The Mission Hall was ablaze with activity when Long Chen arrived. Disciples crowded around jade tablets that glowed with posted tasks—herb collection, beast hunts, patrols, and border security.
Whispers rippled as he entered.
"Long Chen…"
"He's already an inner disciple, why take outer missions?"
"Maybe he wants to flaunt strength again…"
He ignored them. His gaze swept the tablets until his eyes found one that pulsed faintly with system light.
Mission: Subjugate bandits near Salt-Line Gorge.
Reward: +300 contribution, spiritual jade.
Risk: Moderate.
The System's interface flickered.
[ System Advisory ]
Quest Detected – Forked Road (Part II)
Target: Border Shrine Mission
Ambush Probability: High
Outcome may alter faction reputation.
Long Chen plucked the jade slip. The steward, startled, handed him the mission badge without comment. Behind him, three other disciples took identical slips with suspicious speed. They bowed stiffly, eyes lowered, but the killing intent hidden in their pupils did not escape him.
Long Chen said nothing. His golden eyes glinted faintly as he tucked the badge away.
Journey to the Border
Salt-Line Gorge lay at the edge of Azure Cloud territory, where barren cliffs fell into mist-choked ravines. At the gorge's center stood a weathered shrine, its stone walls etched with half-faded runes said to suppress ancient fiends.
By dusk, Long Chen arrived. Wind howled through jagged stone. The shrine loomed silent, its offering bowls long empty.
But he was not alone.
From the mist, six figures emerged, cloaked in black. Their auras were sharp, seasoned—not bandits, but cultivators.
Behind him, the three "disciples" who had followed him drew weapons, their outer-sect tokens glinting faintly.
One smirked. "Senior Brother Long Chen, forgive us. The sect ordered us to… test you."
Long Chen's expression did not change. "Ordered? Or bribed?"
The black-cloaked leader laughed harshly. "Does it matter? Today, dragon or not, your blood stains this shrine."
The Ambush
They struck at once. Poison-tipped daggers flew through the mist, qi blades arced from sabers, and chains of spiritual iron coiled toward Long Chen's limbs.
The shrine lit with killing intent.
Long Chen stood still for one breath. Then the dragon inside him roared.
"Devour."
Golden flames erupted from his body, sweeping the air. The poison daggers dissolved mid-flight, absorbed into the flames. The chains melted like wax, their energy sucked dry.
He moved.
One black-cloak screamed as Long Chen's palm crushed his chest, qi and life force devoured in an instant. The body crumpled, dry as parchment.
The other assassins recoiled, faces blanching.
"What kind of monster—"
Dragon Might at the Shrine
Long Chen's eyes burned golden, the phantom dragon coiling around him. Its roar split the mist, echoing off the cliffs. Dragon Might pressed down upon every foe like a mountain.
The three disciples froze, knees buckling under instinctive terror.
The leader roared desperately. "Form the array!"
They slammed their palms to the ground, etching runes in blood. The shrine flared—an array of suppression awakening, beams of light slamming into Long Chen, trying to bind him.
For an instant, his steps slowed.
But then his scales shimmered brighter. The dragon phantom coiled tighter. His voice was cold as steel.
"You think chains can bind a dragon?"
With a surge, he tore the array apart. The backlash hurled the assassins to the ground, blood spraying from their mouths.
The Slaughter
Long Chen descended like a storm.
One palm crushed a skull.
One strike ripped through a chest.
Each corpse shriveled instantly, qi and bloodline devoured into his veins.
The last disciple stumbled back, eyes wide with terror. "N-no! We were ordered—it wasn't our choice—!"
Long Chen's gaze was merciless. "Then die as pawns."
His palm struck. The body hit the shrine floor with a final crack.
The mist fell silent, heavy with blood.
[ System Update ]
Quest Complete – Border Shrine
• Contribution +300
• Combat Data (Devour) +5%
• Bloodline Purity: +2%
• Reputation (Azure Cloud Sect – Hidden): Shifted
Warning: Faction suspicion has increased. Elder Zhao's malice intensifies.
Aftermath
Long Chen stood amid corpses, the shrine flickering faintly with suppressed qi. He looked up at the carved runes—ancient, cracked, yet still glowing.
A faint whisper brushed his mind, colder than the gorge wind.
"Devourer… your hunger disturbs even seals…"
For a heartbeat, the dragon within him stirred violently, as if answering. Then the shrine fell silent once more.
Long Chen turned, golden eyes burning. "Even the heavens will tremble before hunger. What is a seal to me?"
He vanished into the mist.
Back at the Sect
News of the "bandit mission" spread quickly. Whispers carried tales of Long Chen returning alone, his robe unstained, his expression calm. None dared ask what happened at the shrine.
But Elder Zhao's fury boiled. Behind closed doors, his roar shook pavilions. "He killed them all… all! This child spits upon me. If the Sect Master protects him, then I will make the entire sect his enemy!"
In a shadowed corner, Li Qingyue overheard fragments, her violet eyes narrowing. "So the knives have already begun to turn. Interesting… let us see how the dragon weathers storms not of his choosing."
Far beyond, crimson eyes glowed in laughter. Mo Lingxi's voice purred through the void.
"Yes, little dragon. Kill. Devour. The more blood you drink, the tighter the void binds you."