The leaden-gray clouds seemed to be torn apart by invisible giant claws, roiling madly above the Dragon Palace.
At the very center of this apocalyptic sky phenomenon coiled a colossal dragon, its scales as if forged from solidified abyss, glimmering with the cold luster of Obsidian.
With every circle it made, waves a hundred zhang high exploded across the sea’s surface.
Even the Night-Luminescent Pearls inlaid atop the Dragon Palace swayed and flickered in the violent air currents, their light flickering like candles on the verge of dying.
Above the giant dragon, Jiang Huai, sword slung across his back, clung tightly to the scales on the dragon’s head, craning his neck to peer downward.
“Ao Shuang, come out!”
Qin Qingyue’s roar crashed like a thunderclap, shaking the glazed tiles of the Dragon Palace until they rattled. With a lash of her tail, the dragon carved an afterimage through the air, the gust it stirred pressing down on the palace below.
Her vertical pupils were fixed unwaveringly on the area deep within the Dragon Palace shrouded by a barrier, where faint streams of light spun.
Qin Qingyue’s roar still reverberated above the palace when, all of a sudden, a blinding cyan light flared from within.
A cyan figure shot forth at great speed, its scales glowing with a jade-like sheen beneath the daylight. It was none other than the master of the Central Continent Dragon Palace, the Azure Dragon, Ao Shuang.
Those jade-like scales shuddered uncontrollably beneath the crushing force of the incoming dragon might, each one reflecting the storm raging within their master’s heart.
Ao Shuang’s massive dragon body even instinctively shrank back an inch, demanding,
“Qin Qingyue, our Central Continent Dragon Palace has nothing to do with your Eastern Sea Dragon Palace, does it?”
“Back then, you drove the Dragon Race of the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace away, seized the palace for yourself, and proclaimed yourself the East Sea Dragon Lord.”
“And now, what do you want with our Central Continent Dragon Palace?!”
There were five Dragon Palaces in this world. Qin Qingyue hailed from the Eastern Wasteland but had been driven out by the people of the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace, forced to wander the world.
Later, Qin Qingyue drove out every last Dragon of the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace, took the palace for herself, and became the East Sea Dragon Lord.
“Ao Shuang, I heard there’s a Secret Realm in the Central Continent Dragon Palace that can bestow the Celestial Immortal Form. Is it true?”
“I want to enter. Let me pass.” Qin Qingyue’s gaze locked onto Ao Shuang, her Obsidian-like scales reflecting a bloodthirsty gleam beneath the cyan light, a wave of oppressive might bearing down.
“If not, what happened to the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace will happen to the Central Continent Dragon Palace as well.”
Ao Shuang instinctively retreated a half step, clearly feeling the crushing force emanating from the other— the suppression of a Supreme Sage Great Ascension.
“Qin Qingyue! Don’t push things too far!” Ao Shuang raised her dragon head high, forcing herself to sound imposing.
“You’ll have to ascend to the Immortal Realm someday! Many of our Central Continent Dragon Race elders are Earth Immortals in the Immortal Realm!”
Like a startled animal, Ao Shuang hissed at Qin Qingyue, her jaws wide:
“If you dare harm a single brick or tile of my Dragon Palace today, once you ascend to the Immortal Realm, you’ll find every step blocked and be doomed forever!”
That was why so many Major Sects, even without a Supreme Sage Great Ascension, didn’t fear extermination and could even thrive.
If one’s Ancestors had once been powerful, and had connections in the Immortal Realm, even a Supreme Sage Great Ascension wouldn’t dare act rashly—otherwise, after Ascension to the Immortal Realm, endless trouble would await.
“Hmph! Do you think I’m easily frightened?” A cold, scornful laugh spilled from the black dragon’s maw, indifferent.
Qin Qingyue clearly didn’t care about Ao Shuang’s threats, utterly disdainful.
“If you don’t let me into the Secret Realm today, I’ll slaughter everyone in your Central Continent Dragon Palace! Not a single scale left!”
“So, are you letting me in or not!” Her dragon pupils blazed with a savage light, killing intent thick enough to seem solid.
If she could gain the Celestial Immortal Form, what would those old things in the Immortal Realm matter?
Whether she could even survive the Secret Realm was another matter entirely.
Ao Shuang’s eyes widened in fury as she snapped,
“You…”
This wicked dragon—just looking at her gave Ao Shuang a headache. She couldn’t beat her, and she couldn’t afford to provoke her.
After being together so long, Ao Shuang feared she might even catch some Misfortune and ruin her own cultivation.
But the Secret Realm that bestowed the Celestial Immortal Form did exist, and there was only one chance. She was truly unwilling to hand it over to Qin Qingyue.
“Are you giving it or not?!”
With a sudden lash of her dragon tail, a distant mountain peak exploded with a thunderous crash.
Qin Qingyue abruptly shifted into human form, her dragon horns radiating black light. In an instant, a suit of dark armor covered her body, and she raised her spear high, glaring with fury.
Jiang Huai suddenly lost his support. As he began to fall, a dragon tail wrapped around his waist, pulling him back and pressing him against Qin Qingyue’s chest.
For a moment, the sea was thrown into chaos, as if the world itself was ending.
The tip of her spear pointed directly at Ao Shuang, its radiance swelling, as if it could claim her life in the very next instant.
“All right, all right, I’ll let you in!”
“Qin Qingyue, don’t you regret this!” Ao Shuang’s cyan dragon tail lashed as she gritted her teeth and made her difficult decision.
The cyan light faded completely, and in its place appeared a loli no taller than Qin Qingyue’s chest, exquisitely carved like a porcelain doll.
Atop her head sat a pair of delicate, translucent cyan dragon horns, and trailing behind her was a massive dragon tail, covered in resplendent jade-green scales, longer than her entire body.
Jiang Huai, pressed unwillingly against Qin Qingyue’s chest, looked at Ao Shuang with curiosity.
This was only the second dragon he’d ever seen take human form.
But wait—why was she so small?
Ao Shuang did her best to stand on tiptoe, trying to appear more imposing. She placed her hands on her slender waist, puffed out her cheeks, and glared at Qin Qingyue with her round, emerald dragon eyes, striving to project the dignity of a Dragon Palace master through sheer force of will.
Yet no matter how one looked at it, the scene resembled nothing so much as a bristling baby dragon baring its teeth at a primordial beast.
Who would have thought the master of the Central Continent Dragon Palace, in human form, would be so petite, like a child—delicate and doll-like.
In contrast to Qin Qingyue, it was the perfect image of a cool older sister and a loli.
“I’ll take you, but you must promise me—once you enter the Secret Realm, whatever the outcome, you’re never to come to our Central Continent Dragon Palace again! And no robbing!” Ao Shuang warned.
Qin Qingyue was, in her way, a person of principle. She slowly lowered her spear and clasped her hands in salute.
“Rest assured. If the Central Continent Dragon Palace is ever in trouble, I’ll definitely come to help!”
At these words, Ao Shuang’s face filled with disdain, and she quickly replied,
“Take that back! Our Central Continent Dragon Palace will never be in trouble!”
“And we don’t need your help!”
This person is a Luckbringer—wherever she goes, people die. Who would dare ask her for help? She’d only bring disaster.
Qin Qingyue’s proud dragon head dipped ever so slightly, and that figure clad in dark armor, spear in hand, suddenly exuded an indescribable loneliness.
Her eyelids drooped faintly, long lashes casting a small shadow beneath her eyes, hiding the fleeting dimness in her vertical pupils.
It was a weariness, deep as bone, born of being shunned by the entire world.
She was indeed a Luckbringer, but she wasn’t truly so terrifying.
If every Sect she visited was doomed to disaster, why would she bother to cultivate so bitterly for so long?
Yet no one would ever believe her, and no one would ever approach her.
Jiang Huai sensed this trace of desolation acutely.
His heart tightened, but he said nothing. He only raised his hand, and his warm palm gently rested on the cold dragon tail coiled around his waist, his fingers soothingly stroking the smooth, tough scales.
His voice was low, but it reached Qin Qingyue’s ears with strange clarity:
“She’s talking nonsense. As long as I’m here, nothing will happen.”
“My life is tough.”
The dragon tail seemed to coil even tighter. Qin Qingyue, expressionless, followed Ao Shuang as they descended into the Dragon Palace.
She knew perfectly well she owed Jiang Huai, dragging him into danger without knowing if they’d survive together.
But that’s just who she was—she would never let her husband leave her, nor fall into anyone else’s hands.
Even if it meant dying together.
Only now did Ao Shuang notice Jiang Huai, tightly encircled by the dragon tail in the arms of the armored woman.
“Who’s this?”
“My husband. He’s coming into the Secret Realm with me.” Qin Qingyue said with no change of expression.
Shock instantly wrote itself across Ao Shuang’s youthful face, her pink lips forming a round “O.” Her jade-like dragon eyes swept over Jiang Huai, finally settling into a nearly tangible pity tinged with the Dragon Race’s innate pride.
“Him?”
Ao Shuang’s voice was as clear as a child’s, but the note of lofty regret was unmistakable.
“He’s going in there with you? Tsk…” She didn’t finish, only shook her little head, her dragon tail swaying in sympathy.
Poor man—he probably wouldn’t last long, would he?
Staying by this woman’s side meant certain death, let alone entering the Secret Realm together.
“Good luck, Qin Qingyue.”
‘And… this unlucky, nameless husband.’
At those words, Qin Qingyue’s arm around Jiang Huai tightened abruptly, almost embedding him in her cold armor.
She didn’t look at Ao Shuang. From her tightly pressed lips, two cold words slipped out:
“Lead the way.”
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