Chapter 788 A White Dragon [Happy New Year!]

The Wu and Yue regions mentioned in ancient books.

There are two things that are unparalleled in the world.

Ancient sword and dragon.

However, the Spring and Autumn and pre-Qin periods have long passed, and the ancient mythological era is even more untraceable.

The ancient Wu and Yue region, once rife with pollution and evil, is now known as the elegant Jiangnan region in the mouths of Luoyang literati, and boasts the wealthy city of Yangzhou.

Ancient swords might still be unearthed from the tombs of pre-Qin nobles, but dragons have long since disappeared. Many people even believe that the so-called dragons are just mythical totems invented by our ancestors, and the real thing might be something else that would greatly disappoint us.

Are there really dragons and extraordinary people who slay them in this world?

Perhaps in today's world, there are still some ancient records and people who are willing to believe in the various Qi-cultivating forces that inherited the pre-Qin Taoist tradition.

Perhaps the innocent children in every household in the Wu and Yue regions, after being skillfully frightened by adults who had already deceived them, also firmly believed that there were giant dragons in the water at night that ate children.

However, just like the distant past of ancient mythology, the fact is that apart from a few undeniably mythical cauldrons and swords, mythology has long since faded away. The same is true for mythical creatures like the dragon, which, like many mythical monsters, have disappeared. These enormous creatures that live on both land and water have long been absent from the world.

The fifteenth day of the seventh month of the third year of the Tianyou reign of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the Jia Chen year, was an era when mythology was on the verge of extinction, and also an era when secular imperial power was exceptionally strong.

Rong Zhen, the female official in charge of the Imperial Observatory, Song Mama, the deputy director, Yi Qianqiu, the commander of the White Tiger Guard, and their seventy-two female officials and one thousand eighty-one armored soldiers witnessed a real dragon almost reaching the height of a hundred-zhang Buddha statue on the north bank of the Xun River at Shuangfengjian.

On this day, the myth descended once more.

...

Just as the people on the North Shore were witnessing the myth.

On a cliff on the south bank of the South Peak, the group that had gathered using earth magic had already turned their attention away from the spot where the white dragon had appeared on the north bank.

Yuan Huaimin was dumbfounded. He had only ever seen such a terrifying creature as the evil dragon in picture books. Who would have thought that such a thing actually existed in reality?

Is this something that a mortal body can withstand?

Yuan Huaimin suddenly understood why Mr. Wu had been so calm and composed ever since he approached him.

They also understood why only three or four people, including Xue Zhongzhu and Wei Shaoqi, came this time.

Yunmeng Jianze's opening move... didn't require many people to come.

"Your family has made a great gesture today."

Wu Daozi clapped his hands and laughed.

The candle in the snow was expressionless.

Although the evil dragon had been released as planned, she still seemed to be in a bad mood.

The great female ruler gripped the bronze longsword she was holding tightly in her hand.

Wei Shaoqi and Du Shuqing seemed to exchange a glance.

Du Shuqing took out a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to Wei Shaoqi. He then turned and walked to an open space, found a spot, and sat down on the ground.

Wei Shaoqi gently reminded her, "Your Majesty, it's time to begin. The time has come."

Xuezhongzhu reluctantly tossed the bronze longsword toward Du Shuqing.

Du Shuqing dared not touch the sword. The bronze longsword seemed to be grasped by an invisible hand, hovering in the air in front of Du Shuqing.

Du Shuqing slowly closed his eyes, and a pale blue aura of spiritual energy flashed across his palm, seemingly transferring it into the bronze longsword in front of him.

Du Shuqing didn't send in much spiritual energy, as he was only a low-grade cultivator. His act of sending spiritual energy, like a bronze longsword, was more symbolic. At the same time, in various secluded or safe places throughout the Tiannan Jianghu, heroes of all kinds sat in meditation, took out Yunmeng Tokens, and began to send in spiritual energy. The trickling streams converged into rivers, and the combined amount of spiritual energy far exceeded that of Du Shuqing and even the Great Lady Xue Zhongzhu. It was unknown where it flowed through the Yunmeng Tokens or what the Yunmeng Tokens used for.

At that very moment, almost the instant Du Shuqing closed his eyes, the white dragon that had suddenly emerged from the water on the north bank of the mountain sharpened its icy eyes and nimbly charged towards the main grotto...

At the edge of the cliff, Wu Daozi glanced at the suspended bronze longsword in front of Du Shuqing, which served as the core of the formation, and praised it:

"It definitely needs to be kept in mind; this thing is too powerful and savage, and it's easy for it to get out of control."

At this moment, even though the white dragon at the foot of the mountain had already taken action and caused chaos on the north bank, the three people on the mountaintop were not in a hurry at all and still had time to talk leisurely.

"Cough, cough." Wei Shaoqi covered his mouth with a handkerchief and coughed forcefully for a while. At what should have been a crucial moment in the operation, the middle-aged scholar glanced at Xue Zhongzhu, whose expression was unfriendly, and suddenly asked:

"Does Your Majesty have something on your mind? Ever since the Second Queen came and left, Your Majesty has seemed distracted."

Wu Daozi glanced sideways and asked, "Where is the Second Lady?"

Xuezhongzhu waved his hand: "There's something she needs to handle, so she'll go back to Jianze first. We're enough for today, we don't need her to come, and it won't affect our actions."

Wu Daozi pointed down the mountain and said, "This dragon doesn't seem to belong to Her Majesty the Great Queen, does it?"

"It belongs to my seventh junior sister."

Wu Daozi was surprised:

"Your Highness, Lady Yue? She's so young, yet she's already reached the level of a superior dragon maiden?"

Xuezhongzhu, lost in thought, looked at the bronze longsword with a somewhat displeased expression.

Wei Shaoqi then asked, "Is the matter that the Second Lady went to handle related to Your Majesty Yue Chuzi of your clan? Is that why the Eldest Lady is in a bad mood?"

Xuezhongzhu paused for a moment, stared down the mountain for a while, and said in a cold voice:

"That's one reason. There was also an arrogant brat shouting nonsense today. If it weren't for Seventh Junior Sister, I wouldn't have tolerated him."

Who is it?

“One named Ouyang Lianghan.”

At this moment, not only did the relatively unknown Yuan Huaimin's expression change, but Wei Shaoqi also looked surprised.

Du Shuqing, who seemed to be sitting cross-legged controlling the white dragon, also opened his eyes temporarily and exchanged a glance with Wei Shaoqi.

They obviously know each other.

Only Wu Daozi remained calm and asked:

"Is he connected to the Yue maiden?"

Xuezhongzhu said calmly, "There is a tragic fate involved. Seventh Junior Sister was once his family's child bride."

Wei Shaoqi and the others tilted their heads in surprise. Yuan Huaimin frowned, deep in thought, and then suddenly realized something. However, no one was paying attention to him at the moment. Wei Shaoqi asked:

"How did Ouyang Lianghan offend Her Majesty the First Lady? It's a matter of the Prince's Mansion."

"No. Besides, I'm not angry, I just find his nonsense boring."

"Oh? What did he say?"

Xuezhongzhu calmly said, "This kid is talking nonsense while drunk. He claims to be the master of Butterfly Love Flower and even asked my second junior sister to tell me to be sensible."

The atmosphere suddenly fell silent.

Wei Shaoqi and Du Shuqing, who knew Ouyang Rong, exchanged a glance.

Wei Shaoqi suddenly chuckled and shook his head.

Du Shuqing also sighed softly, seemingly surprised that after so long, the outstanding peer he remembered had fallen into such a confused and sullen state... The taciturn young man, familiar with the terrain of Xunyang, continued to close his eyes.

Yuan Huaimin frowned slightly, seemingly remembering something, and suddenly looked down at the forest where blue arcs had just risen, hesitating to speak.

Wu Daozi suddenly waved his hand at him, stopping the student.

The squinty-eyed old man smiled at the candle in the snow:

"Indeed, outsiders may not know who the owner of the Butterfly Love Flower is, but the Great Queen and your clan know better than anyone else. He has impersonated the wrong person and made a fool of himself."

Xue Zhongzhu immediately turned her head and saw the familiar strange smile on Wu Daozi's face. She frowned in displeasure, and snow-white sword energy emerged from the long sword behind her, gradually spreading around and cutting off sections of grass and trees.

She said coldly:

"I'll say it one last time: the master of Butterfly Love Flower has nothing to do with my sect. On the contrary, I'll settle accounts with him."

Wu Daozi, who had been joking, immediately stopped laughing and spoke seriously this time:

"Really no connection? Well, there is one coincidence."

"What is it?"

Xue Zhongzhu asked in a cold voice. The snow-white sword energy around her showed no sign of stopping, enveloping her tall figure. This great female ruler seemed to want to use this momentum to accumulate some kind of power in one go!

Wu Daozi pointed down the mountain and said:

"This morning, the owner of the Butterfly Love Flower appeared once, struck with his sword, and attacked the Buddha... He really is in Xunyang."

Xuezhongzhu frowned as he stared at Wu Daozi, who was slowly recounting his story. After a while, he seemed to be lost in thought.

In the next instant, the sword energy around her seemed to have reached its peak, like an arrow on a bowstring, ready to be released.

The snow-white longsword carried on Xue Zhongzhu's back first shot into the sky, soaring straight into the clouds.

She abruptly turned her head, first putting this doubt out of her mind, and then said something to Wei Shaoqi, Du Shuqing, and the others:

“The young lady wearing the jade hairpin, cripple her cultivation, but spare her life! The rest of the pseudo-Zhou lackeys, crush them all.”

In the next instant, the tall, blonde queen was launched into the air like a spring rising from the ground, even faster than the longsword that had taken off earlier.

The snow-white longsword was slowly slowing down to reach its highest point, and just as it was about to fall, it joined forces with the tall, golden-haired female ruler whose aura soared to the heavens.

In the next instant, a man and a sword plummeted from the clouds, their snow-white sword energy like a comet's tail, hurtling towards the Donglin Buddha...

"What are you standing there for? Take the sword!"

On the mountaintop where the Great Queen had departed, Wu Daozi suddenly spoke.

Upon hearing this, Wei Shaoqi immediately became solemn and asked, "Mr. Wu, when can we see you again?"

The squinty-eyed old man didn't answer, but calmly unfolded a scroll.

Yuan Huaimin, with his sharp eyes, recognized it as the newly painted landscape of Twin Peaks.

The old man turned around and casually handed a scroll depicting the Peach Blossom Spring to Wei Shaoqi.

The sickly middle-aged scholar, with a solemn expression, bowed deeply and performed a grand salute:

"Thank you for the sword, sir."

The old man ignored him, turned around with his hands behind his back, and walked into the painting to meet an old friend.

...

The white dragon seemed to have stepped out of a painting by the world's most exquisite artist.

It is pure white, lifelike, and has lively vertical pupils.

Its massive, twisting body exuded a wild and ancient aura.

When it emerges from the water, the water column it stirs up is nearly a thousand feet high, the white mist breaks through, the river water falls like rain, and there are even "fish" falling in.

The "river-crossing carp" that had risen with the river water fell to the ground one after another, or crashed onto the armor of the soldiers on the shore, splattering blood and scales.

However, the impact of this rain on the north bank of Shuangfengjian was far less significant than that of the white dragon itself.

The white dragon appeared suddenly, letting out an angry roar that shook the earth and mountains.

It turned and rushed toward the "kind-faced" Buddha statue on the cliff face of the grotto ahead.

Its massive body crushed boats and bridges along the way, crushing the few unfortunate female officials or soldiers who fell along the way into mud, like mosquitoes slapped against a wall in summer. From the height of the insect girl, it looked like specks of mosquito blood blooming.

The destructive power displayed by the white dragon is beyond description, even with terms like "land dragon" and "dragon-elephant power."

It broke through the defenses on the north bank with overwhelming force and rushed straight towards the main grotto with its domed roof sheltering it from the rain, which was also the high platform where Rongzhen, Granny Song, Yi Qianqiu and others were located.

Clearly, this white dragon was released by the rebels of Tiannan Jianghu, with its target being the Donglin Buddha!

"Form ranks!"

Yi Qianqiu was the first to come to his senses. He suddenly took off his face armor, shouted loudly, mounted his horse, and went to organize the troops.

This shout snapped the bewildered crowd out of their daze.

Wei Wu's mouth was dry, his face solemn, and he turned to gather all his men to resist.

Below the stage, Granny Song, who had initially sneered and looked down on the creature, paused for a moment, then stared at the white dragon with an uncertain expression, observing its power and true strength.

On the stage, Rong Zhen, dressed in purple, stood with her petite figure and coldly raised head. Her pink lips were pursed into a thin line. The jade hairpin with mandarin ducks in her hand had been re-inserted into her hair at some point, and her long black hair was once again styled into a high court hairstyle. Few people noticed.

At this moment, Rongzhen began to understand the meaning of the line in the Yunmeng Order: "If you fight the evil dragon for too long, your body will transform into the evil dragon."

However, facing this enormous creature she had never imagined, she did not back down an inch. Instead, she gripped her prayer beads tightly, took a step forward, puffed out her cheeks, and stared fiercely at the white dragon:

"Don't stand there dumbfounded! Help Commander Yi block it! So what if it's a dragon? Activate the great formation, and I will slay this beast today!"

The girl in the purple palace dress had a voice as cold and clear as frost.

Everyone immediately realized what was happening and, according to the original plan, formed a protective barrier around the high platform to safeguard Rongzhen, who was holding Buddhist prayer beads and radiating golden light in the very center.

Directly in front of the main grotto, Yi Qianqiu led the White Tiger Guard cavalry in a barely formed formation, fully prepared to meet the evil dragon.

Even though the White Tiger Guards and the Astronomical Bureau were well-trained and elite, they still felt somewhat flustered when faced with the approaching white dragon.

However, Yi Qianqiu took the lead, which lessened her emotions somewhat. When everyone saw her back, their morale immediately soared.

However, at the moment of impact, people and horses still fell to the ground.

Yi Qianqiu flew backward, while the white dragon, as if shaking off an ant, carved a bloody path through the ranks of armored soldiers.

Granny Song's nostrils flared with anger as she shouted, "You beast, you're asking for death!"

Immediately, purple energy surged forth, rushing towards the white dragon. But as it drew nearer, it suddenly turned, its purple energy like a knife, slicing across the back of the white dragon's neck before flying towards its painfully raised belly, as if searching for some weak, vulnerable spot.

The white dragon, in pain, raised its neck high and let out a cry.

Song Mama's figure was tiny to it, yet she could nimbly fly through the air and avoid direct confrontation.

The white dragon was enormous and difficult to move and devour for a moment. However, the next moment, the enraged white dragon suddenly flashed purple light in its eyes, as if it had regained its cold and clear color. It turned its head back, ignored Granny Song, and continued to rush towards the Buddha and the high platform at its feet.

Granny Song's expression changed slightly, and she continued rushing forward, intending to harass him.

Just then, a woman's cold laugh, delivered with refined yet harsh words, echoed throughout the entire venue.

"Old dog, your head belongs to me, don't give it away carelessly."

A long, white rainbow rose from the South Peak, first soaring into the clouds, then descending from the clouds, crashing like a comet into the high platform of the main grotto.

Granny Song's expression changed drastically, and she immediately turned around and went to meet them from bottom to top.

The snow-white comet and the purple ball of light collided abruptly.

In the next instant, dazzling light shone everywhere.

The entire audience was momentarily blinded.

(End of this chapter)