The Dragon Bone Sword tried explaining it with saving all living beings, benefiting the world, or just saying it casually, and respectively received the treatment of being buried in the soil, embedded in the wall, and planted atop a grave.

Unfortunately, as soon as Shu Tiantian returned to the Scarlet Flame Flower Fields, she entered seclusion. The Dragon Bone Sword could not find the correct answer.

And Shu Tiantian’s method of seclusion was extremely peculiar—she set up her little pot beside the dragon to refine pills, refining nonstop, turning herself into an automatic pill-refining machine.

On the fourth day of being driven nearly mad by its master’s unpredictable temper, with only two days left before the thousand-year calamity, the Dragon Bone Sword suddenly felt as though its crown had been opened, obtaining the correct answer. It sidled up to the Ancestor and said ingratiatingly:

“Master, what she meant must be that in the future she will only care about you.”

This time the Dragon Bone Sword was not buried atop a grave. With a pia, it was pressed against the wall. The Dragon Bone Sword felt that in that instant Ancestor Void Abyss had absolutely smiled, but how had he suddenly changed expression…

Following Ancestor Void Abyss’s gaze, it looked over—and was startled—

The little medical cultivator had been repeatedly refining that pill that had exploded five furnaces in a row. Perhaps because her level was still insufficient, after entering seclusion she had continuously been repeating the refinement of the Great Creation Pill.

After all, for someone at the Foundation Establishment stage to refine an Earth-tier pill was too difficult…

Yet now, the Dragon Bone Sword saw purple qi belonging to an Earth-tier pill slowly rising from within the Medicine God Cauldron! If the Dragon Bone Sword had eyes, it would have thought it was seeing things!

Even more absurdly, tribulation clouds belonging to the Golden Core stage were gathering in the sky!

At that moment, the Dragon Bone Sword understood for the first time the thought process of a little medical Dao genius: refining an Earth-tier pill at the Foundation Establishment stage was too hard, so what?

Then the little genius decided to advance a level first.

How to advance? Shu Tiantian’s small mind, poisoned by exam-oriented education, immediately arrived at a perfect solution: drill practice.

Originally already at the late Foundation Establishment stage, during her frantic refinement of an Earth-tier pill she could not yet refine, it was like forcibly grinding through a hundred sets of Olympiad math problems. Finally, once she understood the problems, she also advanced in rank.

The Dragon Bone Sword marveled at the genius’s thought process, yet even more felt her idea was too crazy.

But its master had already laughed aloud. The beautiful long-haired young man lifted his sword and descended to help her block the lightning tribulation.

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

Shu Tiantian was indeed undergoing tribulation.

As a top student, understanding the teacher’s rules for setting questions before an exam was essential. So she knew that for a medical cultivator’s Golden Core tribulation, it generally questioned one’s Dao heart. The methods of questioning were always strange and varied, but without exception it involved comprehending the Dao while being struck by lightning.

But Shu Tiantian felt that this time her tribulation was somewhat strange. As for lightning, it did not strike her; as for questioning her Dao heart, she was like a bystander, not even given options A, B, C, or D.

Only when Shu Tiantian belatedly remembered the Memory Pearl that Chixiao Immortal Lord had given her, and recalled that the small gust caused by the emergence of the Earth-tier pill had shattered the pearl, did she realize something was very wrong.

Good heavens, this was a mixed question type.

This was the Golden Core tribulation’s questioning of the Dao heart mixed with the Memory Pearl of Tianji Sect’s ancestor.

But very quickly, Shu Tiantian’s entire mind was seized, and she could no longer pull herself away from the scene.

The first segment of memory was three thousand years ago.

She saw the lofty Dragon God fall into the Heavenly Abyss, roaring in agony amid encirclement and pursuit.

He injured many people, and was also injured by many.

It was pierced and pained, raging and writhing, stirring the winds and clouds, bringing down black rain.

The wounded Dragon God vanished at the horizon.

The black rain merely signified that the Dragon God was near death, yet the mortal world mistook it for the descent of calamity. After that day’s black rain, the human realm happened to encounter floods and a change of dynasties.

What should have been the immutable law of ages became, because of a single black rain, the ill omen of the black dragon.

Thus later, dragons became taboo, became an existence deeply detested by all.

It had been a Dragon God born through offerings of the power of faith, yet everyone said dragons brought calamity. And so temples collapsed one by one, were burned one by one, and faith was severed.

Thus it grew weaker and weaker, and under the relentless pursuit of “those people,” it became increasingly powerless.

With no other choice, it could only keep changing locations, unable to stay anywhere for long.

Most of the time, it transformed into an utterly ordinary little black snake, wandering alone among mountains and forests; it had once saved its believers, but those believers who still retained the Dragon God’s blessing had long severed all faith. They feared everything about dragons, even if it was only a… somewhat dragon-like little black snake.

The little black snake was thrown out countless times, forked away with branches, fell into pits several times, dropped into deep ravines several times. It no longer approached humans. It began to nest in the mountains, seeking a place to shelter.

But “those people” wanted to hunt it down. The little black snake had no home; it could only change mountains one by one.

The little black snake liked to hang itself from mountain branches. Year after year, when lonely and desolate, it would tie itself into knots over and over again, then slowly untie them.

Sometimes it would even tie itself into a bow. Many times it could not untie itself, yet it was not anxious, because it had plenty, plenty of time to spend.

Until one year, it encountered a middle-aged cultivator.

The cultivator bore the Dragon God’s blessing, and was the only human willing to speak with the little black snake.

Yet the little black snake, hanging from the treetop, paid him little attention, tying itself into knots on its own.

Such companionship lasted nearly ten years. The little black snake seemed to always ignore this middle-aged cultivator, yet when the cultivator encountered trouble, the little black snake appeared at the last moment and saved him.

However, the price was that countless cultivators emerged from hiding. The little black snake revealed the Dragon God’s true form. This time… the little black snake could not escape. The black dragon writhed in furious rage, its ferocious appearance even more vicious than the nine-headed serpent of hell. There was no longer the slightest trace of the Dragon God’s former bearing when he first fell from the heavenly curtain.

The first segment of memory ended here.

What happened to the Dragon God after being taken away—perhaps Tianji Sect’s founding ancestor had no memory of it, perhaps Shu Tiantian’s questioning of the Dao heart did not automatically fill it in.

Very quickly, she saw the second segment of memory.

Two thousand five hundred years ago, the black dragon escaped, breaking free from its chains. But this time, it was no longer the pitiful little black snake who only wanted to find a tree to hang from and hide; it had become a true Sinful Dragon.

Thus, two thousand years ago, people decided to gather the power of the Three Realms to suppress it.

Someone created the God-Slaying Array and the God-Slaying Sword. And so from the heavenly curtain descended a single piercing wound that gathered the power of heaven and earth, nailing it within the array.

On that day, the red-gold dragon pupils turned blood-red. It left behind a piercing wound that had not healed for two thousand years. And those who injured it all retained their lives—except for the middle-aged cultivator who had once deceived the little black snake, because that despicable traitor had fled.

The black dragon was almost nailed to death upon the array. On the night when its blood nourished Scarlet Flame Flowers that spread for dozens of li, it was a night of the full moon.

One thousand years ago.

During the previous thousand-year calamity, that middle-aged cultivator appeared again.

This middle-aged cultivator was the founding ancestor of Tianji Sect. This time, his purpose was to attempt to contract this Sinful Dragon during the thousand-year calamity.

The founding ancestor seemed to have obtained the God-Slaying Sword technique that had once pierced the black dragon. This sword technique granted this human, within the great array, power almost akin to that of a god.

The black dragon was covered in blood. Its golden pupils burned red. Nearly blind, nearly deaf, it still refused to be captured, and would not lower the head of the Dragon God.

Having lost its dragon core, nearly stripped of all strength, it still refused to become anyone’s lackey.

Until at last, when the black dragon finally fell powerless, the founding ancestor was overjoyed. He laughed wildly, thinking he had finally succeeded. So long as he contracted this dragon, he would become the righteous path’s supreme leader for all ages to come—he might even… become a god.

But the founding ancestor’s ecstatic expression froze upon his face.

Because behind him, a long-haired young man in tattered robes, holding the Dragon Bone Sword, slowly stood up. Covered in blood, with a fierce and savage gaze, he raised his sword and, in the exact same posture as a thousand years ago, nailed him to death upon the array.

The long-haired youth’s handsome face was smeared with blood, like some ghost crawling out of hell. He even smiled somewhat madly, yet for some reason… he looked a little pitiful.

This was the Ancestor of Void Abyss Shu Tiantian had never seen, and also the truth she had never known.

The so-called founding ancestor of hers was in fact merely a petty man who pursued profit and gain alone—yet he was the leader of the righteous path.

So this was evil?

Because the founding ancestor belonged to the so-called righteous side, was human, while it was not of their kind.

It refused to kneel—was that evil?

It refused to submit—was that evil?

A god was proud as light by nature, yet humans wanted to break its spine, crush its defiance, and still accuse it of not being obedient enough.

At that moment, Shu Tiantian thought in her heart—

She wanted to ferry him, save him, and then send him back to the clouds.

Shu Tiantian passed through her Golden Core tribulation at a speed no one could have imagined. Almost at the very instant the golden light faded, she opened her eyes.

The Great Creation Pill had formed. Its purple pill fragrance spread for a thousand li. With swift reflexes, Shu Tiantian wrapped the scent with spiritual energy. The pill mist belonging to the Great Creation Pill drifted outward, causing the black dragon’s true form, which had been in a state of slumber, to open its eyes.

The moment the Dragon Bone Sword smelled the fragrance, it whooshed over to rub against the pill mist, spinning happily within the exquisite mist.

Then it saw Shu Tiantian suddenly grab the dragon horn in an embrace, unable to stop herself from crying. As she stroked his dragon horn, she called him pitiful little one.

Dragon Bone Sword: ?

The true body of the Ancestor, who had just helped block the lightning tribulation: ?

Pitiful little one? Who was pitiful? Heh—who in this world dared call this ferocious existence, capable of destroying heaven and earth, pitiful?

Void Abyss Ancestor was extremely displeased—until the little medical cultivator tenderly kissed his dragon horn.

The Dragon Bone Sword felt its master’s original irritability and displeasure suddenly vanish, and was extremely astonished.

Then it heard the Ancestor pause strangely, muttering to himself, “Mm, I am pitiful.”

Dragon Bone Sword: …?