Several miles south of the seat of Xiangguo Commandery stood a small hill called Longgang. Though it was a hill, there was inexplicably an enormous well on its summit. Flood or drought, its water level never fell throughout the year, and its water was sweet and refreshing. Thus, at some unknown point, a fort had been built here, becoming a famous garrison post and the actual heart of Xiangguo Commandery's military defenses.
Its existence was rather like that enormous Black Emperor Temple over in Wuan Commandery-the sort of place that would sooner or later get its own building chain in a low-end strategy game... In fact, the two were connected.
It was said that, in the final years of some dynasty, the world had fallen into chaos, warfare had raged without end, and a great drought had struck Hebei. The common people suffered beyond words, so someone invited the people of the Black Emperor Temple to the south to pray for rain. As it happened, a Commander of Fate from the Northern Demon-Suppressing Guard was inexplicably at the temple. Upon hearing this, he came straight out, performed several calculations, arrived at this hill, and dug into the ground with true qi. Before he had gone three feet down, he unearthed a dead dragon as thick as an arm.
The moment the dead dragon emerged, rain fell. The place he had dug became that well, and Longgang took its name from this incident.
Only after this Commander of Fate had taken the dragon corpse north did someone realize that this was not a dead dragon but a corpse dragon, a monstrosity conceived when the dead True Dragon of Red Mountain mingled with the Supreme One's blood, then encountered the killing intent and resentment born of a world in chaos. It was