Chapter 60

This is the noblest life in the three thousand worlds, the coldest existence in the universe, possessing an indescribable might—how could puny humans stand before this black dragon?

No matter how resolute Chen Changsheng was, he could not withstand the ancient pressure. He tightly pressed his lips together, trying to prevent his teeth from chattering, but he could not stop his body from trembling, every bone seemed to be wailing.

With a dull thud! He did not kneel before the black dragon, but he could not stand either, and fell directly onto the hard, cold ground, landing heavily. His thoughts were somewhat dazed, not thinking of the pain, but repeatedly saying a few sentences in his mind.

"The legend is true!"

"There really is a dragon in the palace!"

"A noble black frost dragon!"

Before pushing open that heavy stone door, he had thought of many possibilities.

He thought the terrifying pressure behind the stone door might be the old palace attendant mentioned by Lu Luo, who had been in seclusion for over a hundred years and had reached the Holy Realm, or it could be the palace's great array, or even the remains of a dragon. But he never imagined...

Behind the stone door was a living dragon!

After the ancient times, it was already very rare to see the traces of dragons on the continent. Those noble and powerful creatures were gradually becoming mythical beings that only existed in books, and no one had seen them with their own eyes. Chen Changsheng had imagined the appearance of dragons countless times, wanting to see them with his own eyes.

Tonight, he finally saw one with his own eyes, but...

He wished he had never seen it in his life.

The black dragon was now floating in the air before him, looking down at him from a height.

The light from the thousand night pearls on the dome was completely absorbed by the black scales on its body, making the black dragon's body seem like a living abyss, causing one's heart to tremble. But what was truly terrifying were the dragon's eyes, filled with coldness and cruelty.

Chen Changsheng understood the meaning of those eyes: it was like a human child looking at ants under a tree.

It was a particularly pure form of coldness and cruelty, without reason or logic.

A child can watch the ants under a tree for half an hour, then crush them all with the sole of their shoe.

This was the attitude of a higher being towards the lowly.

Chen Changsheng finally understood the words Mo Yu said before leaving.

Yes, no one can leave the Tong Palace because the gate of life is under the cold pond.

The cold pond is a true dragon pond, where a black dragon lives. Any human who encounters it will die.

Mo Yu did not expect that Chen Changsheng would have the courage, or rather, the foolishness to persist in walking to the front of the black dragon.

The frost on Chen Changsheng's eyelashes suddenly fell, like snowflakes blown off the petals of plum blossoms.

A gentle breeze rose in the underground space.

That was the black dragon preparing to breathe.

Chen Changsheng knew that he would die in the next moment.

When he pushed open the stone door, he had prepared many strategies. Even if it was the old palace attendant in seclusion, he did not think he would surely die. He believed that as long as he could communicate, he could change his fate.

But behind the stone door was a black dragon.

In legends, dragons are noble and powerful, but they are never merciful.

Dragons do not communicate with humans, or rather, they do not bother to communicate with ordinary humans like him.

He had no preparation for this.

He had been preparing for death for many years, but now that death was truly approaching, he realized that he was still not prepared.

It turns out that death is something that cannot be prepared for.

The underground space was deathly silent, the light from the night pearls falling like snow on his body.

He felt cold, suddenly very tired, knowing that any further effort would be in vain. So he no longer struggled to stand up, nor did he think about what was about to happen. He raised his head and looked at the terrifying dragon head in the air, calm and resigned.

"It seems my master was right, my fate is really bad."

He did not know if the black dragon could understand human language, but he thought that such a noble creature, even if it could understand, would not bother to listen. So he said things he had never told anyone to the black dragon.

"I am sick, and it cannot be cured."

"I won't live past twenty."

"My master is the best doctor on the continent, and my medical skills are also good, but we can't cure it."

"This illness is more fatal than a terminal illness, so it's not an illness, it's fate."

"My fate is bad."

"After coming to the capital, I worked very hard and finally entered the National Teaching Academy, gaining the qualification to participate in the imperial examination. Although I am still far from the Lingyan Pavilion, I have taken the first step towards it. Then I met Lu Luo, and I thought my fate was getting better."

"I never expected to meet you tonight."

"My fate is still so bad."

Chen Changsheng's face was pale, frozen by the frost and cold, not out of fear.

He was now fearless, even facing a legendary cruel black dragon.

He no longer cared whether the black dragon could understand his words or whether it would listen to him.

He only knew that he was about to die, and if he did not say these words, he would never have the chance again.

"Everyone says that fate is predetermined by heaven, and no matter how bad it is, it cannot be changed, but I am not resigned to it."

A force he did not know where it came from supported him to stand up. He looked up at the beautiful night pearls on the dome, squinting his eyes, like a pitiful young animal looking at the first ray of morning sunlight, full of longing and joy.

"I want to live, I want to live past twenty, then thirty, even five hundred, eight hundred, the longer the better, ideally to live forever... but first, I must live past twenty, so I live very carefully."

"I go to bed early and wake up early every day, I exercise every day, I never picky eat, but I never overeat, I avoid greasy and salty foods, not because of my personality, but because such foods are healthier. I follow the requirements in medical books, using a small scale to measure the meat and vegetables I eat, never finding it troublesome, until I turned twelve, when all these became second nature."

"I cherish time, using all my time to study and cultivate. I want to touch the most wonderful wisdom before I turn twenty, and I want to change my fate through cultivation, so that after twenty, I will have the chance to see more beautiful scenery."

He looked at the black dragon and said, "Yes, everything I do, every rule I set for myself, is for the sake of living. The most important thing in life is to live. I am willing to pay any price for it, I am fighting for life."

Living is the most important thing in life, and for this, I am fighting for life—anyone would be moved by the cold underground space, the distant dark night, the gradually fading light from the dome, the young man before the black dragon, and his calm yet infinitely sorrowful words.

The black dragon's eyes still looked at the young man with cold cruelty, perhaps because it did not understand human language, but more likely because it did not care. An ant angrily and tragically waving its front legs at a branch would only seem interesting or ridiculous to a child observing it.

Chen Changsheng no longer cared about the black dragon's reaction; he just wanted to talk in the last moments of his life.

"Changing fate is really too difficult, I have lived really hard these past years, but no matter how hard it is, I want to live, because the sliced pork head from Xining Town with red oil and rock salt is really delicious, because there are really many interesting and meaningful things in books, because life is really beautiful."

"I don't want to die, but I can't guarantee that I will live past twenty. More accurately, I have no confidence at all. I don't want the little girl who sent me a bamboo dragonfly to become a widow, so I came to the capital to break off the engagement, but what happened?"

"Everyone who knows me thinks I am mature, not like a fourteen-year-old boy. They all say I am steady, but they don't think... I only have five years left to live. I am in the prime of my youth, but I am already half buried in the earth. How can I not be steady? But how can I be resigned to it!?"

In the past years, Chen Changsheng had been very careful to control his emotions because extreme joy or sorrow were not good for his health. But now it was all over, so he was no longer calm. He looked at the black dragon or the world and shouted angrily.

"I don't want to die."

"But now I am going to die."

"I am very sad."

Chen Changsheng was very sad, his eyes slightly red. He thought he would cry, but he had controlled his emotions for so many years that he had forgotten how to cry, so he became even more sad, then unimaginably calm.

"Thank you for not eating me in one bite. Although this may not be your true intention, you let me finish these words, so I thank you. But I really want to live, so even if it is laughable, please allow me to fight you one last time."

After saying these last words, he raised the short sword in his hand and faced the black dragon.

He silently thought in his heart: Death, come!

Let's decide the outcome.

Just like the past years.

The black dragon slowly approached him, a cold hurricane echoing in the vast underground space. Its body was too large, and even a slight movement was enough to change the world.

Unimaginable coldness descended upon Chen Changsheng.

Frost formed on his eyelashes again, and the blood in his body seemed to freeze.

Death was right before him.

But he was unprecedentedly calm, even relaxed.

The shadow of death that had followed him since he was ten and the terrifying pressure suddenly disappeared.

He felt unprecedentedly light and comfortable, as if his body was much lighter, with no pressure at all. It was such a beautiful feeling.

He finally realized how to overcome the fear of death: only death itself.

He laughed, the frost on his eyelashes scattering like white flowers.

Master, did you see?

I am going to change my fate.

You said I would die at twenty.

Now I am not even fifteen, and I am going to die.

Fate, it turns out, is not invincible.

---

The black dragon slowly approached him, a cold hurricane echoing in the vast underground space. Its body was too large, and even a slight movement was enough to change the world.

Unimaginable coldness descended upon Chen Changsheng.

Frost formed on his eyelashes again, and the blood in his body seemed to freeze.

Death was right before him.

But he was unprecedentedly calm, even relaxed.

The shadow of death that had followed him since he was ten and the terrifying pressure suddenly disappeared.

He felt unprecedentedly light and comfortable, as if his body was much lighter, with no pressure at all. It was such a beautiful feeling.

He finally realized how to overcome the fear of death: only death itself.

He laughed, the frost on his eyelashes scattering like white flowers.

Master, did you see?

I am going to change my fate.

You said I would die at twenty.

Now I am not even fifteen, and I am going to die.

Fate, it turns out, is not invincible.