All the magical beast riders nearby bowed their heads. Everyone could understand Chi Aotian's feelings: after enduring countless hardships to bring his beast to the edge of the Blood Pool, only for it to die from coughing up blood at the final moment, rendering all efforts futile. Such a feeling is indescribable.
Tears almost welled up in Chi Aotian's eyes, but he held them back, pressing Xiao Hei's head tightly against his face. Though the two girls were not familiar with Chi Aotian, they were moved by the tragic scene. The once-dashing and aloof boy, now covered in mud, knelt on the ground cradling the bleeding little earth dragon. Tears filled their eyes as well.
Chi Aotian continued to hold Xiao Hei's head, silently kneeling on the ground. His black trench coat trembled with his shoulders, moving as if stirred by an invisible wind.
After a long while, the boy exhaled deeply, shook his head, and his long black hair fluttered behind him. He silently picked up the black earth dragon and took a few steps toward the Blood Pool. Bending down, he gently placed Xiao Hei into the pool, whispering softly, "Xiao Hei, go peacefully; I will not participate in the beast trials again in this lifetime, nor will I have another magical beast. You are my only beast friend."
The pool was deep. As soon as Xiao Hei's body touched the water, a red splash appeared before it sank.
Many beast riders kept their eyes on the boy's every move. No one stopped him; everyone could understand his emotions. Naturally, only Lin Yushang and Sha Ruo, who were closest to him, heard him speak.
Chi Aotian closed his eyes by the pool, taking a deep breath. Just as he was about to turn away, he felt a violent tremor beneath his feet, accompanied by the startled cries of the other beast riders.
The massive Blood Pool suddenly behaved like a pot of boiling oil; the red liquid inside seemed to be boiling vigorously, bubbling and frothing. The beasts immersed in the pool were frightened, leaping out in panic. The violently rolling water converged towards the center of the pool, gradually rising like a fountain.
In the center of the fountain, something black was churning. Everyone recalled the scene that had just occurred—could it be the beast that had just sunk? The water spouted higher and higher, one foot, two feet, five feet—everyone could see it clearly now. It truly was the beast that had just died. Chi Aotian couldn't believe his eyes. Was it forbidden to place dead beasts in the Blood Pool?
The bloody water became more violent, continuously washing over the little earth dragon's body. The beast's flesh was stripped away by the boiling water, piece by piece, until its black skeleton was exposed.
Stunned, the onlookers lost awareness of their surroundings. Even the skilled beast riders were taken aback. They hadn't noticed the significant changes in the sky until the first bolt of black lightning struck, jolting them back to reality. The sky had suddenly darkened, the sun obscured. A black lightning bolt descended from above, striking the enormous magic array. The lightning transformed into countless smaller bolts, flowing like mercury across the magic array's shield.
In the sky, a fierce wind seemed to rise, sweeping the clouds like waves, rolling and roaring.
The wind's howling could be heard even within the magic array. The wind spun and danced, slowly forming a massive tornado directly above the array, engulfing everything around it and expanding in scope. The camp's gear, scattered beast corpses, leaves—all were swept in. Numerous smaller tornadoes converged from the surrounding Sacred Snow Mountain, merging into the great tornado.
Amidst the agitated crowd, some sharp-eyed individuals cried out, "Look, there are beast corpses in all the tornadoes!"
Indeed, each small tornado, on the verge of merging with the larger one, carried varying numbers of beast remains. These were likely the corpses of beasts that had died over the years.
Another black lightning bolt struck, causing the magic shield to waver. Those within the magic array felt the tremendous power of the heaven-sent lightning, and the array could barely withstand it.
In the fierce wind, a third, larger lightning bolt fell, causing the magic shield to tremble violently as it resisted the lightning's assault.
As the magic array trembled, attempting to mend its cracks, a fourth lightning bolt struck the narrowest, fastest part of the tornado—reportedly its most powerful eye. The magic array was torn open by the combined forces of the lightning and tornado. The liquid within the Blood Pool immediately propelled the now skeletal dragon's remains, connecting tightly with the descending tornado. The black lightning emitted a dazzling light amidst the raging winds and blood.
The knights in the Sacred Beast Park also felt the power of the wind. All the plants struggled against it. Perhaps since the creation of the world, this was the first time the Sacred Beast Park experienced such a storm.
The black earth dragon's skeleton leaped between the bloody liquid and the tornado's eye. Gradually, the skeleton began to grow—not in size, but as more beast remains in the air were disassembled, their bones seemed to be inserted into the earth dragon's white skeleton, making it larger and larger, surpassing the size of traditional magical beasts.
As the skeleton continued to expand, what was forming? Was it a skeletal frame of a flying dragon? A massive dragon skull, a long dragon neck, with small forelimbs beneath, and enormous wings on its back, with powerful hind limbs below. Of course, all of this was just a black skeleton, without any tendons, blood, or flesh.
What is this? This defies all knowledge and imagination of those present.
Suddenly, two electric lights flashed from the white dragon's head, and a pair of huge black eyes opened. The dragon's skeleton raised its head, letting out a loud roar into the sky, echoing through the valley. Its skeletal body twisted, and its wings began to flap powerfully.
It was alive.
In an instant, the wind ceased, and many disassembled skeletons in the sky fell gently onto the magic array's top. The lightning vanished as if it had never occurred. The tear in the magic array healed instantly. The sun reappeared, casting its light upon the earth. The Blood Pool returned to calm, and the high-spouting bloody liquid fell from the sky. The black dragon skeleton soared into the air as the blood descended.
It seemed unfamiliar with its massive transformation, flying slowly in the air, its head turning to observe the changes in its body. Wherever the dragon went, apart from the fire phoenix and a few sacred beasts, all other beasts hid behind trees or in flower bushes. A few timid deer-like beasts let out sorrowful cries, nervously running around the Sacred Beast Park.
The dragon skeleton descended with a mighty wind, landing gracefully in front of Chi Aotian, raising its head.
Chi Aotian was stunned by everything before him. Suddenly, he heard a cold voice echoing beside him, each word distinct:
"At the brink of life and death, you dared to abandon life and face hardship with your beast—a rare feat indeed."
"Challenging the limits of Sacred Snow Mountain, your blood awakened a Death Dragon, truly commendable."
"A Death Dragon in the living Blood Pool, a unique occurrence in the world, a rare opportunity."
"Your promise moved the Death Dragon to accompany you for life. Lastly, know that its name is Yaoli."
Wasn't this the voice from his dream?
"You, Xiao Hei, are also Yaoli?" Chi Aotian hesitantly asked, looking at the giant dragon over ten meters long.
"Hiss—howl, hiss—howl." The dragon skeleton made a terrifying sound, nodding twice at Chi Aotian. Then it leaned its massive body against him, crouching slightly, and turned its head to invite Chi Aotian onto its back.
Chi Aotian grasped the dragon's skeleton, swinging himself up. The dragon's back was incredibly large, with a skeleton-made saddle in the center. He tried sitting on it, and once he was steady, two humanoid skeletons emerged from the front and back, enclosing the rider securely. The rear skeleton naturally extended forward, a massive beast helmet covering Chi Aotian's head, with the visor flipping up to reveal his face and eyes. On the left, the skeleton shifted, a large black shield extending perfectly into his left hand. On the right, the skeleton shifted again, and a blood-red lance with a black tip fell into his right hand.
Chi Aotian could hardly believe the series of changes. He moved slightly, finding the skeletal armor astonishingly agile, with no sense of burden or even presence. He glanced down at the lance in his hand, noticing two bright red characters: "Cun Yan." Then he looked at the shield, where two similar characters appeared: "Chi Guan."
Other beast riders noticed that their beasts wouldn't dare or didn't want to approach the death-imbued creature, slowly steering clear. The fire phoenix and unicorn, though unafraid, displayed clear signs of distaste. Lin Yushang waved to Chi Aotian, pulling Sha Ruo to a less crowded area to lead the phoenix and unicorn into the Blood Pool.
As Fire leaped into the pool, it let out an excited cry, its wings beating the red liquid vigorously. Its feathers seemed to ignite, flames rising high as its body rapidly grew, soon becoming a flaming phoenix with a wingspan over five meters. Meanwhile, Xue'er snorted with excitement, growing swiftly in the Blood Pool.
Traditionally, all beast riders would spend the night in the Sacred Beast Park, and the next morning, they would fly to each country's gathering point outside Sacred Snow Mountain.
The kingdoms of Aimi, Xius, and Haiha directly bordered Sacred Snow Mountain. Each year, when the riders returned from the mountain, the kings would gather at a pre-prepared viewing platform to welcome them. If possible, many residents would also come to witness the spectacle.
In the decades that followed, those who attended the welcoming ceremony for the beast riders could never forget the scene.
Previously, beast riders were grouped according to their mounts, forming different squads in a charging formation. But this time, they were divided into three echelons.
Leading was a dragon skeleton that drew gasps from everyone. Its massive form resembled a dark cloud sweeping across the sky, with a knight clad in black armor on its back. The black lance in hand, the black shield on the left, reflecting the sunlight, and a beast helmet on the head, clearly a fully armored helmet, exposing only the eyes.
Behind the black dragon skeleton, a proud red bird soared through the sky, each flap of its wings changing the color of the sky, resembling a red cloud at sunrise. The red bird carried a girl in a red dress with black hair. Beside her was a sacred unicorn, its feet performing levitation magic, with a blue-dressed girl joyfully waving to the crowd below.
Further behind them were over twenty other beast riders. Apart from the flying beasts, all others used levitation magic.
As the beasts drew closer, all the steeds on the ground became agitated. Horses tethered to posts struggled to break free.
On the viewing platform, those already seated noticed this peculiar phenomenon. Several martial nobles rushed to stand before the Redstone Emperor, ready to prevent any mishaps. The Redstone Emperor waved them off, squinting at the approaching beasts, particularly the massive black bone dragon leading them.
In early autumn, there was the SS mission, the reemergence of the evil dragon. In mid-autumn, the first holy dragon knight in history, Da Qing Shan, appeared. By late autumn, the skeletal dragon and the dark dragon king Chi Aotian made their first appearance. Later generations would call the magical calendar year 2 a "truly eventful autumn."