It truly wasn’t that the Dragon Bone Sword suffered from persecution paranoia, but this was the body of a Dragon God—far too tempting for cultivators. It had seen countless villains who wanted to take dragon scales or seize a dragon core, and had long since come to loathe the human race with a deep hatred.

But after seeing so many great villains, this was still the first time it had encountered someone who wanted to eat dragon meat. A spy of the Tianji Sect—how vicious to such an extent!

It was so anxious it spun in circles. If it didn’t stop her, it feared that when it turned back, Ji Wushu’s flesh would already be roasted, spicy and crispy; if it stopped her, Ji Wushu’s command came first. The Dragon God’s orders carried almost the effect of a word-spirit—he had instructed the Dragon Bone Sword to protect the little spy, and the sword could not disobey.

The Dragon Bone Sword was frantic and agitated, trying to communicate with Ji Wushu’s divine sense, but there was no response at all. Its heart was filled with grief and indignation. One must know that dragon flesh and dragon blood were divine substances. The once majestic Dragon God had fallen to such misery, and now was even going to be sliced up and eaten—by the very first human he had wanted to protect in thousands of years. Wasn’t that far too desolate?

What is “the farmer and the snake”? This is exactly the farmer and the snake!

But fortunately, how could a dragon’s hide and flesh possibly be cut off by some broken knife? Shu Tiantian indeed couldn’t slice it, but if the rotten flesh wasn’t removed, how could the baleful energy on the wound be prevented from spreading?

The Dragon Bone Sword immediately surged forward, fierce and imposing, intending to stop her.

As Shu Tiantian lifted her leg, she saw the sword flying toward her, and her eyes lit up at once: the cold-glinting Dragon Bone Sword was thin and sharp—more useful than a scalpel, it seemed.

She looked around but couldn’t find the sword’s owner. Seeing the sword circling the dragon anxiously, she tentatively reached out her hand.

The Tianji Sect was a sword cultivation sect, and many of her senior brothers’ swords had sword spirits. Shu Tiantian, who had grown up being harassed by flying swords, could clearly sense that this sword had no malice—rather, it seemed a bit anxious.

She was only trying it out, but who would have thought—once she reached out, the sword really obediently fell into her palm.

The Dragon Bone Sword had just wanted to struggle free and make a sound to scare this audacious little spy to death, when it saw her stroke the blade. Her eyes sparkled as she exclaimed in amazement, “What a beautiful sword—prettier than my Shizun’s Chihong Sword!”

The Dragon Bone Sword had been filled with dissatisfaction and anger, but at a single compliment it subconsciously grew smug, thinking that it was the only divine sword left between heaven and earth—of course it couldn’t be compared with those ordinary things.

Shu Tiantian’s mouth was especially sweet. From the gemstones set into it to its smooth forging craftsmanship, she praised everything, using that loud, fussing, never-seen-the-world sort of tone that made the Dragon Bone Sword float with pride, completely forgetting what it had come for.

By the time it came back to its senses, Shu Tiantian had already used it to slice off a piece of rotten flesh.

Dragon Bone Sword: …..

Ahhh—it just sliced, sliced, sliced the Dragon God’s flesh!!!

Shu Tiantian’s mouth kept producing dazzling rainbow praise without pause, while her hands worked swiftly, cutting away the rotten flesh and releasing the blackened fresh blood.

Shu Tiantian knew how painful such debridement was, so her speed was extremely fast, afraid of waking the black dragon. But perhaps it had fallen into a deep coma—the black dragon didn’t move at all, and she quietly let out a small breath of relief.

The Dragon Bone Sword was stunned for a long while before stiffly coming back to itself. Yet it did not see the brutal scene of the little spy cooking dragon meat. Instead, after finishing one wound, the little spy applied ointment to it—the medicinal paste brewed from that pot of spirit herbs.

After the black blood flowed out, the faintly seeping golden-red blood quickly stopped. The black baleful energy entwining the wound seemed to melt away like ice and snow, and the wound no longer showed any signs of worsening.

The Dragon Bone Sword finally realized… this little spy was treating the injuries of its dog-like master?

That pot of “hot pot soup base” was rich with medicinal fragrance—definitely no ordinary thing. If the Dragon Bone Sword had possessed the five senses, anyone else here would have long noticed how extraordinary that broth was.

The medicinal paste’s domineering potency was almost visible to the naked eye. Though it was clearly an upper-grade Profound-rank medicinal paste, because of the Earth-rank pill formula and the alchemist’s superb technique, it faintly emitted the purple pill fragrance of an Earth-rank elixir.

With special effects and nearing the Earth rank, even a single pellet released would make countless people covet it—but the little spy had brewed a whole pot in one go and smeared it all over the sinful dragon without the slightest heartache. But wasn’t the little spy supposed to be dirt poor?

Humans coveted dragon blood for longevity, dragon horns for indestructibility, the Dragon God’s fortune to bless them… Born three thousand years ago, the sinful dragon had always been persecuted and exploited, witnessing too much of the world’s malice, until it had become what it was now. So the Dragon Bone Sword, like its master, harbored deep vigilance and hatred toward the human race.

Yet after discovering that the little spy did not want to eat dragon meat, the Dragon Bone Sword found itself somewhat at a loss.

Moreover, the little spy’s movements were gentle and careful. Even knowing this dragon probably wouldn’t fear such pain, she still cautiously quickened her speed, as though treating some priceless treasure.

Indeed—toward its dog-like master, she was very good.

But after all, it was only a sword—it had no power to see through human hearts. At least for now, this little spy meant well, and the Dragon Bone Sword did not mind being used by her.

The Dragon Bone Sword stopped struggling. On second thought, its dog-like master had oppressed it for thousands of years. Bound by that dog-like master’s tyrannical power, it had long harbored anger but dared not speak. And now, there was finally a chance to slice up its dog-like master…

So it obediently lay in Shu Tiantian’s palm. After noticing that Shu Tiantian’s hand was much smaller than Ji Wushu’s, it even thoughtfully shifted its form, transforming into a small and delicate dagger.

Shu Tiantian was overjoyed, and her rainbow praise grew even more extravagant, making the Dragon Bone Sword float with pride.

What had originally been estimated to take at least two or three days was shortened to half an afternoon because of the Dragon Bone Sword’s cooperation.

One by one, the blackened wounds on the giant dragon’s body were cleaned, medicated, and bandaged. The unique odor of baleful energy dissipated, replaced by a faint and pleasant medicinal fragrance. Even the ferocious dragon horns were wrapped in gauze into two cute little triangles.

The giant dragon, riddled with chronic afflictions, for the first time in its slumber felt its whole body lighten.

For many years, the dragon’s body had been shrouded in artificially created black-red murderous energy. Though invisible, it wound around him like strands of netting, forcing him to constantly divert his mind to resist it. Already burdened with severe internal injuries, with his dragon core taken, and exhausted from constant resistance, he had not improved over the past thousand years—instead, he had only grown worse.

As early as a thousand years ago, he had already given up on this body riddled with persistent illness.

He loathed this sickly body; loathed the broken horn that symbolized humiliation; loathed the gradually declining vitality… Yet even a god could not abandon their physical form, and so the pain etched into his very bones tormented him endlessly—he could never escape.

This time, upon returning to his physical body, he fell into an exhausted slumber before he even had time to seal off his five senses.

He had thought he would face boundless suffering, that whether waking or sleeping, the clinging sickness would never leave.

But this time, he did not smell blood—only a rich medicinal fragrance, mingled with the sweet scent of a young girl, as though dispersing the boundless black aura.

Fresh, clean.

The pain from the frenzied assault of yin baleful energy and miasma had also vanished—someone had carefully treated his wounds.

The sinful dragon, who would not cry out even if his dragon horn were nearly chopped off, was being handled with the utmost gentleness, as though he were something that could feel pain, something fragile—someone afraid he might hurt.

Who would believe that a Dragon God could feel pain? And so, after hundreds and thousands of years, he had indeed lost most of his sense of pain.

He thought—it must be that little spy.

So he opened his eyes—

The Dragon Bone Sword was happily slicing dragon meat.

The little spy had gone to refine pills. Leaving a bit of finishing work to the clever sword spirit was clearly not a bad choice—when suddenly, the Dragon Bone Sword sensed fluctuations in Ji Wushu’s divine soul.

It trembled violently, and saw the giant dragon with its eyes open. It was cheerfully shaving off half a dragon scale—then shuddered so hard it nearly rolled off.

Dragon Bone Sword: …No! Dog-like master, listen to my explanation!

The trembling Dragon Bone Sword was glanced at by its dog-like master. That dog-like master ignored the Dragon Bone Sword, which was shaking like it had Parkinson’s, and instead looked toward Shu Tiantian, who was sitting cross-legged refining pills.

At this moment, Shu Tiantian was refining Qingxin Xu Ming Pills. She still adhered to the principle that if quality was insufficient, quantity would make up for it. Since the Qingxin Xu Ming Pills she could currently refine could not maintain the barrier for long, she would just refine more—so Longlong¹Longlong: A cute nickname formed by doubling “Long” (龙, dragon), expressing affection. could eat them like candy beans.

An alchemy fanatic might lack many things but never pills. If the duration wasn’t enough, then eat more—just keep eating.

The Medicine God Cauldron in Shu Tiantian’s hands, with its ability to accelerate alchemy, was perfectly suited for someone like her who specialized in mass production.

She focused wholeheartedly on refining pills, while the dragon focused wholeheartedly on watching her with those beautiful golden eyes.

However, all of this was destined not to remain peaceful for long.

Once the Nine Yin Profound Killing Array was activated, it would appear on time every nightfall.

At this moment, the sky was gradually darkening, and the black great array once again showed signs of making a comeback.

The baleful energy at the horizon surged into thick black clouds, and the golden dragon pupils were suffused with blood-red.

Dragons were actually like Jiao (flood serpents)—because of their form, whether facing a mate or prey, they preferred to coil and constrict, either strangling their prey or entwining with a lover to the death.

The black dragon could only slowly approach, loosely encircling the little medical cultivator who was refining pills. It was such a powerful and dangerous posture, yet she was wholly absorbed, completely unaware of the danger approaching.

But the black dragon did nothing. Though instinctive killing intent and surging craving churned within him, he restrained them with tremendous self-control.

He lowered his head. There was no longer any rotting, decaying flesh that disgusted him at a glance—only cleanly wrapped bandages.

In truth, he deeply hated the feeling of being restrained, because he had once been trapped and bound for hundreds of years.

Yet this time, he did not find the restraint so unbearable. Perhaps because the gauze carried her scent, perhaps because she had adjusted the tightness just right… so he merely shifted slightly, but did not shake off these cumbersome bindings.

Before the baleful energy surged like a tide, the giant dragon turned his gaze toward the little medical cultivator.

To him, she was the only small, warm point of light amid the boundless black aura.

He knew that when the baleful energy descended, drawing close to a body of Heavenly Yin would be far more comfortable. Yet he simply maintained this posture.

The giant dragon, who would not cry out even if his dragon horn were nearly severed, who had been cast into the mire and endured a thousand years of torment and solitude, had long grown accustomed to his own ferocious appearance—yet when he saw the wounds wrapped so cleanly, he suddenly could no longer bear letting her see his body steeped in bloody baleful energy.

The little spy had said:

“Wah, so handsome—”

“I want to secretly raise him!”

But he knew exactly how hideous and terrifying he truly was.

Having lost his sense of pain, he could no longer control his strength well. He could only nudge his well-bandaged dragon tail forward, quietly rubbing it against the little point of warmth that made him feel comfortable.

Then the giant dragon lifted his ferocious body, looking toward the baleful energy at the horizon—his gaze dark and filled with hatred—and turned away without hesitation.

It was only baleful energy. Moving elsewhere would make little difference. Only the bandages she had so painstakingly wrapped…

But in the next instant, his tail was seized. The timid, cowardly little spy grabbed his ferocious dragon tail in a tight embrace.

The little spy looked toward the baleful energy at the horizon and said, “Don’t be afraid.”

The little spy hugged the dragon’s tail and lifted her head proudly, “My Jing Sha Pill is a secret treasure of the Buddhist sect—it can block baleful energy!”

And so—

The baleful energy surged forward like a raging tide, rushing in with fierce momentum—only to suddenly be stunned by an overwhelming wave of dense Buddhist aura.

One could see that upon the sinful dragon’s body, the Buddhist radiance from the Jing Sha Pill shone brilliantly, piercing through the darkness.

The baleful energies swore—even when the Buddha descended into the world, they had never seen such aggressively blazing Buddhist light.

Footnotes

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  Longlong: A cute nickname formed by doubling “Long” (龙, dragon), expressing affection.