirth, making them unlikely to wish for offspring. So how did noble families sustain themselves? After all, while sects could perpetuate by integrating outsiders, the closed and exclusive nature of family clans meant they could only produce heirs from within, thereby creating irreconcilable conflicts with the direct interests of noble female cultivators. Discovering she lived in a virtual world, Xiang Shi Yan realized the inconsistencies surrounding her. A world cannot be fully explained in detail by a single book; all holes and contradictions are rationalized by the world's will at creation. Every irrationality would inexplicably have a basis unknown—even unknowable—to the author. The author devised the concept of noble families without delving into their logical discrepancies, thus crafting a world where the cultivation clans became male-dominated interest groups exerting immense control over women capable of reproduction. This result was likely unforeseen by the original author. The noble families in his writings developed power systems indistinguishable from worldly clans but were more prone to corruption due to their advanced technology. The events in Huai Hai City prior to Xiang Shi Yan taking Zhu Yu away were a complete blank. The original author did not describe how Zhu Cheng maintained the family before Zhu Yun's revival. Thus, the world propelled this authoritarian organization to tread a path that would seamlessly align with the predetermined future joints. She could only glimpse a fraction of the heinous deals of noble clans from the "venom" flowing between the sisters. This fleeting glimpse of the world's repulsive side evoked a nausea unmatched by anything Xiang Shi Yan had experienced in over three centuries. Even in the end, as per the original author, Zhu Yun emerged from the quagmire by sheer will, yet she could never shed the stains on her being. Shadows clung to her like maggots gnawing at her bones, steering her toward her demise. In a city teeming with powerhouses like Huai Hai, forcibly taking the twins was not an option. The Bai and Xu families might have granted a slight chance, but now it appeared the three noble families were merely birds of a feather. Xiang Shi Yan held no care for the Zhu family’s dirty swamp's survival or the balance of power in the cultivation world. She felt no regard for the survival of the Zhu clan. A family that survives by sacrificing innocents has no right to drink their victim's blood, standing atop a moral high ground to bully those threatening their peace. If justice requires the sky to fall, then let it fall. **Author's Note:** Seeking comments, Bear loves to chat OUO Thanks to the angels who voted or watered with nutrient solution from February 21, 2022, 35:58:45 to February 35, 2022, 35:05:50~ Thank you to the angel who threw a grenade: Macedonia Governor 1; Thanks to the angels who watered with nutrient solution: Hotpot Poached Egg 10 bottles; Holly 5 bottles; Thanks so much for your support, I will continue to work hard! This site has no pop-up ads, permanent domain name (xbanxia.com)