Chapter 187: Hidden Battle (Part Two)

Whew, there shouldn’t be a problem this time! That kid was truly not simple, and now I had to be careful!

At this point, Azure Dragon naturally understood that if it kept holding back, once Tang Jinbiao flew into a rage, it would certainly face unbearable consequences, so it could only confess honestly. Though unwilling in its heart, it had no other choice.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Hearing Azure Dragon’s words, Tang Jinbiao narrowed his eyes, lowered his head to look at the back of Azure Dragon’s transformed Big Yellow Dog, and clenched his right fist tightly only to relax it again.

Calm down, calm down—now wasn’t the time for impulsiveness. As long as the Divine Confinement Seal remained on its body for even one more day, I wouldn’t fear it, but to kill it off so simply made me feel intensely grudging!

Tang Jinbiao’s mind began to recall the punishment methods in the Divine Confinement Seal, wanting to execute judgment on Azure Dragon right away, but upon remembering the top priority was to catch up with Captain Wang, he immediately suppressed such thoughts.

Oh, I see, I get it!

Tang Jinbiao harbored deep hatred toward Azure Dragon, yet rationality compelled him not to kill it off.

What does this kid mean? After what I just confessed, an ordinary person would have exploded into rage—why didn’t he attack me?

Finding that Tang Jinbiao hadn’t struck, Azure Dragon muttered to itself internally.

Earlier during Tang Jinbiao’s clash with Captain Wang, it had already noticed that the Frost Qi in Tang Jinbiao’s system didn’t seem like any ordinary chill.

Its decision to spill everything just now hadn’t stemmed from repentance but from impatience—it was grasping Tang Jinbiao’s “cunning” now, fearing that more delay meant less confidence in dealing with him. Thus, it planned to inflame Tang Jinbiao, hoping he’d use that Frost Qi to assault it. If he acted as hoped, it reckoned Huang Biaozi’s Divine Confinement Seal might briefly malfunction; though unsure, any sliver of chance was worth risking to seize that instant for a fatal counterblow. Unfortunately, Tang Jinbiao didn’t attack, ruining its scheme.

No, if this dragged on, the kid wouldn’t release my seal, and I felt he’d soon control me tightly. Realizing how Tang Jinbiao was growing more alarming, Azure Dragon grew uneasy.

Azure Dragon and Tang Jinbiao kept battling covertly, yet neither punctured that veil. Azure Dragon appeared obedient outwardly and kept Captain Wang in close sight so as not to lose track.

For a moment, neither spoke again, just flying far behind Captain Wang, steadily heading into the depths of the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

Both were already deep within the Hundred Thousand Mountains. As time elapsed, they faintly heard beastly roars from below and spotted distant flying Cultivators along with other Demon Beasts.

Hmm, no use—those standard tactics of investigation, knocking, hitting, flexibility, grandeur, and closing weren’t suitable for Azure Dragon, or perhaps my grasp fell short. He was a Demon Emperor, an ancient being who survived tens of millennia; his insights outdid a novice like me hands-down. Truth or lies, he’d see through my words instantly, and his thoughts were tough to read. Likely, he yearned for freedom—any alive, conscious being surely sought that, so Azure Dragon must be similar. I couldn’t pledge him any gains via promises, nor would he believe them. All I could offer was freedom, but freeing him invited disaster. Thus, our benefits clashed head-on.

Azure Dragon’s wealth of experience aged him into cunning—common lies failed. With shared time, certain mutual understandings made Tang Jinbiao confront a profound obstacle now.

And that was “hitting”!

Of the Six-Syllable Mantra, investigation formed the basis, knocking the groundwork, but hitting was the core. Without it, the enemy’s mental fortifications stayed lofty and impenetrable. Tang Jinbiao found himself stumped on this.

Freedom must be Azure Dragon’s weak spot—to him now, it was beyond valuable. But seizing that to strike? Tang Jinbiao held his vulnerability, yet this was also his own weak point: Freeing Azure Dragon might earn trust, but it doomed Tang Jinbiao—that was an unwinnable scenario Tang Jinbiao couldn’t handle.

This was an unsolvable snare, a trap Tang Jinbiao simply couldn’t counter at present.

If Huang Biaozi faced the same setup, what moves would he make? Tang Jinbiao started conjuring what strategies Huang Biaozi might employ.

Huang Biaozi hadn’t imparted fitting examples, only covering the Way of Deception’s foundations and outline—since, as he put it, offering cases was endless; only by mastering basics and grasping core principles could one resolve challenges.

Remain constant amid endless changes, for all changes originate from your core!

But Tang Jinbiao found it worse to recall Huang Biaozi, for the harder he tried, the hazier the memory became.

“What? Now, turning it over in my mind, I realize I never properly listened to what Huang Biaozi told me back then. In fact, I even felt annoyed. Yet looking back, it seems he was right. What if I had done as he said?”

While Tang Jinbiao was inwardly reeling from the implications of Huang Biaozi’s past words, the Azure Dragon wasn’t idle either. It was silently scheming—how to gain Tang Jinbiao’s trust, how to seize the perfect moment to escape.

“No way! Over this past month, my relationship with this kid has deteriorated. Though we haven’t torn off the facade, both sides know the score. Blindly demanding he lift my Seal now is utterly unrealistic. Even if danger strikes, as long as it’s not life-threatening, he absolutely won’t release me!

Wait… life-threatening!

No. This brat is on high alert against me. Even facing mortal peril, he might not grant me freedom. Hell, in a critical moment, he might even use me as cannon fodder!

Unacceptable! If that truly happens, I’m doomed by this kid’s hand! I haven’t yet exacted my revenge; I cannot perish so easily!

But… how on earth do I win this kid’s trust?

He seems cold on the surface, but actually has a passionate heart… though that passion is strangely twisted. What exactly happened to him to make him this way?

People like him… I pity them most, but also despise them most!

Inexperienced and innocent at first, they became hardened after some ordeal. Cold. Yes, that coldness. Not innate, yet more terrifying than if it were!

Damn it! Impasse!”

Unable to break the Seal himself, all hope lay with Tang Jinbiao. But it felt like a dog biting a hedgehog—utterly no place to begin. The Azure Dragon grew frantic.

Truly, if he had treated Tang Jinbiao better from the start, maybe not so long in, their bond could have warmed. Without him even noticing, Tang Jinbiao might have freed him.

But the Azure Dragon had endured too long. Betrayed, fallen into the lowly Mortal Realm, enduring the Nirvana Rebirth cycle for millennia, only to be thwarted at a critical juncture by an insignificant Core Formation Cultivator, delaying him another full five years.

Five years were nothing compared to his thousand-year Nirvana. Yet the human psyche is peculiar.

The longer the suppression, the longer the biding of time. Right at the pivotal moment, he had faltered, grown reckless—and all was decided in that fleeting instant.

Those five years trapped had been grueling torture, even longer than his millennia under Nirvana.

Finally, hope surfaced with Tang Jinbiao and his lot, offering freedom… then Huang Biaozi appeared at the critical hour.

These blows weighed heavily upon the Azure Dragon, nearly breaking him. Especially following that Old Charlatan Huang Biaozi, journeying day by day through realms unseen before—a torment both physical and mental.

Thus, the Azure Dragon’s craving for freedom surpassed all, twisted into an obsession. A desperate, unyielding need.

And when Huang Biaozi finally departed? He cast the Dragon upon Tang Jinbiao. Unacceptable! He was a Demon Emperor! At his zenith, annihilating a mere Body Refining Third Tier like Tang Jinbiao? Obliterating the entire Divine Wind Continent would have been effortless!

So, realizing his fate was bound to this insignificant Tang Jinbiao, he snapped. He’d raged—almost slain Tang Jinbiola on sight!

But such was destiny. Some yearn for freedom all their lives, yet remain shackled forever.

Thus for the Azure Dragon. Thus for Tang Jinbiao. Thus for Tang Yilin. Even for Huang Biaozi!

You, me, him. None of us escape!

“Arghhh! I refuse! I refuse!”

The injustice of his life burned bitterly within the Azure Dragon.

Clawing his way up since youth to stand supreme. Loneliness at the peak nearly consumed him. Finally understanding freedom’s preciousness… just as he grasped it, it was ripped away.

Only through losing something do we learn its true worth…