Bai Fanxian spoke with an indifferent expression.
But the Dragon Queen trembled and was filled with confusion. After this woman learned everything she wanted to know, she was preparing to go all out. That meant Bai Fanxian could have killed her back in that other world from the start. But it was because she still had use!
If she'd known this, she should've kept secrets to negotiate with!
"Wait! I'm still useful! Don't you think having a Dragon Queen as a mount would make you look more powerful?"
Bai Fanxian paused slightly. "Can you fly faster than me?"
Her answer made the Dragon Queen's chest tighten. That's right. Even she herself couldn't keep up with this woman's speed. That's why she got beat up one-sidedly like that!
"I can help you watch your house! And I can help you deal with those little annoying problems too! Please, don't kill me..."
The mighty Dragon Queen right now looked no different from a tiny girl begging for mercy from Bai Fanxian. She tried bringing up every reason she could think of. And unexpectedly, it actually made Bai Fanxian interested.
What she needed was someone who would come handle problems for her. And a Semi-Immortal level being like the Dragon Queen was the best option.
"How can I be sure you won't betray me?"
Bai Fanxian's question gave the Dragon Queen hope. She quickly shifted forward. Suddenly her forehead glowed brilliant red.
"I can swear an oath by the dragon race!"
It formed into a red dragon symbol and floated toward Bai Fanxian. The woman narrowed her eyes while considering what she saw.
"My life will belong to you from now on..."
The Dragon Queen spoke in a clear voice. Between the choice of dying now versus serving a woman stronger than her, the latter seemed like the better option.
"Dragon Oath?"
Bai Fanxian knew what this was. In the past when there were still many ancient creatures with knowledge and intelligence, dragons were a race with legends about keeping their word through promises they made. It would bind their life and soul to follow through until death. But even in Bai Fanxian's era, the number of dragons was already scarce. So stories about Dragon Oaths were almost unknown anymore.
The moment her finger touched the flaming red symbol, red light shone brilliantly. It swallowed both the Dragon Queen and Bai Fanxian's bodies completely. When everything ended, a red dragon mark appeared on that beautiful wrist for a moment before fading.
"Master..."
The Dragon Queen was now bowing her head to Bai Fanxian respectfully. The woman could clearly sense the Dragon Queen's thoughts and feelings through the oath bond. Right now it was filled with fear and submission. Plus she could also control this Dragon Queen's actions.
So she didn't need to worry about the Dragon Queen doing anything strange or betraying her anymore.
"...But you're still too big."
Bai Fanxian considered her new follower's size. When the Dragon Queen spread her wings, she almost covered half the sky. Even if she wanted to keep her at that house, she'd probably be too cramped to move at all.
"Master! I think I can fix this problem!"
The moment the Dragon Queen finished speaking, her body glowed brilliant red. Her pressure and mighty power gradually faded. When the light dimmed, the Dragon Queen who'd been shining in the sky disappeared without a trace.
Even Marshal Zhang Xianyuan was surprised. They'd been worried about what would happen next. After the two sides clashed many times, they suddenly stood still in the sky for several minutes.
Zhang Xianyuan could roughly guess that the two of them were having some kind of conversation.
But he didn't expect the Dragon Queen would disappear like this.
Which was actually a misunderstanding by the Marshal, along with the citizens watching the live broadcast from afar. In truth, the Dragon Queen hadn't disappeared. Instead, she'd now become a tiny red baby dragon about the size of a cat!
That huge body was reduced in size. Even measuring from head to tail tip probably wouldn't exceed fifty centimeters. Her fearsome appearance had also transformed until it was round and chubby. Her small wings fluttered gently behind her while she stared at Bai Fanxian with sparkling eyes.
"...Master?"
The Dragon Queen tilted her neck. Ever since she reached this new level, she seemed able to do many more things. But somehow her new master wasn't saying anything.
Did she not like it?
This form might look a bit weak.
Maybe she liked it bigger and fiercer-looking.
But before the Dragon Queen could transform, Bai Fanxian who sensed her thoughts through the oath bond was the one who stopped her first.
"...Don't."
"Huh?"
"If I don't allow it, you're not allowed to change or expand your form... Understand?"
"...I understand."
The Dragon Queen felt her body tremble strangely when her master stared at her. The command she received seemed so firm she couldn't disobey!
"Then let's head back..."
Bai Fanxian nodded. Her eyes held quite a bit of satisfaction. She grabbed the Dragon Queen's body and dove down toward where her followers were waiting.
The moment news about the Dragon Queen spread, the situation became chaotic. Especially on the government and military side. Besides the appearance of this legendary creature, the one woman who could fight it was talked about just as much.
The scene where even military fighter jets couldn't do anything to that dragon was filmed from afar.
It was sent to experts both domestic and international to analyze its authenticity. Though those experts wanted to think it was fake, there were still videos and photos from many other shots and angles that people kept revealing more and more.
To the point where people went to photograph the battle area. The beach and ground in that area still had holes and craters caused by the Dragon Queen's fire.
So even if they didn't want to believe it, they had to!
News about this was hot across many countries. The major powers were very interested in the body of this newly discovered "dragon" and wanted to bring it for further research. They made contact through the government until the lines almost burned up!
The government side was also interested in this matter. If they could really take the dragon for research until they revived its species, they'd receive tremendous honor and fame.
But since it had disappeared, they had no other choice.
Because now what people were paying attention to had become the existence of "cultivators" in the country instead!
Besides the woman fighting in the sky, there were also videos filmed from afar of the movements of military generals. As Grandmaster-level cultivators trying to stop the situation and control damage to the area, they each displayed several martial techniques.
"This is just like in movies, isn't it?"
"Yeah, like those martial arts novels. These people are definitely Martial Masters who can use qi and stuff!"
"I want to learn too. I want to become a Martial Master like that!"
"Is it really real though?"
"Comment above, go look at other posts. People are starting to reveal more weird videos like this now!"
The latest comment made many people in the online world alert. Soon they saw many posts coming out presenting strange videos. There were people who could shatter walls with one punch, people who could catch arrows shot at them with bare hands, people who could climb walls like walking on the ground.
But what people paid the most attention to was a video clip of two people fighting.
If cultivators looked at it for just a glance, they'd know these two people were "Martial Master" level cultivators.
The moment they started fighting, both of them exploded with qi from their bodies until it was visible to the naked eye. It flowed around their bodies like special effects in movies. But it looked realistic and full of destructive power. Each clash looked violent with no scene cuts back and forth.
Even many experts didn't dare come out and confirm this was fake!
No one knew who took it out to spread. It was a new account probably created to hide their identity. Normally these video clips would be scrolled past because no one thought they were real. But after the incident that was broadcast on TV, they all changed their minds.
"...Could these actually be real?"
"Some of those kung fu schools look totally pathetic now."
"Right. If we can really become this strong, all the martial arts in this world would be crying for sure!"
This chaos became an even bigger deal from the cultivators' perspective. They who'd been living quietly in this world, but in just a few hours, people across the country or maybe the whole world suddenly learned of their existence out of nowhere.
Like this, no one was prepared!
Though there weren't strict rules about this, in the past even if they tried to tell outsiders about internal matters, they'd just be thought of as crazy or nonsense. Or they'd be seen as people who read too many martial arts novels.
"A-Wang! You said you were a cultivator before, right?"
A young man walking home got a phone call from a friend filled with excitement.
"Yeah I am. But didn't you say you didn't believe me?" He frowned. Though he called himself a cultivator, he was only at 5th-stage Qi Gathering. Through a bit of luck, he could step into this world. He tried inviting his close friend to train together but got told it was nonsense.
Cultivation power at Qi Gathering stage was rather hard to prove. They were just seen as people who were stronger than normal. To start being accepted as true cultivators, you had to be a Martial Artist.
So he was trying to train himself to reach that stage to prove it to his close friend.
"I'm sorry! Did you watch the news on TV? Right now cultivators like you have become celebrities!"
His close friend's words made A-Wang quickly check the online world. He'd worked all day then snuck off to train alone behind the mountain, so he hadn't followed the news.
"...What's all this?"
Right now the internet world was full of topics about cultivators. Many cultivators were coming out to show themselves. When they proved their identity by doing something until people believed them, they seemed to become famous with followers increasing like rockets!
Even ordinary Martial Artists who showed enhancement with qi and lifted big rocks got popular.
And the more they were Martial Master level who could freely release qi from their bodies, they'd have people watching them even more than celebrities!
This was like opening a world to ordinary citizens. Though at first some cultivators weren't very pleased, the feeling of being looked at with envy and admiration started making them change their minds bit by bit.
"You saw it, right? A-Wang, do you still remember when you said you'd teach me!?"
His friend spoke through the phone in a begging tone. A-Wang knew immediately what he'd say next.
"...Didn't you say I was being nonsense?"
A-Wang got a bit of revenge. Making his friend quickly stammer apologies profusely.
"I'm sorry for saying that to you back then! Come on, teach me. Cultivators are definitely going to become popular with girls for sure."
The young man sighed. But even so, he didn't refuse. He made plans with his friend and hung up. The young man looked up at the sky starting to get dusky. He knew well this path wasn't as easy as many people thought.
Even using years, he'd only developed this much. And not everyone could cultivate like they hoped.
He felt the era was about to change...
From now on, this world would become the era of cultivators!
End of Volume Three
Secrets of Eternal Myriad Heavens