The Endless Promise

11. The Black Dragon

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"Xiaobai! What are you doing?!" Yinying was aghast.

He had turned to find Bailong bowing to him, his forehead on the ground.

As Yinying was immortal, and older than Bailong's father who had tamed him, this shouldn't be too strange,

But not every 'immortal' being was called an immortal.

In Sky Realm there were four major types of 'Immortals'...

The revered Divine tribe was considered the strongest, consisting of the Mythical creatures, like Phoenixes, Dragons, Qilin, Ancient Turtles, Nine-tailed foxes, Merfolk, Kunpeng, and the like.

The Fairies included common birds, flowers, plants or creatures, who had either cultivated for thousands of years to achieve enlightenment and take on a human form, or were born to such parents.

There were the humans who also cultivated to attain immortality.

And finally, there was the Beast Clan, usually Spirit animals of rare or divine strength, tamed as mounts or pets.

But the Beast Clan was looked down on in Sky Realm.

This was because it took Beast clan members a rather long time to achieve enlightenment, and other Immortals often tamed them before they could.

These tamed Beasts doubled as warriors, mounts and pets, who obeyed their Masters' every command, like Yiguang the Sky Emperor's Light tiger, or Sun Liang's Golden Steed.

But once a beast was tamed, it could never take on human form unless its master permitted it.

And that made them low-status in the eyes of most immortals.

Which was why Yinying couldn't accept Bailong's bow to him.

No immortal would ever bow to a mount, much less kowtow!

"Did your death make you lose your mind?" Yinying asked weakly.

"Laoying, let me kowtow to you once! All my selfish decisions led us through hell and back. And yet -." He paused, not finding adequate words. "You never once left my side, and now you're stuck here like this."

"Hao! Ha-ha-hao!" There was a catch in Yinying's voice as he nudged Bailong.

Mounts were to do anything to protect their masters.

It was to be expected, so there was never any need for such a wholesome display of gratitude.

"Lift your head now! You're making me uncomfortable!"

Bailong raised his head and grinned at him. "Heh! Aren't you the one who says he's older than my father? Are you the same Laoying?!"

"Enough, enough!" Yinying held up a paw. "Don't tease me anymore! Show me your wrist!" He quickly said, changing the subject.

Yinying shifted his attention to the seal on Bailong's wrist.

"What's the deal here? You're the type to be angry at this human for trapping you here... And besides, haven't humans made themselves your enemy?

"Why are you vowing to help this one?"

"Laoying, even a stranger on the street will pity Zhang Luoyin." Bailong said, and then filled him in on the bits of Luoyin's memory he could remember.

"Still, it's not your issue." Yinying said, after he was done. "As a human with barely any cultivation, you can't afford to endanger yourself for the sake of others. Especially a human. They're not trustworthy!"