When the Evil Dragon appeared in the World, it did not rush to kill, but instead went downstream, charging directly toward the Three Gorges Dam.
The Three Gorges Dam stood like an iron fortress upon the rolling Yangtze River, using its body of steel to resist the floodwaters alone.
The Evil Dragon galloped through the water, moving like a shifting mountain. Its rock-solid bone layer gave it the strength to trade blows head-on with steel. With a deafening crash, the Evil Dragon slammed fiercely into the dam, instantly sending shards of stone flying everywhere.
The Evil Dragon battered the dam without stopping. Before long, the dam let out a mournful groan as its load-bearing walls buckled under the unbearable strain and shattered. This marvel of water conservancy engineering in human history collapsed, symbolizing the complete descent of disaster.
Inside the control room, a man quietly watched as the space around him shattered, plunging alone into the darkness.
People in the distance witnessed the scene, frozen in place at a loss. The tide crashed against buildings, mingling with a cacophony of sounds as pitch-black clouds pressed down from the heavens and torrential rain poured down wildly.
An eerie wind howled, sweeping all sorts of objects up into the air. Amidst the despair of the people, a wisp of dark hair drifted into the black wind, arriving here unnoticed.
Another roar echoed between heaven and earth—the determination of another creature existing in myth. Immediately afterward, a figure soared into the sky, rising like a star of hope.
"A dragon! It's a legendary dragon!"
"It's real! We're saved!"
"Look, there's a person on top of the dragon's head!"
"That must be a savior sent by the heavens to rescue us."
...
Life finally returned to the people's ashen eyes; they saw hope.
Xi watched this scene unfold, feeling a sense of déjà vu, though he truly could not remember ever experiencing such an event.
"Little Yinglong, let's go!"
Yinglong's body nearly covered half the sky, radiating an imposing and majestic aura. The rolling Yangtze River surged eastward, and the dragon's might shook the four seas and all directions. No one could gaze directly upon the legend, save for a select few.
Returning to a few minutes prior, just as Xi was about to be submerged by the water, Little Yinglong suddenly appeared and pulled him up. Through this, Xi also learned of much older events.
Centuries ago, the Dragon Hunt War broke out, rendering the already scarce dragon race critically endangered. Little Yinglong had been ordered by the Dragon Lord to guard the evil spirits here, which was how it escaped catastrophe. Later on, the so-called Night-Shining Pearl turned out to be the dragon ball of a fallen dragon.
Sigh... The Dragon Hunt War, everything was shrouded in doubt...
Returning to the present, heaven and earth were occupied by two giant beasts, facing each other from afar.
With a single breath from Yinglong, the rain stopped. Countless tiny droplets of water froze in mid-air, ignoring any commands shouted by the Evil Dragon below. When it came to water control, Yinglong was the true grandmaster.
The Evil Dragon let out a sky-shaking roar, its massive body charging forward with the unstoppable momentum of a high-speed train. Refusing to yield, Yinglong transformed into a sharp sword and dove straight down.
"Roar." The Emperor of Water issued a single command to punish the disrespectful!
The suspended water droplets began to drift, chaotically forming a "wild blizzard." Formless water transformed into tangible shapes—some turning into sharp swords, others into heavy hammers... Suddenly, a domain of watery marshland materialized across the sky.
In the initial clash, Yinglong had the upper hand. The Evil Dragon was forced back, its flesh peeled outward as a mist of blood churned.
However, Xi knew that the Evil Dragon belonged to an ancient dragon species, and most ancient dragons possessed formidable and bloodthirsty physiques; the heavier their injuries, the more it would provoke their primal bloodlust.
Sure enough, as the battle progressed, Yinglong gradually grew fatigued, while the Evil Dragon became increasingly ferocious. Scarlet claws left bloody gash after bloody gash across Yinglong's body.
Dodging Yinglong's fatal tail whip, the Evil Dragon clamped its jaws onto the tail, hoisted it high into the air, and slammed it heavily onto the ground before unleashing a long-accumulated burst of withered-blood dragon breath.
At such close range, Little Yinglong had no time to mount an effective defense. Blood flames burned across Little Yinglong's body, impossible to extinguish even with water. As long as its blood remained unexhausted, the fire would burn on endlessly.
"Yoo—"
The prolonged cry forced the Evil Dragon to remain vigilant. Instead of pressing its advantage, it clamped all its scales tightly together, entering defensive mode.
Amidst the boundless mist, a hazy figure appeared. Her tiny frame seemed far too minuscule before the Evil Dragon, but she showed no fear. Ice crystals condensed around her, and a bone-chilling frost spread outward with her at the center. The frenzied giant waves seemed as though they had been struck by a pause button, entering a world of ice and snow.
As the ice spread, crystal flowers bloomed across the water's surface, suddenly whipping up a blizzard. Compared to the shocking spectacle of a thousand miles frozen in ice, the wind remained invisible. The two forces checked and balanced each other in the air, neither able to overcome the other. The colossal Evil Dragon was trapped, its whole body's blood frozen solid like blossoming crimson ice flowers.
Realizing the situation was turning unfavorable, the Evil Dragon decisively charged toward the crowd. As a dragon of evil spirits, devouring humans could strengthen itself.
To save its life, it opened its scarlet mouth and spat out a pearl. The moment the pearl touched the air, it burst into a dazzling light, causing the bone-chilling frost to retreat as if facing its natural predator.
The people were no fools and immediately began to flee. But how could they outrun the Evil Dragon? Before long, they were about to be caught, and panic rippled through the crowd once more.
"Someone save me! I don't want to die yet..."
"Wahahaha X﹏X"
"Great Wind Seal." A massive magical seal suddenly appeared above the crowd, and a hand formed from cyan spiritual energy pressed down heavily upon the Evil Dragon, making it look as though the beast had smashed into it of its own accord.
"Roar, roar, roar..." The Evil Dragon thrust its head upward, meeting the seal head-on. The seal flickered unsteadily, on the verge of shattering and instilling despair.
Suddenly, an illusory white handprint flew out from among the crowd, joining the Great Wind Seal to resist the Evil Dragon's might.
Seeing itself held up, the Evil Dragon felt a desire to retreat and intended to—
Just then, Yinglong caught up, flapping its wings as dozens of chains emerged and coiled through the air. The chains slithered like snakes, piercing into the Evil Dragon's flesh and wrapping tightly around it.
Golden specks of light gathered along the chains, driving the power of sealing into the Evil Dragon's body. Yinglong beat its wings, soared into the sky, and after putting Xi down, plunged headfirst into the water, whereupon the floodwaters receded and vanished.
"Whoa! The legends are true—there really are dragons in this world!"
"Get out of here, I only believe in science."
"Who knows where those two palm strikes came from? That was so cool, I want to apprentice under them."
...
Having escaped catastrophe, the people relaxed. They engaged in heated debates over the shocking spectacle, arguing until the discussion escalated into a conflict between materialism and theism.
"Stop arguing! At least we survived."
The arguing crowd instantly quieted down.
"Yeah, it's great to be alive!"
...
Ignoring the crowd, Xi walked along the direction of his memories. Under the moonlight, the youth ran against the stars.
At some point, a rainbow hung across the sky, as bright as the neon lights of a bustling downtown district. Even more surprising was that the rainbow possessed twelve colors.
Neko sat upon the rainbow, and seeing Xi arrive, immediately bounded into his arms...