C938 Chronowyrm
"Strange..." Tian Zang mumbled, his gaze fixed on the resplendent, multicolored carcass of the giant dragon, lost in thought.
He had relied on the Tears of the Azurefiend and the guidance of the God-King within the bronze coffin to discover the method of accessing the Dragon Slaying Stage.
Previously, even as a Sky Fiend, he was aware of the three buried Dragon Slaying Stages, yet entry eluded him.
Now, having finally found a way in, the vibrant Chronowyrm lay motionless.
However, as soon as Yu Yuan's Lunar Spirit entered, the segmented remains of the Chronowyrm stirred to life.
Firstly, how was Yu Yuan's Lunar Spirit able to step onto the stage?
And then, how could such a diminutive Lunar Spirit elicit a response from the residual temporal power within the Chronowyrm's body?
Tian Zang was baffled.
As he was about to probe further, the Chronowyrm's remains once again unleashed a surge of distorted psionic power.
Spectacular vistas unfolded around the Chronowyrm, mirage-like in their grandeur.
An age where the Nagas reigned supreme over the Everlands and commanded the heavens and earth was thus revealed.
This deceased Dragon God, even after tens of thousands of years, continued to reflect on the Nagas' illustrious past.
Yet, it could not come to terms with the current era, where no new Dragon Gods emerged and the Nagas were held in check by humans and evilkind.
High above, Yu Yuan, having merged with the Lunar Spirit, showed a flicker of emotion.
Images materialized around the seven-colored giant dragon's remains, only to fade away quietly.
He observed intently.
He saw that in a bygone epoch, the towering mountains of the Moonfall Sanctuary, bathed in sunlight, glowed like mountains of gold.
A colossal golden dragon would sometimes bask lazily in the sun within the mountain ranges, or float atop the highest peak, surveying the mortal realm with eyes as radiant as the golden sun.
In the world of humans, there were several ancient kingdoms.
Each kingdom's palace was enshrouded in dragon's essence, and the emperors, with their so-called royal lineage, all possessed Naga blood!
In the human realm, there were no cultivators, only Dragon Attendants.
The royal families of each empire, much like Loong Tianxiao, were human-dragon hybrids with a trace of Naga lineage, ruling empires on behalf of the giant dragons and enslaving countless mortals.
Dragon Attendants without the bloodline of the Nagas were graced with dragon blood by the giant dragons, which enhanced their bodies with dragon's breath, setting them apart from ordinary people.
The mightiest of these Dragon Attendants possessed physical strength on par with the realms of Veil Breaking and Subtlety. Their power's augmentation relied solely on the gift of dragon blood.
No one mastered the art of soul cultivation, nor could anyone create a little world within the Golden Sanctum to harness spiritual energy.
Yet, in that age, the spiritual energy in the Everlands was even more concentrated than it is today.
The golden dragon and its kin elevated a hybrid to the status of Human Emperor, establishing the Dragon Attendants as the martial backbone of the human empire.
Humanity revered dragons as supreme beings from birth, worshipping the Dragon God.
In the present-day Land of Quiescence, a dark dragon resides within the Devil Palace, along with its kin.
Shadow's Keep is occasionally overshadowed by an immense phoenix, which alternates between purple and black hues, emanating a formidable demon energy.
Nonetheless, the dark dragon and its diverse brethren are the true sovereigns of the Land of Quiescence.
Giant dragons roam the land in their primal forms, soaring through the skies or traversing various terrains.
Whenever archdemons encounter a giant dragon, they pay homage, yielding passage as a sign of deference.
This clearly illustrates the giant dragons' supremacy over many evilkind.
In another realm, the Euwrea, a fire dragon lurks within the domain of the Sunlit Order, prowling through vast subterranean rivers of molten rock.
The territory of Winter's Bite is home to a frost wyrm, whose every shimmering silver scale could instantly transform the environment into a frigid winter.
Despite being Nagas, the fire dragon and the frost wyrm are often at odds, engaging in frequent skirmishes.
The other Nagas allied with these two dragons are equally embroiled in relentless conflict.
There is also a resplendent, rainbow-hued giant dragon, whose body eternally pulses with time magic. This dragon spends most of its time away from the Everlands, seemingly wandering the extraterrestrial starry expanse.
These five dragons, each with a tenth-level bloodline, are the revered Dragon Gods from the zenith of the Naga era.
The Golden Dragon reigned over the human realms of Aetherius, nestled among the peaks of the Moonfall Sanctuary. Each emperor was a scion of his mixed lineage.
The Dragon Attendants serving each empire were either his acolytes or those anointed with dragon's blood by the giant dragons of the other two continents.
In the Mortal Empire, the populace worshipped the five great Dragon Gods, and the standing of the Nagas was unassailable, as enduring as stone.
The Dark Dragon kept the evilkind of the Land of Quiescence at bay with its fearsome presence.
On the Euwrea Continent, the Fire Dragon and the Frost Wyrm waged relentless battles against each other in the absence of external threats.
However, when evilkind or any extraterrestrial force dared to encroach, the five Dragon Gods and their progeny would swiftly unite.
The Chronowyrm wandered beyond the Star River throughout the year, its mastery of time magic allowing it to scout for news of the Otherkin.
Seizing any chance, the dragons of the Everlands would surge en masse into the extraterrestrial realms, pillaging and ravaging the domains of the Otherkin.
Conversely, upon learning of an Otherkin alliance intent on invading the Everlands, the Nagas would rally, joining forces with the archdemons to adopt a defensive stance and repel the invaders.
Such were the halcyon days of the Nagas.
The resplendent, multi-hued carcass of the Chronowyrm continued to reveal scenes that spoke of the Naga's past splendor, their formidable power, and their esteemed status.
This was the Nagas' undying anthem!
None of the Nagas' malevolent, shadowy, or bloodthirsty aspects were ever depicted in these images.
"This place..."
After some time, the Lunar Spirit found itself at the Dragon Slaying Stage, unaware of its significance. Yu Yuan, still outside, had been informed of everything by Tian Zang, yet inside, he remained ignorant.
That is until...
Whoosh!
The wraith, a fragment of Tian Zang's soul, finally returned.
As Tian Zang stepped onto the Dragon Slaying Stage, his true self instantly became privy to the events transpiring outside. He wasted no time in briefing Yu Yuan on the significance of their location, revealing the secrets of the Dragon Slaying Stage and disclosing that Yu Yiyi had once been its sentinel.
Yu Yuan's Lunar Spirit was left stunned and without words for quite some time.
"Kid, the scenes you witnessed, remnants of the Chronowyrm's time magic, did indeed occur in the past," Tian Zang said with a curl of his lip and a disdainful look. "But there are many more realities that you can't see, and those are the true ones."
What is seen is indeed true, but what is unseen is the reality...
"The Nagas slaughtered your people like cattle. They are inherently cruel, lascivious, and bloodthirsty. Those so-called Human Emperors are nothing but the offspring of Nagas who violated human women. Any humans who dared defy them were left unrecognizably mangled by their claws."
"Later, they grew tired of the hassle and sought to craft a positive image for themselves, hence the creation of the Human Emperor. Are not all claims of dragon lineage and those called Dragon Attendants merely their tools? Completely under their control, they aid the Nagas in ruling over the mortals."
"Moreover, even at the height of their power, the Nagas were not the supreme rulers of the Star River."
"In that era, they would band together and raid the Extraterrestrial Star River. Yet, powerful Otherkin from the Star River, like the Sky Fiend, would flood into the Everlands for a bloody reprisal. The Nagas' dragons could dominate the Everlands, but outside, they were no match for the humans of your current age."
Tian Zang's voice carried a clear undertone of loathing when he spoke of the Nagas' dragons.
"The forging of the Dragon Slaying Stage, the rise of humanity, and the overthrow of the Nagas— we played a part in all of it," Tian Zang said with a smirk. "The death of the dark dragon gave rise to the Devil Palace. The slaying of the fire dragon birthed the Sunlit Order and the Ruby Hand. The demise of the frost wyrm led to the founding of Winter's Bite."
"The Chronowyrm you saw has contributed to the rise of the Boulderdawn's God-King. The Domain Channel that links to the outside world was carved open by the Chronowyrm itself. Yet ultimately, that Domain Channel was subdued by Jihui."
"Jihui, the God-King, ascended to the level of a cultivator with a primordial spirit by delving into the mysteries of the Chronowyrm."
"Young man, your Heaven Soul is cultivating the Soul Forging through Enlightenment technique of the God-King Jihui, which enhances the root of wisdom. This was an early technique of soul cultivation developed by God-King Jihui. The deeper mysteries of space and time that he later grasped were acquired by Yan Qiling, shaping the formidable figure we see today."
