Chapter 237: No Path to the Heavens (II)

Meanwhile, Luo Yao and Pushan passed through a forested area, and the Vampire Bat-Dragons' pursuit came to an abrupt halt.

"

Screee, screee, screeee!!"

It seemed as if there was an invisible barrier. Thousands upon thousands of Vampire Bat-Dragons crowded outside this barrier and emitted shrill cries, compounding into an ear-splitting cacophony. Yet, not one of the creatures dared to stick even a foot into the pool of lightning.

"What formidable demonic beast occupies the territory we're in now?" Chu Liang wondered as he landed.

He then turned around and observed the Vampire Bat-Dragons' odd behavior. Chu Liang hadn't lowered his guard in the slightest.

Judging from the Vampire Bat-Dragons' behavior, it was clear to Chu Liang that he wasn't the one they were afraid of. It had to be something even more powerful than him.

"It might not be a demonic beast. Instead, it's..." Monk Pushan pointed at a mountain peak. "Well, see for yourself."

...

Peeking through from behind the lofty green mountain was a gigantic dragon skull that was fully black. The crevices in the skull had been filled with a material similar to rhodium. It was used to turn the skull into a palace-like structure.

The workmanship was really rough. Yet, this building made for a rather terrifying sight. This dragon skull obviously belonged to a pure-blood True Dragon!

What incredible existence could turn an adult pure-blood True Dragon into a building and put it on display here?

It seemed that this Dragon-Bone Palace was probably what the swarm of Vampire Bat-Dragons were afraid of. If the trio left this area, they would probably still encounter attacks from more descendants of dragons. So, the trio didn't rush to leave; instead, they slowly approached the palace.

Once the trio went around the mountain, they could see the gigantic dragon skull in full and found that its seemingly endlessly long body trailed behind it. Like the skull, the rest of the skeleton was covered in a rhodium-like material.

The dragon skeleton—starting with a skull that was as high as the mountain and continuing on with a winding body that seemed to stretch on endlessly behind it—was like a long city wall made of rhodium!

The inside of that gigantic dragon skull’s gaping mouth was pitch-black like an abyss in the mountains.

"Shall we go in and take a look?" Monk Pushan asked. His curiosity was piqued. "It seems to be a rather special place. If this hidden realm has an exit, it might just be in there."

"Sure," Luo Yao agreed.

Chu Liang didn't object to the idea. After all, they were in an awkward situation. If they were to head back out, they would be attacked by draconic descendants. And if they were to simply wait here, Enchantress Liu and Master Mu would eventually catch up, leaving the trio with no escape. They might as well just go inside the dragon skull and explore.

Looking at that tail that seemed to stretch on endlessly, Chu Liang also thought that there might be an exit hidden in there.

So, the trio entered the skull.

This dragon skull was as high as a mountain, so its gaping mouth seemed like the massive entrance gates of a city. As humans, the trio felt extremely small when they entered.

Once inside, they saw a dark, long passageway. The rhodium fillings in the dragon bone had been done roughly on the outside, but the engravings inside had been done very meticulously. With black and gold painted over them, they looked stately and magnificent.

On the tall walls of the passageway, there were relief paintings[1] depicting profound scenes. They were very likely scenes of wars that had occurred in ancient times.

"These are murals from the era of the ancient Dragon God. My sect, the Buddhist Cloud Monastery, has a collection of these too. I can roughly figure out what's being depicted," Monk Pushan said.

Then rays of divine light shone out from his eyes, piercing through the darkness. As he walked through the passageway, he looked closely at each mural.

"The first mural seems to depict a young dragon, whose parents were killed by an enemy—an evil dragon..." Pushan explained slowly as he interpreted the murals. "The young dragon was in turmoil. It had always had a deep fear of being alone in this world; it was determined to avenge its parents and relatives. It felt a little sorrowful as well. 'I was nothing at birth, and after I was born—'"

"Hang on," Luo Yao interrupted. "You can interpret all that from the first mural alone?"

"

Uh

, I did make some conjectures about its emotional state," Monk Pushan admitted.

"Don't make conjectures. There are so many murals here. By the time you're done making conjectures about all of them, Enchantress Liu and Master Mu would have already had a kid and even spent a month in confinement after childbirth[2], and we'd still be here for them to catch us," Chu Liang remarked.

Pushan sighed. "Fine..."

"The second mural depicts the young dragon growing up, venturing out into the world and gaining experience, and following a powerful... Dragon God?" Pushan said bewilderedly.

"How do you know that's the Dragon God?" Chu Liang asked as he looked at the mural.

Pushana explained, "The murals of the ancient dragons were painted with some rules. The painting style may be rough, but only the Dragon God was allowed to be depicted with divine light. Any other True Dragons would not have been painting with this divine light."

Chu Liang nodded. "I see."

In the distant past, a ninth-realm Hallowed One emerged among the dragons. It was known as the Dragon God.

Under its leadership, the dragons once ruled over the mortal realm. Dragons had a long lifespan that surpassed even that of demons, so the dragons could have flourished for thousands of years under the lead of the Dragon God. Yet, the dragons' rule over the mortal realm lasted for less than a thousand years before it came to an abrupt end.

Thousands of years later, the Ancient Dragon Lair fell into ruin, and the remaining pure-blood True Dragons fled to the Abyss of the Hidden Dragons.

These were all secrets from the distant past, and the reasons behind the events had long been forgotten by the world.

The next dozen or so murals depicted the same young dragon accompanying the Dragon God on expeditions, battling not only other dragons but also other powerful demonic beasts and even humans.

During the period depicted in the murals, the young dragon grew into an enormous dragon with an indomitable spirit. Enchantress Liu had called this place the Blue Dragon's Hidden Realm. In that case, the dragon that was featured in the murals should be the Blue Dragon, the owner of this hidden realm.

The next mural showed the Blue Dragon growing under the instruction of the Dragon God. The Blue Dragon eventually became extremely powerful and returned to its hometown. It killed the evil dragon, avenging its parents and relatives. The Blue Dragon then used the bones of the evil dragon to build a palace that served as an everlasting memorial.

So, it turned out that the Blue Dragon had built this long wall of dragon bones using the bones of its enemy.

The trio continued walking ahead and found several more murals. These depicted violent, bloody wars that ended with the Dragon God facing an endless stream of lightning clouds descending from the heavens.

It looked like there were faint figures of celestial soldiers standing on the clouds. Yet, it also looked like it might just be a giant hand. The details were quite blurry. Perhaps it was because the artist hadn't gotten a clear look at the scene. It was obvious from the mural that the artist had been in a state of fear and confusion.

"Is this... a tribulation for a breakthrough in cultivation?" Monk Pushan guessed.

"It looks more like a battle where both sides fought till their last breath," Luo Yao said.

"What's this?" Chu Liang asked.

He noticed that there were several blurry little human figures in one of the bottom corners of the mural. Humans rarely appeared in these dragon murals, but it didn't seem like those people were simply bystanders.

Monk Pushan shook his head. He couldn't figure out what had happened in the scene depicted in the mural.

The trio moved on to the next mural. The Dragon God had disappeared, leaving a huge blank space in the middle of the picture. All that remained in the mural were True Dragons looking dejected as they soared into the sky. It was a scene of madness and chaos.

There was also a complicated character written on the mural. It seemed to be from the language of dragons.

"Dragon script went extinct a long time ago. I don't recognize this character," Monk Pushan said.

Chu Liang looked at it. It was expected that he wouldn't recognize it either. Yet, a stream of information rushed into his mind, allowing him to instantly understand the meaning that this character held.

It was very complicated and represented a sorrowful state of mind like that of a hero at the end of his road bellowing at the heavens.

Simply put, what it said was:

There is no path to the heavens.

1. It's that same style I explained in a previous chapter. It's basically a painting with 3D textures. ☜

2. It's a Chinese tradition. Women have to be confined for a month after childbirth for recovery. ☜