Chen Wentian flew deeper into the Sawtooth Mountains. His destination was a small cave on the side of the tallest peak. It was buried in thick snow but he knew where it was exactly.
With a slight burst of flames, he melted the snow and flew into the cave. After traveling a short distance, he arrived in a large, circular chamber. He hadn't set foot inside here in many years but it felt just like yesterday. He wasn't planning on coming back but the blue dragon soul had wanted to. After breaking through to the Spirit King Realm, the blue dragon's soul had recovered some more of its fragmented memories. There was something it had left behind inside this cave, something it had to retrieve.
Woosh!
A pillar of blue flame emerged from Chen Wentian's body. It coiled in the air and took shape, forming the visage of a blue dragon. The dragon flew around the underground chamber a few times before coming to a rest in the center. It curled up into a spiral, in the same way it had done so many years ago.
Chen Wentian closed his eyes as old memories resurfaced. With their shared soul, the blue dragon's memories were now his as well…
He saw a kingdom of paradise in the sky, existing solely atop giant white clouds. There was even a palace made entirely of pale white crystals that stood upon several clouds. This was Arcadia, the ancestral home of the blue dragons. They were blue like the boundless blue sky. This was the blue dragon Yun Clan, Yun as in celestial cloud.
His name was Yun Xia. His nickname was heroic cloud or, more often, little cloud. He was several hundred years old and yet he was still a young dragon, not even an adolescent. He lived his life without worry. It was a peaceful and blessed existence.
One day, it all changed. The bright blue sky turned black. Lightning flashed across Arcadia and blinding fog crept in from all directions.
It was an attack. Led by the black dragons of the abyssal clan, along with purple dragons wielding lightning flames and poisonous red dragons, they invaded Arcadia from all directions. They started a wholesale slaughter, killing everyone. His friends, his elders, his family members, they fell one by one.
"Yun Xia!" A venerable blue dragon covered in fresh blood roared in fury.
With a burst of blinding blue fire, a black dragon and a purple dragon he had been fighting were heavily injured and forced to flee. The elder blue dragon raced toward Yun Xia and intercepted the red dragon that was about to kill him.
After the red dragon was turned to ash, the elder lifted Yun Xia and pressed a small item into his hand.
"Take this and run! Even if we all have to die, you have to survive!"
"Grandpa!" Yun Xia cried out, wiping away his bloody tears.
"I will block them. Go now!"
With a great surge of spiritual force that could shake the entire sky, the elder pushed Yun Xia and sent him flying far away. The elder then turned around to face the horde of enemies and certain death.
But neither Yun Xia nor his grandfather knew at that time that he was already mortally wounded. Red dragons wielded poisonous flames. They were not too worrisome for adult blue dragons. But for little cloud, it was fatal.
As he flew, he grew weaker and weaker. Endless oceans and strange lands passed by below him. Propelled by his grandfather's strength, he traveled across the whole world until he finally arrived at an unknown mountain range that looked like sawteeth.
Worried about pursuers, Yun Xia flew down and dug a hole to rest. He was so tired. His whole body was wracked by burning pain. His mind was a mess and his heart was bleeding from sorrow.
Arcadia, it was gone. It was all gone. All he had now was himself and that item. He finally took it out to look at it properly. To his surprise, it was the reverse scale of a dragon. What kind of dragon, he didn't know. On the scale were carved a series of words, imbuing it with a peculiar spiritual aura, making it a strange but special item.
Yun Xia dug a hole with his flames, buried the scale, and then put his head down to sleep. He just needed a little sleep to recover. Then, he would find a safe place to grow up and get strong. Then, one day, he would go back and take back everything he lost…
"But I never woke up after that." Chen Wentian said.
The blue dragon facing him shook its head, "No. I died and my body turned to ash. But my soul was unwilling and thus I clung to my source of fire. Waiting, hoping… but it seemed that I didn't have to wait too long."
Chen Wentian nodded, "Right, my arrival in the Sawtooth Mountains caused great changes. The mortal humans in the region noticed immediately. They all charged into the mountains, searching for unknown treasures. That also led me here."
The dragon nodded.
"Well, I can't remember anything else, let's take a look at the buried item."
Chen Wentian waved his hand, drawing the blue dragon soul back into his body. He then directed a jet of blue flames to the ground, quickly melting a hole. He dug out the reverse scale and studied it. It was wide and flat, with a dark gold color. On its surface was carved a strange script, nothing like that of any human language. However, he could still read it since it was the writing of dragons.
"Eh? This is… a marriage contract?" He flipped the scale just to make sure there wasn't anything else on the back. He read it again just to make sure, "Yun Xia of the celestial cloud clan… and Wang Ming of the royal dragon clan? The royal dragon clan? What are they? I can't seem to remember anything about them."
He rubbed the scale to see if anything would happen. Nothing did. He tried to inject his blue dragon flames into it but the scale did not react. Nor was it damaged. Stumped, he gave up and put it away for another day.
"A marriage contract… huh. These dragon names seem a little too simplistic for my tastes. But I suppose Wang Ming is a pretty good name. Sounds pretty. Either way, there is nothing I can do about this right now."
He looked around the underground chamber one last time. Then, he used his spiritual force to bury the chamber, the tunnel, and the entire cave before taking to the skies. He left the province and headed for home.
He wasn't interested in getting involved in a pissing contest between divine beasts. Any one of those dragons from Yun Xia's memory could turn him into dust in an instant. He also wasn't interested in some mysterious betrothed. Even if she was beautiful, could she compare to Jasmine or Long Yifei? He doubted it. Perhaps, only the Little Dragon Maiden who had ensnared Senior Dugu's heart could match up to his disciples.
"Hahaha! Speaking of which, I can't wait to see Fei'er again!"
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