Chapter 0415: The Golden Dragon-Serpent
In Xuanhuang Town, countless citizens stared at the void in utter shock.
No one could have imagined that the final bolt of heavenly tribulation would be so domineering and terrifying, utterly destroying the entire Fish-Dragon in a single strike. Such destructive power was truly astounding. With the Spirit of Fortune shattered and scattered, didn't this mean... the tribulation had failed?
This promotion—had ended in total failure.
For a moment, it felt as if an endless abyss had opened in everyone's hearts, dragging their spirits downward.
A formless pressure loomed over the entire town, and tears even welled up in some of the townspeople's eyes.
"If even a place like Xuanhuang Town, with such accumulated fortune, can't survive the heavenly tribulation and ascend to city status, then who can?"Many village lords turned pale, their bodies trembling. A crushing pressure bore down on them.
It was despair.
Xuanhuang Town's foundations had already left them in awe. Its vast Fortune, enough to blot out the sky and sun, had even birthed such a powerful Fortune Spirit—yet it still got blasted to pieces.
There was no hope in sight.
ROAR!!
Just as despair consumed all hearts, from within the Cloud of Fortune in the sky, a resonant dragon's roar echoed. A speck of golden light emerged—it was a drop of blood, a drop of golden blood. From within the blood came a dragon's cry, as streams of fortune surged toward it like tidal waves. The pressure emanating from the drop of blood was even more fearsome than that of the Fish-Dragon.
It exuded a rich, vibrant life force.
SWISH!!
A dazzling divine light descended from the heavens, enveloping the drop of blood. Mysterious energies continuously poured into it.
In that moment, an extraordinary transformation occurred.
Under the divine light, Fortune poured into the blood, causing it to quickly evolve, reforming into a golden Fish-Dragon. But within the divine radiance, the Fish-Dragon underwent a further metamorphosis—its body changing rapidly, turning into a massive golden serpent, covered in shining golden scales. The transformation was visible to the naked eye.
In mere moments, it had become a golden giant serpent nearly nine meters long, radiating an invisible pressure. It roared, and the sound was that of a dragon's cry. Atop its head, a short golden horn could be seen.
This was no ordinary serpent—It was a Dragon-Serpent. ✴️
Bathed in heavenly light, the Dragon-Serpent looked utterly enraptured, its body glowing even more brilliantly.
The entire process—from Fish-Dragon to Dragon-Serpent—unfolded clearly before every cultivator and citizen.
"It really succeeded… it became a Dragon-Serpent!""The Fish-Dragon has transformed! The Fortune Spirit is evolving!""My heart nearly gave out earlier—I thought it had been destroyed. Who could have expected this?"
The townspeople were on an emotional rollercoaster, their hearts leaping in fright and relief. Though they didn't fully understand what had happened, it was obvious that this tribulation had ended in success, and the transformation to a Dragon-Serpent was now undeniable.
"The Fortune Spirit—so long as its fortune persists—cannot die. But to survive heavenly tribulation, one also needs unyielding willpower, an indomitable spirit.That will is granted by the lord of fortune, by the people themselves, and by the spirit of the town.Strong people breed strong will. If the people are weak, the spirit is weak. Once shattered under the tribulation, it can never reform."
Yi Tianxing watched as the golden Dragon-Serpent continuously absorbed fortune, breathing a sigh of relief.
The Fortune Spirit was hard to kill—so long as fortune remained, it could recover even from grievous injury. However, tribulation lightning was different—it was infused with the will of heaven and earth, capable of obliterating the spirit's very will. Once broken, it could never be reformed.
But Xuanhuang Town's people were valiant and martial, fearless before beasts or foreign races. Even death did not shake them. This unyielding spirit was what had sustained the Fortune Spirit, allowing it to reconstruct itself and survive the tribulation.
ROAR!!
The Golden Dragon-Serpent soared joyously through the sky, its bloodline transforming. Its true dragon blood was becoming ever purer. This was a major step toward becoming a true dragon.
After circling through the sky, it dove rapidly toward Xuanhuang Town—or rather, now it should be called Xuanhuang City—vanishing into the core space.
It appeared directly in the Pool of Fortune.
There, a mysterious force caused the pool to expand at an incredible rate.
From nine zhang in diameter, it rapidly grew:
Eighteen zhang!Twenty-five zhang!Thirty-seven zhang!…In just a few breaths, it expanded to eighty-one zhang, becoming more a lake or reservoir than a pool. Its sheer scale made people feel minuscule.
The once-overflowing fortune now barely made a ripple in this vast pool.
The Golden Dragon-Serpent gleefully plunged into the Fortune Pool, swimming with excitement.
Within the pool, the phantom spring grew more solid, beginning to take on tangible form.
The white fortune water in the pool surged toward the spring like a bottomless pit, being consumed rapidly. The entire pool began to drain as all the Fortune in the air was swept clean.
The Dragon-Serpent circled the spring, excitement gleaming in its gaze.
Yi Tianxing stood quietly beside the pool, watching it drain completely.
Then, as the final drop was absorbed, the spring reversed direction, now spinning clockwise.
From within, a stream of liquid erupted forth.
But this was no longer the white fortune water.
It was red—blood red, vibrant and pure.
It looked not like water, but blood, flowing in purest form. The Fortune Pool, now filled with this red fortune, began rapidly filling once more.
This was the accumulation of over a year of Xuanhuang's hard-earned fortune.
"Red fortune—this marks the transition from town to city.But to continue accumulating now will be much harder. And to evolve this city into a Royal City, who knows how long that will take?But once that stage is reached—one can declare oneself a king, and establish a kingdom.That's when the true path of fortune cultivation begins."
Yi Tianxing took a deep breath. It was now time to start absorbing nearby villages. Only by expanding territory could fortune accumulate faster and bring about the next transformation.
As the Fortune Pool evolved, so did the city.
The massive plaque at Xuanhuang's heart shone with radiant light, growing even taller.
Within the Palatial Tree, mysterious powers surged. The Town Lord's Mansion began expanding at visible speed. Even the Palatial Tree's trunk and branches grew wildly, stretching across the sky like a canopy.
In the blink of an eye, the mansion grew tenfold:
New gardens, courtyards, audience halls—all appeared in majestic form.The space grew vast and wondrous, with white clouds drifting among treetop palaces.It now resembled a celestial estate in the heavens, far from the mortal realm.
In the sky, red light glowed.
"The fortune has turned red, like the blazing sun.From this day forward—this is Xuanhuang City." ✴️
Master Lu raised his eyes to the sky. But instead of joy, a look of concern filled his eyes.
In the void, though the Tribulation Cloud had dispersed, a black mist, invisible to most, still lingered above.
From it came an overwhelming sense of ominous dread.
"The heavenly tribulation only targets the Fortune Spirit.Now that the spirit has evolved and the town is a city,the true calamity may now follow."
Huang Chengyan's expression grew grim. He, too, sensed an intense looming crisis.
On the city wall, a figure suddenly appeared.
"My lord!!"Master Lu, Jia Xu, and others bowed immediately.
"The ascension is complete. But the true disaster may yet come.We don't know what form it will take, but we must be ready.Tell the soldiers to be alert."
Yi Tianxing inhaled deeply and issued his command.
He still remembered vividly the siege of the undead during the last promotion. If advancing from a village to a town could bring such disaster, how much more so would the rise to a city?
A chilling stillness spread through the air.
The citizens, far from relaxing, tensed up again. Many had lived through the last disaster. They knew—it wasn't over.
Above Xuanhuang City, in the void—
Invisible strands of black mist gathered. From them radiated a sense of ominous dread.
And then—without warning—a pitch-black portal, unseen by mortal eyes, suddenly opened.