Xindu City.
At the horizon's edge, a streak of light broke through the clouds.
It was a beautiful long sword, pure white, its body reflecting the sky and casting a cold, sharp glint.
Standing upon the sword was a figure clad in a Daoist robe.
The robe was moon-white at its base, with frost-colored cloud patterns embroidered on the cuffs and edges, and a faint shimmer flowing where the blue and white blended.
The wide sleeves billowed in the high winds like the wings of a crane; a simple sash was tied tightly at the waist, and the dark patterns on the hem appeared and disappeared under the sunlight, looking cold and otherworldly.
“Brother, is that the Divine Lady?”
Shen Yu gazed into the distance, asking with a hint of uncertainty.
Not long ago.
Following the disappearance of the Sky Curtain, the Divine Lady had also vanished, and they all thought she had returned to the Heavenly Palace.
After all, the Divine Lady had always been this way.
Coming and going without a trace.
They had long since grown accustomed to it.
Therefore.
No one had expected the Divine Lady to return.
“It is too far; I cannot see clearly.”
Shen Jue tilted his head back, eyes wide, then squinted, trying his best to see the face of the person in the sky.
But it was in vain.
The distance between heaven and earth was far too great; with the eyesight of a mortal, it was impossible to see her face clearly.
It was not until the figure drew closer that they finally managed to see—it truly was the Divine Lady arriving on a sword!
“We welcome the Divine Lady...”
“The Divine Lady’s great compassion and great vows...”
Various voices rose as the people of Xindu City knelt toward the sky in unison.
Before long, the long sword hovered above Xindu City.
The Divine Lady stood with her hands behind her back, her silver-white hair tied loosely with a light blue ribbon, the rest of it falling to her waist.
Her hair drifted slowly in the wind.
“I have just returned from the Heavenly Palace, where I sought out Immortal Lord Siming to divine the heavenly secrets and calculate the location of the Yong Dynasty’s Dragon Vein.”
The Divine Lady’s voice carried down from the sky, falling clearly into the ears of everyone in Xindu City.
The people kneeling on the ground looked at one another in confusion.
What did the Divine Lady mean by searching for the Yong Dynasty’s Dragon Vein?
Shen Yu’s heart skipped a beat, and he instinctively turned to look at Shen Jue kneeling beside him.
Shen Jue’s expression also changed slightly.
The two brothers quickly exchanged a look, both seeing a certain suspicion in the other’s eyes.
The Dragon Vein was the foundation of a dynasty, and the Divine Lady had gone specifically to find it.
This matter was definitely not simple.
The Divine Lady did not speak further but simply pointed toward a distant mountain ridge.
Everyone looked in that direction.
In the next second, the sound of people gasping for breath spread through the city like a tide.
On that mountain ridge.
Without anyone noticing, a colossal creature had appeared.
It was a massive black dragon, its entire body covered in ink-colored scales, each as large as a carriage roof; white bone spikes grew backward along its spine, looking hideous and terrifying.
It was coiled among the ridges, its dragon body winding about until the entire mountain range seemed to be swallowed by its coils.
A pair of crimson vertical pupils looked down coldly upon Xindu City, and when it opened its massive maw, a foul wind rushed from the horizon, with black mist faintly visible between its teeth—a truly horrifying sight.
“A dragon... an evil dragon!”
“Heavens, it is still moving; it is coming this way!”
“Waaa, don’t eat me!”
The people of Xindu panicked, their faces turning pale with fright at the sight of the black dragon, which clearly harbored no good intentions.
Suddenly, a light shout came from above.
“Do not be presumptuous.”
The Divine Lady did not even turn her head; she simply glanced sideways at the black dragon on the ridge.
Immediately.
Several crimson-gold chains descended from the sky, wrapping around the black dragon’s neck, limbs, and body before suddenly tightening.
The black dragon let out a deafening roar.
As if unwilling to submit, it struggled violently, but the chains only grew tighter. The crimson-gold light flared brilliantly, and seal scripts climbed onto the dragon’s body like living things, branding themselves deep into the scales.
The black dragon’s struggles gradually weakened until it was finally pinned firmly to the ridge, unable to move.
【Shen Yu Shock Value +100】
【Pei Du Shock Value +100】
【Lu Sui Shock Value +100】
【...】
【Current Shock Value: 106,500】
The citizens watched this scene in a daze.
After a long moment of shock, someone finally snapped out of it and fell to the ground, kowtowing heavily.
“The Divine Lady is wise! The Divine Lady is merciful!”
The Divine Lady stood alone upon the pure white sword, looking down at the city below with eyes that were calm and compassionate.
She spoke, her voice once again echoing clearly throughout the city: “A dynasty and its Dragon Vein share the same fate; they prosper and suffer together.”
“When a dynasty’s aura is righteous, the dragon is righteous; when the aura is corrupt, the dragon becomes evil.”
“Currently, the Yong Dynasty is as corrupt as rotten wood, and Emperor Ling of Yong is as muddled as if he were deaf and blind. The court is filled with foulness, and the common people are suffering everywhere; the dynasty’s fortune has long been tainted.”
“Inflicted by this foul energy, the Dragon Vein has also gradually fallen, eventually transforming into this evil dragon form.” She paused, her gaze falling upon the black dragon that was still lowing.
“If left unchecked, once the Yong Dynasty’s fortune decays further, this evil dragon will surely break free from its chains.”
“When that time comes, the evil dragon will burst from the mountains; wherever it goes, the land will be shattered and all living things will perish. This will not be a disaster for just one city or one region, but a great catastrophe for all people under heaven.”
As her words settled, the entire city erupted in an uproar.
The hearts that the people had just managed to calm were instantly thrust back into their throats, their faces filled with alarm and fear.
Someone asked with a trembling voice, “Then what should we do? Divine Lady, please, we beg you to save us!” Some had already begun to wail, and more people prostrated themselves, their foreheads pressed against the ground, not even daring to look up.
“We beg for the Divine Lady’s mercy!”
“We beg the Divine Lady to slay the evil dragon!”
“We beg the Divine Lady to save all living beings!”
The panicked pleas rose one after another.
There was a long silence, so long that the people began to think the Divine Lady would not grant their request, before she finally spoke.
“I can slay this evil dragon with a single sword strike.”
The people’s faces immediately lit up with wild joy. Just as they were about to kowtow and thank her for her great kindness, the Divine Lady spoke again.
“However, the power required to slay a dragon is no small matter. It will inevitably harm the innocent, causing the ground to shake, rivers to flood, and mountains to collapse. That, too, would result in the destruction of life.”
The Divine Lady’s gaze slowly swept over the faces of the people, her tone carrying a trace of weight that was difficult to detect.
“Whether to slay it or not, both paths lead to calamity.”
Xindu City fell into a dead silence once more.
The people knelt on the ground.
They looked at one another, the wild joy on their faces frozen into a mask of bewilderment and despair.
If they begged the Divine Lady to slay the dragon, the lives of the people in Xindu would be forfeit.
If they did not beg her to slay it, the evil dragon would eventually break its bonds, and by then, everyone in the world would suffer.
Both ways led to death; both ways led to disaster.
Shen Jue asked unwillingly, “Divine Lady, is there no perfect solution?”
This was the question Yun Shu had been waiting for.
However, she did not answer Shen Jue immediately.
After appearing to consider it for a long time, she sighed. “There is one other way that can both slay the evil dragon and reduce the power of my sword strike so it does not affect Xindu City.”
Shen Jue’s eyes lit up. “We beg the Divine Lady to tell us!”
The Divine Lady looked down at him. “Since ancient times, evil has never triumphed over the righteous, and the foul energy of the Dragon Vein is not insurmountable.”
“If there are two hundred people possessed of a Noble Spirit who do not fear death, they may enter the body of the evil dragon. By using their Noble Spirit to dissolve the foul energy and assist me in slaying the dragon, I will not need to use my ultimate technique.”
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