Chapter 26: The Pact of Peace

Chu Qiuchi couldn't help but skip directly to the signatories at the beginning. Sure enough, on the left, it read: Blue Star United Government; on the right, there were only two brief characters: Beast Race.

Beast Race? What kind of race was that?

Could it be the people with awakened bloodlines she was currently encountering? But she had never heard anyone identify as a "Beast Race"; they only reported the families associated with their bloodlines. Moreover, in the entire Linyuan Continent, there was no such term as "Beast Race."

She scrolled to the end of the agreement where the signatures were. On the left, the representative for Blue Star had signed the name "Chu Hongxing"—it was actually her own clan. On the other side, however, there was a long, slender claw print; it looked like a chicken claw, yet it had five toes.

It was evident that the other party was certainly not human.

But why would Blue Star sign a peace agreement with it?

"System, does the database you received contain any information about this Beast Race?" she confirmed again.

[No, Master!] The little ball of light swayed from side to side. Thinking of something, it continued, [However, I have decrypted an ancient video recording from this agreement. Would you like to view it, Master?]

"View it!" she nodded immediately.

[Very well, Master. Playback starting!]

The light screen before her flickered, and an image instantly appeared. It showed a group of people in military uniforms, all with familiar Eastern faces. Leading them was a serious-looking young man, reaching out to shake hands with a figure in front of him. Standing before him, upright and tall, was a creature covered in blue-green scales, about four or five meters high, with four legs and five claws—

A Dragon!!!

!!!∑(ﾟДﾟノ)ノ

It was a real dragon! It looked exactly like the dragons in TV shows, various murals, and legends—a real dragon!

"Holy..." Qiuchi couldn't help but rub her eyes, realizing it wasn't a hallucination. There was truly a dragon in the video, and a dragon that could shake hands with a human, at that.

"Waaaah... if you are really going to send me away, will you still protect us in the future?" A voice filled with grievance and hesitation came from the recording; it sounded like a child's.

"Of course, Mr. Azure Dragon!" the young military officer on the left replied earnestly. "As long as the Beast Race abides by the agreement, Blue Star will always be your friend."

"Then... do you not want anything? Just... that little bit of nosebleed, and a claw print will do?" The Azure Dragon twitched its tail, still looking disbelieving.

"That's correct!" the officer replied again.

"You don't want dragon tendons? Or dragon bones? Or even dragon marrow?"

"We do not!"

"Then... then do you want to bind me with a contract? I will listen to you for the rest of my life!"

"We are not dragon traffickers."

"But... but you saved me! You even helped us drive away the ferocious beasts. I cannot repay such great kindness. How about... how about..." The Azure Dragon twisted its body, and suddenly, it pressed its claws downward, sliding naturally onto its knees on the ground. "How about I kowtow to you!"

"Don't!" The officer was startled and immediately pulled the dragon up. "Stand up! Are you trying to get me disqualified from political vetting? Enough, enough! We on Blue Star haven't had slaves for thousands of years! We don't do that master-servant contract stuff."

Unable to stay kneeling, the Azure Dragon stood back up, still looking conflicted and incredulous. It fidgeted with its claws and asked embarrassedly, "But... but..."

"There are no 'buts'." The officer gave it a push. "Go back now; your people are waiting for you. Come find us if you have any trouble in the future."

"Awoo~~" The Azure Dragon finally seemed willing to leave. Before it departed, it let out a roar toward the sky and then took flight. Its body grew visibly, and in less than a moment, it occupied a large portion of the sky.

As it flew upward, it looked back. Just as it was about to fly far away, it seemed to remember something. The dragon body twisted and swam back, hovering above the officers. It said in that somewhat childish voice, "I just thought of something. You wanted to do research, right? How could the nosebleed from earlier be enough? If you like it, how about I give you some more!"

Having said that, it lifted a front leg, popped out a gleaming claw, and slashed toward its other foot...

"Stop!" The leading officer's expression changed, and he shouted to stop it.

But it was too late. The Azure Dragon had already slashed its own front claw. Bright red, piercing blood sprayed down like rain, landing entirely on the officers below.

Officer: "..."

The group, now drenched like ghosts: "..."

The entire scene instantly descended into chaos, with shouts of alarm everywhere.

"Quick! Notify the medical staff!"

"Stop the bleeding! Stop the bleeding, hurry and stop its bleeding!"

"Perform another dragon body scan, focus on the brain!"

"..."

*Buzz...*

The footage ended there, and the light screen went dark.

Qiuchi could roughly guess that this must have been recorded when the peace agreement was signed. She hadn't expected to record such a chaotic scene, and that Azure Dragon must have been the representative of the Beast Race.

Given that the background of the image was clearly in the style of a research institute—which looked like it had been built not long ago—and the mention of "ferocious beasts," she guessed that perhaps when the institute was first established, the Beast Race had encountered a crisis. Blue Star had happened to save them and drive away the ferocious beasts, leading to this peace agreement.

It seemed that the "allies" mentioned by the institute's mainframe must be the Beast Race, after all, they had signed an agreement.

Now, over twenty thousand years later, she wondered if the Beast Race still existed. She wondered if the various immortal sects still held legends about this Azure Dragon.

After careful thought, Qiuchi realized she needed to find Elder Yu for another chat.

***

Immortal Alliance.

"Have Elders Chenxi and Chenwu returned yet?" a man in dark robes asked, sitting sternly at the head of the table.

"Reporting to the Alliance Leader, they have not yet returned."

"It has been half a month; why haven't they returned?" The man frowned, clearly displeased. "How much longer do they intend to stay at the Xuantian Sect?"

"The two Elders' communication talismans have had no response. I fear..." The responding disciple shrank his neck and said with great difficulty, "they have met with misfortune."

"Useless!" The man slammed the table, his eyes full of anger. "A mere Xuantian Sect, and they couldn't take it down even with two Nascent Soul cultivators working together. Good for nothing!"

"Alliance Leader," an elder to the side spoke up, cupping his hands and stepping forward. "This matter seems suspicious. The Xuantian Sect has only one Nascent Soul cultivator whose lifespan is nearing its end. Given their strength, they should have been able to handle the two Elders. Now that things have changed, it might be related to the collapse of the forbidden land."

"You mean..." The Alliance Leader's eyes sharpened with a glint of murderous intent. "The Xuantian Sect has already obtained the thing from the forbidden land?"

"It is very likely!" the elder nodded. "Does the Alliance Leader remember that the 'Holy Land' those old fogies spoke of is right in that vicinity? If the Xuantian Sect had no backing, how could our two Elders have gone and not returned?"

The Alliance Leader's expression grew even uglier, and a trace of anxiety flashed across his brow. After a while, he continued, "What has the Xuantian Sect been doing recently?"

"Reporting to the Alliance Leader," the disciple added, "the Xuantian Sect is operating as usual, with no major moves. However... they seem to have been purchasing large quantities of low-grade spirit plants and common herbs recently."

"What?"