The location of the Dou Ling Empire offers both a slight advantage and a bit of an awkward situation.
From a strategic standpoint, it borders the Heaven Dou Empire to the west and the Star Luo Empire to the south. However, the distance across the Star Dou Forest is roughly equivalent to traveling from the center of the Heaven Dou Empire to its southernmost tip—it's simply too far...
Left with no other choice, the seven-year-old Lan Xuanyu abandoned the idea of hunting soul rings in the Star Dou Forest. Instead, he followed the Xuanming Sect hunting party to the Panlong Forest within the Dou Ling Empire.
Because the Dou Ling Empire has the weakest national strength and soul tool development among the three original nations of the Douluo Continent, it ironically preserved this gathering place for soul beasts, which had been quite famous since the Martial Soul Hall era. Although far less renowned than the Star Dou Forest, one can find soul beasts ranging from ten or a hundred years to thousands or even ten thousand years in the Panlong Forest. There are even legends of hundred-thousand-year soul beasts residing in the forest's depths.
The primary purpose of this Xuanming Sect expedition was to obtain a second soul ring for the sect's second young master, Xu Sanshi, and then help Lan Xuanyu hunt for a ring "along the way."
Though Lan Xuanyu quite disliked those words—"along the way"...
After Xu Sanshi obtained an eight-hundred-year-old Qinshui Turtle soul ring, it was finally Lan Xuanyu's turn.
As for what soul beast he needed for his first soul ring, Lan Xuanyu had made plans long ago.
The leader of the Xuanming Sect group was a seven-ring Soul Saint in his forties, looking broad-shouldered and sturdy. He was also the head steward of the Xuanming Sect, responsible for this hunting operation.
By the edge of a deep pool, Lan Xuanyu and the others came to a halt. Seeing the faint, long, light-blue shadow shimmering in the water, Lan Xuanyu's eyes instantly lit up.
Found it—his target!
Lan Xuanyu pointed at the light-blue shadow with great excitement: "Steward Chen, I choose this Clear Water Spirit Dragon for my first soul ring."
The Clear Water Spirit Dragon is a sub-dragon species. Rumor has it that it possesses a trace of Water Dragon bloodline. Although it was a hundred-year soul beast, its talent for water control was not inferior to thousand-year or even ten-thousand-year soul beasts. For a soul master with a dragon martial soul, it was an exceptionally rare, high-quality soul ring.
This was the highest quality sub-dragon soul beast of suitable age they had found in the Panlong Forest during this period.
Steward Chen's expression stiffened. He patted Lan Xuanyu on the shoulder: "Young Lan, according to the cultivation methods left by Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang in the history books, a plant-type martial soul like your Blue Silver Grass should head toward poison and control. Much like the ancestor Sea God Tang San ten thousand years ago."
"While this Clear Water Spirit Dragon has a sub-dragon bloodline, its talent is water control. You should listen to me and choose a Datura Snake instead."
Lan Xuanyu, however, shook his head and smiled with confidence: "Thank you, Steward Chen. I know all of that, but I want to forge a path completely different from Ancestor Tang San! Please trust me, I am certain of this!"
Steward Chen instinctively frowned. Lan Xuanyu's speech and mannerisms didn't seem like those of a seven-year-old, yet he appeared exceptionally naive in certain areas. Otherwise, one would truly doubt his age...
After some thought, he figured geniuses often have their own ideas and decided not to say more.
"Fine. Be careful. If any problems arise, I will interrupt your absorption process. Remember, your own life is always the most important thing."
A Clear Water Spirit Dragon of about three hundred years was naturally no match for a Soul Saint. Steward Chen dealt with it in short order, leaving it with a single breath and tossing it before Lan Xuanyu.
Looking at the Clear Water Spirit Dragon lying on the ground, breathing more out than in, a cold glint flashed in Lan Xuanyu's eyes.
This Clear Water Spirit Dragon was called a dragon, but in appearance, it looked more like a hybrid of a dragon and a snake. It was about five meters long with a snake's head, lacking dragon wings or horns, though its body was covered in fine dragon scales.
In the eyes of Lan Xuanyu, the orthodox second-generation Dragon God, this was a defilement of the noble bloodline of the Dragon Clan!
[Naturally evil sub-dragon, I shall personally execute you, you rebel of the Dragon Clan!]
Lan Xuanyu slowly crouched down and opened his hand. Vines of the Blue Silver King burst from his palm, coiling around the Clear Water Spirit Dragon like a snake around a pillar. They emitted a faint blue-silver glow, threading into the dragon's body through its wounds like silken strands.
As if parasites were crawling throughout its body, the half-dead Clear Water Spirit Dragon suddenly convulsed violently. However, the Blue Silver King vines held it firmly. A shimmering blue light flowed along the vines into Lan Xuanyu's body, as if... stealing something.
Indeed, Lan Xuanyu was emulating the cultivation method Tang San once used on Planet Falan, using the Mysterious Heaven Skill to devour the meager trace of dragon bloodline within this creature to grant himself the power of water control!
Follow the old path of his grandfather, Tang San? What a joke! Did these fools not know that his strength in his previous life was even above his grandfather, the Sea God Tang San?
The power of the Dragon God was so great that it was simply incomparable to the Sea God!
Whether it was the Blue Silver King or the Blue Silver Emperor, in Lan Xuanyu's eyes, they were far inferior to the power of the Dragon God. Since the Dragon God's power was his best direction, the first soul skill he chose for himself was—just like in his previous life—Water Element Control.
The Blue Silver King martial soul is of the wood attribute and lacks water control, but that didn't mean Lan Xuanyu had no options.
Drawing on the improvements of his grandfather's Mysterious Heaven Skill and the Dragon-Hunting Body-Refinement operations of his generation's Shrek Seven Monsters on Celestial Dragon Planet, Lan Xuanyu found his own path of the Dragon God.
That path was bloodline fusion and sublimation!
In the early stages, the soul rings he chose would focus on element control. Once he grew stronger, he would enter the Core Area of the Star Dou Forest to find his mother, obtain her Silver Dragon King bloodline, and completely master elemental power.
Then, he would enter the Dragon Valley and the God Realm. With his grandfather's help, he would obtain the Golden Dragon King bloodline and the Dragon God's skeletal remains to become the Dragon God!
This was a path more difficult and far-reaching than his previous life. Currently, without Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena to protect him, he could only compromise in his state of weakness, substituting with the bloodlines of sub-dragons or dragon-like soul beasts.
An hour later, the "Hidden Dragon Divine Technique" passed down by the Dragon God and the "Mysterious Heaven Skill" passed down through the Tang family line rotated frantically within Lan Xuanyu's body. Finally, he completely absorbed that wisp of dragon bloodline from the Clear Water Spirit Dragon.
The Clear Water Spirit Dragon was now dead as could be. Its scales had dimmed, and its long body had shriveled as if its very essence had been siphoned away.
A yellow hundred-year soul ring appeared simultaneously on the Blue Silver King vines in Lan Xuanyu's hand. Droplets of water appeared on the grass leaves, shining brightly as the aura of life emerged alongside the fresh scent of plants.
Lan Xuanyu slowly opened his eyes. Looking at the yellow hundred-year soul ring, his mind stirred.
The droplets of water on the leaves seemed to come to life. Under his control, they gathered into a stream, forming a small vortex of water roughly one foot in diameter.
Just like his soul skill from his previous life, it was Water Element Control. However, because it was a hundred-year soul ring, it was much stronger than when he first started in his previous life.
Lan Xuanyu finally smiled, a look of immense joy on his face.
His bitter cultivation over the past year had not been in vain. Although he had only absorbed one soul ring, his soul power had leaped to level sixteen!
His exclusive path of the Dragon God had begun!
...
Looking at the happily smiling Lan Xuanyu, and then at the shriveled Clear Water Spirit Dragon, for some reason, Steward Chen felt a chill in his heart.