Chapter 63

Absolute silence, a long, profound silence, no sound of wind, no dripping water, no breath, the black dragon and Chen Changsheng both held their breath, silent, seemingly due to tension, this tension seemingly coming from finally seeing a glimmer of hope.

The hope of the black dragon was unknown, but Chen Changsheng's hope was naturally to escape death. When he saw the black dragon's whisker slowly rise, silently and soundlessly coming before him, gently touching his forehead, he could not determine what would happen next.

The whisker was thick where it connected to the dragon's jaw, gradually thinning, the tip about as thick as a human little finger, looking somewhat sharp, its surface as dark as night yet as transparent as jade, with faint black light dust rolling inside, like dark clouds.

The tip of the whisker seemed to touch but not touch his forehead, so close that the naked eye could not tell if it had actually made contact. Chen Changsheng became increasingly tense, having just returned from the brink of death, he was more susceptible to fear. His hand gripping the sword hilt was drenched in sweat, which quickly froze into frost due to the low temperature.

Silently, the black whisker gently touched his forehead.

The sensation was strange, not sticky or terrifying, slightly cool and clear, instead making him more alert, vaguely understanding the black dragon's intention.

It was telling him to continue.

Chen Changsheng did not hesitate, and spoke the second word—still a word from the last volume of the Three Thousand Great Volumes.

The pronunciation of this word was still very strange, extremely difficult to produce. Even with snow covering his face, it was clear that his face had turned somewhat red, his lips somewhat pale, as if speaking this word had consumed a great deal of his mental energy.

The black whisker gently fluttered, the dark tip contracting and lightly bouncing before his forehead, then lightly touching his forehead again.

Chen Changsheng understood and spoke the third word, then the fourth, the fifth... As the strange syllables emerged from his lips, his mental energy rapidly drained, making him increasingly weak, but at the same time, he felt the cold gradually diminish. After speaking over a dozen words, warmth finally returned to his organs.

The black dragon's eyes remained indifferent, but its whisker contracted and bounced back faster, shining with countless black lines under the light of the night pearls, as if forming countless flowers, each a heart flower, blooming fiercely.

Chen Changsheng felt its joy, still somewhat lingering with fear—these dozen dragon syllables he had spoken were not in the order of the last volume of the Three Thousand Great Volumes, but were randomly selected from the 1,601st word, and should not have formed coherent sentences. Yet, the dragon still understood.

He did this out of caution, not knowing if it was right or wrong, but now it seemed there was no major problem.

The black whisker gradually stopped, slowly leaving his forehead, lightly touching his hand holding the short sword, without any hostility.

Chen Changsheng accurately received the signal from the other party and finally completely relaxed.

The moment overshadowed by the shadow of death had finally passed. The long-lasting terror pressure suddenly disappeared, his mood changed with the environment, the frost covering his body crumbled and fell, and dust accumulated from somewhere splashed into the air through the gaps in his clothes.

He had been extremely tense since pushing open the stone door, only knowing that he had seen a black dragon, but it was only now that he truly saw the black dragon's appearance, or more accurately, it was only now that he dared to carefully examine the black dragon.

This was a Black Frost Dragon.

Even among dragons, this was the highest-level existence, a legendary divine being, on par with the Golden Dragon and the Nine Heavens Dragon.

However, unlike the descriptions of the Black Frost Dragon in myths and legends, which portrayed it as cruel, bloodthirsty, yet fond of cleanliness, Chen Changsheng saw many layers of dust on the black dragon's body, and even many broken scales!

The scales were about to fall off, looking extremely unsightly, like the belly of a dead fish.

Chen Changsheng was very surprised. If the descriptions in the Three Thousand Great Volumes and legends were correct, how could it have become like this? For a young man with a slight obsession with cleanliness, he knew that a life that valued cleanliness could not tolerate such a situation.

What surprised him even more was that as the cold gradually receded and the light dimmed, he saw two thick iron chains behind the black dragon, tightly locking its two rear dragon claws, deeply embedded in the scales, looking extremely terrifying!

This black dragon was not the solitary guardian of the Great Zhou Imperial Palace, but a prisoner!

The surface of the two iron chains was covered with countless layers of frost, but it was unknown what material they were made of, showing no signs of breaking. It made sense, as something that could imprison a Black Frost Dragon in the underground was certainly not ordinary.

The other ends of the two iron chains were on the wall.

It was a stone wall about hundreds of feet high, with a huge painting carved on it. The colors on the painting had been eroded by time, but it was still clear what it depicted—two people.

Two fierce and terrifying people.

The stone wall was very high, the painting very large, and the two people in the painting were naturally very tall, like gods, wearing armor, one holding an iron mace, the other a long whip, their eyes and brows exuding divine authority, their demeanor full of heroic spirit.

Chen Changsheng recognized these two people; all humans living on this continent recognized them, as they were now hung on the main doors of all homes and mansions. These two people were the door gods.

The door gods were not gods, but real people, the two most powerful divine generals by the side of the Great Zhou Emperor Taizong.

One divine general was named Qin Zhong, the other named Yuguang.

These two divine generals followed Emperor Taizong throughout his life, from the founding of the Great Zhou to the final defeat of the demon race.

Although they did not have the same world-shaking achievements as Wang Zhice, their ferocity and might were even greater, their strength unfathomable, and they had already entered the realm of the Holy in their prime, true world-class powerhouses.

As divine generals, these two were far more powerful than the current divine generals on the continent.

The iron chains binding the black dragon were tied to the stone wall, held in the hands of the two divine generals in the painting.

Such an arrangement naturally had its reasons.

Seeing these images, Chen Changsheng vaguely confirmed that this black dragon was captured during the reign of Emperor Taizong.

He thought about that turbulent era, about the strong figures of that time who were almost becoming legends, or had already become legends, about the portraits on the Lingyan Pavilion, and felt deep sympathy for this black dragon.

Perhaps because of the humiliation and pressure from the demon race, humans in that era burst forth with unimaginable brilliance, countless strong figures emerging one after another. Even a being like the Black Frost Dragon, outnumbered and outmatched, ultimately became a tragic prisoner.

How many years had passed since the reign of Emperor Taizong?

How did this black dragon endure this long, cold, lonely, and dark period underground?

"Do you want to talk to me, right?" Chen Changsheng asked.

The black dragon's whisker rose again, lightly brushing past his lips, like a dragonfly skimming the water.

"I can only say that I don't understand the meaning of those words."

Chen Changsheng looked at it and said, "But, you can teach me."

The black dragon's eyes suddenly became abnormally bright, brighter than the thousands of night pearls on the dome combined.

Chen Changsheng thought, you can indeed understand human language, so if we want to communicate, I just need to learn the dragon language. He continued, "I know dragon language is difficult to learn, but I am very good at learning. As long as you teach me patiently, I will definitely learn."

At this moment, the black dragon suddenly let out a low roar.

Chen Changsheng was slightly stunned.

The black whisker rose without wind, lightly touching his forehead four times, as fast as lightning, as light as dust.

Chen Changsheng frowned, wondering what this meant.

The black whisker lightly touched his forehead four more times, and the black dragon let out another low roar.

Chen Changsheng understood.

In the last sentence, he had said the word "I" four times.

This was what the black dragon wanted to tell him.

"Me?" Chen Changsheng pointed to himself and asked.

Dragon language was extremely complex, with countless segments in a single syllable, capable of forming countless combinations, each combination expressing a different meaning. To fully master it would be a very long process. He knew that the dragon's roar contained the meaning of "I," but it definitely meant more than just "I," but... at least it included "I."

Seeing Chen Changsheng's actions, the black dragon was first stunned, then suddenly began to roll!

Its massive body rolled continuously in the underground space, causing a terrifying hurricane!

At the same time, a strange sound continuously emerged from the black dragon's mouth.

From the moment it was born over a thousand years ago until now, it had never been this happy, not knowing how to express its joy.

And for certain reasons, it had to suppress its roars, suppress its laughter.

"Zhi zhi... zhi zhi... zhi zhi..."

It sounded very much like a mouse, quite amusing.

But it was filled with immense joy.

Chen Changsheng did not know what the black dragon had done in the past, what sins it had committed, to be imprisoned by the Great Zhou Dynasty. Seeing it so ecstatic just because a human could communicate with it in the simplest way, he could not help but be moved and feel even more sympathy for it.

After an unknown amount of time, the black dragon finally stopped its ecstatic rolling and calmed down.

It quietly looked at Chen Changsheng, feeling his genuine sympathy, its eyes gradually becoming gentle.

The black whisker rose again, hovering before his forehead.

It was waiting for Chen Changsheng to speak again.

Chen Changsheng thought for a moment, but what he said was not what the black dragon wanted to hear.

"I know you want to talk... but not now. I have something very important that I need to leave immediately."

The black dragon's eyes became cold again.

Chen Changsheng said solemnly, "I promise you, once I finish this matter, I will come to you, learn to speak, and talk to you."

The black dragon's eyes remained cold, with a hint of mockery.

As a noble Black Frost Dragon, having been imprisoned by humans for so many years, it would never forget what its father had once told it.

If humans could be trusted, we would be the rulers of the world.