Green Dragon Kingdom
Mu Yu jumped to his feet, surmising a hostile was closing in. Qiao Xue leisurely got to her feet, telling him, “The bridge has appeared. Prepare yourself for the force pulling you down along the bridge. Follow beside me because it’s invisible and can only fit two people walking side by side.”
“Hmm,” responded Mu Yu, smiling from ear to ear. “Your heart would break if I fell.”
Qiao Xue kicked Mu Yu in the shin.
On the other side of the ten-metre-long bridge was an energetic river barely visible due to the faint moonlight.
“This river flows into the abyss back there,” informed Qiao Xue, sitting down with Mu Yu on a water bench she made.
“Doesn’t it become a waterfall, then? I never heard the water hitting the bottom.”
“Beats me. The last time I sneaked down there, I didn’t see the bottom after descending for two hours. Instead, a barrier prevented me from descending further, so…”
They travelled against the current, and the water was splashing, yet not a droplet of water got on them.
“How wide is this river? It’s been hours; the sun is already coming up.”
“This river is called Celestial Fiend River and is as wide as the crevice is. That being the case, I suppose it crosses over the entire bog. It starts from various places and intersects at one spot.”
They finally returned to land after two more hours of drifting and entered a forest that high-level fiend beasts populated. Qiao Xue was on friendly terms with them, petting them joyously.
“Qiao Xue?!” exclaimed a small-head big ant, a fiend beast race born with monstrous strength.
“Hua Yi? Brother Tang You? Are you two on patrol duty today?” replied Qiao Xue.
Hua Yi, the small-head big ant, and Tang You, the fiend with praying mantis arms, were both Spirit Severing Realm fiends.
“Yeah, but… why did you bring a human here?” questioned Hua Yi, staring at Mu Yu.
“Relax. He is Ocean Archfiend’s guest. Ocean Archfiend has arrived, hasn’t he?”
“He has. I suppose the human he told us would be coming is you.”
Hua Yi and Tang You bobbed their heads to greet Mu Yu. After Mu Yu and Qiao Xue went on their way, though, Tang You whispered to Hua Yi, “As per North Shore Abyss’ Jade Wyrm King, I’ll go report to him a human has arrived. Wait here for me.”
“He must be looking to avenge Long Xingyun.”
Upon reaching an arched vine door, Qiao Xue brightly announced, “Welcome to Green Dragon Kingdom.”
“I’ll be damned… This valley must be over a hundred metres wide and four to five hundred metres high; it stretches beyond what my eyes can see.”
Swirling staircases by the sides of the stone path down the centre of the valley led up to the walls of the valley. Above the valley were floating timber homes, criss-crossing and aligned in different patterns to make the most of every inch of space, connected to the ground by staircases. Around the houses connected were wooden balconies and rails. Buildings at the bottom of the valley hung out signs to display what sort of business they were.
“You all live in the sky?”
“This is only the tip of the iceberg. We can’t fly onto roofs here as it’s impolite; we have to take the stairs connecting the houses to each other and the ground. In saying that, we can fly on the main roads in the valley,” educated Qiao Xue, already levitating.
“You know, it really doesn’t seem that different to human civilisation.”
“Ever since the fiend race was forced to migrate here, they learnt humanity’s lifestyle, which is why you see the resemblance to human cities.”
“Bone nerve bones for only ten spirit stones!” a seller introduced.
“What do fiends eat, by the way?”
“Lots of different things. For starters, they eat wild beasts without spiritual energy, such as ducks and chickens. Fiend beasts that have been deemed to lack intelligence will also be eaten. On the flipside, if they have developed intelligence, they mustn’t be eaten.
“There’s a delicious rock sparrow that’s often eaten, but their race was deemed inedible once one of them developed intelligence and cultivated into a fiend around eight years ago. Unfortunately, the rock sparrow that evolved didn’t have the physical health to live more than a decade. Accordingly, some fiends have been trying to debate changing their race to an edible race, although it hasn’t been approved yet.”
Two fiends they passed by were arguing until they were red in the face.
“I’d just catch one and grill it. Why make yourself hungry arguing?” Xiaoshuai commented.
“You’ll get away with doing that out in the world, but don’t try it in here. If anyone discovers you ate a fiend beast that developed intelligence, harsh penance will be delivered; you may very well be incarcerated for several years. If you want to eat, go eat at an eatery. Do not go hunting in the forest. As you probably realised by now, you can pay with spirit stones here,” Qiao Xue cautioned.
“I got your back, Rodent.”
“Dragon Vine, the fiend race has their own regulations and systems that even Grandpa Green Dragon follows to set an example. Don’t go testing whether or not you’re above the law!” reproached Qiao Xue.
“Wasn’t Long Xingyun constantly trying to assassinate me? Can I eat dragon pythons in return?” questioned the dragon vine.
“That was him taking a personal issue with you. Killing each other is forbidden here. Having said that, some races are born a nemesis of another race. Therefore, conflict is sometimes inevitable. That’s when they can settle their differences in a specified ring called Life and Death Ring.” Upon passing a circular platform that went from one end of the valley to the other, Qiao Xue pointed out, “See that platform with blood on it. That’s Life and Death Ring.”
“There doesn’t seem to be any rule about fighting on the streets,” remarked Mu Yu, watching two fiends wrestling each other as a crowd went wild.
“The city guards will sort it out,” stated Qiao Xue.
Two Spirit Severing Realm fiends dressed in warrior robes really did soon rock up to break up the fight.
“This is just the entrance path. The fiend population isn’t large, but it’s still in the millions. There are more residing in the forest, the riverbank and the green edifice floating above the city in the forest below, the imperial palace, which is where entry is restricted and where Grandpa Green Dragon resides,” enlightened Qiao Xue, arriving at a spacious forest.
“I guess the green dragon statue on the ceiling is a tell-tale sign.”
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