21 HOW DOES THAT SOUND NOW? (1/2)

Meanwhile, Cheng Hao had not stopped counting nonchalantly, not noticing, or more accurately not caring to notice, the poor beast's dilemma of having his second least favorite person appear in front of its six eyes without so much as a notice.

”Nine... Ten... Eleven... Twelve...” The golden-eyed youth's voice was monotonous as he yawned and kept counting to the agreed total of twenty. Was he actually this calm? Of course not. He had been bottling up a roaring laughter for minutes now. He was on the verge of exploding already! He restrained himself however and kept a poker face as his expression.

”Cheater! Cheater! Those black and white flame-like gases... That illusion in your left eye!” The black monster cried, its voice filled with despair and unwillingness.

”Thirteen... Fourteen... Fifteen... Sixteen...” Cheng Hao finally allowed himself to smile, one that he had been keeping repressed for the past few minutes: that smile that he had needed all his control to stop it from bursting out was therefore allowed to slowly emerge, accompanied by the wails of the beast.

”It… IT WAS YOUUU!” The Hellish Nightmare Dragon had long since forgotten that the person in front of him was only an Inferior stage cultivator and a small child at that: his rationale and thought processes had already been thrown into disarray.

Up until mere moments ago, the gargantuan snake had been basking in the image of the golden-eyed child's bloodstained corpse. Now however, the only thing it could think about were events from a thousand years prior... memories it had forcefully sealed away so as to sleep peacefully at night. How could it possibly think straight when, all of a sudden, those nightmares had actually come back to haunt it???

”Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, aaaand... Twenty!” Cheng Hao's smile grew even more evident as a wide grin found its way on his face. He waved his hands, blinked his eyes and the abilities disappeared.

”Left White Flame That Steal Life–

Glory!”

”Right Black Flame That Delivers Death–

Oblivion!”

”Golden Sun That Steals Lifetimes–

Chrono Wheel!”

”And that right eye... it's not clear yet, but that's for sure the Black-Golden Beast of Nightmares–

Live Golden Gate!”

The Hellish Nightmare Dragon gulped as he illustrated one by one the abilities of the Evil Saint. Although Xu Ling's might was enough for tales of his abilities to reach every corner of the known Planes of Existence, would just anybody be able to name them all with just a glance? Well, Blacky, the dragon of nightmares, could. And the reason for that was the number of times he had been the target of those attacks. Way too many too count, and according to Xu Ling and Blindlight, all for the sake of 'enlightenment'.

”You-You fooled me! W-What Cheng Hao and Cheng Hao! You are no Cheng Hao!” The voice of the fearsome serpent rang out once again, and finally exclaimed in a fit of rage and fear, ”Xu Ling! Evil Saint! What the hell are you doing here???”

Cheng Hao smiled and couldn't help but feel a bit of pity towards the monster, locked inside the tower against its will for more than a few months. The power of the Spark had allowed him to accomplish astonishing feats, finding and capturing a few overgrown snakes had thus been as easy as flipping over his palm.

One thousand years ago, with the Evil Saint's death, the Hellish Nightmare Dragon Blacky had been given a chance at a new life free of conflict and pain. However, how could it possibly ever have thought that a thing like 'Cheng Hao' would ever happen?

Well, not that this is my problem.

Cheng Hao smirked as the pity vanished, replaced by greed. He spoke again in an overbearing tone, ”I won, so you are now my servant for a thousand years! Welcome back, Blacky, did you miss me perhaps?”

With those words, any shreds of doubt that had remained in the serpent's mind evaporated like snow in the desert.

”So, you really are... Xu Ling, how is this possible? You certainly died that day at the hands of Tian himself! I felt your soul leave your body and personally saw Yama drag it into the yellow springs!” The voice kept yelling nonstop. In its mind, the Hellish Nightmare Dragon was repeating that it was impossible for Xu Ling to have survived Tian's attacks, and yet... Here he was! Standing before him, the only things separating the two were only the gargantuan frames of the golden gates.

”That is right. I died. My soul staled in the underworld… But I came back! I built this tower of mine, the Immortal Ascension Tower, to gain back my own power and eventually surpass even the past me! That is also why you will now bow to me and fight by my side like the old days, Heavenly Beast, Hellish Nightmare Dragon!”

What fight side by side? Back then, I clearly remember you riding on my back and abusing me! Fuck you, Xu Ling!

Of course, those words never left the snake's mouth. After all, even in a fit of rage, he would not forget the pact of absolute obedience he had just signed: although a finger would be enough to kill the golden-eyed youth, it would merely take a thought for the boy to accomplish the same thing to its scaly ass!

Still, to think it had actually fallen for it twice... not only was it defeated by the Evil Saint a thousand years ago, it had just been fooled a second time by a cultivator at the mere Inferior stage!

Face? What about it? What's 'face'? Oh, you mean those swollen butt-cheeks attached to his neck? Yeah, that might still count as face anatomically, but he was well aware that his 'Face' had long since been blown into smithereens by that one, resolute slap Xu Ling had figuratively landed on his ugly mug when he had kicked its ass.