Chapter 26: The Last Guardian

The ancient battlefield was gone.

Ao Kuiba stood in an empty void, there were no remains of the battle, there was no sky, no mountains, no anything but a grey expanse. Except the translucent woman that floated in front of Ao Kuiba.

She looked at him expectantly and curiously, "Well, this is embarrasing."

Ao Kuiba stayed silent.

"I’ve been waiting thousands of years for someone to find the bone and the first thing you do is gape at me like I’m some kind of ghost," She huffed, "Which I am, actually."

"You talk too much for someone dead for thousands of years."

She laughed, a real laugh that surprised Ao Kuiba, "Oh, I like you already."

The woman floated closer inspecting Ao Kuiba, "My name is Yun Rou, former cultivator of the Azure Heaven civilization, former peak expert of the realm, former protector of the Dragon God’s remains,"

"I didn’t ask."

She blinked, "Well, lucky for you, I’ve been waiting to introduce myself for a very long time," She crossed her arms, "You could’ve at least feigned some interest."

Ao Kuiba said nothing.

Yun Rou groaned, "Oh, fine! I’ll just tell you everything and you can listen."

She began with the Dragon God, "Thousands of years ago the sky of the Azure Heaven was split open and something fell through. Something big."

Ao Kuiba’s eyes narrowed, "A dragon."

"A what?" Yun Rou frowned.

"A dragon, one of the creatures of the sky."

She nodded, "Yeah, that’s what I said. It was a dragon, a big one."

Ao Kuiba’s mouth tightened.

"This dragon wasn’t from around here. When it fell through the sky it was already dying, you could barely see the injuries on it, the wounds, the blood. It’s like nothing from this realm or any realm I know of could’ve done that."

Ao Kuiba remained silent.

"He died shortly after falling and his body broke apart on impact. One of the shards of his body is the bone you’re holding."

"Where did he come from?"

Yun Rou shrugged, "I don’t know, I’ve been trying to figure it out for centuries. Everything I know about him doesn’t match any creature or being from any realm I know of. He was from somewhere higher."

"Higher than the Vermilion Grotto-Heaven?"

Yun Rou arched a brow, "I don’t know what that is but probably."

"The invaders came," Yun Rou’s expression darkened, "When they sensed his remains, cultivators from higher realms came through the spatial passages. They wanted the Dragon God’s bones, his blood, his power."

"They couldn’t bring it all with them," Ao Kuiba stated.

Yun Rou shook her head, "The Heavenly Dao blocked them, they couldn’t bring all of their strength with them. They were forced to lower themselves to our level."

"It should’ve been easy to defeat them."

"It should have," Yun Rou’s smirk was grim, "but they still had their knowledge, their experience, their techniques, their culture, and they had been around for thousands of years in places we’ve never even seen. Even diminished, they were still monsters compared to us."

Yun Rou waved her hand and the grey void around Ao Kuiba was filled with images, scenes of battle, destruction, the sky burning and dragons falling.

"They fought and they fought and they fought," Yun Rou’s expression was pained, "The dragons knew the remains belonged to something far above us, something they could not comprehend. They refused to let the invaders have the remains and they fought and they died. And they fought and they died. And for thousands of years they fought until almost all of them were dead."

"The dragons of my age," Ao Kuiba’s voice was quiet, "They’re the survivors."

Yun Rou nodded, "Yes, and most of their bloodlines were wiped out in the war. What few dragons remain are the odd bloodlines that survived."

Ao Kuiba absorbed the information in silence.

"And you?"

Yun Rou’s lips quirked into a self pitying smile, "I was nothing special. A cultivator with a diluted bloodline, powerful yes, but nothing special. I survived because I was strong and I was persistent and I didn’t die because I was dumb enough to believe I was going to live."

She looked at her translucent hands, "Eventually I became the strongest cultivator in Azure Heaven, the peak expert of the realm."

"And it wasn’t enough," Ao Kuiba guessed.

Yun Rou’s smile was sad, "No, it wasn’t, I could take down a few of the invader every now and then, but it wasn’t enough to stop the tide. They kept coming, and coming, and coming."

"So you sealed the realm," Ao Kuiba said.

Yun Rou nodded, "I spent centuries working on a formation that spanned the realm. It wiped out the spatial passages, trapped the last of the invaders and sealed away the realm from the rest of the universe."

"And in doing so you sealed away the power to ascend," Ao Kuiba stated.

"Yes," Yun Rou looked Ao Kuiba in the eye, "I knew that no one would ascend from this realm ever again. I knew that no one would leave, but I also knew that if I didn’t do it the war would never end."

"So you traded one prison for another," Ao Kuiba said.

Yun Rou’s expression hardened, "I traded a dead realm for a living one, don’t you dare judge me dragon, because you weren’t there, you didn’t watch your people die."

Ao Kuiba said nothing.

After a while Yun Rou’s expression softened, "Anyway, I hid the remains, scattered them all over the realm. The bone you have is one of the remains, one I’ve imbued with my will and my memories, a piece of my cultivation."

She looked at Ao Kuiba, "Now you’re here."

"I didn’t come to save your realm."

"But you’re here, nonetheless."

"What do you want?" Ao Kuiba asked.

Yun Rou’s smile widen, "A favor."

"A favor?"

"You didn’t even ask what I wanted."

"I know what you want."

Yun Rou sighed, "You’re really not making this easy, are you?"

Ao Kuiba crossed his arms, "I’m not from the Azure Heaven, I didn’t fight in your war, I didn’t make the seals, I have no care for your realm."

"True,"

"I have my own home, my own enemies, my own business,"

"Also true,"

"I intend to rebuild my strength and return to the Vermilion Grotto-Heaven."

"Understandable."

"So why would I care about your little problem?"

Yun Rou tilted her head, "Because you’re curious."

Ao Kuiba narrowed his eyes.

"The Dragon God, his origins, the invaders, his remains, all of it interests you, doesn’t it? I can help you with that."

"Just that isn’t enough," Ao Kuiba said.

"An ancient inheritance,"

"No,"

"The formation knowledge of the peak experts of the Azure Heaven,"

"No,"

"To accelerate your cultivation,"

"No,"

Yun Rou threw her hands up in exasperation, "What do you want!"

"Nothing you can offer," Ao Kuiba said.

Yun Rou stared at Ao Kuiba for a long time then she laughed, "You really are something else."

She shook her head, "Fine, I won’t bother you, but before you go,"

Yun Rou’s voice was suddenly silenced as the Dragon Bone in Ao Kuiba’s possession began to glow. A golden light that made the grey expanse around them heat up.

"What!"

Yun Rou took a step back as the golden light from the bone intensified, its force pushing against her. The woman’s eyes widened in realization.

"He’s still... alive..."

THUMP.

Another heartbeat echoed through the void and the golden light exploded outward.

THUMP.

The world exploded around Ao Kuiba and he found himself standing in a large hall. Pillars of black stone shot up toward a ceiling that seemed to stretch into infinity. Colorless fire burned in torches that lined the walls, the air was thick with energy so dense it almost felt like drowning.

On a throne at the end of the hall sat a man, his hands rested under his chin, a wide knowing grin plastered across his face.

"I agree with the lad."

Yun Rou’s voice echoed from behind Ao Kuiba, "What- who are you?"

The man ignored her and looked Ao Kuiba over, "Ao Kuiba, son of Ao Long... of the Vermilion Grotto."

Ao Kuiba’s expression changed.

The man’s grin widened, "Adam Albert, son of humble beginnings... of Earth Star."

Silence stretched between the three of them before the man leaned forward, "I have been waiting for you, my successor."