Chapter 21

Among all living beings here, there is no distinction of good or evil; whenever wronged, they all feel anger. At this moment, the demonic dragon Aoxin was filled with an extraordinary fury.

“What goes around comes around,” it thought grimly.

With a thunderous roar of rage, its massive dragon body slammed against the impenetrable barrier. The immense force caused the entire seal to tremble slightly, and the furious sound echoed above the barrier. “Slander! Feihong, Ancient Sect, you are twisting the truth and abusing the dragon beyond reason!”

Speaking of this only brought bitter tears to its eyes.

To be suppressed was already miserable enough, but to be falsely accused of deeds it never committed was even more painful. It had clearly suffered a great loss! Wasn’t it the one treated like mere prey? How could the facts be so blatantly reversed? Was this even humane?

The black dragon cursed under its breath, its body aching from the collision, yet it continued to strike the immense seal repeatedly, demanding an explanation.

This raging fury compelled Master Yu to take out his sealing token. While reinforcing the seal with several spiritual incantations, he glanced at the unusually agitated demonic dragon and Feihong Daojun, quietly asking, “What’s wrong with Aoxin today?”

Never before had this demonic dragon been so furious under suppression. Today, simply having its misdeeds exposed had made it furious and humiliated.

He covered his daughter’s ears with a large palm, fearing that the wild roars would frighten his obedient little girl, and continued softly, “Could it have gone mad?”

He regretted bringing his daughter along after all. He remembered clearly how she often had nightmares in the Demon City. Now that the nightmares had finally receded, what if she was scared again by Aoxin’s frenzy, and the dreadful nightmares returned?

“He’s just got a rotten temper. If not for that temper, he could still be here,” Feihong Daojun said with a sneer, speaking quietly.

As they spoke, the black dragon, seeing the barrier was immovable, finally ceased its assault. Its crimson eyes fixed fiercely on the few people outside the seal as it panted heavily.

When it calmed, Master Yu suppressed his urge to send his daughter home immediately. He stared at the black dragon sternly, saying, “Aoxin, though you have been suppressed here, the Ancient Sect has never insulted or harmed you. You were only restrained so you would not bring chaos to this world, harming others and yourself. Yet now you resort to such unscrupulous means, even harming the innocent. Even if it were not Youyou but another disciple of the Ancient Sect who fell under your influence, I would never tolerate such behavior!”

This black dragon was a secret of the Ancient Sect. Before it was sealed, it was a formidable and ruthless dragon, imprisoned to prevent it from wreaking havoc in the world.

Master Yu spoke the truth. Even if it were not his own precious daughter but someone else, any mischief inflicted upon a disciple of the Ancient Sect by the dragon must be punished.

His words made the black dragon furious to madness.

It glared at the tiny figure hiding shyly in Master Yu’s arms—a small, skinny, timid little devil clutching his robe pitifully.

She met the dragon’s gaze and cowered deeper into her father’s embrace, looking scared.

Yet from the man’s arms, only her eyes peeked out, twinkling with a secret sparkle as they watched the dragon.

The black dragon shuddered again, unnerved by that somewhat envious look. It found the little devil eerily unsettling.

Suddenly, all its rage quieted.

Its aching body floating within the barrier, facing the reproachful gazes of the two Ancient Sect elders—who regarded it as a doomed creature—the dragon struggled to suppress its impulse to devour them all and tried to reason.

“…I have not done what you accuse me of. It is this little one…” Its eyes flickered with doubt as it looked at the weak, spiritless child and slowly said, “She appeared on her own. Hey, do you even know what you’re holding?”

It suddenly realized something and shouted at Master Yu.

Master Yu refused to remove his hand from his daughter’s ears. Although he knew she could hear and understand everything—telepathic transmissions included—covering her ears was an instinctive act of a father protecting his child.

He deeply disliked anyone belittling his daughter. Hearing the dragon’s vile words, his sealing token flashed, lightning striking inside the barrier with a roar of anger from the dragon.

Coldly, he warned, “If I ever hear you insult my beloved daughter again, you will not be so fortunate.”

The black dragon roared furiously but pressed its massive head against the seal, eyes wide with red vertical pupils.

“Your daughter? Impossible! She…”

“Food… food,” the child tugged at her father’s robe, her small voice trembling as she watched the dragon pressing against the barrier.

After listening for a moment, she realized the big bad dragon who had just insulted her father was the villain sealed by the Ancient Sect.

In the memories of the former Youyou, this black dragon had never appeared.

Still, the child thought of the dragon claw condensed with demonic energy, licked her lips, and tugged at her father’s robe, trying to transform this wild prey into a meal from their own kitchen.

Under the innocent voice of the little one, Feihong Daojun, who had been worried she might eat something harmful, was amused by her pure and naïve expression.

“Youyou is truly well-behaved,” Master Yu said softly, feeling his heart soften despite the tense atmosphere.

The child beamed, showing her small white teeth.

So obedient!

Everyone smiled—except the black dragon.

It thought the two from the Ancient Sect were blind.

This so-called well-behaved little devil openly said it wanted to eat a dragon—how was that obedient?

“Yu, stop playing the fool,” the dragon snapped, retreating within the barrier, warily eyeing the obedient little devil who nodded “Mm!” “Mm!” It was all caution in its vertical pupils.

“She can’t possibly be yours…”

Under Master Yu’s cold gaze, recalling the lightning that had struck it, the black dragon hesitated before slowly replying, “I have done nothing today. She appeared on her own. Admittedly, I did want to capture her to break the seal, but she remains unharmed and even absorbed my demonic energy.”

This was all true.

Master Yu narrowed his eyes and pondered. “So you did intend to harm Youyou.” Grabbing a child with a dragon’s claw—that was indeed harming.

The Demonic Demon rank was the pinnacle of demonic cultivators, equivalent to the Immortal rank.

A strike from such a powerful being could easily pulverize an ordinary person.

That lightning strike had not been wasted.

“Is that the point?!” the dragon growled. “Is Yu possessed by demonic madness? Does he really regard this little devil as his daughter?”

The black dragon firmly refused to believe that a mere human child had the anomalies of the little one before it. After all, she had absorbed the energy of a demon-rank powerhouse without bursting.

Moreover…

“It was her soul leaving the body—unrelated to me.”

The dragon thought that by telling the truth, Master Yu would at least be wary of the little devil impersonating his daughter.

Yet Master Yu lowered his head in concern, asking Youyou softly, “Youyou, does your soul often leave your body?”

Soul departure was not always a good sign.

If the spirit and body were not firmly bound, the soul might wander away accidentally—dangerous indeed.

In the cultivation world, many evil forces imprisoned souls, stole spirits, or refined them into nourishing essences.

What if his daughter’s soul wandered unwittingly and encountered such villains?

“I protect,” the child quickly shook her head at her father’s worried look and waved her hands urgently to reassure him.

Even when her soul left her body, it was enveloped by the energies that had accompanied her growth. No one could detect it…

Even under the watchful eyes of the Scarlet Flame Demon Lord of Demon City, when she was forced to hunt wild prey, her soul often slipped away in dreams without being discovered, despite the countless powerful beings there.

She explained this with her soft, plump little fingers.

Master Yu listened carefully, noting that her soul seemed to be protected. He made a mental note to discuss this with Elder Ao Qing later and nodded slightly, “Good that nothing has happened so far.”

The child obediently nestled in his arms, then peeked again at the black dragon.

“What is it?”

“Aoxin’s words are true,” Master Yu said, “Youyou’s soul did depart and collide with it. But it had ill intentions when trying to capture her, and its insults were not wrong.”

Youyou was always honest with her father. Whenever he wanted to know the truth, she never lied. Master Yu knew this matter was not the dragon deceiving her into dreams.

The identity of the black dragon was clear.

Seeing her evidently could have let the black dragon take the blame and hide her own peculiarities but still chose to be truthful with him, Master Yu’s gaze softened.

Because Youyou refused to lie to him.

He stroked his daughter’s slightly yellowed hair, knowing the demonic dragon’s escape was a false alarm. He breathed a sigh of relief.

After checking Youyou’s meridians and confirming that the demonic energy had caused no harm, Master Yu was still unwilling to let her continue absorbing that energy.

Holding her in one arm, he turned to the lovely female cultivator who had been pondering and said, “Since there is no harm, let’s return.”

His words marked the end of the matter.

The black dragon, relieved that its innocence was cleared, wanted to make a few sarcastic remarks as before but thought better of it, considering the little devil’s dangerous nature, and remained silent.

Feihong Daojun, recalling the dragon’s earlier fury and seeing that Youyou was unharmed, smiled gently, “Good that Youyou is not wronged.”

Since the demonic dragon remained sealed, posing no risk of corrupting Ancient Sect disciples, Feihong Daojun had little interest in it.

It was pitch black, not at all delicate or pinkish; Feihong took no liking to it.

They prepared to leave.

The child squinted happily, enjoying her father’s gentle head rub. Though a little regretful at leaving, she suddenly remembered something and opened her mouth to call out.

But words failed her.

She panicked, tugged at Master Yu’s robe, and hurriedly rummaged through the storage ring on her thin finger. She pulled out a shining dragon scale glowing with azure light and, raising it above her head, clenched her tiny fists and struggled for a while until she finally managed to utter a single word.

Holding up the dragon scale, she pointed toward the black dragon, which was still vigilantly lurking behind the seal, watching her intently.