novelraw Chapter 1148: Dragon Calamity
Chapter 1148: Dragon Calamity
Just thinking about that maid handbook as thick as a Chinese-English dictionary made Nero wonder if she should get heart bypass surgery. Like a defeated stray dog, she hung her head in despair.
“As for the pen and paper, they’ll be prepared for you later, Miss Nero,” said Miss Maid.
Nero’s eye twitched slightly… so even magical copying tools were out of the question—was this Grand Overseer a demon?
Ignoring Nero’s current gloomy mood, Miss Maid turned around and gently tossed the glowing orb she held.
The pond beneath the waterfall responded immediately to the colored light ball, with the water parting to all sides, revealing the floor of the pool.
Knowing resistance was futile, Nero adopted the mindset of a pig not afraid of boiling water and perked up. “What exactly is this?”
“Do you know Tai Yinzi?” Miss Maid asked calmly.
Nero nodded. That old dog with a negative integrity score—she had met him and the other two Black Soul Envoys since becoming one herself several days ago.
“This was a project Tai Yinzi worked on,” Miss Maid said casually. “It performed decently. But when it was made, we didn’t expect it to need expansion so soon. The master decided to take this opportunity to improve it—enhancing its internal structure and capacity with spiritual energy.”
“Oh… sounds impressive,” Nero nodded—without understanding a word.“The expansion plan was already in place.” Miss Maid looked toward the twelve ancestral veins moving across the landscape map above the pond. “The master said, since the opportunity arose, why waste it?”
Nero paused. “Won’t this dilute the original spiritual energy concentration?”
Miss Maid turned back with a faint smile. “Has anyone requested this spiritual energy from the master? Since it wasn’t a client’s order, we naturally have the right to use it ourselves.”
“No wonder…” Nero was taken aback.
The club was still operating in this deserted ruin… and Boss had been wandering after leaving the Penglai Treasure Vault—definitely on purpose, right?
Still, one thing puzzled Nero. If the Boss was truly all-powerful, why go through all this trouble?
Could it be… that Boss had his own burdens he couldn’t speak of?
Nero didn’t ask further. Her danger instincts kicked in. If she kept pressing, it might not just be about copying the maid handbook 270,000 times.
“Speaking of which, Grand Overseer, I seem to have run into someone who might be a real rival to you~” Nero’s eyes narrowed. “Someone who’s really good at pleasing Boss~ How about reducing it by 269,999 copies?”
Miss Maid replied calmly, “Luo Pianxian isn’t as sneaky as you. If you’re free, you can start now.”
As she spoke, a small school desk and chair appeared before Nero, along with a stack of A4 paper, ink, and…
A feather quill!?
There’s even that!?
And so, the newest employee of the club twitched at the eye once again...
…
…
A golden hourglass floated beside Luo Qiu, its sand trickling down like shimmering gold dust… This was the very first thing he encountered upon becoming Boss.
The only thing that could strip him of his immortality and erase him completely—the Boss’s Life Hourglass.
At this moment, it held much less sand than when Luo Qiu first became the club’s Boss. From now on, the remaining time amounted to only about one week. The hourglass only appeared when his lifespan had reached a critical threshold—signaling that it was time to make a deal.
Since Luo Qiu took over, following a “boutique” business model, he had never encountered such a situation—especially with continuous returns from the Lord God Plan.
There was also a major deal with Su Zijun, and in South America, he had even acquired a portion of the Dimensional Observer’s power. Despite many souls outside still pending retrieval, Luo Qiu’s overall lifespan had continued to increase.
But all that rich life gain was nearly wiped out the moment he left the Penglai Treasure Vault.
He had pushed back the Altar—the true source of the club’s power. Though the Altar eventually relented, it didn’t do so without leaving a mark… That deducted lifespan was probably its way of issuing a warning.
But to Luo Qiu, it felt more like a tantrum. If it were truly angry, why not just revoke his Boss status directly? After all, as Cicero once said: the roots are iron, but the legitimate successors flow like water.
—Go do some business! If you don’t, you’ll die!! You hear me!? Hmph!
“Probably something like that?” Luo Qiu chuckled.
This kind of punishment had no real effect on him.
After exiting the Penglai Vault, he had recovered a large payment from Su Zijun. He hadn’t even collected those evil souls yet, much less sacrificed them. Once he did, the deducted lifespan would probably be restored.
It wouldn’t be as full as before his vacation, but not far off either.
These thoughts flashed through Luo Qiu’s mind in a moment as he watched the sands fall silently.
“Even in the face of mortal danger, there’s no fear or concern…” he murmured. “How much longer can I last like this?”
Since his vacation in South America, his emotional recovery had been slowly showing signs. But the moment the vacation ended, everything vanished—as if those feelings had never returned.
Now, he was even more composed than before.
Relying on vacations to recover emotions—but once they end, there's a backlash worse than before. To suppress it, more vacations are needed. But vacations cost too much… and to afford them, more deals must be made, which speeds up depletion… In the end, it’s just drinking poison to quench thirst. A vicious cycle.
Luo Qiu lowered his head in deep thought. “So, the best solution now is to stick to boutique deals. Recycle and trade offerings on a longer cycle to maintain relative balance—buying more time. Also, I must preserve what little interest I have left… If even that becomes meaningless—then that’s when I’ll truly become the real ‘Boss’.”
A series of images hovered around Luo Qiu.
The tense moments at Croaching Dragon Estate… The people scattered by the spiritual energy storm around Mount Tai’s summit.
Mo Xiaofei and Windchaser rushing toward Mount Tai… The woman in the yellow robe and palace attire moving through the mist, pursued by Qin Chuyu.
All those still struggling to escape the fog.
Even You Ye and Nero, preparing to expand the Lord God’s world at the third point… and deep beneath the summit of Mount Tai.
“This too… is just another form of drinking poison to quench thirst.”
The hourglass slowly faded away from beside Luo Qiu. At the same time, Boss Luo extended a hand, moving his fingers until they hovered over one specific image among the many.
…
…
Light—golden light.
If one could reach the depths beneath the broken summit of Mount Tai, they would see that brilliant golden glow.
The source of the brilliance was a crystal radiating golden light… and these crystals were clearly the condensed essence of the True Dragon's power of the Divine Land's True Dragon.
This massive fissure was completely filled with the crystallized True Dragon power—it was these crystals that had temporarily sealed the gap opened by the Earth Spirit Sword.
At this very heart of the spiritual energy eruption, three figures stood in a triangle, none making the first move—Long Xiruo, Su Zijun, and Gongsun Shiyu, or rather, the Dragon Fiend.
“As expected of the True Dragon—managing to forcibly plug this gap,” Gongsun Shiyu sneered. “But how long can you last?”
“You're welcome to try and see how long I can last using your arrogance,” Long Xiruo shot back coldly. “And you, brat—you really dared to act against me?”
Su Zijun said nothing, gripping her golden flame sword tightly, her pupils shifting between gold and crimson.
“Never thought the one who helped me in the end… would be a princess of the Xuanyuan royal family,” Gongsun Shiyu laughed. “Looks like your so-called unbreakable bond wasn’t so unbreakable after all!”
“Hmph! Gongsun Shiyu at least looks like a person—you don’t even look like a decent dog! And you think you can talk in front of me? Get lost!”
But Su Zijun, still silent, suddenly swung her sword in response to Gongsun Shiyu’s loud laughter—her light sword struck him hard, slamming him into the rock wall.
However, while the impact landed, it didn’t pierce him—her power was completely blocked by Gongsun Shiyu’s crossed arms.
Gongsun Shiyu—Dragon Fiend—twisted his neck and sneered, “So what if you’re a Xuanyuan royal princess… with your dry jiangshi body, how much power can you actually unleash from the Xuanyuan Godslayer Sword?”
“Enough to slaughter you,” Su Zijun said coldly.
“Hahahaha!!!” Dragon Fiend burst into laughter. “Xuanyuan Zijun, don’t think I don’t know your plan! Maybe I didn’t at first, but when you stepped in to block the True Dragon at the last moment, I knew exactly what you were after… You want to use this spiritual energy eruption to have Heavenly Dao place the blame on the Daoist and Demon factions, so your Godslayer Sword can awaken! You’re nothing but a puppet of humanity—how pitiful!”
“Whether I’m pitiful or not, I’ll say after I kill you.” Su Zijun snorted.
“No, no, no… You can’t kill me.” Dragon Fiend shook his head. “No one in this world can kill me—not you, not even the True Dragon of Divine Land.”
“Pfft. You must’ve hit your head. Just another damn evil dragon.” Su Zijun raised her golden flame sword.
A terrifying pressure descended in an instant—as a half-form of the Xuanyuan Godslayer Sword, the force Su Zijun released was the supreme might of the real thing.
However, the body Dragon Fiend had taken over—Gongsun Shiyu’s—carried a portion of the Yellow Emperor’s bloodline, naturally giving it high resistance against the Godslayer Sword’s power.
“No, you really can’t kill me. Just like you can’t kill the True Dragon,” Dragon Fiend said with a savage grin. “Unless you can erase the entire Divine Land… as long as I stand on this land, I am immortal!”
Su Zijun frowned and instinctively glanced at Long Xiruo—who, still suppressing the spiritual energy rift, remained silent.
“So the True Dragon never told anyone, huh…” Dragon Fiend sneered. “Everyone thinks I’m just an evil dragon reborn? But this lie was yours… Am I right, Dragon King?”
“What he's saying… is it true?” Su Zijun asked seriously.
Long Xiruo sighed, “He’s not just some evil dragon… He’s a mass of resentment, the grudge of the Divine Land itself. This resentment was born with the land, a result of the Daoists and Demons destroying the land over countless years. Where there’s light, there’s shadow. Where there’s me… there’s also him. He really can’t be killed. Even if you disperse him, he’ll be born again from the earth years later… Over the years, I’ve already encountered four incarnations of the Dragon Fiend.”
“Dragon King, you’re still not telling the whole truth?” Dragon Fiend grinned. “Trying to protect this Xuanyuan princess so much?”
“Don’t go too far,” Long Xiruo said coldly.
“Too far?” Dragon Fiend laughed wildly. “From the beginning, hasn’t the True Dragon of Divine Land always gone too far with us?”
“Us?” Su Zijun narrowed her eyes—she caught something crucial.
Dragon Fiend sneered, “Yes, I am resentment condensed from the land. But without a vessel, do you think I could have broken through the ley line seals and gained sentience? The Divine Land itself has purifying powers…”
“Enough!” Long Xiruo snapped, gritting her teeth.
But Dragon Fiend ignored her. “We… we are the countless souls who died on the path to becoming the True Dragon over the ages! True Dragon power never disappears. As long as one stands on this land, the True Dragon is invincible… But the vessels of this power always die! Every time a new True Dragon is chosen, many qualified candidates are picked… and we are the abandoned souls, the ones trampled into a sea of blood by the high and mighty Dragon Kings!!”
At that moment, Dragon Fiend suddenly spread both arms. Two jet-black wings burst from his back—his hands transformed into shadow dragons.
Looking closely, within the black wings and shadow dragons were countless twisted, hateful faces—full of anger and resentment.
Voices cried out in a chaotic chorus:
“We all once carried hopes for the world!”
“We all once fought for justice!”
“We all once dreamed of becoming guardians of Divine Land!”
“Why… why were we abandoned in the end?!”
“Spiritual energy revival? To hell with it!! What do Daoists and Demons flourishing have to do with us?! Our goal… is to corrupt the twelve ancestral veins of the Divine Land!!”
With Dragon Fiend’s furious roar, not just his hands and wings, but even his mouth began to pour forth endless darkness… The shadows immediately overwhelmed the glowing True Dragon crystals.
(End of Chapter)