Stranger Danger

The iron chain alone was an impossible obstacle for many warriors. Only the most courageous would dare to attempt a crossing. That wasn’t all the Dragon Nursing Gorge had to offer its challengers, however. The lake of blood beneath the Dragon Nursing Gorge was a nursing ground for all sorts of Strangers and creatures, and the blood of true dragons was famous for their miraculous powers. Naturally, the Strangers living beneath the Dragon Nursing Gorge were both powerful and dangerous.

Obviously, the Strangers weren’t set against the challengers during the recruitment ceremony. Not a single soul would be able to pass the trial if they did. No, they only needed to deal with the cold chain.

Ye Qing had no doubt that he was an exception. The second he planted one foot on the chain, the Strangers residing below the Dragon Nursing Gorge would surely do everything in their power to ensure his demise. If he could not maintain his footing and fell into the lake of blood, it would be quite the dangerous situation even for him.

As if that wasn’t enough, he learned from Innocent Miao’s memories that something far more terrible and unspeakable than the Strangers resided within the Dragon Nursing Gorge as well.

At first, Ye Qing was racking his brain for a way to swiftly and stunningly overcome this obstacle. After all, he was here to crash Dragonrider Mountain’s party. How would it look if he crossed the Dragon Nursing Gorge the safe, “ordinary” way, especially since he devoured wind and thunder and shattered the Dragonscaling Road in one stomp a moment ago? It would ruin his efforts to crush their useless pride and make him look like a wimp, wouldn’t it?

Luckily for him, a better idea entered his mind when he came to a stop in front of the chain. He looked down into the Dragon Nursing Gorge, held his arm out with his palm facing downward, and slowly flipped it around.

“What the hell is he doing?”

Inside the Dragonslaying Hall, everyone was confused by Ye Qing’s inane action.

“He’s not scared, is he?” Yun Chaoyu asked.

“A charlatan, that’s what he is. The Dragon Nursing Gorge is much harder to deal with compared to the Dragonscaling Road. The moment he sets foot on the Chain of Supreme Yin is the moment he dies!” Yue Hualong uttered through gritted teeth.

Yu Longzi didn’t say anything. He simply watched Ye Qing’s movement with a growing sense of unease; one he was unable to explain or define.

“Always wanted to turn a river upside down with my bare hands…”

Back at the Dragon Nursing Gorge, Ye Qing muttered under his breath while slowly flipping his palm around. At first, it seemed like nothing was happening, but several breaths later, the sounds of waves splashing against the cliff sides began growing louder and louder. It wasn’t long before the lake of blood beneath the gorge slowly climbed upward as if they were being pulled by some sort of invisible energy.

Inside the lake, countless Strangers of all shapes and sizes howled with indignation and fury as they struggled to break free. But try as they might, they were unable to break free from the lake’s confines.

“How is that possible? I thought he’s a body-tempering warrior?”

Inside the Dragonslaying Hall, everyone was standing on their feet before they knew it and staring at the scene with utter shock etched on their faces.

Isn’t he a body-tempering warrior?

Since when could a body-tempering warrior manipulate qi remotely well enough to scoop up an entire body of water?

Even if he isn’t a body-tempering warrior, our founder had created the Dragon Nursing Gorge using immense power, and the lake of blood is filled with the blood of true dragons. Not even a Grandmaster who’s an expert in water manipulation might be able to manipulate the blood beneath the gorge, so how on earth was this body-tempering warrior doing it?

“What should we do, my lord?”

Eyes still shut, Zhao Yuanrong spoke up on behalf of his lord, “Calm. There is still the Blood Serpent. If he thinks he can overcome the Dragon Nursing Gorge so easily, he will be sorry.”

“That’s right! The Blood Serpent spends most of its time hibernating at the bottom of the lake of blood. With the commotion he’s causing, there’s no way the Blood Serpent would not be alert to it. He’s going to be in deep trouble very soon!” Yue Hualong echoed in agreement.

As they were sleeping, the lake of blood was on the same level as the Chain of Supreme Yin. It looked like a piece of red fabric that was stretched across the entire Dragon Nursing Gorge, and it looked rather impressive to say the least.

“Roar!”

Suddenly, a furious roar came from the bottom of the Dragon Nursing Gorge. It sounded both like the roar of a tiger or a dragon, dignified and full of violence. At the same time, a thick cloud of bloody energy gushed into the skies above.

All the Strangers inside the lake of blood suddenly stopped struggling all of a sudden. They were as quiet as mice and trembling like a leaf. The lake of blood was shaking as well.

The next moment, what looked like a gargantuan red boa shot out from the bottom and straight toward the lake of blood.

Its body was as thick as a century-old tree trunk that would take at least several people to envelop. It was over fifty meters long and covered in scarlet, shiny scales.

A boa was the general description, but in reality, the Blood Serpent had the head of a tiger, four legs growing out of its abdomen, a thin, long neck, a fish’s body, and a snake’s tail. According to “About Dragons”, snakes were one of the many creatures that fell under the category of creature with scales. A snake who lived a hundred years would evolve into a boa, and a boa had scales that functioned like armor, a body as thick as a century-old tree trunk, and movement speed that sounded like whipping wind.

A thousand-year-old boa would evolve into a serpent. A serpent was shaped like a dragon but without the horns. It had a head like a tiger, a thin, long neck, four legs, a fish’s body, and a snake’s tail. Its cry sounded like a tiger’s, and it possessed the power to manipulate wind and water. It could also ride on clouds and command fog. A serpent who swam the waters for at least three thousand and six hundred years would evolve into a dragon.

Clearly, the giant “boa” in front of him was a serpent who had evolved from a boa.

“Roar!!!”

About halfway up the gorge, the Blood Serpent let out a mighty roar and emitted a blood red light like a red sun. Everyone above and below Dragonrider Mountain instantly felt their blood stirring restlessly inside their veins, and their mental defenses shaking under the outburst of power.

“I’ve been waiting for you.”

Ye Qing was unmoved, however. In fact, he was very glad to see the Blood Serpent.

He learned from Innocent Miao’s memory that a rare, exceedingly powerful serpent resided in the lake of blood at the bottom of the Dragon Nursing Gorge. The Blood Serpent was a serpent-type creature and a Phenomenon-class Stranger. Not only that, it was one of the rarer types of serpents out there. Born from blood, it fed on blood and was an expert in manipulating vigor. It could consume and control the blood essences of both humans and livestocks remotely.

Legend had it that Trueman Dragonrider had personally captured this Blood Serpent and suppressed it at the bottom of the Dragon Nursing Gorge. It was to function as the sect’s guardian beast.

In most cases, a Blood Serpent was just a Phenomenon-class Stranger. For it to grow stronger, it must slaughter countless living beings and consume massive quantities of blood. If it wished to evolve into a dragon, then it required a body of blood equal to hundreds of thousands of living beings to “swim” on.

This was also why Blood Dragons only appeared during wartime, and why there was a saying that went something like this: “The Blood Dragon rises in times of chaos.”

Although it was extremely difficult for a Blood Serpent to evolve into a Blood Dragon, those who succeeded were exceedingly powerful. They could manipulate blood via sound and were supposedly unkillable.

Obviously, it wasn’t wartime right now. Although the state of the world couldn’t exactly be described as peaceful, the major nations weren’t officially at war, and the people weren’t wanting in basic necessities. Even considering the growing tension between Chu and Yan, there had not been any large-scale armed conflicts in recent years. However, this Blood Serpent had huge bulges growing out of its head, and both its power and presence were greater than your average Blood Serpent. This was clearly a Blood Serpent who was close to evolving into a Blood Dragon, and it was as strong as an ordinary Disaster-class Stranger.

Clearly, the Blood Serpent got this far all thanks to the Dragon Nursing Gorge.

Trueman Dragonrider was the one who created the Dragon Nursing Gorge, and he had used his immense power to set up a great fengshui array called the “Great Hidden Wind Dragon Nurturing Array” that nurtured dragons over the lake. That was why the Blood Serpent grew so much despite the lack of strife.

If Ye Qing wasn’t mistaken, the Blood Serpent only needed a few hundred more years to “swim the waters” and become a Blood Dragon. Not only that, a Blood Dragon who was born this way would not trigger the wrath of heavens because it wasn’t born out of death and slaughter. Not only that, it was favored by the heavens and possessed the power to protect one’s fate. As a Blood Dragon, it could have secured their future for at least a hundred years and return them to their former glory.

Ye Qing had to admit that Trueman Dragonrider was an amazing man. He did not blindly believe that Dragonrider Mountain would remain strong long after he was gone and took steps to secure his descendants’ future.

It was too bad he had to ruin his effort. There were faces that needed to be slapped after all.

As he stared at the rising Blood Serpent, Ye Qing abruptly flipped his palm downward.

The silk-like lake of blood suddenly became so still it was like it had turned into ice, and Ye Qing whispered,

“You thought you held dominion over blood? Well, you thought wrong.”

The lake of blood came crashing down on top of the Blood Serpent. Powerful it might be, it could not possibly the weight of an entire lake.

The Blood Serpent let out a painful wail as its tough scales shattered like glass. As if it had lost consciousness, it fell all the way back to the bottom.

Ye Qing withdrew his palm, and the lake of blood slowly receded back to the bottom of the Dragon Nursing Gorge. Then, he clasped his hands behind his back and stared into the distance. From Yu Longzi and the elders’ point of view, it almost felt like the young man could pierce through the veil and stare straight at them.

It was so silent inside the Dragonslaying Hall that one could hear a pin drop.

With that done, Ye Qing stepped onto the Chain of Supreme Yin and casually made his way across the Dragon Nursing Gorge as if he was walking on flat ground.