Chapter 38: The True Dragon Appears (Please subscribe! Please vote for monthly tickets!)

However, Shaoheng was well aware that this was a prejudice held within her own heart.

In the cultivation world, divination and fortune-telling were honored as "Heavenly Secret Arts," an existence no less significant than the Four Great Arts of Immortal Cultivation, and even more difficult to master.

Heavenly Secret cultivators could calculate past causes, deduce future consequences, and discern auspiciousness from misfortune by reading destiny; they were by no means comparable to the fraudulent charlatans found in the mortal realm.

Therefore, Shaoheng was actually quite concerned about the Master mentioned by Zhu Wushuang—Elder Cihang—the woman she had killed.

She had deliberately allowed the snake demon to deliver the final blow, making her a killer in the truest sense, and had checked to ensure no wounds caused by herself remained on Zhu Wushuang's body. But if Elder Cihang practiced divination, would she discover Shaoheng's involvement?

Even so, Shaoheng could not have stopped herself at the time.

Zhu Wushuang had deliberately plotted to lure her into the snake den, and she was far from virtuous; leaving her alive would have been a great peril, and it was highly likely she would have eventually implicated Elder Cihang. It was better to strike early; Shaoheng felt not a shred of regret.

It was just that she was never one to sit idly by and wait for death, so she had borrowed some books on astral divination to gain a deeper understanding.

Naturally, she would not explain this to Li Chaoge, and the latter did not press for details upon hearing her words.

With a hand seal cast, the Hundred-Stream Boat began a forced descent. The surrounding air currents surged chaotically, and they only avoided being blown over or overturned by exerting their magical power.

Once the boat landed smoothly, Li Chaoge and Shaoheng leaped lightly to the ground.

The boat shrank once more, flying back into a sleeve. Li Chaoge ran her hands through her wind-tousled hair, and only after tidying it did she take out the parchment map. Waving it before Shaoheng's eyes, she smiled and said, "Junior Sister Shaoheng, we are already at the foot of Mount Danyang. Let us set off to find the Dragon-Companion Grass and the Spirit Dragon Liquid."

Shaoheng nodded, but remarked, "The birth of a true dragon cub was accompanied by celestial phenomena; surely the news has long since spread. I wonder how many cultivators have come to Mount Danyang after hearing of it."

"Fortunately, although the Dragon-Companion Grass is imbued with dragon breath and has some special uses, it is ultimately only a Second-Grade herb. It won't attract seniors from higher realms."

Now that they were outside the sect, Li Chaoge appeared more vivacious. With bright eyes, she teased, "If a high-realm cultivator came to compete with us for this Dragon-Companion Grass, that would truly be shameless."

"And low-realm cultivators might not have families to help them gather information like I do. Don't worry."

Shaoheng nodded and entered the mountain with Li Chaoge.

It was said that a pill master once refined pills at the summit of Mount Danyang by gathering earth fire; when the refinement was complete, the precious pill flew from the cauldron like a blazing sun, giving the mountain its name.

While the legends were unverifiable, Shaoheng did indeed feel that the fire-element spiritual energy here was exceptionally abundant as they climbed.

Despite the biting winter cold, the mountain remained lush and green, as warm as spring.

They moved swiftly and soon arrived at the first marked location on the parchment map.

This place might have been a temporary resting spot for the true dragon; the residual aura of a Heavenly Demon caused no beast in the vicinity to dare approach, and even the chirping of insects had vanished entirely. Peering through the grass, Shaoheng saw four slender blades of grass swaying in the wind.

They did not crawl upon the ground but stood upright. The slender grass was the color of emerald jade, yet its edges shimmered with a pale gold. The stalks were not smooth, but featured protrusions that resembled dragon claws.

This was the Dragon-Companion Grass, born from the infusion of a true dragon's aura.

"Actually, if we were to grade it by spiritual energy content, this grass would most appropriately be considered First-Grade. But because of its many special uses and its rarity, it is listed as a Second-Grade treasure herb. Things like Dragon-Strength Pills and Dragon-Scale Powder require Dragon-Companion Grass as a supplementary ingredient." Li Chaoge's eyes lit up as she stared at the four stalks.

"Hey, that First-Class mission requires us to hand in three stalks of Dragon-Companion Grass. There are four here, so the remaining one is mine. You aren't allowed to fight me for it!"

Shaoheng acted quickly, casting a spell to retrieve them from a distance.

The soil anchoring the four stalks loosened, and they floated toward them, with one landing before Li Chaoge.

"There are three marked locations on the map. We will scout the remaining two. If there is Dragon-Companion Grass there, it will be every person for themselves."

Li Chaoge deftly placed the grass into a long sandalwood box, applying a spell to slow the loss of its medicinal potency, and then replied, "Oh, that's so embarrassing..."

The corners of her lips curled up, and her tone shifted: "Hehe, then it's decided! Hmph, my speed will definitely be faster than yours. Sigh, don't worry, I'll still leave one or two for you when the time comes."

Li Chaoge had practiced for nearly ten years longer than Shaoheng, but her previous cultivation within her clan had lacked the spiritual density of the blessed lands where the True One Sect resided, which had naturally delayed her progress. Everything she had done was solely to break into the inner sect.

However, Li Chaoge believed her current magical power was still a step above Shaoheng's, so she was quite confident.

Shaoheng glanced at her, a slight smile playing on her lips.

The two stowed the Dragon-Companion Grass and headed without pause toward the nearest marked location.

Perhaps because Shaoheng had yielded a stalk of the grass, Li Chaoge felt they had grown closer; she was no longer as reserved as before, and though she lowered her voice, she remained quite chatty.

Just as Shaoheng was about to interrupt, her brows suddenly furrowed. She raised her hand to cast a Silence Spell on Li Chaoge's mouth while simultaneously pulling her into a dense thicket to hide.

Li Chaoge's reaction was also extremely fast; she did not struggle or make any noticeable sound.

Not even half a quarter of an hour after they had hidden themselves, a group of people came rushing by.

A group of three, traveling at full speed, their magical auras exposed; they were clearly several levels above them.

Li Chaoge watched them, her lips pressed tight and her expression somber, as she sent a voice transmission to Shaoheng.

"They are heading in the same direction as us. Judging by their aura, they are likely Second-Realm cultivators. They are not people we can afford to provoke."

"Then we will go to the third marked location. Since their cultivation is higher, their speed will naturally be faster. We cannot beat them to it, so we must give up on this one." Shaoheng replied quickly via transmission. Once the group had passed, they emerged from the thicket.

The two girls exchanged a look, and Li Chaoge said no more.

They mobilized their magical power, casting spells to rush toward the third marked location with all their might, lest they miss the treasure herb.

After about fifteen minutes, the pressure and aura of the Heavenly Demon became increasingly distinct. Having encountered no other cultivators along the way, the tension in Li Chaoge's face eased slightly, but in the next instant, her moving body froze in place.

"Roar!"

A clear, piercing cry descended from the heavens. Dark clouds rolled in, swiftly obscuring the stars and moon, as a massive dragon shadow flickered within the cloud layers.

Li Chaoge's face went blank; blood poured from her nose and mouth, and she collapsed. After struggling to recover, she managed to force a Spirit-Nurturing Pill into her mouth.

She turned to look at Shaoheng, only to see the gray-clad girl also collapsed on the ground, face down so her condition was unclear. Only when she saw the girl's chest still rising and falling did Li Chaoge breathe a sigh of relief.

She looked toward the sky in terror. At that moment, a beam of pure light sliced through the gloomy mist, allowing the moonlight to spill down once more.

Initially, Shaoheng's internal breath had also become chaotic, but when that soul-shaking dragon roar sounded, she looked inward and saw that a bright moonlight glow had erupted from her naturally sealed Niwan Palace, forcibly resisting the Heavenly Demon's pressure.

In the past, when she practiced the [Three Thousand Miles of Moon] to absorb moonlight, a silver-white olive—resembling the legendary Emperor's Fluid—would merge into her Niwan Palace every time. This must have been the reason.

Though Shaoheng appeared to have fallen, her internal breath quickly returned to calm.

She raised her head to look at the sky. Once that beam of pure light split the dark clouds, the true dragon's body appeared completely before her eyes.

The body of a true dragon was indeed one of the most perfect Dao-bodies in the world—vast and boundless, yet possessing an indescribable, fluid beauty.

As the sovereign of all scaled creatures, this true dragon in the sky possessed a camel-like head with deer antlers, a snake-like neck, a clam-like belly, and five magnificent claws. Its scales were like those of a carp, pure white without any impurities, with only gray manes growing between the gaps of the scales, looking incredibly majestic!