The instant the bone tile appeared, the blood pool went silent. The bone tile began to radiate the same light as the blood essence stone.
“Is this bone tile supposed to be used here?”
Long Chen slowly sent the bone tile toward the blood essence stone. This time, it didn’t reject him. It allowed him to get closer and closer until he actually touched it. In that instant, his vision darkened and the blood pool was gone. A white-haired elder appeared before him.
The white-haired elder was skinny and had his back to him. His hands were clasped behind him. He slowly turned around when Long Chen appeared.
The first thing that Long Chen noticed were his eyes. They were eyes that could see through the world, eyes that had seen the transformations of the universe. Those eyes were full of wisdom. He felt like they could see through all his secrets.
The elder seemed startled to see Long Chen. “I didn’t expect that the one I was waiting for would be a human with true dragon essence blood.”
The elder’s voice was gentle. Every one of his words seemed to possess an unfathomable intelligence, as if every word contained a kind of Dao.
“Junior Long Chen greets senior.” Long Chen hastily bowed, wondering to himself if this person was the master of the Ten Thousand Dragon Nest.
The elder nodded. “How curious. Are you Yun Shang’s descendant?”
“No. Sovereign Yun Shang and I have only met once.” Long Chen was startled.
“Then that’s strange. Yun Shang told me that his descendant would one day come with that bone tile. But you have true dragon essence blood, and your aura is completely different from Yun Shang’s. It’s hard to believe…” The elder paused, seemingly encountering some difficulty.
“Senior, did Sovereign Yun Shang have an agreement with you back in the day?” probed Long Chen.
The elder nodded. “Back then, Yun Shang arrived just as I entered the final stage of my battle against the Heaven Devouring Evil King. If it wasn’t for Yun Shang, I would have died to the Heaven Devouring Evil King, and he would have activated the Heaven Devouring Soul Recollection Art to revive a portion of his fallen Black Armor Warriors, destroying the Star Field Divine World. It was Yun Shang who came at a critical moment to help me, but I had exhausted my source by then. I didn’t even have a chance to undergo nirvanic rebirth. To thank Yun Shang, I left the Ten Thousand Dragon Nest to him. But he didn’t want it, saying that his descendant would need it in the future. I gave him this crystal bone as a token of trust, and then I ran out of energy. Just as I died, I left behind my soul essence to guard this place in wait for the person with the crystal bone. Now you’ve come, but you aren’t Yun Shang’s descendant. You also possess true dragon essence blood. This karma is incomprehensible to me. Furthermore, as just a wisp of soul essence, I no longer have the power to divine anything.”
Long Chen was shocked. Did Sovereign Yun Shang have descendants? That didn’t make sense. The Sovereigns were all solitary figures who didn’t even have wives. How could they have children?
Long Chen said, “Since Sovereign Yun Shang left it to his descendant, then this treasure should have no fate with me. I’ll take my leave. I apologize for disturbing you.”
If it was someone else’s treasures, then he might fight over them. But if it was something that Sovereign Yun Shang had left for someone else, then there had to be a deeper meaning behind it. He couldn’t fight over it.
“Slow down.” The elder shook his head. “The karma involved in this must have grown muddled somewhere. Yun Shang was the son of the heavens. He possessed Heavenly Fate Eyes capable of seeing the past and future. He wouldn’t have made such a mistake in theory, but you’ve still come. Whether or not you are Yun Shang’s descendant, you have to take the blood essence stone. The crystal bone has already broken the barrier. I no longer have the power to protect it. This crystal bone can also break the barrier outside so that you can take the four divine bones.”
“That… doesn’t seem too suitable.” Long Chen hesitated.
“Of course, you don’t have to take them. You can leave them for others to take. It’s up to you,” said the elder.
“Well, if it’s just going to benefit others, I’d rather it benefit me.” Long Chen smiled.
“How curious. Although you’re a human, you have true dragon essence blood, and it has practically flawlessly merged with you. No Spirit Root but capable of using all elements, no Spirit Bone but capable of manifesting all living things… Well, it doesn’t matter. I don’t have the energy to divine it. Our meeting can also count as destiny. Your azure dragon essence blood is pure, but it’s lacking in power. Even though you have refined it, the power you can control is still limited. You can’t even use the dragon race’s divine abilities. Let me help you cleanse your azure dragon essence blood and send my own essence blood into your body. With how easily you could assimilate with true dragon essence blood, you should be able to perfectly control my power. As for how many of the dragon race’s divine abilities you can control, it’ll depend on your own power.” The elder placed a hand on Long Chen’s shoulder. He seemed a bit curious as if he wanted to know what would happen if Long Chen absorbed his dragon blood.
“Senior, you can’t!” exclaimed Long Chen.
“Why not?” The elder was startled. This was something any human would dream of obtaining.
“Senior, when I was in great danger, I was saved by the owner of this essence blood. If it weren’t for that dragon, I would have died. I have an agreement with that senior to help them accomplish one thing. Even though so many years have passed, they have never told me anything. If I were to cleanse their dragon blood, that senior might not be able to find me. Then I would have broken our agreement. That is a betrayal,” said Long Chen.
Just as Long Chen spoke, within a distant starry sky, a dragon that had transcended time and space slowly opened one of its eyes.
Its eye was bigger than a star. Within the countless stars reflected in its eyes, there was one particular speck of dust that drew his attention. A mark appeared in its eye.
That eye quivered ever so slightly and then passed through the void. After that, the giant eye closed.
“How boring.”
A voice resounded through the star. That voice was icy cold yet also seemed to contain a trace of gratification.
…
Suddenly, a mark appeared in the elder’s eyes. That mark was identical to the mark that had appeared within the giant eye.
“So that’s the case.” The elder suddenly laughed. He pressed down on Long Chen’s body, and a majestic power poured inside of him.
“Senior, you…!” Long Chen was shocked and enraged. “Stop!”
Long Chen unleashed his full power. As a result, Blood Qi furiously crashed within his body. He was trying to force out the elder’s dragon blood, but now his body was automatically absorbing it. It felt like lava was pouring into his body.
“Are you a bastard or just sick in the head?!” roared Long Chen. However, no matter how he resisted, it didn’t have any use.
He wanted to use the primal chaos bead’s power, but he didn’t know how to use it. It never listened to his orders. This elder was not a thing that he could suck in.
“Hahaha! What an interesting brat.” The elder laughed instead of getting angry. Seeing Long Chen’s veins throbbing and how murderous he looked, the elder said, “I’m not cleansing your dragon blood, nor do I have that ability. I am simply helping you make up for some Dragon Qi that you are lacking. The azure dragon reverse scale that you obtained was a bit deficient in essence blood due to some unexpected events when the scale fell from its master. Furthermore, after tens of thousands of years, the essence of it slowly faded. By the time you obtained it, it had lost most of its essence, resulting in you being unable to awaken the dragon race’s divine abilities when you refined it.”
“How… how do you know all this?” asked Long Chen.
The elder smiled and didn’t reply directly. “I am now trying to use my essence blood to stimulate your true dragon essence blood. That will strengthen your dragon blood power, strengthening your physical body. If you’re lucky, perhaps you can obtain that expert’s divine abilities. However, that process will be very painful, so you have to be mentally prepared.”
Long Chen was delighted. “I’m prepared! As long as you don’t wash away my original dragon blood, I’m not afraid of any pain.”
The elder nodded. The mark appeared in his eyes once more. “Alright, then I’m beginning.”
Although Long Chen was prepared, when the pain started, he clenched his teeth so hard that they almost shattered.
Within his body, it felt like thorns were passing through his veins. He felt all his nerves instantly become taut. His hair stood on end.
However, he didn’t make a sound. The elder nodded. “Not bad. Even amongst the dragon race, not many could endure this pain. However, you cannot faint. Closely examine your dragon blood as it flows through your veins. That’s the only way you will be able to perfectly control any divine abilities that you awaken.”
Long Chen did his best to nod. He couldn’t speak because of the pain. The more painful it was, the sharper his senses grew.
Runes began to appear within his blood. Once they appeared, they entered his head. A rune appeared on his forehead, gradually growing clearer until it began to shine brightly.
BOOM!
Divine light exploded out of Long Chen. Long Chen’s Blood Qi instantly ignited, and a dragon cry resounded through this space.
