Volume 06
Chapter 1 – A Love Faithful To The End
The time had passed by as quick as the twinkling of an eye, two months had passed, and the two gold dans in my body had improved significantly. Even though they weren’t yet completely transparent, they were not far from succeeding, as I had clearly felt that my magic power had made a breakthrough. The current semester was also quickly coming to a close. Ma Ke and Hai Yue have practically been glued together; Each accompanied the other daily. Mu Zi and I were in drastic disparity as compared to them. Although I could distinctly feel her feelings towards me, she still felt close yet far to me. There seemed to be an indestructible wall between us.
I should be giving her the hundredth letter today. What should I write? Should I write about the summary of my feelings for her up to now or about our future plans? No, neither would be good. After wracking my brain, I suddenly recalled a story from a village I had previously visited. Yes, I shall use this story as a basis for the hundredth letter that I would be giving to Mu Zi.
The next class began. I gazed upon Mu Zi’s average face, yet I was still bewitched by her lovable appearance. As my heart surged with strong feelings for her, I took some sheets of paper out, and started to write that hundredth letter.
Mu Zi, this is the hundredth letter. I won’t continue to sweet talk you. Instead, I would like to tell you a story in this letter.
The story is about a boy from a distant past that would see a girl that he admired every day without fail. Finally one day, that boy plucked his courage up and wrote the girl his very first love letter to her, inviting her to the seaside with him. The boy was extremely shy, and would turn and run away from the girl immediately after giving her the love letter.
When the appointed day arrived, the boy waited anxiously for the girl at the appointed place.The girl showed up, and they played heartily for an entire day.
When night time arrived, as the boy was escorting the girl home, he asked if she was willing to make their relationship official. The girl gave him a letter before turning and running off, saying, “If we are fated….”
The boy opened the letter only to find a blank sheet of paper. He was stunned and thought about her words, but did not have a single clue about what she meant.
After a few days, the boy asked the girl out again using the same method. When the appointed time arrived, the girl
showed up and spent the day happily with him just like before. When they separated again, the girl said the same words, “If we are fated….” After she said that, the boy received the same second blank letter.
Just like that, the boy had used his love letter to make an appointment with the girl.
After a few years, the boy and girl had gone on 99 dates and he had given the girl 99 love letters. However, after every single outing, the girl still gave the same reply, “If we are fated…” and gave him a blank letter in reply. Eventually, the boy slowly got annoyed and so he stopped reading the replies she gave him. He felt that he was unable to win her heart over. After he receiving the girl’s 99th letter, he decided to marry another girl who had pursued him for a period of time.
On his wedding night, in order to express his sincerity to his wife, he took out all of the letters he had previously written for the girl and told his wife about his story.
His wife took the letters from the girl and went through them one by one; they were indeed all blank, just like the boy had said. When she got to the last couple of dozens of letters, she realised they were still unopened and asked the boy why that were the case.
The boy replied that since the letters would still be blank, what would be the point in opening them?
His wife pleaded for the boy’s consent, and upon getting it, opened the last few dozen letters that the girl had written for
the boy. When she opened the 99th letter, she discovered a single line of words on it, and taciturnly gave that letter to the boy.
After the boy took the letter, he was astonished to find that the 99th letter had a sentence, “I have already prepared the wedding dress. After you give me the 100th letter, I will be your wife.”
The boy was stunned, dazed and stupefied as he looked at the letter. He simply could not belief that fact. He took the 99th letter and walked outside before letting the bone-piercing cold wind carry the letter away, and with it, his heart. They both flew off to a far away place.
This is where the story ends. Even though the method utilized by the girl in the story was a little extreme, it proved that the boy’s feelings for her were not loyal to the end.
Mu Zi, I don’t know how many letters I will have to give you before you will be able to truly open up your heart and soul, and give yourself to me. Ma Ke has already successfully pursued Hai Yue. When will I be able to succeed in winning your heart over? If I have the chance to use my life in order to obtain your feelings just like Ma Ke did with Hai Yue, I would not even hesitate. No matter what, my love for you will always be resolute, and will not crumble.
Inscribed with my everlasting love, Zhang Gong.
After finishing the letter that brimmed with my feelings, I gave it to Mu Zi.
Mu Zi customarily took the letter and read through its entire contents in a short amount of time. She raised her head and looked deeply at me. Her eyes didn’t reveal her being moved by my words like I expected, but instead were filled with a profoundly complicated expression. She sighed lightly before putting the letter away, then turned her head and stared fixedly at the whiteboard in front of the classroom instead, and did not look at me again.
I felt as though I had suffered a blow and my heart was filled with bitter feelings. ‘Mu Zi, why can’t you open up to me? Am I really that unworthy for your love?’
I shook my head, and laughed mockingly at myself. I flopped onto my table and desolately counted the leaves on the tree outside the window as I tried my best to stop those downtrodden thoughts.
The class finally ended. I didn’t leave with Mu Zi as per usual and just solitarily walked out and headed to a corner of the academy forlornly.
I gently leaned against a large tree whose trunk needed two persons to join arms in order to completely encircle its width. My eyes stared out lacklusterly as I stared forward and my mind was completely blanked.
“Zhang Gong?” Someone patted my shoulder. I was startled
and quickly turned my head only to see Hai Shui who I had not seen for quite sometime. I had constantly avoided her ever since returning from the competition. Seeing her today was the first time since then.
Hai Shui smiled at me and said, “It has been some time since we’ve met. Zhang Gong, why are you spacing out alone here? You didn’t even respond to me calling out to you after more than a few times.”
Hai Shui had lost a lot of weight from before. Her initially rosy face was a little pale as well. I smiled at her awkwardly and replied, “That’s right. We haven’t seen each other for a while. How have you been recently?”
Hai Shui seemed to laugh self-mockingly as she said, “Don’t be like this. I heard elder sister say that you guys suffered a lot due to the competition.”
I replied, “Yes. Who would have thought that the competition would be that abnormal? However, at least we still gained something, as we finally succeeded in bringing your sister and Ma Ke together.”
Hai Shui nodded and replied, “I really do envy them. That’s right, how are you and big sister Mu Zi doing?”
Chapter 2 – Teacher’s Summons
My expression dampened a little but I forcefully smiled and said, “We are doing really well.”
Hai Shui didn’t notice my expression and plainly replied, “That’s great. We are going on a vacation soon. What are your plans?”
‘Plans? I really haven’t thought about that.’
I replied without thinking, “I still don’t know. I’ll make my plans when the vacation starts. Maybe, I will just head home.”
Hai Shui nodded and replied, “That’s a good plan. I heard from my elder sister that your magic power had already reached the Magister’s stage. Is that really true?”
I couldn’t, and also didn’t want to lie to her so I just simply replied, “That’s correct and it had already been sometime since I reached that stage. From the undulation of your magic power from your body, it seemed that you have not improved much. You must work hard.”
After I said that sentence, I regretted it. As expected, after Hai Shui heard my words, her expression dampened. She plainly replied, “My heart is placed somewhere else so I can’t focus.” After she said that, she looked deeply at me.
My heart jumped heavily. I clearly understood Hai Shui’s strong feelings for me, but I had already given my entire heart to Mu Zi. At one side, it was the one I love and on the other is someone that loved me. Both sides had similarly put me in a spot.
I coughed and changed the topic. “Have you eaten?”
Hai Shui shook her head and replied, “I haven’t. I am just planning to go and eat. I coincidentally saw you so I came over.”
I repressed a caring expression and replied, “You should eat more. You have lost a lot of weight again.”
Hai Shui’s eyes reddened and suddenly she threw herself at me like a bird seeking refuge in a forest and cried bitterly.
Her action gave me a shock, but I couldn’t push her away. I stood there at a loss to know what to do and let her tears wet my clothes.
After a long time, Hai Shui then released her hands that that were tightly holding my hands. She just stood a few centimeters away. Her breath gently blow on my face, making me a little intoxicated by it.
Hai Shui’s beautiful large eyes were filled with tears. She whispered, “Can’t you give a little of your feelings to me? Even if it is just pity, can’t you?”
I looked at Hai Shui in a stunned state and really didn’t know how to reply.
Hai Shui sighed lightly and placed a kiss on my lips that felt like like a dragonfly stepping on water before she turned around and ran away.
As I watched her delicate back gradually vanish from my view, my mood became much heavier. I was in a little peculiar mood as I told myself, ‘It wasn’t that I completely didn’t have
any feelings for Hai Shui. However, when the heart ripples, it would be extremely hard to stop it from expanding.’
I bitterly laughed and rubbed the remaining sensation that Hai Shui left on my lips and didn’t know what to do.
‘This is really like when a wave had not even eased before another wave had come. I haven’t even solved the matter with Mu Zi and now Hai Shui came in rapidly. What am I supposed to do?’
I didn’t go to Ascending Jade Tide and just ate some food in the canteen before returning back to the dormitory by myself.
After the next few days, I didn’t said anything to Mu Zi. I just sat by her side and stared fixedly at her daily. In my heart, I thought, ‘Why can’t you really accept me?”
Mu Zi didn’t dare look at my gaze which was filled with deep feelings for her. I could see that she was avoiding me.
Ma Ke suddenly came to find me today. After seeing me, he smiled and said, “Boss, how have you been recently?”
I snappily replied, “How can I be like you so comfortably off?
From day to night, you are stuck to Hai Yue and ignored me as your brother. This is a perfect example of paying more attention to a lover than friends. From what I see, it seems that you have already forgotten about me.”
Ma Ke embarrassedly laughed. “How can I? I can forget anyone but I won’t be able to forget about you, Boss. Didn’t I come to look for you just now?”
I snorted coldly and replied, “Just say it, why have you come? Without any urgent matter, I doubt you will come looking for me.”
Ma Ke smiled apologetically and replied, “Hehe, Boss, it seems you have completely looked through me. It is Teacher Di that
told me to look for you. On my way home yesterday, I met that old man. Teacher Di wants you to see him after the end of lessons today.”
Why was Teacher Di looking for me? I replied, “I got it. Do you still have other matters you want to tell me?”
Ma Ke shook his head. “I don’t have any others except this. It is that Hai Yue told me to tell you that you aren’t allowed to bully her sister. Aiyo! Boss, stop hitting me!”
As I continued to knock his head, I angrily said, “If I don’t hit you, who should I hit? This matter is a pot that you can’t open and you just lifted the lid of that pot. You are just asking to be beaten.”
Ma Ke turned and ran away. As he ran, he replied, “I don’t want to continue arguing with you anymore. Anyways, I have already told you. Don’t forget to head over to Teacher Di’s place.”
I impatiently replied, “I got it already. You just have to quickly head back to Hai Yue.” After this brat got Hai Yue, he had completely changed. He seemed to become like the wind.
After school, I went to the Royal Intermediate Magic Academy by myself.
“Zhang Gong, you’re here.”
“Teacher Di, I heard from Ma Ke that you are looking for me.”
Teacher Di laughed. “That’s correct. If I don’t find you, will you come to find me?” ‘Why did his speech seemed to be similar to what I said to Ma Ke?’
I chuckled. “This is to say that this old man missed me.”
Teacher Di rebuked, “What old man? Am I really that old, and who is missing you? I wanted to find you for some important matter.”
I hastily smiled apologetically, “Yes! Yes! Yes! How can you be old? You are at the prime of your life and are an unrivalled hero. Hehe.”
After hearing my two sentences of flattery, Teacher Di’s expression softened. “You brat, you only know how to speak glibly. Is there any improvement in your magic power recently?”
I replied, “I definitely have improved! Why don’t you try it out?”
Teacher Di curled his lip. “Why should I try? Your power already isn’t worse than mine. I still want to keep my old bones to continue living for a couple more years.” I helplessly sniggered, ‘Why did I call him old? Now, he is calling himself old bones.’
I respectfully replied, “What is your purpose in finding me?”
Teacher Di expression changed. “The vacation is coming soon.
What have you planned for this holiday?”
I replied, “I am thinking of heading home to visit my
parents.”
Teacher Di nodded. “That’s also good. You have been out for another half year. You should head home to visit them. However, I hope that before you head home, you can settle something first.”
I astonishingly asked, “What’s the matter? Please tell me.”
Teacher Di muttered irresolutely, “Child, do you still remember what I told you that year, to bring Xiao Jin to find his home?”
My heart tightened before I nodded. “I remember.”
Teacher Di said, “Xiao Jin is the Dragon clan’s next generation Dragon King. I want you to use this holiday to bring him home. He also has parents just like you after all. Don’t you want to let them, parents and child reunite?”
Chapter 3 – Returning To Xiao Jin’s Home
I thought, ‘I really don’t want to bring Xiao Jin back. After returning Xiao Jin, will he still want to leave with me? My feelings for Xiao Jin are extremely deep. Without him at my side, I will feel even more empty.’
I helplessly said, “Must I really send him back?”
Teacher Di nodded. “That’s right! You must send him home. Actually, it may not be a bad thing. The Dragon King might appreciate your effort in bringing his son back and help you fight with the Monster King in the future.”
A trace of reluctance appeared in my heart. I pitifully replied,
“But I really don’t want to be separated from Xiao Jin!”
Teacher Di said very sternly, “Zhang Gong, how can you be like this? Don’t you think that you are being too selfish? Moreover, if you are overly dependant on Xiao Jin’s power, it will greatly hamper your future path in improvement. No matter what, you must bring him home.”
I lowered my head and the thoughts in my heart surged out
like waves. ‘Xiao Jin the only partner who has always been by my side is leaving me? I am really reluctant to lose you. Xiao Jin! Even though Xiao Jin really is a powerful partner, my feelings for him isn’t because of his massive strength. Thinking of that year when Xiao Jin hatched, he had never left me since
so to send him back like this, I…I…’
Teacher Di softly said, “I know this matter is really hard on you, but think about it. If Xiao Jin continues to follow you, he can only live to be around 60 years, whereas, the Dragon Clan can live up to a few thousands of years. It can’t be that your reluctance to lose him outweighed his right to live, right?”
I was moved and replied, “Teacher Di, you’re saying….”
Teacher Di nodded. “If I haven’t guess incorrectly, Xiao Jin’s father should have the ability to regain his initial life expectancy.”
I clenched my teeth and replied, “Alright! For Xiao Jin’s future, I am willing to bring him back.”
Teacher Di smiled in relief. “That’s my good student. It was worth it for Xiao Jin to follow you for this period. Initially, I thought that it would be best to wait for you to graduate from the Advanced Magic Academy before going. However, your current ability has already exceeded my expectations. Moreover, there is still the threat of the Monster King in a couple of years so I have decided to have you look for the Dragon Valley earlier. You should still have the book I gave to you about dragons. The method to reach it is on the last page. Once holidays begin, you should head out. After sending Xiao Jin back, you should visit your home. There should be enough time for you to do accomplish all of those things.”
I replied, “It should be the book ‘The True King of the World – Dragons’. I have read through it. The Dragon Valley should be in the Aixia’s territory approximately in one of the Sky Province’s mountain valleys.”
Teacher Di nodded. “You will have to search for the actual position yourself. You must remember to stay safe. Don’t forget about the teleportation scroll I gave you the last time you went out to gain experience. You must use it if you encounter an emergency.”
I replied, “Alright! Relax! I’ve already weathered so many storms and the purpose of this trip is to do something good, it should not be too dangerous.”
Teacher Di replied, “No matter what, it’s always best to be careful. Have some dinner before you head back.”
After accompanying Teacher Di in having dinner, I returned to the Royal Advanced Magic Academy.
As I laid down on my bed in the dormitory, I silently thought,
‘I’ll soon be separated from Xiao Jin. I also don’t know what will happen during the journey to Dragon Valley. I’m really reluctant to be separated from Xiao Jin who has been with me for so many years.’
I went to the classroom the next day. I wrote on a strip of paper, “It’ll be vacation really soon. What’s your plans?”, before giving it to Mu Zi.
Mu Zi quickly replied. She wrote a line of words below mine, “I’m going home. How about you?”
I tested her as I wrote, “Can we go back together?”
Mu Zi replied, “That’s not good. My home is rather reclusive. It is better that I head back by myself.” After seeing her reply, my mood had sunk even more.
I wrote back, “I’ll forget about it then. Since you’re not willing for me to accompany you, I also have to go to a place to settle a matter.
Mu Zi replied back, “Where to? What are you going to do?”
I wrote back, “I am returning Xiao Jin back to Dragon Valley to let him reunite with his family.”
Mu Zi wrote back, “The Dragon Valley is too dangerous. It is better that you ask Ma Ke to accompany you. If you return Xiao Jin, you probably won’t have any magical beast.”
I wrote, “It doesn’t matter. It’s very important that Xiao Jin can reunite with his family. Ma Ke is currently busy, so I don’t want to disturb him. The journey this time shouldn’t be dangerous so I should be able to head there myself.”
Mu Zi replied back, “Are you unhappy about me?”
I wrote back, “No, why should I be?”
Mu Zi wrote back, “Then, why were you ignoring me this few days?”
I wrote, “You should know why. Can you please just tell me why even when I conveyed my true feelings for you, I still can’t make you open up to me?”
Mu Zi remained quiet for a while before writing back, “Zhang Gong, I’m in a really, really tough situation. Can you please stop
asking me, alright? If the heavens has planned for us to be together, you will find that out in the future. Do you still remember that story you wrote for the hundredth letter you gave me? I will eventually be like the main female lead in the story and love you wholeheartedly. Will you wait for me?”
This was the first time that I felt such closeness between Mu Zi and I. Elated, I wrote my reply, “Of course, I am willing. I’ll definitely unwaveringly wait for you. I’ll stop pressing you. I just hope that you won’t let me wait too long to the point where I won’t have the strength to hug you.”
After reading my reply, Mu Zi’s face reddened and looked at me before laughing. She wrote back, “You’re so irritating. Let’s go out for lunch together.”
I nodded, but didn’t write anything. My heart felt much better as I felt that Mu Zi and I had become closer.
It was Mu Zi who wrote another note instead. “Actually, Hai Shui is very compatible with you. You shouldn’t continue hurting her.”
After reading what she said, I bafflingly whispered to her, “If I don’t hurt her, then I will be hurting you.”
Mu Zi smiled and shook her head. “Why would I be? It is completely normal for a capable guy to have a few wives in my homeland.”
I astonishingly replied, “Can a person’s feelings truly be distributed? It can’t be that you’re willing to share the feelings I have for you alone with others? ? I had placed all of my affections on you. Is that bad?” ‘I really don’t understand how she thinks. Even having the idea of sharing her sweetheart.’
Chapter 4 – Mu Zi Leaves
Mu Zi smilingly said, “From the first time I met you, I had the feeling that you will definitely be an extraordinary person. Every successful man will definitely not have only one woman behind them. Rather than allowing your heart to be stolen by another, why not find sisters whom I can trust? With the assistance of everyone, even if you think about going astray in the future, hehe….”
I bitterly smiled, “Am I really the type of person that you’re describing?” Mu Zi was actually truly willing to accept Hai Shui. Her way of thinking really makes me embarrassed to the point of cold sweat.
Mu Zi glanced at me and said, “Now, you are saying nice things, but I don’t know what it will be like in the future. All you men are not good things. Aren’t you all always becoming enamored with the new and bored with the old? I can’t defeat you so what can I do if you bully me in the future. If Hai Shui
and I teamed up, hehe… You will know.”
Looking at Mu Zi’s lovable yet hateful face that was just like a red apple, I really wanted to strongly give her a bite. I grabbed and pulled her small hand towards me, lowered my head and gently bit on her hand under my desk.
Mu Zi let out a low cry and said, “What are you doing? Class is still ongoing.”
I replied, “Since you don’t object to the relationship between Hai Shui and I, I’ll go and tell her later.”
Mu Zi’s face showed traces of unhappiness. She dejectedly replied, “Looks like you have exposed your fox tail. I knew that you were bad.”
I rocked back and forth as I laughed. “I was only teasing you.
Haha.”
Mu Zi pinched me really hard, even using her hand to cover my mouth so that I wouldn’t be able to release any sound. She hatefully said, “Fine then! You dare to play around with me.”
After a long time, I recovered from my pain. “I’m fearful of you, little jar of vinegar. I actually believed that you were really that magnanimous. After one test it turned out to be not at all.”
Mu Zi replied, “What I said was the truth, but I am a woman after all so I will always…”
I hastily expressed an understanding and charming, yet vile expression. “Regarding Hai Shui, we will discuss further in the future. If she and I are really fated to be together, I will do as you said, but you can’t force me to.”
Mu Zi scoffed and said, “How virtuous you are! You’re blessed with so many girls that others could only dream about, yet you actually want to hide from it instead.”
I bitterly smiled. “I can’t betray my heart. You can’t possibly want me to marry someone that I dislike, right?”
Mu Zi nodded. “Fine.”
Mu Zi’s broadmindedness deeply touched me. Her words also untied the knot in my heart. I wouldn’t need to work hard at
restricting myself from now on. I swore to myself silently, ‘I won’t easily express favourable impressions of other girls anymore and invite trouble.’
……
The holidays had finally arrived. Mu Zi was the first one to leave the academy. Ma Ke, Hai Yue, Si Wa and I sent her off at the entrance of the academy. I initially wanted to accompany her for a while, but she said it was unnecessary as her family members would meet up with her not far from the academy.
I said with my eyes that was reddened, “Mu Zi, you must take care of yourself and remember to miss me.”
Mu Zi nodded and threw herself into my arms and tightly embraced me before standing on her toes and gently kissed on my face. “Zhang Gong, you must also take care. When you’re heading to Dragon Valley, you must be careful. I’m heading out now, so I’ll pass this to you.” As she said that, she took a small jade pendent from her neck. It was carved out using an unknown black gemstone. It had a pheonix shape to it. It gave
off a refreshing feeling in my hand. It’s texture was extremely smooth. From the looks of it, you would know that it was priceless.
Mu Zi continued to say, “This is my Ink Phoenix pendant that my mother had given me when I was young. I will give it to you. Whenever you miss me, you can look at it.”
I hung the Ink Phoenix pendant around my neck before I lifted her face and kissed heavily on her lips until there was an annoying cough sound from our side and I reluctantly let her go.
Mu Zi’s delicate face was completely red, but she didn’t reprimand me for that. As I embraced her, I showed furious
expression to the few people behind me, making them laugh.
Mu Zi gently pushed me away and whispered to me, “I really have to go now.”
I nodded and took out the magic robe that Teacher Zhen had given me from my spatial space and placed it into Mu Zi’s hands. “This is something that Teacher Zhen gave me previously. You just have to insert your magic power into the amethyst gemstone at the chest area to set up a good defensive array. It’s defensive power is very strong. I don’t need it so I will give it to you for protection.” As I said that, I placed the magic robe on Mu Zi.
Under the radiance from the sun, Mu Zi’s entire body
glittered and brightened up; Accompanied with her flushed delicate face, she looked exceptionally adorable.
Mu Zi replied, “This is too precious. You might face danger during your trip to the Dragon Valley. You should keep it.”
I shook my head. “What danger will I be in? I’m not going there to pick a fight, I’m just bringing back their child. Even though this magic robe is good, it is too dazzling. You just have to place it in your spatial bag.”
Ma Ke shouted from behind, “Boss, when did you have such a good item? I also want one!”
I smiled, “If you were to turn into a girl, I will consider.
Haha.”
Ma Ke instantly choked from hearing my words.
The time to be separated had finally arrived. I forced myself not to chase after her as I looked at Mu Zi’s figure gradually disappearing from the horizon as she turned her head back thrice at every step.
Ma Ke patted my shoulder. “Boss, stop being so reluctant. It is
not as if you won’t be seeing her again. Let’s go! We should head back.”
I sighed and replied, “I really hope that the holidays end quickly.”
Si Wa chuckled and said, “When there isn’t any holiday, you wanted one. When it is a holiday, you want to attend classes.”
Hai Yue replied, “What about wanting to attend classes? He just misses Mu Zi. You had seen how hard he kissed her previously.”
I feigned anger and said, “Hai Yue, you still talk about me. I don’t know who was it with Ma Ke that day…”
Ma Ke’s and Hai Yue’s faces reddened. Actually, I didn’t see anything and was just purposely teasing them. I didn’t expect to see that it actually worked.
Hai Yue pinched Ma Ke before she shyly said, “It is all your fault.” After she said that, she turned and ran towards the academy.
I looked at Ma Ke who was clenching his teeth in pain and said, “Who told you to tease me? Haha, you reap what you sow!” After this commotion, the pain from being separated from Mu Zi had decreased drastically.
Ma Ke, Si Wa and I slowly headed towards the academy.
Ma Ke said, “Boss, are you sure that the trip to the Dragon Valley won’t be dangerous?”
I shook my head. “I have never been there. How will I know what will happen?”
Chapter 5 – Magical Groom Recruitment
Ma Ke said astonishingly, “But you just told Mu Zi…”
I snappily glared at him. “That was to stop her from worrying.
You don’t even understand something this logical?”
Ma Ke and Si Wa speechlessly stared at me. I asked, “Why are you two looking at me like this? Do you find me that handsome?”
Ma Ke didn’t mind my teasing and said resolutely, “Boss, I will go with you to the Dragon Valley.”
Ma Ke’s will and spirit had greatly touched me. I changed my expression from a teasing appearance to a serious one before replying earnestly, “Do you think I am going to play? In this world, the strongest creatures are the dragons. If something goes wrong, it would not be likely we would be able to return. How can I let you risk your life with me?”
Ma Ke said determinedly, “I want to go with you because it’s dangerous. We are brothers. We should help each other out during difficult times.”
I shook my head and smiled while I replied, “My good brother! I understand your feelings but stop trying to convince me. I have already decided to go there by myself. During the previous competition, you almost died and I felt guilty about that for a long period of time. I definitely won’t allow you to
risk your life with me. Moreover, you have Hai Yue now. It can’t be that you want her to worry about you, right?”
Once I mentioned Hai Yue, Ma Ke replied hesitantly, “Boss, I….”
I interrupted him and said, “That’s enough! I understand and I won’t treat you like a person that pays more attention to their lover than their friends. My decision is final.”
Ma Ke expressed gratitude in his eyes. Si Wa said from the side, “I am currently without any family or job. Let me go with you! It can’t be that you will reject my offer, right?”
I bitterly chuckled, “Big Brother Si Wa, even though we know each other for only a short time, I already know what kind of person you are. You also know what kind of person I am. You don’t need to say any further. I accept your good intentions but I should settle my own problems by myself.”
Si Wa shook his head. “Zhang Gong, I know that you are a sensitive person, but no matter what, I must go with you. The chances of our survival is better if we are in this together.”
I knew that I wouldn’t be able to move him so I didn’t say anything else. I gathered my belongings that night and secretly went to the Royal Intermediate Advanced Academy to bid my farewell to Teacher Di. After that, I walked solitarily on my path to find the Dragon Valley. What I didn’t know was that when I sneaked away, not only did I manage to avoid Si Wa, but I had
also been able to slip past Hai Shui who had planned on following me.
The Sky Province was about 800 kilometres from my position. After looking through the map in detail, I chose a path that seemed easier to walk on. Anyway, I had a lot of time as the vacation had just started. The people staying at the academy should soon find out that I had left. I slowly walked on my chosen path and in two days, I had traveled only 100 kilometres.
As it neared noon, my stomach began protesting. Right in front of me, there was a small town. I decided that I would look there for any good food to console the five viscera of my meridian channels; it would be bad if they went on strike.
After walking into the small town, it could be said that it was a big village that was surrounded by walls. This place was not as big as the Royal Intermediate Magic Academy. Even though the town was not large, it was unexpectedly flourishing. Different sellers that were peddlers for life hawked their wares with all their might.
After asking a random passerby, I found out that this place was indeed a village. Since it’s location was beside the official road, there were a lot of people that walked through the town, giving liveliness to the town. After many years of evolution, it gradually became what it is today. In other words, this could be counted as a traffic hub.
After I found a diner that appeared quite clean, I filled my stomach and rented an ordinary room. The sights of this town had lifted my mood so I decided to stay for the night and continue on my journey the next day’s morning.
I wandered through the main streets of the small town, admiring the local conditions and customs. I occasionally bought the specialties of the town and tossed it into my spatial space, preparing to give them to my friends after heading back.
As I walked, there were a lot of lively people making a racket in front of me. There was a very large crowd. I wondered what had happened and pulled a petite young man who was preparing to squeeze through the crowd and asked, “What has happened to garner such a large crowd?”
The petite young man shoved my hands away and anxiously said, “Stop pulling me! I need to head there quickly. If not, I won’t be able to make it!” After saying that, he immediately squeezed through the crowd.
I was stunned as I wondered what had happened for him to be in such a rush.
A peddler at the side laughed and said, “With his morality and conduct, he wants to be the town chief’s son in law? Haha, what a joke!”
I hastily asked, “What about being the town chief’s son in law? Big brother, can you please tell me what is going on?”
The peddler laughed, “Brother, you must be an outsider.”
I nodded. “That’s right! I am not from here.”
The peddler replied, “Even though this place looks like a city, it is actually just a flourishing village. The town chief was the original village head. No, that’s not the village head. It is the town head, he is helping his daughter find a good home and planned something about a magic competition for one to take her as their wife as a reward, this attracted a lot of people to come.”
“A magic competition to find a groom? This is quite uncommon to me. Is the daughter of the town’s head not good looking? Why did they want to have such a magic competition to get a groom?” I laughed as I said.
The peddler laughed and said, “What’s new about that? The competition has been on for six days already. There isn’t any outcome yet. Talking about the daughter of the town’s head, she is really a beauty but just a little shrewish. Our Kingdom of Aixia mostly respects those who are experts in using magic. The town chief obviously wanted to strengthen his status so he came up with a plan and prepared the competition to gather strong magicians to compete and become his son in law as his facade.”
So it was like that, it seemed rather fun. I asked, “Are there any rules to it?”
The peddler said, “Of course there is. If there are no rules, nothing can be done to get the groom. How about you look at the large red paper over there? You should take a look yourself.”
After thanking the peddler, I walked over and saw that the red paper noted, “The conditions to participate in the competition.
1: Age must be 25 and below and must be a bachelor.
2: You must not have any disabled body parts.
3: You can’t kill anyone during the competition.
4: This competition only invites magicians. For those who are warriors, please don’t enter the competition.
5: The competitors just need to defeat my daughter, rather than defeating all of their opponents to be my son in law.”
‘These are quite easy terms. This does not look complicated at all. Why is it that after six days, there still hasn’t been any outcome?’ Curiosity made me squeeze through the crowd to
find out the reason.
Chapter 6 – Meddling In Others’ Business
There really were a lot of people. Although my body could be considered sturdy, I still used a lot of effort to finally reach the front line. Even though there were still people in front of me, I was able to clearly see the current situation with my height.
The arena was at least 500 square meters in size that had a rope surrounding it. There was an area at the side for distinguished guests, which had ten people in it, and they seemed to be the judges and the host’s family. There was a girl whose appearance was veiled with a light muslin. From her rather good body figure and faintly discernible looks, she was definitely a beauty. She should be the daughter of the well groomed large man sitting at her side, who was likely to be the town’s chief.
In the arena, there were two magicians battling. After looking at their magic powers in detail, their strengths were just too weak compared to me. They were at the level of an Intermediate
Mage. Currently, it was the fireball of one opponent against the wind blade of the other; it seemed to be a quite an intense battle.
It was no wonder why there wasn’t any outcome after so many days as they were only rookie magicians. If it were anyone from our Royal Advanced Magic Academy, they probably would have won against that beauty immediately.
Since the strength of the competitors were so weak, my interest decreased drastically.
The wind magician won at that moment, using his agile and ever changing attacks to gain a quick victory.
From the distinguished guest area, an old man wearing a magic robe walked out and announced, “Wind magician Tian Di has won. Are there still any young heroes willing to compete against him?”
Just like that, after they completed three to four matches, there wasn’t anyone that managed to win twice in a row. This was meaningless. The two competitors in the arena were seriously injured, and thus the match ended. This low level competition made me lose interest. Just when I was about to walk away, there was a sudden breeze that passed by. A lean figure appeared in the arena.
As I focused on him, he was that petite youth that did not answer my question previously. He was completely different from before. He straightened his not very sturdy chest and
arrogantly stood at the center of the arena. He wore a magnificent magic robe. What surprised me was that his magic robe actually had five stars on it. This was to say that he was a Magic Scholar.
Everyone was startled by his attire. The old magician in charge of judging asked, “Young mage, are you a Magic Scholar?”
The petite youth puffed out his chest and arrogantly said, “Of course I am. I am a Royal Advanced Magic Academy year 3 student. I am the academy’s 5th ranked student, Ma Ke Sai De. My major magic is fire and my minor magic is wind.”
His words made everyone gasp. I was unsure if it was because
of Ma Ke’s fame or the reputation of the Royal Advanced Magic Academy.
I, who had wanted to leave, became interested in this imposter youth. I really wanted to see how he was going to pretend to be Ma Ke. If I haven’t guessed wrongly, he should be at the Advanced Mage level. Once he fought, he would be exposed immediately.
What was beyond my expectation was that the old magician judge expressed a respectful expression. He respectfully said, “I represent this town’s chief to welcome Magic Scholar Ma Ke to participate in the competition. Are there any competitors who would like to fight against him?”
After a long time, there actually wasn’t anyone that wanted to compete against him. It was no wonder why he didn’t come out at first and waited for his chance when the two competitors from the previous match were seriously injured. After he exposed his name, there probably wouldn’t be anyone who would dare to challenge him. It couldn’t be that much of a coincidence, right?
Even though I disliked meddling, this was related to Ma Ke’s reputation. I shouted from the crowd, “You imposter brat, get down from there.” My voice was loud and clear, as I used magic power to amplify my voice, making it impossible for anyone to know where my voice came from.
The imposter’s expression changed, but it instantly turned back to normal. He said with a clear voice, “This hero shouldn’t tease his younger brother. If you are willing to teach me a lesson, your little brother will be waiting for you here.”
The crowd of audience was in an uproar from what I had said. Currently, due to his beautiful cover up, I was quite impressed by him. However, he ignited my anger.
I used short distance teleportation to move to the center of the arena. “I am the hero that said that you’re an imposter.”
The petite youth obviously hadn’t paid any attention to my looks when we encountered each other previously as he frowned and said, “This friend. If you want to teach me a lesson, please make your move.”
I ignored him and looked towards the judges. “My greetings to the judges, I am not here to participate in the magic competition. The purpose is to protect my friend’s reputation. I hope you will forgive me for doing this.”
The old magician frowned and asked, “May I ask how you know this magician is a fake?”
I said smilingly, “Sorry about this, but Ma Ke is my friend. I just left the Royal Advanced Magic Academy not long ago and was still with Ma Ke two days ago.”
My words instantly attracted everyone’s attention. There were discussions from below the stage.
The petite youth turned green and then turned red. He angrily said, “You’re driveling! I don’t recognize you. You actually dare to use our Royal Advanced Magic Academy’s name to lie to the people. What bad intentions do you have?”
I laughed and said, “I don’t have any bad intentions. The one who has bad intentions should be you. Since you were attracted by that family’s maiden, why don’t you use your own abilities to get her, rather than using someone’s name?”
The petite youth said to the old magician, “I want to have a match against him to clear my reputation, which he has spoiled.”
The old magician glanced at the town’s chief, who indicated approval. “Alright, the match has started. Please stop when you hurt your opponent, and similarly, don’t hurt the audience.” He was worthy of being an old fox. He was quite astute as he knew if one of us was telling the truth, the barrier of the arena wouldn’t be able to withstand the attack, so he reminded us first.
I replied, “Alright, I also want to be enlightened on how you will have the ability to impersonate Ma Ke.”
The petite youth didn’t respond to my words and fired a large fireball at me with all his might. The fireball was scathing with heat as it flew towards me.
He wanted to fight against me with this standard? I didn’t even dodge his attack. Just as I saw the fireball was in front of me, I extended my right hand and that petite youth already realized that his fireball was no longer in his control.
The fireball was held in my hand and was quietly floating there. Its heat made my face flush red.
Chapter 7 – Regret
I chuckled, “You call this a fireball? From how I see it, it looks just big enough for me to cook rice. You can have it back.” The fireball returned with twice its original speed.
Seeing the whizzing fireball, the youth’s face turned green. Attacking with the magic previously had cost him a lot of his power. The power of this fireball, he was naturally aware and he wanted to dodge it, but the fireball’s trajectory kept changing so he didn’t know how. He clenched his teeth to cast a wind blade and attempted to cut the fireball open.
I inwardly nodded my head as his usage of the wind blade was not bad. His positioning was very good, but his magic power was a little lacking.
“Pu!” The fireball and wind blade simultaneously disappeared. The petite youth’s face turned pale white. It was obvious that he had used up a lot of his magic power.
I smiled faintly and said, “Do you still want to compete?” Since impersonating Ma Ke was not a major offence, there wasn’t a need to hurt him. It was enough to make him admit defeat and step down.
The petite youth was stunned and replied, “Are you really a student from the Royal Magic Academy?”
I nodded. “Of course, even the real Ma Ke wouldn’t be my match if he was here, let alone you. I don’t want to put you on the spot, but can you tell me why you are impersonating Ma
Ke?”
The petite youth dejectedly replied, “Since it is impossible to defeat you, I concede. Let’s head down and discuss this further.” He turned his head to the judge and said, “I accept my defeat.” After saying that, he took the lead to jump off the stage.
Just as I wanted to go down the stage as well, a tender gentle voice voiced out, “Young hero, why aren’t you continuing to compete after defeating your opponent?”
I was startled and looked to where the voice was coming from. It was from the maiden in the distinguished guest area. “Previously before I came on the stage, I had clearly said that I am not here to marry so there is no need to continue
competing.”
The maiden’s voice sounded furious, “Do you think we are playing a game here? When you want to come, you come. When you want to go, you go. Let me have a look at your ability!” After she said that, she cast a wind blade towards me.
How could she be so unreasonable? I knew that I shouldn’t have meddled in this. I should quickly get out from here. After dissipating the wind blade, I purposely said coldly, “If the young lady continues to be impudent, don’t blame me for being impolite.”
The maiden didn’t respond. She cast so many elementary and intermediate wind and fire spells that they hid the sky and
covered the earth.
It looked like it was impossible not to show some of my strength.
I snorted coldly and chanted my spell. “Great light elements, I plead to you to give me endless God power and form into a huge sword to eliminate everything that lies before you, Light Sword!” The people in the audience instantly saw a peculiar
sight. I slowly floated up from the ground. My body lit up with glamorous golden light rays. Golden lights could clearly be seen gathering around me. All the maiden’s magic spells vanished five metres away from me.
I raised both of my hands above my head and placed my palms
together. All the light rays gathered in my hands.“I will let you have a look at real magic.” After saying that, an enormous light sword stuck downwards from my clasped hands. This magic was my most recent self created magic spell. It used Light Severing Sword as its foundation and was combined with Teacher Di’s theory to strike out a sword from gathered magic powers. I haven’t tried it out yet so it was a good chance to take it out to scare people.
The maiden’s face in front of me became void of colour. The veil that was covering her face had also fallen off. She had long red hair accompanied by her fair skin;with her large eyes and slender body figure, her looks could be comparable to Hai Shui’s. The people from the distinguished guest area shouted out simultaneously, “Please be merciful!”
However, it was too late as the Light Sword had already struck. What it struck wasn’t at the maiden, but the center of the arena.
After the Light Sword disappeared from the center of the arena, there wasn’t any changes to the ground. The maiden snapped out from her fright and said mockingly, “So it is just a deceptive trick. Hmph! I knew you aren’t capable.”
I laughed and replied, “I suggest that you move backwards. If not, don’t blame me for the outcome.” After I said that, the entire ground shook. The old judge quickly held on to the maiden’s hand and took her away.
I used a Radiant Binding Array around the arena before using a short teleportation to be beside that petite youth and shouted, “Everyone, please move back as a precaution to avoid unintentional injuries.” After shouting, I released battle spirit from beneath my feet and quickly left the area.
A tremendous noise sounded behind me. If I were to see what happened, I would be in shock. The circular five hundred square meters arena had been completely segregated. From the light binding array, it was filled with dust. I was lucky that the arena was large enough. If not, the light binding array wouldn’t be able to withstand the power of the explosion.
I didn’t care about the after effects and quickly brought the petite youth to the inn.
I let him have a seat before pouring some water for myself. After drinking a mouthful of water, I said, “Tell me what is going on?”
The petite youth gave me a distressed look.
How could I not know what he was thinking? I said smilingly, “If you speak truthfully, I won’t put you on the spot.”
The skinny youth laughed awkwardly, “It’s like this, my family is the local peddler. My father, in order to give me a good future, had me learn magic. Last year, when the Royal Advanced Magic Academy was recruiting students, I participated, but of course I failed. At that time, just when I wanted to leave, a fire magician was just giving a lecture on magic and even demonstrated several high-level spells. I felt so envious. I asked the people around me and discovered his name is Ma Ke, one of the top ten students in the school. The past few days, I saw there was a magician marriage competition here, and so had the idea of using Ma Ke’s identity to rush through the doorway. That’s how the scene you saw today came about.”
I curiously asked, “Aren’t you afraid that someone would see through your act?”
The petite youth bitterly smiled and replied, “How can I be not afraid? However, that young lady is just too pretty. Moreover, those people who come from the Royal Magic Academy have a supreme reputation in this area so I decided to take a risk and give it a try. Who would have thought that I would bump into you?”
After hearing his story, I laughed heartily. So, it was because this brat had a fondness for beauties.
After laughing, I seriously told him, “I will let you go this time. However, don’t impersonate others anymore. If you meet with someone unreasonable who decides to grab your weak point and blackmail you, I’m afraid that you will suffer at his hands.”
Chapter 8 – Onwards To Dragon Valley
The petite youth nodded repeatedly. “I definitely will not dare to do that again. Thank you for forgiving me.”
I waved my hand at him. “That’s enough. You are free to go. Be more careful when you head out and avoid being seen by the Town Chief’s people.”
The petite young man suddenly kneeled before me and sincerely said, “Teacher, please take me in as your disciple. I am willing to follow your steps. I just wish to learn more advanced magic spells.”
I pulled him up and replied, “I am still a student myself. How
can I take you in? Furthermore, my magic is incompatible with yours.”
After the petite young man listened to my words, he kneeled down once again and profusely kept on begging me to keep him as he shed tears.
I couldn’t stand it. It seemed like this brat was quite quick witted. How else could he know how to bother someone to this extent? I suddenly had an idea and said, “You stand up first. Only after you stand, I will give you my decision.”
The petite young man hastily replied, “What is your decision?
Please quickly tell it to me.”
I smiled and said meticulously, “I will give you a letter. You will then head to the Royal Advanced Magic Academy to find Ma Ke Sai De whom you have impersonated to let him mentor your magic. You use the same magic as him, fire and wind. It will be more suitable for him to be your teacher.”
The petite youth was stunned and asked, “Will that really work?”
I laughed and replied, “Why won’t it work? He’s my little brother. If he doesn’t listen to me, I will beat him up after I come back. You can just relax and rely on me. That’s right, what is your actual name?”
The petite youth was startled by my words and replied, “I am Zhen Fan Ren, and I am 16 years old.”
I replied to him, “Alright! Please wait for a moment. I will write a letter for you now.” After saying that, I moved my pen and quickly wrote up a letter to Ma Ke. The content was definitely to threaten and bribe him to take in this fellow.
After bidding my farewell to the petite youth who was on cloud nine, I hastily packed my luggage and prepared to leave.
I toppled over after opening the front door because outside was filled with people. They were here due to the maiden. She was no longer vicious and said tenderly, “Since you had won against me, I am willing to marry you.”
‘Damn it! Damn it! I am in trouble again.’
I wiped the cold perspiration from my forehead and replied, “You don’t have to. You don’t have to make such a decision. I also did not triumph against you. I already have a fiancée already. I will head off first.” After saying that, I used teleportation to move to the back of the crowd and ran away from the inn as though I was flying.
As I ran into the main streets, the scene was rather hilarious. I was running at the forefront with a huge group of people chasing after me. I didn’t explain to them and even if I were to explain, it wouldn’t be easy. I didn’t care to offend the whole of society and used battle spirit under my feet to elevate. I applied battle spirit to the back of my body to become a huge driving force and made myself become like an arrow that was shot out.
This was the first time I flew outside like this. The travelling speed was really fast as I left the small town in a flash.
After landing, I took in a few mouthfuls of air and hit myself once before muttering, “Who told you to be so meddlesome that you almost got tangled in another problem? I haven’t even settled Mu Zi’s and Hai Shui’s matter. If I add one more to the pile, I don’t need to live anymore. Let’s quickly leave!” What I didn’t know was that this matter that I had meddled in would give rise to a major problem in the future.
After reaching the border, I entered the Sky Province. This province was the largest in the kingdom, and it took up the entire west side of the Kingdom of the 6 interior districts.
I didn’t rest well for these two days as I feared that those people would catch up to me. There shouldn’t be any problems now. I needed to pamper myself a little. After I looked at an inn that seemed to have an acceptable bar from the roadside, I walked in.
The waiter walked over and asked, “Sir, how many will be coming?”
“It will be only myself.”
“Oh, please come with me.” The waiter brought me to a clean position in the corner. As I surveyed the place, there weren’t many people. There were just people sitting sparsely at some of the tables.
The waiter passed me a menu before asking, “What will you like to order?”
After looking at the menu, there were only some names of wines and beverages. I frowned and asked, “Do you not have anything to eat here?”
The waiter nodded. “We do but they are all rather simple.”
Since I had to get something, I ordered a large glass of fruit juice and some sustainable main dishes. After that, I just ate up.
After I ate my fill and drank up, I called for the waiter to get the bill and gave the change to him as his tip.
I asked him, “Brother, do you know whether there is a Dragon Valley in this Sky Province?”
Initially, I didn’t carry much hope, but he unexpectedly replied without hesitation, “Of course, I know. It is a scenery in
our Sky Province.”
“A scenery?”
“That’s right! The Dragon Valley is located outside of Pagoda City not far from here at the Cloud Mist Mountain Range. It is covered in mist all year round. The area of the Cloud Mist Mountain Range is very large. However, most people wouldn’t go too deeply into it and just played at the outer perimeter of the mountain range. That scenery is extremely captivating, especially the sky ocean. You just have to climb up to a not very high position to see it. I’ve also been there. It was exceptionally beautiful.”
I astonishingly asked, “Why didn’t you go inside?”
The waiter continued to explain, “The interior is dangerous. There are rumours that it really is a Dragon Valley with real dragons in the Dragon Valley. At times, loud dragon roars can also be heard. There were many people who wanted to check it out in the beginning to search for traces of dragons. However, no matter how many people went in, they would always say that it was like a big labyrinth inside. After turning here and there, they walked out. Furthermore, there were still many people who had gone in that didn’t come out. After a long period of time, that place became a mystery. There aren’t any more people that go in to find the dragons. Are you heading to that place?”
I nodded. “That’s right! I want to have a look. Can you tell me the directions to that place?”
The waiter kindly said, “Of course you can. However, please don’t wander too deeply in it as safety is the most important thing. You just have to head straight down the main street to find Pagoda City. After you reach there, you will see a wide expanse of high mountains at the west side of the city, and that will be the Cloud Mist Mountain Range.”
I chuckled. “Thank you, brother. I will head off now.” I had never thought that it would be that easy to locate the exact position of the Dragon Valley. I was partially elated and also a little dejected, as I would be separated from Xiao Jin.
After leaving the inn, I walked as per instructed by the waiter, heading towards Pagoda City.
Chapter 9 – Flying Into Dragon Valley
After three days, I had arrived at the Dragon Valley on the west side of Pagoda City. When I was still at a very far distance away, I could already see tier after tier of mountains. The clouds at this place were extremely low. They covered most of the mountain starting from the midsection and up. It looked really beautiful. The locals had said that no matter which of the four seasons it was, the clouds here wouldn’t dissipate all year round so this place was called the Cloud and Mist Mountain Range.
Since I didn’t know how long I would be in there for, I had bought rations and water from the City to suffice me for twenty days.
Just when I stepped into the Cloud and Mist Mountain Range, Xiao Jin who was sleeping in my body suddenly woke up at once and conveyed to me a sense of impatience. He had never been here before; could he actually know he was nearing his home?
I used my spiritual thought to tell him that I would be sending him home shortly. Xiao Jin’s mood was obviously abnormally excited. In his excitement, there also seemed to be a tinge of sadness. He told me that he felt that this place was very nostalgic to him and also really familiar.
The Cloud Mist Mountain Range was really beautiful. All of the mountains were completely green as far as the eye can see. There were occasional sightings of cascades and noises of water flowing from the mountain spring while walking in the mountain. This place had no traces of mankind’s activities.
Xiao Jin had become the best compass. I moved around the Cloud Mist Mountain Range in accordance to the strong feelings he felt from the depths of the mountain range.
At the start, the path was relatively easy to tread on as there were people that passed through earlier. However, after a day, there wasn’t anymore trails left to follow, I could only bore through the forest. Even though I had the short range teleportation spell, this place’s terrain was precipitous. Thus, in order to avoid falling off a cliff by mistake, I only walked.
Most of my clothing had been torn up by bushes and brambles. I was forced to use light magic defensive spells for my surroundings.
Even though the path was difficult to tread on, my mood felt abnormally tranquil. I was no longer dreading about being separated from Xiao Jin. The air in this place was extremely fresh. After taking in a deep breath, my entire body relaxed.
There were many small animals in the mountain, but there weren’t any ferocious beasts. There were pheasants, unknown birds, and also small animals. They weren’t wary of me at all. They obviously were used to the easy life here and constantly snatched my rations that I was partaking in. I also happily frolicked with them. I seemed to have merged with nature. In my eyes, everything looked perfect.
When night arrived, I found a lofty tree and slept in it. My heart quietly settled down and felt refreshingly tranquil from coming to this place.
After entering the mountain for five days, Xiao Jin’s feelings kept getting stronger. I already knew that we weren’t far from the Dragon Valley. What I wasn’t aware of was that without Xiao Jin’s guidance, it would have been impossible to find the
actual position of the Dragon Valley in all of my lifetime.
After passing through another forest, what was reflected in my eyes was a large basin. I was at an extremely high altitude. I could only see the approximate size of the whole basin. Under my feet, there was a thick layer of dense fog above the basin. I knew that I had arrived at my destination. This should be the Legendary Dragon Valley.
It was really difficult to find a trail to head downwards. I initially thought of flying down, but my battle spirit wasn’t perfected. If the bottom of the basin was too far from my position atop the cliff and my battle spirit couldn’t support my landing, I was afraid that my body would be torn apart, and my bones crushed into smithereens.
Xiao Jin, who was in my body, suddenly become anxious. He told me that he wanted to come out.
I helplessly let Xiao Jin out. His huge body stood beside me. With this mist filling his large eyes, Xiao Jin suddenly let out a exceptionally loud dragon roar without any warning. His voice was filled with the dominance of a royal.
The fog in the surrounding was forced back 30 metres from his roar. Even though my cultivation was profound, I nearly lost my balance. Just as I was curious at what he was doing, there were countless responses that resounded from the basin beneath me. Xiao Jin motioned for me to sit on his back.
It looked like he wanted to go down by flying. I had never
rode on Xiao Jin before. This was my first chance to do so. I gently jumped on and sat on his large back. Xiao Jin told me to sit steadily before he flapped his pair of large golden wings to fly.
I hastily grabbed onto the spikes on his back. I was exceptionally nervous.
Xiao Jin charged down the thick fog. My ears were filled with the sounds of the wind. Xiao Jin repeatedly let out long dragon roars. It was as though he was telling his family that he had returned.
After finally reaching the bottom of the valley, it turned out to be a barren land, and I saw that there were other dragons
similar to Xiao Jin.
I saw two blue and red dragons initially, and it looked as though they were playing. Their heads were about the size of Xiao Jin’s. After seeing Xiao Jin’s arrival, the other dragons took similar actions without prior consultation to each other, lowering their noble heads and gently whistled.
At this moment, a strong force came over. A deep voice called out, “Welcome back, our Dragon Clan’s King.”
A green dragon with a huge head appeared in front of me. When his head and Xiao Jin’s stood together, they looked like an adult and a child. From his ability to speak, I knew that this large dragon must be at least 8000 years old as dragons must
reach that age at least to be able to talk and be in a harmonious phase derived from its maturity.
Xiao Jin was not fearful of the strong strength that the green dragon possessed and unyieldingly stared at him.
The green dragon said, “Child, do you know that your parents have been waiting for you for a long time already? When you went missing that year, they were distraught. Why are you so weak?” Just as he said that, he noticed me on Xiao Jin’s back. He immediately raged.
The green dragon shouted, “You low human being actually dared to sit on our Dragon King. Go to hell!” It seemed that he had treated me as the chief culprit in the weakening of Xiao Jin.
However, I was curious, how was Xiao Jin weak? Wasn’t he doing well?
Just as I wanted to explain, the green dragon’s large tail swiped towards me. Xiao Jin become anxious and immediately let out a strong dragon’s breath to try and block its advancement.
What startled me was that the green dragon unexpectedly didn’t move nor dodged and let Xiao Jin’s dragon breath hit him but his tail continued to strike towards me without fail.
There wasn’t enough time for me to think. I immediately cast my strongest light defensive spell. Just as I wanted to teleport away, the space in the surroundings seemed to have been
condensed by that dragon’s swipe, making it impossible for me to move.
Why was it that even though they were similar dragons, there was such a large disparity in strength?
Chapter 10 – I’m Out Of Luck
I looked on helplessly as the green dragon’s tail hit my chest. All I could do at that moment was to concentrate my magic power, battle spirit and the Holy Sword’s power at where I was hit.
I was like a softball being hit by the green dragon for a beautiful home run. I flew backwards like a cannonball. “Hong!” I was deeply embedded into the Dragon Valley’s wall. My entire body seemed to be broken, but I wasn’t in any actual pain, just numbed to the bone. It was impossible for me to withstand such a strong attack with all of my current capabilities; I clearly heard the breaking of my own bones. If it wasn’t for my magic power, Battle Spirit and Holy Sword’s power protecting my body, I would already be mincemeat.
The numbness gradually disappeared. What replaced it was a heart impaling and bone piercing agony. I was lucky to be completely embedded into the wall of the mountain without
falling off the face of it. If not, I could only beg for the God King to reincarnate me if I got smashed again. Why was this green dragon so powerful? Xiao Jin definitely didn’t have such power.
After Xiao Jin saw that I was hit, he became enraged, and no longer cared if the other was his clan member, insanely attacking the green dragon with his dragon breath, clawing and biting, and attacking it with every method known to him.
However, in front of the green dragon, he was a small kid. All of his attacks were easily thwarted by the green dragon’s large wings. The green dragon helplessly said, “My King, why are doing this to me? I have already helped you to eliminate that hateful human being.”
Xiao Jin roared out short dragon roars. His voice was filled with fury and unceasingly continued his attacks. The few dragons that was similarly sized with Xiao Jin were scared and hid at the side, not daring to voice out.
After the green dragon heard Xiao Jin’s dragon roars, he was dazed before he said astonishingly, “What? King, you have actually said that human is your master? How can that be? Who can be the master of our Dragon Clan? This is the most impossible of impossibilities.”
As he was in a daze, he was immediately beaten by Xiao Jin a couple of times. Even though Xiao Jin wouldn’t be able to injure him, he was in so much pain that he grimaced.
At this moment, a gale of wind blew, and a gentle woman’s voice sounded out, “Is it true that the prince has returned? Aiya! Why is he fighting?”
A white large dragon descended from the sky. She clearly saw the situation in front of her and used her large wings to hit the green dragon away. She then excitedly gathered Xiao Jin in the center of her wings and shouted, “Child! It’s really you! You’re finally back!”
Xiao Jin spaced out for a moment before awakening from his rage. The nostalgic feeling he felt from the other dragon made him cease his attacks, instead staring at the enormous white dragon who was even larger than the green dragon.
Large tear drops flowed out of the large white dragon’s eyes. She sobbed, “Child, I am your mother. You are finally back. I missed you to death.”
Xiao Jin whistled out a few sounds. The white large dragon was stunned after hearing what Xiao Jin said. “How can that be? You’re my child. How can I recognise you wrongly? There is only a Dragon King in every generation, and you are one. Child, why can’t you recognise me? I am really your mother.”
Xiao Jin’s expression gradually softened, a glow of adoration emitting from his eyes, and gently leaned his head on the huge white dragon.
The huge white dragon used her head to rub it against Xiao
Jin. She then suddenly raised her head and let out a roar of elation.
The green dragon who was previously blown away climbed up from the ground at that moment. “Big sister, there is no need to hit me so viciously when you, mother and son, reunite with each other, right? I didn’t even dare to hurt a single hair of your precious son.”
The white dragon was obviously in a good mood and glanced at him before saying. “You reap what you sow. Who asked you to make my son angry? Hmph!”
The green dragon helplessly replied, “I just sent that human who was sitting on the young King’s body away. I didn’t do
anything.” In front of the huge white dragon, the green dragon’s previous arrogance had disappeared.
After hearing what he had said, Xiao Jin thought about something and struggled out of the huge white dragon’s embrace, crying loudly.
The white dragon exclaimed, “What? You said the one that was smashed away is your master? Child, you are the next generation’s Dragon King. How can you have a human master?”
Xiao Jin stubbornly let out few sounds. The huge white dragon helplessly said, “Alright! Mother will take a look. However, after getting hit by your uncle Qing, it is impossible the human to be still alive.” After saying that, she flapped her
enormous wings to fly over.
Even though my entire body was in immense pain, I was still conscious but couldn’t talk. The Holy Sword’s power was quickly repairing my damaged meridian channels. The huge white dragon flew over. After looking at me with an odd expression, she said with astonishment to Xiao Jin and the green dragon that came along, “Eh! That human is unexpectedly still alive.”
I bitterly thought, ‘Do I really deserve to die that much?’
The huge white dragon let out a halo of white light rays that retrieved me from the stone wall. She told Xiao Jin, “Even though he is not dead, his injuries are very severe. I really did
not expect this master of yours to be alive even after being attacked by Xiao Qing. This is truly a miracle. Let’s hurry back to let your father take a look to see if he can be saved.”
Xiao Qing bitterly smiled, “Big sister, can you not call me Xiao Qing in front of my nephew? I am still counted as his elder.”
The huge white dragon replied, “Do you even act like an elder? Fighting with him immediately after meeting him.”
The green dragon felt wronged and replied, “Big sister, it can’t be that you have not discovered your son is very weak, right? His life force is pitifully weak. I thought it was caused by the human so….”
After hearing that her son’s body was weak, as a mother, she hastily examined Xiao Jin in great detail. The huge white dragon undulated with strong powers. “Child, who did this to you? Quickly tell mother! Mother will help avenge you.” It seemed that it was due to Xiao Jin’s life force that made them think that he was weak.
XIao Jin looked at me anxiously and barked some sounds at the white dragon.
The white dragon helplessly said, “Alright. We will head to your father to save this human and also to see if your father can help you recover your life force. My child, how have you become like this?” After saying that, tears flowed from the huge white dragon’s eyes. One of those tears unfortunately fell on my body. The white light surrounding my body instantly
fluctuated. ‘Why am I so unlucky to get struck by her tears?’ Wah! I spat out a mouthful of blood. My wounds were even more severe now.
I felt that there weren’t many bones in my body that were still in good condition. Just the pain created from the friction between my bones made me oscillate between life and death.
Chapter 11 – Dragon King
Xiao Jin hurriedly came to my side to protect me and yelled unhappily at his mother.
The huge white dragon hastily said, “Aiyo! Mother didn’t do that on purpose. Let’s quickly go!”
A line of three dragons and a human flew towards the deep parts of the basin.
There was an enormous hole in front. The large white dragon was using her dragon claw to drag me, who was currently wrapped in my own light, and came to a stop. She turned her head and told Xiao Jin, “This is our home. Xiao Qing, ah! I mean
Xiao Jin’s Uncle Green, you stand guard at the door. We will head in first. Don’t allow any dragons to come and disturb our family of three’s love and joy.” After she said that, she brought Xiao Jin and I inside.
As the green dragon who was left behind saw our fading backs, he used his large claws to strike at his head due to being in pain. He muttered, “I…I.. I am one of the eight elder heavenly dragons of the Dragon clan. I am now turned into a dragon to guard the door. Big sister is really too much.” Suddenly, he seemed to have thought about something and became elated again. “Haha! I am the next generation’s Dragon King’s Uncle Green. Haha! This is a title that those other defect dragons can’t obtain. Haha! This is awesome. I have something to boast about in the future.” The simple-minded green dragon sat in front of the entrance and watched his surroundings, fearing that someone would come and make him fail in completing the task the huge white dragon had given him. This dragon had always been in the Dragon Valley since birth. Even though he experienced countless baptisms of time, he was still young and childish at heart.
My entire body was in tremendous pain, and I seemed to have torn my heart and cracked my lung. However, the Holy Sword’s power had stubbornly protected my brain, making me unable to faint. I would soon be driven insane. My perspiration drenched my entire body.
Xiao Jin felt my pain and cast a Primary Spirit Recovery spell on me.
The huge white dragon astonishingly exclaimed, “Child, you also know how to use light magic? That’s not bad. There are very few of us that can use elemental magics. Most only rely on their dragon’s breath and Dragon magic spells.”
Xiao Jin complacently raised his head and called out a few
sounds.
The huge white dragon looked at him amazed, but didn’t say anything anymore.
The hole got bigger as we proceeded in it. Finally, we reached a place that looked like a large public square. The white dragon stopped and respectfully said in front of her, “Dragon King, I have returned. Our son has also returned.”
Xiao Jin curiously looked to the dark place in front of him that had suddenly lit up. A dazzling golden light appeared as an enormous gold dragon squatted in front of them. Even though he was squatting there, a powerful pressure instantly filled the entire hole. The huge white dragon couldn’t help but to lower
her head.
The huge gold dragon’s body was approximately 200 metres. Its entire body was covered with massive gold scales. There were a pair of wings kept by its sides. Two enormous dragon claws were in view. He slowly supported his body and used two enormous dragon’s eyes to look fixedly at Xiao Jin.
Xiao Jin subconsciously took two steps back to hide behind the huge white dragon and used his small claws to directly grab onto the scales of the huge white dragon.
The huge white dragon gently said, “Child, don’t be afraid. He is your father.”
An imposing filled voice voiced out. He placidly said, “My child, you’re back. Quickly come over for father to have a look.”
A golden light shot over and covered Xiao Jin, dragging him over. The closer he got to the Dragon King, the more he felt the pressure that was emitted by the Dragon King.
The huge white dragon said caringly, “Dragon King, be a little more gentle. Don’t scare our child.”
The Dragon King’s imposing voice replied, “As my child and
the successor of the Dragon King, how can he have the possibility of being a coward?”
After hearing the Dragon King’s words, Xiao Jin seemed to have released his potential grandeur. He straightened his chest, and golden light shone out from his eyes to form a circle of power surrounding his body, standing up under the loftiness of the Dragon King.
The old Dragon King looked satisfied. “That’s right! This is my good child. Something is not right. Child, why is your body so weak? Ah Bai, have you brought something else in here? I smell the scent of a human.”
The huge white dragon also walked over and passed me, who
was covered with white light, over. “Our son says that this is his master. He has been injured by Xiao Qing. Take a look.”
The old Dragon King didn’t become angry as what the huge white dragon had expected. He took me over. “Can this be the light inheritor that the God King had spoken of, the savior of the world, the Child of Light?”
Xiao Jin whistled loudly, confirming the Dragon King’s thought. The Dragon King frowned and said, “This Xiao Qing is almost 10000 years old and is still so hot tempered. This human’s injury is very severe.” After he said that, a golden light shot out from his dragon’s horn and wrapped around me.
I could completely hear their conversations without missing
any word, but I was in so much pain that I couldn’t speak.
The golden light that shone on my body from the Dragon King gave me a warm feeling. The warmth gradually became hotter. It seemed as though it wanted to melt me. I involuntarily screamed out in pain.
Xiao Jin looked impatiently and kept on crying out anxiously. The huge white dragon told him, “Don’t worry. Your father is giving him treatment.”
The old Dragon King didn’t have any intention of stopping. The gold light kept intensifying. Finally, under the effect of the strong power, I lost consciousness.
When I woke up again, I was currently in another stone hole. The green dragon, who had previously injured me, was by my side. When he saw me open my eyes, he coldly said, “Human, you’re awake. I will bring you to meet with our king.”
This stupid dragon that had seriously injured me was still this arrogant. Wasn’t he just older than me? What was so good about that? I checked my body’s condition. Even though I was still feeling a little feeble, all of my bones had reconnected. I gently moved my body. Everything was normal. My body also felt as though it had lightened a little.
I also coldly said, “You stupid dragon, you sneak attacked me when I wasn’t paying attention. How can we say that it is due to your skills?”
The green dragon used his dragon wing to gently hit me, making me stagger. I angrily said, “What are you doing?”
The green dragon with contempt said, “With just your abilities, you want to fight with me? From how I see it, you are seeking death.” After he said that, he also simultaneously pinched at his two respectively smaller front claws, giving off creaking sounds.
I snorted heavily and replied, “Aren’t you supposed to take me to the Dragon King? Why are we still not heading there?”
The green dragon withdrew his contemptible attitude at that moment. He didn’t say anything and walked out first. As I followed behind him, I really wanted to kick his butt hard. This fellow was really too arrogant.
I arrived at the same hole I was in previously. The huge white dragon and Xiao Jin stood separately at the sides of the Dragon King. The Dragon King said imposingly, “Human, you have awakened.”
Chapter 12 – Xiao Jin’s Family
As I faced the world’s strongest expert, the Dragon King, I didn’t dare to slight him. I bowed towards him and said, “Dragon King, I thank you for saving me.”
The dragon King replied, “I didn’t do much. It is my clan member that hurt you, so I definitely have the responsibility of saving you. From what I’ve heard from my child, you have been taking care of him all this time, right?”
I nodded. “It cannot be said that I took care of him. Xiao Jin is my best friend. He has experienced many life and death dangers with me. Without him, I would be dead already.”
The old Dragon King nodded. “I want you to explain to me why my child’s life force is this weak.”
My expression dampened and sighed, “To tell you the truth, this was due to my….” I told him everything that had transpired.
When the green and white dragon heard that I let Xiao Jin out to compete, even after I was warned not to, they glared at me until I said I used my life to save Xiao Jin. Only then did they calm down a little. The old Dragon King heard what I said emotionlessly.
“…..So that was what happened that resulted in Xiao Jin’s life force being so weak. I came here to return him to your side. I
hope you can find a way to recover his life force.”
Xiao Jin loudly cried out. It was obvious that he didn’t want to be separated from me.
I glanced at him, full with emotion, and lukewarmly said, “Xiao Jin, this is your home. You must listen to your parents from now on and qualify to become a great Dragon King, alright?”
Xiao Jin strongly shook his head and said in my heart, “I want to follow you. I don’t want to stay here.” After being together for so many years, Xiao Jin was filled with reluctance to part from me.
I walked over and leaned on his body. With tears flowing down my face, I replied, “I am also reluctant to leave you. However, this is your world. You have your family, and they’re the same species as you. You will only be in danger if you follow me.”
XIao Jin cried out to the old Dragon King and used his big wings to place me at the center of his body.
The old Dragon King said, “Human, I don’t know if I should thank you for returning my child or to blame you for the great loss of his life force. I will count it as the balance between contribution and errors. You are free to go. Xiao Qing, you send him out.”
I nodded and struggled out of Xiao Jin’s embrace. I deeply bowed towards the old Dragon King. “Thank you for not punishing me. I hope that after I leave, you can recover Xiao Jin’s life force. Xiao Jin’s previous death is the most remorseful incident in my entire life.”
The huge white dragon replied, “We will.”
Xiao Jin was restricted by the old Dragon King’s power. He repeatedly cried out and was filled with reluctance. The old Dragon King looked at my fading back before gently sighing.
Just as I was going to walk out of the hole, the old Dragon King’s imposing voice called out.
“Human, come back here.”
I was stunned as to why he wanted me back. Could it be he didn’t know how much determination it took for me to leave Xiao Jin? However, with the call from the Dragon King, I couldn’t disobey it.
After returning to face the Dragon King, Xiao Jin was already no longer there. The dragon King lukewarmly said, “I have already locked Xiao Jin up in a secret room. After settling your matters, I will start to help him recover his life force.”
I gratifyingly replied, “Thank you. I will be happy if Xiao Jin is alright.”
The Dragon King said smilingly, “He’s my child. I will definitely treat him. I should be the one to thanking you. Even though my child has lost a large amount of life force, he is still brought back here safely by you. If you have any request, you can say them. I will try my best to fulfill them.”
I lowered my head and thought before suddenly saying, “I do not have any request for myself, but I want to plead to you to help save the other races in the world.” I thought, “If I can
involve this old Dragon King in the battle, I will feel more relieved when the time comes.”
The Dragon King looked interested and replied, “ Carry on.”
I composed myself before telling him what the God King had told me previously. After the Dragon King heard what I had to say, he sighed deeply and said, “You’re a good child. You are kindhearted. Actually, I already know everything. We have the same enemy, the Monster King. You perhaps don’t about this, but during that year of the great God and Monster war my father had led the dragon clan to also participate in it.” Here, the old Dragon King’s eyes were filled with dejection.
He continued to say, “My father, the previous generation’s Dragon King, was killed by the Monster King. From then on, I inherited the Dragon King’s position. The God King once told me that even with his God’s power, he was still unable to eliminate the Monster King. There will be a day the Monster
King will emerge again. However, at that time, a hero that has a short life, the Child of Light, will lead all of the brave warriors to have the ultimate battle against the Monster King.”
I was startled and replied, “It can’t be that Child of Light that has a short life is me, right?”
The Dragon King nodded. “That’s correct. It is you. If you aren’t that person, why would the God King give you the Holy Sword? Child, there are some matters that you won’t be able to escape from. Do you understand?”
I smiled embarrassedly, “Even if I want to escape, will I be able to? You can stop worrying. I will do my best.”
The old Dragon King noded. “Child, I have already recovered your life force that you sacrificed for my child and also strengtheedn your bones. Your path is still an extremely long one.”
This was not bad. It was worth the trip. It had actually recovered my life force. This was just too amazing. Haha!
I said with gratitude, “Thank you for recovering my life force.”
The old Dragon King shook his head. “After a couple of years, I will lead the eight elders of the dragon clan to participate in the great God and Monster war in the future. You can be reassured of that. If the Monster King wants to invade the whole world, he will definitely not let my clan off.”
I respectfully nodded. “I represent the human race of the world to thank you beforehand.”
The old Dragon King replied, “My child’s dependence on you is very strong. I know that you two will be inseparable partners in life. I will not forcefully keep you two apart. However, I have some conditions that you must agree to.”
I instantly became elated. I didn’t want to be separated from
Xiao Jin. This was too perfect.
I hastily replied, “Please state your terms. As long as I can be with Xiao Jin, I will accept any conditions.”
The Dragon King chuckled and replied, “I have three conditions. The first is that you must protect the safety of my child and not let him be fatally wounded.”
Chapter 13 – The Dragon’s Conditions
I resolutely said, “If someone wants to hurt Xiao Jin, he must step over my dead body.”
The old Dragon King nodded with satisfaction before he replied, “Good. The second condition is that no matter what the outcome is in the future, you must become my Dragon clan’s protector and also not expose any of my Dragon clan’s secrets to the other races.”
I replied, “Of course, I will definitely not breathe a word of it.”
The Dragon King continued to say, “The third condition is
that you must bring my child back to inherit the Dragon King’s position.”
After hearing that condition, I couldn’t help but be stunned. “It will definitely happen. Is that even counted as a condition?”
The old Dragon King bitterly smiled, “It definitely is a condition, and also the most important one. Do you know, even if we successfully annihilate the Monster King, your human lifespan is only 100 years while our Dragon clan has a lifespan of a few 10,000 years. Once you die from old age, with my child’s feelings for you, he will definitely want to die with you. In that case, my five claws gold dragon lifeline will end with his.”
‘Ah! Would that be the case?’ I thought of Xiao Jin’s feelings,
which confirmed the old Dragon King’s words.
I sighed and said, “Dragon King, you can be reassured that I will definitely bring Xiao Jin back to inherit your position.”
The Dragon King frowned and replied, “Don’t agree to it so fast! Even though my interactions with Xiao Jin aren’t many, I can see that he is extremely stubborn and won’t be easy to convince.”
I smiled and replied, “I have my own plans for the matter.”
The old Dragon King who was still worrying said, “Tell me your plans.”
I used an extremely soft voice as I told my plans to him. The old Dragon King laughed. “You are really sinister. I will be able to relax in that case. However, I won’t be satisfied with only your sayings for my first condition. You must undergo my test.”
“Test? What test?”
The old Dragon King smiled sinisterly. “You can pick anyone from my eight elders of the dragon clan and only if you defeat him, can you leave.”
Wah! He was really sinister and still talked about me. I replied as I wailed, “They are all so abnormal. How can I fight against them?”
The old Dragon King replied, “It isn’t up to you. I will give you a month’s time to increase your abilities. After that, we will commence the competition. As for my child, he will not be able to leave this place temporarily. I will need a year’s time to recover his life force and make him become a real Dragon King. After he finishes my tasks, I will directly send him to find you. Of course, you must first accomplish the test that I just gave you.” From his words, it was to increase Xiao Jin’s powers.
Would I stand a chance in fighting with the Dragon clan’s abnormal elders? My face instantly turned green like a bitter gourd. However, for the sake of being with Xiao Jin, I must give
it a try. I clenched my teeth and replied. “Alright. I will fight with that green dragon.” As I said, I pointed at the huge green dragon who was standing not far away.
The old Dragon King was stunned and said, “Xiao Qing is the strongest among the elders. Do you want to reconsider?”
I replied with determination, “I don’t need to reconsider. I pick him.” ‘Hmph! Stupid green dragon! You hit me, I will definitely humiliate you.’
The old Dragon King replied, “That’s great! I will give you a month. After a month, we will compete outside. In this month, you must work hard. If not, you will definitely be unable to defeat Xiao Qing. Xiao Qing is well known for his iron body. His
speciality is physical attacks. He can deal with 100 behemoths without any difficulties. From what I heard from my son, you are a magician. You must remember that our dragon’s magic defense is extremely strong. Alright! I will leave it as it is for now. You will live at the hole you were in before coming here. If you have any problems, you can find Xiao Qing. I will first head back to treat my child.”
I replied, “I understand. Thank you.” After saying that, I left with the green dragon. As they walked, the green dragon said. “Aiya! It has been a long time since I can use my strength. My weary old bones can finally move. Brat, even though you are so small, you seem to be good to beat. You must train hard in the month so as to not disappoint me.” After he said that, he pinched his dragon claws again with an elated expression. The Dragon clan’s life was extremely dull so with me to excite his life, he was definitely happy.
Seeing his expression, it was clear that he already treated me as his sandbag. I coldly said, “Xiao Qing, just you wait and see
how I will deal with you.”
When the Dragon King previously called him Xiao Qing, he was a little unhappy. The Dragon King was still older than him after all, so he didn’t dare to say anything. With my call, he raged furiously and shouted, “I don’t allow you to call me Xiao Qing! I am much older than you. You are from my younger generations. How can you be this rude?”
I sneered and replied, “Who is your younger generation? Xiao Qing, quickly get me something to eat.”
The green dragon angrily walked around me, but didn’t dare to hit me. He viciously said, “Brat! You are currently so wild and ruthless. I will deal with you after a month.”
We already walked out of the hole at that time. The green dragon called a smaller blue dragon over. “Xiao Xiao Lan, I will pass this brat to you. You will have to satisfy all of his needs. I will go first. You must remember to protect him.”
As the blue dragon saw the fading back of the green dragon, he unhappily said, “He dumped his burden on me again. Who did I provoke?”
I cordially greeted him. “This dragon brother, can you get your little brother something to eat?”
The blue dragon looked at me curiously and replied. “Are you that human being that brought back our young King?”
I nodded. “That’s right! It is me, why?”
The blue dragon replied, “So humans looked like this. This is still my first time in seeing one.” As he said that, he used his claws to catch me to look at me in detail.
I knew he didn’t have any bad intentions so I didn’t resist him. I bitterly smiled and said, “Have you seen enough? If you have, please quickly get me something to eat. I must train as soon as possible. Your Dragon King has given me one month before I have to fight with that stupid dragon.”
After the blue dragon heard my words, he was shocked. With the release of his dragon claws, I instantly dropped down. As it happened too suddenly, I fell until I was totally muddle-headed.
The blue dragon hastily clenched his huge fist and asked, “Are you alright? I am sorry for what just happened. I was absentminded previously.”
Chapter 14 – Naming Dragons
Since he had already apologized like that, what more could I say? I rubbed my butt before standing up. “Why did that stupid dragon call you Xiao Xiao Lan?”
The blue dragon replied, “It is how we call each other here. We call each other by colours. Let’s use that green dragon as an example. The Dragon King will call him Xiao Xiao Qing. A dragon from the same species, but younger by a generation, will be called Xiao Xiao Qing, therefore I am the pitiful Xiao Xiao Lan.” As he said that, he gave me a grievous look.
I curiously asked, “What if there are two dragons of the same species in a generation?”
The blue dragon’s expression darkened. “In our Dragon clan, that will rarely ever happen. Every species generally has only one heir. If two dragons really appeared in the same generation as you said, they will be called Xiao Xiao X1 and Xiao Xiao X2. Even though I am already 8000 years old, I am still younger by a generation from Xiao Qing. However, I am a well known figure in the Dragon clan’s young generation.” As he said that, he showed off a posture that he thought looked very cool.
I wanted to fall down and faint. These dragons were really uncivilized. I meant well as I asked, “How about I give you a new name? Xiao Xiao Lan doesn’t sound good.”
The blue dragon immediately became elated. “Ah! My human brother, I thank you for that. Please quickly give me a name.”
I thought and replied, “I will call you Ice Blue. How about that? Is that impressive enough?”
The blue dragon silently said that name. “Ice Blue…Ice Blue.. Wah! That’s perfect! I have my own name. I have my own name.” As he said that, he turned and ran away.
I shouted at his back, “Hey! Please bring me something to eat!” I didn’t even know whether or not he heard me, but I shook my head before solitarily going back into the hole I had woken up in earlier.
‘How can I win against that stupid green dragon? His power is just too strong. Even if I team up with Xiao Jin to fight him with all our might, we may not be able to defeat him.’
I had only a month’s time. Even if I improve as fast as possible, it would be impossible to defeat that dragon. I never thought that I, a Magister, couldn’t even defeat a dragon. The Dragon King said that their magic defenses were good. He definitely wasn’t bluffing me. Any magic spells lower than the advanced spells would be useless against them.
‘If I want to defeat him, I must move as I fight him. His body is so huge. His agility will definitely be lower than mine. I must be the first one to attack him during the competition by using short distance teleportation to hit him. After that, I will use my chantless Light Sword. However, the attack power of the Light Sword will probably just be an itch to him. What to do? He definitely won’t give me time to chant my spells. It looks like I can only use the magic and battle spirit fusion strike. I may stand a chance then. The goal for this month is to strengthen the power of the magic and battle spirit fusion strike and lessen the time of its gathering speed. I can only see my fate after that.’
With a goal, my mood improved. Just when I wanted to prepare and start practicing, I suddenly felt something similar to an earthquake.
The whole floor was flooded with “Hong! Hong!” sounds. It sounded like dense thunder clouds were coming.
‘What was going on?’ I used a short teleportation spell to get out of the hole. I was shocked at what I was seeing in front of me.
I saw all kinds of dragons. There seemed to be 200 of them. It looked like the entire Dragon clan’s forces had gathered. Some were flying and some were standing. Their sizes and shapes differed, but they all were threatening in their grandeur.
What shocked me was that their target seemed to be me as they formed an enormous circumference around me and slowly moved towards me. There were peculiar gazes from all of the dragon’s eyes. They seemed to want to gobble me up.
Not to mention myself, but even if it was the God King seeing so many dragons, he would most certainly have a headache.
I forcefully smiled and said, “Wah! Greetings to all of you. I’ve just arrived and look forward to all of your advice.”
The crowd of dragons didn’t care about me and continued to constantly surround me. This was bad. It couldn’t be that they think of me as dessert, right? But I’m so small. I probably wouldn’t even be able to satisfy a single dragon and there were so many. How were they going to share me? Such a thing shouldn’t be the case. Could it be that stupid green dragon called them over? That also shouldn’t be it. The only one that could move the entire Dragon clan should be the Dragon King. The green dragon wouldn’t have this ability.
When the crowd had me completely surrounded, four hundred large eyes met my small eyes. I vigilantly said, “What do all of you want? I am the Dragon King’s guest, so you can’t just do whatever you’d like.” Seeing that they hadn’t replied to me and that all of their dragon claws began to stir, I knew this was going to be bad. They must have come here due to the matter regarding the life force of Xiao Jin. I hastily said, “Wah! Dragon brothers, if you want to vent your anger, please let me keep my little life, and also when you hit me, please don’t hit my face.” After I said that, I crouched down and used all of my magic power to protect my entire body.
After a long time, there still wasn’t any response. They were still looking at me as before. Suddenly, there was movement from within the crowd of dragons and the blue dragon that ran away earlier squeezed himself into the middle with me.
The few small dragons at the side made some sounds towards him. Ice Blue puffed out his chest and said, “Leave it to me!” I didn’t know what he had just promised to them.
After Ice Blue said that, he walked over and lowered his huge head and seemed to curry favor with me. “Human brother, the name that you have given me is extremely resounding. For so many years, my clan members have never had their own names. Can you also…..”
Sigh! So it was for this. I wiped away the cold sweat from my forehead and calmed down. I replied smilingly, “Isn’t it to give all of them names? There won’t be a problem. Don’t worry. I am well known for being handsome, outstandingly elegant, with the manners of a jade tree and am a powerful yet exceptionally witty mage amongst humans. How can this matter be consideredas a problem to me?”
Ice Blue was stunned and asked, “What does handsome, outstandingly elegant, with the manners of a jade tree and a powerful yet exceptionally witty mage mean?”
I toppled heavily. I smiled awkwardly, “They are all phrases that describes something that is good. Alright. Let’s not continue to talk about that. Are they all here to get a name?”
All of the large and small dragons simultaneously let out a long dragon roar. They had confirmed my question. The sound was definitely loud enough to topple the mountains and overturn the seas.
I jumped in shock and said, “Alright. Please lower your voice. You’re scaring me to death. You can come forward to me in accordance of your age, from the youngest to the oldest.”
These dragons with tyrannical powers were all like obedient babies due to wanting me to give them a good name. Every dragon that came over looked at me with hope filled eyes. There wasn’t even a hint of a dragon’s usual loftiness.
“‘You are covered with red scales and there are three spikes on
your back. Your dragon breath is fire. You look really bold and powerful so I will give you a name, Flamy.”
“Your dragon scales are purple,……, I will call you Purple Dream.”
Chapter 15 – Backed By The Dragons
Just like that, I wracked my brain for the entire day to give all of the dragons names that they were satisfied with. After that, even Xiao jin’s mother, who was the huge white dragon, also came. I also gave her a name, White Queen as she was the Dragon King’s wife. Haha! After giving so many dragons their names, I still felt very accomplished.
I finally finished that task when night came. Except for the Dragon King and the Green Dragon that had ‘offended’ me, all of the dragons had their own name.”
After the crowd of dragons had dispersed, I also went back to my hole. The Green Dragon that had been hiding at the side ran over and pulled Ice Blue. “Xiao Xiao Lan, what is that brat up to? I was too far away so I couldn’t see clearly what happened.”
Ice Blue arrogantly said, “Please don’t call me Xiao Xiao Lan anymore. I have a new name. Please call me Ice Blue instead. The human brother has previously given us all our own names. Haha! Uncle Xiao Qing, I am afraid that you are the only one that doesn’t have a new name. I am heading off. Ice Blue…Ice Blue.. I am extremely satisfied with my name.”
After looking at Ice Blue who was on cloud nine, the green dragon used his large claws to hit his head. He muttered, “If I knew this will happen, I won’t have offended him. What can I do now? I can’t just go up to him and ask for a new name.” After he said that, he sighed before walking away.
As for me, after heading back to my hole, I ate all kinds of fruits that the bunch of dragons had given me. (There were also some wild beasts. However, it was too troublesome to make it
edible so I just ate the fruits. I am lazy.) It soothed my mood. Even though it was a little tiring today, I made good relationships with those dragons. It would definitely be beneficial to the competition in a month’s time.
Starting from the next day on, I had given myself tasks. I would train battle spirit in the morning and then train the gathering speed for my magic and battle spirit fusion spell. Afterwards, I would meditate. As I slept, with the two Gold Dans, the gathering speed of my magic power had increased drastically. It was not like one plus one equals two kind of increases, but rather twice as much. After my two Gold Dans turned completely transparent, my magic power would be able to breakthrough from the Magister’s realm so the good effects of lying down to meditate could be seen clearer.
After working hard for a month, I could clearly feel the improvement in my magic. No matter if it was the God King that had shed my mortal body and exchanged my bones or the Dragon King that had changed my physique, the results were
amazing. My battle spirit had improved rapidly, my body was much stronger than before. My physical capability was abundant and I had trained to the best standards for the battle. Even though my power might not reach the Radiant Knight rank, it had at least reached the Heaven Knight rank. My battle spirit had almost reached the God Battle Spirit’s class. Of course, my martial skills were still bad, however it shouldn’t matter as I trained my battle spirit to be better at using my magic.
Even though I still had not reached the speed of using chantless intermediate light spells and Elementary spells, the gathering speed had decreased drastically. I currently only need 3 seconds to cast a fusion magic and battle spirit spell that was stronger than before.
A month soon passed. The Dragon King had told a small dragon to pass his words to me to prepare myself for the test tomorrow.
In this one month, I was already very familiar with the dragons. They had already accepted me, a human being. No matter if it was 1 or 2 thousand small dragons or the 10000 years and above elder dragons, they all called me their brother.
I had never seen the green dragon since that day. He probably hated me to death. He definitely wouldn’t hold back his strengths. We would just follow my preplanned fighting tactics tomorrow. With the Dragon King’s supervision, I should have no problem with keeping my small life.
……
There was an extremely flat and sparse land in the middle of Dragon Valley. It was the best place to hold competitions. The green dragon stood in front of me with his eyes glaring like a tiger watching his prey. The Dragon King also walked out from his hole. From what he had said, Xiao Jin had started close doors training. His life force was slowly recovering.
The Dragon King’s imposing voice rang out. “The test begins. Xiao Qing, you must remember not to kill him.” After he said that, with a wave of his claws, an enormous golden transparent barrier formed to enclose us at the center of it.
The green dragon extended his dragon claws. “Brat, if I don’t cripple you, I will no longer be called Xiao Qing.”
The group of dragons surrounding us roared simultaneously. From the huge dragons that knew how to speak, it seemed that they were cheering me on. The green dragon yelled furiously at the barrier, “Why are you all extending your dragon claws? You are being biased towards outsider! Quickly cheer me on.”
Ice Blue replied, “Uncle Xiao Qin, it can’t be that you don’t know that we were given his grace, right? Furthermore, we are all cheering for the weaker competitor. Zhang Gong! You can do it! Zhang Gong! Go for it!”
The green dragon was so angry that his entire body shivered. The Dragon King yelled, “Why aren’t you two fighting? Quickly start the test!”
Xiao Qing instantly moved 30 meters ahead and swiped his tail at me. He used the same move that he did previously to strike at me horizontally.
I had long prepared to used short teleportation before the Dragon King said those words. When I saw him move, I immediately teleported away. As the speed was extremely fast, the green dragon’s tail hit my after image.
I mockingly said, “I am here!”
The green dragon angrily dashed over, but I didn’t counter attack. I dodged all around him. Suddenly, I thought of a good plan, I started to run in a circle in the barrier that the Dragon King had erected. I gradually increased my pace. When I ran at
my maximum speed, there was my silhouette from all directions. The green dragon got dizzy from my movement.
I struck out at that moment using the fusion magic and battle spirit spell that I gathered earlier. Due to the remnant images, it seemed that I was striking at the green dragon from all directions, making it impossible for him to avoid the attack.
“Hong!” The long white light with a tinge of gold struck on his back.
I had struck him with all of my might. The longer I stored up the spell, the stronger it got. It was definitely stronger than any advanced spells that I used before.
The green dragon screeched out in pain. The scales on his back spewed out blood from my strike as his body heavily struck the ground.
The Dragon King and White Queen paled as they didn’t think that I would have such a powerful attack.
Actually, I knew that even though I had injured the green dragon with this strike, it would not be wounded fundamentally. Even though I had estimated that his defences was extremely strong, his durability was still beyond my expectations.
The green dragon gradually stood up. His eyes had turned blood shot red. He gently flapped his wings and flew up into the sky with his body emitting intense green light rays. I knew that his next move would definitely be world shaking. Blood was still constantly dripping from his body.
Chapter 16 – The Holy Sword’s Handle
I didn’t dare to slight him. I immediately started chanting. As I chanted, the green dragon’s mouth was also continuously moving. This was bad. It was a dragon language spell. I couldn’t help but to be frightened as I didn’t know if my power would be strong enough to block his attack.
I would stake it all with this one exchange, “Light elements, my great friends, I plead for you to use your power to form unlimited light rays to form small stars to eliminate the enemy before you, Bright Star’s Shine!”
I rapidly gathered light elements beside me and continuously formed them into stars in front of me, forming layer after layer of defence. I quietly heaved a sigh of relief.
At this moment, the green dragon’s entire body lit with green light. His eyes had recovered their previous sober and calmness. He chuckled at me and said, “It has been 10000 years since I had been injured, excluding the previous great God and Monster War. I will let you see the true power of the Dragon clan.”
This was terrible. His entire body’s green ray formed an enormous wave moving towards me. I hastily gathered the stars in front of me and released the second fusion spell.
When the magic and battle spirit fusion spell’s light ray and the wave from the green dragon collided, the wave didn’t stop at all after smashing through the white power from the fusion spell and charged towards the star defense area.
The stars had temporarily stopped the advancement of the wave but its strength were rapidly diminishing. When the stars and the wave collided, it gave off “Zi! Zi!” sounds.
I knew that the stars wouldn’t be able to block the attack so I immediately cast a Holy Swords protection spell and also gathered my battle spirit in front of my body.
The charging wave succeeded in breaking through the stars defense area and heavily hit on my last defence. I didn’t get hit head on, but flew out along with its power.
Even if that was the case, I was still unable to break through this tremendously strong power. “Hong!” I smashed into the gold barrier that the Dragon King had cast. Due to the collision,
the barrier rippled. I violently spout out blood as I was seriously hurt.
I had used all of my abilities to forcefully block the advancement of the green dragon’s attack but also suffered serious injuries. I had once again experienced how powerful a dragon’s power was.
The green dragon was also shocked that I could block his attack. He immediately pounced over, getting ready to hit me so as to make me completely lose my fighting power.
It was just like the final match of the Advanced Academies’ competition. I had once again faced the fear of facing death. ‘Xiao Jin, is it really impossible for me to be with you?’ My
heart felt as though it had been torn apart. At the crucial moment, I similarly felt that the Holy Sword power in my body surged out. I knew that at crucial moments, the Holy Sword would awaken temporarily again. My eyes had turned completely gold as the Holy Sword power surged out of my body.
What was different from before was that I had some understandings on how to use the Holy Sword so I could barely be able to control it. My body elevated and my body shone with peculiar gold light rays. An enormous gold light sword gathered in front of me similar to the previous time. The power emitted from the Holy Sword was much stronger in comparison. The green dragon could already feel the immense pressure, but he knew that it was impossible for him to retreat. There was also not enough time for him to cast another dragon language magic spell. He clenched his teeth and curled up into a ball before he rapidly charged at me with his back facing outwards.
With a single thought, the light sword shot out. The Dragon
King was shouting from outside the barrier. He had already felt that something was wrong. The power had made him felt threatened. To protect the green dragon’s safety, two light rays shot out from his two enormous dragon horns. One was shot to counter my light sword and the other was towards the green dragon.
The Dragon King’s golden light and my light sword collided first. With the valiance of the Dragon King, due to using his power in a rush, he could only slow down the advancement of the light sword. The light sword was a little sluggish as it quickly engulfed the Dragon King’s golden light before continuing to fly towards the green dragon.
The Dragon King hollered, “Xiao Qing, be careful!” Even though he had warned the green dragon, he knew that with all of the power that the green dragon possessed, it would still be impossible for him to withstand the light sword’s power. It would be too late for him to gather more powers as well. There was pain that was shown from the Dragon King’s eyes. He never
would have thought that I could use the God King’s Radiant Holy Sword. Actually, even though the Holy Sword had only been half awoken, I used only a sliver of its power.
Just as the Radiant Holy Sword’s power was going to hit the green dragon, I gently moved the power of the Holy Sword upwards and towards the left before rapidly sending it out. I got a beautiful home run just like when the green dragon had previously used his tail to swipe at me.
The enormous green dragon’s body broke through the Dragon King’s barrier before heavily hitting at the nearby stone wall. With his strong body, he shouldn’t be in much danger.
I didn’t have the time to laugh as I had used up all of my
strength. The Dragon King shot out some power to catch me who was dropping down from the sky. With the Dragon King’s treatment, I felt much better. I had recovered some of my body’s strength. I said feebly, “Dragon King, does this count as I have pass the test?”
The Dragon King sighed. “I never thought that the God King had given the Radiant Holy Sword. Thank you for holding back.”
I smiled, “Your Dragon clan members are so few. Moreover, I don’t have any deep grudges towards him. Why would I take his life?”
The Dragon King replied, “To be honest, I suggested this test
just to make things difficult for you. I and Xiao Bai, ah no! I heard that you gave her a name called White Queen, are reluctant to be separated from our son. Do you know why he left the Dragon Valley previously? It was because of that old fellow, the God King. He said that whoever can hatch the dragon egg, that person will have the means to inherit the Radiant God’s power. Just like that, our child was separated from us. This time, you have sent him back with such difficulties. We also don’t want to be apart from him.”
I nodded. “I understand your feelings. What kind of parents doesn’t want their children to be by their side? How about this? After Xiao Jin helps me to settle the Monster King’s problem, I will let him return to Dragon Valley to accompany you all. I will also frequently come to see him at that time. If he misses me, he can also come to find me.” Xiao Jin was their child after all. Which parents would want to be separated from their children?
The Dragon King happily nodded his head. “That will be great! I represent the Dragon clan to thank you for that.”
Chapter 17 – The Dragon’s Gift
I laughed and said, “What’s there to thank me for? Xiao Jin is
your child after all.” In my heart, I sniggered, ‘This Dragon King is really silly. If he doesn’t want Xiao Jin to go with me, can I beat all of the dragons? Won’t it still be his call? Now, I am just doing someone a favor at a low cost.’ Actually, the one that was
silly wasn’t the Dragon King but rather our leading actor, as he didn’t know that Xiao Jin had formed a contract with him. Without his permission, Xiao Jin would be unable to leave him. If he died, Xiao Jin would also die. This was why the Dragon King used every possible means to make him promise not to allow Xiao Jin to die with him.
The Dragon King replied, “How about this? Since you agree to let Xiao Jin return, you are the benefactor of our Dragon clan. I will impart to you a special Dragon language spell from the Dragon clan. What do you want to learn?”
This was great. I really had to think this through. My eyes lit
up. “I want to learn how to break through magic seals.” This spell had saved me a couple of times. It was not bad to have the power to eliminate all kinds of magic seals.
The Dragon King astonishingly nodded his head. “You really know how to pick. This spell in the dragon language is an advanced spell. I will impart this spell to you.”
The Dragon King’s body shone with gold light. Two cold lights shone out from his large eyes before deeply piercing into my own . Instantly, there were countless strange symbols that appeared in my mind. The Dragon King said, “This is the chant to break magic seals. If you want to use it, you just have to read exactly as it appears. .”
The chant was very simple. It was just like a little tongue twister. I replied, “Thank you. Is Xiao Jin’s closed door training going well?”
The Dragon King replied, “It is currently going well. I used a few treasures of the Dragon clan to increase his power and life force. He has matured too quickly so his foundation is still unstable.The eight elders and I will take turns to help train him. You don’t have to worry about him. After a year and after his close door training has ended, I will let him find you. No matter where you are, he will always be able to find your position. You can totally be reassured about that.”
I nodded. “I feel relieved that way.”
The Dragon King said, “After resting for a day, you can leave this place tomorrow.”
The last day with the dragon clan was the busiest day by far. Almost all of the dragons gave me some kind of presents. As the dragons had the hobby of collecting, they had all given me different kinds of gemstones, a big piece of diamond, different colours of magic crystals, other rare products, et cetera. My spatial space was filled to the brim with gifts.
Seeing them so passionate, I was a little embarrassed to just
leave as I had taken everything that they gave to me. Haha! ‘I am rich! After heading back and selling this off, I will at least have a few tens of thousands of diamond coins. HeHe! I won’t be afraid to treat Mu Zi to good food in the future.’
After awakening from my money dream, I packed my belongings. Actually, there wasn’t much to pack. I just changed a set of new clothes. After that, I walked to the Dragon King’s hole to bid him farewell.
The Dragon King wasn’t there. There was only White Queen there in the hole.
I asked, “Aunt White Queen, where is the Dragon King?”
White Queen smiled and said, “The Dragon King is currently helping to train our child. He told me to tell you that you don’t need to bid him farewell and tell you to stay safe. Child, you are leaving. Aunty does not have anything good to give you. I will give you this. This is something that I inadvertently picked up
many years ago. There were a lot of them at that time.” After she said that, a white light floated towards me.
I extended my hand forward to receive the white light. As the light ray gradually dulled, it was an exquisite magic staff. It was roughly 1.2 meters long. Its body was made up of an unknown metal was shining with gold light rays. There was a light green dragon on the staff’s body. The dragon head was the staffs head piece. Its mouth had a large transparent gemstone between its jaws, the dragon eyes made of two red gemstones. Two dragon wings slightly opened on two sides of the magic staff. The green dragon staff looked like it was alive. It seemed that his entire body was carved out of a large piece of gemstone. A precious light ray illuminated the entire magic staff. The magic staff kept on emitting power. I knew that it was definitely a top grade magic staff.
I fondled with the magic staff and said, “Aunty, thank you for this gift. This present is too precious.”
White Queen said smilingly, “This magic staff is not very useful to our Dragon clan. It is known as Sukrad’s magic staff. This was the weapon that the Dragon God Sukrad used that year.”
I asked in amazement, “There is also a Dragon God?”
White Queen nodded. “There definitely is. The Dragon God was not in charge of our Dragon clan. He was just responsible for our interactions between the God clan and our Dragon clan. His power was also extremely strong. He unfortunately sacrificed himself during the Great God and Monster War. Before he died, he left this magic staff to us. I will pass it on to you today. Even though it is much weaker than your Radiant Holy Sword, you should be able to use it with your current strength. You can keep and use it.”
I replied emotionally, “This gift is too precious. I thank you for this, Aunty.”
White Queen shook her head. “You don’t have to thank me. We also have selfish motives. I only hope that you will protect our child’s safety in the in the future. It will be your greatest gratitude to us.” She had spoken so honestly. However, even if that was the case, I was still thankful.
I rode on Ice Blue’s back and waved saying my farewells to the crowd that came to send me off. Ice Blue expanded his enormous wings to fly through the clouds and into the sky.
I asked him, “How is that stupid green dragon?”
Ice Blue replied, “It is all thanks to you holding back that Uncle Xiao Qing only suffered superficial wounds. His condition isn’t bad. After resting, he should be fine.”
I laughed and said, “When you head back, tell him that I have given him a name called Blank Green Head.”
Ice Blue obviously didn’t understand what Blank Green Head means. He elatedly replied, “Ah! That’s great! After I head back, Uncle Xiao Qing will definitely be happy. Even though he didn’t say, we all know that he has been envying us because of our names.”
I sniggered but didn’t say anything.
Ice Blue had flown me to the entrance of the Cloud and Mist Mountain Range before reluctantly heading back. My mood was indescribable great. This was extremely good. Even though I had experienced some difficulty, I had settled Xiao Jin’s matter and also got the support of the Dragon clan. The burden on my shoulders lightened a little.
After settling this matter, I should head home to visit my parents. There was still a month’s time before school reopens. I could still make it.
Chapter 18 – Warm Familial Love
I set up a permanent magic array at a relatively secretive location so that I wouldn’t need to walk and could instead teleport directly back here next time.
I drew a returning magic array beside it. This place was far away from my house. Thus, to be together with my family for a few more days, I had decided to head back using the magic array. Even though the distance was a little far, with my current magic power, there shouldn’t be any problems.
I stood at the center of the magic array, raising the Sukrad’s staff, and muttering the chant for the returning spell. Speaking of the magic staff, I am growing increasingly fond of it. It wasn’t only just because of its enormous power, but also because of its beautiful appearance. This was the most beautiful magic staff that I had ever seen; just holding it gave me an imposing feeling.
As I chanted the retuning spell, the Sukrad’s staff’s transparent gemstone shone out misty gold light rays before it activated the magic array. The feeling of the return was different from before due to the Sukrad’s staff. It shot out a gold light barrier that protected me so I didn’t feel the twisting and tearing of space.
I had arrived at my destination, my hometown, without any discomfort.
Standing on the permanent magic array that I had previously established, I cast my eyes upon the small village that looked more prosperous than before, my heart filling with warmth. I shouted, “Mom, dad, I’m back!”
I held on to the Sukrad’s staff and rapidly ran towards the village. The Sukrad’s staff had a special property, I couldn’t store it in my spatial space so I could only hold it by hand.
When the villagers saw me, they greeted me excitedly. Since my magic was outstanding with my status as a Royal Advanced Magic Academy’s student, I had become a well known figure in the village. I hadn’t even reached the entrance of the house when my parents appeared to welcome me. This might be because I had given them quite a sum of money so they needn’t work for a living anymore and could instead stay home to practice their magic.
I emotionally shouted, “Father, Mom, I am home!”
Mom cried as she hugged me. “Child, you’re finally back.
Mom really missed you this past half year.”
The village chief came over. “Zhang Gong, you’re the pride of our village. I will go and prepare for your family of three to come over to my house to have lunch at noon and hold a welcoming reception.”
I said smilingly, “How can I do that? It will be too troublesome for you.”
The Village Chief replied, “How is this troublesome? Don’t be modest. Father of Zhang Gong, you all come over as well.”
Father replied, “Alright! We thank you for your hospitality.”
The Village Chief happily walked away. The rest of the villagers surrounded our family of three, especially me. They kept on asking me questions. Their enthusiasm was almost unbearable to me. When some people saw my beautiful magic staff, they insisted on examining it. My head was spinning as I had never encountered such a situation before in my life. This was really humans fear becoming famous, pigs fear becoming fat.
This was really even more tiring than fighting consecutive
battles. Finally, I was able to escape home with my parents.
I had noticed after coming home that the house was totally different. The entire house was three times larger. The rooms had changed from four rooms to eight. The middle of the living room was bright and spacious. I astonishingly asked Father, “Father, why has our house become like this? Did you spend money on it?” The money I gave them was sufficient to build such a house. However, it wasn’t like mom’s and dad’s style. They usually preferred to live a low-profiled life.
Father smiled bitterly, “Your mother and I would never waste money on a thing like this, our previous house was sufficient for us. This was given to us by the Village Chief. I rejected him initially, but the Village Chief said that the house couldn’t be too unpresentable when you marry in the future and insisted on getting it done up. You take a look at how big it is right now, cleaning it is such a chore and now we’ll owe them a favour for nothing at all.”
So, there were that many benefits to being strong with magic, even the house was renovated. I asked, “Is there something that the Village Chief and the others want from me? If not, why are they fawning on you like this?”
Mother shook her head and replied, “They don’t. However, ever since you became outstanding, our standard of living and position in life has completely changed. Currently, apart from Village Chief’s house, our house is the largest and the degree of respect received from the entire village sticks out like a sore thumb.”
I replied smilingly, “Isn’t that great?”
Father replied, “Why is that good? The feeling of being looked at by everyone is really unbearable
I replied, “If you’re not used to this life here, I can bring you to live somewhere else. We can just return this house to them.”
Mother shook her head. “Your father and I are nearing the big five-zero already, this place has rolling hills and crystal clear water, we aren’t leaving to go anywhere. We know that you won’t live here in the future, but you must come to visit us frequently. We don’t ask anything else of you.”
I nodded and clung onto mom’s arms. “Mom, I will. If I marry in the future, I will follow your example in finding a place with a good environment to settle down. When the time comes, I will
bring you over to have a look, and you can move over to live with me if you like the place.”
Father teasingly replied, “Good boy! From your words, it seems that you have a partner already.”
My face flushed. “Stop talking nonsense. Things have not even begun to take shape yet.”
Mother also understood this time and excitedly said, “Quickly tell mom whose family that girl is from!”
I bitterly smiled, “I also don’t even know which family she is from. I can only tell you that she is my classmate at the academy. She is called Mu Zi Mo. She isn’t very pretty, but her personality is good.”
Father chuckled, “I don’t mind if she is pretty or not, as long as she has a good personality. Look at your mother, even though she isn’t that beautiful, I am still in love with her for so many years. Haha!”
Hearing Dad’s front words, Mom’s eyebrows had became vertical. It looked like she was going to blow a fuse. However, after hearing the last sentence, she instantly softened. She angrily said, “You senile man! If I’m not pretty, could it be that you’re the pretty one? You don’t have a single bit of self- awareness.”
Father didn’t refute what Mom had said and told me, “Son, are you tired? You should get some rest.”
I shook my head. “Father, I am not tired at all as I used the returning magic array to come back, so the journey was very easy.”
Father said in amazement, “Where did you use the returning magic array? It should be a high level magic.”
I nodded. “It isn’t too far away either. Your son’s current abilities is extraordinary. What is a small returning magic array to me?”
Chapter 19 – Returning To The Academy
Father suddenly became serious and said, “Don’t be too complacent. Arrogance is the biggest obstacle for a magician to surpass.”
I struck out my tongue and replied, “I understand.”
Mom protected me by saying, “You’re hateful. Our son just came back and you are lecturing him already. Our Zhang Gong is strong.”
Father showed a helpless expression. “You will spoil him this way.”
I smiled mischievously, “How can it be that way? I am the most obedient.”
Father replied, “Since you are not tired, let’s go to the Village Chief’s house. We must go and face him. He has been taking good care of us while you weren’t at home after all.”
I replied, “Must we head there now? Let’s wait for a while longer. Father, Mom, how are your magic training going?”
Father replied arrogantly said, “It is going very well. Even
though we gave up our original magics for light magic, we still have good results. I can freely use any Intermediate light magic. Your mom is almost at the same level as me. She is slightly lousier than your father.”
Mom rebuked, “Who is lousier than you? Didn’t you lose against me previously and ran away?”
Father embarrassedly smiled and said, “I was going easy on you. It can’t be that you didn’t see that correctly?”
Mom revealed a disdainful expression. “Zhang Gong, you can teach us new spells. Our improvement is quite fast.”
I tested Father and Mom’s magic power and said frowning, “As you didn’t initially learn light magic, your magic power isn’t pure enough. It will be difficult to learn advanced magic.”
Father and Mom dejectedly looked at each other. Father replied, “If we can’t learn it, we will then forget about it. We mustn’t forcefully learn it.” I could see their determination for magic. After all, in this Kingdom, who didn’t want to become an expert in using magic. I suddenly thought of an idea and said smilingly, “Don’t be uneasy ! I have a plan.”
After saying that, I took out a few pure purple magic crystals from my spatial space. “Take a look! What is this?”
Father and Mom shouted in amazement, “Purple crystals?! How are there so many precious things in your possession and in such large quantity?”
I said smilingly, “How can this be regarded as something? I still have a lot of them. These were given to me by my friends. I definitely got them honorably. I will leave a few for you. After meditating, you will pass your magic power into the purple crystal. It not only will cleanse your magic power, it can also help to improve the gathering speed of your magic.”
Mother took the largest purple crystal. “This is really beautiful. I want this piece.”
Father said, “You can’t do that! We must split everything by
halves….” The two of them argued about the distribution. I finally became the mediator and gave them equal amounts of crystals to settle their argument.
I said, “That should be alright. Let’s head off, my two guides.
Aren’t we supposed to be heading to the Village Chief’s place?”
On the way to the Village Chief’s house, Father suddenly told me, “Zhang Gong, I forgot to tell you this, but Ao De and Luo Yu are married.”
I said surprised, “Really? They were in such a rush. They didn’t wait for me to come see their wedding. That brat!”
After reaching the Village Chief’s house, Ao De and Luo Yu came over. I walked over and gave Ao De a punch. “You’re good! You brat! You didn’t wait for me before you wed!”
Ao De held the place that had been hit and replied, pretending to be in pain, “Aiyo! A magician is hitting a person.”
I laughed as I scolded him, “Aren’t you a magician?”
Luo Yu said smilingly, “That’s enough! Stop fooling around and quickly get inside.” After half a year, Luo Yu had become
even more beautiful. I smiled and replied, “Congratulations in becoming my younger brother’s wife. You must discipline Ao De more from now on.”
Luo Yu replied, “Of course! If he cheats on me, I will tear his ear out.” Ao De hastily expressed that he wouldn’t even dare to do that. Seeing their blissful relationship, I really envied them.
The other mishap was that there was only the Village Chief’s family in the house, and he didn’t invite the other villagers. The Village Chief said, “I fear that you will find it annoying if there are too many people so I didn’t call for the others to come. Zhang Gong, quickly take your seats. The dishes will be coming up soon.”
Everyone ate the meal happily. To congratulate the marriage between Ao De and Luo Yu, I gave them each a purple crystal. The Village Chief was even more polite to our family.
When the next day began, I mentored my parents on how to learn advanced light magic and also helped them remove the impurities in their magic so that they will be able to learn even better magic spells.
Time flew past, and it was already rapidly approaching the reopening of the academy. In this month in the village, I was treated by everyone like the moon that was cared for by the stars. In this month, I realised that I had put on some weight.
“Father, I will be heading back tomorrow.”
“My son, learning is most important. Even though you have already achieved some accomplishments, you still need to work hard!”
I nodded. “Don’t worry! I will definitely work hard!”
Mother said smilingly, “You must bring back our daughter-in- law for us to take a look the next time you return.”
My face flushed red. “I will try my best. If I can really bring her back with me, you will then really have a daughter in law.”
Mother replied, “You must work hard! We are waiting to carry our grandson!”
I used the returning magic array to return to the academy the next day. What I didn’t know was that a long time would pass before the next time I returned home.
I decided to visit Teacher Di.
Arriving at the Royal Intermediate Magic Academy, I saw Teacher Di taking care of his flowers and grasses. I shouted,
“Teacher Di, I’m back!”
Teacher Di stood up and replied smilingly, “Zhang Gong, you’re back. How is it? Did you send Xiao Jin back?”
I replied, “The trip can be counted as successful. Not only did I send Xiao Jin back, I also gained the support of the Dragon clan. They have agreed to help us out during the final battle against the Monster King. I saw many different kinds and types of dragons. It was an eye opener.”
Teacher Di replied, “Quickly tell me what happened!”
I told him everything that happened in the Dragon Valley and also let Teacher Di see the Sukrad’s staff.
Teacher Di sighed. “Zhan Gong, your life is really exciting. If only I am 50 years younger, I will definitely want to roam these places with you.”
I clung onto Teacher Di’s arm, “Isn’t it that you, old man, have taught me well? Without you, how can I have what I have today?”
Teacher Di felt consoled and stroked his long mustache, expressing a heartfelt smile on his face.
Chapter 20 – Ke Zha’s Succession
Suddenly, Teacher Di’s expression changed and said, “There is something that I must tell you. During this holiday, the Kingdom’s King had passed away. Prince Ke Zha is now the King of Aixia.”
I asked astonished, “Did the Emperor of the Kingdom really die?”
Teacher Di sighed. “That’s correct. It was already very difficult for him to hold on to his life for such a long time. Once the Prince was in power, he immediately gave titles to us few old fellows. Everyone of us has a title of Royal Magician. You also received that title.”
I chuckled. “The prince… Ah! I mean the Emperor of the Kingdom really knows how to win over the hearts of the people.”
Teacher Di said, “I think that Ke Zha still did quite a good job with this matter. Not only did he reward us, he will also reward the two large families and Dun Yu Xi. He also made Chuan Song, Dun Yun Xi and I the mages to protect the Kingdom. Currently, the power of Duke Te Yi has gradually withered. Aixia should temporarily settle down for a while.”
I replied smilingly, “Isn’t that great? It is what we expected.
We didn’t do all that work for nothing.”
Teacher Di nodded. “I have returned your title to Prince Ke
Zha. You are still too young. You shouldn’t act too ostentatiously. It won’t give you any benefits that way. You won’t blame teacher, right?”
I chuckled. “Why will I blame you? I can’t even thank you enough. I don’t want to be an official. I won’t have any freedom. I still have the little piglet Mu Zi to take care of. Meat is precious and the price of the meat is even more precious. If there is a large piece of meat, when both of them occur together, then that life will be more suitable to me.”
Teacher Di mockingly scolded, “I really don’t know what to do with you brat. There is also a reason why I didn’t want you to get that title as I didn’t want you to be too distracted. Your task is extremely difficult. The Monster King isn’t that easy to deal with. Even if you have the help from the Dragon clan, you still mustn’t be complacent. Do you understand?”
I gravely nodded. “I understand. You don’t have to worry about that.”
……
Mu Zi only returned on the opening day of school. Her complexion didn’t look good. She looked extremely pale. I caringly asked, “Mu Zi, what happened to you? Are you unwell?”
Mu Zi forcefully smiled and replied, “It is alright. My head is
just in a little pain.”
I touched her cold forehead. “If you are really uncomfortable, you must tell me. According to your current magic power, you shouldn’t fall ill easily.”
Mu Zi replied, “I’m fine, really.”
I felt that there was something different from Mu Zi’s gazes towards me. It seemed that her love for me had deepened. However, there was a tinge of grief in her eyes. It seemed that something saddening had happened.
I called some of my good friends to eat together at the Ascending Jade Tide that afternoon. Ma Ke was flushed with success. With his good relationships with the Magisters and his own strong powers, it was already enough to make exceptions to be given the title Prince by Emperor Ke Zha. Furthermore, with the whole heartedness that Hai Shui was treating him, he was currently the happiest person in our group.
What made me curious was that Mu Zi seemed to have lost her appetite. When I gave her what she loved to eat, she only nibbled at it. She was completely different from before.
After the meal, I brought her to a quiet corner of the academy. “Mu Zi, what is the matter? Is there something wrong? Can you please tell me?”
Mu Zi suddenly threw herself at me and hugged me tightly. “Zhang Gong, I really don’t want to be apart from you. I really don’t want to!” As she said that, she cried.
She was extremely emotional right now. I gently patted her back. I knew that if I didn’t let her cry it out, it would be bad for her body.
After a long time, Mu Zi finally stopped crying. She looked up with tears on her face. “Zhang Gong, if our parents disagree for us to be together, what will you do?”
I caressed her long hair and gently replied, “Silly girl, what silly words are you saying? How will that happen? I am so outstanding! They will definitely like me.” After I saying that, I even showed a disdainful look at the world.
Seeing my comical actions, Mu Zi laughed and turned her tears into laughter. After her mood lightened up a little, she went back to be dejected. She replied, “What I just told you is the truth. I am not joking with you. Please quickly answer me.”
I resolutely replied, “There is no one that can tear us apart, even if it is your parents. If they don’t agree with our relationship, I will try to convince them. If that really can’t work, I will snatch you and bring you somewhere far away. We will hide at a place that has enchanting scenery so that they won’t be able to find us. After a period of time, we will… Hehe! When the raw rice becomes cooked rice, I will bring you back to meet them again.”
Mu Zi sighed and leaned on my opposite shoulder as she replied, “If that can work, it may be a good plan. But will it really work?”
I frowned and said, “From what you said, your parents really don’t accept our relationship. Why am I not good enough? They haven’t even met me before so why are they banning our relationship?”
Mu Zi replied, “You don’t understand. It isn’t whether you are good or not. It is just….”
Seeing that she wanted to talk but stopped, I anxiously asked, “Then what is it? Please tell me. We will then be able to think of a solution.”
Mu Zi shook her head and looked at me aggrieved. “Forget it! You will find that out in the future. Let’s walk one step at a time.”
I was already out of options. She always said this sentence at every crucial moment. However, I didn’t have the heart to force her to say it. I just silently hugged her using my warm embrace to ease the burden in her heart.
I unintentionally looked down and saw that the shoulder she had been lying on was drenched. I said smilingly, “Aiya! You
take a look at this. My shoulder is completely filled with your snivel and tears. You must help me wash my clothes.” As I said that sentence, I immediately lightened the heavy atmosphere.
Mu Zi pushed me away with her face reddened. “You’re detestable. You’re the one that have snivels. I will help you to wash it off.” As she said that, her eyes flashed with cunningness. A small waterball formed in her hand.
I look at her bewildered before turning around to run away. Mu Zi tossed the small water ball at me as she quickly chased after me.
After dinner, I had escorted Mu Zi back to her dormitory and also advised her to rest well.
I solitarily walked in the quiet training field. What Mu Zi had told me during the day really weighed deeply in my heart. It seemed that if Mu Zi and I wanted to be together, it wouldn’t be easy. What was really going on with her?