H07 Domain of the Sacred Dragon

Book cover

**Domain of the Sacred Dragon**, Book 7 of The Golden Age of Adventures series, was published in March 2016. It is the English language edition of the original Chinese comic, **决战龙穴**, which was published in March 2015.

## Synopsis

AIMING FOR THE TOP! SEEKING THE LEGENDARY DRAGON!

After rescuing Lulu from her sister’s smothering affections, Alex continues to journey through China. Along the way, they witness the No. 1 adventurer, Akhator, battling with the mythical Qilin. However, Alex is more interested in a recently discovered archaeological site. Is it the nest of the Qilin – or of a creature unknown to humanity?

## Cast

* Alex
* Lulu
* Ben
* Twilight Doctor - Ming
* Azure Princess - Marie Wright

## Plot

***Spoiler warning!** Plot and/or ending details follow.*

### Chapter 1: Runaway

Jones found out he was right about the shining gold being Sun Wu Kong's staff. He's surprised that Alex is finally ranked (No. 100). He reveals to Jackal that Alex is his grandson and first student, making him Jackal's senior.

Alex sneaks onto the Odette to rescue Lulu along with Goken and Ming Kong. Two maids detect them. In Marie's room, Marie has dressed Lulu in a cute dress. She hops onto her bed for bedtime. Rica announces to her that Alex has intruded. Marie goes to find Alex. Lulu breaks down the store, the door falls on Alex. Alex laughs at Lulu's outfit.

Marie has found Alex, but it is actually Ming Kong, infuriating her. Alex and Lulu, chased by the maids, jump of the Odette. They land on Fly High, piloted by Ming. They head for China, abandoning Goken and Ming Kong.

### Chapter 2: Monstrous Battle

In China, Ming properly introduces himself. His adventurer name is Twilight Doctor, he is ranked No. 41 and he is a cryptozoologist. Interested in Lulu's transformation ability, he gets her to let him extract her blood. They see a Qilin in a battle against Akhator the Violent. The Qilin breathes fire. Akhator deflects it twice the speed. This move is known as Whirl of the Mad King.

The World Adventure Union take the Qilin to study it. Himalaya Institute Officer Tang tell Ming and Lulu the Qilin was awakened by the Monkey King clone's earthquakes, not knowing they were involved in that situation. A worker tells Akhator about a recently discovered ruins related to the Qilin. Akhator isn't interested, and flies away.

At the ruins, the worker tells everyone this is the domain of the Sacred Dragon. Alex and Lulu volunteer to deal with it.

### Chapter 3: Hidden Face

There is an incense burner with a grid, which is a puzzle for the entrance to open. On the ground is Chinese characters from the Han Dynasty. Ming translates: "36 holes, burner, evry row, 2 incense, no more, no less, open." The burner has a 6x6 grid, a total of 36 holes. Incense sticks must be placed so that there are only two in each horizontal, vertical and diagonal row. Alex and Ming solve the puzzle except Lulu for getting the mountain puzzle wrong. The entrance opens once it was solved.

Alex, Lulu and Ming enter, accompanied by Ben, a fully trained communication technician. The entrance closes, so Alex uses his sun stone torch and Ming switches his light disc on. Ming translates the entrance's words: "This is the path to the Sacred Dragon's lair. A sacrifice must be offered or the entrance will not open." This confirms the ruins' relation to the Sacred Dragon. The group find an alternative exit.

They have been searching for an hour. They agree to take a rest. Ben attempts to report their location, but Ming slices his shoulder and remote with a scalpel. As a cryptozoologist, Ming gained an interest in Lulu since the Himalayas expedition. His intention was kill Alex and Lulu on Fly High, but the Qilin and Akhator's battle interrupted. He found the Qilin interesting, but the Union has taken it. Now, he will not let Lulu get away.

Lulu slashes his hand. Alex uses his rope to pull Ben to his side. Ming throws his hand to Alex, it scratches his arm. Ming dodges Lulu's slash by jumping to and sticking on the ceiling. Also, his hand regenerates. As a doctor, he injected himself with animal blood and gained their abilities (octopus for suction and earthworm for regeneration). But that is not enough for him. He wants mythical animal blood to gain supernatural abilities and immortality. Alex faints due to Ming's hand's fingernails that scratched him, which were filled with poison.

### Chapter 4: The Doorkeeper

Marie, Rita, Rica and Tuklaa arrive at the ruins. Marie put a tracking device on Lulu, and it deactivated at the ruins. Tuklaa uses his immense strength to open the entrance.

Lulu escapes while carrying Alex and Ben. They enter a room with three entrances, each have a sign, saying "Wisdom", "Strength" and "Illusion". Assuming Ming has dog sense of smell, Alex tells Lulu to throw his and Ben's bloody shirt into "Strength". Lulu does so, and they enter "Wisdom". Unfortunately, Ming saw it all from the ceiling, but he doesn't mind playing longer.

In the "Wisdom" room, the two lion statues come alive. The group see characters for "right". They have to go in the right direction, but they can only go left. One of the statues is about to step on them, so Lulu runs to the right, then immediately runs right. The statues stop. If the group just turned left, the statues will continue to chase them. The solution is to spin right. The statues combine together, becoming a singular machine. It opens a door, releasing a flood.

### Chapter 5: The Dragon's Lair

The floor opens, making a whirlpool which sends Alex, Lulu and Ben somewhere. Marie slashes Ming and demands to know where is Lulu. Ming escapes by shooting octopus venom at the entrance. Stuck and nowhere to go, Marie attempts to solve the puzzle.

The flood sends Alex, Lulu and Ben into a big room with statues, a red platform, a mural of a dragon and the Sacred Dragon slumbering deep below. What Alex doesn't understand is the rice tadpole shrimps in the mural, sacrificed to the Sacred Dragon. The species, Triops Longicaudatus, appeared almost 300 million years ago and had survived mass extinctions. They are tiny, but the mural depicts them as bigger than humans. Said creatures hatch from their eggs.

### Chapter 6: Descent into Darkness

The group climb up to a pillar to get away from the rice tadpole shrimp. Alex uses his rope and rocket boots to get to the red pillar while seeing the Sacred Dragon's silhouette. There is a cauldron that has a similar puzzle as the incense burner. The Chinese characters translate to "the biggest shadow".

The rice tadpole shrimps ram the pillar Lulu and Ben are on. Alex quickly solves the puzzle while having double vision from Ming's poison. He puts the beads into the holes to form the character for "night". A hole opens, releasing giant balls of dried seaweed. The rice tadpole shrimps enter the abyss. Steps appear, leading to possibly the alternative exit. Lulu is disappointed that she didn't get a glimpse of the Sacred Dragon, so Ming will throw her down when he's done dissecting her. He slashes her.

### Chapter 7: Out of Control

Alex releases his rocket drill, Ming dodges. He throws his electrocuter in the water, Ming jumps onto a pillar. He hits Ming's face with his knee, Ming release octopus venom and Alex dodges. He throws Ming with his rope by the leg. He throws his other rocket drill, Ming stops it with his shark teeth. He vomits due to the poison as he was going to electrocute Ming. Ming injects him with viper venom. Alex electrocutes himself, which also electrocutes Ming. Lulu, in her alternate form, punches Ming many times and does a final blow to the chin.

### Chapter 8: Parting Ways

Lulu's powerful punch throws Ming to the edge of the waterfall into the abyss. Ming has a test tube of the Monkey King clone's blood. As he was about to drink, Marie cuts off his hand. She also slices his face, making him fall into the abyss. Marie immediately tends to Lulu, who is severely injured.

One week later at the hospital, Alex wakes up. Goken explains Lulu fully healed in two days while Alex is one week. Lulu is in Marie's care and doesn't allow any visitors. About the Sacred Dragon, Tang explains the dragon is still asleep, and the rice tadpole shrimp is theorised to have properties to keep it asleep. Also, Ming is disqualified.

Rita and Rica enter the room to deliver Marie's message: she allows Alex to live for now as Lulu doesn't want her ripping him apart. She cannot believe Alex is Jones' grandson. Aside from Hank, all the adventurers who have teamed up with him have ended up dead or severely injured. To her, this proves Alex are not suited to work with others. Therefore, to protect Lulu, Alex must stay away from her.

Alex is fine with that. The maids relay his message. Alex rests, thinking about how everyone got hurt while adventuring with him. He decides it's better for him to go alone.