Xuanyin had finally found the connection that she had felt while in the astral realm; yet when she finally saw what it was; confusion clouded her mind
She instinctively stopped herself from attacking and began observing the situation, almost immediately formations activated blocking her sight
Xuanyin didn't rush to attack once they activated their defenses, her experience let her to believe that eventually someone would exit,
With that being said she masked her energy and approached quietly, upon seeing Aurora fly out with the "connection"
Xuanyin followed her silently and after confirming it wasn't a trap she stopped concealing her energy, causing Aurora's flight to stop
She saw the fear and conviction in Aurora's eyes, but felt no pity for she was but mere human trash
Xuanyin's eyes then moved towards Arc and she saw the connection once more, there was a small dragon within his arms shaking
She couldn't help but feel astonished, as she thought to herself
'I never had any children… or did ?'
Before she could even doubt herself she erased that notion from her heart
She was the great Xuanyin, she has never and would never submit to anyone; thus she has never had a child
'Yet it is unmistakably that child is my own blood, it seems as though through some unknown method
Those humans used my horn to create a dragon; that child is a complete lifeform, so it isn't a chimera'
Xuanyin adjusted herself slightly while deep in thought, this caused Aurora who had been on guard into attacking
She swung her sword towards the neck of the dragon, hoping she was strong enough to protect Arc
Xuanyin found the attempt laughable as she tail swung, forcing Aurora to stop her attack and take a defensive position
Xuanyin who had been observing closely saw that girl human was trying to protect the male human; she decided to bluff them
Due to ink-star being in his hands, Xuanyin didn't want to risk injuring the young dragon before discovering what the deal with it was
They weren't aware of this information putting her at a significant advantage
She looked over at Aurora provokingly, as she charged an energy bast towards Arc
Aurora's eyes opened wide as she realized what the dragon was planning
She jumped before Arc just as the attack had finished charging, causing it to strike her body
Her face scrunched up as the attack hit her body, then after the attack made contact she noticed something
The attack was much larger than her body, so some energy would definitely reach behind her even though she protected Arc's body
Though Aurora noticed that she didn't know how to capitalize on it, the attack had gravely harmed her, even the armor on her body had begun to melt
Aurora looked up to see the dragon looking at her laughing at her incompetence, it began charging its energy once more
Aurora knew if it continued this way she would die, her mind began racing thinking of a way out; suddenly it clicked and she brought out a smile
Just before the attack was launched Aurora reached behind her and grabbed ink-star placing the dragon before her
This gave Xuanyin no choice but to stop her attack, since Aurora called her bluff
Xuanyin the let out a gentle laugh, which brought chills to Arc and Aurora, ink-star was still a quivering mess
Before she could make her next move something happened that caught the attention of everyone present
Ink-star began muttering to himself very quietly, or what he believed to be very quietly everyone present had good hearing and was able to hear him clearly
"Is that my mom?, why is my mom trying to kill dad and Aurora"
His quivering never stopped, as he tried returning into Arc's arms
This caused everyone to freeze as this realization crossed all of their minds
Xuanyin felt the rage that was brewing seemed to have stopped for a moment as she pondered whether she took the best course of action by attacking immediately
With that thought in her head, energy began erupting from her body, far beyond anything Aurora had ever seen before, it was nearly blinding
Yet Aurora knew this wasn't an attack, it was a warning aswell as a truce for she was taking human form to have this conversation
When the energy vanished what stood before then was no longer a towering dragon, but a elegant lady
She wore a beautiful black gown from the bottom one could see a long scaled dragon tail swaying behind her,
On her head rested dragon horns, that seemed to form a crown, though one of the horn had been broken off
She had long black hair, and red reptilian eyes, pale white skin, and blood red lips, Arc almost thought that she looked very much like a vampire
She walked towards Aurora and Arc calmly and slowly; Aurora instinctively stood before Arc once more, though this time much less confident
She never had expected that this dragon was a late stage nascent soul cultivator
Aurora's actions brought a slight grin to Xuanyin's mouth as she spoke arrogantly
"no need for all that, if I wanted you dead you wouldn't even be able to resist"
While Aurora stayed silent, she was grinding her teeth; having never felt so embarrassed in her life
With that said Xuanyin made her way to Arc, she stood next to him, their eyes met as she was only a few inches shorter than him,
before he could say anything she turned her head down and looking at ink-star before speaking
"I truly don't understand, how do you exist; i never had any children yet here you are"
Her tone was gentle yet it did not hide her confusion
She raised her head towards Arc, her tone turning demanding
"Speak human; what did you do?"
Arc didn't hesitate and began from the beginning and told the story of the creation of ink-star,
Xuanyin head nodded slightly listening to the story, as her eyes opened wide
She was completely shocked that Arc was able to do such a thing, this was something she had never heard of in her long life
After finishing the story, Arc saw that the dragon had become silent so he turned his attention towards ink-star
It seemed that at one point he had calmed down, he was no longer quivering though he was still curled up like a ball
Upon seeing ink-star Xuanyin's eyes softened as she reached towards him, causing him to flinch as he tried hiding within Arc's robes
Her hand froze slightly upon realizing that the young dragon was still very much afraid of her
With this being the case she racked her head wondering how she could grow closer to her "son"
She then spoke as softly and calmly as she could. "My name is Xuanyin sweetheart, what is your name?"
Ink-star looked toward Arc seemingly asking if it was alright to answer, Arc smiled softly as he nodded his head
What ink-star wasn't aware of was that Arc's back was drenched in sweat from the fear he felt
Seeing confirmation from Arc, ink-star took a deep breath before speaking "My name is ink-star, do you want me to call you Xuanyin or mom?"
A warm smile appeared on Xuanyin's face she always wanted a child but was too prideful to mate with anyone below her
Her pride caused her to believe it even other dragons were below her causing her to be left alone a large portion of her life
Now she had a child without having to lower herself to beings beneath her, Xuanyin felt great joy in this moment as she spoke
"Call me mom"
Aurora watched nervously as the dragon Xuanyin spoke to ink-star, she could see the fear on Arc's face, and Aurora felt ashamed
She had promised Arc that she would be able to protect them, and yet the only reason they were still alive was the Dragon had mercy
Aurora regretted giving Arc the Dragon horn, as that was the catalyst that caused Xuanyin to hunt them down
Xuanyin continued her conversation with Arc and ink-star, attempting to determine the consequences of taking him away
She didn't directly admit to this, as she knew that these insolent humans would lie to her;
she danced around various other topics that would in theory give her the answer
When she discovered that the painting was a part of Arc's natal weapon she felt quite annoyed
Since that means ink-star has to remain in close proximity to Arc, as his "essence" can not truly leave the painting
She considered killing Aurora and kidnapping Arc; but she knew that would cause resentment from ink-star since he cared for his father
She racked her head wondering what would be the best course of option, while these thoughts plagued her mind the conversation never ended
Seeing that she was no longer being such an aggressiver it calmed ink-star down,
One of the reasons he was freaking out was that he felt her endless bubbling rage when she was looking for him
He found that he could no longer feel her thoughts or emotions; she masked then,he transmitted these thoughts to Arc
Something Xuanyin sensed yet she played dumb, if they were unaware she could listen into the connection they share she will hold an advantage over Arc
Arc's own thoughts in reaction was that she is powerful, wrathful and patient; Xuanyin would never let go of a grudge, making her the worst kind of enemy
Xuanyin found her head spinning, she had tried reading Arc's mind through the connection and found his thoughts were strange and seemed to be in several different languages that she couldn't understand
While she struggled to read his mind; Arc thought for a moment considering his options before saying something somewhat "outlandish"
"Me, and Aurora, are on our way to a conference; ink-star will probably get bored why don't you come with us to keep him company"
Aurora wanted to slap Arc's head upon hearing that but she knew this was probably their best best,
if Xuanyin wasn't willing to negotiate then they wouldn't even be having this conversation; they would be dead
Xuanyin only cared for ink-star and wanted to kill the humans who got in her way but she found Arc interesting
She have lived for eaons, and had never seen or heard someone paint a living dragon
Plus the more she looked at him, the more she doubted whether he was human, his scent was similar to that of spirit beast
She looked at ink-star and considered her options, if she agreed she could get closer to her son without any resentment
But then she will have to spend time around these pitiful humans, her thoughts wandered before something clicked when looking at ink-star's body
His soul was still in its infancy, at that stage in their development dragon's are usually still within their eggs
So she took a deep look into the banner and found that when ink-star exists the painting an outline remains
Since he is a real dragon, then that outline acts as his "egg" and is what contains him within the painting
Once his soul is completed, and he reaches maturity he will no longer be bound by the painting and at that point she can take him away
She can spend a few years gaining his affection and take him away without resentment at that time
With that deduction, she concluded this would be the most viable way to continue, Xuanyin nodded her head before speaking
"Do not expect me to help or aid you humans, i'm here for ink-star, oh and Aurora if you plan to attack me with that human trash who took my horn"
"I will kill him"
She said pointing at Arc causing him to freeze as he realized he is still a hostage
Xuanyin then turned towards Arc and spoke once more
"Do not believe your untouchable, with you dead ink-star will be mad at me sure, but he will forget about you after a hundred years, if not a hundred, a thousand"
Arc nodded his head slightly signifying that he understands; as he sighed heavily seemingly glad they had come to an agreement without her taking ink-star away
Back at the carriage the sect master had continued to wait for Aurora and Arc; he couldn't help but feel worried as he sensed in the far distance something in the late stage nascet soul was approaching their "camp"
When he went out to see what it was, he saw Aurora flying toward him holding Arc
He also saw a woman he didn't recognize with horns and a tail on her back flying closely behind holding Arc's dragon
The pressure he felt was coming from her, she could destroy all of them without any real effort
Yet it was strange, her attention was focused on the small dragon which she seemed to be playing with,
the sect master's gaze trailed her horns and dragon tail before he came to the belief that it was her child
He couldn't help but wonder,
'how the heck did Archeaon convince the dragon not to kill him after kidnapping her son?!'
He was unaware that ink-star was created by Arc causing this misconception to form
When they landed the sect master went to address the dragon seemingly attempting to give her some respect only to be stopped by Aurora who was still injured as she said
"Don't bother her,"
The sect master realizing Aurora was injured attempted to check up on her to see if she would be alright, much to his dismay she denied it and went to her room without a word
The sect master now confused went to find Arc to ask confirmation on what transpired when the left
While the sect master was talking to Aurora, to prevent anyone from triggering Xuanyin, Arc escorted to his room leaving her and ink-star inside to "bond",
after that he met up with the sect master to explain what had happened,
Arc having been extremely tired explained the whole story as fast as he could so he can go to bed after
"Ink-star that little dragon i painted him using advanced art cultivation techniques"
"He came to life becoming a true genuine lifeform, due to the fact i used the horn of a that dragon to make the ink",
"Her horns have the innate ability to absorb spirit energy, thus when my mental energy and her physical energy merged within the painting with highly dense spirit energy ink-star was born"
The sect master feeling stunned was left completely speechless as Arc walked away
Everything that had happened today had left Arc completely exhausted physically and mentally.
Since Xuanyin took his room Arc walked towards Aurora room, once he arrived he knocked at the door only to hear a hoarse voice
"Not now Arc"
Arc recognized that it was Aurora and it seemed that she wasn't in a good mood after what happened, he tried talking to her but received no response
Seeing that she didn't want to talk about what happened Arc sighed heavily before attempting to find a empty room
What Arc was unaware of was the Aurora lied on her bed, curled up into a ball, her body bruised and burned as tears ran down her face
What hurt her the most wasn't the physical pain, she had long gotten accustomed to it; the pain she had now was from the weakness she felt
Arc was the one thing she promised to protect, and she failed; she didn't allow him to enter because Aurora didn't want Arc to see her this weak every again
Xuanyin sat on a chair and listened to ink-star talk, normally she would never sit and listen to others speak because they were all beneath her
Yet she found all ink-star had to say interesting, especially hearing that Arc has the capability to convert world qi into spirit qi
This was something ink-star accidentally let slip, Xuanyin was ecstatic that she got some dirt on Arc
yet she didn't want ink-star to have bad habits like spilling secrets since it can go both ways
Xuanyin scolded ink-star for saying it as he shouldn't have revealed that without Arc's permission
Ink-star eyes opened wide as he just came to the realization that he leaked Arc's secret to Xuanyin
After awhile of chatting Ink-star began feeling tired from all that happened and so he returned to the formation flag and went to sleep
Xuanyin had a smile on her face as she watched calmly before realizing a smell in the room that she had been ignoring
She began sniffing the air, it smelled like that "human" Arc she felt annoyed that Arc had brought her to his room
Yet she was unable to stop sniffing around, she grabbed one of the shirts that was to the side of his bed and took deep breaths
It smelled delicious causing her tail behind to to swag rapidly, she didn't know what it was but he didn't smell like a human
He was like a spirit beast, but different; like a human shaped dragon
When that thought slid into her mind it made her consider something she hadn't before,
'keeping him around might not be so bad, maybe i can have him as a snack'
The moment that thought entered her mind she forcibly stopped herself, knowing this was just the abyss amplificating her hunger
She took a deep breathe and pulled the shirt away before walking out of the room,
In this situation she had to avoid any triggers to prevent the influence from doing anything against her will
The abyss is a unique realm within the universe it had many strange properties
The main ones being amplifying emotions of those within and increasing the strength of those who make sacrifices to it; at the cost of their sanity
Xuanyin managed to escape the abyss but it still held a strong connection to her due to her blood,
she has to always been extremely careful when it comes to displaying her emotions or she would do be influenced by the abyss
She had experience a roller coaster of emotions lately, jumping from extreme anger and extreme joy
This caused the abyss to leak its way back into her actions as it tried to influence her
Arc had continued to wander the hallways looking for an empty room, then he saw Xuanyin leaving his room,
she was breathing heavily while seemingly lost in thought, she then sensed his eyes and turned in his direction
Upon seeing Arc her body physically froze as this was the worst person to meet at the moment