Path Of The Dragon (A Dark Fantasy Cultivation Wuxia Xianxia Progression Series)

Chapter 6 Reborn

Somebody shook Jie, and she squeezed her eyes shut. Why couldn't those damn nurses just let her sleep! She felt so weightless and comfy...

"Just five more minutes," she mumbled.

Wait... what? Since when could she speak!?

Her eyes sprang open, revealing the dragon above her.

At the sight of him, everything that had happened came rushing back to her. It was all real? It wasn't a dream?

Jie remembered the torture of having her body remade, and she shuddered. It was definitely real.

"Turn your gaze ahead of us, little Jie," Ming said.

There was something wet and shiny on his lips... was he bleeding?

"Worry not about me, child," Ming said, "look there."

Jie turned her head to follow where Ming was looking and her mouth hung open.

It was stunning.

Earth was breathtaking when she'd seen it from space with its blue oceans and the continents stretched out below her, but the toxic clouds of smog leached it of color and life.

Whereas, this world radiated energy and vitality. Literally radiated it in palpable waves. It looked so... alive. It had oceans of the most vibrant blues she'd ever seen and the continents contained every color imaginable and then some. Although there was one area that disturbed Jie. A vast expanse of the world that looked sickly and wrong... like a black festering wound in the world itself.

Jie found herself hoping they wouldn't be going anywhere near there. Yet, even with that dark wound, the world was breathtakingly gorgeous.

"Beautiful isn't she?" Ming said, "Welcome to my home. Welcome to Xiannu."

They flew closer... and closer... and closer until the planet took up Jie's entire field of vision and yet it was still so far away... how much bigger than Earth was this place?

The planet swelled up before her, dwarfing anything she'd ever seen before, and still, they raced toward it. Finally, they entered the atmosphere and plunged through fluffy, white clouds to the land far, far below.

A vibrant jungle rushed up to meet them and Ming slithered through its canopy and down to what looked like an ancient Taoist temple from her world. The temple seemed like it would've been grand and full of life at one time, but now it was overgrown and in a clear state of disrepair. As though the world had long forgotten it.

They slowed and drifted down into the courtyard like a leaf falling from a tree.

Ming placed Jie gently on the ground. He turned away and coughed up blood.

"Ming? What's wrong? What happened to you?" Jie asked.

Ming spat a glob of blood onto the dusty courtyard tiles and wiped his mouth with the back of his clawed hand.

"Don't worry about me, kiddo," he said, "remaking your body was tougher than I expected and I suffered some internal injuries as a result... we almost didn't make it, but someone or... something decided to help us out. I'm not sure what it'll mean for the future, but we should be grateful for now at least."

Jie looked up at him. "I'm sorry you got hurt because of me," she said.

"Hey now, don't look at me like that. There's nothing to be sorry about, kiddo," he said as he settled onto the dusty tiles beside her. His long, serpentine form coiled up beneath him like a snake.

"I'm just glad we made it," Ming said, "and now you have a body more powerful than I could've hoped. We got lucky and came out way ahead on this one. Why don't you get used to moving around again? I need a bit of a breather before I can teach you. You have a lot to learn and even more to do if we're going to get you into the god rank."