"May the dao be with you."
The elevator slid, revealing a grandiose white hall. He walked past the swirling white pillars that arched and separated at the top, holding up the vault that was hundreds of feet above. Why the house he lived in was that high was anyone's guess. Sometimes, he joked that they were giants in secret, otherwise, why would everything be so disproportionately huge?
With each step, a sting followed him, a clear reminder of last night. But the fact that he had lived through that would never cease to surprise him. No wonder the White Dragon clan remained steadfast as one of the four pillars of HuaXia. Not showing the pain on his face, he stumbled towards the large black dining table in the middle.
Thankfully, no one was here to see him walking like a crab. He cursed whoever designed this hall of nonsensical proportions, along with their fourteen generations.
Soft rays of the morning sun shone upon the regal black table, lighting the silver cutlery in an ethereal hue. Even that stung his eyes, annoying him. He stared at the lavish dishes. He sighed. How wasteful. What good was a rank 3 TigerStrip crab roast if he could not have it?
That one time of eating rank 2 beast meat was enough of a lesson. He just grabbed a piece of meat and two slices of bread, roughly making a sandwich. Biting on it, he let his mind wander. He hoped Feng Huan had finally sent the challis to the lab. If so, perhaps he could finally run the test and find out something.
Lost in a sea of thoughts, he did not notice when a refined lady stood on the opposite side of the table, clad in an exquisite blue robe and jewelry. The Marchioness, Mei Lin, stared at him with a gentle smile. Long Tian sighed inside.
She taunted in a soft voice, “The elusive third young master has finally shown his face.”
“Aunt, It’s nothing like that. I was a bit preoccupied.” He replied, smiling in a resigned manner. The main reason he did not attend many of his meals, apart from his forgetfulness, had a lot to do with her.
“Mother! Don’t make me repeat myself all the time.” She scolded him, sitting on the chair right across from him. “It’s been six years, Tian’er. Have I not treated you well? ”
No. She actually treated him quite well, despite being his stepmother. In front of others at least. He suspected that his reputation getting smeared with mud had a lot to do with her. To be fair, it was not like he cared about reputation. He just couldn’t bring himself to call her that.
“Thank you for the food.” Finishing his food, he slowly stood up, intending to flee from this absurd conversation.
“I heard you finally managed to make a pill for Nor-Renad?” She sneered. Long Tian's mind raced as soon as she mentioned Nor-Renad. It's only been a day since he sent it, and nobody knew what disease it was for.
”How unfortunate. If only it was there during the outbreak that year.” She continued.
A fire replaced the stinging pain inside him, wishing to burn everything in sight. He barely controlled the budding anger as he turned away, facing his back towards her. A mirthless smile stretched across his face as he acknowledged, “Yes. It’s quite unfortunate. Can't do much about it. Fate is a bitch, it always snatches away the people we cherish the most.”
He steadily walked into the elevator before facing her again. Her gentle face looked a bit frozen at his words. Unfortunately for her, he had long learned to channel his anger, and words no longer got him as riled up, on the outside. He stared back into her eyes. “Wouldn’t you know, mother?”
As the elevator closed, he saw it.
A faint break in her expression that was ever so gentle.
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The mild morning rays glistened on the wet tips of the grass, rippling in the soft caress of the spring air. The sweet scent of the newly sprouted grass touched his nose, bringing a sense of peace to his mind. The black road was bent and shaped like a snake, separating the green plains in two. Cold air filled his lungs and washed away the burn inside.
He appreciated the end of the winter. The biting cold of winter had stopped him from outside for far too long. Before long, a silver gate became visible in the distance. He once estimated the length of it, finding that it was 99 feet tall.
"Apollo!” He shouted. There was no response for some time, but he craned his head intently at the yellow sky. Above the stable.
Soon, he spotted a white dot in his vision.
“Neighhhhh” The white dot quickly expanded to a full-fledged 7-meter horse, landing in front of him with a thud. It brought a whirling gust of wind, messing up his neatly combed brown hair.
Long Tian harrumphed. The silly dog of a horse always did this. “You keep doing that, and I am going to find another Dragonback horse that’s twice as big as you.” Long Tian scolded, fixing his hair.
Apollo snorted back, derision flowing in it’s reptilian eyes. It believed that none of the other Dragonback horses would listen to him.
It was right!
However, Long Tian felt like bringing the cocky horse to his senses today. He brought out a shiny red capsule. The horse took a look at it for a while, then stared back at him in confusion.
"Sniff."
It froze, quickly lowering its long neck. It stared at Long Tian and the pill intermittently. Its eyes were full of wonder and veneration, staring at Long Tian as if he were the master of the heavens, holding the Dao fruit.
Long Tian smirked. After all, it was a Voidworm flavored food capsule!
He put the capsule back in his pockets. “I will ask Deino to come with me from now on.” He started walking towards the stable, bringing great panic to it. It quickly hovered in front of him, it's expression full of fawning.
“So, you are going to listen to me.” Long Tian inquired. The reptilian horse bobbed its head quickly in agreement. “Okay, Let’s go."
But the horse’s gaze was glued to Long Tian’s pocket. It gazed at Long Tian with anticipation.
Long tian chuckled, “Alright. Here you go.” and threw the capsule high in the air. It jumped and crunched at it before finally dancing up into the sky again.
He laughed. There was no way he would have a voidworm to make a capsule with, that’s a rank-6 fierce beast. Something that could doom this entire city of Naqueser. But the horse did not know that.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Soon, the horse returned with a large white carriage behind it. There was nothing attaching the horse to the carriage, but Long Tian knew an invisible Qi existed between the two. He just could not see or feel it.
Part of him wanted to refuse the existence of Qi, but immortal awakeners and spirit beasts like Apollo made it hard. As soon as he entered the carriage, Apollo flew, cutting a white streak across the yellow sky.
The carriage soon entered deep into the main city of Naqueser, one of the most strategic locations of the HuaXia empire, from where the State of Marquis Long operated.
Long Tian stared below. People seemed like microbes from up here, going in and out of the buildings and driving on the road in a busy manner.
Eventually, the bustling energy and cityscape dwindled, and more greenery took over. There were only a few houses neatly arranged beside the main highway. Apollo took off in front of an old, two-story building right on the outskirts of Naqueser. A colossal wall could be seen standing proudly in the distance, extending as far as the eye could see.
The colony was too peaceful in comparison to the large city.
He sighed. In order to come here with normal transportation, it would take at least a couple hours. He praised.
The horse snorted and propped its head up in pride, as if saying, Of course
“Pick me up later." Long Tian asked. He watched as It nodded and took off in the sky again, vanishing within seconds. A 3 year old dragon back horse was already so fast. He imagined it would be equivalent to a living spaceship when it matured completely. .
Long Tian walked towards the two-story house. Its rough, off-white walls bore the weathered marks of time, with stains and patches of plaster peeling away in places. The overgrown grass beneath painted a desolate picture. It was as if the place had been abandoned long ago.
Moving forward, he retrieved a key from his white overcoat. With a soft clink, the door creaked open. The house appeared much more ordered and neat from inside. His voice echoed in the small room, “I am home, mom.”
The room itself was quite small and cozy. A fridge and a pair of old wooden couches sat beside the right wall, while a black wooden table with a bookshelf laid on the back. He walked to the right, opening the rusty fridge carefully. The antique freezer looked as if it had been through multiple generations.
The fridge belonged to his grandmother. After her death, his mother kept the fridge in one piece, refusing to replace it even after it got tattered and outdated. He continued the same tradition.
He sat on the couch with a bottle in his hand. Bargard Jixen, produced by the province of Riveria. Despite not having Qi, it is ranked 998 among all the heavenly drinks.
"Sorry, mom, I need it today.” He stared at the massive photograph in the middle of the wall. A beautiful brunette woman in maroon was cradling a kid. Her wavy, voluminous brown hair was separated by a small, twisted butterfly hairpin. She stared at the child in her hand with unending gentleness.
Sipping on the cold velvet wine slightly eased his throbbing temples.
“If only it was there during the outbreak that year.” The same words repeated in his ears over and over. What if it was? What if she never died?
Life could have been different. Life could have been simple and fulfilling. Or perhaps there would be other problems. But at least he would have the strength to deal with this alien world if she was with him. He did not know when, but soon he drifted off to the land of dreams.
When he woke up, everything had turned dark. He quickly took a look at the time. It was 5.30 PM.
Was it his body that had grown weaker? Or maybe Mei Lin's words had more effect than he would like to admit.
Reorienting himself, he stood up and grabbed a book from the shelf on the black table, revealing a small switch. As soon as he clicked, the whole table automatically moved to the left, opening a small passageway.
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He had lied.
Money did bring happiness. He felt his gloom wash away as he stared at the gleaming stainless-steel counters lining across the pristine white room. After his mother died, he turned nearly the entire house into a lab.
A sharp, rancid smell of acetyl alcohol overpowered the earthly smell of the petri dishes. Not many knew that one of the best laboratories in the empire was built here, nor that it belonged to a 16 year old.
“Haider!” He shouted, walking towards the pharmacology room in the middle. Not seeing him anywhere, a suspicion bloomed in his heart. He walked towards the room labeled ‘Expired and useless compound.’ .
He found a bald young man asleep on the floor. "Is it morning already?" he muttered as he put his hands up to stop the light.
Looking at his puffy face and eyes, Long Tian wondered if he was indeed in the correct room. He did look quite useless.
Haider rubbed his bald head apologetically as he saw Long Tian. "Sorry, Sir, you never came so I just fell asleep ”
“You never told me you had a sleep walking problem.” Long Tian replied, staring at him in a deadpan manner.
Haider felt the stare and flinched. He quickly flashed his perfect pair of teeth. “I just developed it a few days ago, sir!.”
Long Tian shook his head. When it comes to lying, this man has a postdoctoral degree. He got straight to the business. “Is the challis here?”
“Not right now, sir. But we sure do have all the other ingredients covered. As soon as you get the challis, we can go ahead with the experiment.”
“Alright. You can leave for today. Also, if you sleep inside the lab again, I will cut your bonus.”
Haider flinched, pleading, “I have a wife and children at home, sir.”
“You don't,” Long Tian was done with his jokes, shooing him.
Haider walked away as he murmured in complaint, “Then you should pay more so that I can marry, sir.”
"Hm?" Long Tian snorted, causing Haider to run off within seconds. Long Tian just shook his head, feeling relieved as he checked on all the equipment and experiments. He jotted down the results one by one
> Incubation. 59%
>
> Thin layer chromatography. Completed, Result : Oxparas
>
> Extraction of flavonoids (Rothblatt samples). Completed
>
> Gallic acid standard curve . Failed, erratic results. Need to reschedule.
After finishing all the scheduled checks, he left the lab, finding himself in the small room again.
“See you tomorrow, mother.” He whispered in a small voice before leaving. He was in no rush to go back to the Long Manor, but his allowance would be partly withheld for every missing day. Somehow, the act of going home became a job for him. He checked the time. 7.58 PM. Perhaps he could meet with Feng Huan first.
He shouted for Apollo as he waited in front of his house.
Apollo could hear him no matter where he was. He did not understand how that could be an inborn talent, but spirit animals broke his common sense in many ways. And he had just stopped questioning after a while.
As he waited, he slowly felt the heaviness in the air. The oppressive weather at night was the norm, but tonight seemed different. Usually, it would not be this silent and eerie. He looked around. The leaves on the tree had stopped moving.
He tried to laugh it off to relieve the growing tension, but his heartbeat had long sped off. There was a silent pressure that turned off his survival mechanics within his genes. The rational side of his brain screamed at him to move, to run, but his legs stopped, glued to the place.
From his peripherals, he felt as if a part of the sky had turned pitch black. He wanted to deny it, attributing it to his weakness. But his curiosity got ahold of him.
He stared at it.
A large patch of the sky was broken, probably the work of the huge, ghastly hand that dangled on one side.
But what caught his attention was the small red star in one corner of the torn sky, twinkling slowly like it was on its deathbed.
Do not look at the sky at night
He remembered the warning his mother told him many times, but now it was too late. He stared right at the red star.
It stared back.
Long Tian felt his world go dark as he fell on the pitch black road. A red screen rose above him.
[Hive ; 100%]
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