A dragon’s roar shook the heavens, carrying a unique power that accelerated the circulation of Dragon Qi around Zhang Chen, protecting him completely. Despite the distant spread of Long Wei, it had no effect on Zhang Chen whatsoever.
Zhang Chen gazed in astonishment at the colossal creature in the distant sky: "A dragon? A real dragon exists in this world!"
Even across an unknown distance, the dragon appeared as large as a thousand meters in Zhang Chen’s eyes. Its horns resembled those of a deer, its head a camel, eyes a rabbit, neck a snake, belly a clam, scales a fish, claws an eagle, paws a tiger, and ears a bull, twisting and turning in the air as a profound divine majesty permeated between Heaven and Earth.
Yet, in the next moment, golden light flickered in Zhang Chen’s eyes, and his Dharma Eye opened automatically. He was stunned to see that the Divine Dragon wandering between Heaven and Earth had transformed in his Dharma Eye into an illusionary mist, or perhaps Dragon Qi, roaming the world like a living entity.
"That’s not a dragon; it’s Dragon Qi!" As someone possessing Dragon Qi, Zhang Chen instantly recognized the true nature of the so-called Divine Dragon.
"But this Dragon Qi seems somewhat impure? It appears to be a couple of levels inferior to the Dragon Qi within me," Zhang Chen thought, comparing the Dragon Qi in the sky to his own. An inexplicable thought floated through his mind.
At that moment, a strand of True Dragon Qi flowed within his body, flooding Zhang Chen’s mind with a ’hunger’ and ’desire to consume,’ which left Zhang Chen surprised: "My Dragon Qi seems to have an interest in that Dragon Qi in the sky. Little one, you’re like an ant compared to an elephant! Aren’t you afraid of getting stuffed? Besides, that Dragon Qi is hovering in the sky; I lack the ability to fly or use Earth Escape, even if I wanted to devour it."
The Dragon Qi hovered at a high altitude, unreachable even if Zhang Chen climbed to the mountaintop.
Feeling the yearning from the surrounding Dragon Qi, Zhang Chen squinted his eyes: "This could greatly nourish me, if only I could devour it..."
The golden light disappeared from Zhang Chen’s eyes, and he squinted slightly: "With this emergence of Dragon Qi, who knows what chaos it might cause? Drought, rebellions, emergence of Dragon Qi—could it mean a great upheaval is coming?"
But Zhang Chen quickly remembered he still had gunpowder materials drying outside the cave, all in powder form, which couldn’t withstand strong winds. If it rained and muddied them, they’d be ruined.
He immediately turned to push the materials into the courtyard and dashed towards the mountains.
Fortunately, since gaining the ability to absorb blood, Zhang Chen’s stamina had improved significantly. He rushed to the cave, gathering all items before the storm hit, placing the Hunting Falcon into a cage inside the cave. He realized after the busy work, he was drenched in sweat.
Feeling sticky and uncomfortable, Zhang Chen went to the creek, jumped in to clean off the sweat, while watching the True Dragon in the sky. As he felt the turmoil and greed from the Dragon Qi within, a momentary thought crossed his mind, then all of a sudden saw the colossal Divine Dragon open its mouth, and water vapor from all directions surged towards it, akin to rivers flowing into the sea, being devoured by the Divine Dragon.
Most shocking to Zhang Chen was the stream underfoot. Sitting in the water, he suddenly noticed it vaporizing rapidly, rushing into the Divine Dragon’s mouth.
Meanwhile, the riverbed beneath his feet, resembling a desert, saw the entire river sinking into an underground stream, ultimately consumed by the Divine Dragon.
"This... this... this..."
In just ten breaths, the entire river vanished into thin air, leaving Zhang Chen sitting on the riverbed, watching the fish struggling in the mud, his eyes filled with bewilderment.
"Dragon Absorbing Water! This is Dragon Absorbing Water!" Watching the fish wriggling on the riverbed, Zhang Chen noticed the riverbed drying at a visible speed, all moisture forcibly extracted.
"How can this be!" Zhang Chen’s eyes were wide with disbelief: "Could the previous river disappearance and the drought in this area be the work of Dragon Qi?"
Soothing the True Dragon Qi within, Zhang Chen watched it settle back down, and with its dormancy, the Divine Dragon phenomenon vanished from the world. No longer was there a Divine Dragon in the sky, only a vast cloud.
"Huh~" Seeing the cloud, Zhang Chen was momentarily taken aback, wondering why the once-visible Divine Dragon had turned into a cloud.
Quickly reopening the Dharma Eye, he saw the cloud transformed again into a dragon-shaped stream of Qi, roving through the world, devouring water vapor.
"I see it now!"
Closing his Dharma Eye, the Dragon Qi within Zhang Chen circulated, and he once again saw the cloud become a Divine Dragon.
Now Zhang Chen understood, in mundane vision, it was just a slightly larger dark cloud; through Dragon Qi, it appeared as a Divine Dragon, and through the Dharma Eye, it was Dragon Qi.
"This Dragon Qi is quite interesting," Zhang Chen mused silently.
"But with this Dragon Qi swallowing the water vapor of the world, it could lead to a significant problem!" Watching the riverbed, now fully dry, Zhang Chen’s eyes showed concern: "I just hope the underground water isn’t affected, or the people may die of thirst."
Zhang Chen stood, dusting off the dirt, his eyes revealing seriousness: "Preparations must begin now!"
But with the Dragon Qi drawing the water, resulting in a natural disaster, who can halt it?
If the Dragon Qi indeed drains all the moisture in this region, the people would be forced to leave their homes.
"I still need to dig the ancient tomb; I don’t want to leave hastily. I must find a water source soon." Zhang Chen muttered to himself, contemplating as he returned to the cave to prepare explosives.
If chaos indeed arises in the future, how could explosives be absent?
"My Dragon Qi seems interested in the Dragon Qi between Heaven and Earth, why is that? Could True Dragon Qi evolve?" Zhang Chen wondered silently.
His intentions thwarted, Zhang Chen headed down the mountain to handle the supplies at home.
Moving through the forest, as the Dragon Qi absorbed the water vapor from Heaven and Earth, moisture drifted into the air, adding some humidity, giving vegetation a bit of dew and vitality.