Chapter 1289: Chapter 1037: The Clever Old Dragon
Long Yi counted himself, then there was Ai Lin, Little Zi, Silverlight, Xiaodie, Suolin, and the Divine Envoy sister. The most terrifying thing was that Xiaodie’s thirteen avatars would also be counted as thirteen separate individuals by the summoning spell! Of course, if it was just that, it would be fine, but this reverse summoning technique also had a limit on the energy level it could counter-summon, and here, there were at least three deities!
In the beginning, when Landers managed to teleport with three other people, it was because their strength wasn’t strong. The spell was completely designed according to Landers’ own strength as the standard. But now, the individual strength of Long Yi’s group was too great, and if they still used this spell, it would definitely not work.
So, Long Yi was now contemplating an appropriate way to solve this problem.
Clearly, the answer to this problem had to be with the Teleportation Gate and the Cosmic Accelerator.
The keys to the Teleportation Gate were now all in Long Yi’s hands, but because one key had melted and been damaged, it was impossible to smoothly activate the gate; however, the good news was they could still maintain the gate in a pre-warm-up stage. By mimicking this part of the energy flow, Ai Lin, Silverlight, and Little Zi began to replicate the Teleportation Gate on the Cosmic Accelerator.
Naturally, the keys used to activate the Teleportation Gate this time would not be those three keys, but Landers’ magic. Little Zi completely dismantled Landers’ magic, identified the most useful part, and engraved it onto the Cosmic Accelerator. Now as a deity, Little Zi’s work on this matter could be described as masterful. Her thirteen avatars constantly shuttled around the accelerator, powerful energy sprouted from their fingertips, and they engraved the magic into it. With her help, the whole process was much faster.
However, Long Yi was still very worried. At this moment, these members of the Dragon Clan seemed much more compliant, but how long could they stay compliant? After all, when the Divine Generals created the Dragon Clan, they imbued them with a combative nature. If he really left here, how long could these dragons remain calm? Would they relapse into savagery upon hearing some sort of call?
If this matter wasn’t resolved, Long Yi genuinely couldn’t depart in peace.
Therefore, he decided to pay a visit to the Black Dragon Elder leading this time, Slite; he wanted to have a serious talk about this.
When Long Yi arrived at the small building on the outskirts of The Divine Auffa Empire, Slite and two other Elders were in the courtyard, three ordinary old men sitting in front of a chessboard, Slite observing the game, while the other two Elders were playing. This was the traditional Auffa chess of The Divine Auffa Empire, full of endless variations and very entertaining—also a pastime beloved by elders across the Plane.
The two Black Dragon Elders immersed in the chessboard hadn’t noticed Long Yi’s arrival, but Slite, who was watching, did. He whispered something, and the two Elders simultaneously looked up. Long Yi nodded and said, "Sorry for the interruption."
"You guys keep playing, I’m going to talk with him," Slite said to the other two Elders. They immediately returned their full attention to the chessboard.
"How are you adapting to the life of ordinary people?" Long Yi asked Slite as they walked away from the courtyard.
"If I told you that my heart has never been so tranquil, would you believe me?" Slite asked.
"I thought the Dragon Clan enjoyed fighting rather than tranquility," Long Yi said with a smile.
"Every intelligent being falls into the thrill of conquest. It’s the same for the Dragon Clan, humans, or even Giants. It’s just that the object of conquest varies," Slite said.
This time, it was Long Yi’s turn to be surprised, for it sounded completely unlike what a Dragon Clan Elder would say.
Seeing Long Yi’s expression, Slite erupted into laughter, "Strange, isn’t it? Foolish dragons speaking such philosophical words."
Feeling his thoughts exposed, Long Yi laughed awkwardly, "That’s not it."
But Slite shook his head and said, "It’s the truth. If it were not too long ago, I definitely couldn’t have thought of these things. But now, as an ordinary person without Dragon Power flowing inside of me, my mind seems clearer. I can think of many things I’ve never considered before, and see through secrets I’ve never understood. Only now do I realize how foolish we once were."
Long Yi didn’t speak, realizing that Slite seemed to have many things he wanted to say.
"You must be curious about why the Dragon Clan attacked the Giants in the first place," Slite said.
"Getting right to the point?" Long Yi laughed.
"Isn’t that what you want to know the most?" Slite laughed too.
"Alright, I’m ready," Long Yi exhaled. The secret he had waited a long time for might be disclosed now.
"It was the gods," Slite said blandly.
"Just as I thought," Long Yi said, but his heartbeat had quickened. He had thought countless times that within this Plane, the only ones who could make the mighty Dragon Clan confront even mightier Giants were the gods.
"I was there at the time, I saw the deity giving orders to the Dragon Emperor, and I also saw the Dragon Emperor’s resistance to that command. But that was a command from a god—it couldn’t be defied, nor could we defy it," Slite said.
"It is indeed a tragedy," Long Yi sighed. Although this answer had long been swirling in his mind, hearing it from Slite still made his heart race.
"In the past, we never questioned the deities. Even though we saw the resistance of the Dragon Emperor, we still took pride in executing the deity’s orders. Until recently, when I became human, when I no longer possessed Dragon Power, I suddenly recalled the events from back then, and I thought of many details I had never before considered," Slite paused, glancing around as if to ensure no one was eavesdropping.
And Long Yi unleashed his Divine Power in an explosion, sweeping over everything surrounding him, to ensure nothing went wrong.
"I believe that the god at that time was no longer the god who originally created us," Slite said.
"You mean, a fake?"
"I don’t know, but in fact, I had seen the god many times before. In my memory, she was always gentle and elegant. However, later on, she became more and more impatient, more and more hysterical, until she forcibly ordered the Dragon Clan to attack the Giants. That was the last time I saw her. She had transformed into someone I completely didn’t recognize, as if she had gone mad," Slite explained.
The Divine Worm!
Hearing Slite’s description, Long Yi immediately associated it with the incident involving the Divine Worm. According to the Divine Envoy girl’s explanation, the Divine Worm was the ability of another god. It was a fragment of thought that could parasitize in the consciousness of other gods, feed on Divine Power, and at the same time exert a subtle influence on the hosts.
If that was truly the case... then perhaps the gods were not to blame for the attack on the Giants!
Suddenly, Long Yi thought of something the Divine Envoy had said, "Have you ever seen parents who loathe their own children?"
"So-called secrets, once revealed, turn out to just be that, I suppose," Long Yi laughed.
"And this time, we were awakened once again by that god, only this time, she looked very strange," Slite said.
"Strange? How strange?" Long Yi asked, puzzled.
"Actually, we were awoken a hundred years ago, and she told us she would lift our curse if we believed in her. Precisely because of this, every sleeping dragon on Dragon Star established faith in her. Indeed, our curse did relax a bit. Yet we couldn’t feel the venerable presence we used to feel in the face of the original god. Though she was still high above, our faith only let us sense chaos," Slite said.
"Ah, right, there’s something that you might not know yet!" Long Yi suddenly remembered.
"What is it?"
"The god is already dead," Long Yi said.
"What!" Slite could hardly believe what he was hearing.
"The god is dead. She went mad, fracturing her Divine Status, Divine Soul, and consciousness into ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine parts. Therefore, the one who awoke you must be some controlled fragment of Divine Status," Long Yi explained.
"No wonder! That explains it! We were deceived!" Slite had his suspicions back on Dragon Star because the god had felt very wrong. And now, hearing Long Yi say this, it immediately confirmed his suspicions.
"We are so foolish!" sighed Slite heavily and then remained silently dejected.
In fact, despite the Dragon Clan’s repeated provocations, deep down, Long Yi never really regarded these enormous creatures as enemies. On the one hand, perhaps it was a Giant tradition, and on the other, Long Yi also felt these pitiful beings were absolutely manipulated by that so-called god. For these not so intelligent creatures with their power still sealed, they were indeed pitiful. Therefore, in all kinds of battles, Long Yi always refrained from utterly annihilating them, ultimately leaving a sliver of mercy.
"Those Black Dragons you captured, how are they?" Long Yi and Slite walked for a long time, and Slite, who had regained his spirits from despair, asked.
"They are all doing well. They have found a new faith, and their curse has been somewhat lifted," Long Yi said with a smile.
"What!" Slite could hardly believe it. The Black Dragons captured by Long Yi were able to have their curse lifted? And from Long Yi’s expression, it didn’t seem to be something bad, what was going on?
"Actually, regarding the matters of the god, whether you believe it or not, I do have a say," said Long Yi, revealing his own Divine Status. Instantly, an absolute pressure from a higher life level made Slite want to kneel, but Long Yi quickly retracted his Divine Status, supporting Slite back to his feet.
"My god, this is the true divine might... If you had shown your Divine Status earlier, wouldn’t the battle have ended long ago?" Slite’s voice trembled.
"That definitely wouldn’t have worked back then, because back then you all still believed in that god," Long Yi said.
"That impostor!" Slite said, his eyes trembling with anger.
"Actually, the reason I came looking for you this time is, on one hand, to inquire about the past events, and on the other hand, I have a favor to ask of you," Long Yi said seriously.
"Speak," Slite also said earnestly.
"One day, I will certainly enter the higher Plane and find Dragon Star, to confront that false god. But empowered by the faith of countless Giant Dragons, she might be very powerful. Therefore, I hope you can help me, return to Dragon Star, and dispel their worship of that false god," Long Yi said.(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation and monthly tickets at QiDian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
