Chapter 320: Chapter 322: The Luster of the Lamp Gem
Unlike the Mourning Dragons I had seen before, the Fiend Star Dragon didn’t look excessively fierce, nor did it exude the kind of ugliness that sends chills down one’s spine. It lay atop the mountain peak, cold as a nocturnal monarch, lazily and regally grooming its fur.
An imperious and sinister aura emanated from its body, as if all beings associated with darkness in this world would submit to it.
Its wings were too dazzling, unfurling like the ultimate glimmering starry night, the small scale feathers on its wings far surpassing the beauty of the most luxurious and exquisite diamonds in the world!
Zhu Minglang looked at this Fiend Star Dragon, not even daring to breathe.
Even if this dragon wasn’t a Dragon King, it was not far from the Dragon King realm!
How could such a creature, standing at the apex of the Supreme Court Courtyard Continent, be contended with by mere mortals like them?
“Is it injured?” Zhu Minglang asked in a lowered voice.
Li Xinghua and Nan Lingsha both shook their heads.
There was no sign that the Fiend Star Dragon was wounded, and the slightest hint of hostility from them might result in being instantly slain by it!
The Orderer from Green Bull Mountain was indeed setting them up.
“Xinghua, why is there a light coming from you?” Nan Lingsha noticed a faint glow slowly brightening and then fading at the space between Li Xinghua’s neck and chest, repeating over and over.
Li Xinghua hadn’t noticed it herself and as she looked down, she indeed saw the glow shining through her clothes.
Zhu Minglang saw it and felt that the rhythm of this light’s brightness and dimness seemed familiar…
The tail of the Fiend Star Dragon!
The delicate and supple tip of the Fiend Star Dragon’s tail was also emitting such a glow, slowly brightening and then dimming, maintaining this rhythm of light and shadow since they arrived and began observing the Fiend Star Dragon.
Li Xinghua reached into her bosom, pulling out a piece of jade tied with a soft silver cord.
This was an Ancient Lantern Jade, formed from combining the piece from the Miao Mountain Sword Sect Ancient Pagoda with two pieces from Princess Luoshui’s facial ornaments; it was about the size of a pinky finger and extremely thin.
Li Xinghua wore it daily, for it was a divine artifact that could slowly nourish the soul. Without the Ancient Lantern Jade, Li Yunzi might never have awakened at all.
“It’s the light from the jade, reflecting off one another. Even if a piece of Ancient Lantern Jade is shattered into countless pieces, they would start to reflect light when near each other. There is an Ancient Lantern Jade on the tail of the Fiend Star Dragon!” Li Xinghua exclaimed in surprise, her eyes gleaming with delight.
So there was a piece of Ancient Lantern Jade in these Ancient Ruins, and it was on the tail of the Fiend Star Dragon!
Zhu Minglang also broke into a smile.
With the City Lord’s Seal and now this piece from the Fiend Star Dragon, they effectively had a complete clue to the four pieces of Ancient Lantern Jade!
Collecting all four, they could awaken Li Yunzi…
However, his joy was short-lived as Zhu Minglang’s thoughts returned to reality.
The Fiend Star Dragon…
A creature very likely at the Dragon King level.
Plucking that piece of Ancient Lantern Jade from its tail didn’t seem like an easy task!
What to do!
The Ancient Lantern Jade was right in front of them, but they couldn’t reach it.
Zhu Minglang rubbed his temples.
If brute force was not an option, they would have to resort to a cunning plan.
But considering the Fiend Star Dragon was a variant among Mourning Dragons, its intelligence was likely not low. Without a perfect plan, they were essentially courting death.
“Hmmm”
The Fiend Star Dragon, grooming its fur that was like Dark Star Grass, lowered its head and by chance, saw its tail wrapped around the rocks, the tip currently glowing brightly.
At that moment, the eyes of the Fiend Star Dragon, vast as the starry sky, suddenly became piercing. It surveyed the floating cliffs as if searching for something.
Zhu Minglang’s heart thudded.
The Fiend Star Dragon had sensed the reflection of the lamp jade!!
It knew that the person carrying the lamp jade was nearby!
“Whoosh!!!!!”
The starry wings of the Fiend Star Dragon suddenly unfurled, dazzlingly spreading wide as if they could reach into the depths of the heavens, and its elongated body detached from the summit of the floating cliffs…
It soared into the sky in an instant, its dragon form long like a serpent of the night, its chest solid and broad, becoming slender and graceful towards the waist, and even more delicate and supple at the tail!
It had no claws, neither on the forelimbs nor the hindlimbs, its form bearing a striking resemblance to the Chi Dragon owned by Nan Yuso, save for its scale feathers that shimmered with a dark crystal hue, and wings that were more lustrous and dreamy, with straight and majestic dragon horns resembling perfectly proportioned crystal towers.
The Fiend Star Dragon soared through the air, clearly in search of the person reflected by the lamp jade.
Zhu Minglang, Li Xinghua, and Nan Lingsha didn’t even dare to breathe heavily, waiting until the Fiend Star Dragon flew toward another tall cliff before they all let out a long sigh of relief.
“Let’s leave this place first,” Zhu Minglang said.
Not daring to linger any longer, the trio hastily moved away from the Fiend Star Dragon.
If the Fiend Star Dragon also knew how to use the reflection to lock onto their location, they would be in great danger.
Considering the issue with the lamp jade’s reflection, they didn’t stay in the ancient ruins any longer.
When they left the ruins, Zhu Minglang saw that the sky was just beginning to brighten…
Was it already the next day?
He remembered that the last time they entered the ruins, almost no time had passed in the outside world.
But this time, whether they had spent too much time in that fissure’s long path or time truly passed faster, he couldn’t be sure!
“Damn, the Brown Flag Army of Slaughter Country will be here soon,” Zhu Minglang said.
“We’ll have to give up,” Li Xinghua said decisively.
“Right, we’ll plan for the long term,” Zhu Minglang nodded.
Runyu City was much more complex than he had imagined; for the moment, if the Slaughter Country Army wanted to force their occupation, he would let them.
Upon arriving at the Parliament Tower, Zhu Minglang immediately felt something was amiss.
“It seems there’s an outsider, I’ll go and check it out,” Zhu Minglang said to the sisters behind him.
“Okay,” Li Xinghua nodded, and then she pulled Nan Lingsha aside to hide for the time being.
Zhu Minglang walked into the tower and as he stepped inside, he saw the Hu Family Siblings, Hao Ye, Fang Niannian, Zhi Rou, Chao Ruijin, Yao Junshi, Yu Gaojie, and others sitting at the long table, each looking overly solemn and serious.
The atmosphere was oppressively strange; Zhu Minglang looked around and saw an additional person in the tower. This man was draped in a very ordinary cloth robe, sitting in the City Lord’s seat with his feet propped on the table, a blade of wild grass dangling from his mouth, exuding an irresponsibly nonchalant attitude yet also radiating an intense oppressive aura.
The heavy atmosphere among the people in the tower was probably because of this man!
“May I ask who you are?” Zhu Minglang inquired.
“Chang Hong of Green Bull Mountain, the Orderer of this tea-colored ground,” the man replied with a smile, showing off a row of somewhat uneven teeth.
“I’ve heard much about you,” Zhu Minglang said.
“Did you see the Fiend Star Dragon?” Orderer Chang Hong asked.