True Dragon Nest

Beneath an unnamed mountain range lay a hidden, mysterious little world.

Through a crack, one could faintly make out a gigantic nest built from divine wood.

Three enormous eggs marked with dragon patterns lay quietly inside. Nearly viscous True Dragon aura swirled around them, and faint dragon roars rang out.

"The True Dragon Nest. I've finally found you."

At the edge of the little world, Shi Hao let out a long breath after sneaking all the way here.

He hadn't slacked off in his cultivation over the past six months. He had completed the second stage of the Spirit Transformation Realm, remolding his true self in spirit, but traveling day and night had been downright dull.

Though the True Dragon Nest lay right ahead, just a step away, Shi Hao had no intention of barging in recklessly.

Twenty years from now, "he" at the Escape One Realm would still have been trembling with fear after venturing inside.

With his current cultivation in the Spirit Transformation Realm, one careless move might get him killed by a sudden burst of True Dragon aura. Who would he even complain to then?

No, perhaps he wouldn't even qualify to enter the True Dragon Nest.

But when trouble arose, he could always turn to Willow Deity!

Shi Hao formed a hand seal and solemnly recited a long, elaborate incantation.

"What is it? Have you found another peerless precious technique on par with the True Phoenix Precious Technique?"

A soft laugh rang out, and a vast will descended from a distant place.

"More or less. This time, what I found should be the True Dragon Precious Technique. After all, this is the nest of the foremost of the Ten Fiends, the True Dragon."

Shi Hao nodded gravely, as though he hadn't heard the teasing in the newcomer's words.

"..."

The vast will fell instantly into a silence as dead as the grave.

"Boom!"

The next moment, the golden willow twig in Shi Hao's arms blazed with light.

A peerlessly elegant White-Clad God-Man stepped out of the void. Countless divine flames swirled around him as three thousand deities sang and bowed before him, and thousands upon thousands of divine kingdoms rose and fell.

"It really is the True Dragon Nest..."

Looking at the little world torn from the chaos, the White-Clad God-Man embodied by Willow Deity fell silent for a moment, then murmured with a complicated expression, "What terrifying fortune."

"Little fellow, if I hadn't witnessed your growth with my own eyes, I'd suspect you were a reincarnated god or demon from the Eight Sons of Heaven or the Heaven-Opening Lineage."

As he spoke, the White-Clad God-Man couldn't help but rub his forehead and sigh.

"The Eight Sons of Heaven? The Heaven-Opening Lineage? What are those? They sound unfamiliar."

Little Shi scratched his head, pretending not to understand.

He already had two of the Ten Fiends Precious Techniques. If he went to the North Sea Kunpeng Nest and brought back the Kunpeng Technique, then added the Grass Sword Art he'd obtained earlier, that would make four.

"A group of ancient gods and demons active several eras ago. They were long ago buried by the River of Time, leaving no trace. Come, let's go take a look inside."

"Races like the Ten Fiends, born of Immortals, were indeed powerful, but they had all perished in the battle of Immortal Ancient. Their descendants were mostly secretly attacked by their enemies; some died young, others were slain. They've been gone from this world for a long time."

"So, though there are three True Dragon Eggs in the True Dragon Nest, whether they can hatch a True Dragon remains unknown."

Willow Deity didn't wish to say more about this. He picked up Shi Hao and darted into the little world.

"Whoosh!"

The two had barely crossed the chaotic rift when a dark gleam flashed before them, and a world-shaking sword ray slashed down from the sky.

Willow Deity's expression didn't change. Countless Order Divine Chains shot through the air, clashing with it more than a hundred times in an instant before finally driving back the dark gleam.

In the void, a section of Broken True Dragon Horn hovered, dripping blood without end.

"Ancestral Sacrificial Spirit! Of all people, it's you!"

An exceedingly weak voice rang out, yet it was filled with delight.

Dazzling light burst forth. A dim shadow, faded until it had lost all luster, darted from within the Broken True Dragon Horn, shifting and flickering as if it might vanish at any moment.

"Dragon King, I never thought you'd fallen too."

Willow Deity looked at the shadow with a complicated expression, but his hands moved swiftly. He flicked his fingers, helping it hold its form.

With Willow Deity's divine power replenishing it, the consciousness imprint of this mysterious being known as the Dragon King, which had been on the verge of collapse, finally stabilized—for now.

It was the phantom image of a mighty middle-aged man, his golden hair fluttering and his eyes bright as lightning. Though he merely stood there in silence, he exuded a peerless aura that swallowed mountains and rivers, as if he alone ruled the world.

His golden dragon eyes were incomparably majestic, as though they pierced through the ages.

"Haha, we lost the war, so naturally we had to pay the price."

The moment the Dragon King spoke, an indescribable, surging domineering aura filled his voice. He laughed heartily. "Though I died, you all survived. As long as you're alive, there's still hope. Keep fighting, my comrade."

"But why is your power so weak? Who injured you?"

As he spoke, the middle-aged man transformed from the True Dragon frowned and examined him.

"An Immortal King from the Foreign Realm gave me no trouble. After the war, I sought a breakthrough and underwent nirvana again in a hidden place. I didn't expect Ao Sheng and Yuan Chu to seize the chance to come after me, causing me to fall into the lower realm."

Willow Deity spoke calmly.

"Ao Sheng, Yuan Chu? Hmph! Those two are all bluster when fighting among themselves, but useless against outsiders. They certainly didn't fight this hard during the war with the Foreign Realm."

The Dragon King, who hated evil as though it were a personal enemy, seethed with anger.

"What about you? Who killed you? As the foremost of the Ten Fiends, you shouldn't have fallen so easily."

Willow Deity waved a hand, unwilling to speak more about it.

The karma between him and the two Immortal Kings, Ao Sheng and Yuan Chu, would be settled in person when he went to the Immortal Domain in the future. There would surely be another battle.

"An Lan, Yu Tuo, Red King, and two unfamiliar faces. The five of them ambushed me together. But they didn't get off lightly either. I slew two Immortal Kings on the spot, and An Lan and the other two were badly wounded. They won't recover for a million years."

Speaking of what had killed him, the Dragon King seemed to take it lightly. His gaze suddenly shifted to Little Shi beside Willow Deity.

Earlier, Shi Hao had been curiously examining the constantly bleeding Broken True Dragon Horn.

A True Dragon horn was a sacred weapon capable of cleaving open a vast universe.

And the owner of this True Dragon horn was the Dragon King, who held the only True Name of the True Dragon race. Its grade could even rival the legendary Immortal King Artifact said to destroy the world with a single strike.

Ever since entering the scene, he had tried very hard to make himself inconspicuous. He hadn't expected this mighty figure to notice him anyway. He could hardly move, and was on the verge of suffocating.

"He only recently reached Spirit Transformation. He's too fragile."

A breeze passed, scattering the True Dragon pressure that had seemed almost tangible.

"Hah!"

Shi Hao's flushed face was like a fish returning to the water. His whole body felt at ease, and he gulped down great breaths of fresh air.

"Not bad. Is he your disciple?"

Noticing Willow Deity's little gesture, the Dragon King's mouth twitched, and he smoothly shifted his gaze away.

"Perhaps he is, or perhaps he isn't."

Divine flames danced, and a faint thought came from within the hazy halo.

"Then that settles it."

The Dragon King smiled and looked back at Shi Hao, his gaze quietly softening.

"Little fellow, I can't give you my True Dragon horn. I'm saving it to make up for my descendants' congenital deficiencies. But I can give you this."

As he spoke, the Dragon King beckoned.

"Buzz, buzz!"

A brilliant light flared from the depths of the True Dragon Nest. A crystalline bone flew over, covered in countless dragon patterns so intricate they seemed impossibly complex.