Chapter 515 - The Curse of the Dragon Mark

Over a month had passed since that earth-shattering battle between Yun Jiansheng and Pi Luo. However, the impact it caused was far from over. The Great Dao had meted out divine retribution, and the rain that extinguished spirit opportunities had continued for several days. The once-prosperous five domains now had few spiritual opportunities left, leaving them desolate.

The Central Continent, where the main battlefield was located, undoubtedly suffered the most. More than half of its cultivators had perished. Moreover, divine flames had first raged across the land, and the divine blood Pi Luo spilled upon his death blanketed the continent. At a glance, everything was a bloody red. Cultivators with slightly lower cultivation would perish if they approached recklessly. The area had nearly turned into a forbidden zone.

Over half a month ago, the surviving outer domain cultivators fled in terror and returned to the Ancient Cang Realm. They struggled to express their feelings in a single word. Apart from lingering fear, there was only regret. After learning that, aside from Pi Luo, another divine clan was also sealed within the continent, they fled even faster. The mere thought of it was too terrifying.

It was a stark contrast to before they arrived, when they had been full of confidence and carried a high and mighty attitude. They truly believed they could easily defeat the natives and claim the opportunities for themselves. Now, they had been trembling with fear, treading as if on thin ice.

After all, not only had Gu Han and Mei Yun thoroughly taught them a lesson, but they had also witnessed a merciless battle of epic proportions. They couldn't thank the heavens enough for escaping with their lives. They would never come back, even if beaten to death. As they left, each of them engraved this resolve in their hearts.

***

After the great battle, Fatty and his group had temporarily settled in the Great Flame Empire’s capital in the Eastern Wasteland. They silently gathered inside Feng Xi’s travel palace. Their faces bore traces of hardship and exhaustion, and their eyes were filled with worry. Even Zhou Ye and Wang Yong had temporarily lost the desire to spar with each other.

Fatty sighed. “Where did he go? That bastard has only been back for a short while, and he’s gone missing again!”

The one they worried about was, of course, Gu Han. Over a month ago, Feng Xi had returned to the Eastern Wasteland to deliver the Dragon Mark and Dragon Seal to Yun Zhan. She then told everyone about Gu Han and Chongming pursuing Yun Tu. They had all joined the search, nearly turning the Western Desert upside down, yet they still hadn't found any trace of Gu Han. The sole discovery was a trace of blood Gu Han had left outside the forbidden zone.

During this time, Fatty and Yan Qianjue, along with several Feather Transformation realm cultivators, had joined forces to enter the depths of the forbidden zone. However, they had been forced back midway by the endless demonic projections and bizarre phenomena, unable to go any further. And the place they had reached was still far away from that valley full of human-faced flowers.

Yan Qi muttered to himself, “Could Senior have—”

Zhao Mengyou turned pale as she cut him off, “No! He won’t die! He survived a death trap like the Profound Pill Pavilion! This time, he'll surely make it back alive as well!”

Beside them, Xue Yu, Zuo Yang, and Yu Miao all nodded heavily. Meanwhile, Mei Yun just sighed, unable to help in any way.

In the distance, Feng Xi was still somewhat pale. It seemed that even after a month had passed, her injuries hadn’t recovered in the slightest. Sorrow still lingered in her eyes from the death of the Flame Emperor. Ultimately, she still found it hard to let go.

Just as everyone was at a loss, a sigh sounded, and two figures landed in the area. They were Yun Zhan and Yun Fan. Compared to before, Yun Zhan’s cultivation had already reached the Feather Transformation realm, and there was even a faint, inexplicable aura about him. As for Yun Fan, his cultivation had also reached the peak of the Transcendent realm, just one step away from stepping into the Saint realm. These improvements came from refining the Dragon Mark and Dragon Seal.

Feng Xi glanced at Yun Zhan. “Done?”

Yun Zhan nodded as a hint of reminiscence and worry flashed in his eyes. “Done.”

The Flame Emperor was dead. Setting aside the sorrow, the curse within the Dragon Mark would now fall on him to bear. There was no way for him to escape it.

Yan Qianjue frowned slightly. “I don’t understand why you didn't refine both items completely? That way, your combat strength would reach an even higher level.”

Yun Zhan shook his head. “No. The Dragon Mark and the Dragon Seal cannot be held by one person. That is the rule of the Dragon Ancestor bloodline. Of course, this rule only existed later.”

In the past, inheriting the Dragon Mark meant inheriting the Dragon Seal as well. However, letting one person hold two supreme treasures carried a great risk—they could be lost forever, never to be recovered. But the most important reason was the curse within the Dragon Seal.

Once, the Dragon Ancestor bloodline had nearly faced extinction because of a former Dragon Mark master. Affected by the curse, he had mistakenly killed his own son. From then on, his temperament had drastically changed, and his methods had become extremely cruel and venomous.

The Dragon Ancestor bloodline had paid an unimaginably painful price to barely subdue him. Their experts were nearly wiped out, and their vitality was severely damaged. From that day on, they vanished from the world, never appearing before anyone again. Learning from the painful lesson, the remaining clansmen had made the decision to split the Dragon Mark and Dragon Seal.

Even so, because the curse remained, tragedies of father and son turning against each other were still common. Whether voluntary or not, they had nearly gone extinct under internal strife and external threats to this day, leaving only a scattered few.

Yun Zhan sighed as he reached this point. “Hence, to avoid repeating the past tragedies, the requirements for the Dragon Mark master’s temperament are especially high. This is also why the mark chose my elder brother even though he was clearly inferior to Yun Ao.”

Everyone sighed with emotion. They hadn’t expected that the reason the Dragon Ancestor bloodline was so rare was actually this. Subconsciously, they turned their gazes to Yun Fan. Would the curse of kin slaying also play out between this father and son?

Yun Zhan glanced at Yun Fan with complex emotions. “There’s no escape. This is my elder brother’s fate, and also the fate of you and me. No matter what happens in the future, you must always remember the Dragon Ancestor’s legacy and your responsibility as the master of the Dragon Seal. Understood?”

Yun Fan lowered his head. After inheriting the Dragon Seal, he had learned the true secrets of his bloodline, including the curse. As much as he refused to accept it, as the descendant, he had no choice.

He sighed inwardly. Being the Dragon Ancestor’s descendant is a hundred times harder than being Brother Gu’s lackey!

Mei Yun, who had always been very inconspicuous, stepped forward and pointed at Yun Zhan’s brow. “Curse? Are you talking about this thing?”

Even someone as composed as Yun Zhan lost his composure. “Y-you can see it?”

“Yeah.”

Mei Yun looked puzzled, thinking to himself, Isn’t this a very simple matter? I can see and absorb it just fine! Then, I can even make others unfortunate!

After a pause, he added, “Your cultivation is so high, yet you can’t see it?”

No one could say anything back.