11 Confrontation

Dragons. Supreme beings that are high above all beasts and creatures to have ever roamed. They control the skies, sea, wind, and manipulate the elements with ease either be it ice, wind, fire, earth, water, or thunder. Some dragons can even harness the power of the demonic and divine.

Out of all nine dragons, the Black Abyssal Dragon is the strongest but fights and acts with the most cruelty. Its scales are dark as night, have claws that were sharper than any metal, and long horns embellished in intricate patterns and design. A rough white mane that stretched from the head that followed down its large body and fiery golden eyes that could pierce through any soul.

It is the dragon of the demonic way, the harbinger of calamity, and I stood before it in utter paralysis.

The black dragon slightly opened its mouth and spoke a single word.

"Kneel..." It quaked throughout the forest and as if it shook the entire underworld itself. It was loud and domineering.

I was pushed down to the ground and felt as if I was carrying ten mountains on my back whenever I tried to get back up. The crushing force was cutting the circulation of Ki and I am quickly blacking out. This was more than a kneel, a bend of the knee. This was humiliation.

"Pull..." My body was dragged towards the Black Abyssal Dragon at an unbelievable speed and before I was placed now in close distance I grabbed the hellfire lion's beast core out of hope I could get out of this situation alive.

Being this close to a dragon, I was able to see its undeniable majestic glory in full view. All I could do was stare in awe and fear. The deeper I looked into its eyes the more I became swallowed by the dragon's overall undisputed elegance.

No words could be spoken. Only silence could be heard.

There's no doubt about it. This is the real deal. I might as well see how dragons circulate their Ki.

I then flowed Ki into my mind and I became bewildered.

Throughout the Black Abyssal Dragon's body flowed rich and condensed white Ki, true essence, that harmonized with a black and sinister dark Ki. It circulated like waves of a beach's shore and had a close consistency to melted gold being poured.

I slowly saw a pattern and noticed it resembled the breathing technique of the skull bear. No, the breathing was similar to the black savage wolf. I take that back, it's not the black savage wolf but the manticore and chimera combined? I could not come to a conclusion.

The more I tried to analyze its circulation of Ki the more I began seeing every individual breathing style of all spirit beasts. I could not keep track and became feeling lost immediately. My mind began hurting and felt as though it was going to explode if I continued any longer.

"Enough." The dragon spoke once more and I could hear its gravely deep and roaring voice in clear crisp listening. I stopped trying to comprehend the dragon's Ki circulation. "Tell me, why do you intrude my domain."

I lowered my head and positioned my body to a respectful martial artist bow. Maybe if I swallow my pride and be respectful, I might come out of this situation alive.

"Oh great Black Abyssal Drago—"

"You are testing my patience, speak quickly. I have no need for flowery words." The temper of the Black Dragon is true, it does get angered quickly. I tried to kowtow before the dragon but was immediately interrupted again. "Do not bend thy knee, I have already made you do so before." The dragon must've meant when it pushed me down to the ground. I stood back up and straightened my posture.

Even if it's a dragon that told me I have no need to be respectful, this sensation and thick atmosphere could not be shaken off. By instinct, I felt the need I had to be, for a dragon is in front of me after all.

"I do not know."

"You do not know why you decided to enter my forest, enter my mountain, and trespass my land?" The dragon's voice became even louder than before.

"I do not know. After I died, I found myself here and became a wandering soul. I wish to find a way of regaining a body, find a way out of the Underworld, and go search for my friend Li Ming."

"I'll tell you now, you cannot leave this place." All I could feel was despair and shock by this news.

"Why not?" I held in my frustration and almost shouted.

"If you wish to go back to Earth Realm, you must need permission from the King of Demons to enter the Door of Hell to pass through. Even if you managed to gain permission, you lack a body and traveling though Hell's Door would diminish you to dust."

"Then is there some way for me to regain a human body?"

"There are many ways that can suffice but for most of them to work you would need to either build a body from scratch, be a demonic master, or find a hollow, a body wandering without a soul. Either way, all three are not so easily achieved."

"So there is no hope for me to ever leave."

"Indeed. Yet It is strange. The situation of a wandering soul like you has never happened before. Some have the ability to talk but to still have the function to cultivate is unheard of. Even if you have strong regrets during the time when you were alive, you should've followed the path that all creatures and beasts follow after death."

"And that is?"

"Reincarnation. You were supposed to reincarnate mortal, but you did not. All souls go to the Waters of Rebirth and then be birthed into their new life."

"Then why didn't I reincarnate?"

"There could be many reasons. The only way this would happen if there were some divine intervention that came into play." The black dragon took a long pause and stared at me. "You have a familiar glow to you..." The golden wisp in my sea of consciousness became startled. It hid away and suddenly hid itself deeper inside my mind, as if it disappeared. "Perhaps maybe not...".

"There must be some way for me to regain a body. Didn't you say I was supposed to enter through the Waters of Rebirth? Is there a way to arrive there?"

"That is an option but a hard one."

"How hard could it be?"

"You would have to travel to the Nether Realm and fight your way through the waves of souls to be in line for reincarnation."

"What do you mean I have to wait in line?"

"In the Heavenly Dao, if all souls that died were to be reincarnated at the same time, the balance would be in disarray. To prevent this, souls are gradually reincarnated."

"How is that a bad thing, I could just take my time and wait until it's my turn?"

"Yes you could but didn't you say you wish to find your friend."

"Yes I did."

"If you choose to wait, the average time to be reincarnated takes about around a hundred to more than a thousand years. Since most souls don't have consciousness, the lapse of time to enter their next life feels almost in an instant than a few hundred years."

"WHAT? I don't have a thousand years. What if I cut the line instead?"

"That's another way. Only if you can defeat Netherworld guardians but…"

"Let me guess, it's going to be extremely hard?"

"Indeed. Yet I suggest you don't talk back how you just did." The black dragon became angered and shook the surroundings. I should've kept my composure.

"I apologize, I realize my mistake!" My apology seems to have calmed the dragon down.

"There is an option that I know which does not require that much of an effort."

"What is this option?" If I'm being honest, this sounds too good to be true.

The black dragon then pulled out an item that I wouldn't believe I would see ever in many lifetimes.

"There's a reason I talked to a mortal such as yourself for this long without banishing you immediately. I need you for this." The black dragon pulled out a mysterious and shining item in its hand. "What I hold in my hand is a dragon egg. My dragon egg."

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