Chapter 229: Death and the 'Spirit Walk' After Death

After the old dragon left, Ji Yuan pondered what the dragon had mentioned about "chaos arising in the Two Desolate Continents," which more precisely referred to the Southern Desolate Continent and the Black Dream Spirit Continent.

The Southern Desolate Continent contained hundreds of thousands of miles of mysterious Southern Desolate Mountains. Ji Yuan had learned about the pill-stealing chaos from the white deer, but even before that, the region had always been highly chaotic, truly a land teeming with demons and monsters.

Although the Black Dream Spirit Continent had "Spirit Continent" in its name, its true condition was far worse than that of the Southern Desolate. Its area was exceptionally vast among the ten directions of the world, outwardly appearing as a landscape of spiritual mountains, beautiful waters, and widespread wilderness, but inwardly, it was utterly chaotic.

Amidst this chaotic energy, countless hiding places existed. Not only was orthodox immortal cultivation rare, but demonic forces were powerful, and the fiendish aura reached the sky. Humanity's influence was extremely weak. It was even rumored that in some hidden grotto-heavens, ordinary humans in city-states were controlled by demons and monsters, bred like livestock.

These two continents were referred to as "Southern Desolation" and "Black Desolation" in the orthodox cultivation world, collectively known as "The Two Desolations." However, it was clear that the former was merely a region within the "Desolate" continent, while the latter was a place of complete disarray.

Speaking of the Black Dream Spirit Continent, Ji Yuan was reminded of another past event: the dark wood tablet given by the City God of Chunhui Prefecture to Yin Zhaoxian. This tablet used a unique method of transmitting information through an object to record the details of an interrogation.

That Lady Hong was said to have been the concubine of a great demon for a period. This great demon had once visited a "breeding" grotto-heaven in the Black Desolation, which contained a "human-livestock kingdom." After leaving, the demon remained fixated on the place. Years later, it presumptuously attempted to create something similar in the Eastern Cloud Continent, gathering many demonic creatures and proclaiming itself a demon king. However, it was discovered by various deities and cultivators from Immortal Hero Island, who pursued and ultimately slew the great demon. Some smaller demonic creatures scattered and escaped, while Lady Hong and her group were fortunate enough to flee into Da Zhen.

The information preserved in the dark wood had originally been confessed by a snake demon. The City God likely gave Ji Yuan this tablet primarily to inform him, but perhaps also hoped Ji Yuan might be able to rescue the "human-livestock kingdom."

Ji Yuan could only say that for now, he was willing but unable. Insufficient information was secondary; his lack of capability was the main issue.

Setting aside these past events, Ji Yuan had always shared the old dragon's belief that the chaos in the Two Desolations was very distant from the Eastern Cloud Continent and Da Zhen. However, tonight, listening to the old dragon, it seemed either that the black flood dragon's incident was inextricably linked to those regions, or it was merely an implication.

"It seems City God Li said some confusing things to me earlier!"

Ji Yuan suddenly recalled matters that had been delayed due to the dragon's fall. So, he thoroughly inquired about City God Li's previous statement that "Da Zhen would usher in a tumultuous autumn."

Ji Yuan had originally wanted to ask how City God Li knew his appearance so clearly, but he could infer that, so it wasn't crucial.

Ji Yuan already knew most of what was generally discussed. Da Zhen's sovereignty, given Emperor Yuande's current state, was at a delicate juncture. Fierce struggles were ongoing between the imperial family in the capital and the court officials, and problems had emerged in local governance throughout the country. On a plane beyond the mortal realm, the matter of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets had attracted the attention of various factions, leading many high-ranking and well-informed deities to gradually become aware and deeply concerned.

As for Ji Yuan's reputation, it was also under these circumstances that it became known to some higher-level deities, along with his unparalleled divine ability, the "Heaven-Toppling Sword Momentum."

Mo Rong, the black flood dragon, originally resided beyond the East Sea. However, for a flood dragon to transform into a true dragon, "following the waters" was one of the oldest and most righteous paths. The principles involved were not merely about causing floods or traversing rivers; they required meticulous planning from the starting point's selection to the various terrains, including mountains and marshes, encountered along the way. Guangdong Lake, one of Da Zhen's four great lakes, gathered momentum from all directions and connected eastern and western waters, making it an excellent and apparent location for such a journey.

However, the black flood dragon enjoyed movement and would journey through the great sea every now and then to hunt giant sea beasts. This time, it was ambushed on its way back from the East Sea.

The demons and monsters who attacked had no intention of letting the flood dragon escape back to Da Zhen. They sought to control Mo Rong with an evil nightmare technique, hoping to cause trouble within Da Zhen's borders. Unfortunately, they underestimated the flood dragon's ferocity. It detonated its dragon pearl and bit a wicked cultivator into pieces, enduring immense pain to flee back to Da Zhen.

It only managed to fly back to Wanzhou through sheer willpower, having no strength left to travel further west to the Tongtian River. This is when the dragon fall incident witnessed by Ji Yuan and the City God of Lishun Prefecture occurred.

The old dragon from Tongtian River, ablaze with fury, flew out of Da Zhen's borders, making the demons and monsters surrounding Da Zhen vividly recall something important: Da Zhen not only possessed a reclusive immortal capable of "toppling the heavens with a sword" but also a thousand-year-old true dragon. It made all those on the fringes understand what it meant for a true dragon's rage to shake the eight desolations.

After spitting out its dragon pearl, the old dragon swept from the eastern coast southward, hunting down all malevolent demons, ghosts, wicked cultivators, and heretics it found displeasing. Regardless of whether they had genuinely participated in the attack on Mo Rong, if their demonic aura felt off or their evil qi was apparent, they were summarily killed.

Wherever the true dragon passed, dark clouds rolled, and lightning flashed. Even diligently cultivating demonic beings were inevitably caught in the crossfire and mistakenly killed, especially those who happened to be entangled with evil creatures.

According to the old dragon's later explanation to Ji Yuan, anyone mingling with evil creatures was no good and would eventually become part of the same corrupt lot. If they were truly pure, it was simply their misfortune.

However, both the old dragon and Ji Yuan gained a new realization.

It wasn't until the old dragon, in its uncontrollable rage, began devouring and slaying creatures around Da Zhen that it discovered how many demonic and aberrant entities already existed in the Eastern Cloud Continent, at least in the countries and regions surrounding Da Zhen. There were far more than previously estimated.

Ten days after the dragon fell, in a sand pit a thousand feet deep at the bottom of Guangdong Lake.

The old dragon, Ying Hong, wearing a double-breasted robe, stood beside Ji Yuan, who was clad in a white robe. The City God had already returned to his temple. In the center of the sand pit lay a colossal black flood dragon, dozens of meters long.

This black flood dragon had lived here for decades with a casual attitude, not even bothering to build a water mansion.

Mo Rong was now on its last breath, having reached its limit after enduring for ten days.

Had the old dragon not returned precisely when Mo Rong's life force was about to expire, it likely would have continued its rampage outside for longer. Even now, its murderous intent remained undiminished, its body enveloped in a fierce aura, and a dense, terrifying draconic energy churned ceaselessly around it.

If nothing untoward occurred after the death of a dragon or flood dragon, its soul would dive into the waters, flowing along waterways into the ocean. During this process, its spiritual power would gradually dissipate. Finally, before dissolving its former self in the sea, a wisp of the true spiritual essence of the waters would remain.

This true spiritual essence, by then, was essentially in a state of thoughtlessness, more like a unique, pure spiritual energy. It would wander through the vast oceans or the world's waterways until it encountered a uniquely endowed aquatic creature. It would then merge with it, awakening its sentience, becoming a new individual, and eventually, perhaps, transforming back into a flood dragon or even a true dragon.

Once it could transform back into a flood dragon and rejoin the dragon lineage, memories of its previous life would return as its cultivation gradually accumulated.

This was a remarkable process, also called "following the waters," yet it yielded a completely opposite outcome compared to the accumulation required for dragon transformation.

In Ji Yuan's view, this was both a unique divine ability and a romance belonging to the dragon and flood dragon lineage. After all, strictly speaking, its success rate was truly slim, so it could only be called romantic.

However, dragons and flood dragons possessed their own pride. Most would rather gamble on this faint opportunity than fall to the fate of becoming a ghost dragon.

"Mo Rong," the old dragon said, its voice filled with a sigh as it gradually reined in its aura, "I don't know if all the rogues who attacked you have been eliminated, but quite a few have accompanied you to the grave. Rest in peace!" Ji Yuan stood silently beside him.

The black flood dragon's amber eyes still held their luster, resembling two large glowing lanterns in the dim underwater environment.

"Hoo... hoo..."

The last vestiges of draconic energy periodically diffused from the flood dragon's mouth, and strings of underwater bubbles drifted toward the lake surface above.

After another brief moment, all draconic energy and residual vital essence had dissipated, ensuring no unusual changes would occur to the flood dragon's body. The amber color in its eyes also became extremely dim.

"Dragon Lord, take care."

A hoarse voice emerged from the black flood dragon's mouth, and then its eyes slowly closed.

At that moment, a massive stream of bubbles suddenly rose from the flood dragon's body, and a current of water flowed from it. Even with Ji Yuan's fully open Dharma Eye, he only observed a faint draconic shadow departing within a few breaths, after which he perceived nothing more.

This was the first time Ji Yuan had witnessed such "post-mortem water passage" for a dragon or flood dragon, and effectively the first time he had seen a demon's natural death. The moment the dragon's soul transformed into a shadow and vanished, he felt a new, albeit vague, understanding of cultivation for living beings and the meaning of life.

Ji Yuan looked at the massive dragon corpse still resting at the bottom of the lake. All draconic energy and spiritual essence had dispersed from the body; aside from being notably heavy and hard, it possessed no other supernatural properties. Even small fish and shrimp could frolic on the dragon's body, yet it would not decay for a very long time.

Perhaps one day in the future, a great drought might dry up Guangdong Lake, or an extraordinary flood might rage, potentially exposing or washing out the dragon's corpse, or its bones, from the lakebed.