Chapter 565: I See Myself, I See Heaven and Earth

Liucang County. Before its capital city, a Cyan Dragon arrived.

The massive dragon coiled through the sea of clouds, its head visible but not its tail. Whether viewed from afar or up close, it was like a living myth.

Liucang County bordered the Xuecang River. The Dragon Race, under the Court’s jurisdiction, performed Cloud Formation and Rainfall. As a result, the local populace had a custom of revering and worshipping Dragon Gods.

However, much like the ancient tale of Ye Gong, who loved dragons only in drawings, people today were no different.

When the Divine Dragon was deep beneath the water or enshrined within a temple, it was a Divine Spirit, an ideal. But if it left the water and came ashore, was it still a god?

It would transform from a god into a demon!

Knees buckled, one after another, as people dropped to the ground. The common folk didn’t know if they were kneeling out of reverence or fear.

Nor did they know whether they knelt to the Cyan Dragon soaring through the clouds, or to the Prefect of Liucang County, who at that moment stood equally immense, a figure that touched the sky.

A Prefect of the Court, empowered by Heaven and Earth Transformation and tasked by imperial decree to protect the people, was akin to a local Divine Spirit.

Now, two divinities stood in opposition. Human and demon, face to face.

The Prefect spoke. “Dragon ahead, halt! Do not forget the pact between our two races!”

The Cyan Dragon fell silent for a moment before a youthful, clear voice, like that of an adolescent boy, rang out. “I am Ao Feng of the Dragon Race. I journey to Demon Suppression Pass for one reason only: to battle Xing Lan, who is ranked tenth on the Ten Thousand Spirits Celestial Pride List!”

The Cyan Dragon continued, “A challenge between Celestial Prides is well within the rules—not just within the pact between our two races, but within the pact of the Ten Thousand Races! Neither the Human Emperor’s Country nor the Nine Celestial Demon Countries can prevent it! Prefect, do you mean to stop me?”

—Prefect, do you mean to stop me?

These last words echoed through the layered clouds, rolling like a tidal wave through the void, its vibrations traveling from this horizon all the way to the distant sunset.

What breathtakingly bold words!

The Liucang County Prefect fell silent. Only when the evening wind stirred the clouds did his immense voice slowly drift out. “According to the pact of the Ten Thousand Races, if you, Dragon Monarch, are truly journeying only for a challenge, then I naturally should not stop you.”

As he spoke, his colossal, illusory form, which spanned from heaven to earth, shifted slightly to the side, a clear gesture of yielding the way.

The Prefect added, “I trust the Dragon Monarch will adhere to the agreement. As it is a challenge, let it be only that. Take no unnecessary actions. Harm no civilians. Do not damage the trust between our peoples! Otherwise…”

Before he could even finish the word “otherwise,” Ao Feng burst into a long laugh.

“Enough of your lecturing, old pedant!” The young man’s voice cracked like thunder, rolling through the endless sky and sea of clouds. “I am a Divine Dragon from the heavens! I receive the offerings of the people, so why would I harm my own followers? Don’t you underestimate me, you old sour-puss!”

With that, the Divine Dragon swished its tail.

The young voice faded into the distance, and the Cyan Dragon vanished with it into the sea of clouds.

It soared across Liangzhou, over countless mountains and rivers, heading for the distant Demon Suppression Pass!

After the Cyan Dragon departed, the Prefect’s towering, boundless illusory form also dissipated into the air.

The Prefect returned to his true form. Seated beneath the plaque symbolizing impartial justice, his body trembled slightly as he opened his eyes.

The moment his eyes opened, the Master waiting nervously beside him leaned forward. “Lord, that Ao Feng… you really just let him go? Can the words of that young dragon truly be trusted?”

Ao Feng was a young member of the Dragon Race, not yet one hundred years old, which was how he qualified for the Ten Thousand Spirits Celestial Pride List.

The Prefect stroked his short beard, a smile breaking across his stern face.

He said, “Ah, Cun Yuan, do you know the true meaning behind Ao Feng’s repeated declarations that, as a Dragon Monarch, he would not harm his own followers?”

The Master’s expression grew pensive. “Those words… they sounded like he was trying to curry favor with the populace. Could it be that this Ao Feng intends to compete for the Human Race’s Incense and Candlelight as well?”

The Prefect said, “The Ten Thousand Spirits Celestial Pride List has shifted. Ao Feng’s journey to Demon Suppression Pass to challenge Xing Lan seems like a personal matter, but in truth, it is a major event concerning two races. However, one must distinguish between those two races: the Dragon Race and the Demon Race!”

Indeed. From the Human Race’s perspective, “those not of our kind are sure to have different hearts.” Therefore, anything not human was simply a demon.

But in practice, how did the upper echelons of the Immortal Dynasty behave?

Among the highest ranks, intermarriage with Alien Races was a common occurrence!

Putting that aside, just within the waterways of the Human Race, nine of the ten great rivers were home to dragons. Even if they weren’t True Dragons, they were Flood Dragons or other demons with Dragon Race bloodlines.

The Court had ennobled the Dragon Race as gods of Cloud Formation and Rainfall, permitting the common people to build Dragon King Temples and offer Incense and Candlelight in worship.

Over the long term, the Dragon Race had come to live more comfortably within the Human Race’s territory than in the lands of the Demon Race!

So, then, did the Dragon Race belong to the Human Race, or to the Demon Race?

In the past, this question actually had a clear answer.

The Dragon Race, having received titles from the Human Emperor and being subject to his commands, should rightfully be considered dragons of the Human Race!

But everything began to change, subtly, ten years ago, from the moment the Hengshui Dragon King stirred up monstrous waves outside Pinglan City.

After the Hengshui Dragon King wreaked havoc and was suppressed by the forces at Pinglan City, the Court issued a formal reprimand. Since then, the Old Dragon King has remained submerged at the bottom of the river, not emerging for ten years.

The relationship between the Human Race and the Dragon Race has grown more tense with each passing day.

But now, the Prefect chuckled. “Ao Feng has come ashore, and though it is for a challenge, the fact that he’s trying to win over the people shows that the Xue Cang Dragon King’s faction is unwilling to give up the Incense and Candlelight of the Mortal World. It seems the Human Race’s rising fortune on the Ten Thousand Spirits Celestial Pride List isn’t just a source of crisis; it has its benefits as well.”

The Master nodded repeatedly, his voice filled with admiration. “As expected, my Lord. Your insight is as sharp as ever, able to discern the grandest truths from the smallest details!”

The Prefect stroked his short beard, his gaze drifting toward the west, and fell silent.

When the Prefect remained silent, the Master pondered for a moment and added, “I wonder what the outcome of Ao Feng’s challenge against Xing Lan Fairy will be. When I think it over, a victory for him would be bad, but so would a defeat. It’s truly a vexing situation.”

His words carried a profound meaning!

The Prefect’s expression shifted. He pulled his gaze back from the distant west, chuckled, and then sighed. “Cun Yuan, you’ve just reminded me of something. It seems I should pen a letter and have it sent to Brother Sun in Demon Suppression City.”

Sun Qiong, the Inspector of Demon Suppression City, was a good friend of the Liucang County Prefect. A private message from the Prefect couldn’t be sent directly to the Grand Governor’s Mansion at Demon Suppression Pass, but there was no issue sending one to Sun Qiong.

Demon Suppression Pass. Xun Wind Camp, inside Grand General Guo’s Mansion, in a Celestial Level Cultivation Room.

Song Ciwan had long since emerged from her first twenty-year session of Cultivation and was now proceeding with her third.

Of the three hundred and sixty acupoints in her body, she had now opened three hundred and fifty-nine!

Only the final acupoint remained, a truly monumental and difficult hurdle to overcome.

After a string of breakthroughs as unstoppable as splitting bamboo, Song Ciwan found herself stuck at this final, crucial juncture. A faint feeling grew within her: ‘This last barrier cannot be broken through in the Cultivation Space.’

She had to return to the real world. She had to perceive the body as its own heaven and earth, the flesh and blood as a great furnace, the acupoints as stars in a constellation. Only then could she truly glimpse the ultimate realm!

Without hesitation, she returned to the present world.

The immense temporal distortion between the two worlds did nothing to diminish Song Ciwan’s fierce will to break through.

Inside the Celestial Level Cultivation Room, dense Vitality surged toward her, intermingled with a strange, indescribable energy that constantly battered her limbs and bones, her meridians and acupoints—every inch of her body.

She opened her mouth. One by one, Elixirs suffused with a potent aura tumbled from the Heaven and Earth Scale, falling like a steady stream of raindrops into her mouth.

The Elixirs dissolved the instant they touched her tongue, their medicinal power erupting like a volcano.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!