Chapter 125: A Kind of Malady Without a Cure

Beyond the protective formation shielding the island, the old man, who was the transformed guise of the Netherworld Demon Dragon, stood firmly upon the void. He appeared utterly unfazed by the surrounding hurricanes and tsunamis, calmly scrutinizing the empty space before him. Clearly, he was examining the formation.

Within the Heavenly Sound Formation, everyone was struck with terror. What they witnessed was beyond horrifying.

Setting aside the sheer impossibility of the Netherworld Demon Dragon’s appearance and transformation, the fact that such a creature could disregard the terrifying natural forces of hurricanes and tsunamis was enough to keep them reeling for a long time.

The ocean’s dread was such that nearly every cultivator who had ever sailed its vastness spoke of it with trembling fear. The apocalyptic scenes it could unleash were rumored in the cultivation world to be something only legendary god-tier beings could face unflinchingly.

Had the Netherworld Demon Dragon truly reached the god-tier realm? This was an earth-shattering revelation! If word got out, even the entire Heavenly Peak Continent would shudder thrice over.

Though Liu Pan was shocked and fearful at the moment, his mind did not cease working. Perhaps this was the strength of a fantasy writer’s psyche: no matter the situation, the first instinct was to analyze, speculate on causes and consequences, and consider all possibilities.

Right now, Liu Pan felt the joke had gone too far. He had only left unpublished a single grand finale, yet now, even the terrifying, long-extinct Netherworld Demon Dragon had appeared. Wasn’t this a bit too much?

As for god-tier beings, within the framework of his world, they had indeed existed in Heavenly Peak Continent’s history, but they could never remain long within this plane.

Once one ascended to god-tier, the world’s laws of Heavenly Peak Continent would reject them. The longer they stayed, the stronger the repulsion—a rule irreversible.

If the Netherworld Demon Dragon were truly god-tier, then its presence here meant it had only just recently broken through!

Yet Liu Pan doubted this conclusion. The dragon’s current state was odd.

If it were truly god-tier, how could its body be so damaged? The broken horn atop its head, the terrifying scar across its form...

For a god-tier being, while the laws might repel their presence, they could never inflict harm. No matter how grievous the wound, a single thought would restore their flesh and blood.

But the Netherworld Demon Dragon had not done so.

Was it unwilling, or simply incapable? Liu Pan leaned toward the latter.

He strongly suspected the Netherworld Demon Dragon had not reached god-tier at all. As for how it could ignore the natural fury of hurricanes and tsunamis, there must be another explanation.

...

Liu Pan’s judgment was correct. The Netherworld Demon Dragon had not yet reached god-tier, but it was only a step away.

Three thousand years old now, its lifespan was nearing its limit. If it failed to break through soon, it would perish.

The demon dragon knew well that if it could survive the divine tribulation and ascend to god-tier, its life would extend to ten thousand years. Yet it dared not attempt the tribulation. It sensed that the world was no longer suitable for such a trial; to force a breakthrough now, it had only a ten percent chance to survive.

It was not ready to die. This had been its thought for over a millennium, which was why it had not yet dared to cross the divine tribulation.

Perhaps because its lifespan was nearly spent, it now desired to attempt the trial. But in its twilight years, its bodily functions had long since declined from their peak. If it tried now, its survival odds were less than ten percent.

So though it wished to try, it refrained from action. Better to enjoy the twilight years comfortably than to seek death prematurely. Such was its belief.

As a descendant of the dragon clan, with dragon blood coursing through its veins, the Netherworld Demon Dragon harbored an innate, mysterious obsession with dragons.

It knew their might and envied the innate powers they possessed. It recalled reading in an ancient human text that powerful dragons could naturally command elemental forces: wind, frost, thunder, ice, water, fire, and so forth. Among these, its favorite was the ability to summon wind and rain.

Living at sea, where storms and tempests were frequent, it would become excited. Whenever such times came, it longed to soar into the sky, wandering among the clouds, imagining itself as a dragon summoning wind and rain.

Yet it could only dream. It dared not truly fly high. Even during hurricanes and tsunamis, it could only watch from a distance. It knew well it could not withstand such natural forces, much less the thunderbolts striking from stormy skies.

If it had a greatest regret in life, it was not that it lived in an era where resources were nearly depleted, nor that it lacked a proper time to cross the divine tribulation. Rather, it was that it was not born a true dragon.

It yearned deeply to one day soar into the heavens and experience the sensation of calling forth wind and rain.

Unexpectedly, fate truly granted it such a chance. By chance, it obtained the legendary Water Essence—Primordial Heavy Water.

After refining it and using its powerful primordial energy to activate it, the Netherworld Demon Dragon found, to its immense joy, that it could resist the force of hurricanes and tsunamis.

At last, on a stormy night filled with wind and rain, it fulfilled its desire. It soared amidst the tempest, circling joyfully through the storm. Though it dared not enter the clouds for fear of the lightning serpents within, in that moment, it truly felt the power of summoning wind and rain.

It savored the sensation deeply.

However, later, while reveling in the storm, it was struck by a bolt of lightning and nearly killed. This made it acutely aware that even with the protection of the legendary Water Essence, it could not withstand the heavenly might of thunder.

After that near-death experience, it became extremely cautious during its “wind and rain summoning” sessions. But what use was caution against thunder? Time and again, it was struck, suffering many injuries.

Each time, enduring unbearable pain, it told itself not to go again. Yet when a new storm arrived, it could not suppress the inner impulse.

Eventually, lightning struck again, breaking one of the horns on its head, causing excruciating pain and forcing it into years of recuperation. When healed, upon seeing another storm, it still could not resist the urge and would recklessly ascend into the sky.

It was a sickness, incurable. The Netherworld Demon Dragon thought so. And even if it could be cured, it would not want to be, for it truly enjoyed soaring amid wind, rain, thunder, and lightning.

This time, encountering a thunderstorm en route, it once more could not resist the urge and took to the skies.

After circling for several rounds, it was again struck by lightning and plummeted.

As it fell, the Netherworld Demon Dragon sensed a peculiar aura in the sea below, prompting it to slightly adjust its fall.

Unexpectedly, though it saw it was still some distance from the ocean, it suddenly collided inexplicably with a “steel plate”...

(After finishing this, I felt the sentimentality came a bit early, but upon reflection, it didn’t matter much.)