Chapter 118 Believers and Likes
Everything was the same as usual in the space.
The World Tree that stood in the clouds covered the sky, and the woman on the throne still sat with her eyes closed.
Xia Feng looked around in confusion. When he glanced upward, the branches were empty—the black crow was gone.
"This silly bird, it wouldn't really leave, would it?" Xia Feng was shocked, recalling the black crow's previous instructions.
"First, if Lady Di Si asks where I went after waking up, tell her I felt deeply sinful and went to purgatory on earth to endure tribulation."
"Second, if Lady Di Si doesn't remember me after waking up, don't mention the above. Pretend you never knew me."
It sounded like the black crow and the dragon god didn't get along. Xia Feng was puzzled. The crow had always wanted to wake the dragon god, yet the moment she awoke, it fled in fear.
It was very strange.
Xia Feng frowned, staring at the throne. Miss Evil Dragon remained still, eyes shut, as if the awakening ceremony had never occurred.
He took a deep breath and cautiously stepped forward.
But the instant he moved, the distance between him and the throne stretched infinitely. The throne—everything in his vision—rushed away, shrinking into starlight before vanishing.
His focus wavered. Suddenly, he stood in a dimly lit palace.
Xia Feng glanced around, unable to tell if this was illusion or reality.
One thing was certain: Miss Evil Dragon had used her power.
He swallowed hard and advanced, passing shadowed palace walls and jagged rune-carved pillars. The faint candlelight above flickered, extinguishing as he walked.
Looking back, the corridor behind him was swallowed by darkness, thick with despair and terror.
The air was icy, gnawing at him. Prolonged exposure left him dizzy, his chest tight with panic.
Forcing calm, he pressed on.
Soon, he reached a grand hall.
Eighteen majestic pillars bore ancient dragon-script characters. Following them upward, he saw epic dragon murals across the dome—yet all veiled by a thin gray mist.
The mist was vaporized evil spirit liquid, clinging to the murals. Worse, the palace walls themselves seemed formed from the same liquid, flowing sluggishly as if the entire structure sat at the bottom of an endless sea.
In the distance, a throne stood in the eastern darkness, silent as the underworld.
Behind it hovered a pale dragon, eyes shut—a thirty-meter-tall three-dimensional mural, lifelike and imposing.
On the throne, a woman lay lazily on her side. Her curves pressed against the gauzy star-strewn skirt, its mist-light shimmering. Only the delicate arch of her foot peeked out, skin pale as polished stone.
A snow-white dragon tail trailed from the skirt, coiled around her ankle—until Xia Feng entered.
The tail-tip flicked back beneath the skirt. The woman opened her eyes.
Pale vertical pupils gleamed coldly. "Human. Why have you returned?"
Xia Feng bowed. "Respected Dragon God, I come with a humble request."
The star-skirted woman closed her eyes again. A voice echoed from the palace walls:
"Human, if you seek reward for awakening me, know this: rousing the God of Sin merits no boon."
God of Sin? Xia Feng tensed. The dragon god called itself that? As if it bore guilt, deserved sealing—even believed it should never wake.
Realization struck. Now he understood why the black crow fled.
The crow likely served the dragon god, yearning for its awakening. Yet the dragon god itself rejected waking. So the crow ran.
A thought crystallized. Xia Feng met the throne's gaze, voice earnest.
"Dragon God, I seek no reward. Only a small request."
"Hmm?"
"Dragon God, may I absorb some of your evil spirit liquid?"
"The corrupting power of the evil spirit liquid can indeed temporarily enhance a being's spiritual pressure. But you are a weak human who hasn't even reached the Venerable Realm. Absorbing it will bring you nothing but endless despair and agony."
"Therefore, what is your purpose?"
"..."
The Dragon God's question put Xia Feng in a difficult position. He couldn't reveal his true intent—the Evil Demon Heart was his greatest secret, and he refused to expose its abilities.
At least for now, the Dragon God didn't seem to notice anything unusual about him.
"Dragon God... must I explain my purpose?" Xia Feng said helplessly. "The evil spirit liquid is nothing beneficial to you. Surely there's no harm in giving me some?"
"No explanation, then leave."
"!!!"
This awakened Evil Dragon was proving troublesome. Xia Feng rubbed his temples in frustration.
He understood now—if he asked for the evil spirit liquid with purely selfish motives, the Dragon God would dismiss him outright.
After all, she owed him nothing.
And hadn't she already declared that awakening her was a mistake? That no reward would be given?
In that case... extraordinary measures were necessary. Perhaps a roundabout approach would work.
Xia Feng's mind raced. From their earlier exchange, it seemed the Dragon God didn't know how he had awakened her.
The black crow had once mentioned multiple methods to rouse the Dragon God. Reducing the evil spirit liquid within her was one—and the most difficult.
"If your purpose is too shameful to voice, then don't." Lady Di Si observed Xia Feng's hesitation and spoke indifferently. "Leave. I intend to return to slumber. Do not disturb me again without cause."
"..."
Don't come in? As if! Xia Feng cursed inwardly. Vile dragon—I never should've woken you.
With a resigned sigh, he straightened. "Very well. I'll drop the act, revered Dragon God."
He lifted his head, expression solemn. "I... am actually your believer!"
"?"
The star-skirted woman slowly opened her eyes. Snow-white dragon scales traced from her cloud-gray hair to the corners of her eyes. Her mesmerizing, sacred vertical pupils fixed on the human below the throne.
"Believer?"
It had been eons since she'd heard that word.
Would a god like her even have believers?
"Yes, a believer!"
Xia Feng's gaze burned with fanaticism. He stared at the supreme being on the throne, voice trembling with fervor. "Even if the evil spirit liquid brings endless despair and pain—what honor it would be, to use my wretched, unworthy life to alleviate even a fraction of my Dragon God's suffering! What glory!!"
He pressed a hand to his chest and bowed deeply. "Dragon God, I beg you—grant me the evil spirit liquid! Let your most loyal devotee bear the torment of this vile power in your stead!"
Lady Di Si: "..."
Not just a believer—a zealot?
The star-skirted woman's pale pupils narrowed slightly as she studied the human male. "The flavor of lies clings to you, human. You deceive."
Her slitted eyes sharpened. "How curious. Half-truths... You genuinely wish to endure this pain for me?"
"..."
Damn. It can detect lies. Xia Feng wasn't surprised—a Dragon God seeing through falsehoods was expected.
He met her gaze. The star-skirted woman's expression remained impassive, unangered by his deceit.
Calmly, she said, "You have one final chance to explain."
Xia Feng took a deep breath. "My apologies, Dragon God. I did lie about that."
His voice lowered. "I am not truly your believer."
The star-skirted woman's pale vertical pupils turned icy, plunging the dim palace into dead silence. A chilling atmosphere settled over the space.
Her cold gaze held no emotion, piercing through him like frozen steel: "If you do not believe, then why awaken me? Why claim to wish to bear my suffering?"
Sealed here for tens of thousands of years, only to be roused by an ordinary human—an insect in her eyes—naturally made her suspicious. Was this some scheme?
This human had awakened her yet demanded no reward, made no excessive requests. Instead, he sought to absorb the corrupting power within her, to endure its torturous punishment in her stead.
Presumptuous. Baffling.
Was this another ploy by the gods? But what god would send a mere human to suffer the evil spirit's torment for her?
As the human below struggled with unspoken words, hesitation twisting his features, the star-skirted woman's pupils narrowed.
A trick of the gods, then? Sent to harm her, yet now reluctant to follow through?
"Enough, Lady Di Si! I'll lay my cards on the table—no more pretenses!" Xia Feng inhaled sharply, his gaze sharpening as he stared up at the throne.
"Lady Di Si, the truth is... the truth is..."
"You were sent by the gods, weren't you?"
"The truth is I fell in love with you at first sight!" Xia Feng declared, voice rock-solid with conviction.
The star-skirted woman: "?"
He wasn't lying. When he'd first seen Miss Xielong two months prior, he'd genuinely been smitten!
Who wouldn't love a dragon girl?
Let it be known—Xia Feng was no puppet! His curiosity about draconic physiology was purely academic. The way her tail coiled around her ankles or thighs, its unconscious writhing even in sleep—fascinating!
"What did you say?"
Lady Di Si found herself genuinely vexed. Ten thousand years of slumber, and this was the world she awakened to?
In ancient times, humans had revered—feared—the dragon clan. Never had they considered their scaled forms or tails objects of admiration.
Tails especially. Back then, humans despised all tailed creatures (dragons being the sole exception).
"I said I like you, Lady Di Si! Love at first sight!" Xia Feng's cheeks burned—this mortifying confession must never reach another soul!
Heart pounding, he pressed on fervently: "So please, Lady Di Si, grant me the evil spirit liquid!"
His voice rang with shameless devotion: "Let your most ardent admirer endure this vile power's despair and agony for you!"
"..."
Lady Di Si absorbed this impassioned declaration in silence.
Because this time—every word was true.
He did fancy her (physically, mostly), which baffled her. Since when did human aesthetics transcend species?
But more perplexing—his next statements rang equally genuine. He truly wanted the evil spirit liquid. Truly wished to suffer for her.
Was there some benefit to humans absorbing it? Scouring her vast knowledge yielded no such advantage.
"You're truly not sent by other gods?" she asked, dubious.
Xia Feng blinked. "Of course not."
A long pause. Finally, she nodded. "So this... fleshly desire drives you to bear pain for me?"
Fleshly desire? Well, absorbing the liquid did bring euphoria. Semantically close enough.
"Yes," Xia Feng agreed.
"Then leave." Having discerned his motives, her interest waned instantly. A dismissive wave.
"That trace of evil spirit liquid would kill you—horribly. Agonizingly. You'd learn how foolish impulse and lust make mortals."
"Go, human. I've no need for your paltry sacrifice."
A golden portal shimmered open behind him.
"???" Xia Feng's eyes widened in disbelief. After all that groveling, she was still kicking him out?!
He glanced back at the glowing portal, his eyelid twitching. Each entry into the Evil Dragon Space consumed precious teleportation materials—faded ink, elephant fish blood, and infinite stones. Every visit burned through 500,000 imperial coins!
And now she expected him to leave empty-handed?
Over my dead body! Stingy lizard! Xia Feng cursed internally before turning with dramatic solemnity.
"Lady Di Si, I understand my... primal motivations may lack nobility. But let me prove my sincerity through action!"
The star-skirted woman now lay sideways on her throne, back turned. The mist-dappled gauze clung to her curves as her restless dragon tail—which had instinctively sought to coil around her ankle—hovered stiffly beside the throne instead.
Xia Feng's gaze drifted to the palace walls. That flowing liquid was pure evil spirit essence.
Taking Di Si's silence as tacit permission, he hurried toward the right wall.
With each step, the oppressive aura intensified—this was clearly another restricted zone like the throne's vicinity.
Gritting his teeth, Xia Feng pressed his palm against the wall—
—And the world twisted.
Suddenly, he stood beneath the World Tree again, watching as thick gray mist poured from the slumbering goddess's lips and nostrils.
Without hesitation, he lunged forward.
(End of this chapter)