Great Demon - Chapter 12

Can it still be called a dragon without horns? Zhuyou pondered for a long time.

She had never heard of a dragon without horns. But this dragon, covered in black scales from head to toe, indeed had no horns. Not only did it lack horns, but it also looked quite fierce. Perhaps dragons were naturally fierce creatures, unlike birds such as magpies and peafowls.

As she held the small black snake-like dragon in her hand, Zhuyou didn’t know what to say for a moment. She stared at the thin black rope in her palm for a while before asking, “Can you transform into a human?”

Dragons don’t speak, and this one didn’t even open its mouth. Its golden eyes stared steadily at the fallen divine offspring in front of it. Surely it hadn’t become dumb from staying in the egg for too long?

“Mistress, is this truly a dragon?” Hanzhu, never having encountered such a diminutive divine offspring, paused uncertainly.

“Probably,” Zhuyou replied, cradling the dragon in her palm, its weight scarcely noticeable. She extended a thread of spiritual power, seeking to sense the immortal tendons and bones of the dragon. It had been ages since she had felt those within her own body.

Back then, on the Execution Platform, her hands had been tightly bound, her spine racked with unbearable pain, sweat streaming down her forehead. Though she had wanted to scream, she lacked the strength even to cry out as her body was drained of blood. Inch by inch, her tendons and bones had been extracted, while two beams of light slowly detached from her back, falling into the hands of the phoenix-blooded wielder of the knife.

Reflecting on it now, she could only scarcely recall the face of the one who held the knife. It seemed almost comical in hindsight.

The black dragon stared at her intently, indeed without a horn on its head, and not even claws, truly resembling a snake.

A thread of spiritual power wrapped around the black dragon’s body, and its golden vertical pupils narrowed suddenly as the newly wrapped spiritual power was instantly swallowed up.

Hanzhu looked dumbfounded. “This dragon feeds on spiritual power?”

Zhuyou pinched the small head of the black dragon between her two white fingers. The black dragon shook its head uncomfortably but couldn’t break free at all. It felt like scratching her hand and nothing else.

Zhuyou sneered, “All bark and no bite.”

Hanzhu didn’t say anything. Even if this divine offspring was all show and no substance, it was much more powerful than them, demons who had to cultivate really hard to gain human form.

Despite swallowing spiritual power, the black dragon remained extremely weak, unable to break free.

Zhuyou found it strange. Why would the Dragon Clan be so cautious in protecting such an abnormally small dragon? Could it be because this creature was too deformed, afraid of being ridiculed by other races, and thus kept hidden?

It was not impossible to think so. After all, the Dragon Clan valued their reputation the most. Without their dignity, it would be as if the sky had fallen.

She raised her hand, lifting the dragon a bit higher. Just as she was about to draw out another thread of spiritual power to probe, she noticed something wrong—This black dragon had absolutely no trace of divine power.

If it were a divine offspring, it would definitely possess divine power, otherwise, what would differentiate it from lesser demons and devils?

Hanzhu sensed the sudden change in her mistress’ expression and quickly asked, “Mistress, what’s wrong with this dragon?”

A hint of almost imperceptible heartache flashed in Zhuyou’s eyes. But more than heartache, her expression seemed to indicate amusement. “Born with a deficiency in divine power, unable to even transform. This divine offspring is better off not being one.”

Hanzhu was bewildered. “Then this dragon must be a fool, Mistress. Why waste resources raising such a fool in our Grand Hall?”

“No harm done.” Zhuyou released the two fingers pinching the black dragon’s head and instead held its abdomen, tapping with her index finger absentmindedly. “I’m the one raising it, not you.”

Hanzhu immediately put on a smile. “If Mistress raised a fool for the Dragon Clan, and they failed to appreciate it, it would be truly unreasonable.”

“Quite right.” Zhuyou listened with some satisfaction but looked regretful as she tucked the dragon into her arms. This dragon, with not even a speck of divine power and looking like a black snake, might not even be recognized by the dragon race if they saw it.

“Mistress, now that it’s hatched, do you still need to keep it close?” Hanzhu asked cautiously.

Zhuyou was puzzled. “If I don’t keep it close, how will I find it if it runs away?”

Hanzhu could only stay silent.

The eggshell, empty and with a large hole in it, still stood on the soft bed, the flowing light on the eggshell still present.

This silly snake had no trace of spiritual power, yet the spiritual energy on the eggshell remained abundant. Could it be that all the spiritual energy remained in the eggshell, not even a speck brought onto its body?

Silly indeed. So silly and ridiculous. How could such a creature become a divine offspring? It must have accumulated blessings over countless lifetimes.

Zhuyou stuffed the unimpressive black dragon into her clothes. The dragon moved slightly, rubbing against her chest through the inner garment, seeming a bit strange. She pressed down on the squirming little dragon and threatened, “Move again, and I’ll cook you. I haven’t tasted dragon meat yet.”

The dragon immediately stopped moving, looking wilted.

Zhuyou sighed inwardly, thinking its outward appearance looked quite indifferent and spineless.

“Mistress, what should we do with the eggshell?” Hanzhu asked quietly.

Zhuyou raised her hand, and the eggshell on the soft bed instantly fell into her palm. Even though its contents had already emerged, the eggshell still felt heavy. She thought for a moment and said, “Bring me a bowl.”

Confused, Hanzhu conjured up a bowl from her mustard seed. It was a pretty bowl, with a golden rim.

Zhuyou took the bowl and, holding the eggshell, suddenly tightened her grip. The intact eggshell instantly shattered into powder, which the wind swept into the bowl. Originally a large egg, when it was crushed into powder, it couldn’t even fill half a bowl, looking quite pitiful.

Hanzhu swallowed nervously, feeling the abundant spiritual energy in the bowl. Perhaps because it was the egg of a divine offspring, it still contained a hint of the cold dragon aura. She stared at it intently but didn’t dare to harbor any covetous thoughts.

Zhuyou extended the bowl to her servant and shook it.

Hanzhu was shocked. She had never expected her mistress to give her this bowl of powder. Before she could express her gratitude, she heard her mistress say, “Mix the meat of a demonic beast into it and feed it to this dragon.”

“But will this dragon eat demon meat?” Hanzhu’s heart suddenly ached, trembling as she took the bowl, looking at it with regret again and again.

“Even if it doesn’t want to eat, it will have to when it’s hungry.” Zhuyou held the squirming dragon in her clothes and pulled it out.

Hanzhu realized that the dragon’s treatment wasn’t very good after all.

“Hurry up,” Zhuyou urged.

“But… what kind of meat does it eat?” Hanzhu hurriedly asked.

Zhuyou had never raised a dragon before. In her memory, the dragons she had seen in the Heavenly Realm were all celestial beings who could survive without eating or drinking like ordinary humans, so she didn’t know what a newly hatched dragon could eat.

But this little creature couldn’t survive without eating. With no trace of spiritual power, it was like an ordinary black snake, so she assumed it must eat meat.

She pinched the black dragon’s head, lowering her eyes to meet its cold golden gaze. Somehow, even though it was just a powerless little creature in front of her, she felt a tightness in her chest under its gaze.

This little creature seemed to have quite a background. Despite its young age, it had such an intimidating presence, but unfortunately, it was just a disabled dragon.

Zhuyou sneered inwardly, berating herself for being so afraid of this dragon lacking spiritual power. What was there to fear about such a thing? She waved her hand and said, “Just get something and chop it up finely.”

Hanzhu took the bowl and hurriedly went to find demonic beast meat.

The lotus demon squatting at the door saw the door of the Grand Hall open and quickly went forward to greet the passerby. Just as she was about to take advantage and slip inside, she was suddenly struck on the head by a gust of wind.

Hongqu was momentarily dazed. When she turned around and saw Hanzhu smiling mockingly, her temper flared up. But she didn’t dare to confront the servant of the divine offspring at the door of the Grand Hall, so she silently followed behind.

As the lotus demon followed Hanzhu into the Black Wind Forest, she watched in horror as Hanzhu caught a demonic beast and brutally skinned and butchered it on the spot, the scene extremely cruel. For a moment, she felt she shouldn’t have joined the devil’s path.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t eaten meat before, but the scene was too bloody, especially here in the Black Wind Forest, and she couldn’t help feeling terrified.

Hanzhu naturally knew that Hongqu was watching nearby, but she didn’t hide. In front of the lotus demon, she proceeded to handle the demonic beast.

After a while, the lotus demon hiding nearby disappeared, and a shocking rumor began to circulate on Changming Street—The divine offspring living in the Grand Hall is experiencing a decline in spiritual power, and her diabolic markings are fading. Now, she apparently needs to consume food like ordinary humans just to be able to move around.

***

In a corner of the Devil Realm, the divine offspring residing in the Grand Hall was unaware of her weakened state that was akin to ordinary humans.

Zhuyou’s spiritual power had not weakened. After recovering slightly, the phoenix fire in the center of the jasminelike drapery above began to burn fiercely again. Not only did the fire not dim, it even became a bit brighter.

Zhuyou held the black dragon and felt that this little dragon was unlike other newborns, at least it wasn’t soft and flabby.

It wasn’t soft at all, nor did it feel warm to the touch. Its whole body was cold, like snow that couldn’t melt.

She stubbornly continued to feel the black dragon’s spine and rubbed its forehead back and forth. If it had fur, it would have been rubbed off by now.

Without any immortal bones and lacking any bumps on its forehead, it didn’t seem like it would grow horns. If it weren’t for its resemblance to the egg in swallowing spiritual power, Zhuyou would have thought she had the wrong dragon.

The black dragon stared at her, seemingly accustomed to being touched and not struggling anymore, just foolishly allowing it.

Zhuyou sighed deeply, feeling indignant for the Dragon Clan. How could such a beautiful egg hatch into a waste, both useless and foolish?

After a while, Hanzhu, who had gone out to find demonic beast meat, finally returned. She nervously mixed the meat with the powder from the dragon egg and entered the Grand Hall.

Zhuyou reached out and took the bowl from Hanzhu’s hands. She then pressed the head of the black dragon and unceremoniously dunked its small head into the bowl.

The black dragon initially tried to twist its head away, but then obediently started eating, as if it had smelled the spiritual energy in the bowl.

Hanzhu stared in astonishment. “So divine offsprings also eat meat.”

Zhuyou propped up her chin, her silver hair cascading over her shoulders. The gruesome scar on her bent elbow was particularly striking, running all the way to her slender wrist.

After eating for a while, the black dragon suddenly raised its cold eyes toward Zhuyou, who was watching it intently.

“Are you full already?” Zhuyou was about to tap its head when she suddenly noticed that the demonic beast meat in the bowl hadn’t decreased much, but the spiritual energy was completely gone.

“It’s quite picky. If it continues like this, I don’t know if it will grow properly.” Hanzhu was nervous. Such disobedience couldn’t be tolerated.

Zhuyou saw the black dragon’s unblinking golden eyes and reached out to flick its head, but her finger suddenly stung. Without warning, the dragon’s mouth had snapped open and bitten her hand. She withdrew her hand, flinging the black dragon that had bitten her back into the bowl.

“If it doesn’t grow properly, then let’s just get rid of it.” It was unclear if she was speaking out of frustration.

Hanzhu saw blood oozing from Zhuyou’s fingertip and almost fainted from anger. “This dragon is already causing trouble right after hatching. What kind of rebellious acts will it commit in the future?”

Author’s note
Changying: I dare