Chapter 20

The black dragon, which had just been raging wildly, couldn’t help but shudder. This was a strange occurrence. Fierce and terrifying as it was, its mere presence spoke of a top-tier cultivator. Yet inexplicably, it felt fear toward that tiny little cub—simply from her gaze alone. It was as if, in her eyes, the dragon was nothing more than a dish to be devoured. How could such a little creature possess such a look? Moreover, those eyes were pure, without any hint of malice; it was as if the dragon had always been on her menu, and eating it was perfectly natural—like savoring a small milk cake.

Instinctively, the black dragon curled its massive body, retreating behind the light barrier, watching her warily. This strange child gave it an uneasy feeling. That attitude of taking food for granted was like that of a little demon who saw no distinction between good and evil. What’s more, the dragon claw formed from demonic energy, even at its peak, might not be easily resisted, yet this little cub had simply snapped it up as if it were nothing—something the dragon had never experienced before. It had once considered the light barrier a nuisance, but now, it found comfort in its presence.

“Smells good,” the little one sniffed once more, licking her lips as she gazed hungrily at the black dragon, which no longer roared loudly. She felt that devouring the demonic energy condensed in the dragon’s claw was more satisfying than eating a spirit pill, and the omnipresent aura around her gently coaxed her to eat more.

Suddenly, her slightly greedy, dizzy little mind cleared. Looking at the black dragon inside the light barrier, its tail curled and eyes clear, she realized something—the light barrier’s location likely hadn’t left the territory of the Ancient Sect. That meant the barrier was a restriction placed by the Ancient Sect. Just now, the black dragon had been loudly cursing the Ancient Sect. Her father was the sect leader of the Ancient Sect. So, cursing the Ancient Sect was cursing her father. Moreover, the black dragon was trying to break through the sect’s barrier. Yu Youyou suddenly realized she had gotten herself into trouble.

If the black dragon was being suppressed by the Ancient Sect, its restless, desperate attempts to flee, and its subtle breaking of the light barrier to let its demonic energy seep out, indicated it was trying to escape! She became angry. Ignoring her own hunger, the little cub pointed a tiny finger at the black dragon, scolding it loudly for causing trouble for her father and insulting him. “Bad!”

Having finished her reprimand, she didn’t intend to jump into the light barrier to eat the black dragon but turned around, twisting her small body in haste to return to her own body. She wanted to tell her father that a bad dragon was trying to escape. Such a wicked dragon would only make her father’s life harder and more troublesome—this little cub was going to complain.

Clearly, her turning away to flee and warn was disadvantageous to herself, yet somehow, the black dragon felt an overwhelming sense of impending disaster.

It didn’t dare to shout to deceive the little demon back, but saw the tiny cub, whose face was blurred as if surrounded by something, only her eyes clear and hungry, quickly vanish without a trace.

Yu Youyou swiftly returned to her body amidst the soft aura around her, filled with a “pitying” atmosphere. Opening her eyes, she hastily jumped down from her small bed.

“What’s wrong, little junior sister?” Seeing her suddenly awaken and leap from bed, Ruan Ling was deeply worried and immediately asked, “Did you have a nightmare?”

Nightmares were serious for children.

“Father!” Yu Youyou called out sweetly.

Ruan Ling, who had been studying Yu Youyan closely, nodded in reassurance. “I’ll take little junior sister to see the sect leader.”

Yu Youyou was not a willful child. Usually, at this hour, the sect leader would be busy with sect affairs, and she never disturbed him. Today, since she was so anxious to see her father, it was clear she had been genuinely frightened.

Without delay, Ruan Ling picked up the soft little one and hurried to meet the sect leader.

The sect leader obviously understood that his daughter would not come to him without real cause. He sent several attendants off to rest and held her in his arms, asking with concern, “You want to tell your father something?”

Beside him sat the beautiful elder who often gifted Yu Youyou with peach blossoms. Seeing the loving father’s expression and the little one obediently nestling into his embrace, she smiled and said, “Coming so urgently means there really is something.”

She told Ruan Ling to return and practice in peace while watching the father and daughter with interest.

The little girl waved her small arm and called out, “Dragon!”

The sect leader was momentarily stunned. Yu Youyou clenched her tiny fist and struggled to say the next word:

“…Black.”

The beautiful female cultivator who had just been smiling suddenly lost her smile.

“A black dragon?” The sect leader was shocked. He looked at his precious daughter in disbelief and lowered his voice to ask softly, “You said you saw a black dragon?”

He raised his hand, activating the restriction on the hall so that no one could hear their conversation. Only the beautiful female cultivator, who showed a trace of concern, was addressed: “Ao Xin is a secret of the sect. No Great Ascension cultivator outside the sect may know of it. I have not even told Xing Yun, let alone Youyou.”

That black dragon was the sect’s greatest secret. Only a handful knew of its existence. No one else would suspect that beneath the vast underground restrictions of the Ancient Sect was sealed a demonic dragon of the celestial demon rank.

Yet despite this secret, his daughter claimed she had seen it and—

“Smells good.” The cub had many things to say about the black dragon, but the most important was this: it smelled delicious and crisp, just like the black torrent beneath the demon city.

She even reached out her small paw, imitating the dragon claw’s grasping motion.

“How dare you eat things at will!” The sect leader was horrified.

Though it was wrong for Yu Youyou to know about the black dragon’s existence, he worried more that his daughter might have eaten something that would upset her stomach.

But no matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t imagine when his daughter had wandered alone to the dragon’s sealed domain and taken a bite of wild food.

Wasn’t that strange? She had always stayed within the sect leader’s hall, never stepping outside its doors, yet she claimed to have seen the demon dragon sealed within the restriction.

When exactly had she encountered it? How could they have been completely unaware?

“Sleeping.”

“When she was asleep…” The sect leader’s expression grew grave. After a pause, he seemed to understand what had happened.

In the cultivation world, those who reached a certain level of strength could influence weaker ones, even entering their dreams to manipulate them.

Clearly, that demon dragon knew the sect’s celestial cultivators were absent and wished to cause trouble, luring his weak, pitiful, and innocent daughter.

The demon dragon was behaving despicably, bullying a child.

The sect leader cursed the dragon inwardly and gently stroked Yu Youyou’s little head, whispering, “Ao Xin is so despicable! Youyou, you faced such danger, but your father will avenge you.”

That dragon was an overwhelmingly powerful demonic cultivator. Its demonic energy could invade a cultivator’s meridians. If Yu Youyou hadn’t grown up in the demon city, accustomed to demonic energy, her future cultivation would likely be impaired.

And she had eaten… eaten a dragon claw?

“Has it broken free?”

The sect leader’s face darkened as he exchanged a look with the thoughtful beautiful female cultivator.

She was Daoist Fei Hong, a Great Ascension cultivator. Though her talent was limited and she could not break through to celestial rank, she was a veteran elder of the sect.

Hearing this, Daoist Fei Hong shook her head. Glancing curiously at the little cub who was tugging at her father’s sleeve for comfort, she said, “Impossible. It is sealed by celestial-level restrictions; it cannot break free. But it is no good either. Being able to lure Youyou into a dream means it must have found some crack.”

Yu Youyou, listening intently, nodded vigorously and called out, “Catch!” pointing at herself and patting her chest with a frightened little look.

“That scoundrel was once a hero but has now stooped to luring children and trying to catch them?”

Hearing Daoist Fei Hong’s words that the dragon had not fully escaped, but only managed to probe some small gaps in the seal, the sect leader relaxed somewhat.

He took out a radiant token and said slowly, “When the spirit vein fluctuated earlier, the senior elder and I already warned it. I didn’t expect it to ignore everything and still try to cause trouble!”

During the sect’s spirit vein disturbance, he and Ao Qing had gone to inspect. Finding no abnormalities, they had not suspected the demon dragon. But since Ao Qing was going on a long journey and it was on the way, they had checked the seal. It was intact.

Ao Qing had even reasoned with the demon dragon, giving it a couple of lashes, making it howl. It had seemed very obedient then.

Unexpectedly, it had only been hiding, pretending to be docile.

“Indeed. If it had broken the seal through its own power, no one would say a word. But this scoundrel even dared to plot against our Youyou.”

Luring a child in a dream, clawing her—it might even try to use her as a hostage to force their hand.

Though Daoist Fei Hong loved flowers and nature and cultivated her spirit in peace, she was decisive when it came to wielding her spirit sword to slay dragons. She said to the sect leader, who was solemnly examining the token and the seal, “Reinforce the seal. We’ll go see this wretched creature. Youyou has suffered wrongs and must have justice!”

“Agreed.”

“Youyou says you treat her very well.” The sect leader saw how affectionately his daughter treated Daoist Fei Hong and thought of the two disciples currently vying for the cub’s favor, sighing quietly.

Perhaps Daoist Fei Hong could yet surpass them.

Daoist Fei Hong laughed softly, “Of course I must be good to Youyou to win her love.” Though her age was unknown, she had once been very composed, now blossoming with a youthful aura thanks to Yu Youyou.

But what both she and the sect leader cared most about now was the brazen demon dragon within the seal, which had not only damaged the restrictions attempting to escape but also tried to harm the child.

In the blink of an eye, the three stood before the vast, stern underground seal. Inside the light barrier, where all gaps had closed and the seal was once again tight, the demon dragon’s eyes lit up.

Seeing the solemn cultivators of the Ancient Sect and noticing the pitiful little demon hidden in the sect leader’s arms, about to complain and reveal the terrible things she had encountered, it suddenly saw Daoist Fei Hong’s resolute face. Her spirit sword pointed sharply at its face.

“Ao Xin! For one who is a figure of the cultivation world and a celestial demon, how dare you bully the weak, drag a child into your dream, harm her soul and life? Your dragon’s dignity is despicable! You are unworthy to be called a dragon!”