The Dawn of the New World

"My god....a real dragon.." Hao Xuan sighed in equal parts admiration and fear. He had seen just a small fraction of Ra's power who was an actual dragon as well.

He was able to control an uncountable number of beings like it was the most natural thing in the world and more than that, his own power was able to twist reality itself. And right now a being of the same level of power was just a few meters away from Hao Xuan. How could he not be excited?

The only thing that made Hao Xuan frown was this dragon's size. He was under the impression that dragons were gigantic creatures, especially after seeing Ra in person who was bigger than an entire solar system. A single wing of his blotted out the entire starry sky. A single breath of his could put out a sun.

So in comparison, this one was a bit lackluster to put it lightly.

He looked the dragon up and down more times than he could remember, trying to ingrain his image into his brain. It wasn't breathing at all but that didn't mean it was dead. It was a dragon!

After 10 minutes of ogling Hao Xuan returned to Jin Wang's side.

"You know anything about this thing?" he asked still staring at the doorway like he could see through it somehow.

Jin Wang leaned back against the wall and let out a deep sigh. He looked up at Hao Xuan like an old man who had seen too much in life.

"Not this one specifically, but I know a few things about dragons in general. Why? What do you wanna know?"

Hao Xuan paced in front of the doorway while rubbing his chin, trying to come up with questions.

"Ah! The size! Why is this one so small?"

Jin Wang who was sitting there with his eyes closed, pretending to be an all-knowing scholar almost bit his tongue upon hearing Hao Xuan's question.

"Really? That's what you wanna know?"

Hao Xuan frowned, "Just say so if you don't know, why act all high and mighty?"

Jin Wang let out another sigh and closed his eyes.

"Dragons, like all other creatures, come in all shapes, types, and sizes. Some only live in water, some in space. Some in volcanoes and some in frozen wastelands. Their size can be as small as the tip of a needle, or as large as....well, anything you can imagine. I heard someone once saw a dragon hybrid in the depths of the abyss. The creatures single pupil was bigger than our entire beast world."

Hao Xuan let out a hollow laugh, "That can't be real...right?"

"I can't vouch for it but there is no reason why it should be a lie. My sources are...quite truthful about their 'experiences'. Anything else?"

Hao Xuan went silent once again. The only sound in the corridor was the distant thrashing of the river along the rocky shores.

"Why do you think it's here then? That dragon?"

Jin Wang abruptly opened his eyes with a half-smile, "Now that is a good question. But I have no idea. Dragons are rather cold-hearted by nature. Even more so towards their own kind. This dragon could be here for any number of reasons. Maybe it pissed of Ra, maybe they were mortal enemies, or maybe it was for another reason entirely."

"What do you mean?" Hao Xuan leaned in closer, completely lost in the conversation.

"The purple liquid, so-called ancestral essence. Did you see how it was going inside the dragon?"

Hao Xuan bobbed his head up and down, "Yeah."

"Maybe Ra is just using that dragon's body to help make the liquid somehow. A dragon's body is a literal treasure trove you know. Its blood can bring about miracles, sometimes even resurrect the dead, its bone marrow can turn humans into immortals, its bones are used to create the very best of weapons. Its skin and tendons can create god-level armor and its flesh is one of the most delicious things to exist in all of the heavens and the worlds."

"Dayum....didn't know that... Then do you think it's still alive?"

"Most probably," Jin Wang nodded without any hesitation, "That black sludge was a part of it, seeing as how it returned to its body. I'm guessing it is in a state of hibernation."

Hao Xuan turned to face the stone doorway and kept staring at it for a good 5 minutes or so before turning back to face Jin Wang.

"I want it. I want that dragon. Do you think it's weak enough for me to take it down?"

Jin Wang was of course taken aback by Hao Xuan's sudden desire to own one of the strongest creatures to ever walk this plane of existence, but he then analyzed the situation before speaking up.

"It should be doable. As awe-inspiring as dragons are, they are very selfish and calculating creatures, especially true-blooded ones like that one in there. They would never willingly share anything with another dragon. So if Ra has put it here then he is 100% certain that it cannot escape or do him any harm. And since the highest cultivation level of any Orc up there is at the Profound realm at most, then that means this dragon is either at the same level or lower. With all your other friends, I'm sure you can take care of it, but there might be issues."

Hao Xuan was happy as could be until he heard the last sentence.

"What issues?"

"The sludge. It only went for the Orcs, why? It eat away their curse marks, why? It ignored us completely, why?"

"Bitch just say why, I don't fucking know," Hao Xuan slapped the top of Jin Wang's head, making him almost bit down on his tongue.

*Cough*

"Because just like Orcs above are the dragons "wardens" of sorts, the dragon itself is a jailer for the orcs. From what I can tell, the dragon can somehow "feel" the presence of the curse marks. Maybe it thinks it's Ra and is just taking its revenge against him, or maybe something else, but if you remove the dragon there is no telling how it would affect the Orcs or this area. For all we know, everything could collapse on top of us an-"

In the middle of speaking Jin Wang looked up to meet Hao Xuan's gaze but found no one in front of him. From inside the doorway he heard the sound of several footsteps and then Hao Xuan's voice.

"Beat its ass.. Don't kill it but make it so it can't even stand up on its own. Go go, Vamos!"