Chapter 63: The Five-Colored Halo

  They say a man needs face, a tree needs bark. The man said that to him, and the fatty suddenly slapped the table and stood up, the food on the table was shaken violently. I lightly touched the corner of the table and immediately stabilized the cups and plates on it. The fatty roared: "I, Xiao Bailian, am just a pimp, what hero am I pretending to be here? Get out, you damn well get out yourself, don't show off in front of me." As he spoke, he also pulled out a short blade from his pocket to boost his courage. Looking at him, I knew this guy didn't have any real skills.

  The man's face suddenly turned cold, and he said in a low voice, "This is what you asked for." With that, his body flashed strangely, and he appeared in front of the fat man. He slapped the fat man's head with his palm, which shone with a red glow. When the fat man was scolding him earlier, I felt a sense of pleasure in my heart. Subconsciously, I pulled the fat man back two feet, and the man's palm swept across the fat man's belly. With a loud crash, the wooden table in front of me turned into a pile of debris. This guy is ruthless; he doesn't hold back when he attacks, and it's almost as if he's hiding a knife behind his smile. His aura is very strong, and he should be at the level of a paladin. The entire bar suddenly fell silent, with only the sound of a needle dropping audible, and everyone looked over here.

  The fatty retreated several steps in a state of panic and stammered: "Y-you..."

  The man didn't even bother to respond, his piercing gaze swept towards me. Although the table had shattered earlier and the surrounding area was in disarray, there wasn't a single shard of debris within a foot's radius in front of me. I said, "It was just a few curses, why did you have to take his life?" I myself knew that this was a case of speaking loudly while standing upright without feeling any pain; if someone had cursed at me like that earlier, I probably would have struck back by now.

  The man surprisingly didn't get angry, and his icy face turned into a warm smile as he said, "Brother, you have great skills."

  I turned my head to the trembling fatty and said, "Aren't you going to leave? Are you waiting for death?" The fatty finally came back to his senses, let out a strange cry, and ran away. At the place where he was just standing, a small puddle of water flowed down, and it turned out that he had been so scared that he urinated in his pants. It's really strange how someone with such a foul mouth has managed to survive until now.

  The man shouted: "Waiter, clean up this place and bring another table over. I'll drink a few cups with this brother. All losses will be mine."

  Due to the man's astonishing performance, everyone else took a step back, their voices lowered, including those mercenaries with swords and knives. No one wanted to mess with such an expert, after all, life was precious.

  The waiter quickly replaced our table with a new one, and brought out exquisite pastries and drinks again. Cran was somewhat silent, sitting there quietly sipping the juice in his cup.

  The young man said in a low voice to me: "My younger brother is called Baili Xiao." He pointed at Kelan and said: "This is my younger brother's friend, Miss Kelan. May I ask your surname and given name, sir?"

  Baili Xiao? He indeed has the surname Baili, as Kulan said. This surname is quite rare. Suddenly, I thought of someone and asked: "I'm Xueyan, Brother Baili, what's your relationship with Baili Ku?"

  Baili's face showed a look of admiration, saying: "It is indeed my brother." I was shocked in my heart, he turned out to be the youngest of the three Dragon Riders, rarely seen Baili Cry's younger brother. It's worth noting that Baili Cry was very famous in Longshen, becoming a member of the Dragon Knights at just 16 years old and becoming a Dragon Rider General at 42. He must still be under 50 now. People often say that in another ten years, Baili Cry's martial arts skills will surpass the other two Dragon Riders, becoming the number one person in Longshen. It was unexpected that he had such a young brother.

  "I've long admired your elder brother's great reputation, I didn't expect him to have a younger brother like you."

  Baili Xiao lowered his voice and said, "I'm the youngest child in my family. Among our generation of six children, my older brother is the most accomplished. This time I came here mainly to accompany Clan sister to take a walk and clear her mind. We've been neighbors since childhood. Seeing that she's been unhappy lately makes me uncomfortable too. Anyway, I had nothing better to do, so I accompanied her." Is Clan unhappy? Could it be because of me?

  "Oh, I see, so Baili brother isn't a local after all"

  …………

  Baili Xiao was very talkative and we chatted for a long time.

  "Brother Baili, I still have something to attend to, I'll take my leave first."

  Baili Xiao had already drunk a bit too much, swaying as he stood up and said: "I'll send you off. Where does my brother live? Let's get together to drink again another day."

  "I haven't found a place to live yet, but I will be leaving here soon."

  Kalan, who had been silent all along, suddenly stood up. Her eyes were like sharp swords that seemed to pierce through me. In a cold tone, she said to me: "Lei Xiang, you don't have to hide, even if you turn into ashes, I can still recognize you." My heart was greatly shocked, I didn't expect her to recognize me even with my hat on. I lowered my voice and said: "Miss Kalan, aren't you mistaken? I'm not Lei Xiang, my name is Xue Yan."

  Keran suddenly opened her eyes, which were somewhat dazed, and with a smile, she reached out to grab the bamboo hat on my head. She wasn't skilled in martial arts, so her movements seemed extremely slow to me. But for some reason, seeing the glint of tears in her eyes, I didn't dodge this grab. The bamboo hat fell off with a rustling sound, and Keran's voice trembled as she said: "It really is you."

  Facing the girl who once loved me, I really don't know what to say. With a bitter smile, I shook my head and put on my hat again, saying in a low voice: "It's better not to meet than to meet, Klan, sorry, take care of yourself." After finishing speaking, I turned around and walked towards the entrance of the bar.

  "Hold on." Ba Li's voice came over and I turned back to say: "Sorry, Brother Ba Li, I didn't mean to deceive you, it's just that..."

  Baili's smiling face suddenly turned into an angry expression, and he said: "Are you the one who made Kelan sad?"

  I was stunned and didn't know how to respond to his words. Keren said coldly: "Baili, big brother, our affairs have nothing to do with you."

  I sighed and continued walking out. Baili Xiao shouted from behind, "Stop!" I ignored him and walked straight out of the bar door. Baili Xiao had wanted to chase me out, but was held back by Kelan, who gripped him tightly. Afraid of hurting Kelan, he couldn't persist either.

  Due to Kuran's sake, plus the conversation with Hyakuri just now, I don't have any intention of taking action in my heart.

  As soon as I walked out of the bar, a stout figure suddenly emerged from the alley next door and called out in a low voice, "Sir, sir." I focused my attention and found that it was the fat man who had been in the bar earlier. Why hadn't he left yet? What was he doing here?

  As for him, I didn't have a good impression either, furrowing my brow and saying: "What do you want me to do?"

  Chubby's awkward smile said, "Just now, thanks to the gentleman pulling me away, otherwise, I'm afraid I would have been beaten into a pulp by that little brat."

  Just now I was just acting subconsciously, to be honest, I didn't have the heart to save him at all. I shook my hand and said, "They haven't left yet, you're not leaving, do you really want to wait for death?"

  The fatty looked at the bar door in horror, and trembled with fear, saying: "My name is Wanshitong, if you need any help in the future, just look for me. I'll leave first." After finishing speaking, he turned around and was about to run away.

  "Wait a minute." His name, which means "omniscient", piqued my interest.

  Fatso turned back and said: "Is there anything else?"

  I nodded and said: "I have some things I want to ask you, let's find a place to talk."

  "Okay," said the fat man, hesitating for a moment. After that, he took me away from the bar. I followed him through streets and alleys until we arrived at a residential house. He stopped and said somewhat awkwardly, "This is my home, it's a bit simple... you..."

  I grunted and said, "It's okay, I'll just ask you something and then leave." Whether it's simple or not has nothing to do with me.

  As soon as I entered what he called home, I almost ran out immediately. Although I'm also lazy, I'm not as bad as him, the house was so messy that there wasn't even a place to put my feet down, everywhere was filled with trash and dirty clothes thrown all over the place, and the smell was unbearable.

  "I frowned and said: 'Let's talk about it in the yard.'"

  The fat man said with embarrassment: "It's too messy here, I'm used to living alone."

  I no longer bothered with him and asked: "Recently, did you know about the five-colored halo that appeared on White Smoke Mountain?"

  When I asked him this, the fat man suddenly came to his senses and proudly said: "Of course I know, as long as it's something that happened around here, there's nothing that I, Mr. Know-It-All, don't know."

  I nodded and said, "That's good, tell me about the Five-Colored Halo."

  "Recently, many people have been inquiring about this matter. It started three months ago, on a specific day that I don't remember clearly. That evening, the sky in the direction of White Smoke Mountain suddenly lit up, and a five-colored cloud appeared, more brilliant than a rainbow, very beautiful. Many people in the city saw it, and I heard a jewelry store owner say that it was an auspicious sign, that the five-colored light was actually the aura of treasure rising into the air. The five-colored light clearly came from White Smoke Mountain. Well, not long after, many people went into the mountains to search for treasure, but all returned empty-handed. I'm not afraid to laugh at myself, but I also went once, however, I didn't even find a ghostly shadow."

  I thought for a moment and said: "So, it seems there really is treasure this time."

  The fatty scratched the back of his head and said, "I'm not too sure if there really is a treasure, but people from all over the country have come to White Smoke Mountain to explore and try their luck. The treasure that can summon colorful clouds must be extraordinary, and many people are eager to get it. Moreover, I'll tell you that the imperial court has issued an announcement declaring White Smoke Mountain a forbidden area, prohibiting any idlers from entering, and even dispatched elite light cavalry troops to patrol at the foot of the mountain. Since the imperial court is taking it so seriously, it proves that there really is a treasure appearing. However, White Smoke Mountain has been sealed off for almost two months now, and the imperial court's troops have not withdrawn yet, which means they still haven't found the real treasure."

  I nodded and said, "Did the five-colored halo appear at that time?"

  "No, it has appeared four times in a row, the last time was seven days ago. And each time is more beautiful than the previous one. It's from the White Smoke Mountain that it emerges. When the colorful clouds appear, the perennial cloud at the waist of the White Smoke Mountain becomes a misty cloud under the reflection of the colorful clouds. The scene is unforgettable for me, too beautiful."

  "I asked: 'Do you know what kind of people have come to explore the Dragon God's treasure?'"

  Chubby thought for a moment and said, "It's not entirely clear who it is, but I've seen giant dragon tracks near White Smoke Mountain before. I reckon quite a few Dragon Knights have arrived, but I haven't heard any signs of the three great Dragon Riders coming. It's probably just a treasure hunt, so it shouldn't be too much trouble for those three old folks."

  "Is that all you know? Is there no other news?"

  Fatso said: "Other news? Let me think... Oh, right! There's a legend that says the thing that will appear on White Smoke Mountain this time is a divine artifact left by the gods on the continent."

  "I exclaimed in surprise: 'A divine artifact?'"

  Fatso nodded and said, "Yes, although I don't know who spread it out, many people believe in this fact. Now the rumors are getting more and more absurd. Many people, especially those mercenaries, believe that it is a divine artifact left by the gods on the mainland. If someone gets it, they can possess the power of the gods."

  I sneered and said, "Even if there really is a divine artifact, it's not something us ordinary people can easily use. What's the point of getting it anyway? Besides, with the Dragon Knights around, they don't have any hope to begin with. Thanks for telling me all this, be more careful what you say in the future and consider who your audience is. Not every time will someone come to save you, remember that trouble comes from the mouth."

  The fat boy nodded and agreed.

  I left the house of Wan Shi Tong and casually found an inn to stay in. Since there was still some time before nightfall, I wanted to adjust my state first and then sneak into White Smoke Mountain at night. Since the Dragon God attaches so much importance to it, it seems that there is indeed something good. Anyway, they only sent dragon knights, and after transforming into a four-winged form, dealing with them shouldn't be a problem.

  When I woke up, the night was already very deep. I quietly left the inn and found that the city gate had been closed. Having no other choice, I transformed into a four-winged fallen angel and flew out of the small town. After a short while, I arrived at the foot of White Smoke Mountain. The mountain still looked as beautiful as ever, even in the deep night, its perpetual cloud cover was still faintly visible in the sky. It was quiet here, seemingly without any signs of human life. I carefully landed on a large tree and relied on my keen senses to determine that there were no people around me. Since this place only had dragon knights, even if they discovered me, it wouldn't be a problem. However, I didn't know where the treasure was located, so I decided to go back to the place where I trained last time to take a look. Wan Shi Tong said that there were light cavalry patrols, but why wasn't there any movement? Did they all go to sleep at night or something?

  I took aim at the direction, and quietly flew over. As I flew, I spread dark magic all over my body, emitting a thick black fog, just like a cloud, lightly drifting towards White Smoke Mountain. From high above, I discovered that in the dense forest at the foot of the mountain, there were actually large numbers of troops hiding inside. However, they were all infantrymen. That dead fatty Wan Shi Tong told me about elite light cavalry, but not even one horse was present. If I rashly charged over, I would definitely stir up unnecessary trouble.

  Thanks to my excellent camouflage, I wasn't afraid of being recognized by them. Floating quietly in the air for a while, I discovered that almost every hundred meters there would be a small team hiding above the dense forest, and a large number of troops were gathered, apparently preparing to respond at any time. Under the defense of the Dragon God, it's almost impossible to sneak in stealthily. Fortunately, these soldiers only set up defenses at the foot of the mountain, so I carefully flew over them and landed quietly on the mountain waist. After thinking for a moment about the location where I practiced a year ago, I identified the direction and swiftly climbed to the top of the tree, lightly touching the treetop as I moved quickly. I remained vigilant at all times, my keen senses allowing me to detect any movement within 500 meters. After searching for a while, I finally found that small hillside, and my camouflage was still intact, undisturbed. The cave entrance also showed no signs of activity. With the White Smoke Mountain being so vast, how could I find that five-colored aurora? Earlier when I was in high altitude, I didn't notice anything unusual - not even a single Dragon Knight, let alone the five-colored aurora. It seems they should all be resting at night.

  I flapped my four wings and flew up quietly. Since the entire White Smoke Mountain was almost entirely covered by tall trees, I decided to fly low and thoroughly search around. Piercing through the thick fog, I arrived at the upper half of White Smoke Mountain, and my clothes were already soaked from the dense mist. The temperature had clearly dropped a lot.

  Since Wan Shi Tong said that the five-colored halo was emitted from Mount Baishan, it should be somewhere on this mountain peak. I flapped my wings and sped up, circling around Mount Baishan in a spiral motion. With the help of my keen eyesight and low-altitude flight, almost everything on the mountain was within my sight.

  I've been searching all the way to the summit, but there's no sign of what I'm looking for. Sitting on the mountain peak, wave after wave of cold wind blows by, forcing me to activate my Dark Magic to protect myself. Where is it? I've basically searched the entire White Smoke Mountain, but why can't I find any clues at all?

  Baiyan Mountain is the highest peak in the vicinity, and as far as the eye can see, there are undulating mountains all around. Do we really need to search the entire mountain range? When will that be? Since there's nothing on Baiyan Mountain, why did the Dragon God dispatch so many people to guard below? Is it just to deceive people? It wasn't until now that I realized I had been deceived. If any of the surrounding peaks emitted colorful halos, from a distance, it would look like the entire mountain range was emitting them, and Baiyan Mountain being the highest peak here, naturally many people would think it's the one emitting them. Plus, with the large number of soldiers guarding below, no one would notice other places.

  At this moment, several different colored smokes suddenly rose from the distant mountains on the left side, gradually floating upwards, and the smoke grew thicker and thicker. The sky was suddenly brightened, and my spirit was greatly lifted. This should be what people call the five-colored clouds. If it weren't for being at the top of White Smoke Mountain, it would really not be easy to discover that this misty cloud came from there.

  Just as I was about to explore in that direction, suddenly, the energy inside me surged again, just like last time when Su Lu went crazy. The protective mirror in my body once again detached from my Crazy God's aura and began to frantically tremble inside me, causing my heartstrings to vibrate with a series of palpitations. I was shocked and quickly activated the Dark Magic to suppress it. Unlike last time, I am currently in the process of transforming, and the Dark Magic is much stronger than before. But what terrified me was that the detached protective mirror's intention was also different from last time, frantically moving inside me, constantly impacting my chest area, as if trying to burst out. And what triggered its agitation seemed to be that gradually thickening five-colored cloud. Could it be that the protective mirror has some connection with that five-colored cloud?

  Although I resisted it with all my might, its impact grew stronger and stronger, causing the meridians in my body to ache as if they were about to split. I felt that I was gradually unable to hold on any longer. Forget it, what's mine is mine, and this isn't something of mine, so trying to force it wouldn't be of any use. I slowly withdrew the dark magic that had been protecting my heart meridian. In an instant, a strand of golden light appeared at my chest, and the Heart Mirror gradually emerged from my body in its pure energy form. The golden light grew brighter and brighter, and after a brief moment, its energy had completely escaped, as if a golden heart had run out of my body. It gradually took shape, restoring the Heart Mirror to its original form, but the golden light it emitted didn't weaken in the slightest.

  The Heart Mirror began to vibrate slightly, emitting a humming sound, as if it was very excited. Suddenly, the Heart Mirror shot up into the sky, heading in the direction of the colorful aurora, at an extremely alarming speed. I was shocked and hurriedly flapped my wings to chase after it, no matter what, I had to see what was going on, even if I couldn't get the Heart Mirror back, I still wanted to know what its relationship with the colorful aurora was. Deep down in my heart, there were still some selfish thoughts, after all, it was the Heart Mirror that had pulled me back from the brink of life and death, and I had already developed a strange feeling towards it, really not wanting to lose it like this.

  The Heart Mirror, with a streak of golden light, shot towards the place where the colorful aurora was emitted. This is great, I don't need to explore myself, the Heart Mirror has become my best guide, its speed is extremely astonishing, even if I use all my strength, it still gradually pulls away from me. I chased after it and got closer and closer to the colorful aurora, suddenly, several clear dragon roars came from the forest below. Four giant dragons emerged from four different directions, advancing towards the route where the Heart Mirror was heading. They included two red dragons, one blue dragon, and one green dragon, each with a heavily armored dragon knight sitting on its back, holding a long spear. It's obvious that the golden light of the Heart Mirror had attracted them, since I was hundreds of meters behind the Heart Mirror, and also shrouded in dark fog, they seemed to have not discovered me. I didn't want to conflict with them either, so I suddenly stopped my movement, watching whether they could stop the Heart Mirror.

  Four giant dragons simultaneously spewed out dragon breath with a diameter of nearly one meter, instantly sealing off the route in front of the advancing shield.

  The Heart Mirror charged forward, undaunted and unimpeded by the four dragon breaths. The Green Dragon Knight reacted the fastest, his wind-element giant dragon smaller in size but incredibly fast in movement, suddenly shifting sideways to block the Heart Mirror's path. The 4-meter-long dragon claw swung out with a burst of cyan-colored energy, striking the Heart Mirror head-on. This knight's marksmanship was indeed impressive, able to land a direct hit on the rapidly advancing Heart Mirror.

  The crisp sound of "ding" echoed in the air, and the shield mirror changed from rapid movement to stillness, with a somewhat eerie feeling between its movements. It stopped on the dragon gun of that dragon knight, and the four dragon knights were clearly very happy, immediately surrounding it. I secretly called out, "No way, is this treasure going to be taken away by them just like that?" Just as I was hesitating about whether or not to take action, the light from the shield mirror suddenly weakened, and the golden glow that had originally illuminated the surroundings for three feet shrunk to one foot. On the contracted golden glow, white lightning seemed to be irregularly twisting around it. A red dragon knight suddenly shouted loudly, "Not good, retreat quickly!" But he discovered it a bit too late, as the shield mirror's golden glow turned into dazzling white light and exploded violently with itself at the center.

  The intense light made the distant rainbow-colored glow seem somewhat dull, I hastily retracted my two wings to block in front of me, only then did it block out the light, a burst of explosive energy sent me flying back hundreds of meters, even with my strength being so great, and those few dragon knights were at such close range, I'm afraid they're unlikely to survive.

  When the energy wave dissipated, I reopened my wings and looked around. The four dragon knights were sent flying in different directions. Their giant dragons had all bled profusely to protect their masters, taking them down with them. The sky was filled with flying scales and shattered armor pieces of the dragon knights. Luckily, I didn't insist on keeping the protective mirror earlier; this must be its true power - it's simply too terrifying! I shook my head and looked in the direction of the mirror, only to see a glimmer of gold slowly disappearing into the night sky. My heart racing, I hastily flapped my wings to chase after it.

  After chasing for a while, Jin Mang had completely disappeared. Where did the Hu Xin mirror go? Fortunately, there was a colorful rainbow light guiding the direction. I slowed down my speed and adjusted the breath in my body, flying towards the direction of the colorful rainbow light.

  As I gradually approached the colorful glow, the suddenly twisted and turned several times, its light overwhelming, as if extremely excited. My heart skipped a beat, realizing that the Heart Mirror had reached its destination, merging into the colorful glow. A strong sense of curiosity propelled my body forward quickly, and after crossing over a hill, I finally found the source of the colorful glow, which seemed to be drifting out from a mountain valley. I folded my wings and dove down.

  In the mountain valley, the trees were exceptionally tall and large, looking as if they had been standing for nearly a thousand years. Since I could discover this place, the Dragon Knights who came several months before me would naturally also be able to find it. To avoid entanglement with them, I closed all the pores on my body, retracted my breath, and carefully floated onto the tallest tree to look down. In the center of the surrounding large trees was a clearing, where three people wearing armor stood, each with a giant dragon lying behind them. They were all intently staring at a cave entrance 30 meters in front of them, which was the source of the colorful light, and dense colored mist was constantly emanating from it.

  These few giant dragons are different from what I saw before, their volume is much larger, one white dragon, one yellow dragon and one green dragon. Their volume exceeds that of ordinary giant dragons by more than a fold, especially the green dragon, which not only has the largest body shape but also has an extra curved dragon horn on its head, with scales on its body shining with a layer of luster, looking exceptionally beautiful. I was secretly surprised in my heart, could this be the legendary Dragon Clan Elder?

  The blue giant dragon suddenly raised its head and said, "Lifeng, it seems that one of our companions has been attacked. I have lost my sense of them." A dragon that can speak human language? It's definitely not ordinary. This unusual situation further solidified the idea I had just now.

  The human in front of him, wearing a suit of armor the color of cyan, grunted and said: "Thank you, Qing Lin elder. It's definitely related to that bundle of golden light that was thrown into the cave earlier. What exactly is inside here? With our powers combined, we still can't get in." When I heard his voice, I was secretly shocked - what a deep and powerful aura! Although they were several hundred meters away from me, his hoarse but thick voice still shook my eardrums until they hurt. This was definitely not something that a Dragon Knight could possess, even when I met Bladios, one of the three great Dragon Knights, I didn't feel this suffocated. My heart skipped a beat as I suddenly realized what these few humans were. They should be members of the Saint Dragon Knight squad, the backbone of the Dragon God Empire - in other words, all three of them possessed the strength of a Dragon General. These few people were absolutely not someone I could handle, any one of them could come out and destroy me. Only they could possess such powerful abilities. The Dragon God Empire actually invited them here, it seems like they place great importance on whatever is inside this cave.

  The person wearing yellow armor next to him said, "Liji, it seems that there is indeed a divine artifact here. Since we can't enter, why not blow this place up to ensure that the enemy won't get it? What do you think?" His voice sounded much older than that of the green-armored warrior, yet he addressed the other as "uncle".

  The green-armored human named Lü Feng said, "With our strength alone, it's not enough to bring this place down. I've tried probing before, and although the rocks here aren't particularly hard in terms of quality, due to the protection of this five-colored energy, they become extremely hard. If we want to blast this place down, unless all team members gather and let Brother Tianyun command the launch of Star Dragon Rain, there's no hope."

  The warrior in white armor said, "Li Shu, is it necessary? If Father leads us to launch the Star Dragon Rain, I'm afraid the entire White Smoke Mountain Range will be destroyed. I fear it will cause panic." My heartstrings were greatly shocked. What? Can actually destroy the entire White Smoke Mountain Range? What kind of power is that?

  The tone of Lie Feng's words was tinged with approval, "Not bad, it's precisely because of this reason that I've been unable to make a decision, and Big Brother won't agree either. Let's try again, perhaps the combined strength of the three of us will have some effect?" It seems that this Lie Feng should be the leader of this expedition, although I'm not clear just how powerful he is. With even that green dragon elder being someone I might not be able to handle, what chance do we beastmen or demons have of intervening when the Dragon God uses such immense power to explore these items?