Chapter 164: From Now On, I Am the King of This Country. Who Agrees, Who Disagrees? (4K)

Chapter 164: From Now On, I Am the King of This Country. Who Agrees, Who Disagrees? (4K)



Reinia touched the earphones of the simultaneous interpretation device on her ear. Two days ago, when Xue Jing left her, he didn't take back this device.

With determination in her eyes, she asked, "So what should we do now?"

Xue Jing released Reina's hand and said, "Reinia, you mentioned before that you can get close to the 'Dragon God', didn't you?"

The young girl nodded, "Yes, that's right."

"My ancestor is said to have had a little-known connection with the Dragon God. She entered into an equal 'Daruka contract' with the Dragon God and became the first Dragon God priestess."

"According to legend, the first priestess rode the Dragon God to create the heavens and the earth, thus forming 'Nagaduolu'... the very land upon which we stand."

Reinia placed her hands on her chest, her fingers crossed in a prayer-like gesture.

"Although the historical records of the first priestess' connection with the Dragon God have been lost, the contract between the priestess and the Dragon God has been passed down."

"According to the contract, each generation of Dragon God priestesses has the opportunity to summon the Dragon God through a sacrificial ritual."

"If the Dragon God is pleased with the current generation's priestess, it will become her 'Daruka'... However, aside from the first priestess, none of her descendants have ever succeeded in doing so..."

Reinia's eyes darkened slightly.

"Priestesses who do not meet the Dragon God's requirements will, according to the contract, be taken back to the 'Roaring Great Waterfall' by the Dragon God and spend the rest of their lives serving it..."

"...and its temper is foul. It often devours the priestesses who serve it. My mother, my grandmother... they both met their end in its belly. Currently, only the previous priestess, my older sister, Dodoria, is still alive... or at least she should be."

Xue Jing pondered for a moment before asking, "Is that so... When can you perform this sacrificial ritual to summon the Dragon God?"

Reinia hesitated, "Is it urgent?"

Xue Jing nodded, "Yes, it's urgent. Ideally, today or tomorrow."

Reinia fiddled with the corner of her black robe, whispering, "Today is impossible. Performing the sacrificial ritual requires the consent of the Elders' Council, and then arranging for people to set up the altar... The altar is complex, and I can't build it alone."

"What about tomorrow?" Xue Jing asked.

"Tomorrow is also uncertain," Reina shook her head. "The efficiency of the Elders' Council is... a bit lacking, and I don't know if they will approve my request."

Hearing this, Xue Jing nodded and turned his gaze to the person in the mirror on his wrist.

"Mirror, what do you think?"

The handsome boy in the mirror pouted, "Don't call me Mirror. I'm old enough to be your ancestor."

After a pause, he added meaningfully, "Just do as you planned."

Xue Jing smiled slightly and turned to Reina, placing his hand on her shoulder. With a smile in his eyes, he asked, "Reinia, I've been here for several days now, but I haven't had the chance to tour your country yet. As an outsider, I'm quite curious about your unique culture."

"Take me for a walk and introduce me to your Elders' Council, will you?"

"Ah?" Reina was taken aback.

For some reason, although Xue Jing's smile was warm and sunny, it sent a chill down her spine.

...

The Country of Here.

On the land known as 'Nagaduolu', there were only two countries, with a total population of no more than ten thousand and only one city.

Nagaduolu was the land of dragons, and the absolute ruler of this place was a being known as the 'Dragon'.

However, due to the existence of a Dragon God priestess who had once made a contract with the Dragon God, this country had never been attacked by dragons. As a result, the people lived in peace and harmony.

But today, the peace that had lasted for several years was once again shattered.

"The Country of There, the evil bandits from the Country of There are attacking!"

On the watchtower of the city wall, a middle-aged soldier clad in leather armor shouted in panic.

He immediately picked up a horn made from the horn of a strange beast that was hanging nearby.

"Woooo—"

The deep, sonorous sound of the horn reverberated throughout the city, the long, uninterrupted notes signaling the highest level of alert and causing everyone in the city to pause in their tracks.

Soon after, some people looked up and saw more than a dozen shadows flying towards their country, their backs to the sun.

"Are those... dragons!?"

"There are people on the dragons' backs!"

"Is it the priestess? No, this generation's priestess is useless... She hasn't successfully tamed a single dragon!"

"It's the despicable ones from the Country of There! They dare to offend the Dragon God by capturing and taming dragons!"

"What do we do now?

"Notify the Elders' Council and the High Priestess immediately. Also, send someone to recall the 'patrol squad.' We only have the guard squad in the city, and they can't hold off those despicable intruders from the Other Country!"

...

"Hmm? So that's the Other Country?"

Xue Jing and Reinia rode on a giant lion born from shadow flames and arrived at a high slope, looking down at the land below.

Below the slope lay a city encircled by stone walls, not very large in size, resembling the typical medieval towns often seen in fantasy animes.

A river bisected the city, with well-planned architecture on both sides, creating a picturesque and harmonious view.

However, at this moment, the area near the city gate was bustling with activity.

On the walls, at the gate, and even in the sky above, people and various 'Daruka' were engaged in fierce combat.

Flames, water streams, poison clouds, lightning... all sorts of attacks were being unleashed from the Daruka, creating a chaotic and confusing scene that left Xue Jing momentarily stunned.

"What's going on? Did I come at a bad time? Are you guys having a military drill?"

Reinia covered her mouth, feeling nauseous. "Wait... don't talk to me for a moment."

She wasn't used to the speed and jostling of riding the shadow flame lion, and the whole experience made her feel unwell, dizzy, and on the verge of vomiting.

After a while, she patted her face, forcibly suppressed her nausea, took a few deep breaths, and managed to regain some composure. She then looked towards the city gate.

"Huh? What's happening there?"

Reinia was perplexed.

Xue Jing shrugged. "You're asking me?"

"When I left this morning, everything seemed fine..."

Reinia blinked, then quickly realized what was going on and furrowed her brows.

"It's the people from the Other Country!"

"The Other Country has invaded again."

Xue Jing casually replied, "Oh? So there's some enmity between your two countries?"

Reinia nodded. "Yes."

"This country and the Other Country used to be one, founded by the Dragon God priestess, and it was called 'Doloma'."

Xue Jing's eyes narrowed slightly.

['Doloma'] in the indigenous language of the borderlands meant 'country'. The country founded by the Dragon God priestess was named ['Country']...

That made sense... If there was only one country in the world, there would be no need for more names to distinguish it, so calling it ['Country'] was reasonable.

"The Other Country is a group of people from the original 'Doloma' who didn't accept the 'Dragon God creation theory'."

As Reinia was about to elaborate, Xue Jing waved his hand to stop her.

"You don't need to tell me these old stories. I'm just asking casually. You can tell me more about it later if we have the chance."

Things were quite urgent at the moment, and he didn't want to waste time listening to irrelevant tales about the history between the two countries.

Once he killed the pure-blooded dragon species and if White Crow became interested in the indigenous culture of this borderland, they could send their own exploration teams to investigate.

For now, it was more important to focus on the task at hand.

Xue Jing stood up on the head of the shadow flame lion, crossed his arms, and narrowed his eyes as he looked towards the dozen or so dragon species flying above the city gate of This Country.

"I didn't expect there to be these stragglers... But then again, the captain of the dragon-catching team who gave me the map mentioned that they made a living by capturing dragon species and selling them to the upper echelons of the Other Country."

"Almost missed out on plucking these remaining sheep."

Reinia was taken aback, about to say something, when Xue Jing suddenly took a step forward and sprinted down the slope towards the city gate at an incredible speed.

...

"We can't hold them off! The Other Country brought too many dragons!"

"All my Daruka are dead... What do we do now?"

"Damn it! If it weren't for our generation's useless priestess... How did we end up in this situation!"

"We shouldn't have let Priestess Dodoria perform the sacrificial ritual. If she were still here, those despicable people from the Other Country wouldn't have dared to invade!"

Facing the onslaught from the Other Country, the people of This Country were retreating and becoming desperate.

Just then.

"Boom—!!"

A figure suddenly descended from the sky and landed in the center of the battlefield, causing a loud explosion.

The powerful impact sent a circular wave of dust and debris in all directions, obscuring the vision of those nearby and creating a cloud of dirt that hid what was happening at the center.

"What happened?"

"Something fell from the sky! Was it a dragon that was shot down?"

From within the cloud of dust, Xue Jing, clad in a black tactical suit, slowly stood up and looked towards the dozen or so flying dragons in the sky.

"So, first things first..."

"...let's take care of these stragglers."

Xue Jing took a deep breath, and with the sound of a dragon's roar, the True Dragon manifested within him.

As soon as it appeared, it shattered into powder-like force, reshaping at will before returning to its true dragon form.

Suddenly, it split into two, with one part rushing into his bloodstream, igniting countless stars, and the other part surging into his muscles, stirring up a tempest of wind, cloud, and thunder.

Xue Jing's figure vanished from where he stood, only to reappear in the air, right in front of the nearest flying dragon.

Before the dragon and its rider from the Other Country could react, Xue Jing threw a punch, striking the dragon squarely on the head.

At the same time, he suddenly had an idea. Using the [Hidden Dragon, Compliant Energy]'s ability to manipulate his energy as he pleased, he added a hint of soft energy to the punch he had already thrown.

"Puff—"

With a dull sound, the dragon fell silent and was knocked backward, its rider tumbling off its back.

As the dragon fell, its entire body began to swell and bulge like boiling hot water, forming countless lumps. It collided with another dragon, and its body exploded into a shower of blood and bone fragments.

The dragon it crashed into also went flying and, like the first, swelled up and exploded upon impacting another dragon.

This chain reaction continued, with dragons exploding one after the other, until ten dragons lay dead.

"Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom—"

The continuous explosions filled the air with blood and debris, leaving everyone on the battlefield stunned and immobilized.

They all stood there, their eyes vacant, unmoving.

It wasn't fear or shock that paralyzed them, but a complete inability to comprehend what they had just witnessed.

What was happening before their eyes exceeded the limits of their imagination.

How could someone jump so high?

How could a single punch knock a dragon out of the sky? Why did the dragon explode?

Why did the other dragons explode when they collided with the first?

They were utterly baffled, unable to make sense of what they had seen.

Xue Jing gently landed on the ground and, satisfied with the result of his punch, nodded slightly.

"This move shall be called—'Thunderclap Fiery Cauldron: Passing the Torch'."

He looked at the few remaining dragons and snapped his fingers.

Black energy swirled around him, transforming into black flames that formed an armored giant with only its upper body.

The giant held a massive black bow, drawing it and notching several black arrows.

"Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish—"

The arrows flew with precision, piercing the necks of the remaining dragons in the sky and bringing them down.

The giant then turned and swept its giant fist at the stunned soldiers and Daruka from the Other Country.

"Boom—!!!"

The giant fist sent a wave of dust and debris flying, knocking everything in its path back dozens of meters.

"Boom, boom, boom, boom—"

The booming sounds echoed as the people of This Country stood at the gate, their eyes fixed on the terrifying scene of the giant god crushing their enemies.

The soldiers from the Other Country cried out in despair and fled, cursing their lack of wings to carry them away from the horrifying black giant.

Soon, everything settled.

The shadow flame giant turned into black flames and dissipated, leaving Xue Jing standing in their midst.

His figure, shrouded in black flames, seemed like a lord of death emerging from the depths of hell.

Seeing this, everyone from This Country immediately snapped out of their daze and knelt without hesitation, bowing their heads to the ground.

All the Daruka followed suit, and every living being before Xue Jing knelt in submission.

In the solemn atmosphere, the massive gate creaked open.

A group of about a dozen men, clearly more finely dressed than the others, emerged from the city.

They were all male, and the youngest-looking among them appeared to be in his forties, while most were elderly men with white hair.

Trembling, they made their way to Xue Jing.

The eldest among them spoke cautiously, "I am the chief elder of the Elders' Council of this country. May I ask who you are...?"

Xue Jing glanced at him but said nothing.

At that moment, the shadow flame lion carrying Reinia on its back leaped down from the slope, lowering its body so she could slide off.

Reinia stumbled a few steps, steadying herself by placing her hand on her chest. She took a moment to suppress her nausea before slowly walking to Xue Jing's side, half a step behind him.

Amid everyone's astonished gazes, Xue Jing slowly spoke:

"Reinia, from now on, you will translate for me."

His tone was flat and uninflected.

"Tell them—from this moment on, I am the king of this country.

"Who agrees, and who disagrees?"

...

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end