Rebirth of MC Chpt 102 - 202 (unedited translations)

Chapter 169: Vegetarian restaurant

Reclining in the rocking chair with a slender figure in his arms, the chair sways back and forth gently as a melodious, baritone voice paints a vivid picture with his words, speaking of an ancient world and days gone by.

"In the world of Immortals, the dragons are a revered and majestic race. I was born as the ninth son of the Dragon King, and my Imperial mother is his first wife, a shrine maiden to the Divine Dragon God. The gestation period of a dragon is a full hundred years, after which an egg is laid. The child within the egg has to absorb the brilliance of both sun and moon before they are able to gain consciousness and break their shell. When I was born, I broke the norm. My shrine maiden Imperial mother carried me for two hundred years, and when I finally exited her womb, it was not via an egg. I directly ripped through her womb and crawled out, causing her to die on the spot. Soaked in her blood, I looked like a human infant, except inverted black scales covered every inch where skin should be. Hence, the entire dragon race dubbed me the Inverse Heretical Dragon. A harbinger of disaster. As dragons cannot kill their kin lest they invite the wrath of Heaven, the Dragon King can only exile the one day old me from the Holy Dragon Sea, driving me to the edges of the Immortal Realm. Sealed beneath the spring pool, I was forbidden to see the light of day until my soul scatters and my body rots..."

"I was given no name. Surrounded by the ice-cold waters of the spiritual spring pool, I was left alone in the darkness for ten thousand days and nights. In the end, I met a human for the first time in my life. Or should I say...a Taoist disciple. He was young, only about five or six..."

"Clad in dirty, grey robes and carrying a basket of bamboo shoots on his back, he clutched a scroll of astrological phenomenon records in one hand. For nine days and nights, he rested at the edge of the pool, reading the contents of that scroll aloud. On the tenth day, the child left behind four sentences: Nine divided by nine is one, what is meant to be will be, what is meant to disappear will disappear, from the end a new beginning..."

"Initially, I dismissed it as a child's nonsense. Never would I have imagined that within these four sentences lie the answer to breaking the Dragon King's seal. By the time I freed myself, I was drowning in loneliness, hatred and bitterness. These emotions overwhelmed my reasoning, resulting in wanton murder, plundering of treasures and willful destruction. The Taoist sects thereby labelled me as the Heretical Dragon."

"As my strength grew, I attacked the Taoist sects, killing many disciples and masters, only to find that the Heavens placed a 'nemesis' capable of subduing me in the world," As he speaks, Long Zhanye's hand strokes Huo Zaiyuan's long hair, a warm and tender smile playing on his lips. "In order to destroy this 'nemesis' of mine, I slaughtered five sects... In the end, I forced him out, faced him several times in battle...and unknowingly fell in love with him..."

"You ah, indeed my 'calamity'." Huo Zaiyuan smiles, reaching up to pinch the man's nose playfully before cupping that handsome face. "You will never be lonely again. You have me, grandfather, as well as a lot of friends. You have a name, not just a label of 'Heretical Dragon'. You are Long Zhanye."

"Un, your Long Zhanye." Intertwining his fingers with Huo Zaiyuan's, a fond smile pulls at the corners of his lips as he tightens his arms around his beloved. "Little Yuan, I am blessed to have fallen in love with you."

Leaning back against Long Zhanye, Huo Zaiyuan allows his eyes to drift shut, a gentle smile plastered on his face. "I am also blessed to have fallen in love with you."

~~~

Along with the expansion of the safe zone to accommodate all survivors before the migration, the entire A City is constantly bustling with activity. Slowly, after a few changes and minor shifts, the city itself is separated into nine sectors, divided by the perimeter walls built after nine expansions.