Stranger Danger

“Roar!”

As soon as Ye Qing reached the other side, an angry roar came from the bottom of the Dragon Nursing Gorge. Then, while surrounded by bloody fog, the Blood Serpent rushed toward Ye Qing once more.

Ye Qing did not look at it, however. He clasped his hands behind his back and continued forward almost as if he hadn’t heard or felt the Blood Serpent.

Right before the Blood Serpent would leave the gorge completely, it abruptly flew backward as if it was pulled by some sort of invisible hand. Such was its force that it smashed against the cliff side.

This triggered the Blood Serpent’s innate violence and caused it to let out another roar. Again and again it tried to go after Ye Qing, and again and again it was pulled back to the Dragon Nursing Gorge.

Someone who was looking closely would notice that the Blood Serpent’s limbs were restrained by four invisible chains. That was why the Blood Serpent was unable to stray too far from the Dragon Nursing Gorge.

The lake of true dragon blood and the Great Hidden Wind Dragon Nurturing Array could accelerate the growth of a Blood Serpent, and the Blood Serpent could protect Dragonrider Mountain from danger and ensure a glorious future, it wasn’t all benefits and no drawbacks.

A Blood Serpent was naturally cruel and difficult to tame. If it evolved into a Blood Dragon, but there was no one in Dragonrider Mountain who was powerful enough to restrain it, then it was entirely possible for it to turn against its own people or even destroy them. That was why Trueman Dragonrider had set up a restriction that trapped the Blood Serpent within the Dragon Nursing Gorge and prevented it from straying too far.

That was why Ye Qing dared to do what he did and even turn his back on the Blood Serpent.

Meanwhile, the Blood Serpent grew increasingly violent and irritable as its prey grew farther and farther away from it. It began ramming the cliff sides and tearing and biting at the chains restraining its limbs. Its struggles were such that the entire Dragonrider Mountain were shaking a little.

Unfortunately for the Blood Serpent, Trueman Dragonrider had made the two mountains that were Dragonrider Mountain the roots of its restriction. Unless the Blood Serpent was strong enough to rip both mountains from their bases, it would never be able to break free.

A furious but futile struggle and a couple of defiant roars later, the Blood Serpent finally gave up and sank back into the lake of blood. Ye Qing smirked when he sensed this.

If he were to be honest, he had crossed the Dragon Nursing Gorge through a combination of luck and trickery.

The luck part came from him realizing that he could sense and even manipulate the lake of blood at the bottom of the Dragon Nursing Gorge upon arrival. Since the lake of blood was created from the blood of true dragons, his blood naturally desired to consume it. Add to the fact that he cultivated the “Blood Demon Sutra”, a blood manipulation martial art that was based on blood, and he found himself capable of manipulating the lake of blood as he pleased.

The trickery part came from him exploiting the fact that the Blood Serpent could not move too far away from the Dragon Nursing Gorge. First, he lifted the lake of blood away from the Dragon Nursing Gorge to rile up the Blood Serpent. Then, he struck it with the full weight of the lake and temporarily repelled it, buying him enough time to cross the Chain of Supreme Yin like nothing and stunning the masses as he intended. After that, well, there wasn’t an after that. The Blood Serpent could not leave the Dragon Nursing Gorge, so as soon as he was out of range, he had already won.

Could he have fought the Blood Serpent for real? Sure. He could even defeat it. But why would he waste his time and energy when he had already wowed the audience by lifting a lake of blood of true dragons and stunning their guardian beast with one hand? Besides, he felt like he would lose face if he engaged a beast in melee.

In fact, there was an easier, more brutal way of doing this. He could simply devour every last drop of the blood lake using his unique blood. That would most certainly scare the shit out of everyone involved.

He did not do it for several reasons though. First, he would make a sworn enemy out of Dragonrider Mountain if he did that. The lake of true dragon blood was the heart of the Dragon Nursing Gorge, so if he consumed it all, the array would more or less be ruined, and the Blood Serpent would never be able to transform into a Blood Dragon. He would have ruined the sect’s future and their shot at a resurgence, which was a far more severe transgression than him saving Giggle and intercepting their opportunity. There was a saying called, “Ruining someone’s livelihood is like killing their parents”, but this was even worse. They would have thrown all caution to the wind and done everything in their power to end him where he stood.

Besides, he really was here to pay Dragonrider Mountain a visit. Sure, he was also going to give them the proverbial black eye for what they did to Giggle, but to ruin the Dragon Nursing Gorge would be like setting someone’s house on fire just because they bullied his son or something. That was entirely too much retribution. He wasn’t here to massacre their sect, nor did he possess the power to do so.

Second, he had no idea if Trueman Dragonrider left some sort of hidden trap within the Dragon Nursing Gorge. If he consumed the lake of blood willy-nilly, it was very possible he would trigger some sort of hidden restriction and make life difficult for himself. Worst case scenario, it would be some sort of death trap that could very well kill him where he stood.

This wasn’t just his paranoia talking either. Trueman Dragonrider was a true legend back then not just for his martial prowess, but also his impressive wealth of knowledge. Assuming that the legend was to be believed, he was a master in martial arts, martial theory, fengshui, numerology, arrays and restrictions. Not only did this man dared to leave an entire lake of true dragon blood out in the open, it had somehow remained safe and untouched for centuries. That was why Ye Qing did not believe for a second that the Blood Serpent was the lake’s final line of defense. There had to be deadlier traps and defenses lurking within the lake.

Tempted he might be, he had no choice but to abandon the idea.

After crossing the Dragon Nursing Gorge and entering the back mountain, Ye Qing was soon greeted by an impressive forest of pavilions, towers, houses and more. He could tell how much wealth and history Dragonrider Mountain possessed just by looking at their buildings.

Unfortunately, his view was quickly blocked by a bunch of angry Dragonrider Mountain disciples. Their reactions were understandable though. He was here to slap their faces. How could he possibly expect them to show him the hospitality of a host?

At first, Ye Qing ignored them and continued on his way. However, an arrogant-looking man with eyes that were brimming with fighting spirit stepped out of the crowd and barred his path. He had a pair of straight eyebrows and bright eyes, and he was wearing a golden robe.

“I am Jiang Youhu, a disciple of the Dragonmorph Hall. I would like to request a duel with you!”

“Senior brother Jiang!”

“Senior brother Jiang is Hallmaster Yue’s main disciple, and he is the twenty-seventh ranker on the Human Champions Ranking. He will surely defeat this arrogant fool[1]!”

“Yeah! Show him that Dragonrider Mountain is no one to be trifled with!”

“Dragonrider Mountain’s honor must remain intact. Kill him, Senior brother Yue!”

“Kill him!”

“Kill him!”

“Kill him!”

The crowd was well and truly riled up. The roars subsided a little only when Jiang Youhu motioned for them to quiet down. He stared at Ye Qing and began arrogantly, “You heard that? The honor of Dragonrider Mountain must remain intact. If you’re smart, you will fall on your knees and kowtow nine times in apology. Only then will you have a sliver of a chance of surviving this. Otherwise, this day next year will be the anniversary of your death.”

In response, Ye Qing smiled and dug his ears a little. “Man, it’s so noisy around here. Who let the dogs out?”

“The audacity!”

“How dare you insult us! Are you courting death?”

“Kill a soldier, but never humiliate them! You will die for this!”

The crowd grew even louder and angrier. They could not wait to rip Ye Qing into shreds.

Jiang Youhu’s expression turned ugly. “Don’t you think that your arrogance is a little too much, Joyless Ye?”

"Of course. If I wasn’t arrogant, then I wouldn’t come here in the first place, would I?” Ye Qing admitted. “Anyway, I thought you were planning to duel me? Come on then. If you defeat me, then you can act just as arrogant as I am!”

“If you want to die that badly, then sure!” Bloodthirst quickly covered Jiang Youhu’s eyes completely. “Remember this: your killer is Jiang Youhu of the Dragonmorph Hall!”

Before he even finished talking, Jiang Youhu was already jumping into the air and extending his right hand when he was about ten meters away from Ye Qing’s head. At the same time, the image of a sky dragon scattered the wind and clouds with a stretch of the limbs before extending a claw toward Ye Qing.

“Sky Dragon Stretches Claw”

Even before the claw landed, a draconic roar deafened the ears and tore a gashin the air. It was quite the aggressive opening.

1. Bro, not even the ninth ranker Xie Taohua thought it was safe to fight Ye Qing while he was still injured by a tribulation lol. ☜

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!