STNS: Chapter 553 (Patreon)

The Da Continent was not so different from the Xaio Continent. It was larger--vastly so--and there were far more geographical variations. Some of the areas had abrupt landscape shifts, like a desert suddenly turning into a lush forest, or a swampland shifting into a steep mountain range. The qi here was quite strange. It was thick and heavy, far thicker than most places in the Xaio Continent, which explained why the magical beasts all gathered on this continent. That might have also been the cause of the strange geographical phenomena.

However, while the terrain was different, its people were more similar to humans than not. Many of them had extra features, bird wings, lizard tails, cat ears, but those strange appendages aside, the vast majority could have been mistaken for humans. In fact, many looked indistinguishable from humans. The few who had extra features seemed to have kept them on purpose, though what that purpose is, Zhou Yichen didn’t know.

Zhou Yichen was born to a branch family of the Zhou Clan. He lacked any of the distinguishing traits of the clan, most notably, the beautiful features typically found in well-bred men and women. This was despite both his parents being relatively attractive themselves. Many considered him a disappointment to the clan, and he had lived the vast majority of his young life being isolated from the others. While his fellow clansmen were being trained and treated as though each one was a potential heaven sent genius, he was being ignored.

Until Zhou Zian found him.

Zhou Zian was his master. He was deceased now, having died of old age a few years ago, but he had found Zhou Yichen when he was at his lowest and took him in.

“It is true. You lack the Zhou Clan’s typical beauty… but that in and of itself can be a blessing in disguise. You have an ability few among our clan will ever possess. Learn to utilize it, and your appearance won’t matter in the slightest.”

Zhou Yichen had been suspicious of him at first, but he soon began to undergo training and finally realized what his master had been talking about. His average appearance was, for lack of a better term, forgettable. He was of average height and average build. His short, dusty brown hair was the kind that could be found anywhere. It made blending into crowds easy. To many, he was just a part of the scenery. Their eyes slid over his face and moved on. It was almost like he wasn’t even there.

Once he learned to harness this ability, he became an asset to the clan. Once his talents began to shine, the clan invested resources into his cultivation, helping him reach heights he didn’t think were possible. They also gave him a lot of deferential treatment. Money, women, his own house. He wanted for nothing anymore. When he had first been born and raised by his parents, he hated the Zhou Clan, for they had ignored him, but now? Now he loved the Zhou Clan. They gave him anything he could ask for, so he would do anything for them in return.

That was why he and his partner found themselves on the Da Continent.

Their task was to track down Tiāntáng Meiying. They had scoured the entire Xaio Continent and found neither hide nor hair of her. According some rumors that had been circulating about, even her place in the world lines had vanished completely. Zhou didn’t understand the concept of time so he didn’t know what that meant, but he knew it would make tracking her via normal methods impossible. They had searched the continent, and when they came up empty, their leader had decided that she must be on the Da Continent.

He was chosen for this prestigious mission.

He had been promised great rewards should he succeed.

“Look at these beasts posing at humans. Disgusting,” a voice on his left said.

That is, if his partner didn’t get them killed.

He withheld a grimace and said, “shut your trap. Magical beasts have great senses. If you say the wrong thing here, we will both be killed without a second thought.”

Zhou Lianhua was similar to him--someone with a plain appearance that didn’t fit the Zhou Clan’s beauty aesthetics. Originally trained as a court servant, Zhou Lianhua showed an aptitude for psychological warfare and was soon trained as an interrogation and disguise specialist. She had slightly rounded features, with dull, sun-bleached hair. Her pale, unassuming eyes, with faint shadows, made her seem like the type to never sleep. She even walked with a hunched posture like an old man. Zhou Yichen didn’t know if this was what she actually looked like, however. For all he knew, she was a heaven-defying beauty underneath that plain exterior.

“…”

Zhou Lianhua glared at him, but he stared right back, and she eventually fell silent.

They were currently in Azure Dragon City. According to some rumors they had heard a few months after arriving, there had been some upheaval in this city. A human woman had been set to marry Xie Longshan, the former leader of the Azure Dragon Clan, and another group of humans had rescued her. Zhou Lianhua had used her skills at interrogation to dig deeper and discovered that the woman who had been set to marry the Azure Dragon Clan leader was Hou Jingshu.

Everyone in the Zhou Clan knew of Hou Jingshu by now. She was the Imperial Princess of the now destroyed Shang Kingdom and lover of Wu Jian. During what was now being called The Battle of Three (this is what people called the battle between Loong Chen, Zhe Dāozhe, and Zhou Shíwēi--their clan leader) several years ago, she, Zhou Lihua, Wu Jian, and Wu Meiying along with two others had escaped their clan leader’s grasp through a teleportation portal that warped both time and space.

If Hou Jingshu was here, then Wu Meiying would not be far behind. They had escaped together. His theory was they were still together. Even if they were no longer together, Hou Jingshu should at least have information on Wu Meiying’s potential whereabouts.

Sadly, information on Hou Jingshu became more sparse. It seemed as if she had vanished after the events that transpired at Azure Dragon City. Since Azure Dragon City was the last place she had been seen, he and Zhou Lianhua decided to travel there, to see if they could find her or pick up clues regarding her whereabouts now.

According to the information they had gleaned from interrogation, Azure Dragon City had been completely destroyed, but upon arriving, they discovered that everything had been rebuilt. The city was, in a word, massive.

They entered through a gate that gleamed like polished jade called Dragon’s Mouth Gate. It was the main entrance into the city and the one that most people used. After entering the city, surrounded by massive stone walls, they found themselves surrounded by buildings that towered over them like colossi. Each building was decorated with dragon motifs, flowing waterfalls that descended from rooftops into streaming rivers that ran through canals crisscrossing the city. There were gardens, parks, temples, and bazaars. It was a bustling place. If it wasn’t common knowledge that this city had once been destroyed, he would not have believed it.

“There are too many people. It is going to make finding Tiāntáng Meiying very difficult,” Zhou Lianhua muttered.

Zhou Yichen agreed with her, but he didn’t say anything.

Their first order of business was to find an inn. There were many around here. This city seemed to be a trading hub for the various dragon clans. There were ten dragon clans among the magical beast population. The Flood Dragon Clan, Azure Dragon Clan, Shadow Dragon Clan, Ice Dragon Clan, Flame Dragon Clan, Thunder Dragon Clan, Wood Dragon Clan, Gold Dragon Clan, Earth Dragon Clan, and Sky Dragon Clan. Years ago, the Azure Dragon Clan had been the most powerful, but the position had shifted to the Azure Dragon Clan after an individual known only as The Mysterious Consort, defeated their leader in single combat.

The Mysterious Consort was the title of the man who had arrived to rescue Hou Jingshu. According to both rumor and interrogation, he had single-handedly defeated Xie Longshan, rescued Hou Jingshu, and helped rebuild this city. Little else was known about this person. All people said was that he was married to the so-called Empress of Ten Thousand Scales.

It was like all information on him had been erased.

However, Zhou Yichen was certain that this “Mysterious Consort” was Wu Jian, and the Empress of Ten Thousand Scales had to be Hou Jingshu. If they were both here, then he was certain Tiāntáng Meiying was also somewhere in this city.

Getting past the gate had been easy. Nobody actually stopped them. It seemed you didn’t even need a pass to enter. However…

“There’s a barrier around the city,” Zhou Lianhua said with furrowed brows.

“You felt it too?” Zhou Yichen asked. Zhou Lianhua nodded. He smiled. “I wouldn’t worry too much. You see this necklace here?” He reached into his robes and pulled out a necklace that was simple in design and had a single jade gemstone with a sealing array etched into it. “It makes me invisible to all forms of barriers and even time itself. Just like how Tiāntáng Meiying is invisible to us, we are invisible to her.”

Because Zhou Yichen had not been trained in how to use the Dao of Time, he didn’t understand how it worked exactly, but he at least knew what it did.

And it was that confidence in this necklace of his, granted to him by their leaders, that led to their downfall.

They had been looking for a place to stay when it happened.

First, they had visited an inn, and the innkeeper had observed them before informing the pair that they were fully booked. This happened to the second, third, and fourth in they had visited. Zhou Yichen didn’t understand. It was certainly busy, but there was nothing special happening as far as he could see. In either event, they needed to find a place to stay, and so they were forced deeper into the city, until they were traveling through convoluted alleys with buildings on either side that towered over them, blotting out the sun.

The hair on Zhou Yichen’s neck stood on end and caused him to stop abruptly.

“What is it?” asked Zhou Lianhua.

Zhou Yichen raised a hand for quiet. He closed his eyes and felt the area around them with something similar to a sixth sense. His skills as a tracker gave him an unparalleled sense for danger, and right now, they were going haywire. He could see nothing out of the ordinary, however.

Whoever these people are, they are good.

“We’re being followed,” he said at last.

“What?!” Zhou Lianhua shouted, finally losing her calm.

Zhou Yichen was about to shush this woman. He never got the chance. Pain erupted in his back and abdomen, so startling that he almost didn’t register it at first. He glanced down to find something that looked like a shadowy tendril protruding from his stomach. At a glance, it seemed solid, but he could feel that it was made entirely of Qi composed primarily of yin.

Several people dropped from above, while others emerged from the shadows. They were of the dragon race. Their horns, tails, and wings were a dead giveaway. While one group had black scales and dark features, the other had silvery blue scales and features. He couldn’t feel their cultivation.

They’re all stronger than us.

He and Zhou Lianhua were only at the Human Limit Realm. That was considered strong on the Xaio Continent, but it was weak here. Most everyone was at this realm. He thought that would have made him and his partner less suspicious, but it seemed he was wrong.

Zhou Lianhua looked like she was about to escape. Before she could, a woman with bright silvery hair snapped her neck. It all happened so fast that Zhou Yichen felt like he had missed it even though he didn’t blink. He couldn’t tell how powerful this woman was, but he knew that her powers far exceeded theirs. She turned to him, and his eyes bulged when he felt her intent press on him. It wasn’t killing intent. It was like she was looking at him as something other than human, like he was a bug, and she a giant.

“It seems the Advisor was right. Good job missing his vitals. Take him away,” she ordered.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Zhou Yichen didn’t even have time to weasel his way out of this before something slammed into him, and all he knew was darkness.