Wang Ziyu stared blankly at the back of the black robes.
Countless thoughts flooded his mind, yet they all eventually converged at a single point.
Between the various Grotto-Heavens and Blessed Lands, there was an unwritten understanding regarding the region where this mundane Dynasty resided.
Even if dynasties changed and the Human Race grew weak, they could not easily interfere with the survival of the humans here.
In fact, at certain critical moments when the Human Race faced total annihilation, some grotto-heavens would act in secret to set things right.
The explanation circulating among the various Dao Lineages was simply that the Human Race here possessed long-lasting Luck, and that there was some 'reasoning' behind it.
But as for what that reasoning actually was, no one could explain it clearly.
Even his Master remained secretive about it, only telling him not to ask too much.
Looking at it now... Wang Ziyu took a deep breath.
First, there was the body of a True Dragon.
And now, there was this terrifying phenomenon.
All of this had appeared on a human woman who was born and raised here.
Could it be... that this was the so-called 'reasoning'?
Did the Human Race here truly hide some earth-shattering secret that was enough to make even the grotto-heavens wary?
...Spirit Mountain.
The mountain ranges here stretched on for thousands of miles.
The peaks were like swords piercing the high heavens, shrouded in mist year-round, never seeing the sun.
A waterfall cascaded down from the Nine Heavens like the Milky Way hanging upside down; the roar of the water shook the surroundings for a hundred miles, and below it lay a deep pool with bone-chilling cold.
Suddenly.
A crimson stream of light tore through the sea of clouds, transforming into a ferocious fire dragon that thrashed its head and tail as it lunged toward one of the mountain peaks.
Wherever the fire dragon passed, the air distorted and vegetation turned to ash.
It was just about to slam into the mountain.
"Roar—!!!"
An earth-shaking roar exploded from within the mountainside.
A giant claw, carrying massive force, reached out from the mountains and crushed the fire dragon with a single squeeze.
Sparks flew in every direction across the sky.
A multicolored giant tiger, hundreds of feet tall, slowly stood up from the mountains.
Its body was so massive that it reached the mountainside.
Demonic Qi billowed around it, turning into black clouds that obscured half the sky.
It shook off the sparks clinging to its body, its eyes—like bronze bells—burning with a fierce rage.
The giant tiger looked up, staring viciously toward a certain point in the sky.
Its voice was like rolling thunder: "You woman, what madness are you up to now?!"
At the end of its gaze.
Above the sea of clouds, a woman stood there at some unknown time.
The woman was dressed in a five-colored silk feather robe, her figure graceful and her face exquisitely beautiful, looking like something not of the mortal world.
She was barefoot, standing on the clouds, with a string of small silver bells tied around her ankle that gave off a crisp chime as the wind blew.
Facing the giant tiger's roar, the woman's expression remained calm; she even reached out a jade-like finger with interest to toy with a strand of hair hanging by her ear.
"I've stayed in the Marsh for too long and got a bit bored. Can't I come out to play with a cat?"
Hearing this.
The multicolored giant tiger was first stunned, then laughed out of extreme anger.
"Good, good, good!"
The giant tiger narrowed its eyes, killing intent fully revealed.
The surrounding black clouds of Demonic Qi churned even more violently.
"From the way you talk, anyone who didn't know better would think the Lord of the Ten Thousand Demon Great Marsh had arrived in person..."
"You're nothing more than an Ascending the Tower Demon Emperor, yet you dare come to my Spirit Mountain alone to run wild?"
Although the Ten Thousand Demon Great Marsh was also a place occupied by the Yao Race, it had always minded its own business with Spirit Mountain.
For this woman to come alone today and provoke them like this was simply seeking death.
Facing the giant tiger's threat, the woman merely curled her lips, a half-smile appearing on her face.
"Then why don't you guess... has the Lord come or not?"
As her voice fell.
The sneer on the giant tiger's face instantly froze.
A Demon Emperor arriving in person, with the Lord potentially backing them up from the shadows.
In all these years, this was a first.
"Is that true?!"
The woman was in no hurry to answer. She just extended a slender jade finger, lightly tapped it against her full red lips, and tilted her head as if in thought.
After a moment.
"Tee-hee... I'm just teasing you. The Lord is busy with a myriad of affairs; why would he have the spare time to come to your territory?"
"You!!!"
"You dare toy with this Emperor?!"
At this point, the giant tiger finally seemed to realize that he really had been played by the other party.
"Look at you, it was just a joke. Why are you getting so worked up? Is the magnanimity of a Spirit Mountain Demon Emperor really this small?"
These words were no different from adding fuel to the fire.
The multicolored giant tiger was so angry that its multicolored fur stood on end. It wanted nothing more than to pounce forward and tear the smiling woman into pieces.
"Enough nonsense!"
The giant tiger suppressed the killing intent in its heart and said word by word: "Why exactly have you come here?!"
"If you dare utter another word of nonsense, I will make sure you never leave today!"
Seeing that the other party truly had killing intent.
The woman in the feather robe finally pulled back her smile, her expression gradually becoming solemn.
Standing on the clouds, she looked down at the enraged giant tiger, her voice turning a bit cold.
"No more joking. Your Spirit Mountain should already know the news of Red Silk Ribbon Demon Emperor's death."
Hearing this.
The giant tiger narrowed its eyes.
The news of Red Silk Ribbon Demon Emperor's fall had only just spread here at Spirit Mountain. Logically, the Ten Thousand Demon Great Marsh should not have known so quickly.
Unless... this matter was related to them in the first place.
Thoughts raced through the giant tiger's mind. Along with the news of Red Silk Ribbon's death, there was also a secret rumor.
The appearance of a True Dragon.
Could it be that the other party had also come for the True Dragon?!
At this thought, the Demonic Qi around the giant tiger grew even heavier, and its massive body leaned forward slightly.
"What do you mean?"
But the woman seemed to see through his thoughts and continued to speak to herself: "Speaking of which, my useless little brother was bullied quite miserably by your Demon Emperor a while ago."
"He was just a tiny bit away from not even being able to keep his skin."
She tilted her head and looked at the giant tiger, smiling as she said: "If it weren't for a passing benefactor who happened to lend a hand, the face of my Ten Thousand Demon Great Marsh would have been trampled underfoot by your Spirit Mountain."
The giant tiger was stunned.
Little brother?
Benefactor?
This rhetoric was completely different from the scene he had expected—of them coming in force to ask about the True Dragon's whereabouts.
It seemed more like... coming to settle a grudge and demand an explanation.
"That wretch Red Silk Ribbon was always like that. It's not surprising she would do such a treacherous and lowly thing."
The woman sighed, her gaze becoming sharp as she looked directly at the giant tiger: "I haven't come today for anything else."
"I just want to ask your Spirit Mountain a question on behalf of my wronged little brother."
"How do you plan to settle this debt?"
Hearing this.
The multicolored giant tiger surprisingly didn't get angry, but instead calmed down.
It seemed the Ten Thousand Demon Great Marsh didn't know the news of the True Dragon yet... in that case, things would be easy to handle.
The black clouds of Demonic Qi slowly withdrew, and the massive body stood upright.
"How do you want to settle it?"
The woman in the feather robe said indifferently: "Since a demon from my Marsh almost died at your hands, it shouldn't be too much for me to kill a Demon Emperor of Spirit Mountain now, right?"
The giant tiger narrowed its eyes and said raspily: "You are welcome to try."
Roar—!!!
The moment the words fell, an earth-shaking roar exploded.
Rocks crumbled and ancient trees shattered.
The waterfall cascading from the Nine Heavens was actually forced to flow backward by the sound waves.
The massive body, hundreds of feet long, was not the least bit clumsy; instead, it was like an arrow released from a bow, tearing through the sky and bringing a rolling, foul wind as it lunged fiercely toward the woman on the clouds.
Seeing this.
The woman in the feather robe stood on the clouds without dodging, a faint curve appearing at the corner of her mouth.
Ding-ling-ling—
The silver bells at her ankle moved without wind, letting out a series of crisp and pleasant sounds.
As the bells rang.
Crimson feathers on the five-colored feather robe quietly lit up.
Whoosh—
The crimson feathers detached from the robe and grew as they met the wind.
In the blink of an eye, they transformed into a ferocious fire dragon a hundred feet long.
---