Chapter 667: Bold Mortal

"Fine! A promise is a promise, just you wait!" No sooner said than done, Yun Tianhe darted toward the Dragon-Coiling Pillar the moment the words left his mouth.

Never mind these denizens of another world; even Han Lingsha and Murong Ziyi, the two companions behind him, were nearly frightened out of their wits.

Raised in the wild mountains since childhood, Yun Tianhe was like a sheet of pure white paper, taking everything at face value without a single devious thought; his father, Yun Tianqing, had taught him that a real man acts without fear, so fearless he remained—if the divine dragon bade him scale the Dragon-Coiling Pillar, then scale it he would, seeing absolutely nothing amiss in the request.

This region was a vassal domain of the Netherworld, containing a path to the Ghost Realm, while the Dragon-Coiling Pillar itself was a celestial highway.

A colossal ancient stone statue of the divine dragon wound upward from the desolate Mount Buzhou, wrapping around the Dragon-Coiling Pillar all the way into the distant, lofty heavens.

Ascending from the Dragon-Coiling Pillar along the dragon's body to its head would likely lead to the New Immortal Realm from Legend of Sword and Fairy 3, where years later, Chonglou would duel the highly cultivated Jingtian, and that immense dragon head could even be seen there.

Of course, the divine dragon merely intended to test them on the Dragon-Coiling Pillar, checking whether they were boasting or truly possessed matching strength and courage; it would naturally not let them reach the very top.

It was worth mentioning that within the world of Sword and Fairy, there were many immortal realms, entirely separate from the abode of the heavenly gods.

The immortal realms were divided into the Celestial Immortal Realm and the Mortal Immortal Realm; the latter was akin to a blessed grotto-heaven, with places brimming with spiritual energy like Penglai serving as prime examples.

The New Immortal Realm, discovered by Feipeng and Chonglou, belonged to the Celestial Immortal Realm, existing much like a celestial grotto-heaven in the clouds.

The events of Legend of Sword and Fairy 4 took place roughly after the decisive battle between Chonglou and the Divine General Feipeng (Jingtian's past life), and also after Feipeng's reincarnation as Prince Longyang of the Jiang Kingdom, yet long before Jingtian's birth, which explained why they could encounter the Demon Sword and Longkui.

In other words, forcing one's way up would, at most, likely reveal the ruins of the battlefield where Feipeng and Chonglou fought so many years ago.

Climbing the Dragon-Coiling Pillar was no easy feat; sword-riding techniques were strictly forbidden, and the higher one went, the fiercer the astral winds blew, threatening to send them plummeting from the dragon's body to be smashed to pieces, to say nothing of the descending heavenly thunder and the various demons of this Netherworld vassal state that grew increasingly arduous to face the higher they ascended.

Granted, while such a situation was a bit difficult for the players, it was by no means impassable, and the same held true for Yun Tianhe and his companions.

Yet what many worried about was: "...We won't actually have to fight the divine dragon later, will we?"

For players of the old shop, this stretch of the journey was walked with immense trepidation, while for players of the new shop, it was: ...What happened to the promised basic instance?! Is this even meant for humans?!

Never mind the knights; even Merlin, a tier-nine Heaven-rank mage, was walking with trembling legs; it might have been finer to watch from behind, but only by being immersed in the scene could one realize how terrifying that dragon truly was—Saint-tier? No! If a Saint-tier being possessed such power where breath became wind and voice became thunder, the gods of this world would probably have to step aside.

He could not fathom what power lay beyond the Saint-tier, but this was unquestionably an existence far surpassing it, akin to the gods of legend!

Furthermore... he had a faint inkling that some of the gods in legends did not even possess such a terrifying aura.

After all, even gods had gradients of strength.

"Could this be a Saint-tier instance?!" He hurriedly suppressed this terrifying thought in his mind, chanting to himself: This is just an illusion, it must be!

Only this thought could grant him a modicum of peace; otherwise, immersed so deeply in the scene, few could face the Torch Dragon as directly as Yun Tianhe did.

"Hey! We're up here! Where are you?!" Yun Tianhe shouted toward the sky.

"Holy crap..." Song Qingfeng and the other players from the old shop nearly fell out of their chairs in sheer fright, terrified that this clueless brat Yun Tianhe would be swatted to death, bringing a sudden end to the entire story.

To these elves, it felt roughly equivalent to shouting at their own Elven Goddess: Hey, where are you?

That sort of feeling.

The players from the new shop felt their knees go completely weak; when had they ever seen such a reckless, death-defying youth? Others at least addressed the being with an honorific, yet he just walked right up and said "Hey"?

"Ah—!" Next came a blood-curdling shriek as Yun Tianhe was struck down to the ground by a bolt of heavenly thunder.

After a long while, Yun Tianhe climbed back up with a perfectly innocent look on his face: "Why do I always get struck by lightning after leaving the mountain..."

Everyone clapped their hands to their foreheads: "..."

"Mortal, do you know what a grave irreverence it is to summon and shout at a divine dragon? This is the consequence of your insolence."

"I don't know what counts as polite. You told us to come up, saying there's a way to the Ghost Realm, so of course we rushed up here to find you. Is there something wrong with that?" To Yun Tianhe, such a concept simply did not exist, and his words were entirely straightforward.

Although this nether region did indeed lead to the depths of the Ghost Realm, it was naturally a vital strategic pass between heaven and earth; otherwise, it would not be guarded by an existence like the Torch Dragon, and people could not be allowed to enter at will, lest everyone start running to the Ghost Realm from this place in the future.

The price could not be cheap; thus, the divine dragon demanded the life of someone beside Yun Tianhe as payment—perhaps this was utterly useless to the dragon, but it would serve to warn everyone not to expect an easy passage through trickery.

For Yun Tianhe, however, it was naturally impossible to accept such a condition.

"If you provoke this deity, this deity can ensure you all perish here!" The heavenly thunder roared, echoing the divine dragon's fury.

Yun Tianhe knew no fear, still possessing the naive innocence of a newcomer to the world: "You're very strong, I can feel it. But it's my choice not to choose, it has nothing to do with them. Please don't kill them! Sacrificing my friends is absolutely impossible, and I won't change my mind."

Yun Tianhe clearly spoke whatever came to his mind.

"..." The divine dragon fell silent for a brief moment; perhaps it had never encountered a mortal so ignorantly and naively ridiculous, and since it was no bloodthirsty, evil dragon, it ultimately decided to grant them a chance, "Mortal, you are quite amusing. Perhaps you have yet to see the true suffering of the mortal realm, firmly believing that everyone can resolve anything through their own strength."

"Perhaps you are worthy of this deity's appreciation, or perhaps you are merely a fool who understands nothing."

"What do you mean..." Yun Tianhe asked.

Perhaps he truly understood nothing.

"This deity shall grant you a chance. This deity will release a phantom of myself from tens of thousands of years ago, prior to my ascension and attainment of the Dao. If you can defeat it, this deity shall send you to the Hall of Impermanence in the Ghost Realm."

"Really? You're willing to help us?" Yun Tianhe still appeared quite delighted.

"Hahaha!" The Torch Dragon burst into a great roar of laughter, "This deity has guarded this place for nine thousand and nine hundred years. Just as I am about to achieve full merit, I encounter a ridiculous mortal like you. Am I helping you enter the Ghost Realm, or... sending your souls into the Ghost Realm!?"

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