Volume 6: Chapter 9 – Flying into Dragon Valley
After three days, I had arrived at the Dragon Valley on the west side of Pagoda City. When I was still at a very far distance away, I could already see tier after tier of mountains. The clouds at this place were extremely low. They covered most of the mountain starting from the midsection and up. It looked really beautiful. The locals had said that no matter which of the four seasons it was, the clouds here wouldn’t dissipate all year round so this place was called the Cloud and Mist Mountain Range.
Since I didn’t know how long I would be in there for, I had bought rations and water from the City to suffice me for twenty days.
Just when I stepped into the Cloud and Mist Mountain Range, Xiao Jin who was sleeping in my body suddenly woke up at once and conveyed to me a sense of impatience. He had never been here before; could he actually know he was nearing his home?
I used my spiritual thought to tell him that I would be sending him home shortly. Xiao Jin’s mood was obviously abnormally excited. In his excitement, there also seemed to be a tinge of sadness. He told me that he felt that this place was very nostalgic to him and also really familiar.
The Cloud Mist Mountain Range was really beautiful. All of the mountains were completely green as far as the eye can see. There were occasional sightings of cascades and noises of water flowing from the mountain spring while walking in the mountain. This place had no traces of mankind’s activities.
Xiao Jin had become the best compass. I moved around the Cloud Mist Mountain Range in accordance to the strong feelings he felt from the depths of the mountain range.
At the start, the path was relatively easy to tread on as there were people that passed through earlier. However, after a day, there wasn’t anymore trails left to follow, I could only bore through the forest. Even though I had the short range teleportation spell, this place’s terrain was precipitous. Thus, in order to avoid falling off a cliff by mistake, I only walked.
Most of my clothing had been torn up by bushes and brambles. I was forced to use light magic defensive spells for my surroundings.
Even though the path was difficult to tread on, my mood felt abnormally tranquil. I was no longer dreading about being separated from Xiao Jin. The air in this place was extremely fresh. After taking in a deep breath, my entire body relaxed.
There were many small animals in the mountain, but there weren’t any ferocious beasts. There were pheasants, unknown birds, and also small animals. They weren’t wary of me at all. They obviously were used to the easy life here and constantly snatched my rations that I was partaking in. I also happily frolicked with them. I seemed to have merged with nature. In my eyes, everything looked perfect.
When night arrived, I found a lofty tree and slept in it. My heart quietly settled down and felt refreshingly tranquil from coming to this place.
After entering the mountain for five days, Xiao Jin’s feelings kept getting stronger. I already knew that we weren’t far from the Dragon Valley. What I wasn’t aware of was that without Xiao Jin’s guidance, it would have been impossible to find the actual position of the Dragon Valley in all of my lifetime.
After passing through another forest, what was reflected in my eyes was a large basin. I was at an extremely high altitude. I could only see the approximate size of the whole basin. Under my feet, there was a thick layer of dense fog above the basin. I knew that I had arrived at my destination. This should be the Legendary Dragon Valley.
It was really difficult to find a trail to head downwards. I initially thought of flying down, but my battle spirit wasn’t perfected. If the bottom of the basin was too far from my position atop the cliff and my battle spirit couldn’t support my landing, I was afraid that my body would be torn apart, and my bones crushed into smithereens.
Xiao Jin, who was in my body, suddenly become anxious. He told me that he wanted to come out.
I helplessly let Xiao Jin out. His huge body stood beside me. With this mist filling his large eyes, Xiao Jin suddenly let out a exceptionally loud dragon roar without any warning. His voice was filled with the dominance of a royal.
The fog in the surrounding was forced back 30 metres from his roar. Even though my cultivation was profound, I nearly lost my balance. Just as I was curious at what he was doing, there were countless responses that resounded from the basin beneath me. Xiao Jin motioned for me to sit on his back.
It looked like he wanted to go down by flying. I had never rode on Xiao Jin before. This was my first chance to do so. I gently jumped on and sat on his large back. Xiao Jin told me to sit steadily before he flapped his pair of large golden wings to fly.
I hastily grabbed onto the spikes on his back. I was exceptionally nervous.
Xiao Jin charged down the thick fog. My ears were filled with the sounds of the wind. Xiao Jin repeatedly let out long dragon roars. It was as though he was telling his family that he had returned.
After finally reaching the bottom of the valley, it turned out to be a barren land, and I saw that there were other dragons similar to Xiao Jin.
I saw two blue and red dragons initially, and it looked as though they were playing. Their heads were about the size of Xiao Jin’s. After seeing Xiao Jin’s arrival, the other dragons took similar actions without prior consultation to each other, lowering their noble heads and gently whistled.
At this moment, a strong force came over. A deep voice called out, “Welcome back, our Dragon Clan’s King.”
A green dragon with a huge head appeared in front of me. When his head and Xiao Jin’s stood together, they looked like an adult and a child. From his ability to speak, I knew that this large dragon must be at least 8000 years old as dragons must reach that age at least to be able to talk and be in a harmonious phase derived from its maturity.
Xiao Jin was not fearful of the strong strength that the green dragon possessed and unyieldingly stared at him.
The green dragon said, “Child, do you know that your parents have been waiting for you for a long time already? When you went missing that year, they were distraught. Why are you so weak?” Just as he said that, he noticed me on Xiao Jin’s back. He immediately raged.
The green dragon shouted, “You low human being actually dared to sit on our Dragon King. Go to hell!” It seemed that he had treated me as the chief culprit in the weakening of Xiao Jin. However, I was curious, how was Xiao Jin weak? Wasn’t he doing well?
Just as I wanted to explain, the green dragon’s large tail swiped towards me. Xiao Jin become anxious and immediately let out a strong dragon’s breath to try and block its advancement.
What startled me was that the green dragon unexpectedly didn’t move nor dodged and let Xiao Jin’s dragon breath hit him but his tail continued to strike towards me without fail.
There wasn’t enough time for me to think. I immediately cast my strongest light defensive spell. Just as I wanted to teleport away, the space in the surroundings seemed to have been condensed by that dragon’s swipe, making it impossible for me to move.
Why was it that even though they were similar dragons, there was such a large disparity in strength?