Chapter 204
Blood ties are a source of warmth and refuge for most people, but for her, they are nothing but shackles. The moment the chains appeared, she found herself shifting in and out of illusions multiple times, yet the chains clung to her like shadows, making escape impossible.
Regrettably, the time limit for the 【Chunri Buzhi】 to break the bonds of blood is only a hundred days. She must find a way to obtain a second 【Chunri Buzhi】 quickly, or perhaps learn to forge one herself.
Time... there never seems to be enough of it.
Before heading to the Zelan Dragon Nest, Yu Xunge tattooed a soda can on the inner side of her pinky finger, close to her ring finger. She restocked the vending machine on the rooftop and decided not to place the Cat Cat Hostel in the backyard for now. With her recent wanderings, she felt uneasy leaving the cat den for too long. Ultimately, she followed Tu Lan's request and bought a batch of gifts.
This was the most troublesome step, taking her an entire day to prepare.
“Gotta buy some cigarettes and alcohol.”
“Let’s get three thousand five hundred of each of the five hundred dishes.”
“Peaches, apples, watermelons, grapefruits—let’s get a ton of each.”
“Let’s also grab a thousand sets of mahjong.”
“... Oh, can we get a few motorcycles? They can shrink down and race.”
Yu Xunge felt like she had never bought so many things in her life.
She considered outsourcing this task, but seeing Tu Lan excitedly packing her bag and power bank, mumbling about how Bei Sui liked this and Sheng Bei liked that, she resembled a child on their first spring outing. In the end, she couldn’t bring herself to hand this over to someone else and personally took Tu Lan to various factories and nearby large supermarkets.
Zelan's civilization is far richer than that of Blue Star, and its entertainment options are plentiful. She didn’t think the dragon race would lack these things, but bringing gifts was a gesture of goodwill.
Tu Lan perched on Yu Xunge's head, directing the salespeople on how much of this and that to get, and Yu Xunge let her buy whatever she wanted.
Thanks to Tu Lan's charm, they received plenty of complimentary gifts from the vendors.
While helping Tu Lan pick out gifts, Yu Xunge shared the intel from Guota with Zhao Shuying, also relaying what Hufflepuff had said about the royal family.
【Zhao Shuying】: That aligns perfectly with some information we've gathered here.
【Yu Xunge】: What did you find out?
【Zhao Shuying】: The royal family possesses something that can enhance the abilities of the entire race.
In an instant, Yu Xunge thought of the few mahjong tiles in her possession, each inscribed with three different characters: the acorn on the dot tile, the white bone on the wan tile, and the fox tail on the line tile.
It corresponded exactly to the three powerful alien races Tu Lan had mentioned.
What does that mean? I’ve never heard of playing mahjong to enhance an entire race's abilities!
Is it the power of mahjong in three stages? Or do they turn into gods of the game after work...
After stuffing Yu Xunge's game backpack and her own dimensional pocket to the brim, Tu Lan, still unsatisfied, pulled Yu Xunge home. They set traps around the bed before crawling under it, one human and one dragon.
Dragon Island lies on the edge of Zelan, built around the remains of the deceased Dragon Ancestor. The nearest main city to Dragon Island is the Ton Ton Mountain of the Fenglian tribe.
The two of them arrived at Ton Ton Mountain via a teleportation array. Once out of the mountain city, Tu Lan transformed back to her original size and carried the now tiny Yu Xunge into the sky, heading toward the Dragon Nest.
On the way, Tu Lan introduced her home: “My nest is in the most beautiful dragon tooth of the Ice Dragon Ancestor. Sheng Bei lives on the seventh vertebra, and Bei Sui resides on the third wing bone of the Light Dragon Ancestor.”
Yu Xunge meowed, “How many Dragon Ancestors do you have? Is there enough space? Didn’t you say there are over three thousand dragons?”
Tu Lan replied, “Of course there’s enough space. The Dragon Nest has seven Dragon Ancestor remains, and that entire continent belongs to us. We can roam freely, but we prefer to return to the embrace of our ancestors to sleep and rest.”
Thinking about the direction of Heifei's evolution, Yu Xunge curiously asked, “Are your Dragon Ancestors like you, or are they more like what Heifei wants to evolve into?”
Tu Lan said, “Four of the Dragon Ancestors are like me; we collectively call ourselves Yinglong. The other three are what Heifei dreams of becoming, and we usually refer to them as divine dragons.”
“Are Bei Sui and Sheng Bei easy to get along with?”
“Don’t worry, I’ve got your back. They have good temperaments. Well, Yun Dui might be a bit strict; he’s the elder of the dragons.”
“What about your tribe leader?”
“The tribe leader mostly sleeps, and Yun Dui handles most matters. But it seems there’s not much to do, just selling dragon scales and teeth that fall off during fights.”
“You don’t sell dragon dung?”
“We used to, but stopped because Yun Dui thought it was too embarrassing for the dragon race.”
“…”
“Don’t worry, I know what you’re concerned about. When I say I’ve got your back, I mean it. I’ve already thought it through; we’ll just say I threatened you with my life to come to Zelan and sell my dragon dung.”
“…”
Traveling all the way to Blue Star and making a contract with its people just to force them to sell dung? You dare say that, and I can’t even bear to hear it.
【Chapter 255: Dragon Island · Sheng Bei · Bei Sui · Snow Dui】
Despite Tu Lan saying that Ton Ton Mountain is the closest city to the Dragon Nest, they still flew for over thirty hours before catching sight of it.
It was truly seven enormous skeletal remains, resembling seven vast white mountain ranges. Just one of these remains, before the body was gamified, would take an ordinary person several days and nights to traverse its spine.
Surrounding the remains were dragons of various colors and sizes, resting or sparring near the bones.
Before Yu Xunge and Tu Lan could get close, two dragons, one blue and one white, flew over, appearing before Tu Lan in the blink of an eye.
In the presence of true dragons, Yu Xunge felt the stark difference between adult dragons and young ones. If Tu Lan’s size was comparable to that of an airplane, then these two dragons were like towering skyscrapers. Above their heads were two lines of small red text:
【Sheng Bei 150 Level 100%┃100%】
【Bei Sui 150 Level 100%┃100%】
Tu Lan immediately revealed their identities: “Mother! Father!”
The blue dragon Sheng Bei and the white dragon Bei Sui. Yu Xunge canceled her Anima Gass transformation to take human form. In the presence of such powerful beings, disguising herself as an animal was pointless. Moreover, as Tu Lan’s contract partner, it was essential for her to establish good relations with the neutral dragon race.
Indeed, Sheng Bei was as powerful and beautiful as Tu Lan had described, a magnificent ice dragon.
Her blue scales sparkled like crystal under the sunlight, resembling the shimmering surface of a lake. The deep blue gem on her forehead was mesmerizing, making Yu Xunge feel dizzy. The sheer presence of the dragon was so overwhelming that she could hardly breathe, and as soon as Sheng Bei approached, she was instantly afflicted with dozens of negative statuses.
The nearby white dragon Bei Sui blew a breath toward Yu Xunge, instantly restoring her health and not only removing all negative statuses but also granting her seven beneficial ones.
Bei Sui was slightly smaller than Sheng Bei, entirely snow-white, with a gentle and pure demeanor. The way she looked at Yu Xunge and Tu Lan radiated warmth and affection—what a lovely mother figure.
Before Yu Xunge could even say, “Hello, Uncle and Aunt,” several more giant dragons flew over.
Leading them was the dragon elder, Snow Dui, whom Tu Lan often mentioned, boasting an impressive level of 855. Despite having “snow” in his name, he was actually a red dragon, followed by black, purple, and green dragons...
For a moment, Yu Xunge felt as if she had stepped into a magical realm or the world of Teletubbies...
She followed Tu Lan, greeting each dragon, either calling them “Sir” or “Elder.”
Yu Xunge had expected these powerful beings to somewhat ignore her, considering she was a weakling in comparison to the dragons, all around level 150. To them, she was no different from an ant. However, to her surprise, while they weren’t overly warm, they all nodded in acknowledgment when she greeted them.
Yu Xunge marked Tu Lan as her guiding star, took off, and flew alongside her toward the Dragon Nest.
In her heart, she said to Tu Lan, “Your big dragons are so gentle! And the elder, Snow Dui, isn’t as strict as you said.”
When she greeted Snow Dui, he not only nodded but even replied with a friendly, “Young friend.”
Tu Lan replied without surprise, “That’s because we have an equal contract, and you also carry my blessing.”
Ah, Yu Xunge suddenly remembered the line from the book: “If you want to gain a dragon and the friendship of the dragon race, it’s best to sign an equal contract with the dragon you have your eye on.” At the time, she hadn’t taken it seriously; she had simply felt pity for Tu Lan’s past fate and acted on impulse. She never imagined she would one day find herself on Dragon Island.
Tu Lan continued, “And don’t you think the dragons can sense how you’re doing?”
The fact that dragons can perceive others' emotions could be deadly for those with impure intentions, but if treated sincerely, this gift becomes the best support.
Yu Xunge often claimed to be selfish and cold-hearted, wishing to tell everyone she was a bad person and not to have any expectations of her. She couldn’t bring herself to sacrifice for anyone or anything. Yet in Tu Lan’s eyes, she was the most adorable human, soft-hearted and sincere, strong and genuine.
It was precisely because of Yu Xunge’s “stinginess” and caution in emotional matters that her kindness toward Tu Lan felt so precious. Emotions, like rare artifacts, are valuable precisely because they are scarce.
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