Chapter 756: Nine-Heavens Mad Dragon (2)

There was a moment when everyone except Sua wore an expression of utter disbelief, but soon I was able to hear what kind of discussion the schemers, including senior sister and my strategist Soto, had been having.

The things they had discussed while I was relieving Ji-ryeon’s heat.

“Why is everyone making that face?”

“Ah, it’s nothing, junior brother.”

“That’s right, Lord So-ryong. Please sit over here. The discussion just ended, so I’ll report to you.”

“Good. Then shall I hear the report from Soto?”

“Yes, so......”

My strategists had offered a rite and spoken with Lady Chaenyeo a little more.

It had been to make a better operation, and they said they had heard something very useful there.

What was that?

It was that the dragons used the Ninth Heaven through the First Heaven as places to safely raise young dragons.

Well, they called them young dragons, but they were bastards who had spent hundreds of years cultivating Dao in the lower world before ascending. Like blood ties, regional ties, and school ties from my previous previous life, when a dragon of the same race ascended, these bastards took them under their command so they could grow safely.

They had established a system where, once the junior grew, they handed over their position and moved upward.

Sua had also inherited her position from a senior, and the same was true for the other dragons called Dragon Kings.

They said there were other Dragon Kings besides them here in the First Heaven through the Eighth Heaven, and all together, there were eight.

Blue, red, white, black, and yellow. Five kinds, plus green, silver, and jade.

Eight colors in total.

“Oho. Eight. Nice...”

“Lord So-ryong?”

“Ah, no, I mean there sure are a lot of dragon bastards.”

What I had to do now was appear in front of the four who had come to spy, show that Sua was safe, and have Sua confess in front of the other dragons that she had made a false report.

That she had lied, saying the scent coming from the fluff above was there because she wanted to obtain me.

It was to cut off their interest in Zihwa.

Of course, there was no way they would easily believe those words.

Dragons were evaluated as greedy and cunning, so it was obvious they would think Sua had been captured by me and was making a false report.

At that moment, we would take issue with the unpleasant way they had tried to spy on White Night City and request a conversation with the ones above.

And then demand compensation.

I did not know what true blood was, but it was clearly something meant to harm me, so I would demand compensation.

The price was dragons.

If we did this, the suspicious dragons would no longer be able to think about Zihwa.

Because a madman would suddenly be telling them to hand over dragons.

When you suddenly ran into a madman out of nowhere, you ended up unable to think normally because you were busy dealing with the nonsense he was saying.

They would think, That Sua bastard was clearly caught and is saying things she does not mean.

That bastard is hiding something.

While they were thinking that, if I said, “Hand over a few dragons as damages,” they would go, “What!? Hand over what?” That was the explanation.

“Oho. So if I suddenly demand a few dragons out of nowhere, they won’t be able to think that Sua was caught and is lying?”

“Yes, Lord So-ryong.”

Naturally, they would refuse, and this was where Master’s notoriety would help.

Master was a kidnapper who had recklessly kidnapped spirit-creatures, including married women.

They told me to use that notoriety too, demand dragons, and threaten them.

This place, from the First Heaven to the Eighth Heaven, was the cradle of dragons where dragon cultivators were raised safely.

If they did not hand them over, then I should simply say I would capture them all, make them mine, and prevent dragons from going up to the Central Heaven from now on. That was the explanation.

The lifespan of a Primordial Infant Stage cultivator usually had another twelve hundred years added to the original lifespan.

In other words, I would be threatening to wreak havoc for the next twelve hundred years.

Were we not the strongest force here in name and reality, having occupied the First Heaven?

I was a Primordial Infant Stage cultivator and from the Central Plains murim.

On top of that, in our White Night City, there were not just one or two Primordial Infant Stage cultivators.

Just counting Primordial Infant Stage alone, there were five: me, senior sister, Sua, Cheongwol, and Cheong-yu Sojeo.

The places the dragons currently occupied were mostly the Eighth Heaven, where they could grow safely without fighting, and the Sixth Heaven that Sua had ruled was the highest among them.

If we made up our minds, those bastards could not stop us.

On top of that, White Night City had Master’s true-body Law Treasure, the dagger. We were not using it now because we were worried about energy consumption, but if we used this, cultivators who used Dao Techniques or Law Arts were our meal.

Since this Law Treasure blocked Dao Techniques and Law Arts, and since I, senior sister, and my wives were from murim, inside it, we were practically invincible.

Of course, well, a being from above could descend below, but that was something impossible without permission from Lady Nine Heavens Hyeonnyeo, Lady Chaenyeo, and Lady Sonyeo, so it was a perfect plan.

After hearing the entire plan, I grinned and said,

“Now then, shall I fill my selfish desires nice and generously?”

***

White-Sea Dragon King Baengnyonggun, Red-Sea Dragon King Hong Muryong, Yellow-Sea Dragon King Hwang Chilgong, and Black-Sea Dragon King Heuk Yeommu quietly gathered in one place after being assigned rooms at the inn.

The place they gathered was a small dining room in the inn, which they had rented under the pretext of sharing friendship after meeting for the first time in a while, but they had a separate purpose.

It was to discuss what they had to do here.

Because orders had been handed down from a high person in the Upper Heaven, telling all of them to gather at the inn in White Night City of this First Heaven and carry out the command.

When the four Dragon Kings sat around the seats, Red-Sea Dragon King Hong Muryong, seated among them, crossed his legs and spoke crookedly.

“Hm. To think they sent others for such a trivial matter. Sending only me would have been enough.”

Since arrogant dragons of the same realm had been gathered together, complaints like this were bound to flow out.

Well, red dragons were also famous for having violent tempers.

Among the dragons of eight colors, the ones known for having the most violent tempers were red dragons.

The order handed down was simple.

First, find the whereabouts of Sua, the blue dragon who was the master of the vanished Sixth Heaven’s Jet-Black Sea.

Second, determine whether the owner of this White Night City had the same scent as the fluff received from the previous Dragon King.

If possible, they were also to find the owner of that scent.

They had not been told what the fluff was or why they had to find its owner, but the ones above had said that Sua had gone missing while investigating it, so they absolutely had to find it.

Black-Sea Dragon King Heuk Yeommu, a black dragon with a temperament rivaling red dragons for violence, also spat out the same complaint.

Though his complaint was probably for a different reason.

“The same goes for me. Hmph. To send all four of us Dragon Kings for something like this. Hrm!”

Black dragons were dragons famous for their greed.

He was probably trying to keep the others in check because he coveted the credit for this matter.

Then White-Sea Dragon King Baengnyonggun, a white dragon who had been sitting quietly, spoke in a cold voice.

“Fools. Do you not know how important this matter is?”

“What!?”

“What did you say?”

At the words of the White Dragon King, who had the bloodline of white dragons said to always maintain cold reason, the other two Dragon Kings flared up.

Because he had dared speak as if scolding them.

When the two Dragon Kings unleashed their momentum, it felt as if the barrier they had set up would tear apart.

Yellow-Sea Dragon King Hwang Chilgong, a yellow dragon, frowned and shouted.

“Everyone, keep it moderate. There is nothing wrong in what the White Dragon King said. Who is the master of the Jet-Black Sea? Was she not the head of all dragons from this First Heaven to the Eighth Heaven?

Contact with Lady Sua has been cut off. This is not a problem to handle lightly. Is that not why the high person of the Upper Heaven sent as many as four of us?”

“Hrm.”

“Hrmm.”

At the words of Hwang Chilgong, the yellow dragon, the two dispersed their energy with uncomfortable expressions.

Once the two shut their mouths and became docile, the Yellow-Sea Dragon King spoke.

“White-Sea Dragon King, do you perhaps have a plan? If you have one, all of us will follow your plan.”

At that, the Red-Sea and Black-Sea Dragon Kings flared up.

“No, who said we would follow that man’s plan?”

“Exactly! How can you decide without even discussing it!”

It seemed they were dissatisfied that he had suggested following the White-Sea Dragon King’s plan without discussion. At the words of the Red-Sea Dragon King and Black-Sea Dragon King, the Yellow-Sea Dragon King let out a deep sigh and asked back.

“Then do you two have any sharp plan? Since there are four of us gathered here, a plan is essential if we are to move without interfering with one another. That is why I suggested we follow the cool-headed White-Sea Dragon King’s plan. Tsk......”

The Red-Sea Dragon King and Black-Sea Dragon King looked at each other, then shifted their gazes toward the White-Sea Dragon King and said,

“Hrm. I meant we should listen to the plan and then decide such things.”

“Indeed. Indeed.”

When the Yellow-Sea Dragon King shook his head and looked toward the White-Sea Dragon King, only then did the latter open his mouth again.

“Tsk. Listen carefully. This mission is not something where we should compete over credit.”

“Hm? What does that mean?”

“It seems none of you have thought of it at all.”

The White-Sea Dragon King raised the energy of the barrier a little more and asked quietly,

“A dragon has gone missing here in the Lower Heaven. How is that usually handled?”

At his question, the Dragon Kings looked at one another and answered in a tone that said it was obvious.

“Well, that...”

“Well, of course, it means they were weeded out, so there is nothing to handle or not handle.”

“That is right. A dragon who dies and falls over in a mere Lower Heaven has no qualification to be a dragon, does it?”

That was right.

Dragons who went missing in the Lower Heaven, especially between the First Heaven and the Eighth Heaven, usually ended up being killed by someone and turned into spirit cores.

Since they were weak dragons, they were quickly forgotten.

No matter how much other seniors of the same race looked after their juniors, they did not bother caring even for weak dead bastards.

A dragon was one who stood above all races.

Even so, if they were hunted by lowly things, they had no qualification to be dragons.

The White-Sea Dragon King nodded and continued explaining.

“No matter how much the master of the Jet-Black Sea was the highest-realm dragon here from the First Heaven to the Eighth Heaven, if she was hunted by a mere human, then this is not a matter for us to step in.

Would that not make her a weeded-out dragon?”

At his explanation, everyone held their chins and nodded.

Yes. A dragon who fell even despite the grace of senior dragons had no qualification to be a dragon.

Even if that dragon was the highest among the dragons between the First Heaven and the Eighth Heaven.

And yet they had given an order to find her?

It was certainly strange.

Those above were helping dragons grow as much as possible, and had also told them to help, but they had never ordered revenge for things that died and fell over.

Because if they went out of their way to seek revenge and died, that would be an even greater loss.

“I see.”

“That is certainly true.”

“Then this matter may become an extremely dangerous one. No, it must be a dangerous one.”

“It seems certain no matter how I look at it. Did you all smell that fluff?”

When the White-Sea Dragon King brought up the subject of the fluff, everyone’s bodies flinched.

Because this mission had come down, and they had smelled that scent again after a long while, and it had been horrifying.

“Ugh, do not even mention it. It gave me chills.”

“Exactly. What in the world was that fluff from, for it to feel so repulsive?”

“But what exactly is it? Do you know?”

At everyone’s words, the White-Sea Dragon King held his chin and said,

“No, I have not heard either. But it does not give me a good feeling. Personally, I keep getting the thought that it is something extremely dangerous. So this matter means that even if we do well, we only break even, and if we do poorly, our lives may be in danger.

The master of the Jet-Black Sea vanished while investigating a matter related to that fluff. And unlike before, those above ordered us to search for her. Does that not smell dangerous?”

“Uh-huh......”

“Th-That is true. Certainly.”

“Then what should we do?”

The other Dragon Kings, who sympathized with the White-Sea Dragon King’s words, now sent him gazes asking for help.

Because there was nothing wrong in what he said.

The White-Sea Dragon King continued with a very serious expression.

“First, we split into pairs and conduct the search. We circle around the mansion and such, checking whether we can sense any presences nearby, and we also approach that pavilion called Blood Market Tower and examine the presences there.

Ah, absolutely do not use Law Arts or Dao Techniques carelessly. The lord of this city is said to be from the Central Plains murim, is he not? They say those people are bright when it comes to the movement of qi and quickly detect even the smallest abnormality.”

“Understood. Then the Yellow-Sea Dragon King and I, the Red-Sea Dragon King, will pair up, and you and the Black-Sea Dragon King will move as a pair.”

“Let us do that.”

The four Dragon Kings were continuing their discussion about how they would move from now on.

Then suddenly, a human presence was felt outside.

The four Dragon Kings quickly withdrew the barrier, lifted the cups before them, and laughed.

“Haha, yes, so that was what happened.”

“It is good to see everyone like this after so long.”

They were pretending to be having a conversation for the sake of friendship, and then a knocking sound came from the door, followed by a servant’s voice outside.

Knock knock.

“Elders, Lord So-ryong, the owner of this White Night City, has come to visit.”

“Oh, is that so? Let him in.”

At the words that the owner of White Night City, who was highly likely to be the root of this incident or someone related to it, had come to meet them, everyone raised smiles on their faces.

While their bodies were taut with tension.

Then the door opened, and a man entered while pulling a red leash.

“Oh, it is so good to—”

“Good to—”

“Hurk!”

The Dragon Kings, who had been competing to greet him, could not continue their greetings.

Because the end of the red leash in his hand was fastened around the neck of the master of the Jet-Black Sea.

Like an animal tied up and raised.

No matter how many times they closed and opened their eyes, it was undoubtedly Sua, the master of the Jet-Black Sea who had supposedly gone missing.