A thousand years before Sky Palace thought of the idea, the first man to be called Shaman Monarch came up with the idea of subduing a dragon. Contrary to Ming Feizhen, who deduced the story from fragmented bits of information and his own theories, Sky Palace always knew the story was authentic, which was why they set it as one of their primary objectives and were willing to invest heavily.
“My Lady.” Dozens of maidens hiding near the entrance emerged from the shadows to kneel before Shadow Lady. Their leader, a woman with her face veiled, bowed her head, then relayed, “Your subordinate has been watching over this location in anticipation of your arrival.” Upon looking up, astonishment flitted across her face. “You… are hurt?”
Among the Three Stone Pillars of Sky Palace, Shadow Lady was gregarious and personally handled matters. Furthermore, her martial prowess earned her respect. Therefore, it was no surprise her subordinate was livid to see her hurt.
“It’s nothing. Our mission is more important,” Shadow Lady asserted. “What is the status quo?”
Wrestling with the urge to ask who was responsible so that she could avenge her respected Shadow Lady, she replied, “Despite how deep it goes down, we can occasionally pick up on signs of combat, but it all stopped two hours ago. Nobody has exited, so… it must be time.”
Shadow Lady stopped to think, then nodded. “We cannot let the opportunity go to waste.”
With the assistance of five members, Shadow Lady forced the door open slightly. Next, she called the next group over to switch with the five. They continued to cycle through teams until it was ajar enough for one person to squeeze through one at a time.
These subordinates were Sky Palace’s concealers, so, while they weren’t the best fighters, they had some serious strength. Without them, it would’ve taken Shadow Lady ages to open the door.
On the way in, Shadow Lady caught a glimpse of marks showing somebody forced the door open. Even though they weren’t on the same page, she respected Ming Feizhen’s strength. Sky Palace’s leader once had this to say of Ming Feizhen: “Unrivalled in the Nine Provinces. Unparalleled in the world.” Shadow Lady didn’t believe anyone could be stronger than her master when she heard those words, but the markings left at the entrance were undeniable proof supporting the praise – as well as explained why he had to be dragged into their plan.
The prerequisite that had to be fulfilled in order to subdue Pangu was that they had to first expend, at least, 60% of Pangu’s energy. The first Shaman Monarch was only able to subdue Pangu precisely thanks to the Central Plain’s warriors wearing it down.
Sky Palace proceeded with preparations ever since obtaining the procedure Shaman Monarch employed to tame Pangu, starting with deciphering the entire methodology, training up female shamans, collecting phoenix blood and feathers for their formation foundation and eventually the most difficult task, forging a sword capable of cutting Pangu – courtesy of Luo Ming. The problem was, where were they going to find someone who could give Pangu a run for his money?
Although Pangu didn’t have any humans or blood to feast on over the years he slumbered underground, he continued to absorb essence in nature. Accordingly, Sky Palace hesitated to sacrifice a chunk of their organisation to wear down Pangu. They had no solution until Ming Feizhen’s existence came onto their radar.
Besides possessing youth and strength on his side, Ming Feizhen’s affiliation with Mount Daluo categorised him as the most ideal candidate. The trap designed for him was the child of their research into his strength. Six Evils’ only match was Six Evils. Even if he wasn’t strong enough to bring down Pangu, exhausting 60% of Pangu’s energy was definitely within the realm of possibility. As for galvanising him to go fight Pangu, that was easy.
Ming Feizhen’s undertaking and the deplorable attitude he inherited from Mount Daluo called “a sense of justice” were things that could be exploited. Put an awakened dragon in front of him, and he’d go fight it even in the scenario that he couldn’t find any help; it wouldn’t take long to motivate him – provided you understood him well enough.
Ming Feizhen followed the trail they laid out for him – though the credit for putting the plan in motion went to Shadow Lady – without deviation, finally perishing at the claws of Pangu. Nonetheless, it was always a pity to know talent was buried before it could gloriously bloom, even from the perspective of an enemy.
Venturing deeper underground meant venturing into higher temperatures. The bright flames stung their eyes, while the smoke was suffocating. The deeper parts of the underground area were visible through the apertures in the walls. The place was built for Pangu, yet it was mangled after one fight; it took some serious creativity to imagine what sort of scuffle took place down there.
Purple Forbidden Enclosure Dragon Slayer suddenly started rattling as tendrils of smoke whisked off the blade. The sword had gone through a stringent forging process, but it still had one more step to go through before it was legitimately complete – consumption of dragon blood to sharpen its blade. The reaction of the sword informed Shadow Lady of what they had encountered, so she plunged it into the ground with both hands.
The dull blade glowed golden as energy accumulated. By the time the energy had multiplied several folds, it had enough energy to force Shadow Lady to try abating its trembling.
“Now it’s resembling Overarching Heaven a little. Guess the ‘dragon slaying’ part of its name is justified.”
“Who’s there?” Shadow Lady immediately readied the sword in front of her upon hearing a man’s voice when she never noticed anyone’s presence. Look as she may, she couldn’t find where the voice originated from.
“… That should be my question, shouldn’t it? If you’re not as strong as a dragon, I suggest you disappear right now.”
He didn’t raise his voice, but Shadow Lady could feel sweat building up in her hands. Walking to the other side of the underground palace was an ordeal in itself. In the neighbouring underground palace, there was a pair of unnerving scarlet eyes in the blackness. Nausea visited her stomach merely making eye contact with them; her true qi refused to obey her orders to put up a defence.
The youth sitting atop the dragon’s head had blood in his own black hair, his hand rested on his sword plunged into its head. He stared straight down into Shadow Lady’s eyes. “I still can’t stop myself… from killing.”
