Chapter 87 I Think You Should Give Me an Explanation
The Radiant Holy Dragon’s proud head froze in mid-air, its golden dragon eyes wide open, staring at the empty space beside it, then at Jiang Bai, who was already sitting cross-legged and beginning to absorb the soul ring. The entire dragon was dumbfounded.
Not... a sister?!
You just sacrificed yourself like that?! Without even saying goodbye?!
Where’s your dignity?! Where’s the pride of your dragon race?!
It felt like a fool, still trying to introduce itself, only to have its rival abandon all martial ethics and directly "steal its base"!
Jiang Bai ignored the Radiant Dragon’s bewilderment, immediately focusing its attention on guiding the sacrificial soul ring from the approximately 35,000-year-old Mystic Shadow Dark Dragon.
The sacrifice went incredibly smoothly; the immense energy within the soul ring flowed into his body and soul like a gentle stream.
An hour later.
Jiang Bai slowly opened his eyes, a deep, dark purple-black light flashing within them.
He exhaled a breath of stale air; his aura was significantly stronger than before!
Upon careful sensing, his soul power had surged to level 56!
This magnitude of improvement... aside from the energy yielded by the Dark Dragon’s sacrifice, it likely also incorporates the residual energy fed back during the Fire Dragon and Ice Dragon’s previous evolutions.
Jiang Bai mused inwardly.
With a slight shift of his will, he summoned the Profound Shadow Dark Dragon from within the tower.
Purple-black light coalesced, and the Profound Shadow Dark Dragon reappeared.
Her physical form seemed to have shrunk slightly, becoming more compact and refined; her aura was far more restrained, yet her deep-violet vertical pupils were brimming with intelligence and affection.
The moment she emerged, she affectionately rubbed her draconic head against Jiang Bai’s cheek.
Then, casting a triumphant glance at the nearby Radiant Holy Dragon—who was still standing there in a daze—she actually spoke in human tongue, her words slightly halting but distinct.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk... how pitiful~ Some dragons are just so indecisive—so slow~"
"Heh heh heh~ Now, I am the fifth battle general under the Master’s command! By seniority, you have to call me ’Big Sister’!"
Radiant Holy Dragon: "..."
She was so incensed that her scales nearly bristled!
Her massive tail thrashed against the ground in frustration, gouging out shallow craters. Her golden draconic eyes looked toward Jiang Bai with a look of utter grievance, emitting a low, whimpering moan from her throat.
It was as if she were saying: "Master, look at her! She’s bullying me!"
Amused, Jiang Bai reached out and gently stroked the Radiant Holy Dragon’s smooth, warm horns as she nudged them toward him, offering reassurance: "There, there—don’t fret. I’m currently Level 56; it won’t be long before I hit Level 60 and acquire my sixth Soul Ring. When that time comes, that spot will be yours."
He paused, then offered a further reassurance to set her mind at ease: "Besides, I won’t make you just sit here and wait. You can come with me right now and live within the tower’s spatial realm. Once I break through to Level 60, you can perform the sacrifice immediately—that way, we’ll be spared the trouble of having to go out and search for a suitable candidate all over again. How does that sound?"
Upon hearing this, the Radiant Holy Dragon’s golden eyes lit up instantly.
She nodded vigorously, rubbing her massive head against Jiang Bai’s palm while emitting a joyful, low purr.
Then, she turned her head, lifted her chin high, and cast a triumphant side-glance at the Profound Shadow Dark Dragon.
The Dark Shadow Dragon hadn’t expected Jiang Bai to make such an arrangement; the look of smugness on her draconic face stiffened momentarily.
However, unable to oppose her master’s decision, she could only crane her neck and stubbornly hold her ground: "So—so what?! I came first! By the rule of ’first come, first served,’ I outrank you! You have to call me ’Sister Dark Dragon’!"
Jiang Bai smiled and shook his head, then gently rubbed the Radiant Holy Dragon’s horns: "Alright, you go on in as well. Remember: cultivate in peace while you’re inside—no fighting allowed."
The Radiant Holy Dragon nodded obediently and rubbed affectionately against Jiang Bai before being drawn into the tower alongside the Dark Dragon.
Watching as everything finally settled into place, Jiang Li’er let out a long sigh of relief and clapped her hands together: "Alright, alright! That’s all sorted out! Let’s get going! I don’t want to spend another single moment in this place!"
No sooner had the words left her lips...
"I’m afraid you cannot leave just yet."
A voice—deep, calm, yet seemingly imbued with boundless majesty and the power of space—rang out through the valley without the slightest warning.
The voice was not loud, yet it seemed to resonate directly within the depths of everyone’s souls, carrying with it an air of detached indifference—the indifference of one who holds absolute dominion over all things.
Jiang Li’er’s delicate frame shuddered violently, and the smile on her face froze instantly. Like a rusted automaton, she turned around—moving with excruciating slowness and stiffness.
There, in the open clearing not far away, the very fabric of space rippled and twisted violently, much like disturbed water. Then—as if savagely torn apart by an invisible, colossal hand—a pitch-black rift suddenly ripped open!
A tall, imposing figure, with his hands clasped behind his back, slowly stepped forth from the spatial rift.
The newcomer was clad in a black robe of archaic design; standing over three meters tall, his mere presence evoked a sense of towering grandeur—as if he were a pillar propping up the very heavens and rooting himself deep into the earth.
His features were strikingly handsome; appearing to be somewhere between thirty and forty years of age, his facial contours were sharp and chiseled—like stone hewn by blade and axe—radiating an aura of pure, rugged masculinity.
Most striking of all were his eyes—a pair of golden orbs! They shimmered with a flowing golden light, cold yet majestic.
Stepping fully out of the spatial rift, he cast a calm, sweeping gaze across the gathered crowd in the valley below. Upon seeing Bi Ji and Jiang Li’er, his golden dragon eyes shifted ever so slightly.
"Bi Ji. The Auspicious Beast." His voice remained flat, betraying neither joy nor anger.
Immediately thereafter, his gaze fell upon Jiang Bai; within those golden vertical pupils, a flicker of distinct confusion and scrutiny appeared for the very first time.
"And another one... a human?"
Di Tian was, indeed, somewhat perplexed.
He had been slumbering peacefully within the Lake of Life when he suddenly sensed a powerful aura of a True Dragon erupting on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Intertwined within it—albeit faintly—was a fluctuation of energy belonging to the Ice Dragon King, an aura that evoked within him a sense of both kinship and reverence!
This sensation instantly jolted him awake from his deep meditative trance.
What astonished him even more was that, as he traced the source of that aura, he discovered that the energies of the Emperor Auspicious Beast—who had been missing for days—and Bi Ji were simultaneously present at that very same location!
The Auspicious Beast had taken human form... Bi Ji was accompanying her... there was the unfamiliar aura of a True Dragon... and a human?
This made it impossible for Di Tian to remain seated in repose.
Trapped by the Heavenly Tribulation on the Douluo Continent, he was unable to cultivate his spiritual power as freely as he wished; consequently, he had devoted his entire focus to the study and mastery of space.
By now, his command over the spatial arts had long since reached a pinnacle of perfection. With a mere flicker of thought, he could rend the fabric of space and manifest himself in almost any corner of the Douluo Continent.
And so, he had come.
His gaze finally settled upon Jiang Li’er, whose body had gone rigid and whose face had turned pale with fright.
Those golden dragon eyes seemed to radiate a pressure so intense it felt almost tangible.
"I believe," Di Tian began slowly—his voice devoid of emotion, yet causing the very air around them to seem as if it had frozen solid—"that you owe me an explanation."
His gaze, sharp as a blade of ice, seemed to cut right through Jiang Li’er:
"Why did you take human form without permission?"
"Why did you sneak out of the Star Dou Great Forest?"
"And... why is the aura of this human clinging to you? What exactly transpired between the two of you?"
Each question struck Jiang Li’er’s heart like the heavy blow of a sledgehammer.
She parted her lips, yet found that beneath Di Tian’s vast, abyssal draconic might and piercing gaze, she couldn’t utter a single word.
She could only look toward Bi Ji with a pleading expression, then steal a furtive glance at Jiang Bai, her small face drained of color.
The atmosphere in the valley instantly plummeted to freezing point.
Bi Ji stepped forward and spoke in a gentle voice: "Di Tian, regarding this matter..."
"Bi Ji, let her speak for herself." Di Tian cut Bi Ji off, his gaze still locked on Jiang Li’er.
"I want to hear the explanation from her own lips."
Jiang Li’er clenched her fists tightly, her fingertips turning faintly white from the sheer force of her grip.
She took a deep breath, meeting Di Tian’s golden eyes—eyes that seemed capable of seeing through everything—and strove to make her voice sound firm and strong.
"This was my own choice," she stated, enunciating every word distinctly. "A choice made in accordance with the guidance of destiny."
Di Tian’s gaze remained calm, yet the aura surrounding him seemed to grow even heavier and more profound.
Jiang Li’er puffed out her chest, a spark of unyielding defiance flickering within her crimson eyes: "As the Imperial Auspicious Beast, I wield a portion of the Star Dou Great Forest’s power of destiny. But why... why am I unable to fully control even my own fate and fortune?"
She looked up at Di Tian, her voice carrying the weight of long-suppressed frustration and yearning: "Uncle Di Tian, the world outside is so vast and so magnificent! I don’t want to spend my entire life confined within the Star Dou Great Forest—merely a mascot shielded by layer upon layer of protection; a mere bystander who can only watch from afar but never personally participate!"
Di Tian offered no verbal response; instead, he simply took a step forward. His towering frame—standing well over three meters tall—exuded an invisible, oppressive pressure as he slowly drew near.
He halted directly in front of Jiang Li’er, gazing down at her from his imposing height in silence for a brief moment.
Just as Jiang Li’er braced herself for a stern reprimand, Di Tian reached out his hand. His broad, massive palm settled gently upon the crown of her head, ruffling her soft golden hair.
The motion was unpracticed—even somewhat stiff—yet it carried a peculiar, unmistakable warmth: the gentle affection of a caring elder.