The Endless Promise

12. The Flare

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Weiyan staggered a step at the sight of Yin Xiaolong's human form.

"Huaagh!" Yin Xiaolong yawned and stretched. "I didn't need to transform to beat him, but it's been ages since I fought in my original form... feels great!"

He was dressed all in black, but his hair was a long flowing white which fell past his waist. His startling golden brown eyes studied Weiyan from her head to her feet, and she blushed, feeling rather inadequate.

She had never before paid attention to men or the features that made women flock to them, but the phrase 'golden sunlight on a snowy day' entered her mind at once.

And added to that, Yin Xiaolong's face was familiar?

'Zhang Luoy- ?

'Not possible!!' Weiyan pushed the thought away.

The person before her was certainly the black dragon, an immortal who seemed to glow, even while surrounded by the bright lava.

No way he was related to the person she just thought of!

Besides, she hadn't seen that face in years... Who knew what he looked like now?

Weiyan overcame her shock, and reminded herself why she was here.

The days before the cultivators were to gather and enter Sky Realm, Weiyan had waited for days at a small tavern in Red Grove City, one of the cities mostly affected by the Black Dragon's attacks, and her heart had broken as she strolled through the City, witnessing the burned regions, the squalor survivors were leaving in, the grieving faces, and the orphaned children.

Red Grove City was where the Fate Immortal met the Caoyang Challengers each year, it was common to see Cultivators from every sect gather here at this time of the year, and a child, a little girl who looked like she had been starving, had clutched Weiyan's robes.

"Beautiful Lady, I ask as many cultivators every year but, can you kill the Black Dragon? Can you kill the devil who took my parents away?"

Back at the Lava Sea, Weiyan stood up, feeling more determined.

'No one in history has successfully met Yin Xiaolong!' She realized, and she shakily lifted her sword, pointing it at him. "Black Dragon! Your tyranny must come to an end, and your reign of fear must be stopped! I won't spare you!" She said.

Yin Xiaolong merely shook his head.

"Tsk tsk tsk. If I defeated an enemy you could not dream of conquering, how dare you call yourself my opponent?" He snapped his fingers and Weiyan's sword became so heavy that it fell to the ground, nearly bringing her with it.

"You-!" Weiyan tried to lift it, but couldn't even get it to budge.

"Lucky for you, you have some skill and somehow crossed over to this side, or you would have become snake-food before I reached here." He continued, as if he couldn't even see her struggling.

"Also, what did you do to annoy Xiao Hei? He usually just scares away the wiser mortals, and he never goes past the midway point."

But at Weiyan's lost expression, he sighed and turned to leave.

"Follow me, if you don't want to die here. I put Xiao Hei to sleep, but he will eventually return with double his anger."

'Xi- Xiao Hei?' Weiyan thought in a daze.

Surely he wasn't referring to the giant snake!

But she snapped out of it.

"What about my sword?!" She yelled after Yin Xiaolong, feeling a bit foolish, but with another snap of his fingers, the sword lifted itself and followed him.