VHBF -Chapter 173 The Evil Dragon Daddy (Part 4)

It was as though a chant-like blessing from an ancient Primordial Dragon, invigorating the spirit.

Without a word spoken, a scene spontaneously took shape in everyone’s minds: a majestic giant dragon, its body shrouded in mist, hovering in midair, circling a small golden egg. The murmured chant at their ears seemed to grow ever clearer, piercing straight into the heart.

This scene was something none of those present would forget for the rest of their lives. Almost unconsciously, they halted their attacks and defenses alike, allowing the opponent’s strike—too late to be withdrawn—to land upon them without regard.

One by one, the disciples gaped, eyes wide, lifting their heads to stare at the sky.

Even the well-informed sect masters and elders were stunned rigid on the spot by this sudden turn of events.

By all logic, cultivators were not like ordinary mortals. From the moment they stepped onto the path of cultivation, they cultivated both mind and body, abstained from grains, purified their hearts, and curbed desire. It was already rare for them to show emotions as openly as mortals did. Yet at this very moment, no one present could control their emotions—many even wore blank, stunned expressions without realizing it.

Inside and outside the valley, silence fell. Only that faint, elusive dragon chant remained.

The Daoist sect master parted his lips and murmured, “Dra—dragon… the Primordial Dragon…?”

A disciple who did not understand cried out in alarm, “Master, did that evil dragon break free from the formation?!”

The moment the others heard this, they instinctively took a step back, fear flashing across their faces. Even if they did not know the reason behind the great battle ten thousand years ago, they knew one thing well: even if ten or twenty Grand Ascension ancestors came, they still wouldn’t be enough to fight that evil dragon. Standing here, weren’t they simply delivering themselves as food?

They had finally invited out the divine artifact left behind by the Dragon-Slaying Venerable, jointly activated by the various sect masters and elders, intending to deal a heavy blow to those demonic riffraff from the Fantastical Continent—and, incidentally, contribute a little more toward the cause of exterminating the evil dragon. Yet now, not only had they failed to eliminate those riffraff, they hadn’t even reached the evil dragon, and it was already about to awaken and break free from the formation?

This realization quickly sparked panic. Seeing the disciples about to lose their composure, several sect masters reacted at once, shaking their heads. “No. If the formation were broken, this valley would not remain intact. The valley is still fine, which shows the evil dragon has not escaped the formation.”

“Then, Sect Master, this is…?”

The sect masters exchanged glances, each seeing the same uncertainty and suspicion in the others’ eyes. Clearly, they had arrived at the same thought.

“Since ancient times, gold has symbolized nobility, and dragons have symbolized auspiciousness. This scene… looks like the emergence of some treasure unseen for ten thousand years, or else…”

Or else what—they did not say. Instinctively, they were unwilling to believe that exceedingly slim possibility.

According to records, when certain peerless, heaven-blessed, exalted divine beasts were born, they too were accompanied by such phenomena.

And those capable of producing both towering pillars of golden light and something resembling a blessing from the Primordial Dragon—there was only one possibility: the birth of a descendant of the dragon race whose bloodline was the purest, one who had received the Primordial Dragon’s acknowledgment.

The Daoist sect master recalled a thick volume stored in his sect—records in the continental histories that mentioned a similar occurrence once before.

He subconsciously looked toward the cave. Legend had it that tens of thousands of years ago, when the evil dragon inside that cave was born, there had been the same scene. At the time, the entire dragon race had rejoiced, and the elders of the clan had immediately established the evil dragon as the next heir to the Dragon Clan’s leadership, without a single dissenting voice.

Even within the dragon race, those who could receive the Primordial Dragon’s acknowledgment and be granted a blessing at birth were exceedingly rare. Over hundreds of thousands of years, there had been only that one evil dragon.

Facts proved that the Primordial Dragon’s judgment had not been mistaken. That evil dragon was extraordinarily powerful, bringing endless trouble to the Heavenly Dao and to them all—no one could do anything to him.

Within the dragon race, there existed a secret never passed on: it was said that dragons capable of earning the Primordial Dragon’s acknowledgment appeared only once every tens of thousands of years. Yet whenever a dragon hatchling did receive the Primordial Dragon’s blessing, it would become the most exalted dragon of the entire race. Whether elders or the reigning clan leader, all would need to hold it in reverence and serve it as their lord.

Among the dragon race—and indeed among the great divine beast races—it was not purely strength that determined status. More often, what decided their standing was the purity of one’s bloodline. The purer the bloodline, the more exalted the status, and it could also exert influence and bloodline suppression over those of lower rank.

This was the cruel, innate rule shared by most divine beast races.

According to the incomplete Records of Divine Beasts on the continent, the benefits gained by a dragon qualified to receive the Primordial Dragon’s favor and blessing were immense.

A blessing bestowed at birth by the Primordial Dragon was equivalent to bestowing a legacy. What one would awaken depended on the luck of the blessed dragon hatchling (unofficial histories even suggested it might be determined by the hatchling’s temperament and attributes). The records cited the evil dragon Ao Su as an example: no one knew what Ao Su had awakened, but it was certain that it was related to his powerful and sinister strength.

Precisely because dragons who could receive the Primordial Dragon’s acknowledgment and blessing were so rare, the sect masters and ancestral elders present—despite living for so long—had never witnessed such a thing. They had only occasionally read about it in ancient texts. And since there was only that single evil dragon Ao Su in this world, where would another dragon come from?

With all these probabilities being so low—so low as to be nearly impossible—the combined chance was even slimmer. They dared not think in that direction.

After much consideration, they leaned more toward the idea that the evil dragon had employed some unknown method. After all, the evil dragon’s strength was immeasurable; none of them had ever fought him in person, having only heard of his reputation.

At this moment, by the waterside inside the cave, silence reigned—

The three elders stood with eyes wide open, frozen like wooden posts, still stuck in their earlier flustered poses of fending off attacks—truly a comical sight.

But they could not spare a thought for that now. Who could have imagined it?

Who could have imagined that the little master they had been intent on bringing back to raise would appear at such a moment, and in such a shocking manner?

The golden egg floated in midair at the center of the pool. As the golden halo expanded, the dragon chant grew increasingly urgent, the rotation faster and faster. The three elders did not understand what was happening and grew anxious. Once they reacted, their plump bodies leaned over the pool as they anxiously asked, “Your Excellency Dragon, what’s going on? Spinning like this—won’t it make the little master dizzy?”

Imagining themselves being flung into midair and spun at a speed too fast for the naked eye to follow, they were certain half their old lives would be spun away. They clasped their hands together and prayed fervently, “Heavens above, may Goddess Ulari bless the little master’s smooth birth…”

Even the joy of the little master about to hatch was suppressed. In their wildest dreams, they had never expected the little master’s birth to cause such a huge commotion. Now, the little master’s safety was in grave danger!

Those stinking cultivators outside had surely seen this. They might rush in at any moment to investigate. Once that happened, the little master’s existence could no longer be concealed. Given how those cultivators regarded His Excellency Dragon as an evil dragon, wishing to eliminate him at all costs—if they were to see the offspring of the “evil dragon” in their eyes…

The outcome was obvious without much thought. This was the cultivators’ stronghold—could they really protect the little master?

Unlike the three elders’ worry, the black giant dragon kept his gaze fixed on the egg the entire time, without blinking once.

Having gone through the same experience, Ao Su knew very well that his egg was undergoing the Primordial Dragon’s blessing and inheritance.

Though the spectacle was somewhat larger than usual, and the method somewhat different—

Still… worthy of being his offspring!

The Primordial Dragon’s inheritance was enormous. The process was long and posed a severe trial for a hatchling. If the hatchling could not withstand this inheritance, it might be destroyed before even being born—its consciousness scattered, dying within the shell.

Even if it managed to hatch successfully, it would become a mindless beast. Dragon pride could not accept one of their kind degenerating into a savage, uncivilized beast. Within the dragon race, such cases were often handled by killing the hatchling immediately after birth.

Because Ao Su understood this all too clearly and was acutely aware of the danger at this moment, he erected a vast, solid barrier with his divine sense, enclosing the entire pool to guard the hatchling.

Outside the cave—

The reaction of those from the Fantastical Continent differed from that of the cultivators. After fighting to this point, and then being caught off guard by the opponent’s sudden use of a divine artifact, most of them were injured to varying degrees, barely clinging to life.

Faced with this phenomenon, compared to the cultivators’ uncertainty, the people of the Fantastical Continent were invigorated. They immediately felt as though their wounds hurt less, as if they could breathe a couple more breaths!

They realized at once—perhaps the little master was about to be born!

This matched the witch’s divination exactly. It must be the little master!

In the team, the witch, tightly protected in the center, lowered his head and fiddled with something, muttering under his breath. After a while, he looked up and said, “Though constrained by the conditions here and unable to divine the exact manner of the little master’s birth, Goddess Ulari has told me that there has been a disturbance in His Excellency Dragon’s bloodline. If nothing goes wrong, I believe the little master is in the process of being born…!”

Several leaders made an immediate decision. “Withdraw into the cave at once. We must guard the little master’s side and wait for his birth.”

“Those foolish cultivators will definitely realize something is wrong. If they find out this is His Excellency Dragon’s offspring, they will surely try to wipe us out completely!”

Thus, before the cultivators could react, the many followers from the Fantastical Continent rapidly retreated into the cave. At the cave entrance, several archpriests and clan leaders joined forces to set up layer upon layer of obstacles. Right now, they needed to buy as much time as possible for the little master!

When they finally reached the pool, the followers couldn’t help but cry out in astonishment.

No matter how vivid one’s imagination, it could not compare to the shock of this moment. A massive barrier firmly protected the pool, including the golden egg floating at its center.

After the most intense rotation, as the dragon chant gradually faded, the golden egg slowly came to a stop.

After a while, they saw the egg wobble tentatively, clumsily turning left and right, forward and back. Its head and tail bobbed slightly, as if confirming its direction. Then it hopped once in place and made a great effort to head toward—

Everyone’s gaze followed the egg.

The golden egg hopped toward—toward His Excellency Dragon.

It strained with all its might not to fall directly into the water, instead floating in midair, hopping and hopping as it flew toward the dragon.

After a sudden, rapid drift, the egg landed in the dragon’s embrace with lightning speed.

The dragon frowned in thought. To his surprise, the inheritance process had been extremely fast. He had already prepared himself to wait for those cultivators to charge in, to fight them in a great battle and create another wave of slaughter—yet before they arrived, the egg had already finished receiving the inheritance.

And—

He lowered his head to look at the egg nuzzling restlessly in his arms. Why hadn’t it hatched yet?

His thoughts suddenly halted.

With a crack, the eggshell split.

In a daze, everyone seemed to hear soft, babyish ao-ao sounds—

Like cheers?

Those present were stunned, not daring to blink as they stared at the golden egg.

At that very moment, the cultivators who had finally broken through the layers of obstacles arrived at the pool.