Chapter 759: Nine Heavens Mad Dragon (5)

[You—!]

“Cough—!”

In his rage, he instinctively drew up his qi, but the possessed body could not endure it and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Blood burst from all seven orifices as his consciousness began to separate.

His vision flipped, and before the eyes of Baek Uja, the Lower Heaven Overseer, appeared the figures of the Rainbow Maiden and the Dark Maiden.

The two were looking at a basin in front of them, where the image of the Lower Heaven white dragon, collapsed and vomiting blood, was reflected.

It was clear the connection had been severed because the possessed body could no longer withstand it.

The voice of the Dark Maiden rang out.

“The connection has been cut.”

“Oh my, it seems we made a mistake. That body isn’t one that matches us well like Ji-ryeon’s... We didn’t properly account for the fact that we were descending into an ordinary cultivator’s body, so it seems the output was set a bit too high. And then he got angry on top of that...”

“Do you think he’s alive?”

“Well, even if it’s not Ji-ryeon, the level of power we permitted shouldn’t be enough to kill a Lower Heaven cultivator, but in that state... he’ll need at least a few years of recuperation. Oh dear... he’s still coughing up blood.”

At those words, Baek Uja frowned.

To descend into the Nine Heavens of the Lower Heaven, one had to obtain permission from its rulers—the Dark Maiden, Rainbow Maiden, and Plain Maiden.

It sounded simple, but in truth it was anything but.

It wasn’t something settled with a single sentence.

A complex contract had to be written, detailing numerous conditions.

How much power could be used in the Nine Heavens, how damages would be compensated if harm was caused, and so on.

It seemed there had been a slight issue with the clause regarding how much power could be used.

During possession, Baek Uja could not exceed the limits set by the three, but that limit had apparently been set too high.

Just as when they descended into their disciple’s body.

Recalling the surge of power he had unleashed in anger, Baek Uja’s fury flared up again.

“Damn it. Such a worthless body!”

The fact that their disciple of the Dark Maiden and Rainbow Maiden could endure that level of power, while a white dragon of his own lineage could not, made his blood boil.

At that moment, the voice of the Dark Maiden rang out again.

“Calm yourself, Baek Uja.”

“Ahem... m-my apologies, before the two of you.”

Baek Uja hurriedly apologized.

The Dark Maiden and Rainbow Maiden were high immortals.

No matter how powerful the dragon race currently was, he could not afford to be disrespectful before them.

Among female immortals with official rank, the Queen Mother of the West stood at the very top, and the three Maidens stood just beneath her.

He might have been stiff-necked when he came to protest, but now he had received their cooperation in allowing possession.

That was why he apologized—but an irritating voice followed.

“The child simply has poor aptitude. What is there to blame?”

“Exactly. Sister, if it were our Ji-ryeon, she would have endured that much easily.”

“Indeed.”

In truth, part of the fault lay with them.

After all, they had miscalculated the output of power.

Yet they brushed that aside and instead claimed the white dragon of the Lower Heaven simply lacked the aptitude to accept their descent.

The surge of anger that had risen in his chest earlier began to climb again.

Then the Dark Maiden spoke.

“Now then, what do you intend to do?”

She was asking how he would respond.

After a brief moment of thought, Baek Uja answered.

At this point, it was no longer something he could resolve alone.

He would have to gather the other Overseers and report it upward.

Because of the contract, he could not directly punish the man.

To do so would mean fighting the three Maidens themselves.

“First, I must gather the other Overseers of the Lower Heaven and discuss this.”

“The other Overseers?”

“Did I not mention it?”

“Ah... the officials responsible for the young dragons of the Lower Heaven, correct?”

“Yes, Dark Maiden.”

“There are eight in total, one for each color. I must consult with them. The growth of the Lower Heaven is something the higher realms pay close attention to...”

Though the dragon race was said to be thriving now, it still fell short compared to the past.

There were more dragons now, but their quality was different.

Thus, the growth of Lower Heaven dragon cultivators was an important concern even for the higher realms.

If that madman truly began slaughtering them, it would become a disaster.

'Damn it! That bastard made me think of the Golden Roc...'

As the thought surfaced, Baek Uja shuddered and rubbed the scales on his arms.

Still, it was fortunate.

At least that man had nothing to do with the descendants of the Golden Roc.

Baek Uja had personally experienced that terror shortly after ascending to the Upper Heaven.

A dreadful spirit born from the greed of dragons.

In its presence, one’s knees would weaken and tremble, unable to move.

It would approach slowly and swallow dragons one by one.

Even recalling it now was enough to ruin an entire day.

So this, at least, was fortunate.

Those dragons devoured by it still suffered from a shortage of high immortals.

Compared to that, this situation was manageable.

“Then I will take my leave.”

“Very well. We shall meet again.”

Seeing him off, Baek Uja quickly took out a treasure and flew into the sky.

Before that madman began slaughtering dragons, they had to reach a decision.

***

At the gathering of the Lower Heaven Overseers—

When Baek Uja explained the situation, the others gaped.

“What!? Such a madman exists?”

“A lunatic who lost his mind during cultivation?”

“We’ve stirred up a hornet’s nest for nothing.”

Madmen were not uncommon among cultivators, but someone this utterly unhinged was unheard of.

Even Overseers who had lived for hundreds or thousands of years had never encountered such a true lunatic.

Any living being normally valued its life.

But that madman seemed willing to erase his own existence entirely, so long as he could slap dragons across the face.

And what did it mean to have one’s existence erased?

To vanish completely into the deepest darkness of the universe.

An end worse than death—nothing but fear and despair.

“Tch. That woman Sua stirred up a lunatic and complicated everything.”

“Damn that woman. Why did she have to get entangled with a madman of all things?”

As the Overseers vented their anger toward Sua—

One of them, a red dragon, turned to Baek Uja.

“Can we not simply send the Lower Heaven rabble to deal with him?”

“Yes. Even if some of them die, that might be preferable.”

That was the opinion of the black dragon Overseer.

Both were aggressive by nature.

Even after becoming immortals, their fiery temper remained.

Baek Uja shook his head.

“I’ve already asked the ones below. Fighting him directly seems impossible.”

“Why?”

“You know the Dragon Kings of the Lower Heaven, don’t you?”

“Yes, the ones placed there to imitate higher authority. We use them to manage the rest.”

“The four Dragon Kings were subdued in a single move.”

“In a single move!?”

“All four at once?”

“One had his horn broken, another lost his teeth, and the other two were crumpled like paper. He could have killed them all in one move, but spared them.”

“...Hmph.”

The strongest cultivators in the Lower Heaven were at the Nascent Soul Stage.

Once one reached the Transformation Realm, one would automatically ascend to the Central Heaven.

So among those who remained, Nascent Soul cultivators were the strongest.

Yet all four had been subdued at once.

Even a Transformation Realm cultivator would struggle to defeat four Nascent Soul cultivators in a single move.

The shock was immense.

But what came next was even more shocking.

“And here’s the most unbelievable part. I asked the Dark Maiden—his age has only just passed twenty.”

Silence fell.

The air inside the hall froze.

Then, as if bursting, voices erupted.

“What!? T-twenty!?”

“A Nascent Soul cultivator at that age!?”

“Th-this is insane...”

In the heavenly realms, geniuses were as common as stones on the ground.

Anyone who attempted cultivation had to be a genius.

Cultivation was not something the mediocre could achieve through effort.

And dragons were not born in the Lower, Central, or Upper Heavens.

The density of spiritual energy was too high—eggs would die immediately.

So dragon eggs were sent to the mortal realm, and only the geniuses among those that hatched would ascend.

Countless died before ever reaching the heavens.

Everyone present had once been called a genius.

Which was why they understood how absurd this was.

Reaching the Lower Heaven at just over twenty was already astonishing.

But Nascent Soul?

That meant the Central Heaven was already within reach.

Only then did they fully grasp the nature of the being causing them such trouble.

A genius too extreme to distinguish from a madman.

Voices rose in agreement.

“There is no choice but to report this upward.”

“Agreed.”

***

The Dark Maiden and Rainbow Maiden were experiencing a thrilling sensation for the first time in a long while.

The dragons who usually ran rampant through the Upper Heaven were now making polite requests.

Even when they had shared a bed with the Yellow Emperor Gongsun Xuanyuan, it had not felt this exhilarating.

“Back then, it was more about teaching than excitement...”

“Dark Maiden?”

“Ah—m-my apologies. Yes, mediation?”

“Yes, Dark Maiden. I ask for your help.”

At first, when So-ryong explained his plan—threatening to slaughter dragons using his wives and spirit-creatures—they had been quite surprised.

Turning him into a madman and provoking the dragons directly seemed dangerous.

Even if they acted as a shield, it was still a direct provocation.

But as Soto had said—

Everything was unfolding exactly as predicted.

Just as the child had said, one of the Four Sea Dragon Kings—the East Sea Dragon King—had come.

“Children like him don’t listen well...”

“We’ve heard. But there is such a thing as pillow talk, is there not? What man can truly defeat his wife?”

At the sly remark, the Dark Maiden felt disgust.

He was essentially asking them to coax So-ryong, just as dragons had once manipulated the Jade Emperor.

Ordinarily, she would have refused outright.

But this had already been discussed beforehand.

“Then how about this?” she said.

“Do you have a solution?”

“Yes.”

The Dark Maiden nodded and explained the additional condition So-ryong had proposed.

“First, provide seven dragons—no, seven children. That is necessary. Otherwise, there is no solution.”

At that, the East Sea Dragon King frowned.

“That is no different from his original demand.”

But the Dark Maiden continued.

“In exchange, the dragons will be allowed to safely use the place where the energies of heaven and earth gather in the First Heaven under his control. He will protect them as they cultivate.

They will advance far faster than in the Eighth Heaven.”

At her words, the East Sea Dragon King’s eyes lit up.

Dragons normally used the seas of the Eighth Heaven for safe cultivation.

To instead grow safely at the very peak of the First Heaven—

It was an irresistible offer.

“Is that truly possible? And even if so, how can you guarantee he won’t harm other dragons?”

He clearly did not trust someone he considered a madman.

The Dark Maiden smiled faintly.

“There is no need to worry. That child never covets what he already possesses.”

The East Sea Dragon King’s eyes slowly changed.

They gleamed with interest.

It seemed he would soon nod.

Sensing that, the Dark Maiden recalled what So-ryong had said.

“Raise dragons with our own hands? What nonsense is that!?”

“Come on. They’re going to be eaten by Zihwa and Jayo anyway, so we should raise them properly before feeding them.”

“...Raise them before feeding them?”

“Yes. In the lower realm, they call that ‘raising and harvesting.’”

“Raising... and harvesting?”

“Raise them, then eat them.”

“...Oh ho!”