Chapter Seventy-Nine: A Dream-Borne Message

The black dragon didn’t press for more answers—after all, it hadn’t yet mastered “Mage’s Hand,” so it lacked any means to subject the heart to a harsh interrogation. For now, it could only let the matter rest, giving the heart a demerit and planning to deal with it more thoroughly another time.

Its attention soon returned to the phoenix. After the totemic fire within the creature had been ignited, it gave no reaction, not even a word of thanks, and simply stood there, falling asleep.

“Well, that makes sense… Many birds do sleep standing up; it’s only when laying eggs or raising offspring that they use their nests,” the black dragon mused, then began to mutter with heartfelt earnestness, “Oh, bird, I’ve paid a great price to help you, shouldering tremendous risk!”

“…You must always be grateful, always remember to repay kindness!”

“I’m not asking for your lifelong devotion, but working for me for a mere century or so… Surely that’s not too much to ask?”

“Besides, you won’t be working for free—I’ll strictly follow labor laws, pay you wages, grant you proper leave…”

“….”

Muttering on, the black dragon began to feel drowsy, so it lay down in the phoenix’s nest and drifted off to sleep.

When it opened its eyes again, it realized something was wrong. As a powerful extraordinary creature, the black dragon’s stamina was nearly inexhaustible; unless it consciously desired sleep, it could go a day, a month, even a year without rest and never feel fatigued.

So why had it suddenly become sleepy just now?

…Oh, it was being summoned by a dream again. That explained it.

Seeing the temple emerge from the darkness, the black dragon understood at once.

“…It doesn’t seem to be Heberneion. Who could it be?”

Peering closer, the dragon was surprised to note that the materials of this temple were not gold, but a black metal.

“It looks like iron, and it exudes a strong aura of decay and ruin…” The black dragon couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for the temple’s owner—this god must have fallen on hard times.

“Come to think of it… why do these deities insist on contacting me through dreams? Can’t they just speak to me across the void directly?” The black dragon fell into contemplation. Were they afraid of exposing themselves and being traced by him…?

Or was it that, when he was awake, his mind’s firewall was too strong for their signals to get through?

The black dragon didn’t rush into the temple to see its mysterious owner. Instead, it wandered around the plaza in front. It rather enjoyed the sensation of being inside a dream.

After all, dreaming is one of life’s great pleasures—thought freed from the body’s constraints, weaving and savoring beautiful visions, like the butterfly dreaming of Zhuangzi, soaring in boundless reverie…

Even if most dreams are forgotten upon waking, that fleeting sense of gain and loss remains a delightful seasoning in the feast of life.

Sadly, since becoming a black dragon, Huang Ze had rarely dreamed. Its brain cells were so stubborn, it barely dreamed at all—and even sleep itself had lost much of its pleasure.

“I wonder if I can eat this…” The black dragon ambled about without finding anything of interest, then set its sights on the black metal on the ground.

It dug up a lump of black iron with its claws and popped it into its mouth to chew.

What ill intent could a black dragon possibly have? It was simply acting in the spirit of research, wishing only to study whether this black metal really was iron, and whether it was edible…

It certainly wasn’t because of greed—or a fondness for petty theft!

Within seconds, the black dragon began to spit violently, utterly revolted.

“Absolutely disgusting…”

Even with its notoriously dull taste buds, the black dragon was shocked by the flavor of the black metal—not only was it bitter, astringent, and numbing, with an overpowering taste of rust, but worse yet, it was actively corroding the inside of the dragon’s mouth!

“It’s numb, truly numb!” The black dragon retched for several minutes before it finally regained its composure, filled with regret and lingering fear. It silently swore never to eat strange things again.

Then it marked another major demerit for its heart. Such a dangerous substance, and not a single warning! Though the black dragon knew that, when drawn into a dream by a deity, the heart would retreat into dormancy—perhaps fearing detection by the god.

But if the heart didn’t take the blame, would the brain have to? That wouldn’t do at all!

…

“My actions have been so obvious, and yet the owner of this place hasn’t responded?” The black dragon belatedly sensed something odd. It glanced around cautiously and, seeing nothing amiss, grew curious.

It had just stolen a bite of the temple’s building materials and spat all over the floor—a flagrant act of sacrilege by any measure…

If the owner had any temper at all, they should have come out to punish him by now.

Yet the temple doors remained tightly shut, the air still thick with desolation and ruin, as though this place were an ancient, forgotten sanctuary.

And yet the black dragon could clearly sense that the temple’s master was within, waiting for him.

“So this mysterious being is broad-minded enough to tolerate my blasphemy?” The black dragon couldn’t help but sigh—if only his ancestor, the Dragon God Heberneion, were so patient, he could have snuck in and gnawed on the gold inside that temple.

After wandering a little longer, the black dragon finally decided, since he was here, he might as well meet the master of the place.

He barged through the temple doors and immediately noticed a massive black bird sprawled on the ground, barely clinging to life.

A phoenix?

He recognized it instantly and paused in surprise—

So this temple belonged to the Phoenix King?

Wait… the ancestor of the phoenix clan wasn’t called the Phoenix God, but the Phoenix King!

Unlike the Dragon God Heberneion, this being didn’t possess a divine spark, but instead ruled a vast domain in the Abyss—a powerful abyssal lord.

Why had it summoned him here?

Friend or foe?

Judging by its condition, it seemed seriously injured. Should he take this opportunity to finish it off, to loot some treasures?

The black dragon’s mind raced, but then he remembered—this was only a dream. Even if he killed the Phoenix King here, there would be no loot or materials… best not to bother.

Just then, the Phoenix King—hundreds of times larger than the phoenix outside—finally began to open its eyes…

Or rather, it opened them, but not entirely.

Its left eye was crippled, and the right was shrouded in thick black mist, looking for all the world like cataracts, severely impairing its vision.

Yet even so, it fixed its gaze firmly on the black dragon.

Thou shalt not look upon a god!

The thought shot through the black dragon’s mind. Though this being was not strictly speaking a god, its rank was certainly not inferior.

At his current level, he clearly couldn’t afford to play games like “What are you looking at?”

Yet just as the dragon tried to avert its gaze, something changed.