149. Tragedy 2
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The next day brought a bleak sunrise, almost as if the heavens could tell that dangerous tides were rising within their favourite realm.
On Caoyang, however, the residents remained oblivious to what had happened, as the news had not reached there.
Infact, they had their own concerns, and most of those within the palace milled around, worried for their master who had taken a turn for the worse.
Yin Xianlong, the shining and powerful Lord Medicine and greatest Healing sage for millennia, was facing an ailment he couldn't cure.
"Demonization?!" Liwei and Yinying exclaimed, horror on their faces.
"Umh." Bailong nodded. "The black aura is beginning to corrupt my meridians, making it almost impossible for me to perform any advanced technique without losing my mind.
"The longer I leave it be, the more it would grow..."
Liwei had tried purging the dark aura with Sunfire for most of the night, but it had absolutely no effect him.
He had tried sealing the aura, same as he had done with Liwei, but he suffered an instant backlash... an icy cold had crept through his meridians, his hair and clothes began to turn a stark black, and dreadful whispers flooding his ears.
He had swiftly ended the seal technique, managing to suppress the dark aura, but try as he might, he couldn't force it out completely.
It had latched on in a strange way... completely matching and merging with his core.
...almost as if this were originally his aura, and this frightened Bailong more than the dark aura itself!
He could have used his Pearl to wear down the curse from within and dispel it, but drawing his pearl out of Liwei would unbalance her own seal again.
So instead he went into seclusion, intending to use the Starlight Furnace as an external core to eliminate the aura, but before leaving, he left instructions for Liwei...
"I was careful not to seriously harm any sky soldier, so I don't think Sky Realm will chase after me for some time. They will likely spend time regrouping, while trying to understand why I suddenly became a black dragon..."
He sighed. "But just in case, I've strengthened the arrays around Caoyang. No one can teleport in, and the shields are no joke! Even old man Bao can't break in here for almost ten days!"
After that he left Liwei with another silver talisman.
"If all else fails, ask HeiYuan to use the South Formation."
HeiYuan was the new Snake King, and brother to HeiShe, the snake beneath the lava.
"The South Formation will take everyone to Lotus lake, and seal lotus lake off, so no one can come back here.
"But if anything goes wrong, burn this talisman and it will bring you to my side..."
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Two days later...
Bailong had chosen a secluded cave on Caoyang to cultivate.
The cave was rich in pure Yin energy, and at present, he sat in the lotus position, his eyes shut in deep concentration.
At first, moving his qi out of his body and into the Starlight Furnace had been easy, but as it neared completion, it became excruciatingly painful, more painful than removing one's bones one by one and rearranging them!
And with the sheer amount of qi he possessed, the process had taken more than a day...
Still Bailong bit his lip against the pain, pushing through on sheer determination until the he drew out every last bit of qi from his core.
'Success!' He panted from the strain.
Without qi to feed it, the Black Aura would be weakened, and Bailong quickly jumped into action.
First, he swallowed two of the pills to stabilize his now empty core. Then he swiftly performed a series of hand seals and a glowing blue seal spread out from underneath him.
A ring of brilliant blue qi needles appeared, fanning around him, and with two fingers held up, he directed each needle to pierce into his body at different angles.
He spat blood several times, but simply continued, directing the qi needles into every last bit of the swirling black aura within him.
The needles were relentless, slowly attacking and dissipating the weakened dark aura, but just when Bailong struck at the last dense mass of the aura, he felt a stabbing pain in his chest, and blood sprayed from his lips.
'Lightning struck my dragon pearl...?'
Bailong's eyes instantly flew opened. 'Weiwei is in danger!'
Ignoring the consequences, he put a swift end to the cultivation, drawing his entire qi back in at once. Then he rose to his feet and appeared by the cave's opening, only to find a familiar golding barrier blocking has path.
'This is -!' It was Yinying's ultimate Bell Technique.
But hadn't he left Yinying beside Liwei...?
"Laoying?!" Bailong thundered.
Yinying appeared with a grave look, his gray hair and beards somehow more sombre than his stark black clothes.
Bailong was instantly filled with a sense of dread, especially when Yinying offered a proper half bow to him.
Before now, Yinying had only ever done this after his father's death, when he appeared to Bailong for the first time.
Bailong had forbidden such a thing to ever happen again...
"Old man, don't you know you're an elder?!"
"Dont elders bow to their masters?!"
"This is different! You're older than the elderly! If you're constantly bowing, won't you lose your stamina? Any decent wave will sweep away your old bones!!"
"You- You little Brat!" Yinying had instantly transformed and proceeded to chase Bailong around the East Sea, just like old times...
But when the two calmed, Bailong had said more seriously, "Laoying, you're practically family, and an Elder at that. You've forbidden me from destroying the Soul bond and setting you free...
"Then I also forbid you from paying such respects again...!"
Which was why Bailong staggered a step at present, when Yinying linked his thumbs and bent forward in a full half bow.
"Forgive me, XiaoBai..." He began gravely. "I couldn't let you sense anything!"
Bailong's heart thudded in his chest, his eyes widening, and through the shield, he could see smoke rising at the top of the mountain. Brief flashes replayed in his head- flashes of how Old Man Bao had once stopped him outside the East Sea, and a singular thought entered his mind.
'Weiwei!'
"Let me out." His words were surprisingly calm, but Yinying wasn't fooled.
"Xiaobai, calm dow-!"
Bailong's hand suddenly gripped his throat, cutting him off, and his feet left the ground.
Next thing, he was being slammed into his own shield with an impossible force...
...but since the Bell technique was designed to never harm its owner, the shield gave way before Yinying crashed into it.
'How clever!' Yinying thought as Bailong released him, vanishing before Yinying's feet hit the floor.
"Xiaobai!" Yinying called after him, rubbing his sore neck. "Xiaobai!!!" He followed, but the instant he stepped forward, he was suddenly transported to a cool and beautiful place with azure skies, swaying trees, and a jade-like sea.
"Oh no!" He fell to his knees on the warm shores.
Bailong had locked him within his internal sea...
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Meanwhile, Bailong reappeared at the heart of Caoyang, but though his eyes could see clearly, he needed a moment- perhaps several- to process what he was seeing.
Just three days ago, he had left a beautiful home behind, but what surrounded him now was utter destruction!
Even a battle ground might not be this bad....
As his confused eyes furtively darted left and right, his mind played tricks on him, letting him see the beauty of what had been, right before hitting him with the desolate reality surrounding him in the present.
In the outer gardens, young children once ran through the shrubs, their laughter ringing in the calm breeze...
...but now, the smoky air reeked of blood, and the smog barely concealed the burnt grass, broken archways, and dead bodies lying around, slowly dissipating as he stumbled through.
He caught familiar faces and figures and his hand gripped his heart as he was doused in waves of grief and misery.
'Why...?' He staggered to the palace- the home he had built for himself and Liwei.
It had once stood tall and proud, like a giant piece of the sea magically transported atop Caoyang. Its gate was a giant seashell, fishes swam within its walls, seaweed swayed within gentle waves.
Pearls, seashells, and starfish decorated its gardens and courtyards, and lush magical trees which resembled the Tree of Swallows could be found in every garden.
But now...
The formations creating the illusions were surely broken, because the gate had been blasted to smithereens, bland walls lay in ruins, the trees and gardens were burning.
Even the giant jade dragon which shone blue during the day and green at night to represent his father and brother, now lay about in fragmented pieces.
'Why...?!' Tears burned down his face as his eyes trailed over more familiar faces and figures, sensing the last of their aura fading away, flying off to Fate's Sea....
"Why?!!" He repeated aloud, falling to his knees, but no answer came.
Who could answer for a thing like this?
He had brought these people here - every last one of them, yet he hadn't been able to protect them!
Their blood was on his hands, and he heaved pained breaths, wondering what life meant...
What did all his titles, and powers, and acomplishments even mean if he couldn't protect his own people...?
And amidst the death, destruction and silence around him...
He could not trace Liwei at all!
Not even through the danger seal he had placed on her.
Not even through his pearl...
But though the pearl couldn't be traced, he could feel it clearly, pulsing calmly within Liwei.
Apart from that lightning strike, she was now safe and recovering well, her mind calm and peaceful... But he wasn't sure how long that would be the case!
'Weiwei! Wait for me!'
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