Soul Land 5: The Rebirth of Tang San
Chapter 979: The Destructive Scourge Dragon

Chapter 979: The Destructive Scourge Dragon

Its scales were a dark purple color, and it had only two strong-looking hind legs, no forelimbs, and an oversized head that seemed out of proportion. But none of that diminished the terrifying aura it exuded. Within that overwhelming draconic might, there seemed to be boiling a will to destroy everything around it.

Around its neck was a massive metal collar, engraved with all manner of runes. As it roared, the runes on the collar lit up one by one.

This bizarre, ugly dragon-like being immediately began to struggle madly. Its massive body slammed against the cage, making the bars ring like a heavy bronze bell. Waves of crushing pressure continuously radiated outward.

"Enough. Quiet down now!" A white light emerged from the Celestial Fox Demon Emperor's hand, descending onto the dragon's collar and causing it to turn white. Only then did the monstrous dragon gradually calm down.

It then opened its massive maw, revealing a mouthful of razor-sharp teeth.

Seeing this dragon, Tang San couldn't help but shiver slightly. This creature actually resembled one he was intimately familiar with—it was like a Tyrant Dragon from his previous life! If not for the wings sprouting from its back, they would have been practically identical. He knew the creature very well, since his son had a Tyrant Dragon as a soul spirit.[1]

The only actual difference was that this creature was far more ferocious and appeared to be far less intelligent. The sheer bloodlust in its scarlet eyes showed it had no sanity at all.

"This is our fifth auction lot today, provided by Crystal City. The dragons call it the Scourge Dragon. As you may have already understood, it's a mutated dragon. In some ways, its mutation was a success. It possesses an extremely powerful body and an exceedingly rare bloodline power attribute that grants it immense destructive power. However, the mutation also caused a huge side effect, namely that its mind is forever trapped in a state of confusion and madness. Once unleashed, it attacks anything indiscriminately.

"After plenty of research, the dragon race developed an array collar that can be used to temporarily control it. Unfortunately, the control can't last more than five minutes before the collar must put it to sleep again. Otherwise, it will turn on its master. In our tests, during its berserk eruptions, its strength approached that of an Emperor, and its toughness may even surpass an Emperor's. The issue is that, precisely because of this strength and toughness, maintaining the collar's arrays requires extremely expensive resources, so the dragon race has decided to put it up for auction."

As the Celestial Fox Demon Emperor explained, the auction hall, which had cooled off a bit, instantly grew fervent again.

Almost ninety-nine percent of the bidders had never heard of a Scourge Dragon, but they could all feel its terrifying might. No one here was below the seventh order, so they could truly sense the horror of the Scourge Dragon's aura.

Its aura was orders of magnitude more terrifying than that of a normal dragon, and the Celestial Fox Demon Emperor confirmed that it was close to the Emperor level. Even if it could only be controlled for five minutes at a time, even if there was a risk of losing control, this was obviously far more powerful than something like the Sword Saint Demon Emperor's statue. After all, it could be used however many times it was needed! With enough resources, one could become a dragon knight, an almost mythical concept on the Daemon Continent.

"You dragons really are something! To think you'd sell your own kin... Even if it's mutated and insane, isn't it still one of yours? Don't you fear your people's hearts hardening to stone?" Tang San inwardly called out to Crystalline.

Crystalline was silent at first, not immediately responding.

Meanwhile, on the auction stage, the Celestial Fox Demon Emperor continued, "I trust you can all see the value of this Scourge Dragon. My recommendation is that whoever bids for it should have an Emperor among their ranks. If control is lost, at least an Emperor can intervene to prevent unnecessary disaster. The auction begins now. The starting bid is eight thousand amethystine coins, and the minimum increment is one hundred."

Eight thousand! That was the highest starting price so far in the auction.

But it made sense. This was a fully-grown fierce beast with deterrent power close to an Emperor's, and the chance to live out the dragon knight fantasy was priceless. Though controlling it wouldn't be easy, it also wasn't impossible. Moreover, for many clans, the chance to acquire even a small amount of high-tier dragon blood was worth the price. The chance was not high, but maybe that bloodline could help them cultivate their own powerful variants!

"Eight thousand amethystine coins, VIP Room One!"

The first one to throw in a bid was the representative of the Scorching Sunflower clan.

"Eighty-one hundred amethystine coins." The next bid didn't even come from a VIP room; it was an anonymous person from the stands.

The bidding instantly heated up, one bid after another ringing out.

Meanwhile, Tang San was more interested in what his "daughter" had to say.

"Dad, could I ask you for something?" Crystalline's divine consciousness ripple carried a note of unease.

"I suppose you want me to buy it?" Tang San asked.

Crystalline was silent for a moment before replying, "Do you know how my Crystal Dragon bloodline came to be? Across all clans, whether demons or nymphs, research into bloodlines and their development has never stopped. But no one among demons has studied this as thoroughly or as obsessively as the dragon race. You see, dragons have a particular problem when it comes to producing progeny. The time it takes a female dragon to produce a viable egg is ten years at the least. And if she's injured or experiences battles during that time, it often leads to complications.

"As a result of these complications, sometimes, the half-formed dragon egg shatters, and the fetus dies. We dragons are really resilient, and sometimes the dragonling can be born directly, but if that happens, it will inevitably be in an extremely weak state. These dragonlings usually die not too long after that, because they aren't developed enough in the beginning to survive by themselves. Because of that, there's a rule: Any dragonling born like that must undergo a bloodline mutation experiment. Because if it succeeds, it will have a chance to survive and thrive, a second chance at life."

"You mean to tell me you were one of these, right?" Tang San said.

"Yes. I am the most successful example. I'm sure you've heard that I am the result of a Dark Dragon and a Radiant Dragon mating, but that's not the full truth. My bloodline was artificially hybridized with some others. Later, I was able to commune with the Crystal Phoenix Demon Emperor's Celestial Pillar, which helped me become the first Emperor among these mutated dragons. But my success is just one story among many; most of the others failed. And dying wasn't even the worst fate. The parents of dragonlings born this way must hand them over to the clan and cut off all ties. These dragonlings will never know their parents, and the parents will never find them again. Once the mutation is complete, their appearance changes so much that even their birth parents wouldn't recognize them.

"Those who don't die because of these experiments suffer all kinds of mutations, some stranger than others. Actually... being reduced to a rudimentary, almost unintelligent being, like this Scourge Dragon you see here, is not uncommon at all. The dragon race has a whole system for controlling these mindless mutant dragons, and they are kept caged in secret. If there's ever a war targeting the dragon race, these dragons will be unleashed.

"These dragons are called puppet dragons, and the Puppet Dragon Corps is truly fearsome. At its peak, there were over a hundred of them. When they go berserk, they're even stronger than normal dragons, and this Scourge Dragon is one of the strongest puppet dragons ever created. Its power is near Emperor-level to begin with, and its destructive energy makes it one of a kind. If its mind had been intact, it could very well have been my successor.

"You wouldn't know about this, and in fact most people don't, but... behind the dragon race's strength, there's a history filled with endless tragedy."

1. The original word here (used in Legend of the Dragon King as well) is 霸王龙, which is the Chinese word for Tyrannosaurus rex. It's actually a near-literal translation, as "tyrannos sauros" means "tyrant lizard" in Greek and "rex" means "king" in Latin (王 in Chinese), so we simply went with the literal translation of the Chinese term, i.e. "tyrant dragon" (because 龙 is dragon rather than lizard). ☜