Happiness?
Yes, in the eyes of others, he was a favored son of heaven, born into supreme honor as the eldest legitimate son of the Ancestral Dragon, overlord of the Primordial World. Even with the Dragon Race now in decline, he had become a guardian of the rising Demon Race. Among all its members, his standing was second only to the Demon Emperor, Demon Empress, and Eastern Emperor. Even the Golden Crow princes had to greet him with the respect due a senior. But...
Truthfully, Ao Yue had never felt happy.
Looking at the great fat bear before him, eating and sleeping at the same time, Ao Yue briefly wished he could be like the bear-forget everything, lie here, sleep in comfort, and eat and drink at his leisure.
But!
That was only a passing thought. His position meant he could never live as freely as Gungun.
He bore responsibility for both the Demon Race and the Dragon Race. To repay Taiyi's kindness, he had to do everything in his power to help the Demon Race claim its place as the leading force of heaven and earth. To repay those who had given him life and raised him, he also had to find a way to protect the Dragon Race. Even if he could not restore its former glory, he at least could not let it lose its ancestral lands in the Four Seas.
With all that weighing on his shoulders, how could he possibly be as carefree as this bear?
At that thought, Ao Yue shook his head, a trace of loneliness crossing his face. Then his expression returned to normal, and he continued taking spirit fruits from the basket to feed the great fat bear.
"Ooh, aow~" Catching the fragrance, Gungun opened that adorably big mouth again, bit down on the spirit fruit, smacked through a few mouthfuls, and swallowed it.
Meanwhile, the system's mechanical voice rang out repeatedly in the bear's mind, though Gungun had blocked it all out.
[Ding! Faced with the approach of a Quasi-Saint from a hostile faction, the host remained as steady as Mount Tai, sleeping lazily and displaying the lazy fish spirit to its fullest. Treasure Map +1, lazy fish points +2000.] [Ding! Faced with food offered by a Quasi-Saint from a hostile faction, the host ate without hesitation, not even stopping to think. Such an exemplary lazy fish! Primordial Spirit Strength +3, physical strength +3, lazy fish points +1000.] [Ding! The host ate while sleeping, occasionally scratching its belly to relieve an itch. Magical power +1.]
In the void, Houtu had been contemplating the Dao all this time without gaining any insight. She shook her head, feeling utterly useless. At this rate, would she still be unable to defeat Taiyi the next time they met?
"Hm? Ao Yue!" As she fretted, Houtu's expression suddenly changed. She noticed the young dragon sitting beside Gungun. Wasn't that the very same Ao Yue they had met on Mount Buzhou a hundred years ago?
Taiyi took him away back then, and now he's appeared here. His injuries seem completely healed, too. Could it really be just as Gungun thought? Has he joined the Demon Race and become Taiyi's guardian? Houtu wondered in startled suspicion. Her brows gradually drew together, and her expression grew grave.
Although Ao Yue had lost to Kunpeng a hundred years ago, and she had then defeated Kunpeng, that battle could not actually serve as a measure of their relative strength.
Ao Yue had lost because Kunpeng had ambushed him at the outset, grievously injuring him. He had then fought Kunpeng head-on while wounded.
When she faced Kunpeng, he had already expended much of his magical power fighting Ao Yue. Afterward, Gungun had rammed him in a surprise attack, and she had followed up with a palm strike. Only then had she won so easily.
Now, Ao Yue seemed to be back at full strength. If they came to blows, Houtu honestly had no confidence that she would win.
With that thought, Houtu formed a spell seal with her fingers and began secretly contacting the other Ancestral Witches.
Elsewhere, on the grassland.
Ao Yue kept feeding Gungun, and Gungun kept opening that mouth to eat. Eventually, the bear was stuffed, unable to digest all the spiritual energy inside at once. Closing that mouth, Gungun sat up with a whoosh and used the Heaven-Swallowing Earth-Devouring Divine Ability to refine the spiritual energy faster. Before long, it was all refined.
Gungun rubbed that big belly, a distinctly human look of satisfaction appearing on that face, and smiled with eyes closed. "Now that was a proper meal!" "Was it? As long as you enjoyed it," came Ao Yue's calm voice from the side.
Hearing his voice, Gungun opened both eyes and turned to look at Ao Yue, showing no surprise at all, as though the bear had known all along that he was there and was the one doing the feeding. Gungun turned that plump body to face him, then leaned back slightly, planting both paws on the ground in a more comfortable position. "Oh, it's been a few years, hasn't it? What brings you here? And you even brought me something tasty?"
"Not a few years. A hundred," Ao Yue corrected. Then he lifted the fruit basket, which still held some spirit fruits, and offered it to Gungun. "Back then, you used the Vermilion Bird Banner and the Dragon Pearl to heal my injuries, keeping my essence from being damaged. I came today to repay that kindness. This is my gift of thanks."
"Oh, oh." Hearing that, Gungun sat up a little straighter, reached out to take the basket, and nodded repeatedly, thinking, He really is one of the few true gentlemen in the Primordial World. He repays the kindness he receives-the reputation is well deserved!
"I don't have the Yellow Central Plum, Ginseng Fruit, or nine-thousand-year Ren Water Flat Peach you wanted, but these spirit fruits are all rare treasures of heaven and earth, extremely precious. Even among the Witch Race, you might not find them. Please accept them as a small token of my gratitude. If I get the chance in the future, I'll find a way to obtain a Ren Water Flat Peach and bring it to you." Ao Yue continued speaking as Gungun poked that head into the fruit basket.
"Mm-hm, how thoughtful. How thoughtful." There really were some spirit fruits inside that Gungun had never eaten before, and even a Bitter Bamboo shoot. Who knew where he had obtained it? In value alone, that bamboo shoot was no less precious than a Ginseng Fruit, and it suited Gungun even better. Delighted, Gungun raised that head and spoke to Ao Yue with a smile.
Looking at that great fat face covered in smiles, Ao Yue froze for a moment, envying this fatty all the more. He wanted to smile that happily too, but... he simply could not.
"Mmm, delicious. This is a Mandala Fruit, right? It grows in the Sea of Blood. I've wanted to try one for ages, but Nether River Taoist is too fierce, and I can't beat him. How did you manage to pick it?" Gungun had no idea what was going through Ao Yue's mind. Having refined the earlier spiritual energy, the bear could not resist eating again, taking a strangely shaped red fruit from the basket with one paw and questioning Ao Yue between bites.
"I offered him a treasure in exchange, and he agreed. After taking the treasure, he went back on his word, so I forcibly picked two," Ao Yue answered casually.
"Uh, you beat him?"
"No. We only exchanged a few moves. I left as soon as I picked them, and he couldn't stop me."
"Impressive!" Gungun raised the other paw and gave Ao Yue a thumbs-up.
Ao Yue did not know what the gesture meant, but after hearing Gungun call him impressive, he could roughly guess, so he did not ask. Once Gungun had nearly finished the fruit, he gathered his words in his mind and said, "Fellow Daoist Gungun, actually, besides repaying your kindness, I came today to..."
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