Chapter 1823 - Return of the Dragon Monarch (1/2)

Partially Edited Chapter - Rubble

The Dragon Monarch hadn’t tried to conceal his presence when he returned to the Dragon God Realm. Therefore, every dragon god was instantly made aware of his existence.

“Your Majesty, you’ve finally returned!”

“... the Northern Divine Region is stronger than we could’ve imagined. The Eastern Divine Region was completely crushed. The Eternal Heaven Realm was massacred.The Moon God Realm was destroyed. The Brahma Monarch Realm submitted to the devils to preserve themselves…”

“Yun Che is now as strong as a God Emperor!”

“The devil race possesses three old and terrifying monsters. The two Brahma Monarch God Emperors who were thought to be deceased, Qianye Wugu and Qianye Bingzhu have reemerged and sided with the devil race! We now have confirmation that the Brahma Monarch Realm was hiding the Primordial Seal of Life and Death, and that they’ve found a way to use it!”

“The Southern Sea Realm was destroyed in a single day. The Southern Divine Region was so scared that Deep Sea, Xuanyuan and Purple Micro all surrendered to the devil race without resisting.”

“Ash was killed! Big brother was injured by the Devil Queen and is still recuperating…”

“Your Highness, Crimson Destruction… is too ashamed to see you!”

“All the realms of the Western Divine Region are ready for combat. We only need your orders and your leadership now, Your Majesty…”

………....

The eight dragon gods’ sound transmissions entered his ears in rapid succession. He could hear their excitement, joy, regret… the chaos was unprecedented. It was obvious how serious the situation had become.

The Dragon Monarch didn’t give them a reply, however. His expression and even his eyes didn’t change in the slightest.

He slowly and soundlessly walked toward a certain destination. He was the supreme ruler of the current world, and yet he tiptoed as if he was terrified of disturbing something… or someone.

A long time later, he came to a stop.

An imposing draconic barrier that isolated everything—aura, light, sound and more—stood in front of him.

Any living being who came within five hundred kilometers of the barrier would immediately be struck by a sense of terror. They wouldn’t dare to take even a single step forward.

It was because the barrier had been laid down by none other than himself. The draconic aura circulating the barrier was his own aura.

Not only that, he had injected a small amount of his soul into the barrier. If someone tried to break through the barrier, he would be alerted immediately unless he was in the God Realm of Absolute Beginning.

He was certain that no one had so much as touched the barrier, however.

There were a lot of dragon slayers in this world, but none were foolish enough to provoke the Dragon Monarch himself.

As a result, no one knew what had transpired in the world inside the barrier.

The Dragon Monarch raised his hand quietly, and a gap about 3.5 meters tall appeared in front of him.

He exhaled once and stepped in. The gap vanished the second he stepped through, giving no one any chance to peek through it.

The Dragon Monarch stood where he was and stared at the white light in front of him for a very, very long time.

The light belonged to the barrier of the Forbidden Land of Samsara, a barrier that had existed for over two hundred thousand years. It was quiet, pure, flawless and eternal. The power used to construct it was a class above all else, and yet it wasn’t intimidating in the slightest. In fact, it cleansed the mind and soul like the purest water in the entire universe.

But that was no longer the case.

Only a couple of years had passed since that day, and yet it had become weak, fragile, and almost non-existent. The barrier was now so thin that it looked like a wisp that could disappear at any moment.

An entire hour later, Long Bai finally stepped forward.

The surroundings had changed completely as well.

The elements were no longer gentle, the air no longer felt fresh, the wind no longer felt comfortable, and the soil no longer smelled intoxicating.

The cloud that usually frolicked across the grass was completely gone. The chirping birds and dancing butterflies were nowhere to be seen, and even the spirit flowers and plants that covered the ground had wilted away.

The Forbidden Land of Samsara was just a place where the Well of Samsara was located. It wasn’t a fairyland from the beginning.

It was Shen Xi’s presence that had turned it into a fairyland.

Now that she was gone, all that was left was a rapidly wilting garden, and a well that had been dead for eternity.

For the past two hundred thousand years or so, one look at Shen Xi was all it took to fill him with infinite joy and satisfaction. Nothing seemed insurmountable to him as long as she was around.

Now she wasn’t. Not anymore. Perhaps forever.

“Listen, Long Bai… If anything… anything… were to happen to Xi’er…”

“I will give up the light… turn into a devil… and make you suffer through every torture that exists in the world!”

“I will spill your blood and scatter your ashes… to every corner of this God Realm… so that you will be stepped on by every living creature in the world for all eternity!!”

Long Bai raised his head with his eyes tightly shut. His facial muscles were clearly writhing in agony.

Every day without fail, Shen Xi’s tearful, hate-filled curses would resound in his mind and soul a million times.

The way she had looked at him especially felt like the world’s cruelest, most poisonous blade gouging his heart again, and again, and again… never-ending.

Another unknown period of time later, he finally arrived at the center of the Forbidden Land of Samsara, former home of Shen Xi.

The bamboo house she once lived in had crumbled into a floor of dead bamboo.

Suddenly, he picked up a few wisps of pure spirit energy. He glanced to the side and saw a clump of still living spirit plants swaying to the wind.

These spirit flowers were the lowest existence in this tiny world, and yet they had captured his eyes like Shen Xi herself.

Heart suddenly beating a lot faster, he strode toward the bush until he suddenly lost strength in his legs and stumbled to the ground. The knees that had never bent to anyone crushed a couple of flowers and leaves and sank into the soft soil. [1]①

At the center of the bush of flowers was a pool of dry blood. A couple of years had passed since that day, and yet they were still giving off faint auras of light… for a moment, the aura that belonged to Shen Xi and Shen Xi alone filled up every corner of his soul.

He unconsciously extended a hand toward the blood stains, fingers shaking and swaying uncontrollably. Right before he was about to make contact though, he abruptly withdrew his hand and… bent down like some sort of dying fish that was thrown into a dried pond. He was inhaling the scent like his very life depended on it.

No one would ever believe that the Dragon Monarch, the unparalleled master of this word, would be capable of such an ugly, and even disgusting act unless they saw it with their own eyes.

A long time later, he suddenly stopped his mad breathing and dropped on one side of his body. He curled up like a prawn and lifted his shivering right hand into view.

This was the arm that had hurt Shen Xi that year.

A relationship that lasted three hundred thousand years, and a dream that lasted over two hundred thousand years… gone in an instant.

There was Shen Xi, and then… there was no more.