NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 14: Chapter 14 The Dragon Beneath Chains
Recap:
Long Tianyu has successfully passed the Spirit Seal Trial, bringing his father, Long Shen, back from decades of imprisonment. With his upgraded Flame Soul Armor, he stood up to the Dragon Council and made his exit from the Crimson Sky Hall. But now, a more formidable threat is awakening—an ancient dragon bound by a pact between the Vault and the Council.
---
The skies over the Eastern Realm grew dark.
Not from a storm, but from something stirring.
At the edge of the known world, hidden beneath the Eternal Abyss, there was a sealed chamber held tight by cosmic chains.
And inside, something was moving.
---
Back at Blackwood Hollow, Tianyu's return ignited a quiet celebration.
Survivors knelt as he walked in.
Qin Yao stepped forward, her eyes shining with relief.
But everyone froze when Long Shen appeared behind him.
"The Flame Dragon walks again," an old disciple murmured.
Tianyu raised a hand.
"This isn't a victory.
It's a warning. The real battle starts now."
---
That night, father and son sat by the Flame Spring.
Long Shen spoke, his voice a mix of sharpness and fatigue.
"There's something you need to know. The Vault isn't just a foreign sect. It's a prison ward."
Tianyu frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Shen unfurled an ancient scroll.
"3,000 years ago, the Vault and the Dragon Council made a pact to seal away a being too powerful to kill.
A creature that consumed entire realms.
They bound it beneath the world using nine Dragon Bloodline seals.
One of those seals is within our clan."
Tianyu's eyes narrowed.
"Let me guess.
That's why they tried to wipe us out."
"Yes."
---
> [New Quest: Flames vs Chains The Awakening Begins]
> Objective: Find the seal hidden within the Eastern Flame Shrine
> Optional: Fully awaken Dragonfire Judgment before reaching the shrine
> Reward: Forbidden Technique Dragonfire Domain Suppression
---
Meanwhile, far to the west,
The Vault gathered in a concealed obsidian citadel.
Lord Varos, the commander of the foreign forces, stood before a living flame mirror.
"The assassin failed."
A voice echoed from the mirror.
No matter.
The dragon is stirring.
Send the Soul Reavers to hold him off.
And if Long Shen truly lives, send a contract breaker.
Lord Varos bowed.
At once.
---
Back at Blackwood, Tianyu gathered his court.
The Dragon Council has kept the truth hidden for millennia.
The Vault has safeguarded the locks.
Now, we possess a key they can't afford to let exist.
He turned to Qin Yao, Lei Fen, Rui, and his father.
We move at dawn. To the Eastern Flame Shrine.
---
The journey was fraught with danger.
Spirit storms raged in the skies.
Cultivators from secret factions tried to intercept them.
But with Long Shen leading the way and Tianyu's newfound power shining like a beacon, none could hold them back for long.
Finally, they arrived.
Before them loomed the shrine: a colossal volcanic temple wrapped in obsidian flames. Runes flickered across its surface, older than any known language.
---
Inside, time warped.
The group stepped through illusions of the past—wars between dragons, councils falling apart, Vault emissaries forging the first pacts.
At the heart of the shrine stood a sealed altar, encircled by nine dragon statues.
Each statue bore a broken chain, except for one.
The last chain pulsed with a golden-red light—Tianyu's flame.
Long Shen stepped forward.
This is your legacy.
The last of the Flameborn Chains.
> [System Alert: Binding Key Detected. Initiate Flame Recognition Ceremony?]
Yes.
---
As Tianyu stepped onto the altar, flames erupted around him.
Voices roared—draconic, ancient.
> Do you claim the right of rebellion?
>Do you carry a flame that's not borrowed, but truly yours?
Will you dare to shatter what your ancestors feared to touch?
I do.
The altar shimmered with a radiant glow.
> [You have awakened: Flameborn Key Chain of Rejection]
> Effect: Grants the power to break ancient contracts and seals
> Passive: Immune to soul-mark bindings and demonic brand curses
With a snap, the chain broke.
Beneath the shrine, the earth began to fracture.
A roar erupted from deep within, shaking every cultivation sect to its core.
The Vault reacted without delay.
---
> [Emergency Transmission: Council Seal 3 has been compromised]
> [Initiate Protocol: Dragon Reawakening Containment]
Tianyu stepped back from the altar, armor crackling with golden lightning.
It's coming.
Long Shen's expression was serious.
And the world isn't prepared.
---
Teaser for Chapter 15:
The Soul Reavers launch an attack on the Eastern Shrine, and Tianyu must protect the seal against five lethal cultivators bound by the Vault's oldest contracts. Meanwhile, the dragon beneath the world opens one eye.