Chapter 250: Robbing the Dragon

The winding Red River encircles the Southern Wilderness, turning it into a forbidden, dead sea for outsiders. The densely packed cities and towns are like boats moored outside this dead sea.

Ning Changjiu and Lu Jiajia traveled through wind and snow, crossing tens of thousands of mountains and rivers on their swords. After several days of sword-riding and arduous travel, they would find an inn in a small town to rest for a night.

This world was vast. Endless mountain ranges, high gorges, and deep valleys formed natural barriers, confining ordinary people to a few city-states for their entire lives. At the same time, within those towering mountains and mighty rivers, which even Purple Court realm cultivators found difficult to cross by sword, who knew how many ruins remained or how many malevolent deities, unrecorded in history, lay dormant.

Scattered among them were towns and villages, like pearls held in giant palms.

“I’ve been thinking about something these past few days,” Lu Jiajia said softly, walking slowly on a deserted muddy path and looking at the fresh snow on the walls.

“What is it?” Ning Changjiu looked at her profile.

Lu Jiajia whispered, “I was wondering, if it weren’t for you, would I have made it out of the Imperial City alive?”

Ning Changjiu replied, “There’s no point in thinking about that.”

Lu Jiajia said, “It just feels terrifying.”

The more she thought about it, the more frightening it became. If her other self in another life had truly died, then which life was false—the previous one or this one?

Ning Changjiu reached out and pinched her cheek, saying, “What’s there to be afraid of? Didn’t I truly die too?”

“Ah?” Lu Jiajia reacted after a moment of confusion.

Indeed, whether she could survive was unknown, but Ning Changjiu had truly been killed by his master.

Lu Jiajia felt a little relieved. Perhaps this was why they were so compatible.

She curved her eyes and smiled, “Don’t worry, in this life you’ve met a good master; she won’t stab you.”

Ning Changjiu also smiled, “If you dare stab me, after I’m reincarnated, I’ll definitely catch you and stab you every day.”

Lu Jiajia’s intelligent eyes narrowed slightly, dismissing him, but then she asked coolly, “By the way, how beautiful was your master from your previous life?”

Ning Changjiu honestly replied, “I don’t remember, but her appearance and temperament should be quite similar to Jiajia’s.”

“Very similar?” Lu Jiajia asked curiously, “Could it be that I’m your master reincarnated?”

Ning Changjiu nodded in deep agreement, “No wonder I’m taking revenge every night for that sword stab from my previous life.”

After saying that, Ning Changjiu felt a sudden surge of murderous intent beside him.

The people in the small town heard a startling thunderclap, as if from a clear sky. They pushed open their doors and looked up at the sky.

The wind and snow above them had been swept away. Above, a white dragon seemed to pass by, and two rainbow-like figures chased each other, one after the other, disappearing into the distance.

The weather grew colder, and the winter snow became heavier.

After more than a month, they finally reached the end of Nanzhou.

With isolated villages and disconnected city-states, although this was still Nanzhou, its geography and customs were vastly different from those of Zhao.

A few days earlier, they had passed through a village and even witnessed a ritual where five or six-year-old girls were sacrificed to the River God.

In the depths of winter, they wrapped a little girl in a padded jacket and pushed her into a hole carved in the ice.

Ning Changjiu intervened and asked why they performed such an act. They replied that if there were no offerings, the River God would become angry and destroy the entire village.

Unable to tolerate it, Ning Changjiu and Lu Jiajia entered the water together. It took them three days and nights to slay over thirty river demons before they finally stopped.

However, they also knew that such practices could not be truly eradicated. Human sacrifices to the River God occurred more frequently the closer one got to the Sea of Misfortune. Perhaps that sea truly had some unseen blessing of fortune, making the water demons within a thousand-li radius particularly rampant.

After reaching the end of Nanzhou, Ning Changjiu did not immediately head to the “Sea of Misfortune” that separated the Central Plains from Nanzhou. Instead, he turned east and went to another place.

It was the valley he had emerged from after leaving Broken Realm City.

Ning Changjiu followed his memory and found the spot amidst the vast wind and snow. He stood on the cliff and gazed into the distance.

“That’s where I entered the Purple Court realm,” Ning Changjiu said.

It was also there that he was stabbed by that little girl during his inner demon tribulation, nearly losing his life. Fortunately, Siming intervened.

Lu Jiajia asked, “Did you travel the entire distance of the Southern Wilderness within Broken Realm City?”

Ning Changjiu nodded and said, “The time rift there should be buried beneath the entire Southern Wilderness, and above it lies a shattered divine kingdom. Of course, we can’t see any of this on the surface.”

Lu Jiajia lightly leaped up, and the wind and snow beneath her feet formed a boat, gently carrying her into the deep valley. Ning Changjiu followed closely behind.

Lu Jiajia asked, “Where’s the well you came out of?”

Ning Changjiu replied, “The entrance to Broken Realm City should be directly east from here, quite far away.”

Lu Jiajia said, “I’d like to see it.”

Ning Changjiu shook his head and said, “No need. It would be another full day’s journey to go see it. Besides, that well cannot be found again once you’ve exited it, just like the Peach Blossom Spring in stories.”

Lu Jiajia looked at the valley buried in wind and snow, and nodded gently. She asked, “Where do we go now? Across the Sea of Misfortune directly by sword?”

Ning Changjiu shook his head and said, “Although the Sea of Misfortune isn’t as large as Nanzhou, crossing it would still take ten days to half a month. And there would be no place to rest if we got tired. Let’s take a large ship instead.”

Lu Jiajia nodded in agreement.

The ports connecting Nanzhou and the Central Plains boasted many large cities. Sculptures of river and sea gods were ubiquitous here. From a distance, several colossal ships stood majestically in the water, remotely connected, appearing to form a city on the sea.

Even in the cold winter, the Sea of Misfortune remained turbulent, with emerald green waves churning in the water, devouring the falling snow.

It was late at night when Ning Changjiu and Lu Jiajia arrived. They stood on a street full of wagon tracks. The statues of water gods standing on the shore were monstrous and terrifying, like giant sea monsters battling the waves.

“Among the great ancient gods of the Primordial Era, there was a deity who governed rivers and seas…” Lu Jiajia recalled the records in books.

Ning Changjiu nodded and said, “Yes, Xuanze. He was one of the Six Primordial Gods in myths. Later, Xuanze fought against the Torch Dragon and was defeated. For ten years, all the world’s oceans evaporated, and countless lives perished.”

“All the world’s oceans evaporated…” Lu Jiajia murmured, full of longing, “Have such powerful gods truly existed in this world?”

“Evaporating the water of rivers and seas isn’t a grand feat. According to legends, even the Golden Crow has done it, let alone the Torch Dragon.” Ning Changjiu smiled, “In mythical history, the Torch Dragon was the only true god who occupied the world during chaos, before the Great God had split heaven and earth with an axe, when its awakening brought day and its closing eyes brought night.”

This myth was widely spread, and not considered a secret.

“Your Golden Crow is indeed a bit small,” Lu Jiajia listened quietly, then suddenly smiled.

She tugged at her cloak