1221 Not Even a Thousand Years Old

"Haaa…haaaa…haaaa…" Dragon Goddess Yeyou took deep breaths as she silently stared at the human man floating in the distance not far away from her, her gaze filled with emotion and fulfillment.

Yuan could see very clearly what she was thinking inside her head.

It has been countless years since she last experienced a satisfying fight that did not leave her wanting more.

'Although I was clearly beyond his league in the beginning, this bastard kept improving at an astonishing rate, and in just a few decades, he reached the point where he could fight me on equal footing! Just who is this bastard?!' Dragon Goddess Yeyou felt like she had been used by the human man as a training dummy.

However, she wasn't angry, as she also benefited greatly from the fight.

Meanwhile, the human had a bitter-sweet smile on his face as his body lifelessly drifted further away from the Dragon Goddess, who was victorious in this fight.

"I had an amazing time with you during the last 200 years… Unfortunately, it lasted a little shorter than I had anticipated… Perhaps if I hadn't given in to my impatience and trained for another thousand years, I might've been able to realize my ambitions…" The human man uttered in a weak voice as his life force continued to dwindle.

It was only a matter of time before he met his death after exhausting all of his energy and life force that he sacrificed to prolong their fight.

However, when Dragon Goddess Yeyou heard his last words, her satisfied expression immediately froze.

Then in a low and grim voice, she asked him, "Another thousand years…? How old are you?"

"I should be around 950 years old now…" The human man responded with difficulty.

"W-What did you say…?" Dragon Goddess Yeyou's eyes widened with immense disbelief and shock.

"I-Impossible!" She roared, refusing to believe that she was nearly defeated by a human that wasn't even a thousand years old!

When the spectators learned that the human man was actually younger than the majority of them there, they also expressed a wide array of emotions, but mostly that of shock and disbelief.

Almost everyone there was well over a hundred thousand years old with some even numbering in the millions, yet nobody there would even dare to attempt to fight an entity like the Dragon Goddess.

But somehow a human that isn't a thousand years old managed to last 200 years fighting the Dragon Goddess? Nobody would want to believe such a thing even if they witnessed it with their own eyes, as such an existence naturally mocked their talents and efforts all the way to the heavens.

"H-He must be joking… There's no way he's only 950 years old! That would mean he was only 750 years old when he started fighting! I barely reached Divine Sovereign by that age and I was recognized as a once-in-a-lifetime genius by the entire world!" A renowned human expert there expressed his thoughts, feeling like he was on the verge of an existential crisis, breaking the silence there.

The thousands of experts there immediately began mumbling to each other as they wondered if the human man was speaking of the truth or simply lying on his deathbed for shock value.

"The fact that nobody here recognizes him gives his claim some credit…"

"That means nothing! He could be really old— so old that nobody here recognizes him!" Someone else made this argument.

"As someone who has lived for over 5 million years, I can say that I have never heard of him before. With that being said, I have this nostalgic feeling when I see his face, yet I cannot recall where I have seen that face before."

Meanwhile, Dragon Goddess Yeyou slowly recovered from her shock, and after pondering for a brief moment, she suddenly approached the human man.

When she arrived before the human, Dragon Goddess Yeyou's body began emitting a blinding light that turned the void completely white for a brief moment.

When the light dimmed, the massive dragon that could easily swallow a world was nowhere to be seen, and another human figure suddenly appeared in the starry sky, hovering right before the human man.

This figure was that of a woman with ethereal beauty and a divine aura, resembling a goddess created by heaven itself.

Her being was a tapestry of awe-inspiring elements— her cascading, silken golden hair flowed like an endless river behind her, a manifestation of grace. Her eyes, a radiant gold, held both the brilliance of the sun and the depth of ancient wisdom, their vertical pupils reminiscent of a feline's gaze. Possessing a stature both tall and slender, her form seemed to bridge the realms of the ethereal and the earthly. Adorned with golden halos encircling her wrists and ankles, she bore an aura that whispered of a world beyond their current one.

The human men there were instantaneously enraptured by the emergence of this unparalleled beauty, stirred by an emotion long lost to their memories. Even the beasts present were entranced by her presence, despite her humanoid guise that they have disdained for their entire lives.

"The Dragon Goddess has taken the form of a human…?" The beasts were in disbelief when they realized the situation.

The transformation of a beast into a human was not merely a shift in appearance; it symbolized a profound change, a voluntary descent from a state they considered superior to embody the very beings they had spurned and considered inferiors.

Moreover, Dragon Goddess Yeyou far transcended the realm of ordinary creatures. As a Divine Beast, she occupied the pinnacle of the cultivation world and the hierarchy of all beasts. Her choice to assume human form was an unprecedented event, one that would forever change the way other beasts and humans viewed her.

"I had always regarded humans as lesser beings, unworthy of even a fragment of my esteem or notice. Yet, a human who has existed for a mere fraction of the time it takes me to nap has somehow bewildered me and ignited my curiosity..."

Dragon Goddess Yeyou gently held her hands on her chest, retrieving an orb of light from within her body.

"It would be a pity to let you die now, human."

She then blew at the orb of light in the human's direction, causing the orb of light to fly into his lifeless body.

The human man's body began emitting a warm light, and the injuries on his body immediately started disappearing at a rate that could be witnessed with one's bare eyes.

"I am not doing this out of mercy, nor is this an act of righteousness. This is merely a self-centered endeavor on my part. Until you quench my curiosity, I will not let you die."

After the human man's injuries were fully mended, and even his life force had been rejuvenated, which only took mere seconds, he gradually opened his eyes.

The human was sure that he had perished, yet he somehow survived.

He looked at the beauty hovering before him and immediately realized the situation, and he proceeded to speak with a slight smile, "So you were a female all along? I couldn't tell by your beastly voice."

Dragon Goddess Yeyou's eyebrows uncontrollably twitched upon hearing his words, but she quickly controlled her emotions and asked, "What is your name?"

"I hadn't introduced myself yet? My apologies." After adjusting his posture, he continued with a handsome smile on his face, "My name is Tian Yi."