Otherworldly Affairs Office

Chapter 1203: The Dragon Race’s Past

Seeing Long Jin get a bit emotional while speaking, Pei Yan hesitated for a moment before reaching out to pat her on the back in a comforting gesture. After a while, Long Jin gradually calmed down and nodded apologetically, saying, "I’m fine now.""Oh!" Pei Yan withdrew his hand and rubbed his palms together awkwardly, saying, "If you find it difficult, you don’t have to continue. Actually, even if you don’t say it, I can kind of guess. Did they use your kin to refine this Magical Artifact?"

"Yes, the Dragon Breeding Institute has always wanted a top-tier Divine Artifact as their sect’s treasure. For this matter, they not only broke this customary agreement but also reached out to our ancestors, who had a covenant with them. During that long period, with the intentional connivance of Spirit Lord Lin, the Dragon Breeding Institute used various insidious methods to capture nine Dragon Race leaders and nine leaders of various top avian races. With the assistance of the top Artifact Refining Sect of that time, they used their flesh, bones, and tendons in the refining process, finally extracting the souls of these eighteen divine beasts to merge into a spirit for the artifact, and thus the Nine-Turn Dragon Phoenix Pendant was forged! Pei Yan, can you now understand how important this Divine Artifact is to us? It’s the blood and tears of our race, a humiliation! We cannot let it fall into the hands of outsiders!"

After hearing Long Jin’s account, Pei Yan understood the importance of this Divine Artifact to the Daoist Plane race and heard the discontent of her race with Lin Ruxue’s past decision. He nodded and said with emotion, "I roughly understand! I just didn’t expect that the current Underworld Eighteen Houses once had such powerful strength. Nine Dragon Race leaders, nine leaders of the Golden-winged Roc Race, able to capture so many strong individuals, such a sect was this powerful?"

"Haha! Mr. Pei, are you making this inference based on the scene you saw during that battle?" Long Jin shook her head and smiled, countering Pei Yan’s remark.

"Yes!" That day, Golden Phoenix Feather and her grandfather Jin He Xuan made a deep impression on Pei Yan. Among the three fastest people who rushed into the formation at the time, besides him and Hu Jiu, was Jin He Xuan. Although the full strength of the other clan leaders wasn’t clear, they were by no means ordinary. A lineup like this, even if separated individually to confront the Investigation Office before its expansion, was more than capable.

"Mr. Pei, you need to know that the Dragon Race then was vastly different from now. In that era, before the Daoist Realm sects thoroughly subdue us, they would never allow members of my race to grow into high-tier beings, let alone own a Divine Artifact. Under such conditions, for a sect to accumulate over a long period and secretly organize a force to wipe out my current kin to forge this Divine Artifact is not too unimaginable."

Long Jin’s response resolved Pei Yan’s doubts. After understanding this history, Pei Yan asked, "So that means the Dragon Breeding Institute now has allied with Bloodshade and, to please them, presented this Divine Artifact to the Candle Dragon, which eventually fell into Bai Ze’s hands."

"That should be the case, but there are puzzles within our clan too."

Picking up the thread, Long Jin continued, "Regarding this Divine Artifact’s immense grudge, all the great Dragon Races could only swallow their anger under such circumstances. However, perhaps it was the Heavenly Dao’s reincarnation that provided a sanctuary for us divine beasts scattered across the two great planes, allowing us to escape and recuperate. As time progressed, the permeation of cornerstone planes by various great planes occurred, resulting in repercussions that saw the former Garden of the Immortals subjugated by Lin Ruxue of the Daoist Realm. We then seized our opportunity for revenge. At that time, after our Clan Leader petitioned the Ancestral God for battle, over twenty masters from our Daoist Race, along with the Immortal Palace that replaced the Garden of the Immortals, participated in the encirclement and annihilation of the Dragon Breeding Institute. That battle finally vented our grievances accumulated over thousands of years, decimating the entire sect of the Dragon Breeding Institute, leaving no important figures alive under our relentless pursuit. The sect’s Cultivation Technique heritage was completely destroyed. Precisely because of how clean and bloody this battle was, and coupled with the alliance thereafter between Daoist Plane and us, no viable Beast Taming Sect has existed in the Daoist Realm to this day. However, although we avenged ourselves in the fight, we could not find this Divine Artifact closely tied to our race amid the haul from their sect stockpile."

At this point, Long Jin sighed with a hint of regret, "Since then, we have never ceased our search for this Divine Artifact. We firmly believe such an important Divine Artifact would not vanish quietly. During this period, we also discovered that the scattered organization of the former Garden of the Immortals formed the Underworld Eighteen Houses and sent people to investigate, but after so many years, no remnants of the Dragon Breeding Institute have been found joining this organization, hence this quest was shelved in the absence of new clues, until the day we saw Bai Ze use this Divine Artifact and through observation, we could confirm Bai Ze was merely wielding it, not having fused with it."

"So the Jade Pendant has such a story!" Knowing the cause and effect of the whole affair, Pei Yan scratched his head thoughtfully, then replied, "Miss Long Jin, not to boast! I have a grudge with Bai Ze already, if I find the opportunity to track him down, given my current strength, attempting to kill him may encounter obstacles, but I believe it shouldn’t be too problematic. I can promise that! However, snatching back what’s in his hands brings too many variables. What if he absorbs and fuses with the Divine Artifact after this battle? What if he returns it to Bloodshade and doesn’t carry it with him? What if, at the critical moment, he destroys it himself? These uncertainties are too great for me to guarantee success!"

"Mr. Pei is too modest! With your strength and Lord Hu Jiu’s current capabilities, we in the Dragon Realm have never doubted your ability to kill Bai Ze. As for the scenarios you mentioned, we have considered them too. If the Divine Artifact is not on him, so be it. His life or death will be at your discretion, and if Mr. Pei can capture him alive to interrogate for the Jade Pendant’s whereabouts, that would be better. If on-site execution does not occur, we have no complaints! If he fuses or destroys the Divine Artifact, please still kill him, and our race will still fulfill our promise and reward you. In short, if this Divine Artifact cannot return to our race, it must be destroyed rather than fall into outsider hands for usage!"

Seeing Long Jin put it this way, Pei Yan thought this matter over carefully. It was all gain and no loss for him, so he promptly agreed, "Alright! I agree! As long as I find Bai Ze and he happens to have this Divine Artifact on him, I will prioritize retrieving it for your race. As for how this Divine Artifact ended up in his possession and the current whereabouts of the Dragon Breeding Institute, I will keep an eye out and relay any information to you, as a token of thanks for you and Golden Phoenix Feather’s protection that day."