“He doesn’t want to live anymore!?”
The few people watching Tian Fan’s current state were stunned, unable to believe their eyes. Even the divine dragon, who had previously closed its eyes in despair, now opened them wide, looking in shock at the frenzied human below.
At this moment, Tian Fan took a step forward, his face filled with grief and anger. The tragic appearance of the golden divine dragon and its unwilling gaze were deeply imprinted in his heart. Scenes of brutality surfaced in the depths of his soul, especially the last one, where he felt as though someone was slicing his heart with a knife.
At this time, the slowly retreating demonic hand actually halted and split again, forming a second demonic hand. It reached down toward Tian Fan, grabbing him tightly.
“Seventh Brother!” Long Yuyun screamed, trying to step forward, but was pulled back by Long Teng Aotian.
“Don’t go over, it’s dangerous!” Long Aotian shouted at Long Yuyun, not making a move himself. The old national teacher, who was beside him, was trying to heal his wounds and could no longer assist in time.
The pitch-black demonic mist enveloped Tian Fan, emitting a chilling cold that crazily eroded his flesh. However, in the depths of Tian Fan’s soul, a faint white light appeared, gently covering his body to prevent the black mist from corrupting him.
“Damn it, I’m cursed!”
The biting cold finally brought him back from his madness. He felt his head growing heavier and, reflecting on the recent events, even with his usually calm demeanor, he couldn’t help but curse angrily before passing out.
The demonic mist, wrapping around the golden divine dragon and Tian Fan, sank deeper into the enchanted forest until it disappeared. The old national teacher stood there for a moment, lost in thought, and then sighed softly before turning and walking toward the forest’s edge.
“Seventh Brother, did Seventh Brother really die just like that? Why did he run out!?” Long Yuyun gazed at the direction where the black mist had vanished, speaking sorrowfully to herself.
“Hmph! Of course, he’s dead! Do you really think such a worthless person could survive?” The Crown Prince, hearing Long Yuyun’s words, disdainfully said, still finding it necessary to mock Tian Fan. The Second Prince also had a sneer on his face, clearly agreeing with Long Aotian’s words.
“Let’s go, let’s head back.”
Seeing that the old man had already left, Long Aotian’s face showed a look of disappointment as he led the way back. His sadness wasn’t due to Tian Fan’s “death”; his lack of action to save Tian Fan made it clear that Tian Fan’s life or death was insignificant to him. His disappointment stemmed from the fact that they had accompanied the old national teacher without gaining anything.
Long Yueying glanced at the distant direction where Tian Fan had vanished, sighed softly, and led the sorrowful Long Yuyun away, contrasting sharply with her usual lively and mischievous demeanor.
The destructive aura that had pervaded the air also vanished completely, as if nothing had happened. Only the uneven pits on the ground and a few pieces of dragon scales stained with the divine dragon’s blood lay scattered, silently telling of the earth-shattering battle that had occurred.
It was unclear how much time had passed before Tian Fan slowly woke up, gradually opening his eyes. He sat up, and his eyes widened in shock, only to lie back down straight away.
This time, he wasn’t sure how long he had “slept.” When he regained consciousness again, he was reluctant to open his eyes.
“No, no, it must be an illusion. I must be seeing things. Yes, yes, it has to be!”
Tian Fan kept his eyes closed, silently repeating this in his mind, and finally mustered the courage to open his eyes. Once more, his eyes widened to twice their usual size, almost popping out. However, this time, he did not faint again.
“Damn it, this is unbelievable!”
He suddenly jumped up, and in front of him, countless bones were scattered around. The entire area for a hundred miles was covered in dry, lifeless bones. Heaven! How many people must have died to create such a scene? Countless corpses formed a massive mountain of bones, leaving Tian Fan in a state of shock beyond measure, even more so than when he had seen that terrifying demonic hand.
He looked up and saw something in the center of the countless bones, at the peak. There was a thick white mist emanating from that place, identical to the mist that always envelops the enchanted forest. However, the concentration of the white mist here was significantly higher than in any other part of the forest. The mysterious mist that had always lingered in this forest seemed to be drifting out from here.
“Hiss, hiss…”
Suddenly, a hissing sound came from his left side, startling him. His nerves were already on edge, and hearing such a sound in this eerie and ominous place was terrifying.
Tian Fan turned his head and looked to the side, seeing a massive creature covered in blood struggling to move on the ground. It was the golden divine dragon that had just awakened. Both he and the golden divine dragon had been grabbed by the black demonic hand and thrown here together.
Even though Tian Fan had personally experienced the overwhelming power of the golden divine dragon when it was born and knew its terror, in this bone-filled environment, he felt a strange sense of familiarity, as if meeting an old friend in a foreign land.
“Are you alright?”
As long as he wasn’t facing the cold faces of the Dragon Dynasty, he would truly free himself. He cautiously approached the golden divine dragon and, seeing its massive dragon head, asked with concern. After all, they were comrades who had been captured together!
The golden divine dragon seemed to hear Tian Fan’s words. It blinked its eyes with effort and then opened them. It first appeared stunned and then seemed to recall that the human in front of it was with the old man who had helped it, and then, for some unknown reason, had gone mad and run out, resulting in their joint capture.
“Are you alright?”
Tian Fan asked carefully, then suddenly felt foolish—after all, it wasn’t a person and couldn’t speak. But to his surprise, the dragon answered him, startling him.
“Temporarily alright…”
A weak voice came from the dragon’s mouth, and it was surprisingly a woman’s voice. Though weak, it was still quite pleasant to hear.
“You, you can actually talk?” Tian Fan asked, looking astonished.
The golden divine dragon appeared surprised again, apparently not expecting Tian Fan to ask such a question. She spoke again, “After reaching the divine dragon realm, I can transform into a human form and, of course, I can speak.”
Then she seemed to notice Tian Fan’s strange expression and asked, “Is there something wrong?”
Tian Fan smiled wryly at her and said, “Just look behind you…”
Seeing the expression on Tian Fan’s face, the golden divine dragon finally managed to turn its head with great difficulty. When she saw the scene before her, she was equally speechless with shock.
“This, this is…” she murmured. Even with her current status as a divine dragon, she could not make sense of the scene.
“I don’t know what’s going on either. As soon as I woke up, I saw this scene. By the way, where is that black demonic hand? I couldn’t sense it after I woke up since I haven’t practiced cultivation. Can you check if it’s still around?”
Seeing the shock on the dragon’s face, Tian Fan realized she had been greatly affected visually. He didn’t ask about her feelings but instead inquired about the demonic hand.
What worried him most was the possibility of that hand suddenly appearing and striking them again. He had seen the golden divine dragon being reduced to this state with just one slap. He didn’t think his fragile body could compare to the dragon’s robust physique.
“The presence of that hand has completely vanished, as if it never existed. It’s strange, where did it go?” The dragon then seemed to recall something and asked Tian Fan, “What did you just say? Did you say you’ve never practiced cultivation?”
Hearing that Tian Fan had never practiced cultivation, the dragon was astonished. She had clearly felt a divine aura surrounding him when he had gone mad and run out. Although the aura was faint, it was definitely real. How could someone who had never practiced have such an aura?
“No, I haven’t. Is there a problem? I’ve been unable to practice since birth,” Tian Fan said calmly, sensing the dragon’s confusion.
“It’s impossible, it can’t be…” she muttered, then asked Tian Fan, “Can I sense your blood?”
“My blood? What do you need it for?” Tian Fan asked cautiously.
“Don’t worry, I won’t harm you, and I’m quite powerless right now,” the dragon said weakly.
“Alright then.” Tian Fan thought about it and nodded. As an ordinary human, there was nothing much for the dragon to covet. He lightly bit his left hand’s middle finger, causing a drop of red blood to appear and trickle down his finger.
“Yes, that’s the aura!” The dragon once again sensed the divine aura in Tian Fan’s blood.
“Boom…”
At the same moment that the blood from Tian Fan’s middle finger began to flow, the entire mountain of bones suddenly erupted. The ground began to tremble slightly, and countless bones emitted an astonishing divine radiance.