Chapter 12: A Strange New Place
How much time has passed since I climbed into Jinlong's corpse? Days? Weeks? I hadn't the faintest idea, I did know however that it had been no small amount of time.
Despite how disgusting it may sound, the only reason I think I'm alive right now is because I've been using Jinlong's blood as a water source.
Now you may be wondering, why haven't I just climbed out of Jinlong's corpse? Well, you see, I haven't been able to, because Jinlong's corpse has been moving.
From how fast Jinlong's corpse has been moving and how bumpy the ride was, it's safe to assume I had traveled all the way down Mount Song. But after the bumping stopped, I was lost. From then on, I knew not where I was going to end up.
Though there was one thing that happened during the time Jinlong's body has been moving. The space I had been hiding in had gotten noticeably smaller. I'm not sure if it's because of Jinlong's corpse being moved, or because I had completed the Bone Tempering stage while waiting for the movement to stop.
However,
Thud!
A sudden jerk occurred, almost as if Jinlong's corpse had been tossed onto the ground. Had I reached my final destination? Or had the people carrying Jinlong's corpse gotten tired.
"Today-"
What's this? The entire time Jinlong's corpse was being carried I heard not a single voice. But out of nowhere a voice appeared, almost as if it was giving a speech. I pressed slightly opened the cut I had crawled into and listened to the unknown man's speech.
"Ever since those Mount Song Sect bastards hid the last dragon from the world, we have searched and searched these lands to find it. But it was hidden right under our noses, right in the heart of Mount Song! But now the last dragon is dead! Now we shall reclaim what is rightfully ours!"
What was this person talking about? Another group outside of the Mount Song Sect and Namgung clan knew about Jinlong's presence? How was this possible?
"I shall now cut open the belly of the dragon, and claim the spiritual core needed to revive the Demon Dragon Cult!"
A roar of cheers then erupted from outside Jinlong's corpse as I tightly pulled the cut closed. The Demon Dragon Cult was a cult that didn't exist in my original life. This confirmed it, many things about the world had been changed since my arrival here.
A sword then plunged into Jinlong's corpse a few centimeters above my head, piercing through the backside of the body and slowly sliding down toward me.
Well, here goes nothing, if these guys are a Demon Dragon Cult, I might be able to get away with my life if I claim to be Jinlong's reincarnation.
I pulled open the cut on Jinlong's body just as the sword was about to reach my head. With a cold glare in my eyes, I looked up at the man who nearly killed me inside of Jinlong's corpse and opened my mouth.
"You pesky mortal, I sacrifice my Spiritual Core to be reborn in this body, and you almost kill me to satisfy your greed?!"
"W-What?"
Startled, the man stepped back, completely forgetting to pull his sword out from Jinlong's corpse in the process. This was my chance, with how much experience I have and having completed the Bone Tempering stage, I could defend myself against at least a few of these bastards with the unknown man's sword.
I stepped out of Jinlong's corpse, with decaying blood dripping off my robes, hair, face, and hands as I did so. Pulling the sword out of Jinlong's body with one fell swoop and pointing it at what seemed to be the Demon Dragon Cult's leader, I snarled before speaking.
"Who dares try to covet my Spiritual Core, even if I just acquired this new body, I won't hesitate to drench this body with your blood!"
It seems like my plan worked, not even the group's leader dared take a step right now. If I push them a little bit more, I'll scare them off or make them surrender to me.
"I'll give you three seconds to explain, or else I'll start taking lives!"
Is not even one of them going to move? Even to save their own lives?
"One!"
I began walking toward the group's leader, swinging his sword cleanly through the air as I did so.
"Two!"
Well, I guess this is where I take this body's first kill. No better time than to show my power though.
"Three!"
I lunged forward and swung the sword straight for the leader's neck with the intent to remove his head right then and there. However, it seems reality won't let all my plans go through exactly as I wanted them.
The man had dropped to his knees and banged his head against the dirt. His bow was that of someone who committed an egregious crime against their lord.
"Oh Great Dragon, we did not mean to offend you! Please spare us, if you do, the Demon Dragon Cult will be yours to rule how you wish!"
Huh, I guess these bastards were just scared shitless. Though this situation is better than I could have planned for, if I take control of this cult, I can use its resources to make my own sect like that of the Mount Song Sect.
"Speak, who are you and what did you intend to do with my Spiritual Core?"
The man looked up at my face before speaking, however, his neck was stretched so far back that he looked like a turtle failing to pull it's head into it's shell.
But now that I think about it, why is he trying so hard to look into my eyes? Wait, wasn't I around a hundred forty-seven centimeters tall when I was ten years old? Why was I so tall now?
"We're the Demon Dragon Cult, we've been trying to acquire the remains of a dragon for the past hundred years, but you were the only one left alive for our entire search. But after we heard you had died; we took our chance and took your corpse from the top of Mount Song and brought it to our headquarters."
First I find out that the Namgung clan is an Unorthodox sect, and now there's an unknown cult lurking around in Jianghu? I need to get my information in order with this new reality.
"How long has my previous body been dead?"
"Roughly a week, Great Dragon."
Well, at least that explains my height concerns, living for a week after completing the Bone Tempering stage while surviving only on the blood of a dragon must have accelerated my body's growth, and fortified my bones further than the Bone Tempering had already done.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone