Alex next heard the Patriarchs chat about his Master and the phenonon she had created. He heard them talk about the growing lack of Qi and how it wasn’t much longer before the Azure Dragon would have to pass along his position to soone else.
Alex found it surprising that the Azure Dragon, who seed perfectly well and alive, was already thinking about such a matter. But then, he realized that while the Patriarch considered passing along his position soon, soon could still an dozens and dozens of millennia.
They kept walking up the staircase, steadily climbing the building that went up for many kiloters. Halfway through, they arrived at a large opening with sothing written on the top that Alex barely recognized as "Body."
He hadn’t seen many texts after coming to this world, but whenever he did, it was written in the Beast Language, which he wasn’t fully proficient in.
"Body?" he thought for a mont. He rembered back to the few other gates they had walked past and the text that was written on them. He whispered to Pearl, asking him if he could help him with the translations.
Pearl could translate it, but he hadn’t paid as much attention.
Bai Jingshen instead spoke up and answered his questions.
"We’ve passed the Tail Gate. Then the Fourth and Third Talon Gates, and now we’re at the Body Gate," Bai Jingshen said.
Alex paused for a bit, staring at the tiger. "I thought you couldn’t read."
"Of course I can read," Bai Jingshen said. "I’m not illiterate. I just can’t read the words when they are bunched up together. On their own like this, it’s easy."
Alex gave an apologetic smile. He looked back at the gate, now knowing what it was. Just then, sothing stirred in the back of his mind as he went through the nas.
"Are there a Head Gate and Scales Gate by any chance?" Alex asked.
Bai Jingshen smiled. "You’ve noticed then," he said.
Alex nodded. "It’s the five sections of the army that the Azure Imperium had. It’s based on this?" he asked.
"If you recall, the first Azure Dragon that went down there had a child with a human female and gave birth to the first Dragon Emperor," Bai Jingshen said. "He helped his child form the Empire, so many aspects of that Empire ca from his experience as an Azure Dragon. This was one of them."
Alex raised his eyebrows in understanding. "I see."
The group walked in through the Body Gate, walking past intricate hallways, and arrived at a massive hall. The hall was the size of a cathedral, with statues on giant pedestals belonging to Azure Dragons.
One stood at the center, large and proud. It looked no different than the current Patriarch, except perhaps a little more rugged, carrying a little more authority.
A small plaque hung by its side, and Pearl read it out loud for Alex.
"The Progenitor of the Azure Dragons, Qing Tailong."
Whoever had carved the statue had done a fantastic job. Looking at the craftsmanship, Alex almost believed it was the sa person that had carved the White Tiger Progenitor’s statue as well.
The group stopped in that hall for a few minutes as the Azure Dragon Patriarch showed the others around the room, pointing to a few statues and giving so tidbits about who they belonged to.
Pearl fully focused on the information, looking around at the sculptures of long-dead family mbers that he had never gotten to see.
Alex looked around at all of them, admiring them. But unlike Pearl, he had no connection to these, so he didn’t feel much for them. His eyes moved past them, lingering on any sculpture for no longer than a few seconds.
As he moved past the standing sculptures, his eyes went to perhaps the sculptures that were the best after the Progenitors.
There were two very distinct beasts carved on the walls, each covering the space between the doors on each side. They were the largest sculptures around there, but since they were carved directly on the wall, they didn’t stand out as well as they should have.
On the left was a massive dragon-like beast with a long serpentine body, covered in hard scales carved all over its surface. Its face appeared similar to that of the current Azure Dragons, mainly the two giant horns, long whiskers, a great mane, and the actual shape of the face itself.
Unlike the Azure Dragons, however, this dragon had a larger chest area than the rest of its body, and two giant wings ca out of its back, feathered like that of a bird.
Surrounding the beast in the carved sculpture were giant clouds with rain and lightning surrounding it in its entirety.
The dragon looked like a lord of rain and lightning, master of the storm.
Opposite to it was a giant eagle-like bird, sculpted out of jade, with a wingspan twice as large as its body. Its feet were long with sharp blade-like talons, and its feathers thick like fur.
The sculpture of the bird appeared like a painting frozen in ti at the mont of descent, like a bird of prey coming down on its target. One could almost see the wind breaking through its body, passing around it.
Despite a very humble appearance, the bird looked no worse than the dragon opposite to it. In fact, it looked like a lord of wind.
Alex stared at the two carvings in awe, a piece of him telling him what they were. But he couldn’t imagine ever getting a chance to see what these beings actually looked like.
Bai Jingshen walked up to him and stared at the carvings too.
"I was surprised the last ti I ca here as well," he said. "Do you recognize what these beasts are?"
"I have a guess," Alex said. "Will you confirm it for ?"
"Based on your reaction, I think you know you are right," Bai Jingshen said. "These are the two Primordials that the Azure Dragons are descended from."
"The Flying Raindragon and the Roc."
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