The morning sunlight streamed through the window, scattering golden fragments across the floor.
Clean, bright, carrying the scent of new life.
The faint chirping of birds came from outside, crisp and melodious, as if this world was just an ordinary morning.
Jiang Huai slowly woke up.
His consciousness was heavy and sticky.
He moved his eyelids and opened his eyes.
He was met with a pair of large green eyes.
The eyes were so close to him that he could see the curve of their lashes, feel their breath.
The pupils were pure green, like emeralds soaked in clear spring water, staring at him without blinking.
“You’re awake, huh.”
Ao Yao smiled, holding her face.
She was lying by the bed, her small body half-hanging over the edge, both hands propping up her cheeks, her big green eyes curved into crescent moons.
The morning light fell on her face, making her delicate, carved skin almost transparent.
A few strands of hair hung playfully by her cheeks, swaying gently with her breath.
Jiang Huai looked at her, stunned for a moment.
He moved his body.
With just one movement, he winced and inhaled sharply.
It hurt.
His whole body hurt.
A dense, pervasive soreness spread from his shoulders to his waist, from his waist to his thighs. Every muscle protested silently.
He looked down.
His body was a mess.
Dragon claw marks crisscrossed everywhere.
The marks weren’t deep, just shallow red streaks, but they were densely scattered across his chest, sides, and arms.
Each streak had fine patterns, the imprints left by dragon scales scraping by.
There were also red marks from a dragon tail whipping.
Those marks were wider, slightly swollen, leaving parallel stripes on his skin.
Some even wrapped around to his back, slashing diagonally from his shoulders, shocking.
The most exaggerated was that when he looked closely, he found a few dragon scales still stuck to him.
Those scales were tiny, thin as cicada wings, clinging tightly to his skin, giving off a faint yellow sheen in the sunlight.
Was this some kind of loot badge?
Jiang Huai fell silent.
He lay back down on the bed, limbs spread wide, eyes vacant, staring at the roof beam above.
“It’s over,” he muttered weakly, with a completely giving-up attitude. “I’m not clean anymore.”
Ao Yao tilted her head.
Those big green eyes were full of surprise.
She widened her eyes in shock, her small mouth slightly open, revealing two tiny dragon fangs.
“Were you ever clean?” she said.
She started counting on her fingers, each tiny finger bending down one by one:
“Two Black Dragons, Senior Qin Qingyue, and Qin Xuange, even though I don’t know how it went with Qin Fage, she definitely counts as half!”
“Three Red Dragons.”
“One White Dragon, Clan Leader Bai Lu! You have a daughter with her!”
“And Zhu…”
She counted on her fingers, getting more excited, her little mouth rambling:
“And that one, what’s their name? Whatever, there are a lot anyway!
“You’re all just playboys, so how can you talk about being clean or not?”
Jiang Huai looked at her delicate, carved little face, glared at her, reached out, and roughly rubbed her head.
Ao Yao’s head was covered by a hand, followed by a chaotic mess!
“Mmph!!” Ao Yao struggled fiercely!
Her small body twisted around on the bedside, both little hands flailing, trying to push away the offending hand.
Her hair was tousled.
The neatly arranged bun completely fell apart, hair exploding in disarray.
A few stray hairs clung to her delicate little face, making her look like a ravaged doll.
Jiang Huai finally let go.
Ao Yao stumbled back a few steps, clutching her head, those big green eyes full of accusation.
“Are you annoying?!” she yelled angrily, baring her teeth, showing those two tiny dragon fangs.
“Where were you last night?” he asked irritably. “Where did you run off to?”
Ao Yao widened her eyes:
“I’m a dragon! And I couldn’t get in last night either! What do you think I am, something that can just walk in whenever?”
“And don’t you dare draw your sword randomly, got it?!” A faint blush rose on her face.
She put her hands on her hips, trying to straighten her small body to add some presence:
“That world has its own rules! I’m just an Azure Dragon on the Yellow Dragon Clan’s turf, how can I just run around randomly?!”
Jiang Huai sighed.
He propped himself up and sat up.
The soreness in his body made him wince again, but at least he could move.
“Fine,” he waved his hand. “Tell me, what did you find out?”
Ao Yao also put away her fierce act and plopped down on the bedside, her little legs dangling.
“I visited quite a few people,” she began to narrate, her tone serious. “I found this is a different kind of Five Provinces World.”
“How so?”
“This world is different from ours,” Ao Yao gritted her teeth, a bit of discontent in her tone.
“In this world’s Dragon Race, the Yellow Dragon Clan is the strongest. Our other dragon clans have become rare!”
She snorted:
“Can you believe what Cang Ling thought up? I never saw any intention of ‘Five Dragons Co-Prosperity’ in her!”
Jiang Huai listened, pondering.
“What about my identity?” he asked.
“You,” Ao Yao spread her hands, “You’re a Human Race scattered cultivator. You met Cang Ling and Cang Jing sisters by chance in a Secret Realm, and then you got to know them.”
“And then?”
“Then you were collecting Immortal Materials, but Cang Ling took the chance to tease you,” Ao Yao couldn’t help but curl her lip here.
“In the end, you couldn’t beat Cang Ling, but she still gave you the Immortal Materials.”
She spread her hands:
“From then on, you got to know her, it developed into love, and now we’re here today.”
Jiang Huai listened and twitched his mouth.
He remembered back in the Secret Realm, he was the one who had the upper hand, right? When did Cang Ling ever beat him?
“Is that it?” He suppressed his inner complaints and continued asking, “What about the others?”
“Qin Qingyue? Qin Xuange? Zhuxin? Su Yingman?”
Ao Yao spread her hands, a helpless expression on her small face:
“There are some people who exist, like our Dragon Race’s clan leaders, elders. I found out about them, but these people you mentioned.”
She shook her head:
“They clearly don’t exist.”
“Otherwise, with such big names, I couldn’t have missed them. Senior Qin Qingyue is a Heavenly Immortal-level existence. Asking around would have found her easily.”
Jiang Huai fell silent.
So, in this Illusion Realm world, only the Yellow Dragon Clan was complete? Only Cang Ling and Cang Jing were real?
Everyone else was erased?
“So what should we do now?” he asked, looking at Ao Yao.
Ao Yao widened her eyes:
“You’re asking me?!”
She pointed at herself, looking incredulous:
“How would I know?! I’m not a Yin-Yang Body! I don’t understand this stuff!”
She paused, then added:
“But back then, I figured it out through my caution. How could I lose every bet? That’s not me at all!”
Jiang Huai glanced at her and asked, “Are you good at gambling?”
At this, she puffed out her small chest, her face full of pride:
“I started gambling at seven! By ten, I swept all of the Azure Dragon Clan’s gambling dens! By fifteen, no one dared to gamble with me anymore!”
She counted on her fingers, rattling off:
“Betting on Spirit Stones, I win nine out of ten.”
“Betting on Gongfa, I’ve never lost.”
“Betting on Secret Realms, I win on whichever side I bet. Later, those dragons wouldn’t let me bet anymore, saying I was there to rob them.”
“Betting on Immortal Materials, I hit the mark every time.”
She hugged her small chest, smug:
“I’m the Dragon Race Gambling Saint! How could I lose three straight in a small match?!”
Jiang Huai looked at her sideways.
He stared at this delicate little girl in front of him, at her smug expression, and couldn’t help asking:
“So what’s your gambling win rate?”
“Ninety-nine percent!” Ao Yao proudly lifted her chin.
When she said this, her eyes sparkled, as if flaunting some great achievement.
Jiang Huai fell silent.
He was just thinking when suddenly footsteps sounded.
The footsteps were light and lively, with a joyful rhythm, coming closer.
Jiang Huai and Ao Yao exchanged glances, both seeing caution in each other’s eyes.
“I’ll bet you, guess who’s coming: Cang Ling or Cang Jing?”