Having cultivated myself into an immortal, all I want to do is raise female disciples.

The next second—

What comes into view is a vast and boundless world.

That being said, this is not a plain or similar terrain, but a standard cave, though its size is rather exaggerated.

"It feels like I've returned to a palace..."

Chu Xin looked up at the cave ceiling, which was at least a hundred meters high, and felt a soreness in her neck.

This area is unusually large; as far as the eye can see, it is impossible to see the edge. Dozens of small caves stand on the edge of the hemispherical cave system—though they are called "small" caves, their height is about the same as that of residential houses.

It's an extremely vast space; cramming tens of thousands of people into it shouldn't be a problem.

However, right in the very center of this cave, on a huge circular platform surrounded by black liquid, a majestic, pitch-black figure with its head bowed was crawling, its dark wings, burning with faint flames, unfurled, the tips of its limbs submerged in the black water, and veins as thick as a man's thigh pulsated as it absorbed the liquid.

Dragon... Black Dragon...

A black dragon bigger than any I've ever seen before!

Those who had experienced the mystical realms before were stunned the moment they saw this black dragon. They still remembered the colossal dragon that spread its destructive wings in the sky, spewing scorching dragon breath—

It looks exactly like the one in front of you!

"What...is this...from that secret realm..." Ye Yuchan pointed a trembling finger at the black dragon on the platform, looking at everyone in confusion, "I...am I not seeing things, am I?"

Chu Xin nodded timidly, her legs trembling slightly. "Ah...it's so similar, so very similar. The shape of the horns, the shape of the dragon's head...it's exactly the same."

"Hey, hey... don't joke like that..."

Encountering this in a secret realm is one thing, but what if it happened in real life...?

Just thinking about that terrifying scene made everyone want to run away.

However, before this thought could become a real goal, the majestic black dragon slowly opened its eyes.

—Unexpectedly, those eyes did not contain a surge of bloodthirsty killing intent, but rather a weary yet somewhat relieved and excited gaze.

It raised its enormous head, opened its mouth, and exposed its sharp dragon teeth.

Just when everyone mistakenly thought it was going to use its dragon breath to kill them, who had entered the cave, it spoke in an exceptionally soft and gentle voice.

"You've arrived."

30. The Shadow of Jue

"I am coming."

Holding the sleeping girl tightly in his arms, Yun Ping slowly walked towards the giant dragon in the center of the circular platform.

Ignoring the stunned expressions of the people behind him, the young man stood still in front of the enormous dragon head.

Logically speaking, dragons cannot tolerate any creature appearing so close to them, as this would be a desecration of their dragon authority. Yet Yunping did just that.

The enormous black dragon said nothing, its eyes still holding a hint of respect.

"You...you knew about this too?"

"I just found out."

Yunping knew exactly what he was talking about, and shifted his gaze slightly to a large rock in the distance.

Black and red intertwined on the boulder, and a slightly foul odor drifted along the cold air to Yunping's side, where he took a gentle sniff.

—The taste of black dragon blood.

After the black dragon's blood dries, it emits a unique smell, a stench that is unbearable to humans, but Yunping can easily smell it.

He glanced at the two extremely wide iron chains hanging on either side of the boulder, which were stained with a large amount of dragon blood.

It is worth mentioning that both chains are broken.

Yun Ping glanced briefly at the smooth break, then looked at the black dragon in front of him again: "Did it break free?"

“I don’t know.” The dragon’s head shook twice, like a small mountain swaying. “By the time I realized it, it had already broken free from the control of the Demon-Binding Chains. I also noticed that there were deep wounds on its two front claws.”

“That doesn’t seem like it broke free on its own.” Yunping didn’t hide his guess and told the black dragon what he had found: “The cut of the Demon Binding Lock is too smooth. With its strength, if it wanted to break the Demon Binding Lock on its own, there should be large and small wear marks on the other parts of the Demon Binding Lock, but there aren’t.”

Black Dragon narrowed his eyes and said softly, "You mean..."

Yunping shook his head. "I'm not sure. This is just a guess, and it's also possible that the chaos within its body hasn't been completely eliminated."

"I believe your first guess more than that."

"But I hope it's not like that."

The conversation between the man and the dragon reached the ears of the people behind them, and the sheer volume of information was so overwhelming that they couldn't understand a word they were saying.

It was at this moment that Heilong noticed everyone except Yunping, and his eyes suddenly turned sharp.

Who are these people?

The moment it opened its mouth, a vast power, as if descending from the heavens, swept over it.

Staring at them with such terrifying eyes, everyone felt their hearts stop and they were momentarily unable to breathe.

The situation only eased after Yunping spoke up.

“Those two are my apprentices, and there are two others who are from the Empire.”

Upon hearing this, the black dragon relaxed its pressure on the group and turned to look curiously at Chu Xin and Fang Yan, "I do know your disciple, someone from the Empire?"

"That woman's surname is Chu, and the one next to her is her apprentice."

"Oh~ surnamed Chu." Black Dragon immediately understood. "A descendant of that brat Chu Lantian?"

"In the Desolate Sky Domain, and being from the Empire, and with the surname Chu, the only person I can think of is that little brat." Yun Ping shrugged, glanced back at Chu Xin who was already terrified, and raised an eyebrow. "Am I right? That little girl over there?"

……

"N-No, that's right..."

Chu Xin nodded blankly. She didn't even have time to pay attention to the strange title "Little Girl." At this moment, her mind was filled with the three words "Chu Lantian."

Who is Chu Lantian?

If someone in the entire Desolate Heaven Domain were to raise this question, they would definitely be considered an idiot.

Because Chu Lantian was the founder of the empire... He had a very deep friendship with Emperor Wen during the Tianjue era, and his cultivation level had reached the Saint level.

Unfortunately, he ultimately failed to become a demigod and could not escape his inevitable fate.

And this Chu Lantian is Chu Xin's ancestor!

She still remembers a puzzling remark her grandfather made when he passed away.

If one day the empire faces a crisis of survival, that person must be found. As long as he is there, the empire will not perish.

My grandfather never said who that person was.

Her grandfather, the previous emperor, had never seen that person.

However, he said that this phrase has been passed down since the founding of the country, which means that the phrase was originally spoken by Chu Lantian.

Could he be...?

Upon thinking of this, Chu Xin's gaze towards Yun Ping underwent a subtle change.

……

"Don't just stand there, come over here." Yunping called out to the stunned crowd, then tapped the black dragon on the head, "Little Black, don't just stand there either, quickly introduce yourself."

"Ah...oh, I almost forgot, these little guys probably don't know me yet." Xiao Hei then realized, smiled sheepishly, and introduced himself to everyone in a powerful voice: "Nice to meet you all, I am the master of this Blackwater Abyss. You can call me Jueying, or you can call me Black Dragon King."

"—However, I don't really like the title 'Black Dragon King.' As humans, you naturally don't need to call me 'King.'"

Black... Black Dragon... King.

Ye Yuchan felt that there might be something wrong with her ears, no, there was something wrong with her brain!

How did she become the Black Dragon King? She was just an ordinary cultivator, around the Xuanmen stage, how did she come to see the Black Dragon King?

This isn't right, this can't be right!

"You...you really...are you the Black Dragon King? The one from legend..."

Xiao Hei smiled as he looked at Zhang Ruoxue, who had raised the question. "It was me, that's right."

“But you weren’t…with the Martial Emperor…not even now…” Zhang Ruoxue hesitated as she spoke.

She is quite fierce, but the problem is, she can't be fierce when facing a dragon like this.

Does she think she can just jump on someone's head and say, "I'm going to ride you"? She certainly doesn't have that kind of ability.

Xiao Hei naturally understood what she meant, and gave a wry smile, "There's nothing I can do about it. After all, I'm not human, and my lifespan is much longer. Even though I've lived for millions of years, from ancient times to the present, I've only just passed my prime."

Yunping chimed in at this point, "He can probably live for another one or two million years."

Zhang Ruoxue: "..."

So dragons have such an excessive lifespan!

Even the world's top cultivators, like the Martial Emperor who died of natural causes, only lived for tens of thousands of years.

Compared to the dragon race, those tens of thousands of years are but a fleeting moment.

31. Grafting

Since it wasn't convenient to talk about the following points openly, Yunping sent the remaining four people away.

The method of getting rid of them is also very simple: the small caves surrounding them—each of which is actually a small treasure trove (this "small" only refers to Xiao Hei himself; for humans, it is comparable to the treasure trove of a small sect).

I asked Xiao Hei what it thought, and it said it didn't really care.

Thinking about it, that makes sense. If you already have thousands of treasures, would you care about one or two magical artifacts?

Having received permission from the Black Dragon King, the four of them went into the small cave, completely bewildered.

Surrounded by treasures, their hearts, which have endured too many frights, will probably gradually calm down.

Yunping finally breathed a sigh of relief after everyone had left.

"So, how is your brother doing? Have you fought him recently?"

The younger brother he was referring to was, of course, the black dragon that should have been staying safely inside the Demon-Binding Lock.