Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Do dragons really exist in the world?
No one really knows. Even though ancient books have mentioned dragons, those were, after all, just books. No one had the nerve to draw any conclusion without seeing them with their own eyes.
However, this day, Yuwen Xiu saw a dragon that only existed in legends.
Lu Fan looked at the black carp suspended in the air before him. This was the one that came to the fore among the thousands of fishes.
This black carp might not be the strongest or the fattest, but it was the right one…
Lu Fan would always catch the right fish.
And this black carp was precisely the right fish.
Lu Fan sat in his wheelchair, his white clothes fluttering in the wind. Like two naughty little snakes, the two strands of hair hanging over his forehead were also blowing in the wind.
He lifted his finger. The way to activate the Transformation Technique came up in his head.
Buzz…
His finger gave off a golden radiance as if he was picking up a burning golden flower. He pointed at the black carp.
The black carp’s body started to rock as it kept opening and closing its mouth.
In Lu Fan’s head, his Soul Strength had started to reduce. Such a reduction was permanent, impossible to reverse.
Lu Fan stopped when three points of his Soul Strength had been consumed.
Three points of his Soul Strength were already the upper limit for this black carp.
As the black carp was tumbling, its body lengthened, fluttering in the wind like an eel.
It changed from a black carp to a black eel.
Its scales gave off a golden light. Its gill enlarged and thickened until it encircled its entire head.
Four lumps bulged from the fish’s belly as if claws were about to grow out of them.
Yuwen Xiu and the old eunuch, who stood at the front of the boat, were both trembling.
They felt it incredible.
The teenager pointed at the fish, and the black carp transformed into a dragon!
How mysterious that was.
Was that a legendary dragon?
Yuwen Xiu flushed.
He was the emperor. Emperors were usually compared to dragons. However, this day, he saw a real dragon.
On the boat…
Sitting in the wheelchair, Lu Fan frowned.
“The black carp has been transformed indeed, but it’s not a dragon. It’s only a jiao dragon…”
“Water snakes can transform to jiao dragons, but so can fishes?”
A jiao dragon was not really a dragon, which meant Lu Fan had not successfully bred a Heavenly Dragon yet, so he was not prompted that the task had been completed.
Why couldn’t he transform the fish into a dragon in one step?
Lu Fan tried to ponder on this. Even Bai Qingniao’s chick could be transformed into a phoenix. Why couldn’t this black carp, transformed by him in person, turn into a dragon?
“Dragon Raising Site…,” Lu Fan murmured.
Then his pupils constricted.
Maybe, he would need to raise it to transform it into a dragon.
Was that the reason that a Dragon Raising Site existed?
Lu Fan shook his head lightly after figuring this out.
The black jiao dragon was more than three feet long. As it floated in the air, its silklike body kept swaying.
Beiluo Lake was a Dragon Raising Site. As long as the black jiao dragon stayed in the lake, it was only a matter of time for it to become a dragon.
However, this black jiao dragon could not be kept at the Dragon Raising Site quietly, because in Lu Fan’s plan, it was the start of the next Secret Realm.
With his white clothes gently fluttering, he extended his hand. Lu Fan patted the black jiao dragon on the head, with the latter rubbing its head against the palm of Lu Fan’s hand like a kitty. Then it lay on its stomach on the boat, obedient and tame.
“Tell them to come.”
His voice came through the thick fog, as Lu Fan leaned on the back of his wheelchair.
“Your Majesty, Young Master is ready to see Your Majesty,” Ning Zhao said.
Not until then did Yuwen Xiu and the old eunuch come to themselves. They were shocked. Yuwen Xiu’s face was extremely red. The old eunuch lowered his head, nervous and terrified.
Young Master Lu from Beiluo was even more mysterious than what the rumor had said.
Their boat rocked. It finally rocked up to Lu Fan’s boat.
In his wheelchair, Lu Fan showed them a gentle smile while looking so graceful in his white clothes. He cupped his hands at Yuwen Xiu.
“Your Majesty.”
“Young Master Lu… There is no need to stand on ceremony…”
Yuwen Xiu waved his hand. He even stammered.
Lu Fan smiled, waving his sleeves. Instantly, the thick fog over the lake vanished. The glistening lake surface became visible again.
The sound of seagulls flapping their wings echoed in the air.
“May I know what Your Majesty came for?” Lu Fan asked.
The old eunuch next to Yuwen Xiu lowered his head, not even daring to breathe hard.
Ning Zhao stayed silent too.
Yuwen Xiu took a deep breath. Standing at the front of the boat, he enthusiastically looked at Lu Fan.
“The late emperor Yuwen Tuo, with the Imperial Advisor Kong Xiu’s help, opened up new territories and made Great Zhou prosper.”
“The Imperial Advisor recommended Master to us. Today we came to Beiluo in person to invite Master to the capital city and help restore the honor of Great Zhou with us!”
Yuwen Xiu flushed. He was extremely excited as he closed his fists.
He needed Lu Fan. He needed Lu Fan’s help.
Next to him, the old eunuch slightly trembled.
Your Majesty… Restrain yourself…
This Young Master Lu was, after all, a mysterious cultivator.
However, Yuwen Xiu was very excited.
But Lu Fan only shook his head with a small smile. With one hand on the chin, he looked at the chessboard before him. Rolling up his sleeve and picking up a chess piece, he started to set up a composition to recover his Soul Strength.
“It can’t be the Imperial Advisor. The Imperial Advisor doesn’t want me to have any connection with Your Majesty.”
Lu Fan placed a chess piece on the chessboard, smiling gently.
His response rained on Yuwen Xiu’s parade.
“With Master’s talent, if you can help us, Great Zhou will absolutely prosper!” Yuwen Xiu added immediately.
However, Lu Fan did not hurry to respond to him. “The Imperial Advisor once asked me, what would it take to establish power, eliminate aristocratic families, and kill disciples of the Hundred Schools? He asked me my opinion about the world.”
“I told him that the underworld, the imperial court, and the world could stay the way they are. Why would they matter to me?”
“Now, I’m giving Your Majesty the same answer.”
“That being said, since Your Majesty got an Immortal encounter, I have another remark to make.”
“In the current world, the Immortals are implementing their strategies, Spirit Qi has been recovered, and ancient Secret Realms are frequently popping up… The Immortals are tricking the mortal with chess pieces. And what I’m aiming to do is to fight the Immortal. It’s fun to fight the Immortal,” Lu Fan said.
Yuwen Xiu held his breath.
The old eunuch, with his head lowered, turned extremely pale.
Standing still on the lake, Ning Zhao showed a smile on her pretty face.
“How could the mortal fight the Immortal…” Yuwen Xiu said after swallowing his saliva.
A breeze blew slowly as Lu Fan sat in his wheelchair. “I’m not a mortal. Why couldn’t I fight the Immortal?”
Yuwen Xiu did not know how to answer.
However, he did not want to give up. He saw hope in Lu Fan. He saw the hope to suppress the rebellion, make the Great Zhou rise, and recover its prosperity.
Gnashing his teeth, Yuwen Xiu took a step backward. He bowed deeply to Lu Fan.
Lu Fan, alone on his boat, did not speak.
Yuwen Xiu did not give up.
He cupped his hands again.
He kept the same gesture for a long time. It was extremely quiet on the lake.
Since he had kept the same gesture for too long, beads of sweat formed on Yuwen Xiu’s forehead.
In the end, Lu Fan let out a sigh.
He waved his hand, and a refreshing wind blew by, lifting Yuwen Xiu up.
“Fine. Fine…”
“Just like I can always catch the right fish.”
“Your Majesty happened to see the fish transform into a jiao dragon here. It’s because the timing was right,” Lu Fan said in a low voice as he still sat in the wheelchair, with one hand on his chin and the other hand touching the wool blanket on his legs.
Yuwen Xiu was pleasantly surprised. Had Lu Fan agreed?
However, as soon as Lu Fan waved his hand, the black jiao dragon—that was lying on its stomach on the boat—sprang to its feet like a bolt of black silk lightning. It growled in a hoarse voice.
“This is a black jiao dragon. It hasn’t transformed into a dragon yet. But once it does, it will possess a tremendous force and can be compared to a cultivator in Internal Organs Realm,” Lu Fan said.
“If Your Majesty can tame this jiao dragon today, it means you two are right for each other, and I can gift this jiao dragon to Your Majesty so that Your Majesty can keep it at the Dragon Raising Site in the capital city.”
“I can also help Your Majesty with Your Majesty’s concerns and do what Your Majesty doesn’t have the nerve to do,” Lu Fan said indifferently.
Yuwen Xiu’s pupils constricted.
What he did not have the nerve to do… What would that be?
After thinking for a while, he figured it out. Trembling, he took a deep breath. He looked at Lu Fan enthusiastically.
“Deal,” Yuwen Xiu said.
“Your Majesty is the emperor. Why would I joke with Your Majesty?” Lu Fan said slowly.
Then, Yuwen Xiu looked at the black jiao dragon.
His boat approached it.
Yuwen Xiu extended his hand carefully to touch it.
However, the black jiao dragon, extremely tame next to Lu Fan, bared its teeth like a vicious dog as soon as Yuwen Xiu extended his hand. A threatening atmosphere lingered in the place.
Yuwen Xiu took two or three steps back. His face was slightly pale.
The old eunuch hurried to hold onto Yuwen Xiu.
Yuwen Xiu, gnashing his teeth, did not give up. He tried to approach the black jiao dragon by hook or by crook.
However, the black jiao dragon was so aloof that it did not respond to Yuwen Xiu at all.
Lu Fan, who was sitting in his wheelchair, with one hand on his chin and the other hand playing with the chess pieces, watched this with a faint smile.
Yuwen Xiu was a little frustrated after having tried all kinds of ways. He even started to doubt himself.
He was the real dragon and the son of heaven. Why couldn’t he attract a dragon?
All of a sudden…
Yuwen Xiu’s pupils slightly constricted.
He suddenly got to his feet on the boat while still staring at the black jiao dragon.
Then he took out a dagger and drew the blade across the palm of his hand. Blood spattered.
He continued staring at the black jiao dragon frantically.
The black jiao dragon, which had initially been uninterested in Yuwen Xiu, was then attracted by the emperor’s blood.
It suddenly flew out to wrap itself around Yuwen Xiu’s arm. Then it licked the emperor’s blood.
The old eunuch turned pale. With a trembling body, his face was filled with fear.
Ning Zhao’s pupils constricted.
Lu Fan’s hand playing with the chess pieces paused. His eyebrow was slightly raised.