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*****
Xu Tianyou heard Su Wen's warning, but he didn't offer a reply—or perhaps, he simply didn't know how to answer.
"Your Martial Soul is the Purple-Gold Annihilation Heaven Dragon, yet your fundamental essence does not originate from it," Su Wen observed. It was rare for him to encounter such a Soul Master in the world of Douluo, and as a result, he found himself becoming uncharacteristically talkative, unable to resist offering a few pointers.
"Your strength comes from yourself, rather than a mindless dependence on the development of your Martial Soul."
Su Wen himself was exactly this type of Soul Master. Xiao Zhan, to a lesser extent, could be considered one as well. For them, the true source of power was not a gift bestowed by the Martial Soul at birth, but rather their own deliberate application and evolution of its capabilities.
The difference lay in the starting point: Su Wen and Xiao Zhan had started with Martial Souls that weren't inherently powerful and had relied on their own efforts to elevate them. In contrast, Xu Tianyou's Martial Soul was already at the pinnacle, yet he refused to be its slave, instead refining its abilities to their absolute limit through sheer willpower.
"Therefore," Xu Tianyou finally spoke, "whether I obtain the Dragon Ancestor's inheritance or not doesn't fundamentally change who I am. However, becoming even a fraction stronger is always a positive. By inheriting the Dragon Ancestor's bloodline, my Martial Soul might take that final step, truly reaching the level of a God-grade Martial Soul. If that happens, I won't have to waste so much time on the mere cultivation of Soul Power."
"Waste time?" Su Wen shook his head. "True 'wasting of time' is relying solely on the innate strength of a Martial Soul to grind your way to Rank 99."
If a person's Soul Power cultivation relied entirely on the quality of their Martial Soul, they would be better off directly inheriting a divine position that shared the same lineage. Otherwise, that very reliance would eventually become a bottleneck, preventing them from advancing further on their own terms.
In the history of the Douluo Continent, instances of Soul Masters achieving godhood through their own strength were vanishingly rare. Very few even attempted the path.
Theoretically speaking, a Soul Master who creates their own divine position must condense it using the field they are most proficient in—their own personal insights. However, if one's entire reservoir of Soul Power does not align with or validate those personal insights, it will inevitably obstruct the condensation of the divine seat.
By relying on one's own cultivation step-by-step and experiencing every necessary realization, the path to godhood remains incredibly difficult, but at least one does not stray into a dead end. The time wasted backtracking to correct a fundamental deviation is always greater than the time spent walking the difficult, correct path from the beginning.
"Of course, that's only considering the factors of pure cultivation," Su Wen added, choosing not to press the issue. Given Xu Tianyou's current circumstances, he did indeed need to prioritize immediate strength.
Thirty miles east of Mingdu, they reached a secluded valley.
"It should be here, right?" Su Wen turned his gaze toward Xu Tianyou.
Xu Tianyou took a deep breath and stepped toward the valley entrance. He released his Martial Soul, and the Purple-Gold Annihilation Heaven Dragon possessed him instantly. Following a resonant dragon roar, something within the valley seemed to respond; the very air began to ripple and distort.
Su Wen's eyes locked onto a specific point. Space fluctuated, and a vortex manifested out of thin air. The two men stepped directly into the swirling portal.
This inheritance space had not been created by the Ancestor of Sub-Dragons. Originally, this was the ancestral home of the Purple-Gold Annihilation Heaven Dragon clan before their extinction. The clan had once boasted many god-level beings, but they were eventually wiped out by the Dragon God.
After their massacre, the corpses of the dragons had been preserved within this space. It appeared that a later deity had tidied up the realm, burying the fallen dragons and even refining the essence of the Sub-Dragon Ancestor to serve as a site for inheritance.
Deep within the space, a thick, suffocating dragonic pressure permeated the air.
"This pressure... it's infused with the power of Destructive Lightning," Su Wen noted, his mental strength probing deep into the void to analyze the forces at play.
It was precisely by integrating his mastery over Destructive Lightning into his aura that the Sub-Dragon Ancestor was able to stand on equal footing with True Dragons in terms of dragon-attribute potency. In fact, aside from the Dragon God and its two halves—the Golden and Silver Dragon Kings—this ancestor's bloodline was likely entirely unaffected by the suppression of any other True Dragon.
This was a perfect example of someone developing their own abilities to empower themselves.
"The Ancestor of Sub-Dragons... a name well-deserved!"
Su Wen took out the Thunder Dragon Ring. Immediately, he felt the oppressive weight of the destructive aura from the depths of the space begin to lessen. Even after countless eons, this dragonic might still possessed the power to annihilate everything; Su Wen doubted he could have approached the core using his own strength alone.
After all, the Ancestor of Sub-Dragons was undoubtedly a god-level entity—and a powerful one at that, potentially even reaching the level of a God-King.
Of course, this was just Su Wen's speculation. Perhaps the ancestor simply excelled in aura-based techniques, making this specific aspect stand out, while his actual combat power was that of a First-Class God. But even then, the pressure it exerted reached the standard of a God-King level True Dragon.
As they ventured deeper, the intensifying pressure confirmed Su Wen's suspicion: the Ancestor of Sub-Dragons had definitely reached the God-King level.
"The intent of destruction at this level is far stronger than the aura of the Sea God's divine power I've sensed before."
He was referring to the essential quality of the power, not just the outward impression. Su Wen's only direct experience with the Sea God's power was during his divine body tempering. At that time, the Sea God was intentionally being gentle to accommodate the tempering process, so the power hadn't shown its most aggressive side.
Comparing the fundamental essence of the two powers gave Su Wen a much more accurate picture of the truth.
In the Divine Realm, the Sea God's face soured.
"What is this kid thinking?!"
Even if it's the truth, do you have to actually come out and make the comparison?!
"I didn't expect such a high-level inheritance to exist on the Sun Moon Continent," the Sea God sighed, feeling a genuine twinge of envy toward Su Wen's luck.
"He has a quasi-God-King like me investing in his Nine Divine Trials; he has the support of a War God who is on the verge of a breakthrough; he has the help of the Stone God who has deep research into divine authority; he has a convenient method for gathering faith; he's recruited the Sun and Moon Twin Gods; and now, he's even stumbled upon the legacy of a God-King level Sub-Dragon Ancestor..."
It was impossible for the Sea God not to be envious. Furthermore, he remembered that he had even pulled in another powerful deity to support Su Wen. Once that person's investment kicked in, Su Wen would be...
"Meeting me was truly the greatest stroke of luck in Su Wen's life! And yet, instead of showing gratitude, he devalues this God!" the Sea God grumbled.
"The Ancestor of Sub-Dragons..."
Facing the remains of the progenitor, Su Wen felt a profound shock hit his soul. The body had long since decayed, leaving only a massive skeletal frame. At the center of the chest, where the heart would have been, sat a single, violet-black crystal.
Su Wen stared at the crystal, tentatively reaching out with his mental strength.
BOOM!
An intent of world-ending destruction flooded his mind instantly.
"Suppress!"
Within his Sea of Consciousness, the "Visualized Heaven and Earth" erupted with power. All the destructive intent was immediately pinned down by the world formed by his Heavenly Tome.
However, the annihilative aura continued to surge violently within Su Wen's mind, even if its strength had been partially quelled. Taking a deep breath, Su Wen began to use his Visualized Heaven and Earth to slowly absorb and contain this terrifying power of destruction.
(End of Chapter)