Chapter 467: Nero, the Immortal Dragon King
"NERO!!"
Dian Wei hadn't been guarding Xiangyang idly. She had returned to Nero's cave several times to deliver Siren City's spring water.
After getting so many SRs of Unified Element Spring Water to the point that he could bath in them, Nero restored his former strength and weakened the sealing chains on his body.
For the sake of avoiding the attention of Uriel and other War Droid Wardens, he purposely left the chains on him even though he could have broken out whenever he wanted to.
But now, Nero's favorite elixir factory was being threatened by a weak wolf-like Taotie, he couldn't sit still anymore.
He decided to break his seals to protect Miaomiao's home.
The chains that had been binding Nero were destroyed, and the seal was broken. The dragon's cultivation base sharply rose.
Nero neither cultivated Star Constellation Physique nor Immortal Saint Method. He was using something superior as it was custom-made for true dragons.
Immortal Dragon Method was Nero's personal technique. It was categorized into nine levels.
Immortal Dragon Soldier
Immortal Dragon Knight
Immortal Dragon Baron
Immortal Dragon Viscount
Immortal Dragon Earl
Immortal Dragon Marquis
Immortal Dragon Duke
Immortal Dragon Prince
Immortal Dragon King
Nero's true cultivation base was the Immortal Dragon King Realm, which was the highest rank that an immortal dragon could possess.
He was only a rank below the Divine Dragon Realm. Moreover, he was stronger than ordinary Immortal Saints, who took the easy way out. Only a few individuals who condensed at least 200 Constellation Stars could be his opponent. As for the rest, they were too weak for his standard.
Now, in Nero's eyes, the Taotie King was like a small puppy.
"HAHAHAHA!! SURPRISE, MOTHERFUCKER! You dare to bare the milk-stinking fangs at me? You must have gone senile after I imprisoned you in a void subspace, puppy!"
"You… you're supposed to be sealed! How!?"
Nero sneered and glanced behind him.
Currently, Miaomiao and Siren City's combatants were hovering over the city. A new protection array had been erected, and many Anti-Air Cannons had been set up on top of the walls, pointing at the Taotie King.
Even Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, and the cyclops revealed their true forms, holding their war maces and clubs.
If Miaomiao were to send a signal, all of them would rush the Taotie to protect their precious city!
Seeing that Dian Wei's husband and his family were safe, Nero was relieved. He turned around to mock Taotie King, Ling Tianlong, and other hostile visitors.
"Those weak seals are nothing to me. I could have broken out of that cave whenever I wanted, but I didn't do it because I'm an upright dragon! Also, you forgot something, little puppy. Whenever Holy Land Tournament is about to begin, immortals like me are free to tour around this mortal world! You think I'll hole up in my cave all day when you break out from the prison!? You think that I, the Guardian and the Warden of Aves Continent, will leave you alone!?"
Hearing the dragon's declaration, the cultivators were both shocked and relieved. They either cupped their fists or kowtowed to the giant dragon in reverence and admiration.
Aside from Miaomiao's gang, everyone misunderstood Nero as a heroic dragon, who had been protecting this continent in secret for years. Little did they know, Nero was actually a criminal from the Immortal Realm and was sentenced to do his time here in the mortal world.
Taotie King shrunk back and reprimanded Ling Tianlong with his eyes. He blamed his contractor for summoning him at the worst possible time.
Ling Tianlong was also flabbergasted. He knew that immortal dragons were often sealed in a random mortal world to replenish the world's natural resources for the local cultivators. However, he never knew that an Immortal Dragon King was hiding on this continent.
Moreover, Nero seemed to be Miaomiao's ally!
Ling Tianlong ground his teeth and glared at Miaomiao, who had been floating behind the dragon.
'You again!! Your influence reaches everywhere, Mao Miaomiao! Just because you have a deity backer, a silver-spoon bastard like you can get to enjoy life while I have to risk my life for leftover cultivation resources! You never know hardship. You never know the harshness of this world! Do you think it's fair for a lucky bastard like you to stand toe to toe with me, someone who worked my ass off to this far!? Of course not! You're still below me, Mao Miaomiao! Without your backers, you're nothing! You're just a piece of trash!'
If looks could kill, Miaomiao would have died 888 times over.
Ling Tianlong still thought that Miaomiao got this far because powerful seniors had been pampering the latter. As egotistic as he was, he believed that Miaomiao lacked real experience, and he looked down on him.
He even forgot that Miaomiao had crushed him in the previous fight!
While both immortal monsters were glaring at each other, Uriel and Azazel returned. They appeared between the two immortals.
Uriel turned to the dragon, "You broke out of prison without my permission. Even if you can come out, you can't just wander on your own! This action will have a consequence, Nero."
"Pfft, if you have to punish someone, how about you punish that puppy for trying to erase a mortal city! I violated the rules to protect the innocent mortals! Go and ask them if you don't believe me! All I did was eating that puppy's spicy ball before it hits the city!"
Nero was smart. He knew that Uriel would show up since many War Droids were in charge of monitoring criminal dragons and maintaining the balance of the three realms. Therefore, he intentionally created an image as a savior or a hero.
The cultivators, beastmen, and visitors of Siren City also shouted, trying to appeal to the archangel.
"The dragon was protecting us! He isn't the bad guy! Leave him alone!"
"That monster dog tried to kill us first! The dragon saved our lives! Please don't punish it!"
Uriel could hear them. He paused and spread his Karmic Sense, reviewing the past events of this place.
This War Droid could see past events like Kang Yan did. However, his vision was clearer and more detailed. He could even hear the conversation between Nero and Taotie King when they first came out.
"I see."
Uriel turned away from Nero and stared at Taotie King. He pointed his finger at the fiend.
"Attempted murder, escaped from the void prison, scammed a mortal into making a soul-bound contract… Right, you are the one behind the fiend armies that have been slaughtering numerous mortals recently. That adds proxy murder, mass genocide, terrorism, treason, and mortal-world trespassing to the charges. I can add more, but those are enough to put you on a guillotine. Taotie King, will you follow me to the Holy Continent for a trial, or will you die resisting? Make your choice."
The Taotie King didn't bother listening to Uriel. It cut through the space and scattered its soul fragments into a million pieces to escape. The shards entered shadows of objects and people randomly while its main body jumped into the crack in the sky.
Azazel shook her head while Uriel sighed. The latter disappeared while the former ignored the commotion and returned to the Holy Land to finish her boss' businesses.
A breath later, everyone in the city could hear a muffled explosion from the underground and from their shadows. Semi-transparent smoke came out as if someone had fought in there.
Meanwhile, the contractor of Taotie King, Ling Tianlong, suddenly vomited several mouthfuls of blood. He fell from the sky.
Ling Cao panicked. He caught Ling Tianlong before the latter could fall to his death.
Still, their reputation had already been reduced to dirt. The local people glared at them as if they were the common enemy of mortals and mankind.
Before the local people started attacking them, Huang Hansheng grabbed both Ling duo and dragged them into the vortex portal. The other followers, who were Liu Biao's representatives, also followed them.
The archer had already noticed the gate and the announcement on the boulders. He decided to hide in the Selection Tournament Ground before the local cultivators and Miaomiao could start ganging on them.
After all, this place was their enemy's turf. Even the deities were helping them. They were at a disadvantage.
Seeing Huang Hansheng and representatives from Liu Biao ran with their tails under their legs, Nero scoffed. He turned around to wink at Miaomiao and Dian Wei.
"Was I cool?"
Miaomiao gave the dragon a thumbs up, "Yeah, you were cool as fuck. Thank you for your help, senior."
"That was nothing. Be sure to continue supplying me with the water. It is delicious!"
"Sure. I'll throw in a few fruits for side dishes."
"That will be great. Oh, well. I'm still doing my time. I need to go back to that cave."
"But you're free, though."
Nero sighed, "Temporarily. That droid will come back for me if I continue to linger outside. I'm supposed to be in that prison cave."
As soon as Nero said that, he and Miaomiao heard the voice transmission of Uriel.
'Nero, you are permitted to play outside as long as you don't harm any mortal. But if immortal idiots provoke you, my divine sense will temporarily stop working, so I won't be seeing or hearing anything. As for you, Miaomiao. I've peeled all the connate providence power around Ling Tianlong, and the stage is set. Go kill Ling Tianlong and get this over with.'
Nero burst into laughter as he got permission to retaliate against rude immortals. He stretched and chose to land in the southern area of Siren City to walk around. Unfortunately, his large stature crushed some man-eating termite nests in the process.
As for Miaomiao, upon being reminded to kill Ling Tianlong, he remembered a question that he had always wanted to ask Uriel and Devil, but he always forgot about it.
Miaomiao sent his telepathic voice back to the sender.
'Senior, if you're so powerful, why don't you kill Ling Tianlong yourself?'
'True. I could have done that easily.'
'But why are you leaving it to me?'
'First off, I would have been cursed by Ling Tianlong or Xie Tian's Heavenly Fate and their Connate Providence. Their mortal status makes things worse since the curse power would have been multiplied by a thousand folds. My cultivation base and my Dao Providence would have been destroyed if I were to lay my hands on them without thorough preparation. Even if they were to become immortals, I would have still been cursed.'
'Wait a minute. Will I be cursed too if I kill them!? Are you throwing this trashy job to me!?'
'Don't misunderstand. No mortal can be cursed by Connate Providence Power of Heavenly Fate Power if they kill a fate bearer. On the contrary, a mortal's simple techniques could absorb their luck and fate if the practitioner was responsible for the fate bearer's death.'
'… So, I would have been rewarded instead of being cursed?'
'Exactly. That's why we need a mortal to kill those "Mortal Protagonists". We are nurturing you while we're preventing the damn curses from reaching us at the same time. Understand what we're aiming for? Two birds in one stone?'
'Yeah, I can see the picture. So you're killing immortal protagonists in the higher realms?'
'Obviously. Devil has been manipulating Kishin Douji to kill several immortal protagonists and let him bear the curses. Haven't you noticed that Lu Fengxian and Ling Tianlong were both killed by that Oni God? Our "Devil" has been busy, I tell you.'
Uriel's words cleared some of Miaomiao's doubts. It seemed that a greater power was preventing the deities from harming the protagonists, aka Plot Armor in Miaomiao's dictionary.
It was stupid and illogical since those deities should have been in control of their fates and destiny. Instead, they were still restricted by an unknown power, which didn't make sense.
Miaomiao was irritated every time that he thought of this development as a novel plot. If his life was a novel, he would have cursed the author so that his novel would flop. The cliché was overdone already!
'So, you guys are villains as well?'
Uriel's voice cracked for a moment, 'I'd rather be neutral characters that uphold the balance of the universe and multiverse.'
Again, Uriel slipped some vital info.
Miaomiao grinned. This guy seemed to know something about the multiverse, and he would extort the info out of him later.
But for now, Ling Tianlong and Huang Hansheng had already crossed the portal into the secret plane. Miaomiao needed to follow after them to kill them all.
Urgent tasks took priority. If Miaomiao didn't seize this opportunity, there might not be another chance to kill Ling Tianlong again.
…
If a cultivator had good eyesight, they could easily witness the commotion at Siren City from kilometers away.
Many cultivators flew in the sky, watching the brief contact between Nero and Taotie King in fright.
Among the crowd, a pretty man in red robes stared at Ling Tianlong, Huang Hansheng, Nero, and Taotie King with round eyes.
Zhou Gongjin was confused. This event never happened in his previous life.
'What's going on over there!? Why is Ling Tianlong in that state!?'
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶