GD Ch. 11

Chapter 11: Why Don’t This Dragon Have Horns?

After the half-owed spirit stones were taken out from the mustard seed, they occupied an entire wall of the Grand Hall. The translucent spirit stones shimmered brilliantly under the phoenix fire, making the hall appear like an ice-carved Dragon Palace.

Hanzhu stared in astonishment, pointing at them, “Mistress, these are…?” She hesitated for a while, then muttered, “Why are we so extravagant?”

Zhuyou cradled the dragon egg with two holes in it, deflecting responsibility with all her might, “It seems this egg quite likes them, so I brought them back.”

An egg couldn’t argue back, it just made a creaking sound, as if protesting something.

Zhuyou carefully lifted the heavy dragon egg in her palm, her vision still hazy. She chuckled. “See? It really likes them.”

Hanzhu was genuinely bewildered, “Could these spirit stones be a gift from Second Lord Luo Qing?”

She couldn’t fathom how Second Lord Luo Qing could possess so many spirit stones. One particular large piece was even intact; apart from being a bit sharp at the edges, there didn’t seem to be anything to nitpick about.

“I got them from the Heart-Questioning Rock,” Zhuyou admitted truthfully.

Hanzhu shuddered; if it was from the Heart-Questioning Rock, then it belonged to the Devil Lord.

Suddenly, the dragon egg made another sound, then fell silent again, as if waiting for something. Hanzhu waited for a while but didn’t see the dragon egg hatch. She started to feel a bit anxious and couldn’t help but say, “Mistress, isn’t this dragon egg waiting to be fed?”

“Just now, it was still eating on its own, why would it need feeding now?” Zhuyou had never raised a dragon before and didn’t know if dragons were really that delicate.

Hanzhu glanced at it, not daring to stare for too long, and quickly averted her gaze. “How about letting this subordinate try?” Such tasks were naturally not for the mistress to handle personally.

However, the black-clad mistress didn’t hand over the egg. Instead, she lifted her pale hand and extracted a wisp of spiritual energy from the spirit stones. The wispy spiritual energy surrounded the dragon egg but was not immediately consumed; instead, it slowly dissipated bit by bit. After a while, the remaining spiritual energy lingering around the dragon egg turned still.

Zhuyou used the spiritual energy from the spirit stones to feed the dragon egg and suppress the poisonous mist in her eyes. After a while, she opened her tightly closed eyes again, and it seemed that the mist in front of her had dissipated quite a bit, allowing her to see more clearly.

As she held the egg, she felt more and more that the two dark holes on the egg resembled a pair of eyes staring straight at her.

Why was it staring now?

“This egg isn’t eating.” Hanzhu muttered under her breath. As soon as she said that, a mouthful of spiritual energy overflowed from the eggshell, even pushing away the remaining wisps clinging to the egg.

Hanzhu exclaimed in surprise, “Oh, it’s hiccuping.”

Zhuyou finally realized that there was too much spiritual energy in the Heart-Questioning Rock, and the egg had already eaten its fill.

But if it had eaten its fill, why hadn’t it hatched yet? Was it being stubborn?

Hanzhu lowered her head and inadvertently saw the diabolic markings on Zhuyou’s arm. Zhuyou’s pale arm was hidden under the mist-like sleeve, and although the pattern was indistinct, its color seemed fainter.

Zhuyou didn’t pay much attention to it. After all, even if her spiritual energy was depleted, it would recover eventually. There was no need to rush.

However, the more Hanzhu looked, the more distressed she felt. “Mistress, what did Second Lord Luo Qing ask of you? Why did you go to the Heart-Questioning Rock and deplete your spiritual energy again?”

“It’s nothing, just asking me to repair a broken Crystal of Law.” Zhuyou saw that the egg was full, so she had to retrieve the wispy spiritual energy floating in the air. The thin mist-like spiritual energy rose with her fingertips and attached back to the spirit stones.

Hanzhu understood immediately what kind of Crystal of Law could be found in the Heart-Questioning Rock, and she stammered, “Could it be… the Crystal of Law of the Devil Lord?”

“Besides that one, is there anything else?” Zhuyou carried the egg and walked toward the soft couch, speaking softly.

Hanzhu froze, “Mistress, why waste spiritual energy on that crystal? Is Devil Lord really going to awaken?”

“Whether he awakens or not, it’s hard to say.” Zhuyou reclined on the soft couch, her silver-white hair cascading like a waterfall on it.

“But the Three Lords wouldn’t do anything useless. If the Devil Lord can’t wake up, why bother?” Hanzhu frowned, not quite believing that the Three Lords, who had been in the human world for so long, were wasting their efforts.

Zhuyou looked at the distant golden pillars still faintly visible and the translucent veil hanging halfway in the air, saying, “By restoring the crystal, not only did I repair the cracks, but I also strengthened it a bit. It won’t be easy for the soul and consciousness inside to come out.” 

Indeed, when she was restoring the crystal with her spiritual energy, not only did she fill in the tiny cracks, but she also wrapped a layer of phoenix spiritual energy on its surface. 

“My spiritual energy can make it withstand fire, resist water, and be impervious to swords and spears.” She smiled faintly.

Hanzhu listened in astonishment, then realized that her mistress was closing a door for the Devil Lord through this crystal.

“Luo Qing may not see it, and I won’t tell them either. Anyway, the Three Lords will know sooner or later.” Zhuyou spoke slowly, feeling extremely tired after expending so much spiritual energy. She waved her hand and said, “Close the door for me, and don’t let that annoying lotus demon in.”

Hanzhu quickly complied, her heart pounding wildly. She knew that her mistress had long been able to stand equal to the Three Lords, but she had never fought for anything. Now she realized that what her mistress wanted was probably something else entirely. What her mistress wanted was probably more than just the position of the Three Lords. 

Whatever her mistress desired, she felt that even if she had to sacrifice her life, she would help her achieve it, even if it was so… insignificant.

In the Grand Hall, the sleeping mistress tilted to one side, her head knocking against the wooden armrest, yet she wasn’t awakened. Instead, she slept with long, steady breaths.

***

In the Dragon Palace far away in the East Sea, the stone door inscribed with runes slowly opened to reveal the white jade disc and the coiling dragon columns on both of its sides.

Dragon King East Sea Monarch entered with his hands behind his back, looking extremely puzzled. He stared at the egg standing on the dragon column, furrowing his brow and saying, “Why hasn’t it hatched yet?”

Mangfeng, along with his newlywed bride from the Phoenix Clan, Jingyi, and several young dragons of the Dragon Clan stood behind him, all equally confused.

But despite their confusion, none of them took a step forward to investigate. Instead, they remained nervously still, as if the egg standing on the dragon column was their ancestor.

Originally, East Sea Monarch was not called East Sea Monarch; he only received this title after being appointed as the Dragon King. His original name had long been forgotten, and it seemed that no one remembered it anymore.

“But Immortal Linghua said it would be today,” Mangfeng hurriedly interjected.

East Sea Monarch paced back and forth. After much thought, he could only manage to squeeze out a sentence, “Just wait a little longer.”

The group had no choice but to wait in the stone chamber, each one nervously staring at the extremely beautiful egg.

However, half a moment passed, and the egg still hadn’t hatched.

Jingyi tugged on Mangfeng’s sleeve and whispered, “Could it be that Immortal Linghua made a mistake?”

The stone chamber fell silent, and everyone present heard her words clearly.

Jingyi immediately closed her mouth tightly, her eyes nervously shifting to another direction.

“Immortal Linghua couldn’t have made a mistake,” Mangfeng said firmly.

East Sea Monarch’s heart pounded like thunder as he suddenly glanced at the dragon egg. “This is impossible. Why hasn’t it hatched after so long?”

“Speaking of which, who exactly is inside the dragon egg?” Jingyi tugged on Mangfeng’s sleeve again and asked quietly in his ear.

Mangfeng furrowed his brow tightly and glanced at East Sea Monarch secretly, but didn’t answer.

East Sea Monarch paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, his expression growing increasingly grim. When he heard a murmured comment from a young dragon girl, he suddenly looked toward the dragon column. The young and light-hearted dragon girl had said, “Could it be that there’s something wrong with this egg?”

In a flash of white light, East Sea Monarch’s figure appeared next to the white jade disc. Under the nervous gaze of everyone, he dispelled the enchantment. The chain hanging in mid-air clanged as it fell to the ground, and the icy dragon energy swirling around the disc condensed into several flying dragons, rushing in all directions. The cold dragon energy collided with the stone walls, like crashing waves hitting rocks, and with a loud roar, it dispersed.

East Sea Monarch reached out his hand toward the dragon egg. When his fingertip touched the cold eggshell, he finally discovered the problem.

The once dazzling dragon egg had turned into a dull gray stone, not even resembling the shape of a dragon egg.

Mangfeng widened his eyes. “This… How could this be?!”

Jingyi, who had been holding onto his sleeve, trembled all over, her eyes filled with disbelief.

East Sea Monarch threw the stone from the dragon column to the ground, and the perfectly intact stone immediately cracked into several pieces. With a cold expression, he glared at the beautiful bride just married to the Dragon Crown Prince, and a bead floated above his raised fingertip. It was bright red all over, seemingly rolling, unmistakably a drop of blood.

East Sea Monarch questioned, “Jingyi, how did your blood end up on that stone?”

Jingyi raised her slightly trembling hand and touched her cheek, at the wound on her face that had long healed and disappeared.

***

The stone that had replaced the dragon egg was now completely shattered, and the real dragon egg was lying on the soft couch meant for a particular fallen divine offspring.

In the Grand Hall of Diabolic Ruins, Zhuyou finally woke up after a long rest. The first thing she saw upon waking up was not the translucent veil hanging above, nor the demon weapons scattered throughout the hall, nor the spirit stones she had brought back from the Heart-Questioning Rock. Instead, it was the dragon egg with holes in it.

At first glance, she almost thought she was mistaken.

Why were the two holes gone?

Indeed, the two eye-like holes were gone, and half of the eggshell had been shattered, revealing an empty interior.

Zhuyou sat, staring absentmindedly at the empty eggshell for a while. When she snapped out of her daze, she abruptly flung her sleeve, and the tightly closed doors of the hall swung open with a loud bang.

Hanzhu, who was standing outside, was startled and quickly turned around, rushing into the hall. She asked, “Mistress?”

Zhuyou scanned her surroundings with a deep gaze, covering her forehead in discomfort as if she had just woken up from a daze. “Look for my dragon, but don’t make a fuss about it.”

The birth of a divine offspring in the Devil Realm was like a farce; it was not something that could be made known to others.

Hanzhu quickly closed the doors of the hall and searched both inside and outside. But not to mention a dragon, she couldn’t even find a single dragon scale.

Zhuyou clicked her tongue, performed a secret technique, and searched around. Finally, with a flick of her hand, something dark and rope-like hanging from the ceiling fell.

The black rope fell softly into her pale hand. It turned out to be not a rope, but rather a black snake. It was covered in entirely black scales, which shimmered brilliantly under the phoenix fire.

Zhuyou looked at it with confusion, and suddenly, the snake’s tightly closed eyes opened. Its round eyes slowly turned, shining with a rich golden color, with a long, slender pupil in the middle, cold and merciless.

“Is this a dragon?” Hanzhu couldn’t believe it.

Zhuyou also felt something was off. Why didn’t this dragon have horns?