Chapter 302: Guardian Dragon
When the elderly white-bearded man heard the names Shang-Chi and Xialing, he had initially planned to drive them away directly.
However, the shock brought upon him by the young man who claimed to be their boss was too great. Facing someone who was welcomed by all the descendants of divine beasts, he didn't have the courage to put on a stern face.
"...You're quite special, kid. You can call me Uncle Guang."
Guang Bo observed Oaks for a moment before turning his gaze to Shang-Chi and Xialing, who appeared bewildered.
The young man and the girl...
Sighing inwardly, Guang Bo shook his head and instructed the people around him, "Go and fetch Yingnan. There's no need to guard the ancestral hall. The visitors are not enemies."
"Yes!"
Oaks gestured for Shang-Chi and Xialing to remain calm.
Yingnan? Yingli? They're obviously relatives.
In the meantime, Oaks carefully sensed the distinctive weapons held by the Ta Lo villagers across from them.
"Uncle Guang, your weapons are quite interesting... The material seems to be the scales of some powerful creature? Dragon scales?"
Oaks suddenly spoke, causing Guang Bo's gaze to freeze. It was the first time someone had seen through the secret of the Ta Lo weapons at first glance.
"You say you're the boss of these two children? What kind of work do you do?"
Guang Bo couldn't ignore the abnormalities emanating from Oaks, because the feeling he gave off now...
Is extremely similar to that of a great guardian!
But how could that be?!
"I can sense that there is a great presence within that body of water."
Oaks pointed towards the village behind him, causing Guang Bo and the villagers to change their expressions.
"These scales, they come from it, right? The power of the divine dragon, harmonious and filled with majesty and protection...
Shang-Chi, Xialing, it seems that this is indeed the source of your mother's magic power."
Before they could respond, Oaks saw a middle-aged woman in a blue robe rushing towards them from a distance.
So he smiled and nodded to Guang Bo, saying, "I'll leave it to the two children now. The great presence in the water has already sensed my arrival...
It seems I need to pay a visit."
"What..."
Before Guang Bo could react, his eyes widened.
He saw Oaks directly transform into a large bird shimmering with blue light, flapping its wings. In the next moment, it had already appeared on the water's surface!
"Splash!"
Guang Bo felt his neck twist so fast that it made a "crack" sound. The last scene he saw was a strange little creature, pure white and unfamiliar, diving into the water.
"It's quite cute."
He forcibly changed his own thoughts, feeling somewhat perplexed—
According to reason, as a guardian of Ta Lo, he should stop this rash behavior of the person named Oaks Woods and avoid disturbing the great guardian.
But considering the other party's miraculous performance...
"The great guardian didn't show any dissatisfaction, so it should be fine... probably."
Fortunately, Yingnan, the aunt of these two children, arrived just in time, relieving Guang Bo from any further dilemma.
"You two can talk slowly. I'll keep an eye on the water!"
...
While Shang-Chi and Xialing were introducing themselves, the harp seal pup that Oaks transformed into had already dived into the water.
When he arrived in the Ta Lo Realm, Oaks realized that this place was simply a paradise for him. Avalon had been abandoned for many years and still had a sense of lifelessness. The pure vitality here couldn't be compared to it.
Especially with the presence of such a powerful demigod, even stronger than the essence of the Sacred Oak.
That was why Oaks chose to meet this being directly. He believed that he should have a clearer understanding of the situation here than the Ta Lo people.
"Outsider..."
The voice of an ancient and wise soul resonated. In front of Oaks, the water surged, and the eyes of the great presence slowly opened, a flash of gold vanishing beneath the water.
"Hello, Divine Dragon."
Oaks returned to his human form. The transformation into a harp seal was merely to move faster. With his current magical attainment, he wouldn't drown.
"I am Oaks Woods, a druid from the outside world. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"An extraordinary power... Similar to mine, yet different."
The massive head of the divine dragon slowly approached Oaks, and its colossal body formed a circle. The water roared with joy. Under the influence of the dragon's tremendous magic, even an ordinary person wouldn't drown.
Oaks keenly noticed the goodwill of the divine dragon. He smiled happily.
"Based on my knowledge, an existence like you, who stirs Nature Energy with the essence of a powerful life force, is called a 'natural demigod'...
It seems your power leans more toward water, destruction of evil, and protection. It reminds me of another dragon demigod. The power you bestowed upon the people on the shore is quite familiar to me."
What Oaks was referring to was one of the four August Celestials of Pandaria, Yu'lon, the Jade Serpent.
The "Chi" of the monks in Azeroth was also imparted by one of the August Celestial, Xuen, the White Tiger. It was essentially the same as the "Dragon Power" bestowed upon the Ta Lo villagers by the divine dragon.
However, upon closer perception, Oaks felt that the life essence of the divine dragon wasn't as strong as it appeared.
It seemed as if it were still recovering from a severe injury.
"So, there are others who are similar to me... That's good news."
The soul language of the divine dragon conveyed an undisguised joy:
"Oaks Woods... I can feel the pure natural aura emanating from you. Are you here for Ta Lo's cultivation?"
"I was actually thinking about it..."
Oaks helplessly explained the cause and effect of the matter to the divine dragon:
"I just saw the gateway. It's sealed with your dragon scales, right? Are you injured? Could you tell me the story of this place?"
"The Dweller-in-Darkness... This dark resident has finally gathered enough power to attempt to break the seal."
The divine dragon fell silent for a moment, and its soul language conveyed infinite determination:
"We absolutely cannot let it succeed!"
"Thousands of years ago, Ta Lo already had human civilization. They built cities and had a rich culture and history. However, at that time, Ta Lo was not as completely sealed off as it is now."
The divine dragon stretched its body and began explaining the situation in Ta Lo to Oaks:
"Various divine beasts coexisted harmoniously, making this space teeming with life... However, four thousand years ago, the Soul Eaters, beings from an unknown plane, suddenly broke through the space and appeared here.
It feeds on the souls of sentient beings, including humans and our divine beasts.
It has numerous subordinates to aid them in battle and collect souls, acting as a solitary army.
The human inhabitants of Ta Lo were caught off guard and devoured in large numbers, making them nearly unbeatable.
Among the divine beasts, only my power as a divine dragon can effectively counter the Soul Eaters. Thus, I became the main force while the divine beasts and the remaining humans of Ta Lo joined forces, paying a heavy price to defeat the Dweller-in-Darkness.
However, we couldn't completely eliminate their immense power, so we could only seal them behind the Dragon Scale Gate. Over time, their strength has gradually diminished."
Upon hearing this, Oaks's expression became grave. The divine dragon mentioned that there were other divine beasts in Ta Lo, right?
"Ta Lo is an independent space, although not very large, it has a complete natural cycle, which has caught my attention..."
Ta Lo was much smaller compared to the outside world, but even so, its ecosystem was incredible—
It was the perfect template that Oaks had been searching for all this time!
Isn't the Gaia Mirror Consciousness created for this kind of template?
Despite its size, Ta Lo, although with very few humans, gave rise to several natural demigods!
Those were the "other divine beasts" mentioned by the divine dragon.
"Ta Lo has experienced a great war. How did you manage it?"
"...Behind the gate is the passage through which the Soul eaters came to Ta Lo.
The three strongest divine beasts—Phoenix, Qilin, and Nine-Tailed Fox—sacrificed themselves to completely destroy that passage, leaving only me, who can counter the Soul Eaters' attributes, to guard the sealed gate."
A trace of nostalgia flashed in the divine dragon's massive eyes:
"So, Ta Lo appears normal now, but it is even more isolated from the outside world. Their legacy has allowed the internal ecosystem to sustain itself.
The Soul Eaters are sealed behind the gate and cannot return to their dimension of origin. Over the years, they should have lost much of their power.
Although I haven't fully recovered, at least things haven't worsened. Dealing with them should still be manageable!"
"But it can rapidly restore its state by devouring the souls of living beings."
Oaks finally understood why the legendary bloodlines of divine beasts were reduced to descendants, and why the Ta Lo Realm had no "Rulers" or similar controllers—
The three natural demigods sacrificed themselves to destroy the passage, reinforcing the space and allowing this pocket dimension to sustain its ecological cycle for four thousand years without any abnormalities.
But the being behind the gate was obviously not so easily dealt with.
"For centuries, people have continuously tried to open that gate, but they always failed..."
The soul language of the divine dragon resonated once again:
"The common factor among them is that they were tempted by the voices behind the gate.
It seems that even though the dimensional passage was destroyed, the Soul Eaters still have a means of transmitting some information across space.
No matter what methods the previous individuals used, they couldn't shake the seal. But now, it's different. Perhaps this is their closest chance to succeed!"
"You mean the Ten Ring has the ability to destroy that gate?"
Oaks realized that the people of Ta Lo should be aware of the Ten Ring, so the divine dragon couldn't be unaware either.
"That's right, it is an exceptionally powerful artifact that contains immense power. Last time it approached Ta Lo, I could feel it even across space. It has the ability to break the Soul Eaters' seal!"
"So, you rejected its owner from coming to Ta Lo to avoid the influence of the Ten Ring..."
Oaks fully understood, but then he noticed another crucial point:
"You said you can feel the power of the Ten Ring here?"
"That's right, because the girl who inherited my power activated the Ten Ring—
My power can also control the Ten Ring, indicating that the seal formed under the dominance of my power is powerless against the Ten Ring—
And the Soul Eater has obviously realized this."
The divine dragon's golden eyes looked at Oaks:
"But perhaps this time, with you here, we have a chance to completely resolve this trouble."
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