Phoenix's Requiem

Chapter 430: Ingredients for Producing Holy Water

“You don’t know this either?!” The silver dragon elder was flummoxed by Pi Yan’s ignorance. “Ah, but it’s no wonder. Too much time has passed, and much of this information has been lost to time...”

The first elder explained that three such mirror artefacts existed in this realm: the all-seeing mirror, the heaven-scrying mirror, and the Pi artefact, the heaven-transcending mirror. “Are the two of you familiar with these three artefacts?”

As Yun Ruoyan listened to the elder’s words, she couldn’t help thinking of what Feng Bo had mentioned. The heaven-scrying mirror that the elder had mentioned seemed to have been a means of communication between the Mingyuan and Jiyuan continents, just like the all-seeing mirror of the Chenyuan continent. However, for some unknown reason, the heaven-scrying mirror had shattered, and there were only two such mirror artefacts left.

The all-seeing mirror had always been kept at Kongming Academy on the Chenyuan continent, and the heaven-transcending mirror had somehow landed in Pi Yan’s hands.

“Elder, I know of the heaven-scrying mirror, a spiritual artefact that allowed for communication between the Mingyuan and Jiyuan continents. However, for some reason, it shattered.”

“I’ll explain why it shattered,” the first elder began, and Yun Ruoyan and Li Mo both perked up.

A thousand years ago, during the war between the silver and demonic dragons, the silver dragon clan managed to eke out a victory against the demonic dragons with the help of three great mirror artefacts. However, over the course of the war, the heaven-scrying mirror had cracked, and the heaven-transcending mirror had lost its luster. Although all three mirrors were still preserved after the war, neither the heaven-scrying nor heaven-transcending mirrors could withstand severe blows. Otherwise, they could easily shatter.

The elder cautioned Pi Yan, “You have to use your own skills to capture Li Mo and Yun Ruoyan. Don’t try to use the heaven-transcending mirror as a form of offense. If it shatters, your fate is death.”

Yun Ruoyan and Li Mo finally relaxed.

“Yes, Honored Elder—ahem, ahem!” As Pi Yan knelt down and kowtowed again, he couldn’t help coughing. His back shook and trembled. He suddenly seemed to cut a sorry figure, showing none of the majesty or authority of the lord of the Pi family. When the silver dragon elder had punished him just now in a fit of anger, he had inflicted internal injuries on Pi Yan.

“Pi Yan, although you’ve been woefully incapable of catching Yun Ruoyan and Li Mo, you’ve at least tried your best. Based on your many years of effort, I’ll grant you a bottle of holy water. Restore your body and catch Yun Ruoyan and Li Mo for me.”

“My gratitude, Honored Elder,” Pi Yan’s voice trembled in agitation. “When my son’s life was on the line, it was only thanks to your generosity that he could be saved and resurrected. Elder, I swear I’ll repay your benevolence.”

Holy water? What holy water? This was the first time Yun Ruoyan and Li Mo had heard of its like. Based on Pi Yan’s tone, it was a particularly precious commodity, and they were both curious as to its effects. There were all sorts of spiritual treasures in the world, countless with palliative or restorative effects, but they had never heard of anything that could resurrect the dead.

The elder was very pleased with Pi Yan’s response to his gift, and his severe tone became less chilling. “Do you know about the origin of this holy water?” he asked.

“No,” Pi Yan and Pi Batian replied instantly.

“In that case, let me explain. This is a secret of the silver dragon clan, so you can’t mention this to anyone.”

“We swear to keep this secret with our lives, Honored Elder!”

“Holy water is refined from the blood and fluids of demonic dragons,” the elder began. “You should both know that the demonic dragons possess incredible self-healing capabilities, and trying to kill them completely is a very difficult task. While we of the silver dragons were investigating how to do so, we caught a few dragonkin on whom we could experiment.”

In those experiments, the silver dragons both found out how to completely kill a demonic dragon and discovered an unusual substance extracted from a demonic dragon’s blood and bodily fluids, one that possessed an incredible capacity for growth and restoration.

After decades of research, the silver dragons finally succeeded in creating a process that would allow for the refining of such a substance, which they named holy water because of its near-miraculous effects.

“These are the origins of holy water,” the silver dragon elder finished. “Now that the demonic dragon clan has been all but eradicated, no more holy water can be made. The remaining supply of the silver dragon clan is dwindling, which explains its rarity.”

Yun Ruoyan felt a sudden chill permeating her body. The demonic dragon souls, who already bore blood grudges toward the silver dragons, would undoubtedly become even more furious when they learnt that their bodies had been mutilated and... extracted from... in such a fashion.

Pi Yan and Pi Batian were about to thank the silver dragon elder again when he continued, “However, a hundred years ago, we discovered another ingredient that can replace the blood and bodily fluids of the demonic dragons.”

“What is it?” Pi Yan couldn’t help asking, although he knew how much of a secret it had to be. As one of the silver dragon elder’s aides, he would have access to holy water through the silver dragon elder, so the prospect of being able to secure more of the precious liquid was of obvious interest to him.

“Descendants of the demonic dragons who still possess the demonic dragon bloodline,” the elder replied.

“You mean, Yun Ruoyan?” Pi Yan understood the implications of his words almost immediately.

Yun Ruoyan and Li Mo, standing outside the house, were both agape in shock. They held their breaths, trying to calm themselves down, as they continued listening in on the silver dragon elder’s words.

“It’s very possible that Yun Ruoyan’s the last of the demonic dragon descendants on the Chenyuan continent,” the silver dragon elder concluded.

About a hundred years ago, the silver dragon clan discovered that the demonic dragons had left themselves descendants on the Chenyuan continent before they were completely eradicated by the silver dragons. The silver dragons were naturally curious about whether these descendants could also be used to concoct holy water. Shockingly, not only did they possess the same substance in their blood, though in smaller quantities than in the demonic dragons’ blood, it was even more concentrated and pure. The holy water concocted from these half-dragons possessed not only a strong restorative effect, but could even resurrect someone from death.

“Honored Elder, was the holy water you granted me made from these demonic dragon descendants?” Pi Batian asked. “Why didn’t it grow back my arms?”

“You were mortally injured, but still alive,” the first elder replied. “What was granted you was the lowest-quality holy water, without the property of regrowth.”

Despite its being the lowest-quality holy water available, it was still able to save him from death. What could the highest-quality holy water accomplish?

“Is this why you’ve been commanding me to catch these descendants, Honored Elder?” Pi Yan asked. He had caught over a dozen such descendants, with Yun Ruoyan’s father, Long Yin, being the last among them.

“Exactly,” the elder replied. “Not only does this prevent the demonic dragon clan from having any hope of resurrection, it can extend our supplies of this rare treasure. I had initially thought Long Yin the last remaining descendant, but not that he had a daughter, Yun Ruoyan.”

When Yun Ruoyan heard the elder bring up Long Yin, her heart began to palpitate.

As if murmuring to himself, the elder continued, “Long Yin’s lonely on his own. It’s time to have his daughter be reunited with him.”

As she had hoped, her father Long Yin wasn’t dead! Her heart thrummed so rapidly she felt as though she had to take action, but a gentle squeeze from Li Mo calmed her down.

The silver dragon elder continued, “Based on your description, Yun Ruoyan has even purer a demonic dragon bloodline than her father, so her blood would be the highest-quality ingredient for concocting holy water. If you’re able to catch her, I’ll grant you a bottle of holy water that can bring back the dead.”

Pi Yan and Pi Batian’s eyes gleamed as they thanked the elder.

“In that case, I’ll await your good news.”

“Of course, Honored Elder!” Pi Yan and Pi Batian chorused respectfully.

Li Mo gently tugged on Yun Ruoyan’s hand, motioning for her to return to her original position in case Pi Batian noticed something amiss.

Yun Ruoyan walked out from under the eaves of the house, deep in thought. She had always thought that the reason the silver dragon elder wanted to capture her was to prevent her from reviving the demonic dragons, but it was clear that he only viewed her as an ingredient.

To Yun Ruoyan, the best news that she had received that night was learning that her father wasn’t yet dead, that he was being held by the silver dragon elder himself...