After breaking up with my girlfriend, I became a Great Sage of the Demon Clan.

Ancient deities designed an automated program to capture a dragon king-level mirage dragon, extract its soul, and allow its instincts to continuously cycle to achieve the desired effect.

Were the ancient gods really this ruthless?

In modern times, this would be considered utter evil, capable of attracting protests from animal rights organizations and various forms of online harassment.

Zhou Yan tentatively said.

"Bei Chenzi, are you aware of the great demonic calamity lurking in the mortal realm?"

Bei Chenzi blinked her innocent and clear eyes, then smiled.

"I understand, I understand. Is the immortal going to tell Bei Chenzi a story? Bei Chenzi loves listening to stories the most."

Bei Chenzi held his chest with both hands, looking at Zhou Yan with anticipation, waiting for Zhou Yan to tell the story of the Great Demon.

Zhou Yan: "..."

Zhou Yan cleared his throat and shook his head.

"This isn't just a story. There's a great demon in the mortal realm right now, wreaking havoc on the world. As a member of the Daoist sect, shouldn't you, Beichenzi, subdue this demon and bring blessings to all living beings?"

Bei Chenzi took a step back and said in a trembling voice.

"These matters of great demons and great monsters are none of my business, how could a mere Taoist priest like myself possibly concern myself with them? Immortal, the twelve cave masters of this secret realm are all renowned immortals. If you wish to subdue demons, then go with them and wait until you return to tell me about the battle between gods and demons."

Zhou Yan: "..."

This shouldn't be acting. This mirage dragon has been stripped of its soul and memories, and is devoid of self and knowledge. Its current state is truly its own thought.

"that……"

Bei Chenzi looked curiously at the cave behind Zhou Yan.

"Immortal, is there really a treasure in this cave?"

Bei Chenzi smiled happily.

"I've been to all sorts of places in this mountain paradise, but I never knew there was such a big cave in the back of the mountain. It was only thanks to the guidance of the immortal that I was able to see it."

Zhou Yan chuckled.

If Zhou Yan wasn't mistaken, this place was likely created by the Mirage Dragon. Since he was immune to illusions, these illusions couldn't control him, and the Mirage Dragon subconsciously kept an eye on him. That's how all the Awakened Ones from the summit of Mount Dawu came over.

It's like someone is dreaming, and in the dream, the focus is always on a certain person, and all the changes and plot unfold around that person.

So when Zhou Yan said there was a cave in the back mountain with treasures inside, they actually came to the cave. As for the treasures, they were all fake, created with illusions, so Zhou Yan didn't care.

Seeing that Zhou Yan hadn't moved for a long time, Bei Chenzi became a little anxious.

"Grandpa Immortal, don't you want to go and see what treasures are inside?"

Zhou Yan hesitated for a few seconds, then reached out and pulled the nine-colored deer that was grazing on the ground over.

Zhou Yan placed the nine-colored deer in front of Bei Chenzi.

"Little guy, do you know who this guy is?"

Bei Chenzi looked at the nine-colored deer with curiosity.

"This is... your mount, Grandpa Immortal?"

Zhou Yan said angrily.

"Mount my foot! This is a nine-colored deer, a naturally auspicious beast, the beloved pet of the Antarctic Emperor of Immortality."

Bei Chenzi's eyes lit up.

"That's amazing."

Zhou Yan patted Qingcai's head.

"Clear colors, emitting auspicious light, we need a treatment. This child is seriously injured, so open as wide as possible."

"Uh-huh."

The nine-colored deer joyfully released auspicious light, which then covered Bei Chenzi.

Zhou Yan rubbed his temples wearily. Before Qing Cai treated Bei Chenzi, Zhou Yan used his Extreme Eye to glimpse the future, but Bei Chenzi's awakening level was too high, so the Extreme Eye could not be used on him.

Zhou Yan couldn't see anything about Bei Chenzi.

Zhou Yan felt somewhat uneasy at this moment.

Given Bei Chenzi's condition, asking for his help is definitely not going to work. However, Wenquxing had previously said that they only had fifteen hours left. If they couldn't find a way to deal with Zhao Wenhe within those fifteen hours, their escape would inevitably be discovered.

The outcome will definitely be bad.

Therefore, Zhou Yan had no choice but to take the risk. He prepared to treat Bei Chenzi, hoping to restore some of the Dragon King's blood, which had been stripped of his soul, and see if he could regain his sanity.

The only problem was that Zhou Yan was afraid that once the Dragon King regained his senses, he would become enraged and go berserk for some reason, and casually smash him and the Nine-Colored Deer into mincemeat.

No matter how Zhou Yan looked at it, he felt that this Mirage Dragon was captured by some deity from Penglai Island who had disappeared somewhere. It was one thing to capture it, but to strip it of its soul and make it work overtime like 007 for over a hundred years without a break.

Even the most ruthless capitalist in the world would call the immortals of Penglai Island "vampires" if they saw them doing this, let alone the mirage dragon Beichenzi who has been 007 for over a hundred years.

Putting himself in the dragon's shoes, Zhou Yan felt that it was understandable that the mirage dragon wanted to destroy the world after waking up. After all, compared to those childish brats in a certain island country who inexplicably wanted to destroy the world and take revenge on society, the mirage dragon was really pitiful.

"Huh?"

Bei Chenzi's expression changed as he was enveloped in the auspicious light of the Nine-Colored Deer. Zhou Yan noticed that the "Low Knowledge" attribute had been removed from the guy's attribute list.

The auspicious light of the Nine-Colored Deer replenished Bei Chenzi's energy, not only physically but also spiritually, restoring his vitality.

The Nine-Colored Deer is like a giant blood bag that restores health in all aspects.

Zhou Yan spoke.

"Bei Chenzi, do you remember who you are?"

Bei Chenzi looked at Zhou Yan with a puzzled expression.

Zhou Yan said earnestly.

"Are you a mirage dragon, or the Dragon King?"

Zhou Yan stared at Bei Chenzi's attribute panel and read.

"Your real name is 'Arona'..."

Bei Chenzi's eyes were fixed on him. Zhou Yan saw that the "Nothingness" attribute in the guy's attribute bar had been removed, leaving only the words "Soul Separation".

"Arona..."

"Arona..."

Bei Chenzi murmured.

Knowing the true name of a powerful demon or ghost can cause its sudden death or frighten it away with a single word. Now that Zhou Yan has mentioned this name, too many memories have surged into Bei Chenzi's mind, quickly tearing apart Bei Chenzi's persona.

Zhou Yan began to back away from Bei Chenzi.

Centered on Bei Chenzi, who was surrounded by auspicious light, the surrounding environment began to blur, and everything, whether grass, trees, soil, or rocks, began to turn into white mist.

Bai Ze's omniscient ability gave the answer "Dream Mist".

Everything in this place was created by the mirage dragon Arona in his dream. Now that Arona is beginning to awaken from his dream, all these creations are beginning to return to their original essence—dream mist that can transform into reality.

The dream mist dispersed and condensed, without a fixed shape, but as Bei Chenzi chanted the Aruna, the dream mist slowly gathered into the shape of a dragon. This dragon was not like a normal real dragon with green scales and claws, but a mirage dragon covered with layers of white fur and with deer antlers on its head.

A mirage dragon, a hundred meters long, was formed from the dream mist. Bei Chenzi's knees buckled, and he knelt on the ground with his head down. The mirage dragon behind him slowly opened its eyes.

The dragon's eyes were drawn to reveal its domineering aura, which enveloped Zhou Yan and the nine-colored deer.

The mirage dragon looked at Zhou Yan and the nine-colored deer.

Zhou Yan saw a pair of slender dragon eyes that seemed to contain the entire night sky, deep and vast, but these eyes, which could be described as boundless and infinite, slowly revealed a trace of anger.

"Bai Ze!!!"

The mirage dragon Arona's lips twitched, and Zhou Yan was surprised to find that the mirage dragon's voice was actually a rather clear female voice.

"You still dare... to come see me, Your Majesty..."

"Ok?"

The nine-colored deer, which was emitting auspicious light to stabilize Bei Chenzi's injuries, turned its head. This innocent little creature, as simple as a blank sheet of paper, clearly sensed something was off about the mirage dragon's tone.

Zhou Yan took a few steps back, and the boy's mouth slowly opened wide.

Isn't something wrong?

Zhou Yan had long been prepared for the mirage dragon's return and for him to be killed by its claws, but the mirage dragon's tone now clearly conveyed grievance, resentment, and anger.

Zhou Yan had heard this tone before. It was someone who played "Slave Girl Sylvie," raised her for a few months, started patting her head, and treated her like a daughter. Then one day, he came back and found that his roommate living next door had already watched all of Sylvie's other CGs.

I wouldn't say I hated him, I was just really angry and wanted to beat up my roommate.

In fact, after the mirage dragon finished speaking, it stretched out its furry claws, which were wrapped in dream mist, towards Zhou Yan, as if it wanted to kill Zhou Yan with a single swipe.

However, halfway through its reach, the mirage dragon turned its head and asked in confusion.

"What...does this king hate about you...?"

The mirage dragon scratched its head with its other claw.

"I can't remember... what happened before..."

"Why am I... here..."

"Why am I... in Penglai...?"

The mirage dragon turned its head to look around, its white tail swishing back and forth on the ground, its expression growing increasingly puzzled.

Zhou Yan came out, and the young man spoke cautiously.

"Arona, I need your help with something..."

The Mirage Dragon lowered its head. This handsome white-haired dragon, with its own large, Caslan eyes, glared angrily at Zhou Yan, but soon became filled with doubt.

The Mirage Dragon always felt that Zhou Yan was hateful and disgusting. It would definitely slap him when it saw him and make the bastard cry and kowtow to apologize so that it could forgive the scoundrel.

But why do it this way? Why treat Zhou Yan this way? The Mirage Dragon couldn't find the reason.

This is what confuses me; I can't bring myself to do it.

Zhou Yan continued.

“You helped me, so I will help you escape from the oppression of Penglai.”

With the world in such dire straits, Zhou Yan didn't care about the reason why the mirage dragon was suppressed here. The right thing to do was to take the dragon to deal with Zhao Wenhe. As for what the mirage dragon would do in the future, he would leave that to the Four Divine Beasts.

The Mirage Dragon shook its head, puzzled the white-haired dragon with the large eyes of Kaslan.

"I've been... I've been suppressed here, it seems like I did it myself..."

After he finished speaking, the mirage dragon immediately nodded.

"Yes, I cannot go out. I absolutely cannot go out until I find that thing..."

Zhou Yan nodded slightly. The mirage dragon's words were probably quite different from what he had guessed.

Do we suppress ourselves?

It seems there's more to the story than meets the eye regarding the Mirage Dragon.

Zhou Yan echoed.

"Arona, what are you missing? I'll find it for you. In return, you kill someone for me, okay?"

"Well……"

The mirage dragon moved closer to Zhou Yan, and its massive head, which was at least five meters wide, landed in front of him. Zhou Yan calmly met the gaze of the white-haired dragon.

"Bai Ze, help me... find..."

Zhou Yan nodded vigorously.

"Ah……"

The mirage dragon exhaled from its nostrils, and two streams of white mist emerged from them. After leaving its body, these white mists transformed into living people, butterflies, wild beasts, and other creatures, all incredibly lifelike, and indistinguishable from the real thing except for the lack of color.

"it is good……"

The mirage dragon raised its head high and spoke in its clear, girlish voice.

"I will give Bai Ze a chance to help me."

"Bai Ze, are you happy? It is your honor to be able to help me. When you go out and meet gods, immortals, demons and monsters in the future, you can say that even I will need your help."