Chapter 378: 153. Fei (6k)
At the same moment, far away in the Southern Continent, the situation here grew increasingly complex. Although the New Dragon Court in the south of the continent was becoming more powerful, even the best cover could not hide its existence. In the eyes of the scattered humans in the wilderness, this newly formed resistance organization gradually emerged, subtly altering their perception.
About a month ago, several city lords of Cardu discovered that a convoy transporting supplies in the wilderness had been attacked by the native tribes of the Southern Continent. Initially, they did not take this matter seriously, thinking it was merely a form of retaliation from the subhuman indigenous people. They casually sent troops to suppress it, but when their organized forces faced ambushes multiple times in the dense jungles and vast grasslands, they vaguely realized that the attackers were no longer the scattered subhuman tribes they had encountered before.
Many of the subhumans attacking them were from the native races near their cities. However, the key issue was that these subhuman tribes had gathered for some reason, resulting in four attacks within a month, each causing significant losses to the city lords of Cardu. Once they left the cities and entered the wilderness, they faced the dilemma of being ambushed by an enemy they could not locate.
Sometimes, subhumans would spring from unexpected places like the dirt, the trees by the roadside, or in the flowing rivers. The humans from the Western Continent were already fewer in number, their population far less than one thousandth of the native life here. They managed to drive away the scattered subhumans solely by relying on their modern artillery and magic.
It was amidst this continuous loss of supplies and attacks that the frustrated Cardu people finally learned of a new term from the mouths of some subhuman natives during their month-long search.
“New Dragon Court”
This was a new multi-racial regime founded and led by the Dragon Queen, consisting of dragonfolk, based in the far southern part of the continent away from humans. It continuously absorbed other subhuman races, calling for unity in the wilderness and jungles to encircle the scattered cities of the Western Continent and resist human invasion of the Southern Continent.
It must be said that the New Dragon Court had a profound understanding of the humans who came there, accurately categorizing their origins in the wilderness. Thus, they wisely chose their first opponent: Cardu, the weakest and most isolated religious nation among the three countries in the Western Continent.
Due to the ascetic culture and religious fervor of Cardu, even after decades of the Nali development wave, only a few speculators were willing to leave the Western Continent, risking their fortunes to start anew here. Although their alliance of city lords was very strong compared to Shivali and Nali, it was an undeniable fact that their strength was far inferior to those two nations.
Furthermore, the distribution of cities in the Southern Continent was very similar to the political landscape of the Western Continent. Most of Cardu’s cities were located in the southwestern part of the Southern Continent, with the southernmost city of Shivali lying dozens of miles north. As a result, Cardu’s speculators naturally became the first targets of the New Dragon Court’s attacks.
In the past month, they had suffered silently from the guerrilla harassment of the New Dragon Court. The distant lords of Shivali were certainly aware of this news, but they merely began organizing large-scale purges of the surrounding subhuman tribes to prevent the establishment of a similar base for the New Dragon Court. They remained wary of this nascent subhuman regime but had no intention of aiding Cardu.
On a day at the beginning of the new year in the Western Continent, two fine steeds galloped across the boundless wilderness. The two riders, cloaked in heavy capes, made it difficult to discern their true identities.
“They should be nearby; let’s look for them here?”
The leading figure gazed forward and then reined in her horse, speaking to the person behind her. Her voice belonged to a woman whose tones sounded as if they were ignited by fire.
After making sure there were no signs of other creatures in the vicinity, she gently removed her hood, revealing a pair of ethereal crimson dragon horns and beautifully flowing red hair concealed beneath the cloak. Her green dragon eyes gazed imperiously at the undulating land, and taking a deep breath, she examined the map in her arms, speaking to the person behind her.
Indeed, no one expected that in the heart of the Southern Continent surrounded by numerous human cities, the Dragon Queen Raphael of the emerging regime from the far south would arrive here alone on horseback, just as previously envisioned; her target was the ancient central Dragon Court located in the center of the continent.
“Raphael, this is human territory; we should still be careful, right?”
Behind her, a small, soft voice spoke up, and another figure glanced around cautiously. Although she also did not see signs of any other activity, she was still a bit timid and did not dare to remove her cloak, fearing discovery of her identity.
Raphael smiled as she patted her horse and came beside the person behind her. Just as she was about to explain, she suddenly reached out and pulled off the hood, revealing the non-human blue silky hair and drooping ears of the Whale Folk, known as Jasmine.
“The terrain here is poor; the nearby resources have been nearly depleted since ancient times. Humans wouldn’t find much here anyway, since the Central Dragon Court was established as the political center of the ancient Dragon Court. Humans come here to plunder; they go where there are things to take, not to settle down here.”
“Even so, Raphael, is there really any relic of the Dragon Court here? It seems like there are only mountains and jungles.”
Raphael smiled slightly, patted Jasmine on the shoulder, and then continued to move forward without looking back.
“Whether it exists or not, we’ll find out.”
Watching Raphael grow farther away, Jasmine instinctively opened her mouth to put her hood back on but hesitated and did not do so. Instead, she rode her horse to follow Raphael, while inwardly asking Ramastia,
“Lord Ramastia, is there really a relic of the Dragon Court here?”
After a few seconds, a young, cute voice came to her ears.
“Mm, the ancient Dragon Court created by the dragons is right here. In the past, there were many giant towers they built here, referred to as ‘Palaces.’ However, the place you’re heading to isn’t where the dragons handled their political affairs; that central palace has long been destroyed in war. The direction you are going is the underground palace that the dragons built for Fei, and the map that dragon girl has leads to that underground palace.”
As Ramastia spoke, she paused slightly, then continued in a teasing tone.
“Although that brat Fei denies his connection to the dragon race as fervently as an angel might to Jehovah, after all, he was formed from the blood of the dragons and has a blood bond with them. So, no matter how much he complains, in the end, he just brazenly sleeps in the residence.”
“Ah, will Lord Fei leave anything for Raphael in the palace? He has been dead for so long; even if there are treasures, they won’t help her now, right?”
Ramasita yawned and casually replied,
“Hmm, who says he’s dead? He’s still lying in the underground palace.”
“Huh?”
Jasmine, riding her horse, paused slightly, her face turning a bit pale, and she stammered in her thoughts while talking to Ramastia.
“Wait, wait! Lord Fei is still alive? Doesn’t that mean if we trespass into his resting place, he wouldn’t dislike other beings the most?! He’s Lord Ramastia’s child, and even his bloodline dragons can’t enter his underground palace! Won’t we have a problem by going in?”
“Ha, don’t worry about him; even if Jehovah and Yggdrasil are still in that underground palace, as long as I’m here, they won’t dare do anything to you. Besides, even if he wanted to do something now, he’s too weak to do so. Jehovah and Yggdrasil have already been taken by ‘Death’, and he will soon follow. I recommended you come to the Southern Continent mainly to see him one last time, and I can also let you know some other secrets about this world. In short, just go; I’m here.”
The youthful voice of Ramastia grew increasingly despondent as she spoke. Throughout their time in the Southern Continent, Jasmine felt that this life deity, who had been with her day and night, seemed to express an extra sense of regret whenever she mentioned the three lives she had painstakingly created. Her attention toward this unique life was unmatched, much like Xu’s concern for Jasmine.
“Mm.”
Jasmine bit her lip; with Ramastia’s assurance, she no longer felt worried and spurred her horse to follow Raphael ahead. In this past month, for some reason—perhaps due to their unexpectedly compatible nature—after experiencing several battles and sudden events, their relationship quickly grew closer. Raphael even chose to take only Jasmine along to find the relics of the Dragon Court.
One reason was trust, and the other was that fewer people were better for this operation. Besides, no one in the Dragon Court was stronger than Jasmine.
“Jasmine, look; doesn’t this map lead us that way?”
Raphael glanced at the map and suddenly felt a headache. The cartography of the ancient dragonfolk was complicated, and the details on the map were very different from the contour maps used by the humans of the Western Continent. Therefore, the New Dragon Court borrowed the mapping techniques of the Western Continent to create their schematics.
Additionally, the language used in the Dragon Court was very mixed, with some languages based on regions and others based on races. Raphael did not know how the ancient Dragon Court solved these issues and could only divide tasks by tribes to complete the mission, planning to consider unifying writing later when they had more time.
Like the ancient dragon court map that Fisher provided her, it lacked any topographical indications or scale references. Raphael was already quite skilled at pinpointing a rough area so close, and this was after confirming with many subhumans in the New Dragon Court.
The current Dragon Court faced many cumbersome matters, rebuilding from a state of disarray. Still, Raphael was tireless as a leader; she was always organized in dealing with such issues.
Jasmine glanced at the map above, of course, unable to comprehend it, but with Ramastia beside her, she feigned contemplation and then immediately pointed to the direction indicated by Ramastia.
“I think it’s over there.”
“Really? Wait, how did you figure that out?”
“Intuition?”
Raphael laughed out loud and straightened her posture, shaking her head as she turned toward the direction Jasmine indicated.
“Let’s go with intuition then.”
“Raphael, it seems there’s a chasm below; is this the place?”
Raphael and Jasmine could not ride for long in the mountains, so they tied their horses outside the jungle and used their feet to climb the mountain. Over the years, nature’s corrosion had left only natural life here, thick roots and dense grasses covered the ground, where they could occasionally catch glimpses of a few remnants from the era of the ancient Dragon Court in the cracks.
Their pace was quick. After about an hour of travel, a massive chasm suddenly appeared before them in the depths of this dense jungle.
At the edge of the enormous chasm, countless streams and small rivers cascaded down, forming quite a spectacular waterfall. However, when Raphael and Jasmine looked down, the chasm below was dark; the midday sunlight fell into it only to be swiftly swallowed by its depth, leaving them unclear about what lay beneath.
Raphael compared the map she held; they had encircled this area several times before, and only this chasm matched the feel of the dragon court ruins as described in legends. Although the bottom was pitch black, she ultimately decided to go down.
Raphael carried only some food and water; the rest of the supplies were left with the horses. She twisted her neck, turned to Jasmine, and asked,
“Shall I go down to take a look? Will you wait for me up here?”
“No, no, I also want to go down to have a look. There might be danger below.”
In fact, it was Lord Ramastia who wanted to see His last remaining child, so Jasmine had to go down and take a look, as Lord Ramastia had mentioned that Fei was at the bottom of this chasm’s underground palace.
“Alright, then let’s move out.”
Raphael nodded and ceased to dissuade her. Taking a deep breath, the dragon scales on her body began to glow little by little, shining as brightly as the sun under its rays. Her rank gradually rose, causing the ground beneath her feet to scorch red from the intense heat.
“Zzzt!”
Then, with a burst of steam, she suddenly leaped into the chasm, and Jasmine took a deep breath before jumping straight down after her.
“Boom!”
The two of them continuously fell in the dark space, and after sinking several hundred meters, they suddenly landed on the ground.
“Bang!”
With two falling sounds reverberating on the ground, at the bottom of this chasm, above a dark pool where countless waterfalls converged, a complex and aesthetically pleasing pavilion quietly stood in the annals of time. Behind the pavilion, there stood a huge door over a hundred meters tall, beside which were two enormous dragon sculptures, glaring fiercely at the pavilion.
“This is… the relic of the Dragon Court?”
In the darkness, as they descended, magic-made flame lamps shot up, illuminating everything here. Just as Raphael was weighing her surroundings, a small table gradually rose in the center of the pavilion, on which was engraved a contour map of the Southern Continent. At the four corners were four vacancies representing the four regions managed by the four dragon courts.
Raphael took a deep breath and slowly embedded the four dragon court emblems she had collected into the slots. As the emblems entered, the towering door before her also began to shift slightly and gradually opened to reveal a deep and vast space beyond.
“Ahhhh!”
The moment the great door opened, a heart-rending, almost forming from countless living beings’ voices’ wails echoed, and in that instant, both Raphael and Jasmine felt their magical circuits become extremely hot, as if a black hole behind that great door were pulling at their souls.
Raphael frowned, and Jasmine swallowed nervously, but after waiting several seconds, that strange soul-pulling sensation surprisingly vanished.
“Something inside seems to be calling me.”
Jasmine was about to remind Raphael to be cautious when Raphael lifted her hands. After hesitating for a moment, she walked toward the area behind the great door. Jasmine hurriedly followed her, crossing the enormous door and entering the underground palace that Ramastia had mentioned.
As they entered, the enormous passageway, over a hundred meters high and wide, lit up with fire on both sides, revealing that the walls had no exquisite decorations—only signs of damage as if struck by a massive object and sticky pure black slime.
Both Raphael and Jasmine were extremely vigilant. As they reached the end of the passageway, they suddenly saw a vast square larger than the chasm. Surrounding the stone square were visibly numerous displays that the dragonfolk had crafted, now all shattered and lying on the ground.
“Raphael, Raphael, look.”
As Raphael explored the surroundings, a trembling voice came from behind her. Following Jasmine’s pointed finger toward the center of the square, she witnessed an unforgettable sight.
On the ground near the center of the square, there was an unknown black slime everywhere, seemingly alive as it writhed continuously. Just a glance at it made Raphael feel as if it was pulling at her soul. However, whenever her soul stirred, a heavy breath would resonate from the center of the square.
Under that heavy breathing, the black slime slowly dissipated.
Looking up again, at the end of the black slime, illuminated by numerous flames, a colossal shadow that was entirely unclear lay on the ground. The creature shimmered beneath layers of deep red transparent scales with rings of circular halos hovering around it, highlighting its immense and indescribable body.
It was a giant dragon that would only appear in myths, yet vastly differed from the image dragons had in mind; it had no wings, and its body did not seem powerful but rather slender. However, if one looked closely, they could see the space around it warping slightly. Just a glance at that creature made Raphael’s scales rise, and her blood felt as if it was on fire, about to burst forth.
Jasmine’s eyes also began to spread intricate red veins, her head flushing as it was apparent that staring directly at this dragon would immediately cost her life. Yet at that moment, her brain felt muddled, even recalling scenes of her time with Fisher.
Just as Raphael and Jasmine were on the verge of collapsing from this life-threatening presence, a trembling droplet suddenly manifested on their foreheads. That small bead deflected all the terrifying gaze of the giant dragon, allowing Raphael and Jasmine to breathe and escape from their prior state.
“Haha.”
Jasmine wheezed, and only with this simple bead’s protection did she manage to see the current state of the colossal dragon clearly.
On the shoulder of that giant dragon was a glaring wound that flickered with golden light, still unhealed. However, it was not a fatal injury. What truly troubled Jasmine was that beneath that giant dragon, it seemed something was continually flowing out; something that resembled the black slime they had seen earlier.
It seemed like the remains of a long-dead body, with the flowing black slime staining the dragon’s lower body. Toward that entity, more twisted and grotesque black wounds appeared all over the dragon’s body.
This giant dragon seemed to have fought fiercely against the long-dead entity. Although that entity was dead, the dragon had suffered heavy injuries and thus was still asleep here.
Ramasita did not speak, and Jasmine was stunned by the scene in front of her, piecing together her thoughts in her mind.
Only Raphael, gazing at the great dragon lying on the ground, didn’t need anyone’s reminder to immediately recognize the only possible identity of the creature before her.
“Dragon God, Fei, you do exist.”
She looked at this overwhelming being beyond any biological imagination with disbelief, murmuring softly. At this moment, the pure dragon blood inside her burned intensely, as if resonating with the great dragon before her. This also meant that the giant dragon was the source of all dragonfolk, the only deity in their myths, Fei.
The dragonfolk built their nation in his name, using his name as a guarantee for their oaths, thus underscoring his unique position in the hearts of all dragonfolk.
Raphael was no exception. She grew up amidst the worship experiences of her elders towards Fei. However, standing before the mighty creature lying in the underground palace made it hard for her to articulate her emotions.
Yet her inner feelings remained unknown to anyone. Just as she began to murmur, the body of the terrifying being that lay there suddenly trembled.
“Rumble!”
Its previously stable breathing became restless, similar to a person’s deep breath when awakening in the morning; as its breath intensified, the entire underground palace felt as if swept by a tornado. Jasmine and Raphael’s hair danced wildly in the air, as dust from Fei’s breathing rose and obscured their line of sight.
However, amid this whirlwind, a pair of strikingly brilliant green dragon eyes, just like Raphael’s, gradually opened. The confusion from millennia of slumber quickly faded, and Fei’s gaze became piercingly cold as it fixed upon the two minuscule beings standing before him.
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(End of this chapter)
