(Author: Hello all. Thanks for all the views! This story is turning out better than Fallen Immortal so I am quite happy as I enjoy writing this story a lot more. Guan has been beheaded and no one saw how Bull died. He must feel so ashamed. Last time General Zhao took off after seeing Yueying. Who is she? Let's just say she is a part of a grand scheme of mine as well as the history between the Xu family (not Cao Xu's family) and the Great Dragon God. Liao had completed his order. How will the Great Dragon God react? How bad are Liao's injuries? Enjoy!)

Chapter 13: Desolation and Fear

"He's dead!" the Great Dragon God roared with pleasure. "Glorious fight! Blood, martial arts, talismans, and a beheading. Glorious! This is entertainment. The Xu family will surely investigate and find out why that Xu brat died! Why kill them all myself when I can watch them tremble in fear and suspicion as they are all killed one by one!"

The Great Dragon God was laughing and stared down at the Wei Dynasty. He was a dragon god and had made his oath to destroy the rebels should the son of Xu be beheaded. The dragon god would have liked Liao to keep the head so he could gnaw on it later, but Liao had collapsed after such a close duel.

The Great Dragon God decided it was time to have some fun and made itself as small as a three mile long dragon. It descended into the planet while avoiding the ice ring and watched as two armies were in the middle of combat. It could hear little squeaking noises as the humans looked like the size of ants and began scurrying off in different directions. It smiled, it's giant teeth displayed for all the humans to see. The wildlife stampeded out of the forest upon seeing the giant predator, sensing the bloodlust of the dragon god.

The Great Dragon God roared and the forests were burned. The rebel forces could only watch helplessly as a large river of fire swept across the forests. The fire spread and soon the rebel forces were swept in an ocean of fire that quickly spread to villages located near the forests. For every breath of flame from the dragon god, tens of thousands of lives ended.

Even General Hui and his soldiers were helpless against such a beast. They were relieved as they weren't the target of the might dragon. General Hui wondered why the dragon did not destroy his army, but shook his head and ordered his men to evacuate back into the city of the prefecture lord. He was a Spirit Emperor but this dragon was an immortal on a level he had never seen. He prayed a quick prayer to his ancestors and thanked them as the dragon god did not attack the Wei imperial forces.

Some of the rebels tried to seek refuge in the mountains put the dragon god merely scratched at the mountain with its claws, shattering the mountain in pieces. The dragon god destroyed the main encampment of the forces and reduced the land into a black valley of ash and ruin. Whatever remained of the rebel forces probably numbered in a few dozen as the rebels surely had allies outside the battlefield. The civil war was over.

The Great Dragon God knew that the Xu family would discover Liao's connection to the Great Dragon God once they researched Liao's background and realize the connection Liao had to the Wei imperial forces. The Great Dragon God didn't care as Liao was only a source of entertainment.

The people of the Wei Dynasty would call that day the Day of Black Ash and spread the news of the horrible end of the rebellion and the immortal dragon that desolated the rebels. Any noble or soldier who had secretly harbored to usurp the throne felt fear as they thought that the dragon god was the patron of the Wei imperial family.

Due to the blood loss and injuries he suffered, Liao was forced to rest for the duration of the tournament while his friends would continue fighting at a disadvantage. Liao spent the two remaining days of the tournament meditating and circulating his qi into his bodies. Enriched by the qi, his body had healed quickly and Liao also poured qi into his black talisman using the qi in his amber ring.

"This ring truly is valuable," Liao admired as he put his eight new talismans away and watched them disappear into his tattoo. "I'll have to continue putting more qi into this. The others probably haven't even realized how useful the ring is as they distribute their qi into it every night."

"The Knight Destroyers are victorious," Marcus shouted as he burst into the room with his friends. "The remaining two parties didn't have the strength of the Blazing Tigers and Cao and Richard would demolish the competition as they ganged up on the Spirit Sages while Sakura and Ling took care of the Spirit Knights."

"It was so epic" Cao sighed as he jumped onto Liao's bed, forcing Liao to make room as he uncrossed his legs as he could no longer meditate.

"You missed all the fun. The look on the other academies' faces when we took first place. Our school is still ranked four but we proved we are the best among first years at least," Richard grinned.

"It was a pain. A lot of boys approached Ling and I after the ceremony ended," Sakura sighed. "Many recruits from famous families and other nations made offers to work for them once we graduated."

"Yeah all them girls," Cao sighed, not noticing Sakura stare at him. "We may not be the most powerful party in the academy, but we are definitely the most famous."

"Alright. Settle down. Let Liao rest," Marcus laughed. "Here's the one hundred gold as the reward for being a member of the winning the tournament. The others already got their gold. It isn't much compared to the Lu family household, but at least you get to recover the gold you spent for applying for the admittance trials."

Liao nodded in thanks, too embarrassed to tell them that his space ring contained thousands of gold coins and a few hundred silver. He could only imagine how rich his family really was.

Liao waved goodbye as his friends and master left. Hunluan yawned and stared at the jade medallion as usual ever since Liao had returned from the battle. Finally, a jade light beamed from the jade medallion and Liao and Hunluan heard the voice of the dragon god speak in their mind.

"Well done Liao. WELL DONE," the Great Dragon God laughed. "After you beheaded Guan Xu, I destroyed the rebel army. The civil war should be at an end."

"Thank you," Liao said, knowing that his father and twin elder brothers would finally be able to return home, alive and whole. He would have to visit his home and meet his family formally. The real Liao would have liked that.

"They died screaming like animals," the dragon god roared with laughter. "Those tiny insects could do nothing as I burned them alive. They even thought hiding in a mountain would save them. One slash of my claw and that little mound shattered. Being so small and yet they looked like ants. It was so much fun. If I made myself even smaller, maybe I could have eaten a few before I was done."

Liao and Hunluan paled in fear. They knew the dragon god was powerful, but shattering a mountain with a single claw? If the dragon god could do that, they had no doubt the dragon god could destroy the planet in his true size and form.

"Your Eminence is truly the mightiest of dragons," Hunluan hissed respectively.

"Yes, well I have other news," the dragon god continued. "The Xu family will discover your connection to me once they find out your background. You are safe in the academy and with your father as I can tell you now that what the Xu brat said was correct for now: the strongest of the Xu family are Spirit Kings. Do not travel outside alone. They will try to kill you. If they do, I will just destroy the whole planet and move on to find a new source of entertainment."

"What did the Xu family do?" Liao asked. "You told me that I was to die for the crimes of my ancestors as you thought I was a son of the Xu family as I held the jade pearl. You said they had slain dragons."

"They did," the dragon god snarled. "The people of earth called realms dimensions but we call them realms. Your realm, that contains this planet, earth, and the many universes and galaxies is the weakest of all as well as the most interesting and diverse. The ancestors of the Xu ascended the Mortal Realm as they became immortals and traveled to new realms. I have traveled to many realms to try to find and stop them as they killed dragons. They even dared to claim that they would one day slay me. I tracked them down and thought I had slaughtered them all. I realized that they must have had descendants and would teach them about how to kill dragons. I had thought that they would hide on Earth and sent out jade pearls. Whoever touched them had to have some ability to cultivate qi. I found you and thought you were one of them. Your home planet knows about qi but thinks of it as a fantasy. Perhaps your ancestors were immortals. Anyway, this planet unexpectedly had a son of Xu and I have finally found the Xu family at last. I don't expect you to kill them all, but I expect you to keep me entertained and kill a few Xu brats here and there."

"So they were killing dragons which are your followers?" Liao asked.

"It seems to be so master," Hunluan answered. "All mythic beasts with draconic lineage worship the Great Dragon God. We don't have kings but no one doubts him as the most worthy if we had one."

"Very good imoogi hatchling. You were taught well while in your egg," the drgaon god mused. "Such a pity your mother died. It was strong for an imoogi."

"Thank you Your Eminence," Hunluan bowed at the jade medallion with its head.

"For your services in killing the Xu brat, I will give you an additional reward," the dragon god said and two objects appeared in the air. One was a golden meat bun and the other was a stone golem that contained various crystals.

"What is this?" Liao asked.

"The golden meat bun is for the imoogi hatchling. Once it reaches the qi cultivation of Spirit Dragon, have it eat the golden meat bun. Once it breaks the bottleneck of the fifth stage of Spirit Dragon and becomes a spirit beast, it will become a dragon. Consider this a reward for the might of its mother and its contribution to your success," the drgaon god said.

"Spirit beast?" Liao gasped. "Spirit beasts are immortal mythic beasts?"

"Of course they are," the dragon god scoffed. "Why do you think no army could ever hope to defeat or kill one. The fact that your blade has rings of a dead spirit beast intrigues me but it should mean that it was dying as it became an immortal. The golem requires qi to control. It can only be used by those at Spirit King qi cultivation as it requires massive amounts of qi just to activate it. Once you reach that stage in a VERY FAR OFF future, the golem will make up your lack of power against superior foes. Who knows? You might be lucky and the elders of the Xu family might not be Spirit Emperors yet. Could be decades. Centuries even. It doesn't matter as your life span is extended due to walking the path of the immortal and the qi you contain. Either way, at least you can make a stand for a few seconds at least. Consider it an investment for your future kills."

Liao nodded and put both the golem and the gold meat bun in his space ring. The jade medallion stopped beaming light and the voice of the dragon god disappeared. He laid down on his bed in relief as Hunluan slithered and laid itself on the bed next to his right hand where the space right was.

"The war is over," Liao grinned and was unable to stop laughing. "I killed people before so I felt nothing killing Guan as I decided to think of the dragon god's orders as a military assignment. My experience fighting in the war saved my life. I don't know how Guan came over the fear emitted from the baleful blade aura and had expected to make the first strike. I really have to thank General Zhao too the next time I see him. I should also practice using my flying daggers and chaos talismans."

"I need to get stronger as well master," Hunluan said mentally. "I can turn into a dragon! I can become what all imoogi dream to be!"

"Yes. Let's get stronger together," Liao laughed and stood up. "Now that the tournament is over, I wonder what master will do with us next?"

Huluan slithered up Liao's arm and nestled around his neck. Liao grinned and left his cabin, looking forward to the future. Now that his father and elder brothers did not have to fight anymore, they would return home until the next war. He could visit his family and feel like part of a family again. He was ten years old after all.

A month later, General Zhao knelt in front of Lady Fei and General Hui who had returned to the Lu Manor. He was glad to see the general as he had heard of a great dragon laying waste to the rebel forces and was relieved to hear the Wei imperial forces were unharmed. He reported his discoveries to the two leaders of the Lu family and his thoughts on Yueying.

"This Yueying, does she have bright purple eyes?" Lady Fei asked.

"Yes Lady Fei," General Zhao answered.

"You know of this girl?" General Hui asked as he could not remember her as he had seen her in person.

"She must be a member of the Bao clan," Lady Fei murmured. "Did Liao know her last name?"

"I do not believe so," General Zhao answered. "The two are quite close and I believe they unknowingly have feelings for each other. I dare not pry as it was not my place."

"Send people to investigate her background at once as well as that of the Xu family," Hui Lu ordered as he had received news of the death match from a messenger bird which was a faster means of communication than traveling all the way to the Wei empire from Roshalt. "If any members of the Xu family seek vengeance against my son, kill them and said their head to the Xu as a message for any who harbor ill will towards my son."

"If anyone suspects you trying to investigate the girl's background, stop immediately and return here," Lady Fei warned.

As General Zhao saluted and left, General Hui looked at his wife and asked, "This Bao clan, are they powerful? What do they do?"

"It is only a guess," lady Fei said as she put her hand on her husband's shoulder as she got up. "If I am right, I can say our son is very blessed to be in such good terms with her. For what reason I cannot say as I need to know if she is a part of the clan or not. Her last name may not be Bao but she has the characteristic trait of purple eyes. We'll have to wait for General Zhao's reports. For now, let our son train and wait for him to visit us. Relax dear. You and our two eldest have returned home. I have not seen them in a long time and I wish that there isn't a war until I am satisfied."

General Hui laughed as he accompanied his wife toward their sons' rooms. His wife was right. They had finally returned home. Once Liao returned during his vacation, their family would be complete.

Chapter 12: The Fated Battle MAIN PAGE Chapter 14: Spirit Beast Attack