I have Taoism and can understand other worlds

Chapter 618 Bestowing the Name Jiang Zhen
Jiang Wen returned to the stone house without disturbing anyone, except for Liang Yuan, who was still consolidating his cultivation level. The two nodded in tacit agreement and said nothing more.

However, the dragon girl on the stone bed finally awoke after sleeping for some time.

She was delicate and frail, with timidity in her eyes. However, her complexion had improved somewhat thanks to the medicinal pills.

A pair of bright green eyes blinked, and she timidly walked up to Jiang Wen and respectfully kowtowed to him.

"Zhen thanks her benefactor..."

She spoke softly, not daring to make a loud noise. Perhaps it was the things she had experienced that had given her a humble nature.

Jiang Wen reached out and brushed her away, and an invisible force lifted the dragon girl up.

After looking the girl up and down, he was fairly satisfied with her recovery: "You should know about these things by now."

“Zhen, I understand.” The girl nodded.

How old are you now?

“She’s already twelve,” Zhen answered softly.

Twelve years old, about middle school age, still quite young. Jiang Wen thought to himself, he wasn't surprised by this kind of thing. After all, in the Great Qian Dynasty, twelve-year-olds could get married.

"You might not be able to return to the Dragonkin race in the future. Will you regret it?" Jiang Wen asked tentatively.

"No..." The dragon girl Zhen shook her head. Although she still harbored some timidity, her expression was incredibly firm. "Zhen will not regret it. Zhen does not want to go back. If my benefactor does not despise Zhen, Zhen is willing to be a slave." Zhen knelt before Jiang Wen again, extending her hands in a gesture of offering. This was a gesture of allegiance from the Baixi tribe to a powerful clan, used to express their willingness to become a vassal of the powerful clan. If it were an individual, it would be an act of willingness to become the other party's slave.

Zhen's actions revealed her true feelings; she would rather be someone else's slave than return to the dragon race. For her, it was not home, but a torturous purgatory.

"I don't need you as a slave."

Jiang Wen politely declined the offer, as he had never liked treating others like slaves. This was perhaps related to his upbringing and the world he lived in. More importantly, his grandfather had taught him from a young age that one should be upright and principled.

Upon hearing Jiang Wen's words, Zhen's face turned pale. She bit her lip, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Does my benefactor not want Zhen? But, but Zhen, Zhen has nowhere to go."

Zhen recalled her childhood. She had never met her parents and didn't know what they did for a living. All she had was one of their belongings and a grumpy uncle.

Her childhood was spent enduring her uncle's verbal abuse. Whenever he had a bad day outside, he would come home and beat her. No one in the family could stop him, and no one dared to. Each time, Zhen would silently endure the physical pain and the roars of her uncle in her ears.

"You bastard, why aren't you dead yet!"

"You and your father are both scum, both defilements that taint the bloodline of the dragon race!"

……

She could only catch her breath after her uncle had exhausted himself beating her. Enduring the pain all over her body, she crawled to a corner of the room to sleep.

Although her uncle's wife was very gentle and that woman always took care of her, Zhen didn't want to implicate that woman. Because if her uncle found out that the woman had treated her injuries, he would beat her up just as badly.

Zhen felt that if she was a sinner, then she shouldn't make others suffer.

Later, her uncle lost money gambling and came back to beat and scold her, even dragging her outside to whip her. At that time, Zhen thought she was going to die.

In her final moments, as her consciousness blurred, Zhen saw a stranger. She felt herself being lifted up and gently cradled in someone's arms. Perhaps, that was the afterlife? Zhen thought so.

When Zhen woke up again, she found herself still alive, but no longer among the dragon people.

The Rock People—Zhen had heard her uncle mention them. But whenever he did, her uncle would launch into a tirade of abuse. He said the Rock People had taken over the mines of the capital, and that they were becoming increasingly powerful. In short, in her uncle's words, the Rock People were equally heinous.

Zhen was reborn into the Rock People tribe, and she learned everything from a mysterious woman.

Her benefactor was named Jiang Wen. He rescued her from her uncle and used a precious item to revive her.

Zhen didn't know what to do; she was very grateful to her benefactor.

When Zhen saw her benefactor again, she found him to be a very kind person. He was completely different from her uncle, and somewhat resembled her vaguely remembered mother from her dreams. Zhen wanted to become her benefactor's slave, but he refused.

Was it because they thought she was useless? Zhen lowered her head and thought humbly.

"I only said I didn't want you to be a slave." Jiang Wen sighed. He could sense the girl's confusion, grievance, and bewilderment. "I am the Abbot of the Taixu Temple. If you are willing, I can accept you as an outer disciple. As for whether you can enter the inner sect, that depends on your performance. Are you willing?"

"Zhen is willing!" Zhen immediately knelt down and said.

Although she didn't understand terms like Taixu Temple, inner sect, or outer sect, she could tell that her benefactor wanted to take her in.

This rekindled hope in her previously disappointed heart.

No matter what, as long as I can stay by my benefactor's side, that's enough.

As long as she wasn't abandoned, as long as she wasn't disliked, Zhen was willing to do anything. The girl raised her head and looked at her benefactor. In that handsome face, she saw divinity.

Taking Zhen in was just an accident; Jiang Wen originally intended to entrust Zhen to Yan Ming's care. However, after their encounter, he changed his mind.

The reason was simple: he noticed that the Azure Dragon Sword inside his body was trembling slightly.

The sword seemed to be pointing at the girl, but there was some uncertainty. However, Jiang Wen was certain that there was something wrong with the dragon bloodline within the girl.

His Azure Dragon Sword had been forged with the blood of a true dragon, thus acquiring the power of a true dragon. Only something of the same kind could possibly cause the Azure Dragon Sword to tremble.

This is also why Jiang Wen decided to take in the dragon girl Zhen.

“Since you are my outer disciple, you should naturally be given a Daoist name. Do you have a surname?” Jiang Wen asked.

"Zhen has no surname. If your benefactor is willing, you can call her Longren Zhen." Zhen shook her head seriously and told Jiang Wen that she had no surname.

Among the dragon-people, most with surnames are royalty. Others, having activated their dragon bloodline, can also choose their own surname. Most dragon-people simply use "dragon-person" as a prefix, followed by their given name. Examples include Dragon-person Yan and Dragon-person Zhen.

In the eyes of the dragon people, a surname signifies nobility, and how could an ordinary dragon person dare to defile it?

“Since you don’t have a surname, I’ll give you one.” Jiang Wen strolled around the stone house, flicking his sleeves. Then, as if he had thought of something, he smiled at Zhen. “If you’re willing, you can take my surname from now on. My surname is Jiang, so you can have Jiang too. From now on, you’ll be called Jiang Zhen.”

"Jiang Zhen, Jiang Zhen. Can I...can I have a surname too?" Zhen's lips trembled, her voice hoarse. She never expected that her benefactor would give her a surname, which was absolutely impossible among the dragon people; it was an act of defiance.

"It's just a surname, what's wrong with that?" Jiang Wen said nonchalantly. "From now on, you will be the first outer disciple of my Taixu Temple, named Jiang Zhen."

(End of this chapter)