Translate by: Sun, Daikon
Edited by: Sachin, Based Jessica, Eric, Zephir
Dragon City.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Note: The Dragon City mentioned in this chapter is for Xiao Yaoâs Dragon City.
Fine snowflakes swirled above the frozen ground as we headed up, escorted by NPCs. Now, I wasnât so cold, but Lin Wan Er had been shivering non-stop since the beginning of the trip. She even gave me a pitying look and said âYou actually work in this freezing hell-hole without heaters?â
Awkwardly I laughed: âYea, but usually Iâm skipping.â
ââ¦â¦â
â¦â¦
Two of Dragon Cityâs guards led the way. Looking at me respectfully one of them asked: âYoung Tomb Guardian, do you truly have the head of the ancient Hero Ran Min?â
I nodded in reply: âYup. Please lead the way!â
In the air above Dragon City, fallen snowflakes danced about riding along strong gusts of wind. Tightening my cloak, I looked at Li Wan Er beside me and said laughingly: âYou havenât frozen to death yet, right?â
Wrapped tightly in her Rainbow Cloak and with a slightly pale face and faint purple lips, she replied: âNo, no matter how cold it is, in the game nobody can actually freeze to death. This Dragon City is really big! Unfortunately, itâs a bit desolateâ¦Thereâs not even a shop in sightâ¦â¦â
I couldnât help but laugh out loud: âNo average person would be able to live in this kind of place. Everyone who settled here are either warriors or people with special skills. Towards the north of the city, hoards of unknown monsters roam around. Itâs suicidal for normal people to come out here.â
Li Wan Er nodded her head: âEh, I see that â¦â¦ This street is so long. Does it lead directly to the main hall of the general? Who is the big boss here?â
âLuo Lin, King of Dragon Cityâ
âOh, never heard of himâ¦â¦â
ââ¦â¦â
â¦â¦
âHua Cha! Hua Cha!â
Far away, on top of a set of stairs, roughly a hundred guards armed with long swords were split into two lines. From the depths of the cityâs halls, a single person rushed out. He had jet black hair, a pair of shimmering blue eyes and was covered in dark red armor with heavy sword strapped to his waist. Thereâs no mistaking it, thatâs the king of Dragon City â Luo Lin!
Luo Lin strode quickly to meet with us. He had an intimidating aura that made Dong Cheng Yue, Yuzi Chengshuo, and Darling Duck back away. He looked at me, bright eyed, full of hope and expectations with his voice booming âYoung Dragon City warriors, was it you that brought back news of the spirit of hero Ran Min?â
Behind Luo Lin, there was shadow trailing him. It was Frost wrapped in a white leather cape. She looked at me and slightly bowed her head with a smile.
I looked back at Luo Lin and nodded in confirmation, âMy friends and I have conquered many hardships and have entered the deepest parts of the Five Barbariansâ Desolate Tomb. We found the brave spirit of the hero Ran Min, as well as his head. However, upon hearing that Ran Minâs body was buried underneath the cold plains of Dragon City, we could only hope to put his soul to rest by reuniting themâ
Luo Lin approved sincerely âGood. Young man, could you let me see, his excellencyâs, Ran Minâs head?
I relaxed my arm that was gripping the head and unwrapped the cloak that was covering it. Underneath, Ran Minâs head stared straight at Luo Lin. Luo Lin, a bit startled at first, immediately knelt with one knee on the ground, and passionately greeted âI, Emperor of Dragon City - Luo Lin, deeply pay my respects to your excellency, Ran Min!â
âShua!â
Ran Minâs spirit appeared, separated from the head, and stood in the air before me. Looking at Luo Lin, Ran Minâs heroic soul calmly said âSo, Dragon City is no longer ruled by the Mu Rong clan? Looks like I have missed out on many things that have happened in these past ten thousand years. Luo Lin, I hope to find my body and be buried together with it so that I can be at peace and finally go to the place where I belong.â
Old K raised his battle axe and stepped forwards âRan Min, where are you going?â
The spirit of Ran Min grinned âIâm a spirit. Naturally I am going to the netherworld to drink Meng Po soup and cross the Na He bridge. I will accept the nine*nine cycles of reincarnations whether I become a man, a bird, livestock or even a demon. Iâll accept any fate that the gods command!â
Note: Chinese believe, everyone upon dying goes into the netherworld, drink the Meng Po soup to forget about the past, cross the Na He bridge to crossover to the land of the dead, and then only get judged as to which of the 9 cycles that they will go to (including heaven)
Old K tightly balled up his fists and said no more.
I stood up and said â Master Ran Min, if you could only stay here, it would be so much better!â
The spirit of Ran Min looked a bit shocked âYoung man⦠You guysâ¦arenât willing to part with me?â
Lin Wan Er nodded âYup!â
Suddenly, Ran Minâs spirit couldnât help but yell to the sky â I, Ran Min, one who has battled all his life, one who suffered such a pathetic demise, cannot believe that there would still be people who would take pity on this life of mine, life that left me 10,000 years ago. Regrettably, we are already separated by the boundaries of life and death and it is impossible for me to remain by your sides. Good bye youngsters, may you all forever maintain your dignity! Itâs better to die than to be humiliated!â
On the side, Luo Lin stood up as well and solemnly said âYour excellency, Ran Min, this minor general has a suggestion, though Iâm not sure whether or not you are willing to hear me out?â
The spirit of Ran Min nodded âLetâs hear it!â
Luo Lin grinned saying âWith 10,000 years of hardships, your excellency Ran Min should possess god-tier powers and a strong spirit as well. This power should be enough to reconstruct your body and completely revive. Underneath the plains of our Dragon City, there is a hidden spring which is said to have the power of reviving the dead. With our Dragon Cityâs most powerful priests casting forbidden enchantments of life, we would be able to repair your body. Like this, you would basically be revived!â
The spirit of Ran Min startled for a moment and raised his fists and said âYou want to repair my body? Doing this, are you hoping that I, Ran Min, will in turn feel obligated to help you fulfill some wish? Kid, I can tell, your eyes are full of ambition!
Luo Lin knitted his eyebrows and replied without any hesitation: âYes, using my ambition, I hope to stabilize these lands. I wish to use my power to defend the last haven of the humans, the moon elves, the barbarians, and the wind elves. Your excellency Ran Min, if you choose to revive, I only have one request. Please stay and protect Dragon City, the border city of the human race. Your homeland lies towards the south. The youngsters behind you are all descendents of the people from your homeland. Are you willing, for their sake, to revive and go into battle once more?
The spirit of Ran Min looked at me, then at Lin Wan Er, and then at Old K and the rest of us. I nodded âPlease stay!â
Finally, the spirit of Ran Min gravely nodded in agreement âOk, Iâll accept your suggestion. However, Luo Lin, remember this. If one day, I find that you betray us, I, Ran Min, will fight heaven and hell, tooth and nail, to show you my wrath!.
Luo Lin knelt down on one knee and solemnly promised âI, Luo Lin, pledge on my life my eternal loyalty to mankind!â
âOk, then letâs go!â
âYes! Please follow meâ¦â
â¦â¦
Following Luo Lin, we all entered deep into the castle. After a while, we arrived in a huge chamber. Ran Minâs body rested at the center of it, being sealed for the last 10,000 years. Even the coffin had rust marks. Opening the lid, we found Ran Minâs body which still retained his appearance of when he had just been slain. His body retained a pink rosy color with the exception being his neck which had deep black clotted blood.
âLet me handle thisâ¦â
Frost walked forward, carefully holding the hero Ran Minâs head and placed it on top of his body gently. Then she took out some silver colored thread and needle and meticulously sewed his head back onto his body. After a while, the sewing was complete. Then, I went forward and lifted Ran Minâs corpse in one breath. I asked âFrost, whereâs the hidden spring? Letâs head over.â
âSure!â
As Frost started to lead the way, Luo Lin whistled and an old man suddenly appeared in the chamber. He wielded a dragon bone staff in his hands and was covered in a black cloak. He was to accompany us to the depths of the hidden spring.
After walking around a couple hundred meters, we found a river of green spring water flowing through the ground. I gently placed hero Ran Minâs corpse in the middle of the spring. The black robed man immediately positioned himself to the side, holding up the dragon bone staff. With a loud voice, he started chanting a spell in a language that we couldnât understand. Swirls of blood red runes started to rise up into the air and formed some sort of giant magic circle with the hero Ran Minâs corpse at the core.
As the spring water splashed onto Ran Minâs corpse, one could visibly see the wounds on hero Ran Minâs neck starting to heal. Under the effects of magic, Ran Minâs body quickly started to turn to a blood red color before turning into a sea blue. In the air, slivers of blood started to ooze its way into the corpse slowly!
Finally, after ten minutes, Luo Lin raised his brows and said âYour excellency Ran Min! Your body is now ready to reunite with your soul!â
Ran Minâs soul, which was waiting attentively at the side, immediately jumped out and with a âShu!â and entered the body!
âAhâ¦â¦â¦â
With a long groan, Ran Minâs body slowly rose from the spring. Sleeping for ten thousand years seemed to have taken a toll on Ran Min, making him forget how to even stand properly as he staggered around for a second. He looked at his own fist and grinned âIâ¦â¦ Am I revived with just that?â
The old magician nodded âYes, ancient oneâ¦â
Ran Min, with a flame in his eyes, violently thrusted out a punch at a boulder of rock. âPeng!â The rock crumbled in an instant and the whole underground passage shook violently.
Frost worriedly urged âYour excellency, please stop⦠One more of those and Dragon City may come crumbling downâ¦â
Ran Min chuckled loudly.
Luo Lin, as he admired Ran Minâs power, said âAs expected, your excellency does indeed have strength rivaling that of gods! Magnificent!â
â¦â¦
Right at this time, a ring rang through the air. Finally, our quest had been completed-
âDing!â
The system announced: Notice, player Xiao Yao Zi Zai and his party of 10 have successfully cleared the SS quest line [Five Barbariansâ Desolate Tomb]. As a reward, each player will receive: Level +1, Charm +5!
â¦â¦
Additionally, there was the experience granted from completing the quest. I was suddenly Lv 58 and my experience bar at 89%. Only a little bit more to Lv 59! It didnât end there. With a âpa da!â, besides the experience and gold coin rewards, a ring also appeared inside my bag!
Excitedly, I took out the ring. It was a crimson ring with a battle axe picture carved on it. The crimson ring glowed warmly, giving off an orange color and emitted a feeling of some noble spirit within my palms. I looked at its stats and almost died out of happiness-
ãCrimson Dragon Ringã (Emperor Tier)
Strength:+50
Endurance:+49
Agility:+47
Extra: Increase the userâs attack power by 180
Unique Skill: [Shield of the Crimson Dragon] - Greatly increases the userâs defense for 7 seconds. Consumes 40 points of fury.
Level requirement: 58
â¦â¦
I felt like I had just won the lottery! It was another Emperor Tiered item! We lucked out so hard!
Quickly equipping the Crimson Dragon Ring, replacing Man Luoâs Ring, all my stats increased by leaps and bounds!
ãXiao Yao Zi Zaiã (Tomb Guardian of Dragon City)
Level: 58
Attack: 1689-2164
Defense: 1645
Health: 3370
Mana: 1336
Charm: 45
â¦â¦
My basic attack damage has already surpassed 2150 points! Adding in [Turmoil Sword], buffs, and other equipment bonuses, my true damage should already be more than 2500 points! Frightening!
Looking around, the other few people were also showing smiles.
Lin Wan Er held up a delicate looking chestplate and laughed âA Emperor Tiered leather armor! Hoho, fate has really smiled upon us!