Incubating a True Dragon

Hatching the True Dragon

"No matter, I have my own plans."

As he spoke, Willow Deity gazed into the void. "Little Sparrow."

"Chirp, chirp, chirp!"

A crisp bird call rang out as a Five-Colored Sparrow with vibrant plumage gracefully swept into the True Dragon Nest from the outside world.

So it really is it.

Shi Hao remained calm on the surface, but his heart was already churning.

He didn't know when it had started, but a seemingly ordinary Five-Colored Sparrow had appeared in Stone Village.

When Little Shi was young, he had chased it all over the village, yet he had never once succeeded in catching it.

When Little Shi fell in battle against the seven gods, the Five-Colored Sparrow brought the divine seed of the Undying Grass to help him resurrect.

When Little Shi married Yun Xi, the Five-Colored Sparrow delivered a portion of the White Bone Tripod—the Transcendence Chapter of the Original True Interpretation—as a wedding gift.

When Little Shi's offspring was born, it was this same Five-Colored Sparrow that carried the White Bone Tripod from the lower realm to the upper realm, allowing Little Shi to use it to cleanse the child's body and avert heavenly retribution.

Whenever a critical juncture arose, this bird's shadow would always appear.

Yes, this Five-Colored Sparrow was a hidden move left behind by Willow Deity.

Willow Deity had traveled far to the Boundary Sea, appearing to have no further connection to Little Shi, yet he had actually been watching over him in silence, helping him time and again through the hands of the Five-Colored Sparrow.

Furthermore, this Five-Colored Sparrow was not the common sparrow of the Great Wilderness; its true form was a rare Primordial Divine Bird that loved exotic treasures and hoarded them in abundance.

During the Immortal Ancient era, the Five-Colored Sparrow had received permission from Willow Deity to perch upon the body of that supreme titan, listening to the sounds of the Dao and cultivating all the way to the rank of True Immortal.

Later, when Willow Deity faced his tribulation and descended to the lower realm, the sparrow gladly followed.

In short, the relationship between Willow Deity and the Five-Colored Sparrow was much like that of Immortal King Wuzhong and the Black Emperor; the sparrow played the role of a page under the former's seat, following him with unwavering devotion.

The Five-Colored Sparrow hopped and skipped its way to the mountain peak. As it passed Little Shi, it even cast a disdainful glance at him, its eyes brimming with intelligence.

"My Lord."

The Five-Colored Sparrow prostrated itself at the feet of the white-clad deity transformed by Willow Deity, speaking in a crisp, melodious voice that sounded like the gentle strumming of a zither.

"You silly bird, so you can talk."

Shi Hao's eyes flickered as he spoke.

"Foolish human, of course this divine bird can talk! I am the strongest existence under the Lord's seat; you were all fooled by me, weren't you?!"

The Five-Colored Sparrow immediately turned its head, looking at Little Shi with smug triumph.

"I'm afraid that's only because you're the only silly bird under Willow Deity's seat~"

Shi Hao gave a cold laugh, mercilessly exposing the silly bird.

"Gaa, gaa, gaa..."

The Five-Colored Sparrow stiffened at these words and turned away with a blank expression, as if nothing had happened. "My Lord, please give your instructions."

"There are no instructions, I only require a Nine-Turn Resurrection Grass to mend the Dao foundation of a True Dragon Egg. I recall that you, little bird, love to search for all kinds of spiritual plants and divine medicines; do you happen to have one?"

The white-clad deity smiled faintly, his mood seemingly quite good.

"Since the Lord requires it, then naturally I have one."

A look of deep heartache appeared on the Five-Colored Sparrow's face as it gritted its teeth and spoke.

A stalk of golden divine grass was spat out from its beak. It stood upright like a war spear, radiating holy light like a golden sun, exuding a vitality so surging it defied description.

A supreme divine medicine, the Nine-Turn Resurrection Grass!

The moment the Five-Colored Sparrow closed its beak, one could faintly see various treasures glowing from within its pitch-black belly—red, orange, blue—each more miraculous than the last.

"So you love searching for divine objects everywhere, do you?"

Shi Hao, having keenly captured the flash of treasure light, immediately felt his eyes brighten.

"Human, what are you trying to do? This divine bird warns you: apart from the Lord, no one can take a single divine medicine from me, no one!"

Who would have thought this bird would be so sensitive to such greedy gazes? It immediately stared at Shi Hao with vigilance, issuing a stern warning.

By the Ancestral Sacrificial Spirit, if its True Immortal combat power were still intact, it would have long since slapped this thief—who clearly looked like a bad person—to death.

"Oh, so you have other divine medicines too~"

Shi Hao let out a meaningful "oh."

"Go to hell, you cutthroat human!"

The Five-Colored Sparrow immediately bristled. After huffily bidding farewell to Willow Deity, it hurriedly fled the True Dragon Nest as if escaping, flying away from this dangerous place.

"This bird has followed me since the Primordial era; you mustn't bully it."

Seeing Shi Hao watching the Five-Colored Sparrow leave with lingering attachment, a soft laugh reached his ears.

"Ahem, Willow Deity has misunderstood me. I am not that kind of person."

Shi Hao turned around and said with a sheepish grin.

"Alright, the Nine-Turn Resurrection Grass has been found. Let us begin."

Willow Deity shook his head with a faint, amused smile.

Given his understanding of Shi Hao, he naturally knew what this little rascal was thinking. It was nothing more than his usual routine of bagging heads and swinging clubs, something that poor, foolish bird would never be able to withstand.

Willow Deity took action, first grinding the Broken True Dragon Horn into powder to infuse into the True Dragon Egg, then refining the Dragon Scale Grass, Nine-Turn Resurrection Grass, and several other divine herbs into divine radiance, which he then struck into the egg.

After finishing all this, the two began to wait patiently.

Two days later, the trembling of the True Dragon Egg finally reached its limit.

"BOOM!!!"

In an instant, dragon energy soared to the heavens, and ten thousand rays of rosy light erupted. A Crimson True Dragon, red as blood, violently broke through its shell, shattered the True Dragon Nest, and soared into the sky above Stone Village, letting out continuous, heaven-piercing cries.

A vast, ocean-like surge of dragon energy poured out, madly feeding back into the world and enveloping the entire Stone Village.

The elders' hair rapidly turned black and their backs straightened; the children's foundations were strengthened once more; the clansmen's cultivation levels climbed one after another, with some even leaping across an entire major realm on the spot.

Even the precious herbs planted in the village underwent a frantic evolution under the influence of the dragon energy.

A divine being had been born, and the heavens bestowed their blessings.

As the birthplace of a divine being, Stone Village was naturally favored and cherished by the world, transformed into a sacred land no less magnificent than the grotto-heavens of the Primordial Divine Mountain.

The massive amount of dragon energy split into two: one part transformed the clansmen of Stone Village, while the other burrowed into the earth, evolving into a dragon vein to silently nourish the generations to come.

"Ang! Ang! Ang!"

Clear, resonant dragon roars echoed through the air. The newly born True Dragon cub swam joyfully through the clouds, occasionally displaying its lithe and powerful body, allowing the people to finally see its true appearance.

Its dragon body was only about a zhang long, yet it was vigorous and powerful, as if cast from crimson Immortal gold. Its five claws were sharp, and it possessed a pair of miniature dragon horns, upon which Great Dao runes flowed.

Set against the backdrop of crimson mist and chaotic energy, it appeared even more miraculous.

This was a Crimson True Dragon, the direct offspring of one of the Ten Fiends!

"A dragon! Mom, look, it's a real dragon!"

"Eat it! Eat it! Eat it!"

"Dragon claws, dragon heart, dragon liver, dragon... they must all be supreme delicacies and potent medicines!"

Children had already brought out bowls and chopsticks from their homes, staring blankly at the sky, waiting for the True Dragon to fall so they could catch it and put it in the pot.

"Awoo~"

The True Dragon cub, which already had deep psychological trauma regarding this, let out a mournful cry upon hearing them. It hurriedly tore through the void and fled back into the True Dragon Nest deep within the village, refusing to come out again.

"Sigh, I guess we'll just have to wait until it grows bigger to eat it. A zhang is still too small; it wouldn't even be enough for everyone in the village to have a single bite. Oh True Dragon, True Dragon, please grow up quickly."

With the True Dragon cub hiding away, the children could only tap their bowls and chopsticks, sighing as they gazed at the nest.