202 - Divine Mastering Dragon System

Chapter 202: The Trap (Part 1) After dispatching a paper crane to deliver the refined Qi-stabilizing pill, He He lingered for a while in the small courtyard at Mo Bamboo Peak, gently pushing open the room where Xiang Shi Yan used to stay. The furnishings had remained unchanged for years, still immaculate, yet an unmistakable oddness permeated the space. It felt empty, as though something essential was missing. A peculiar touch enveloped her clenched fist, prompting He He to glance back and relax her grip. A bloodstained white cloth was taken by the female ghost behind her. The ghost, clad in red, appeared no older than fifteen or sixteen, with a gentle, docile face. Her large, round eyes clung to He He's sleeve, soothingly stroking the hair cascading down He He's back, reminiscent of comforting a child. Upon glimpsing the bloodstained cloth, the ghost turned feral, her demeanor shifting from a soft maiden to a drowned ghost with a blue-tinted visage, sharp fangs bared, and chilling breath. The bloodstained cloth was nearly torn apart in Lin Zhao Di's wrath. He He turned to close the door, gently patting the ghost's head. Lin Zhao Di's long hair, now cold and wet, wrapped around He He's hand like water plants. Unperturbed by the ghost's chilling aura, she softly brushed the girl’s side hair. "I'm fine." The ghost, cloaked in darkness, finally showed the whites of her eyes again as she clung to He He's shoulder, her lower half becoming translucent. Floating to embrace He He, who had grown much taller than her, she rested her chin on He He's shoulder, making a faint, strange noise. Though Lin Zhao Di was a rare spirit, formed from a village girl's resentment upon drowning while pregnant, she couldn't match the ghostly general nurtured by Yu Zi Ming over the years. Especially as Lin Zhao Di was once merely a mortal, even now with dragon aura boosting her, her consciousness remained incomplete. Previously, Lin Zhao Di resided in a jade pendant belonging to Xiang Shi Yan. Now that pendant, with its crane motif, hung at He He's waist. The jade hairpin, a token given after teasing their master, and a promise for help, were left behind by Xiang Shi Yan upon departure. Alone, yet still she chose to escape from her. He He's golden eyes flickered briefly before she moved, arriving at her usual meditation cave in the mountains. In front of her secluded cave stood an old tree with a crooked neck, amidst the yellow-green surroundings, its vibrant red feathers strikingly conspicuous. Sensing her arrival, an orange-red plumaged bird on one leg lifted its head from under its wing. With a long, sharp beak and large, black eyes on its small head, it looked quite strange. The bird's movements were agile, its eyes unwavering even as its head bobbed, adding an extra layer of eeriness. Setting aside appearances, this Fireglow Bird indeed grew splendidly. He He had no contract with it, but the bird, clever and docile, submitted to the black dragon. Known for its intelligence and bloodthirstiness, the Fireglow Bird served as an excellent combat companion for contract beasts. Any seasoned observer could see this indolent bird's feathers were extraordinarily lustrous, not fed by ordinary spiritual fruits. Clearly, this bird was accustomed to consuming brains—even feeding on cultivators' blood—to attain such an imposing appearance. "Has he ever tried escaping? Could he truly have gone mad from captivity?" As He He passed under the tree, she scratched the Fireglow Bird’s soft incubating feathers, exchanging thought with her fiery companion, though her expression turned peculiar. In front of the cave stood a barrier identical to the one that once held Xiang Shi Yan. He He hesitated, then stepped lightly inside, her gaze inscrutable as she regarded her captive. Before her was a frail old man, his eyes gouged out, ears pierced, throat rendered mute by poison. His skin was ragged, as though peeled away layer by layer. He was shackled to the wall by his limbs, yet the black dragon harbored no pity for the decrepit puppet. Before the elder was a lamp, within which two ethereal spirits burned, emitting an inaudible, piercing scream only she could perceive. The dragon's splendid almond eyes narrowed in satisfaction as she watched the suffering trio, recalling Xiang Shi Yan's confrontational words on the night of the dragon meat auction at the Tai Xu sect—her smile abruptly vanished. "The moment I saw the woman in the illusion, countless questions about you found instant answers, including one longstanding puzzle—why did you target and torment Qin Miao so relentlessly? Was it merely because he happened upon that secret treasure?" Xiang Shi Yan's hand released its grip, allowing the exquisite wooden box holding the dragon meat to crash onto the floor. Next, her icy blue spiritual energy adhered to it, twisting into a flame-like glow as it corroded the box and the creature’s body within. Amidst the soul-eroding pain, He He noticed an unusual chill that stoked her ire. The pain from Xiang Shi Yan spread swiftly through her, a blush creeping uncontrollably onto her ear tips. She gritted her teeth as she listened to the woman’s hypothesis. "Qin Miao is her descendant, which is why you harbor such hatred and can’t tolerate his existence," Xiang Shi Yan declared with certainty. "There's no resemblance between Qin Miao and her, so you have no qualms about dispatching him, right?" Is that so? If Qin Miao were a girl who looked exactly like her, would He He be lenient? No. If Gu Qin Song's child bore her likeness, He He feared she'd be driven by the impulse to rend her skin inch by inch. In that instant, the black dragon realized Xiang Shi Yan misunderstood her relationship with her mother, yet she offered no correction. Unaware of the deep gaze resting upon her, Xiang Shi Yan failed to notice the golden eyes hidden in the shadows. A spiritual light struck the old man’s forehead, causing him to struggle fiercely without uttering even a scream, resting his head sadly against the chains, anticipating more torment. He He originally infiltrated the Tai Xu sect to scout the terrain, but her unexpected discovery changed her plans. She hadn't anticipated seeing that face again—the aged visage of Gu Qin Song. Exalted cultivators seldom show signs of aging. Although this man crystallized his appearance in middle age, the wear on his face was due to years of torment. Over two centuries ago, he was said to have perished under the demonic arts of a young demonic overlord, his body dissolved to nothing but a pinky finger. Yet years later, this man, once heralded as a righteous leader for whom everyone felt indignant upon death, was found by He He with a battered body in a secret chamber. How fascinatingly curious. Gu Qin Song's frame should have been lifeless these past sixty years, for she once stripped the soul bound to the dragon bone knife, confirming it was a complete soul. Then who resided in this shell? With intrigue, He He crouched before the figure. Gu Qin Song had replaced his eyes with dragon eyes, yet it was stolen divine favor, and even she struggled to wield her right eye capable of seeing future threads, resulting in her demise at the hands of a disciple—a fitting tale. Smiling, she lifted the nearby lamp, the flickering flame inside terrifying the spirits into silence. As she gazed at the weakly floating souls, realization came in an instant. Draped in cloaks of cloud-casting silk and scale armor, Gu Qin Song could not be fatally wounded by any weapon or spell. To harm him, one had to first separate him from these treasures. Her cunning yet foolish older brother had physically peeled them off, but only gravely injured him, granting him the opportunity to plot anew. In a bid to escape, Gu Qin Song called upon his son, the child born through his vile schemes controlling their master. He tied his soul to the dragon bone knife, swapping souls with his son, imprisoning him within his own body while cruelly rendering him dumb, severing all his meridians, ensuring he could neither speak nor write of his identity. This vessel had been utterly ruined, surviving only through the nurturing dragon force, lest it turned to dust long ago. A twinge of amusement graced He He's lips unwittingly as the barely humanoid face lifted towards her. Having fled with a new body, Gu Qin Song adopted the surname "Qin", continually seizing his descendants’ bodies in a vain bid for resurgence, seeking vengeance on those who cornered him so long ago. The plotters might have been his most brilliant disciples, Fu Wen Yao and Bai Jing Huan. Perhaps even today, they were unaware Gu Qin Song’s soul had long since escaped, misunderstanding the information potentially extracted from the old shell and thus kept him confined within the sect, though their efforts yielded nothing from its murmurings. Upon realizing that evidence of his treacherous murder and usurpation of the master's position had been stolen, Fu Wen Yao was naturally struck with a mix of fury and fear. Despite ordering a thorough search that spanned nearly three months, the thief remained elusive. But what if, during this time of unease, he discovered that his sinister cultivation technique had been secretly imparted to the majority of the Tai Xu sect’s disciples? How would he react? A recent spate of disappearances and mysterious deaths had understandably captured the attention of the Thirteen Seats of the Immortal Sect. He He purposefully attended a meeting with Huai Ye, and when someone presented the corpse of a disciple with a depleted dantian and atrophied meridians to the representatives of the Immortal Realm, calling for a joint investigation, she clearly noted that Fu Wen Yao, seated at the head, did not even twitch a brow. Yet, the spiritual energy within him surged violently. She sensed a part of her own soul within him—a man who appeared to be at the mid-stage of the Grand Ascension but had, in reality, reached the Transformation stage. At five hundred years old, he had no need to conceal his prowess unless he feared exposure of his cultivation technique that absorbed others' cultivation. Fu Wen Yao quickly noticed He He's unabashed gaze. As he glanced back, the golden glints in both their eyes flickered almost simultaneously. He had remained unfazed by the corpses presented earlier, but something he saw in He He visibly drained the color from his face. According to Huai Ye, he later inquired about her, by which time He He had already left. Fu Wen Yao carried a distinctive scent, indescribable by words, akin to the aroma of a lit incense lamp. But to He He, this scent was all too familiar—she recognized it from Xiang Shi Yan as well: it was the essence of her own soul. Gu Qin Song had swiftly progressed beyond the Nascent Soul stage using a similar dark technique, draining his master's cultivation for himself. However, the stolen power could not be retained without consequences, and the severe repercussions could lead to sudden death within a month. Fu Wen Yao, having seized control of the Tai Xu sect from Gu Qin Song, naturally became aware of this dark secret, which ultimately came to He He’s attention by chance. When He He uncovered the cultivation manual from the sect leader’s quarters, she realized that she might have been the original target. To safely practice such a wicked art, Gu Qin Song required a robust and unique soul as a catalyst to stabilize his cultivation. His absolute command over her mother via a master-servant contract naturally made her the target. Despite the prosperity achieved with the help of the Dragon Soul Lamp, not all Tai Xu disciples shared Gu Qin Song and Fu Wen Yao's fortune under He He's scrutiny. Spending a lengthy period observing the disciples with moderate cultivation levels, He He selected a group from which to orchestrate coincidences. Over the past three months, she meticulously crafted scenarios in which these disciples, after facing hardship, would serendipitously encounter a revered demon cultivator. Captivated by varying reasons, they were awarded a priceless "manual." It is only a matter of time before the unsanctioned spread of this dark cultivation method within the Tai Xu sect becomes apparent. The cultivation world's rulers would surely connect the dots through the deaths caused by demon cultivation bursts, revealing that some disciples received the manual directly from their mentors. … How many innocents suffered from this unforeseen calamity? Excluding those who vanished, sixteen individuals had already perished this month alone. As Xiang Shi Yan had aptly claimed, regardless of the righteous acts He He might undertake, she was, at her core, an unrepentant demon. Author’s Note: Happy New Year, everyone, I’m back. Things have truly taken a grim turn. A happy ending must be crowd-funded with suggestions; otherwise, we might have to bid a final farewell to the dragon (just kidding). Thanks to the angels who cast their powerful votes or nurtured me with nutrient fluids between 2035-01-85 35:25:07 and 2035-01-25 02:38:45~ Special thanks to the angels who launched rocket votes: Yuanyan Tiantie 1; Thanks to the angels who provided nutrient fluids: Hot Pot Boiled Egg 141 bottles; Lamp Month 115 bottles; Makino Yu 100 bottles; Crane Group Administrator 20 bottles; 38033515 5 bottles; 2585 3 bottles; Thank you all for your support. I will continue to work hard! This site has no pop-up ads, permanent domain (xbanxia.com)