Chapter 2280: Dragon God's Night Patrol

Sun Hongye was accommodated in the guest hall on the back mountain and was currently reading.

When the palace attendants escorted him, the mode of transport was a large four-sheep carriage. The sheep were taller and more robust than horses; when they ran, they seemed to glide through clouds, traversed cliffs as if they were flat ground, and the ride was remarkably smooth, truly extraordinary.

The rain had cleared, and as he pushed open the door, he saw the sky dotted with stars. He could also hear a clear spring gurgling nearby and the croaking of frogs.

Spore lamps in the forest cast a warm glow, illuminating the path up and down the mountain.

He had finally arrived in Jucheng; even sitting there, it still felt unreal.

Sun Hongye read two more pages of his book when he suddenly felt something was amiss and looked up.

The eaves bells beneath the hall were silent, the frogs in the spring had ceased croaking, and a profound stillness enveloped everything. Not even the rustle of leaves in the wind could be heard.

Everything outside the window had become still.

The air suddenly grew heavy, like a storm was approaching, pressing down with a profound weight.

Sun Hongye looked down and saw goosebumps on his arms.

Something was amiss in the world.

It felt as if something was approaching, unseen and intangible, yet intensely oppressive. Outside the window, thick fallen leaves on the ground suddenly stirred without wind, curling up on their own.

Whatever it was, it was very close, and its immense pressure left Sun Hongye utterly petrified.

Faint moonlight illuminated the spirit screen opposite him. As his gaze swept over it, his pupils suddenly constricted.

Originally, there was a black dragon statue on the spirit screen, exquisitely crafted, but it depicted only the dragon's head, not its body.

Yet, as he watched, the black dragon statue suddenly came alive. Its two front claws pushed off the spirit screen, and a long, slender dragon body leaped out, soaring into the sky!

Sun Hongye was startled. He quickly rubbed his eyes, only to realize that what had sprung from the spirit screen was merely a smoke-like gray shadow; the actual dragon carving remained on the wall.

The dragon shadow that had flown out flickered in and out of sight in mid-air, sometimes clear, sometimes hazy, but its eyes glowed red, giving it a fierce and ominous appearance.

Sun Hongye's back was sweating. This was the Scarlet Firmament Golden Palace, the safest place in the entire Shanjin Plain, yet at this moment, he felt an overwhelming terror.

The dragon shadow moved down the mountain, towards the center of the royal palace. Along the way, other gray shadows joined it, making the dragon's body appear even more massive. Its whiskers, mane, and scale patterns became increasingly lifelike, and its sharp, broad horns resembled two small trees.

Only when the dragon shadow had flown over a hundred zhang did the oppressive feeling gradually recede with it. Sun Hongye hurried out and stood at the edge of the cliff, just in time to see several palace attendants prostrating themselves in the direction the gray shadow had departed.

The gray shadow swiftly swept over the Scarlet Firmament Golden Palace, then divided into dozens of streams, patrolling the streets and alleys of Jucheng!

Jucheng was now a world-renowned city that never slept. From the mountaintop, the entire city was illuminated by lights throughout the night. Even after dark, there were still pedestrians moving along the main streets.

Sun Hongye watched, wide-eyed, as the gray shadow moved through the streets and alleys, seemingly causing no disturbance. Often, it would pass directly by citizens and merchants traveling in the opposite direction, like an evening breeze.

He walked down the mountain path and soon encountered a palace attendant who had just stood up. He quickly stopped them:

"Excuse me, what was that?"

The attendant replied with a look of reverence, "That was the Emperor."

Seeing Sun Hongye's bewildered expression, the attendant explained, "The Emperor occasionally transforms back into the Dragon God and patrols the capital! The common folk living in Jucheng are aware of this, so it doesn't cause panic."

Everyone could feel the Dragon God's immense pressure. Moreover, the black dragon statues and totems scattered throughout the city also showed unusual signs, which the common people could observe.

Through this repeated occurrence, it became known as "the Dragon God patrolling the city."

Sun Hongye exclaimed, "So that's it!"

Being a cultivator himself, he pondered the attendant's answer and understood:

The so-called "Dragon God patrolling the city" was, in fact, Emperor Jiuyou's soul projection!

In the past, when the world's spiritual energy was diminished, cultivators practicing soul projection could only leave their bodies by a few or a dozen zhang at most. If they drifted too far, they might not be able to return.

However, as Canyan's spiritual energy environment returned to that of the early medieval period, the difficulty of cultivation plummeted. Sun Hongye had heard that some cultivators' souls could project twenty or thirty li away, traveling to neighboring mountains or counties and back.

While that already sounded impressive, Jucheng was so vast that Emperor Jiuyou's soul patrolling the entire city covered several times twenty or thirty li.

What level of cultivation had his former employer truly reached now?

Two *ke* later, the "Dragon God" finished patrolling the entire city and headed outside its limits; no one knew how far it went.

Another *ke* passed, and the gray shadow flew back, reconvening above Jucheng.

From Sun Hongye's perspective, he could clearly see its full form:

A black dragon shadow, coiled above the city, its head and tail stretching unknown miles, its scales distinct, and its eyes glowing red.

In the city, countless commoners knelt before it, murmuring prayers.

Soon after, the dragon shadow flew back to the Scarlet Firmament Golden Palace and dissolved into nothingness.

The night sky was clear and deep, with the moon obscured but the stars shining brightly.

Sun Hongye then saw a wisp of gray shadow descend from the sky, burrow into the spirit screen in front, and return to its place.

He couldn't help but bow to the spirit screen as well, filled with both awe and reverence.

Could it be that his old employer was truly a reincarnation of the Dragon God?

In the early morning, He Lingchuan stood on the ridge of the grand hall, absorbing the purple energy flowing from the east.

After the sun rose, he even refined a bit of the True Sun Fire.

He only ceased his practice when he was drenched in sweat. Facing the morning sun, he stretched, and his entire spine crackled with over a dozen pops, like a string of small firecrackers going off.

The mirror asked him, "Did you fall asleep again at the end of your practice last night?"

"Mmm-hmm, and I had a strange dream where I was talking to an acquaintance, but I can't recall the content now that I'm awake."

"Dreaming" used to be a rare occurrence for him, but not anymore.

The mirror wondered, "This is the Scarlet Firmament Golden Palace, your territory as Emperor Jiuyou. What nightmare could possibly infiltrate your dreams and harm you?"

Extracting information through dreams—isn't that a nightmare's specialty?

"It wasn't a nightmare."

Last night, he practiced his cultivation, sending his soul out of his body. It traveled a hundred li east of Jucheng and rang the wind chimes hanging outside the Wind Demon's lair.

Only after the Wind Demon emerged looking bewildered did his soul return to the city.

For He Lingchuan, the sheer distance achieved this time was also a landmark leap forward.

The people of Jucheng referred to the unusual phenomenon caused by his soul projection practice as "the Dragon God patrolling the city," and he naturally wouldn't bother to clarify. But in fact, it wasn't his soul transforming into a dragon shadow after leaving his body. Instead, it was due to the profound integration of the Great Evolution Heaven Bead, the Haoyuan Golden Mirror, and the Scarlet Firmament Golden Palace, and subsequently, with Jucheng itself. Therefore, when He Lingchuan's soul passed over Jucheng, it resonated with the Black Dragon's imprint.

Perhaps only a few understood this principle, but they would not spread it widely.

After his soul returned to his body following a journey of several hundred li, He Lingchuan also felt tired and simply fell asleep, having a dream. Somehow, he dreamed of the Great Shaman Zhaomandu, who had not appeared for a long time.

Though many years had passed, the Great Shaman's demeanor was unchanged. There wasn't a single white hair at his temples, and he remained as amiable as ever.