Dragon Tamer

Blue tiles, grey pavilions, the rich scent of ink—when Zhan An turned his attention back, the undulating city before him suddenly lost its original colors.

It was a series of ink brush strokes, clearly delineated, that sketched out the charm of the entire Red Lotus City, even the distant rolling hills and a few ancient towers had become the farthest few touches of scenery…

The sugar gourd seller was merely a few simple strokes.

The tea house waiter hailing customers was no more than a cluster of ink shadows.

The hurriedly walking horses and travelers, though still, were finely depicted in their toilsome hustle and bustle.

Zhan An touched himself with his hand, wanting to know if he had also become an ink painting, but he still had flesh and blood, and warmth.

“Which expert has set up a banquet here to wait for someone like me? To paint this city for my arrival, I am truly flattered,” Zhan An spoke to the Painted City within the painting.

His voice echoed in the Painted City, but no one responded. On the main street that Zhan An faced, a dark, towering shadow suddenly emerged. When it stood upright, it nearly reached the city towers, and the wide road seemed somewhat crowded and narrow beneath its feet!

The dark shadow approached step by step, the Painted City trembled, and by the time it reached the crossroads ahead, the merchants, pedestrians, and soldiers had all vanished. The entire street was cleared, leaving only Zhan An and the giant ink beast!

The dark creature was clad in armor, with hair that wavered like flames in the wind. Although it was entirely drawn in black ink, the variation in ink intensity still conveyed the powerful aura of flaming embodiment!

“A Fire Kirin Dragon?”

Zhan An recognized the creature.

Moreover, it was an ink-made Fire Kirin Dragon. For some reason, as it stepped towards him, it was as if a real Fire Kirin Dragon stood before him, its majesty and sanctity undiminished!

Zhan An was certain this was no illusion.

The Painted City he was in was real, and the ink-drawn Fire Kirin Dragon before him was real. As a God and Mortal, he couldn’t possibly be deceived by the trivial illusion techniques of folk art.

The painter who had drawn Red Lotus City and waited for him to fall into the trap must be a peerless master…

But does the Dragon City-State have such a strong expert?

Zhan An couldn’t recall anyone capable of reaching such a realm, where paintings became reality, and even the drawn dragons were no less inferior to the Fire Kirin Dragon itself!

“Since you want to kill me, why not show yourself? As a fellow God and Mortal of the Dragon City-State, I am, after all, your senior,” Zhan An said, facing the advancing Fire Kirin Dragon, without taking a step back.

Still, only his own voice echoed back, the painter God and Mortal had no intention of appearing.

Zhan An frowned.

Could it be a powerful expert from another state?

Could Li Ying, so desperate to kill him, have shamelessly sought the help of a God and Mortal from another state?

The Fire Kirin Dragon’s roar was like that of a divine bull. As it stamped on the ground, a wave of flame that affected most of the city rolled forward.

The fiery wave struck, and even though it was a fluctuation of ink lines, the sensation of heat and impact was no different from molten fire. Zhan An’s sleeves almost caught fire.

Zhan An leapt up, light as a wild goose, stepping on the eaves of the ink houses and swiftly dodging toward the back of the city towers.

The ink-flame wave shattered the houses and pavilions on the streets. As the Fire Kirin Dragon moved its limbs in pursuit, the wave surged higher and higher, threatening to engulf half of the city along the street!

Having leaped onto the dark dome of the city tower, also composed of ink, Zhan An pushed off from the corner of the eaves.

In a flash, the city tower crumbled into fragments. Zhan An, like an arrow released from a tensed bow, almost left behind elongated phantoms in the burst of propulsion.

Passing through the attacking flame wave, he saw a massive curtain of fire that

was torn open by his rush.

Confronting the Fire Kirin Dragon barehanded, Zhan An’s fist, in that moment, shone with a blazing light, and even the surrounding Painted City twisted from the force of his punch!

The Fire Kirin Dragon was sent sliding backward, and the punch exploded at the crossroads, scattering the phantom city like scattered waste ink. For a moment, the entire Painted City lost its original shape.

The Fire Kirin Dragon swayed, not toppling but merely shaken back by the punch. Although its flames briefly extinguished, as the domineering Swiss Beast bellowed, ink flames surged again on its body, even more intense than before!

Zhan An’s expression grew more solemn.

He had thought that this ink-drawn dragon, despite its appearance and strength, would be easily shattered upon touch. However, he hadn’t expected the ink-made Fire Kirin Dragon to be as robust as steel; even his arm felt numb from the punch.

Moreover, having not used the Power of God and Mortality for some years, his strength had greatly declined.

Moving back a bit, Zhan An watched the Fire Kirin Dragon intently, hoping to find its vulnerabilities within the phantom drawing. Since it was a painting, there had to be something distinctly different from a real entity; if he could find the essence of this Painted City, this painted dragon, he could easily overcome it!

“Rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble-

A tremendous noise arose from the collapse of the city tower behind him; Zhan An felt an unprecedented terror emanating from behind, making his neck chill and his body break out in goosebumps!

He turned his head back and saw the tower walls…

The walls of Red Lotus City were quite high and solid, capable of withstanding the assault of Demon Spirit-class creatures.

The walls were also delineated with painting ink, but to Zhan An’s disbelief, the walls began to wriggle, to stretch out!

The wall bricks appeared like scales, the fortifications like bones; the walls protecting Red Lotus City came to life, transforming into a Coiling Dragon City, slowly raising its rocky head, looking down upon Zhan An, as insignificant as an ant…

Zhan An was immensely shocked; this level of painting had reached its peak, and what was truly terrifying was that this Divine and Mortal could turn any dragon they have seen into a Dragon Beast of their own creation!

The walls of Red Lotus City certainly did not possess the Power of God and Mortality. The place rumored to have this power was Ancestral Dragon

City-State, where it was said that the State Wall was made of Dragon Bone!

This artist, clearly a Divine Mortal of the city-state, must have seen the real

Dragon Bone of Ancestral Dragon City, otherwise how could they employ such painting skills.

“Ancestral Dragon Divine Consort, pinnacle of painting realms, are you Li

Ying’s daughter?” Zhan An finally realized who the painter of the city was.

However, when he left Ancestral Dragon City-State, Li Ying’s daughter was but a child. After more than a decade, she had mastered such Divine Skills! Zhan An’s words still received no response, as the other party seemed to have no need to converse with a man on the verge of death.

The oppression brought by the Wall Dragon left Zhan An unable to move a step, while the Fire Kirin Dragon in front of him charged forward. Zhan An gave a bitter smile, yet what showed was an indifference to life and death…

He never imagined he would reveal his Divine and Mortal nature only to encounter a killing disaster. There was no anger or hatred in his heart, only concern for those two little ones.

He could defeat the Fire Kirin Dragon; after all, he had once shattered a horn of the Kirin Dragon itself.

But the Wall Dragon behind him was possessed by the soul of the Ancestrial Dragon. Since the artist could paint it, their realm must be above his own. He was no longer that youth who would not bow to fate or believe in destiny. He had already exhausted a lifetime’s worth of passion and fighting spirit, thinking he might find a quiet place to enjoy his twilight years, but in the end, he couldn’t escape the entanglement with Li Ying.

“Whoosh-

Suddenly, all the ink fell like water. The Fire Kirin Dragon running in front of him turned into puddles of splattered black ink, and the wild flames dripped drop by drop.

Behind him, the terrifying painted Coiling Dragon slowly laid upon the earth, curling up, encasing the Painted City beneath its lengthy body. All momentum dissipated in an instant!

Like a ludicrous yet grand dream, he woke up on the couch.

The sounds of the bustling market returned to Zhan An’s ears, and his surroundings were once again filled with busy pedestrians.

To both sides stood houses with blue-gray tiles.

In front stretched the stone-paved street, with ancient towers perched on distant low hills.

Behind him, the walls of Red Lotus City stood in silent majesty; white stone, gray rocks, and towers, motionless, never having transformed into any lifelike dragons.

Everything seemed as vague as a dream. Zhan An’s gaze roamed the bustling streets of Red Lotus City, still failing to see the artist, but the fear of being watched by the painted dragon spread continuously into the depths of his soul!

Red Lotus City, Ancient Tower Mountain.

A pond of red lotuses, an observatory, a stone desk, an ink brush, and a woman in a blue velvet long coat with eyes as deep and beautiful as lakes, reflecting the very Red Lotus City and the crowds on the streets.

A man in light-colored clothing, with sweat beaded on his forehead, watched the woman painting with utmost gravity.

“Speak,” Nan Lingsha said.

“I followed my mentor’s arrangement to assist a group of demon-hunting mages at Clearstream River City. By the time I arrived, all three mages lay lifelessly, peaceful in death, with the Demonic Beasts vanished,” Zhu Minglang took a deep breath, recounting the facts to Nan Lingsha.

As he climbed the mountain, Zhu Minglang witnessed the bizarre ink transformation of the entire city. Although he had no idea what Nan Lingsha was doing, the abrupt death of three mages surely indicated that an extremely powerful Demonic Beast was rampant, and he had to report to the academy’s higher-ups immediately.

“I will handle it,” Nan Lingsha began tidying the ink bamboo bottle next to her.

“Be careful, lady. The Demonic Beast has at least three thousand years of cultivation, ” Zhu Minglang said.

Nan Lingsha continued to hold her brush, but this time, instead of painting on canvas, she began to write in thin air.

The painting ink didn’t fall in the air, instead, a lifelike Kylin Dragon gradually took shape.

With a light tap on the dragon’s eye, the painted Kylin Dragon came to life.

“You take charge of Red Lotus City for me,” the Kylin Dragon bent down, and Nan Lingsha, in a side-saddle position, spoke to Zhu Minglang.

Quickly, the Kylin Dragon carried Nan Lingsha, rushing through the ridges of the low hills. Zhu Minglang had no time to ask how to take charge of a city when she had already gone dozens of miles away…

Zhu Minglang closed his mouth, looking at the peaceful Red Lotus City, his headache intensifying.

From assisting to taking charge, how did a student who had just entered the

Dragon Taming Academy not long ago end up with so much responsibility??