FRGNM -Chapter 229 The Five-Clawed Golden Dragon

“It’s nothing. I ran into Lie Yun on the way out.” Luo Mingyu withdrew his hand, not wanting the person in front of him to continue examining him.

But Ling Ruoxi’s face darkened. The injuries inside Luo Mingyu’s body were caused by extremely domineering Dou Qi—how could it be “nothing”? “You’re lying to me. Lie Yun’s strength couldn’t possibly injure you. Tell me—who exactly hurt you?”

“Not a person.”

Shaking his head, Luo Mingyu sat down and pressed one hand to his chest. Recalling that suddenly appearing thing that had clawed viciously at him, his expression sank slightly. He calmly reached out and pulled open his clothes.

Everyone around sucked in a sharp breath, staring in shock.

On Luo Mingyu’s chest, a five-clawed imprint was shockingly clear, as if the flesh had been torn off alive. Though it had been roughly repaired with Dou Qi, it was still bloody, and traces of black energy could be seen.

Even Ling Ruoxi couldn’t help inhaling sharply, her pupils shrinking. “This… what kind of magical beast did this? No—no magical beast could hurt you. What was it?”

“Do you remember the egg you took from the Southern Chaos Lands back then? Whatever was inside has hatched. The first person it saw was Lie Yun. When I went over just now, they discovered me. This mark was left by the newborn dragon.” Pressing a hand to his chest, Luo Mingyu used purple Dou Qi to mend the wound, frowning slightly. “And unless something unexpected happens, in half an hour, Lie Yun will personally lead his troops to attack the city.”

“What?!” Nangong Mo’s face changed drastically. Lie Yun personally attacking? So those twelve people earlier were just meant to hold them back. Had Lie Yun gone to oversee the hatching of the divine beast?

The Five-Clawed Golden Dragon egg—it really was that Five-Clawed Golden Dragon!

Her expression sinking, Ling Ruoxi flicked her right hand. More than a dozen silver needles fell at once, piercing Luo Mingyu’s acupoints. Pale purple Dou Qi spread over his chest. “Relax. There’s still half an hour, isn’t there? Even if he personally leads the attack, so what? Qingyi, come out!”

An unusual aura arrived. Ling Ruoxi frowned and shouted sharply.

As if discovered, the figure in midair paused, then quickly descended to Luo Mingyu’s side, smiling awkwardly. “Ruoxi, what is it? You two treating each other—do you really need me to interfere?”

“That’s not it. With your medical skills, making poison should be easy, right?” Ling Ruoxi smiled faintly at him.

Qingyi immediately understood. Snapping his fingers, he laughed. “No problem. But I do have a few words I want to say to Mingyu alone.” Lowering his head, he leaned toward Luo Mingyu’s ear, speaking via sound transmission.

A cold glint flashed in Luo Mingyu’s eyes, but he merely sneered and nodded calmly. As if realizing something, he grabbed Ling Ruoxi’s wrist. “Stay by my side later. Don’t run around, okay?”

“You—” Ling Ruoxi froze. Looking at the wound, her face sank. Even under her Dou Qi’s repair, Luo Mingyu’s injury was recovering extremely slowly, as if being innately suppressed—his Dou Qi was being completely devoured.

A silver-white figure appeared, yawning as it leaned in to inspect Luo Mingyu’s injury. Shaking its head, it said, “It’s over—being completely eaten up. This Five-Clawed Golden Dragon is a starving ghost reincarnated. It eats everything. Even after injuring Luo Mingyu, it left its aura behind to devour your Dou Qi.”

“What? Devour Dou Qi?” Ling Ruoxi froze. No wonder no matter how she tried to heal him with Dou Qi, it never worked—so it actually consumed Dou Qi!

Nodding, the Silver Wolf scratched its head. “The Five-Clawed Golden Dragon initially fed on the baleful qi of the Divine Beast Earth-Spike Dragon. Later, it fed on the blood of human virgins, absorbing the resentment of those women to grow. In the future, its food will mainly be Dou Qi and resentment. The more people die, the fuller it gets, and the faster it grows. So many have died here—this is another feast for it.”

Taking a deep breath, Ling Ruoxi’s gaze hardened. Her fists clenched as she looked at the devastation below. If this continued, once Lie Yun arrived with the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon, it would surely be another brutal battle!

Luo Mingyu was already injured, and the rest of them were far weaker than him—how could they possibly win?

But then… a sharp light flashed in her eyes. Pinching her fingers together, Ling Ruoxi asked coldly, “Besides the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon, how many troops does Lie Yun have?”

“That… I’m not too sure. But it seems he’s abandoned the idea of storming the city and instead chose to besiege it—personally bringing the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon,” the Silver Wolf said, propping up its chin. Meeting Ling Ruoxi’s sharp gaze, it shivered and quickly laughed. “Don’t worry, don’t get excited. If we can’t win, we can still run—our legs are our own! Besides, isn’t there that old man from the Murong family ruling this land? If the imperial city falls, even if he’s in seclusion, he should come out.”

“You’re wrong. He handed this matter over to me.” Ling Ruoxi stood up coldly and transmitted the words, her gaze shifting toward Nangong Mo nearby. The first condition was to assist the person before her to ascend the throne!

If they couldn’t even subdue Lie Yun, how would they win over the other ministers’ loyalty?
Lie Yun could only be their stepping stone.

Taking a deep breath, Ling Ruoxi turned and left.

“Alright then—I’ll go make the poison.” Qingyi smiled lightly, a flash of deep blue light passing through his black eyes.

Luo Mingyu sat down cross-legged, using spiritual medicine to suppress the rampaging aura inside him. Such a powerful presence—the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon was indeed not to be underestimated.

A stifling pressure spread throughout the imperial city. With the barrier broken, the exposed city lay fully in view. The armies stationed outside all withdrew, taking the corpses of the fallen with them and retreating ten miles.

Dangerous mountains surrounded the area. The army dispersed, armored soldiers charging out like an uncoiling dragon, racing around the mountain city. The gradually converging units formed ranks; banners fluttered like auspicious clouds atop the hills.

“So they really are using a siege. But we can’t keep playing along like this.” A gleam flashed in the Silver Wolf’s eyes as it hurried over and whispered a few words into Qian Yi’s ear.

Qian Yi’s face changed drastically. Sharp light flashed in her eyes as she looked resolutely at Nangong Mo and slowly extended her right hand.

This left Nangong Mo speechless. “What are you doing?” he asked coldly.

“I won’t die—and you’re not allowed to die either. Understand?” Qian Yi’s low voice rang out. She forcefully grabbed Nangong Mo’s fist and slammed her other hand hard against his chest!

If they could still come back alive, she wouldn’t care about anything else. If they really could be together, then she…

Her long lashes trembled as the spear-wielding woman walked toward the inner city.

Nangong Mo, however, felt utterly baffled. Looking down at his right hand, he subconsciously thumped his chest. Of course—he definitely wouldn’t die!

“Roar!”

A heavy roar erupted from the forest. All the magical beasts around immediately prostrated themselves, foreclaws trembling. The overwhelming pressure of a high-tier existence spread out. Some low-level beasts rolled their eyes back and fainted on the spot.

Even the Silver Wolf couldn’t withstand that aura—its face turned pale, and the hands hidden in its sleeves shook uncontrollably.

Dust billowed as the mountain forest ahead suddenly collapsed. Golden Dou Qi erupted like a razor-sharp blade, tearing through the air. Fierce winds howled, and even the sky’s colors dimmed.

Gloomy killing intent swept over everything. Heavy waves of pressure rolled out, making it hard to breathe.

The army had arrived at the city gates—yet the scene felt desolate.

On the city wall, figures stood, coldly watching ahead.

“Boom!” A massive body over ten meters long came charging in. Seemingly delighted by the aura here, its eyes burned red as it roared endlessly. All the dragon scales on its body stood on end as it happily bounded to the foot of the city. With its huge mouth open, violent gales surged forth, sweeping all the corpses into the air. The enormous creature paused—then swallowed them all whole.

Its body grew several more meters longer. Like it was resting, it lazily sprawled on the ground, its eyes coldly fixed on the people ahead.

“Heavens… I always heard dragons were extremely picky magical beasts that only eat the finest things. Who knew this Five-Clawed Golden Dragon eats everything?” The Silver Wolf swallowed hard, its jaw nearly hitting the ground as it stared in disbelief.

Corpses littered the ground—both magical beasts and humans—yet all had been devoured by that bottomless pit. It didn’t just feed on killing intent; it even ate this. This wasn’t greed—this was downright disgusting!

A figure sped in, clad in heavy armor, red robes fluttering in the wind. In an instant, he reached the foot of the city wall. His eyes were imposing even without anger as he coldly surveyed the group opposite him.

“Oh? The imperial city has fallen into such a state. Your Highness—don’t you feel any guilt?” Lie Yun sneered, reaching out to stroke the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon. The creature seemed quite fond of him, repeatedly burrowing toward his chest.

Unfortunately, it ignored its own massive size. That collision nearly sent Lie Yun flying. Forcing both hands against the dragon, Lie Yun’s face turned livid. He punched it on the head. “Behave!”

“Wuu—” Like a wronged child, the newborn Five-Clawed Golden Dragon rubbed itself against the ground. Dust flew everywhere; the earth shook violently. Even the army ten miles behind nearly got blasted away by the force.

The imperial city trembled, and the people inside were almost thrown off their feet by the shock.