Actually, I suddenly feel like this paralyzed Dragon Sister has been having a streak of bad luck since just now. Even if she’s not aware of it, as an observer, I can’t help but feel sorry for her. You see, not only has she died twice in a row, but she also got inexplicably struck unconscious by a Divine Punishnt lightning bolt for a full ten minutes. What she went through in the past half hour could easily be the plot of a tearjerker movie, and a very dramatic one at that...
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the paralyzed Dragon Sister slowly opened her eyes for the third ti, a scene strikingly similar to the previous two tis. Seeing a circle of heads in her line of sight, Soya seed to have so thoughts as well. She took a deep breath, and the first thing she said was: "...Was that a near-death experience just now?"
I was montarily stunned, suddenly realizing that the events the paralyzed Dragon Sister went through were so chaotic that she preferred to think of them as a near-death illusion.
"No," I said, laughing dryly as I helped Soya up, pulling the dazed her into a chair, "You shouldn’t have lost your temper with the Ti God just now; you got knocked out by a Divine Punishnt."
"Divine Punishnt?" Soya frowned, seemingly recalling the details before she fainted. She then looked at us with a complicated expression, "By the way, are you really gods... are you truly gods?"
Scratching my head, I whispered to Bingdisi, "Why does soone always ask us that question?"
"Maybe our professional image isn’t up to par," Bingdisi said lazily, chewing on a toothpick, "Let study those auto-tracking halos in a few days; maybe when we go out, if each of us has one on our heads, it’ll work."
Looking at Sister Bing with her roguish deanor, I thought that it wasn’t just about the professional image; even if Bingdisi had a marine police searchlight on her head, it might not inspire reverence...
We gave Soya half a minute to completely regain her senses, and then the paralyzed Dragon Sister’s gaze fell on Qianqian again. Her expression was peculiar, as if she had a thousand words but was unable to express them due to her lack of eloquence. Seeing this, I quickly waved my hand at her, "Don’t say anything; I know what you want to say. You’re deeply resentful because the Divine Artifact has wreaked havoc on this world, right?"
Then I leaned down and whispered to Bingdisi, "You know how unjust this bla we’re bearing is. It’s clearly your stuff that got tossed around carelessly."
Bingdisi chuckled, "How can you say that? Just think about it: who discarded more non-biodegradable waste between the Star Domain and Xyrin families in these past two years? The ancient ruins we’ve helped you clear from the Divine Realm’s borders are enough to form a Milky Way. You haven’t seen the splendid scene with lines of affected race representatives queuing at the temple gates for relief..."
I couldn’t utter a single word: "..."
I knew well how much pollution from the Old Empire affected nurous worlds, and how the proximity to Divine Realm territories caused the Star Domain Divine Race to constantly help clean up and take the bla, so I felt particularly pressured, burying my head in my lap and staying silent.
"Though I don’t know what exactly happened," Qianqian finally finished her grilled beans and licked her lips, "wasn’t it you who opened the Divine Artifact? That was originally a box for storing dangerous items, and you yourselves let the things out..."
The Dragon Girl’s face darkened, and I knew she was also montarily impulsive (plus her mind was unclear due to her death and revival) leading to so inappropriate behavior. However, with her thousands of years of experience and her identity, she wasn’t soone who didn’t understand the situation. After Qianqian’s reminder, she awkwardly nodded, "You’re right; it was the greed of mortals that hard this world."
"That’s not entirely fair," Bingdisi scratched her head and chuckled dryly, "we do have so responsibility too. That thing caused such a big ss, so I do feel pretty guilty."
Soya looked at Bingdisi, utterly flabbergasted, making the latter feel creeped out. Sister Bing scratched her face, "Is there sothing dirty on my face? What are you staring at?"
"You..." Soya stamred, "Are you apologizing to ? Aren’t you a god?"
"What’s that supposed to an, gods can’t apologize?" Bingdisi rolled her eyes, "We can make mistakes too, you know. It’s not that hard for a parent to bow their head and admit a mistake to their child."
I nudged Bingdisi’s arm, "You’re not just putting on a show, are you?"
"Not at all," Bingdisi whispered, "This incident indeed violated divine regulations. Our superiors have a rule: once the Divine Race confirms that they can’t survive a situation, they must imdiately destroy the sealing devices they carry that store dangerous items, or destroy the dangerous items on the spot. This is to prevent mortals from mistakenly opening those sealing devices after our death, as such incidents have happened more than once. We’ve long had regulations about this. In the past, that sentry shouldn’t have stored the Abyss Sample Box with the report docunt—it wasn’t in accordance with the operational procedures—but I guess it was because the regulation didn’t exist back then, as it was such a long ti ago."
I understood and nodded; this was quite understandable. Just like a person responsible for transporting weapons, in the event of an accident, they’re responsible for dismantling the key components of all weapons as soon as possible, to prevent the situation from escalating. Back then, that sentry inappropriately stored a container with Abyss samples along with her report book and let them drift freely across different worlds, which didn’t comply with safety regulations—but due to the distant past, Divine Race regulations on related matters weren’t yet complete. But Bingdisi felt this couldn’t be used as an excuse to evade responsibility, so she straightforwardly admitted her fault.
The Divine Race is just such an awkward group: they have an almost obsessive-compulsive attitude towards "responsibility." As long as they recognize sothing as their duty, even a female hooligan like Bingdisi can instantly beco righteous. Of course, it’s not just the Divine Race; the Xyrin Apostles are also not much different in this aspect, and due to the Xyrin Apostle’s stubborn nature, their compulsion has reached an incurable level...
"Anyway, let’s put aside the question of ’whose responsibility it really is’ for now," I saw that these historical issues would take days and nights to clear up, so I quickly waved my hand to bring the topic back, "Soya, right? Sorry we’ve been hiding our identities before—we didn’t know where the Divine Artifact was back then, nor what your group had to do with it, so we kept our identities secret to avoid complications. Now we know the Divine Artifact is in the hands of soone called the Blood Princess, so could you help us out by building a bridge? We need to retrieve that thing."
The Dragon Girl looked at us and suddenly sighed softly: "I personally have no objection, but the Dark Moon Lord probably won’t give up the Divine Artifact, and the Blood Princess only listens to that Barbarian. Would you use force?"
We looked at each other, and Bingdisi frowned: "We hope not to use violence, but let’s start by talking about the four of you. What really happened back then?"
Then, with Angelie’s supplent, we told Soya the information we already had. The other side was silent for a long while before slowly speaking: "What you know isn’t far off, but let start from when the four of us first t."
"It was a matter of thousands of years ago—the Earth Moon Bridge still existed, the Dark Moon People had not yet been cursed by demons, the power of the Divine had never appeared, and in that chaotic era, in what is now Haisenwood, the territories of four races once lay closely adjacent. Humans occupied the plains, Mountain Barbarians held the hilly and perilous rivers, Demon Beasts and Elves jointly ruled the forests, while our Dragon Clan, still the overlord of the Surface World, asked nothing of worldly matters, occupying the ancient peaks and ruins within these Kingdoms, forming a kingdom of our own."
"At that ti, I was not yet the Dragon Queen, rely an insignificant junior within the Dragon King’s bloodline. We Dragons had little interest in building nations or leading our race; the title Dragon King was rely a nominal Racial Leader with hardly any real power—we liked a free-spirited, nomadic life, and didn’t even care to form communities. Under such traditions, I left my clan, found a quiet mountain like other young Dragons about to co of age, and settled down, freely roaming everywhere each day. Occasionally, I’d fly to the territories of nearby Humans or Barbarians, scaring them a bit or collecting so offerings. That was probably my most leisurely days... until I t so interesting folks at the border between the Barbarian and Human Kingdoms."
"The first was a big guy living alone on the mountain, a foolhardy idiot. He lived in a wooden house on the mountain, living off hunting—our eting was a fateful bond because, while flying over his house, hungry, I snatched the wild boar he just roasted. Then that one-track-minded Barbarian followed over the whole mountain range. But do you know why he was so persistent? Not because his prey was taken, but because he wanted to remind that the boar wasn’t fully roasted yet and eating raw at and then flying could upset my stomach; for this reason, he crazily chased all day over the Long Bridge Mountain Range!"
Soya’s paralyzed face showed a faint smile, and we were dumbfounded, exclaiming in unison: "He must have a screw loose!"
"Yes, that’s it, a screw loose," Soya showed a look of reminiscence, "Back then, we loved to call him that, the foolish Barbarian... but he truly was a good-hearted guy. Though he was a Mountain Barbarian, and Mountain Barbarians were often seen as two-legged man-eating beasts, the foolish Barbarian was the most adorable Mountain Barbarian I’ve ever t. Believe it or not, he even took care of an injured green bird in that ssy hair of his for a whole week, sleeping sitting up until the little bird’s wing healed before he dared wash his hair—that was the kind of foolish, adorably kind guy the Barbarian was, that made you want to smack him flying. Probably because of such ’soft’ nature, the foolish Barbarian was actually exiled by his tribe to that place. He originally possessed the Barbarian Royal Family bloodline but was banished from his people’s territory, living alone on a wild mountain next to the Human Kingdom... but that guy never complained about such a life."
"The second and third friends I t were a brother and sister who lived at the foot of the sa mountain where the Barbarian lived, ordinary Humans. Oh, by the way, that place was called Long Bridge Mountain—what you know as the Long Bridge Mountain Range now, which back then bordered the territories of Humans and Mountain Barbarians. There was a small village at the foot of the mountain; I often flew over it, scaring the villagers below or watching their livestock run madly in fear of my Dragon presence for fun. I was quite a nasty character back then, wasn’t I? But after playing this for many tis, I discovered two villagers who weren’t afraid of ... well, they were afraid but never ran like the others, which piqued my curiosity. So, for the first ti, I descended in front of the Human village, watching that young man and woman trembling as they ca up to , a brother and sister; the sister was called Antier Fune, and the brother was called Edwin... that guy was quite handso back in the day."
"The siblings ca to you for sothing?" Qianqian couldn’t help but interrupt.
"Ah, they did have sothing," Soya nodded. As she recalled the past, she showed no sign of her usual cold and stoic deanor, making wonder if she was entirely different thousands of years ago, "Sothing that even took by surprise—that reckless young man, Edwin... he wanted to create a religion, so he hoped the strongest creature nearby, which was , would beco the symbol of his religion..."
We were collectively astonished. Although the story hadn’t yet connected to the divine artifact, everyone’s interest was genuinely piqued.
Soya, with a tone of reflection, spoke about what happened when she first t Edwin: "Back then, the world was in chaos. Apart from the Dragon Tribe, which could live apart from worldly affairs, all other races were endlessly fighting. The common people of each race had no ti to think of other things; their only concern was to fill their stomachs and live peacefully one more day. However, Edwin, a young farr living on the border, constantly dreamt of a grand plan that seed like a daydream: he wanted to establish a religion vastly different from the narrow religious views of the world races at the ti. He wanted every race in the world to believe in the sa God, thinking that might bring peace... Even I, a Dragon, was frightened by that interesting human. His daydream was simply too bizarre, too amusing, and didn’t fit his identity at all—did you know he had to worry about als three tis a day? Yet, the guy dread all day of saving the world!"
"So that’s the predecessor of the Goddess Sect," Bingdisi suddenly said quietly. "I know who Edwin is, the human Pope... So that’s what he was like initially."
"Yes, the later Goddess Sect was a religion that allowed every race in the world to believe in and not reject any follower," Soya put away her smile and spoke seriously, "But initially, I had no hope for this daydream. Edwin was truly a foolhardy youth at the ti. His idea wasn’t far from a child’s play. Still, although I didn’t accept his invitation, I beca friends with the siblings because... they were interesting."
"And then?" Qianqian poked her head out from my shoulder. "When does the Blood Princess appear?"
"That’s a story for later," Soya shook her head. "Before that, two world-changing events happened simultaneously. The first was that the Mountain Barbarians obtained a ’divine artifact’ from a teorite that fell near their capital. That artifact is probably what you’re looking for; it was so powerful but fell into the hands of the most brutal and greedy barbarian race. You know what happened next; the Mountain Barbarians began invading other races, attempting to rule the two planets. The second event seed insignificant at the ti but later influenced the whole world: the Foolish Barbarian fell in love with Antier... Edwin’s sister."
Qianqian elongated her tone: "Oh—"
"This was a challenge to tradition back then," Bingdisi said with deep aning.
"Yes, challenging tradition, unconventional, even enough to bring mortal danger, especially when the Mountain Barbarians had declared war on humans. It was simply courting death," Soya said calmly. "Things soon ca to light... Humans sent executioners to capture Antier, and the Barbarian Royal Family also regarded the Foolish Barbarian falling for a human as a great sha, sending the Royal Judge to execute the banished prince. But I got the news first and took the Foolish Barbarian and Edwin’s siblings to flee from that place. At that ti, Barbarians and Humans were at loggerheads, and other races began to be drawn into the war. Not many had the energy to pursue the two unconventional youths relentlessly, so we managed to run to the Big Forest, away from the mountains, where we received help from an elf tribe (notably, Soya glanced at Angelie, suggesting that the elf tribe might be related to Angelie’s elf family), and t the Beast Scholar, Lili, who was renowned as the first wise person in Haisenwood. She’s whom you’re seeking as the Blood Princess."
"Lili..." I reminisced about this fascinating and intricate story and suddenly found the na familiar. "Beast Scholar Lili... isn’t she the one known for extensively researching the First Season Civilization?"
"Certainly, she is the originator of all current transmission systems in Red Moon and Haisenwood. Those towers were created by her, and she was one of the rare proponents of racial peace in the world described as an ’alien.’ This unconventional concept made her quite marginalized within her own race, but due to her intellect, the beastn had to honor her as one of their tribal chieftains: this was determined by the Beast Tribe’s tradition that they must honor the most learned, most powerful, most magical, noble-blooded, and chosen by the gods among five types of people as their chieftains, and Lili was the Chieftain of Knowledge. Thanks to Lili’s help, we had a temporary refuge. We lived in the Cat Demon Tribe for a while, waiting for the war between Barbarians and Humans to end—we then thought it would be over quickly like previous wars, but everything rapidly deteriorated. The power extracted from the divine artifact by the Barbarians beca increasingly dangerous, and they grew stronger and stronger. Humans had to start forming alliances with elves, dwarves, and other races, while most tribal chieftains of the Beast Tribe inexplicably beca lackeys of the Barbarians. Our life in the Cat Demon Tribe beca more difficult, and eventually, not even Lili, as the chieftain, could continue to help us. Just as we were preparing to leave the Beast territory and head to the Dragon Tribe’s seclusion for tranquility, the situation completely spiraled out of control: Barbarians lost control of the divine artifact. They suddenly beca a plague, and subsequently, demon power cursed those races that were closer to Barbarians, such as Beastn, Night Demon Elves, and Dark Blood Clan. The day before we planned to seek asylum in the Dragon Tribe’s retreat, my kin brought dire news—the demons unleashed by the Barbarians blood-washed Dragon Mountain, and nearly the entire Giant Dragon Royal Family perished overnight. I beca the only one qualified to succeed the position of the Dragon Vein." (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, we welco you to visit Qidian (qidian) to vote for recomndations and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.)
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