Chapter 27: The Seventh Song of the Dungeon

Since ancient times, who is the most renowned dragon?

The Dragon God Pilot is undoubtedly a strong contender. However, across the four continents, there might be those who haven't heard of the Dragon God Pilot, or the six divine dragons of the Creator God, or the dark dragon Pakorite. But there is one dragon whose name everyone knows—it is...

The Classic of Mountains and Seas. The Tales of Various Dragons

The cave entrance continued to rumble.

In the vast cavern, or more accurately, at the center of a colossal subterranean palace, stood six enormous magical stone pillars, each towering 50 meters high. Unlike typical magical stone pillars, these were carved not from ordinary rock but from six translucent, massive magical crystals. Even from 100 meters away, the powerful magical vibrations emanating from the crystals could be felt at the entrance.

In nature, magical crystals are typically small and used by wizards to assist in casting spells. Larger, symmetrical crystals are crafted by high-level wizards of great power, who combine smaller crystals using magic. The largest known magical crystal is housed in the Imperial Magic Academy of the most powerful empire, the Emi Empire. This 3-meter-high, 2-meter-wide pillar crystal is affectionately named the Blue Shield, said to protect the capital of the Emi Empire.

Yet, these six crystals before us defy common understanding—what magnitude of magic and how many wizards would it take to create such a crystal, let alone six?

A layer of neutral blue magical coating forms between the crystals, vibrating hexagonally like the surface of water. As the coating undulates, tremendous magical energy surges within the cavern.

Within this immense magical field, a dragon slumbers.

"Ah—" Although everyone anticipated seeing an enormous dragon, the sight still left them all stunned.

What kind of dragon is this? It has two heads: one pitch black, the other pure blue, both sharing a single dragon body of pure blue, stretching over 40 meters long. Before it, three white skeleton figures knelt like ants.

The Twin-Headed Dragon

In the dragon world, twin-headed dragons are exceedingly rare. It is said that if one is born, it will be immediately killed, as they are considered omens of misfortune.

In history, only one adult twin-headed dragon is known to have existed, allegedly a blue dragon.

"The Evil Dragon Yin Feng," Old Rock muttered as if in a nightmare, his voice trembling with fear, a stark contrast to his usual fearless demeanor.

"Yin Feng! Everyone retreat! Run!" A Feng shouted urgently.

What kind of dragon could instill such terror in brave souls like Old Rock and A Feng? Has Yin Feng truly reappeared?

Yin Feng... Indeed, it is Yin Feng. Panic spread among everyone. Could this truly be the legendary Yin Feng? Even from 100 meters away, Da Qing Shan raised his battle shield high: "Ami, retreat quickly, I'll follow soon." Several ordinary mercenaries from the Purple Heart Swords dashed towards the entrance like headless flies.

Yin Feng

A name akin to a demon.

In the history of dragons and mankind alike, this name represents disgrace, sin, and utter evil. It is synonymous with a war beyond waging.

The earliest legends of Yin Feng date back over 1,500 years. In ancient times, there existed a vast empire—the Panglu Empire, whose territory spanned three major continents, covering an area five times that of the Emi Empire today. This empire's vastness was primarily due to its ruler being a descendant of the gods. Thus, every emperor was an invincible warrior, agile and strong. With divine lineage, each emperor and prince could become a dragon knight, leading their nation's invincible warriors to conquer one nation after another across the continents.

But at the height of this empire's power, it was almost entirely destroyed overnight.

According to legend, 1,400 years ago, the Panglu Empire laid siege to what is today's capital of the Emi Empire—then the last stronghold of the Linfei Principality.

Leading the siege was Prince Yule, the first heir to the throne, renowned as Panglu Empire's greatest warrior. At the age of 65, Emperor Panglu VII abdicated in favor of his beloved prince after the conquest of Linfei Empire.

The war proceeded smoothly. Despite the Linfei Principality's ruler being formidable, the disparity in national power was too great. Linfei had only 70,000 soldiers, whereas the Panglu Empire's heavy cavalry alone numbered over 70,000.

After three months of bitter fighting, Linfei's remaining 30,000 troops were besieged in the capital. Defeat seemed inevitable, and the war had become a matter of honor for the principality's royal lineage.

After a month of hard fighting, Linfei's troops dwindled to less than 20,000. The city was devoid of food, and famine claimed more lives than battle. Citizens were driven to desperate acts for survival.

The principality's king, unwilling to see 200,000 citizens perish, prepared to surrender after paying respects to his ancestors in the royal palace.

At this moment, a dark magic archmage approached the king, claiming to possess the power to defeat the empire and save the people.

That night, the archmage and the king deliberated in the palace's secret chamber, finalizing a detailed plan.

The next day, the king sent an emissary to the empire, proposing a king-to-king duel. The principality would construct a 20-meter-high, 200-meter-square platform 200 meters outside the city walls. Once completed, the king and the empire's prince would duel one-on-one.

The prince, a lover of peace, agreed readily to minimize unnecessary sacrifice and damage to the city and citizens—of course, confident in his strength as a dragon knight, compared to the principality's king, a mere beast knight without divine bloodline. He also provided the principality with minimal food supplies.

Ten days later, a gigantic battle platform was erected.

At dawn, the prince, accompanied by six dragon knights from his guard, arrived on the platform astride flying dragons.

Only the principality's king awaited on the platform. Yet, the platform was not flat; at its center lay a large, bulging gray cloth concealing something.

As the prince and his dragon landed, the king suddenly unveiled the gray cloth—everyone was blinded by the glittering gold and jewels beneath the sunlight, as vast as a small mountain.

The prince and guards assumed the king intended to barter his kingdom or, at the very least, plead for his life in exchange for these riches.

The prince pondered how to gracefully reject any territorial demands the king might propose.

Finally, the king spoke—a series of short, sharp cries issued from his mouth, startling the prince and guards. As close allies of dragons, they recognized the king was speaking in the language of dragons.

Though sacred dragons understand human speech, humans cannot learn the dragon language, not even dragon knights. They can only discern the simplest meanings through familiarity. What was he saying?

While the prince and guards were shocked, they felt their dragons tremble slightly.

Later, the king revealed the communication taught by the dark archmage—to tempt the dragons with the riches of the platform and the principality's entire wealth for five years, swaying them to betray the empire.

The archmage explained that dragons are creatures deeply enamored with gold and jewels. Although dragons have been raised by kingdoms for generations, their greed persists. The archmage predicted that on the day of the duel, the prince would bring his dragon guards, including one certain to betray—his own mount, the only wind-elemental twin-headed dragon, Yin Feng, famously known as "the dragon among dragons," uniquely named by humans.

The archmage analyzed that each dragon should have a single attribute: wind is wind, fire is fire, water is water, and one dragon head determines the final attribute. Twin-headed dragons, possessing two different attributes, are typically abandoned or killed by their mothers at birth. Yin Feng was no exception. Though both its parents were wind dragons, Yin Feng was born with the attributes of wind and darkness. Its black head was not prominent at birth and was mistaken for blue, leading to its adoption by the royal family.

The royal family raised Yin Feng as a wind dragon.

Perhaps the seeds of rebellion were sown in Yin Feng's mind then—the dark head, suppressed, yearned to rebel but lacked opportunity.

Two hundred years later, upon reaching maturity, Yin Feng was chosen by the royal heir as a mount and formally named Yin Feng.

Following the archmage's plan, the king's speech and demeanor seemed to persuade all six dragons: he offered the platform's treasures and future taxes to exchange for the prince's life.

All the dragons were astounded—not by the wealth but by the king's brazen, audacious proposition. Dragons, a noble species, despite their love for jewels, and some dark dragons resorting to massacres for treasure, would not betray trust.

As the dragons prepared to unleash their breath upon the insolent king, sudden chaos erupted.

Yin Feng let out a thunderous roar, piercing the dawn sky, a continuous cry akin to thunder descending upon the platform.

Then, Yin Feng soared into the sky, wildly dancing, its massive wind-elemental body, like a mountain, howling across the heavens. Realizing the gravity of the situation, the dragon knights pursued Yin Feng and the prince, vanishing into the horizon.

Wind dragons are rare, only four in the entire empire, and the prince's five dragon guards rode non-wind dragons, unable to match Yin Feng's speed.

Suddenly, Yin Feng reappeared above the battle platform, executing a maneuver only possible for wind dragons—it skimmed the platform, its back slicing through the space, ripping the prince apart with immense shear force, blood staining the platform.

The dragon knights were horrified by the scene, hastily retreating with the prince's body—only one returned to report his death, while the others fled to the imperial capital with the corpse.

The shocked emperor issued two incomprehensible orders:

Yin Feng was to be hunted across all three continents of the empire, with a duchy reward for its slayer.

All dragon mounts in the imperial dragon stables and military were to be slaughtered.

The extent of opposition to the second order is imaginable. Among the three imperial marshals, Dragon Knight Duke Linton committed suicide in court with the dragon knight's sword, while the other two, also dragon knights, resigned and left the capital after failing to dissuade the emperor.

Yet, the ironclad order was enforced relentlessly.

In one night, 46 noble dragons were slain—during the massacre, existing dragon knights, defending their dragons, were nearly annihilated. The empire's 2,000 beast knights were compelled to lead the slaughter, over 1,200 perishing in the battle.

This shocking event spread swiftly; enraged dragons of all attributes launched a frenzied reprisal against the Panglu Empire. Within a century, at least 200 dragons, including two sacred dragons, waged the "First Human-Dragon War" against the empire.

Six months later, the empire's beast knight numbers, capable of aerial combat, dwindled to less than a hundred, with over ten dragons perishing in battles.

Finally, around a hundred dragons, shrouded in the evening mist, launched a surprise attack on the capital. Half perished under dragon assault that night, the royal palace scorched by dragon breath countless times, fires burning for 20 days. It is said the emperor was simultaneously incinerated by ten dragons' flames, reduced to ashes in an instant.

Thus, a colossal empire spanning three continents swiftly crumbled. The architect of this catastrophe was none other than—Yin Feng.

Over the next 1,500 years, Yin Feng entered maturity, abandoned by dragonkind but wreaking havoc on humanity, mercilessly slaughtering for treasure, leaving small nations and gold mines devastated in its wake.

A nightmare, Yin Feng remains an indelible nightmare for nations.