The King Ship and the Ten Dragons

The two ancient ships exuded utterly opposing auras. Yan Qingcheng clenched her teeth. If there had been any other choice, she would never have set foot on this vessel—it was not meant for mortals, but for evil ghosts.

Closer, ever closer. The King Ship was about to dock. Its form now came clearly into view for Xiao Chen and the others. The pitch-black hull was carved with images of ferocious specters, while nether mist churned and coiled around the ink-dark ancient ship. On its deck hung a huge ghostly lamp, its sickly white light making the vessel seem even more sinister and terrifying.

As they peered more closely, Xiao Chen and Yan Qingcheng both drew sharp breaths. At first they had not seen it clearly, but now they realized the King Ship as a whole resembled an inverted skull with its mouth agape. Only the opening was exaggeratedly wide, its curve like a crescent moon turned skyward, forming the upper half of the hull. The rest of the skull was submerged in the golden sea.

It was all too easy to make an ill-omened association: could this truly be an ancient ship refined from a gigantic skull?

A piercing black light shot from the ancient ship to the shore, forming a bridge of death along which those on land could walk aboard the King Ship.

“Get on board. Perhaps we will meet again.” The Demon smiled at Xiao Chen.

“Thank you.” Xiao Chen bowed to the Demon.

“No need for courtesy. This is my duty. I said I would repay Keke generously.” The Demon smiled faintly.

“Ya-ya…” Keke seemed ungrateful. Huffing angrily, it scurried a short distance away, waved a tiny paw, and a seven-colored light appeared, enveloping the mountain-sized pile of coconuts, pineapples, oranges, amethyst pears, sweet dates, and other fruits on the beach. Then it happily ran back and sent them all aboard the King Ship via the black ghost bridge.

Now that its round little belly had finally deflated, Keke was no longer restricted by food. Many of those exotic fruits were its favorites, specially gathered by Xiao Chen.

Watching its hoard of fruit safely aboard, Keke felt immensely satisfied, a look of utter contentment on its face.

Just as Xiao Chen and the others prepared to board, dragon roars thundered from behind like heavenly thunder—the ghosts had barely fallen silent before the dragons took up the cry. The scene was awe-inspiring.

Xiao Chen turned to look. Ten colossal dragon figures had appeared at the seaside, roaring toward them. They were the ten king-lineage branches of the dragon race: the Tyrant Dragon, the Lion King Dragon, the Eight-Armed Malignant Dragon, the Sword Dragon, and others—exactly ten in number. The true ten king lineages!

“This…” Yan Qingcheng’s heart trembled. A trace of fear crossed her exquisite face. Even the Demon dared not trifle with the dragon race’s might. If these savage dragons attacked now, the consequences would be dire.

“Woo…” A low, mournful cry sounded. An unremarkable little dragon was taking a reluctant leave of the ten king-lineage dragons. It was that black, stubborn little dragon, that solitary, proud creature that had always challenged others far stronger than itself.

It lingered reluctantly before the ten high-ranking dragons, unwilling to depart.

The ten dragons, nearest to dragon kings, all stepped forward, encircling the little dragon. The cyan Tyrant Dragon, the golden Lion King Dragon, the silver Eight-Armed Malignant Dragon—all lowered their heads, licking the little dragon’s body with affection, as streams of multicolored light poured into it. They, too, were filled with reluctance.

Xiao Chen and Yan Qingcheng relaxed. The ten savage dragons would not attack them; they were seeing off the little defiant dragon.

The Demon’s face registered shock. He stared blankly at the dragons ahead, muttering, “Could it be… That’s impossible! It cannot be. But…”

At the same time, Xiao Chen and Yan Qingcheng also considered a certain possibility, looks of disbelief on their faces.

“No, it’s definitely not!” After a moment of stunned silence, the Demon shook his head, rejecting his earlier hypothesis.

Simultaneously, Xiao Chen and Yan Qingcheng dismissed that possibility. They said in unison, “It cannot be the young Ancestral Dragon!”

The Demon shook his head vigorously, then looked at Xiao Chen. “I recall you once saved this little dragon. It seems your kindness will be rewarded. Although this dragon cannot be the Ancestral Dragon, its importance to the dragon race is in no way inferior to that of a Companion Dragon King. This time it will leave with you, and it will surely follow at your side. Treat it well. I recall a dragon legend—this is a little dragon with limitless potential.”

Yan Qingcheng looked at Xiao Chen with eyes full of envy and jealousy. Anyone could now see that this little dragon was extraordinary; it was no longer the foolish beast it had once seemed. Though it did not have the grand send-off of the eleven young dragon kings, with countless savage dragons seeing them off, this time fully ten dragons from the king lineages had come to bid farewell. That alone made it easy to imagine the little dragon’s identity—known only among a small circle of dragons. This was a little dragon with a mysterious lineage.

“What is its identity? What dragon legend have you recalled?” Yan Qingcheng looked at the Demon, desperate for an answer.

“I’m not entirely certain. I once saw a fragmentary stele on Dragon Island with a speculative inscription: ‘One dragon will not leave Dragon Island with the dragon kings. It will walk alone.’”

“Could that be the young Ancestral Dragon?” Yan Qingcheng asked urgently.

“It shouldn’t be. If the inscription had mentioned ‘dragon king,’ it would hardly refer to the Ancestral Dragon as ‘one dragon’.” But even as he spoke, the Demon was no longer sure. It was only when he felt the little defiant dragon’s power that he reaffirmed, “It is far weaker than the young dragon kings. How could it be the young Ancestral Dragon? Definitely not.”

Keke blinked its big eyes, curiously surveying those savage dragons. It knew the little unicorn stubborn dragon would travel with them. Letting out a joyful cry, it dashed forward with a “Ya-ya,” utterly unafraid of the ten dragons.

Xiao Chen tried to stop it but it was too late. The Demon gave a meaningful laugh, wanting to see how the dragons would react to infer the little beast’s true standing.

This adorable snow-white puffball, fearing nothing, rushed to the black little dragon’s side, chirping happily as it jumped onto the dragon’s back, then circled around it, completely ignoring the ten king-level beings.

The little defiant dragon was most displeased. It let out a low growl at Keke, but showed no real hostility. After all, they were old acquaintances, and it seemed to know that this mischievous little beast was naturally unruly.

But the ten dragons—ten pairs of eyes all went wide. They stared fixedly at the snow-white beast’s treasure-tree hat, then all raised their heads and roared to the heavens, their cries shaking the sky. They stared at Keke as if human explorers had discovered a new continent.

For the moment, the ten dragons made no move against Keke. Their gazes at the little beast were filled with strange emotions—doubt, anger, shock, and more.

Finally, the Eight-Armed Malignant Dragon moved first. It stretched a massive claw toward Keke’s treasure-tree hat, trying to pluck it off. In the distance, Xiao Chen was tense to the extreme, terrified that Keke might be killed by the dragons.

Little Keke was not afraid at all. Seeing the huge dragon claw descending toward it, it glared at the Eight-Armed Malignant Dragon crossly and chattered indignantly, as if angrily questioning something.

Strangely enough, the Eight-Armed Malignant Dragon seemed to understand completely. It hesitated, slowing the descent of its great claw, not immediately striking down. But it was clearly reluctant; the claw hovered above Keke’s head, wavering back and forth.

The other king-lineage dragons were also hesitant. At length, the somewhat hot-tempered Lion King Dragon stretched out its glittering golden claw and swept it fiercely toward Keke, seemingly determined to reclaim the Sacred Tree of the Dragon Clan.

“Ya-ya-ya-ya…” The snow-white little beast seemed furious to the extreme. Glaring with its big, spirit-filled eyes, it waved its tiny paw, sending a seven-colored divine light to envelop the Lion King Dragon, trying to bind it with the Caging Art.

But the Lion King Dragon was a king-lineage creature infinitely close to a true dragon king. Though its mighty divine powers were sealed, its formidable physical body would make even gods tremble. The mysterious Caging Art had barely covered its huge claw when the multicolored light shattered, easily broken through.

In the distance, the Demon sighed. “The dragon race truly is the most terrifying. Their innate advantages cannot be matched by any other race.”

Xiao Chen, meanwhile, was wrought with worry, afraid that Keke would be killed.

The Caging Art had not bound the Lion King Dragon’s golden claw, but the savage dragon stopped on its own. The Caging Art manifested by the seven-colored light was a great divine art of the dragon race. If it had been a shade stronger, it would not have merely imprisoned—it could have swept away all obstacles. If the ten king-lineage dragons were not sealed, they could all wield this formidable dragon law, a supreme art belonging to the dragon king lineage.

“Ya-ya-ya-ya…” Keke stared at them without a trace of fear, pointing its tiny paw at each one crossly, as if demanding some explanation. This left Xiao Chen and the Demon exchanging puzzled glances; they could not guess or fathom what the little beast was so upset about.