Jiang Haofeng looked around. The air was filled with an ancient, desolate aura. In a daze, he seemed to see divine dragons soaring through the sky one after another, their roars shaking the heavens as countless dragons fought in the void, boundless battle intent sweeping across the land!
The scene of ten thousand dragons charging vanished in an instant, and everything returned to calm. Before them lay a deep undersea valley, with dragon-shaped mountain ranges rising from the ground, lifelike in every detail.
These were likely formed from the corpses of fallen giant dragons.
Jiang Haofeng surveyed his surroundings without saying anything. Ao Guang beside him also remained silent and led Jiang Haofeng deeper into the valley.
Along the way, dense dragon-shaped mountain ranges covered everything in sight, numbering no fewer than a million.
When they reached the depths of the mountains, a massive vortex appeared before them. Countless dragon corpses lay around it, each over a hundred million zhang long. Merely looking at their bodies made it possible to imagine how powerful they had been in life.
These dragon bodies, each hundreds of millions of zhang long, would have been the most eye-catching sight anywhere else. Yet here, they had completely become mere background.
The pitch-black vortex slowly turned like a giant heart. Suddenly, it inhaled sharply, and endless seawater surged backward into it. Limitless seawater poured inside as undercurrents churned across the seabed. The violent current put even Jiang Haofeng's Great Witch Treasure Body under immense pressure, causing his body to sway involuntarily.
Had his physical body not been so formidable, that single inhale would likely have swallowed him whole.
Seeing this, Ao Guang, who had been about to reach out and help, froze before silently withdrawing his hand.
What a powerful body. It was likely three parts stronger than a True Dragon's body at the same realm, not inferior in the slightest to the Witch Clan that once roamed the Primordial World.
Jiang Haofeng noticed Ao Guang's movement but paid it no mind. He continued staring at the sea eye before him. Within his mind, mysterious light rippled across the Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Book, and a hazy vortex slowly emerged, growing clearer with time.
Boom!
Endless force surged as vast quantities of seawater were expelled once more. Immense pressure descended again, but Jiang Haofeng was prepared this time. He stood in the current like a reef, without even the slightest tremor.
The enormous sea eye inhaled and exhaled like a heart, drawing in and releasing the waters of the entire East Sea, driving the flow of the whole ocean.
Jiang Haofeng stared blankly at the sea eye, seemingly captivated by it. Ao Guang smiled beside him. He had been just like this when he first came here.
A Great Luo Immortal's strength was actually somewhat excessive. If a Taiyi Immortal came here instead, that would be truly shocking enough to remain unforgettable for life.
The scene of his younger self being swept along by the seawater, carried helplessly by the tides, unable to exert even a fraction of his Taiyi Immortal strength, surfaced once more in his mind.
Seeing that Ao Guang was not disturbing him, Jiang Haofeng rejoiced inwardly. The vortex upon the Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Book grew increasingly clear.
After the sea eye inhaled and exhaled thirty-six times, the image in the Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Book was finally completed. Jiang Haofeng secretly revealed a faint smile.
He then looked at Ao Guang beside him and said with feeling, "This is my first time seeing the East Sea Eye. Dragon King, please forgive my poor display."
"Not at all. Brother Haofeng, you performed far better than I did back then."
After a pause, Ao Guang spoke again. "Brother Haofeng, I assume you know that Lord Candle Dragon guards the sea eye, suppressing the chaotic fiends and maintaining the stability of the Primordial World. He cannot easily reveal himself to the world."
"If you wish to see Lord Candle Dragon, you must enter the East Sea Eye. But rest assured, Brother Haofeng. With Lord Candle Dragon present, nothing will happen."
"With Senior Candle Dragon here, there is naturally nothing to worry about." Jiang Haofeng nodded.
"Good. When the sea eye next draws in seawater, do not resist. Enter the sea eye along with the water."
"Alright!"
Rumble!
An invisible roar sounded as the sea eye swallowed the seawater once again. Jiang Haofeng did not resist this time, allowing his body to be swept into it by the water. Ao Guang did the same.
The moment he entered the sea eye, invisible pressure surged in from every direction, as though it wished to crush Jiang Haofeng into pieces. Even with Jiang Haofeng's current physical body, he still felt as though he could barely breathe.
After an unknown amount of time, the world before him suddenly brightened. Jiang Haofeng had entered a crimson space, without sun or moon, containing only endless scarlet.
More precisely, it was a gigantic crimson curtain of light. This scarlet light curtain was the only thing here, stretching beyond sight. Beneath it, streams of black mist writhed, though it was impossible to tell what they were.
The sky above was entirely black, like a black hole, with nothing visible within it.
Scarlet mysterious light gathered on the curtain, and a boundless dragon silhouette emerged upon it. Vast dragon might swept across heaven and earth.
Scarlet light flickered as an illusory dragon shadow leaped down from the crimson curtain, transforming into a scarlet dragon a thousand zhang long. It had a human face and serpent body, was entirely crimson, with straight eyes and an upright stance—the very image of Candle Dragon from myth and legend.
"This junior, Haofeng of the human race, greets Senior Candle Dragon."
"Human Sovereign, there is no need for such courtesy!"
A vast voice resounded through heaven and earth.
"Why has the Human Sovereign come to see me?"
Jiang Haofeng looked up at Candle Dragon in the void and did not mind his form of address. Whether he was the Human Sovereign was not for Candle Dragon to decide. There was no need to deny him now. Once the Human Emperor appeared in the future, Candle Dragon would understand everything.
Moreover, the matter he was about to handle would be much easier with the identity of Human Sovereign.
Jiang Haofeng's true purpose was indeed to use the Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Book to copy Candle Dragon's eyes, but this matter could not be placed in the open, nor was there any need to do so.
Wanting to see Candle Dragon for no reason would only arouse suspicion. It was enough to use another matter to draw attention away and secretly finish his objective.
"Senior Candle Dragon, as far as I know, the Dragon Clan is severely lacking in merit."
Candle Dragon's gaze fell upon Jiang Haofeng. In an instant, immense pressure descended upon him. It was not the pressure of an aura; it seemed to act directly upon Jiang Haofeng's will.
Candle Dragon looked at the weak living being before him, and a trace of surprise flashed through his eyes.
He had courage, at least.
Over endless ages, among those who faced him as Great Luo Immortals, this was the first person capable of remaining neither servile nor overbearing!
That was indeed the case. After Candle Dragon was born, he and Ancestor Dragon founded the Dragon Clan and ruled the Four Seas. With the strength of one clan, they fought against the Phoenix and Kirin Clans. There were only a few in the world who had the confidence to face Candle Dragon directly, and not a single one had dared to do so at the Great Luo realm.
After all, not everyone possessed a perfected Merit Golden Body.
There had also been no saint disciples in those days, so Candle Dragon had no need to fear anyone.
"Correct!"
"My Dragon Clan fought during the ancient era and shattered the Primordial World. Ancestor Dragon ignited his own origin and used great divine power to restore Earth, Water, Wind, and Fire, reforming the Primordial World. The remaining fragments were refined into the Three Thousand Great Thousand Worlds."
"The monstrous karmic debt of shattering heaven and earth fell upon us. Even though our Dragon Clan had Ancestor Dragon's great merit in restoring the Primordial World, we were only slightly better off than the Phoenix and Kirin Clans. We still barely clung to existence."
"Karmic debt became shackles, locking away our cultivation and bloodline. Cultivation could no longer advance, bloodlines could not be inherited, and each generation of descendants became weaker than the last."
"In the entire Primordial World, no one lacks merit more than my Dragon Clan."
Candle Dragon's voice echoed through heaven and earth. Though he spoke of the Dragon Clan's sorrowful history, there was not the slightest hint of sorrow in his voice.
"I have a matter at hand. If it succeeds, it will yield immense merit. Would Senior Candle Dragon be interested?"
"Of course. Speak."
Candle Dragon's gaze rested on Jiang Haofeng, and his vast voice rang out again. There was no fluctuation in his tone; he appeared incomparably calm.
And that was indeed the truth. Although the Dragon Clan's circumstances were miserable, they had not reached the point of extinction.
What if their cultivation could not improve? Even without advancing, the foundation the Dragon Clan had retained from ancient times was more than enough. With Candle Dragon present, who would dare look down on the Dragon Clan?
Their descendants' bloodlines were becoming thinner, and True Dragons' cultivation was falling ever lower. That did not matter either. So be it. These old fellows had no limits on their lifespans. They could bear the Dragon Clan's burden themselves; there was no need for the younger generation to do so.
The Dragon Clan simply could not develop further. It was not facing annihilation, and no matter how bad things became, they could not become much worse.
Naturally, it would be best if they could resolve the shackles of karmic debt. But if they could not, it did not matter. They could slowly think of a solution. They had plenty of time.
"This concerns heavenly secrets, so forgive me for being unable to say more. But I can tell you this, Senior: this matter of merit concerns the next calamity and my human race."
Candle Dragon's eyes shifted slightly. The next calamity.
Candle Dragon turned to look toward the Primordial World. He observed the Witch Clan upon the great land and the demon race holding aloft the Nine Heavens. In a daze, he seemed to see the former Dragon, Phoenix, and Kirin Clans reflected in them.
So that was it.
The current Dragon, Phoenix, and Kirin Clans had all been destined for destruction. The Primordial World had no need for such races to exist.
Only, Luo Hou had provoked the conflict back then. He wondered who was stirring up the contradictions between the two races this time.
"I understand. What do you want?"
"An alliance between the human race and the Dragon Clan. Once this calamity ends, I will tell the Dragon Clan how to obtain merit."
After a pause, Jiang Haofeng continued, "If the Dragon Clan cannot obtain merit, I will give this Merit Auspicious Cloud upon me to the Dragon Clan, thereby settling today's karma. How about it?"
Candle Dragon gave Jiang Haofeng a surprised look. What boldness. This Merit Auspicious Cloud was no ordinary thing.
He immediately nodded. "Agreed!"
Thus, the human race and the Dragon Clan became allied clans.
Jiang Haofeng casually added, "By the way, my human race is currently expanding. I hope that when we expand toward the East Sea, the Dragon Clan can offer us some protection."
Candle Dragon swept his gaze across the Primordial World, and the human race's circumstances instantly appeared in his mind. To the north, they had already reached the Witch Clan's territory. To the south, they had encountered the demon race. Thus, only the east and west remained. Clearly, the human race wished to expand eastward.
Looking at Jiang Haofeng, he spoke with a faintly amused smile. "You came today to seek a suitable place for expansion, did you not?"
"The alliance was the main purpose. The matter of protection was merely incidental." Jiang Haofeng smiled.
"Agreed. I accept. Your human race may expand as you wish. So long as you do not enter the East Sea, my Dragon Clan will not make things difficult for you."
The alliance between the two races was completely established—or rather, established ahead of time.
Of course, all of that was incidental. The most important matter was that the image of Candle Dragon in Jiang Haofeng's mind was slowly taking shape, especially those eyes.
Under Jiang Haofeng's deliberate guidance, Candle Dragon had looked toward the Primordial World twice in succession, using those divine eyes. The Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Book had already recorded them.
Whenever the Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Book recorded something below the saint realm, it did so extremely quickly. In that brief moment, Candle Dragon's eyes had already become clear.
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