Just then, a faint spatial ripple quietly arose, and Aunt Zhou, dressed in dark black robes with an unfathomable aura, slowly stepped out from the void.
“Little Zhiwei, there is no need to worry.”
Aunt Zhou's voice was old and heavy, and a sharp glint suddenly burst from her cloudy, aged eyes.
“This old woman is constantly protecting her from the shadows.”
“If a true moment of crisis arises, even if this old woman must die, I will absolutely never let a once-in-a-millennium genius like Ye Ling perish early.”
“As long as she grows up safely, our Qinglan Sword Sect will surely rise to greater heights in the future.”
“When that time comes, breaking out of the Qingyun Kingdom will no longer be a mere fantasy.”
Since Su Qingyue emerged three hundred years ago, the Qinglan Sword Sect had firmly held its position at the head of the four major sects of the Qingyun Kingdom. However, for so many years, they had long since ceased to want to be confined to a single kingdom.
Yet, their foundation was ultimately lacking by a fraction, and they had never been able to fulfill their wish. Ye Ling's appearance was undoubtedly the sect's greatest hope.
Leng Zhiwei did not reply. She merely stood there quietly, her gaze fixed in the direction where Ye Ling had disappeared, her thoughts complex and difficult to decipher.
Neither of them noticed that in the shadow of the distant bushes, a slender green snake was quietly coiled on a branch, its vertical pupils locked onto the direction of Ye Ling's departure as it silently followed her.
Ye Ling rode her sword and landed at the small bamboo courtyard halfway up the mountain. The surroundings of the bamboo courtyard were exactly the same as when she had entered the Bailing Secret Realm three months ago.
The stone table and bamboo chairs were spotless. It seemed Senior Sister Nalan often ordered the disciples under her to come and clean the place.
Ye Ling raised her hand to push open the gate of the bamboo courtyard, intending to step inside and quiet her mind to contemplate her two self-created sword moves, Sword Blanketing a Thousand Mountains and Sword Controlling Ten Thousand Waters.
A soft, sweet, child-like voice suddenly rang out of thin air.
“Human, is this where you live? It's so small.”
Ye Ling's nerves instantly tensed, her expression turning sharp as her heart sank.
That green-scaled demon snake had actually followed her out of the Bailing Secret Realm!
This was no small matter. She had to report this to the Sect Master at the main hall immediately.
She immediately activated her movement technique, her body turning into a green light as she tried to rush out of the bamboo courtyard.
But just as she reached the gate, she crashed into an invisible barrier. No matter how much strength she exerted, she could not take a single step forward.
The soft voice leisurely rang out again, “Human, don't waste your energy trying to run. Once I finish what I have to say, I will naturally let you go.”
Knowing she could not escape right now, Ye Ling suppressed the wariness in her heart. She carefully scanned every corner of the courtyard but still could not find any trace of the other party. She could only speak in a deep voice.
“Demon snake, what exactly do you want to say?”
“If you still want me to be your human pet, save your breath. I rejected you from the very beginning, and there is absolutely no room for negotiation.”
Just as she finished speaking, a faint light shimmered in midair, and the half-meter-long green demon snake slowly revealed its form.
The sunlight fell upon its slightly protruding green scales, casting a warm and translucent green glow. Its body was elegant and graceful, exceptionally beautiful to look at.
Hovering in midair, the green snake fixed its narrow vertical pupils unblinkingly on Ye Ling. Its soft voice rang out again.
“Human, those cultivators earlier all called you Ye Ling. Your name is Ye Ling, right?”
“Can I call you Sister Ye Ling?”
Having said that, it gently tilted its head, its green scales shimmering slightly with the movement, looking soft and adorable.
“And I have a name! I am called Cang Si, not demon snake!”
For some reason, Ye Ling's heart stirred. She was actually touched by this innocent appearance, finding it somewhat cute.
Yet, she did not show the slightest hint of softness on her face. Her expression remained tense and cold.
“Call me whatever you want. I don't care what your name is either.”
“Since you have restricted the entire courtyard and I have nowhere to run, just say what you want to say.”
“But let's make this clear beforehand: if you want me to be your human pet, it is absolutely impossible.”
But the green snake seemed completely deaf to her rejection, only speaking with self-absorbed joy.
“Sister, being my human pet is very nice. You can play with me every day. My bloodline memories say that humans are very willing to accompany true dragons.”
“Play what? Who wants to accompany you...”
“A true dragon?”
Ye Ling instantly caught the key words. Her gaze locked tightly onto the little green snake in midair, her brow furrowing slightly. “You just said you are a true dragon?”
Seeing that she had finally noticed those words, the green snake instantly became jubilant. Green light swirled around it as its slender body twisted gracefully in midair, as if trying to prove its identity through this.
“Yes, yes! Sister, I am a true dragon!”
Ye Ling quietly observed its half-meter-long snake-like body. Its entire body only had scales shimmering with green light. It had neither dragon horns nor whiskers, and no limbs or claws. It did not possess even a fraction of the majestic appearance of a legendary true dragon.
She immediately spoke bluntly, “With this appearance, how do you look like a true dragon?”
As soon as she said this, all of the green snake's movements suddenly froze in midair. The joy in its vertical pupils vanished instantly, and it spoke in realization.
“Oh, I almost forgot. I am currently just in a disguised illusory form, not my true body.”
As its voice fell, the surging green light around its body suddenly exploded. Shimmering light rippled across its dense green scales as its short snake body rapidly stretched and lengthened.
In the blink of an eye, a true dragon over a meter long appeared in the air above the bamboo courtyard.
A pair of small, exquisite, deer-like horns stood on its head, and two strands of long, elegant silver dragon whiskers hung beneath its chin. Its entire body was covered in overlapping, lustrous green-gold dragon scales. Its dragon claws were strong and powerful, and the lines of its dragon body were elegant and smooth. A faint, majestic dragon pressure emanated from its body. As it coiled in the air above the courtyard, its dragon shadow cast among the green bamboo, it looked extraordinarily magnificent.
Ye Ling raised her eyes to look at the little dragon coiling in midair, completely frozen in place, her heart filled with shock.
The majestic and beautiful dragon form met her eyes, and a faint dragon pressure slowly enveloped the entire bamboo courtyard.
What was even stranger was that the True Dragon Unfettered Art true qi deep within her dantian boiled and surged uncontrollably, joyfully echoing and resonating with the dragon pressure in the air.
This little fellow before her was actually a genuine true dragon!
She had long known that there was a dragon race on the Xuantian Continent, but she had never expected that the dragon's appearance would be exactly the same as the totem revered for generations in her homeland of her previous life.
An indescribable sense of familiarity welled up from the bottom of her heart, causing Ye Ling's heart to beat wildly out of control.
The little dragon tilted its exquisite dragon head and flew close to her. Its clear dragon eyes were full of worry as its nose gently approached Ye Ling.
“Sister, your heartbeat is so fast. Are you hurt and in pain somewhere?”
The distance between them was less than half a meter, and the warm dragon breath brushed against her face. Ye Ling's heart beat even faster. She steadied herself and suppressed the waves in her heart.
“I am not injured.”
“Since you are a true dragon, why is your revealed cultivation only at the early-stage Xiantian Realm?”
“Rumor has it that the true dragon bloodline is uniquely blessed by heaven, and they are at the Wangzuo Realm from birth.”
Hearing this, the little dragon, who had been full of anxiety just a moment ago, saw the dragon light around its body instantly dim. Its long dragon whiskers drooped weakly, and its clear dragon eyes became covered with a layer of mist. Its aggrieved voice carried a hint of sobbing.
“I... I was supposed to be a stillborn egg that could never hatch.”
“My parents exhausted countless natural treasures and consumed their own source energy just to barely preserve my life and allow me to be born successfully.”
“But my innate foundation was damaged, and with insufficient nourishment, my cultivation was only at the early-stage Xiantian Realm when I was born.”
Glistening water swirled in its dragon eyes, and seeing that dragon tears were about to fall, it looked at Ye Ling cautiously and asked timidly.
“Sister, will you look down on me for being weak and lacking in foundation?”
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