The Stubborn Dragon and the Divine Awakening

As expected, Xiao Chen's fears proved true. A world-shaking dragon cry tore across the sky, and a lion king dragon, gleaming with golden light and murderous aura, rapidly appeared in that area. Trees collapsed in swaths, and terrified screams rang out. Several cultivators were torn apart almost instantly by the mountain-like beast.

The dragon's body, as if cast from bronze, leveled a vast stretch of forest with a single charge. The ground trembled violently. The few cultivators who had fled some distance could not escape their doom; they were crushed directly into pulp beneath its feet.

Xiao Chen fell silent. The price cultivators paid to leave Dragon Island was far too great. By the time they found the Nine Dragon Kings, most of them would likely have died.

The Demon appeared silently on the severed surface of the World Tree. Xiao Chen ignored him and left from another direction, waiting quietly for night to fall.

When moonlight spilled down, the area near the Sacred Mountain was eerily peaceful. The roaring primeval dragons and ferocious beasts had all departed.

Passing through the forest, Xiao Chen arrived at the foot of the imposing Sacred Mountain. He once again sensed that familiar, terrifying aura.

Yes—faint and indistinct, it was very similar to the aura of the City of the Dead. To enter that city again, this place would be an entrance. But who would willingly walk to their death?

“Do you intend to lure me into danger?” The Demon stood in the woods not far away, watching Xiao Chen calmly. He had lived for endless ages and could not be easily deceived.

Xiao Chen had never truly hoped to seal the Demon back into the City of the Dead. He had come simply to see if the Sacred Mountain held some terrible sealing power that could destroy the evil spirit.

But at the mountain's foot, he stopped. The strange aura emanating from the Sacred Mountain seemed even thicker than before.

The black-red mountain looked as if it had been soaked in blood. The ruined palaces, nearly collapsed, were inscribed with the passage of endless years, exuding an aura of infinite antiquity while also stirring dread in the heart.

Keke shook her head at Xiao Chen. The little divine beast’s intuition was very sharp. Her body, bright and white as jade, shimmered with specks of light. She signaled Xiao Chen not to go any further.

His hopes dashed, Xiao Chen knew that if he pressed forward recklessly again, he might die here. He chose to retreat, returning along the same path. When he passed near the stump of the World Tree, the sound of young dragons snarling caught his attention.

Under the moonlight, the whole forest seemed draped in a thin veil of silver. He could clearly see young dragons fighting near the severed root of the tree. And there were three of them! The snarls came from them.

This immediately drew Xiao Chen’s focus. This was near the dragons’ Sacred Mountain, after all. Perhaps one of them was a Companion Dragon King.

He moved stealthily, slowly approaching the scene. What he saw surprised him: of the three young dragons, two were actually young Dragon Kings. They were locked in combat. The third, though not a Dragon King, was exceptionally fierce and had joined the fray, the three of them locked in a chaotic battle.

One of the young Dragon Kings was covered in crimson light, flickering like blazing flames. Its head was already unmistakably that of an Ancestral Dragon, though from the body alone it was hard to guess what lineage it came from.

The other young Dragon King shone with dazzling golden light, as if cast from pure gold. Its head was also strikingly that of an Ancestral Dragon. Its body was like a small lion, though of course it had no fur—only golden dragon scales.

Xiao Chen could not guess the origin of the red young Dragon King, but the golden one instantly made him think of the Lion King Dragon. Most likely, it had hatched from the other egg in the valley he had once visited.

Both young Dragon Kings were nearly a meter long. Their majesty alone could make a Seventh Heaven expert tremble. They were not restricted by the seal; they had more divine nature than bestial. They were truly spiritual, able to unleash certain dragon attack spells.

Truly worthy of the dragons’ sacred ground, Xiao Chen mused. All the powerful dragons had gathered here, which made the birth rate of young Dragon Kings here clearly higher than elsewhere. Two young Dragon Kings appearing at once! If he added Liu Mu and Yizhen’s Azure Dragon King and Emerald Dragon King, then this sacred dragon ground had at least four Companion Dragon Kings.

Would the legendary Little Ancestral Dragon also appear in this region? Xiao Chen secretly hoped so, but he knew that seeing the Little Ancestral Dragon would likely be even harder than seeing nine Companion Dragon Kings together.

“Awooo…” The young dragons roared as they fought. The battle was intense. What surprised Xiao Chen was that the ordinary dragon, clearly weaker and not a Companion Dragon King, was incredibly tenacious. Though it had suffered near-fatal injuries, it charged again and again into the fight between the two young Dragon Kings.

What a strange little dragon, so stubborn and unyielding, recklessly throwing itself into the fray. It looked utterly ordinary—its body was a mottled black-brown, covered in wounds. Its form was like a tiger or leopard, and its head bore some shadow of an Ancestral Dragon, but it did not even have a single horn. Its strength and speed were far inferior to the two young Dragon Kings, and it could not even cast simple dragon spells.

Many of its scales had fallen off; its flesh was a bloody mess. Its body emitted no light at all, inferior even to ordinary dragons.

Yet this little dragon was too stubborn and obstinate. It fell into a pool of blood again and again and charged forward again and again.

Finally, the two young Dragon Kings grew angry. Annoyed that this weak third party kept interrupting their true battle, they both struck at the black-brown dragon with lethal force.

A mournful cry. The unremarkable little dragon fell to the ground and could not get up again.

Xiao Chen was deeply moved. The rise of a Dragon King was truly a brutal process. Many of their own kind would fall beneath their steps as they advanced and transformed. And what the legendary Ancestral Dragon must endure was likely even more brutal—after all, it had to face the challenge of at least nine Companion Dragon Kings!

The sounds of the young dragons’ battle had clearly been heard by the nearby primeval dragons for some time, yet they did not interfere. They let the cruel struggle continue. This seemed to be the survival law of the dragon race.

Finally, the two young Dragon Kings parted, bloodied and exhausted. The forest fell silent, with only the weak little dragon moaning in pain. It was not yet dead. Near the severed root of the World Tree, its blood had dyed the ground red.

Xiao Chen walked over and saw that the little dragon seemed to be in a dying state. Its injuries were too severe—several terrifying wounds gaped on its chest and belly, revealing colorful internal organs. It clearly could not survive.

“Ya-ya…” Keke tugged urgently at Xiao Chen’s clothes, her large, expressive eyes filled with pity.

“You want me to save it?”

Keke nodded vigorously.

“I want to save it too, but its injuries are too severe. It’s impossible to revive.” Xiao Chen shook his head helplessly. He knew the little dragon’s state had stirred Keke’s sense of shared suffering. This was Keke’s homeland; she was a little orphan. And now the little dragon’s situation was very similar—it had been effectively sentenced to death, uncared for, abandoned by the world.

“Ya-ya…” Keke still shook Xiao Chen’s leg firmly. Then she took off her treasure tree hat, carefully placed the Little Sacred Tree by the little dragon’s mouth, and pushed the ink-jade leaf into its mouth.

“Smack, smack…” The mortally wounded little dragon began to suck. Its mind was already blurred; this seemed purely instinctual.

A stream of light flowed from the Little Sacred Tree into the little dragon’s body. The previously unconscious little dragon opened its eyes. First it looked at Keke and Xiao Chen with confusion, then cautiously shifted its heavily injured body. But it could not manage it, and the pain made it whimper a few times.

Keke again offered the Little Sacred Tree to its mouth, but the little dragon stubbornly turned its head away.

“Ya-ya!” Keke huffed angrily, pointing with her tiny paw at its wounds.

To her surprise, the dying little dragon actually shook its head, refusing her kindness. It proudly lifted its dragon head, but then weakly slumped back to the ground.

A very interesting little dragon. Even at death's door, it remained so aloof and proud.

Keke was speechless. She had offered help in good faith, and this was the response. The little beast put away her treasure tree, annoyed. Xiao Chen, meanwhile, was thoughtful. He opened the bundle at his waist and took out the gleaming Snow Lotus Heart—Keke’s favorite treat. But the little beast’s belly was so bloated from the Life Nectar that she couldn’t enjoy it now, so he had been keeping it.

“Try giving it a little Snow Lotus Heart,” he said.

Keke blinked her big eyes, then nodded in agreement.

Xiao Chen pried open the stubborn little dragon’s mouth and stuffed a small piece of Snow Lotus Heart inside. This was a rare natural spiritual essence with unimaginable effects. But the black-brown little dragon spat it out, refusing to accept help.

Xiao Chen was speechless. He crushed the piece that had fallen on the grass and smeared it on the little dragon’s wounds. The little dragon immediately rolled violently, rubbing off the Snow Lotus Heart, causing even more blood to spray from its wounds. Its stubbornness was beyond words.

Finally, Xiao Chen forced a piece of Snow Lotus Heart into its mouth, using his primal energy to guide it into the dragon’s body. Then he stood up and said to Keke, “Let’s go. We’ve done what we could.”

Even after they had walked far away, they could still hear the proud little dragon’s pained moans. Clearly, with the severity of its injuries, it would not survive the night.

At dawn, Xiao Chen awoke from meditation. Soft morning rays spilled through the forest, flecks of golden light trembling like scattered gold dust.

Keke also rubbed her eyes drowsily and lazily climbed out of the flowers and grass.

Unable to find power to counter the Demon at the dragons’ Sacred Mountain, Xiao Chen decided to head toward his next destination: the Treefolk Valley at the island’s edge. He would not forget what he had seen that night—a flesh-and-blood green-haired youth emerging from the transformation within an ancient tree-man twenty meters tall. The powerful energy fluctuations at that time foretold that he was a formidable existence. Xiao Chen even suspected that tree-man could contend with a ferocious dragon.

Perhaps… he could fight the Demon!

Dragon Island was truly vast. Dense forests and various ferocious beasts roamed everywhere, requiring careful avoidance. It would take at least several days to safely reach the island’s edge.

Three days later, Xiao Chen arrived at the outer reaches of the island. Passing through a beautiful valley filled with spiritual energy, he discovered an unusual phenomenon.

Golden light flowed like water waves from a thatched hut inside the valley, as if there were a golden spring within. A peaceful aura settled over the birds and beasts in the valley, calming them.

It was truly miraculous—hard to imagine what was happening inside that hut.

The valley was full of lush, verdant orchid trees. Amidst the greenery, flowers of pink, deep red, rose, purple, light purple, pure white, and orange-yellow hung from every tree. Fresh, tender green leaves set off the colorful blossoms, each bud brimming with intoxicating fragrance.

Added to the surging golden mist, the entire valley was veiled in mystery, like a celestial realm—serene and peaceful.

Xiao Chen watched quietly from not far away. Keke tried to run over several times, but he stopped her.

Just then, the pale-faced Demon appeared silently. Though no black mist surged around him, a faint, sinister aura still emanated. He stared at the hut and said, “This is the aura of a god.”

These words shocked Xiao Chen deeply. The aura of a god? How could that be? Was there a god on Dragon Island? Was this place not supposed to suppress divine power? It was impossible for such a level of existence to be here!

“It truly is the aura of a god,” the Demon said, his eyes narrowing into slits, two cold gleams shooting out.

Xiao Chen’s heart stirred. If that were the case, could he finally end the Demon’s life? If it were a true god, it could destroy this Demon, whose power was suppressed and unable to break through to the divine realm.

The golden light gradually faded, and the peaceful aura in the hut subsided, slowly dispersing.

“Ah… I understand. This is the awakening of the divine nature.” The Demon’s tense body relaxed, and the cold light in his eyes vanished.