Chapter 734 – Protector (2/2)
”So it was you that Yin spoke of.”
Shang Xingzhou's expression was calm and unperturbed. It was plain to see that he had known of this matter beforehand.
He looked at the little Black Dragon and said, ”After several centuries, you were finally able to leave that old well in New North Bridge and obtain freedom, so why did you not return to the Southern Sea?”
The Black Dragon stood in front of Chen Changsheng and seriously said to him, ”Because this is the promise I made.”
It was evident that Shang Xingzhou's presence was a massive pressure on her. Her small face was covered in anxiety, but she remained firm.
Shang Xingzhou suddenly asked, ”You will protect him?”
She raised her face and very proudly said, ”Of course.”
Shang Xingzhou continued his questions. ”Before the starry sky itself, are you willing to become one with him, to love, protect, respect, and comfort him as you love yourself? Are you willing to, in health and sickness, in wealth and poverty, in success and failure, always put his name before yours until you leave this world and return to the sea of stars?”
These words were like the slow wafting of the cool breeze and also like the unending crash of thunder.
These were some of the most ancient words in the scriptures of the church. This was the oath sworn by Protectors, a law of the Li Palace.
After a moment of silence, she answered, ”I am willing.”
Shang Xingzhou asked, ”Even if you must pay your life?”
Without the slightest hesitation, she replied, ”Yes.”
Several years ago underneath New North Bridge, she had already paid to Chen Changsheng something even more valuable than her life, at least in her view.
Of course, this did not really mean that she was willing to die for Chen Changsheng with no questions asked, nor did it mean that she was unafraid of death. For a member of the long-lived Dragon race, death was something rarely considered. But it was precisely because their lives were so long that when they did occasionally think of death, they would feel a fear that far surpassed what an ordinary human would feel.
She stared into Shang Xingzhou's eyes and said, ”Not even Wang Zhice dared to kill, only imprison me. I don't believe that you would dare to kill me.”
In the general understanding of the cultivation world, the Dragon race was eternal. The reason for this impression that went against fact was primarily that the Dragon race was the highest level of being that existed under the starry sky, possessing an almost endless lifespan and unfathomable strength. Moreover, countless years ago when the Dragon race withdrew from the continent, they drew up a convention with all the worlds. This convention stated that any living being that offended the Dragon race voluntarily would die.
That this convention was passed down to this day naturally had nothing to do with how much demons or humans valued promises, but was because the Dragon race was powerful. Even the peak human or demon experts when confronting a lone and even weak dragon would rarely do anything. This was because every dragon's body contained a Soul Pearl, and once a dragon died, the Soul Pearl would shatter. When the dragon's relatives in the south sensed its destruction, they were certain to conduct a most crazed reprisal.
Even when Emperor Taizong reigned over the Great Zhou Dynasty, he was not willing to bear such a price. When the little Black Dragon wreaked havoc over the land, Wang Zhice used a stratagem to entrap her, but never once attempted to kill her. Besides the fact that she had some forgivable aspects, it was more importantly because it was not easy to kill her and it was not a good idea to kill her.
For countless years, the Dragon race had always lived far away from the continent and yet had always been an object of reverence.
But in certain moments of history, the unexpected would occur.