Chapter 43: Bloodline Awakening, Victory!
Time flies.
In the blink of an eye, Jiang Yun had already spent a full year in seclusion at the bottom of the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower. By now, Su Qian was beginning to feel more and more uneasy.
Why hadn't Jiang Yun come out yet?
If not for the fact that the Fallen Heart Flame was still lying there quietly, and that Jiang Yun already possessed a heavenly flame of his own, Su Qian would have suspected that Jiang Yun had already refined the Fallen Heart Flame.
A whole year had passed, and there was still no sign of activity?
Given Jiang Yun's talent, breaking through to Dou Wang shouldn't have taken this long. And that was not even considering the aid of the King-Breaking Pill that Elder Huo had refined for him.
Could something have gone wrong?
Just as Su Qian was feeling puzzled, something finally stirred in Jiang Yun's dormitory. Zi Yan, who had remained silent for an entire year, had finally shown signs of movement.
Inside the room, the purple light cocoon that had been rapidly absorbing the energy of heaven and earth suddenly trembled.
The entire room shook violently.
Then, a brilliant, intense light burst forth from the purple cocoon.
As the light from the cocoon grew stronger and stronger, a faint cracking sound was finally heard. The tiny cracks that had originally covered the cocoon silently split open, and countless rays of dazzling purple light shone through the gaps.
With the cocoon breaking apart, a pillar of purple light suddenly shot violently into the sky, finally crashing into the ceiling.
Bzzz.
Just as it was about to hit the ceiling, a layer of energy barrier materialized and blocked the purple pillar. This was the spatial seal that Su Qian had left behind.
However, Su Qian had still underestimated the reaction caused by a Taixu Ancient Dragon advancing to the sixth rank.
As the pillar of energy grew stronger, a clear sound of an energy barrier shattering suddenly rang out across the world.
Although the sound was not particularly loud, it seemed to carry a strange power that drew the attention of many in the Inner Academy. Countless gazes turned sharply toward the dormitory area.
"Zi Yan!" Su Qian was the first to notice the commotion. A look of pleasant surprise appeared on his face, but it quickly vanished, replaced by a drastic change in expression.
"Oh no."
Muttering to himself that something was wrong, his figure shot toward Jiang Yun's dormitory.
Crack.
Unfortunately, Su Qian was a step too late. With a "bang," the barrier he had set up shattered. Immediately after, everyone in the Inner Academy felt their hearts sink. It was as if a giant dragon had appeared before their eyes, fixating them with its stare.
Everyone instinctively tensed their bodies. Cold sweat trickled down their backs without them even realizing it.
Roar.
A resounding dragon cry echoed through the sky, accompanied by an overwhelming pressure.
Every student and elder in the Inner Academy turned pale.
"What was that roar?"
"Has a high-rank magical beast invaded the Inner Academy?"
"This pressure... I have never felt such terrifying bloodline pressure before. What kind of magical beast is this?"
"A dragon. A high-rank dragon race."
Everyone, regardless of who they were, was discussing the matter animatedly. Many elders wanted to go and investigate, but thinking of the pressure they had just felt, they hesitated.
"Everyone, leave this area immediately!"
Fortunately, Su Qian's voice followed soon after, bringing relief to the elders. The Grand Elder had arrived. Everything would be fine.
Once the area was empty, Su Qian finally turned his gaze toward the purple pillar of light. Feeling the bloodline pressure emanating from it, he swallowed dryly and muttered to himself, "This girl... where did she come from?"
From the cry just now, he could tell that Zi Yan's true form was likely a member of the dragon race. But which kind, he still did not know. Nor would he ever have guessed that she was a Taixu Ancient Dragon, the sovereign of magical beasts.
The Taixu Ancient Dragon had disappeared from the world for nearly ten thousand years. Very few people still remembered this sovereign of the magical beast race.
Underground.
An endless sea of magma and fire.
A mysterious space filled with endless darkness and silence, permeated by an ancient and weathered atmosphere.
At the very center of this space hung a massive ball of light. Inside the light was a towering stone gate, tens of thousands of zhang tall, radiating endless light and an ancient aura.
This gate stood quietly in this place, as if it had existed since time immemorial.
Engraved at the top of the stone gate were four ancient characters: "Ancient Emperor Mansion." The ancient script was not ornate or dazzling, but within its simple and unadorned strokes lay an unparalleled majesty and transcendent bearing, as if the gate itself looked down upon the world.
In front of the gate was an equally vast square, so large that its end could not be seen.
In the space above the square coiled a mysterious creature of indescribable size, stretching endlessly toward the sky.
This mysterious creature was entirely purple-gold in color. Sharp, sturdy scales covered its winding body, giving it the rugged, powerful appearance of an iron Great Wall.
It lay coiled like that in the dark void, completely motionless.
At a certain moment, it suddenly opened its enormous, ferocious eyes. The eyes were tinged with a faint red and contained countless overlapping pupils. Within those cold, indifferent orbs, waves of ecstatic emotion suddenly surged.
"A child's aura!"
"It is. It cannot be wrong. It is a child's aura!"
In the silent space, a sudden, earth-shaking howl erupted. The creature's enormous body, which had remained motionless for thousands of years, suddenly stirred. It then crashed violently against the spatial barrier.
However, the power of a Dou Emperor was not something a Dou Saint could shake.
Faced with the creature's desperate charge, a faint fluorescent light appeared on the spatial barrier, making the space as solid as a prison.
"Tuo She Ancient Emperor, you bastard!"
"Bastard!"
"Ahhhhh!"
Staring at the unmoving spatial barrier, Zhu Kun suddenly turned his head. His enormous dragon pupils glared fiercely at the ancient stone gate floating in the distance. His unwilling roar echoed through this space without end.
The sound was so desolate.
"Hmm?"
"The aura of the Ancient Dragon race?"
At the bottom of the tower, in Jiang Yun's soul sea, the three different flames had moved past their initial standoff. The Fallen Heart Flame occupied seventy percent of the space, while the Saint Demon Flame and Jiang Yun split the remaining thirty percent equally.
At this moment, the three parties were locked in a stalemate. Although the Fallen Heart Flame held a huge advantage, it could not completely refine Jiang Yun and the Saint Demon Flame in a short amount of time.
Then, suddenly, a puzzled voice came from the center of the Saint Demon Flame, causing a ripple in the deadlock.
"Now!"
In an instant, Jiang Yun, who had been sitting with his eyes closed, snapped them open and let out a long cry.
His eyes were now bloodshot, filled with deep exhaustion. Even his soul sea appeared on the verge of collapse. Without the aid of the pure aura from the Bodhi Tree, he did not know if he could have held on this long. This showed how much suffering he had endured.
But now, the moment when hardship turned to sweetness had arrived.
"Xie Ling Eye. Demon-Slaying Xuan Spirit Light!"
Suddenly, a massive crack tore open in his soul sea. A giant purple eyeball appeared, its interior frantically condensing purple light.
The next moment, the purple eye trembled violently, and a beam of purple xuan light shot out from within. The moment it appeared, it vanished without a trace.
When it reappeared, it had already struck straight at the true bodies of the Fallen Heart Flame and the Saint Demon Flame.
The purple xuan light was completely silent, as if it had surpassed time and space. Before the Fallen Heart Flame and the Saint Demon Emperor could react, it landed heavily on their origins.
Roar!
The Fallen Heart Flame immediately let out a miserable, pitiful wail. The flame that had once been able to burn souls was now feeling the pain of its own soul for the first time.
With its weak intelligence, it could not resist Jiang Yun's soul attack, which was near the peak of the Mortal Realm.
In the vast, milky-white sea of fire, a speck of purple light appeared. As time passed, it grew brighter and brighter.
Now, the empty, flame-filled space erupted with furious roars and the sounds of exploding flames.
Amid the explosions, inside a purple protective barrier, Jiang Yun's slightly ethereal form sat cross-legged on a lotus throne formed of purple flames. His body remained motionless. No matter how the invisible fire python outside attacked, his expression did not change.
At this moment, he examined the pure, untainted purple barrier around him. A feeling of clarity in his mind and soul surfaced. He had never felt so at ease.
He turned his gaze to the corner, where the black-and-white Saint Demon Flame flickered as if it might go out at any moment. His voice hoarse, he said, "Saint Demon Emperor, it seems I have won this round."
After a long silence, the black-and-white flame pulsed once. A figure slowly materialized. It was the Saint Demon Emperor. At this moment, his expression was calm. There was no anger at being defeated by what he would consider an ant. Instead, he looked at Jiang Yun with eyes full of approval.
"I was not wrong about you. You are indeed a special existence. Ordinary people who endure the burning of the Saint Demon Flame would have their souls completely obliterated. Yet you endured the burning of two heavenly flames. Truly extraordinary."
Jiang Yun was silent. Looking back on it now, even he found it terrifying. He asked himself: if he had to do it again, could he still endure?
He slowly shook his head. He himself could not guarantee that he would be lucky enough to win again.
There had been too many coincidences that led to his success this time. The Fallen Heart Flame had vehemently hated the Saint Demon Flame and had expended most of its power consuming the latter.
Although he had anticipated this to some extent, the amount of power the Fallen Heart Flame had dedicated to it exceeded his imagination.
It seemed that the original owner of the Myriad Flames Imperishable Body had some kind of 'karmic entanglement' with the Saint Demon Emperor.
But this had greatly reduced the pressure on Jiang Yun.
And then there was that dragon cry.
Was it Zhu Kun? Why had he reacted like that for no apparent reason?
All these coincidences put together had led to Jiang Yun's success.
"Heh heh." The Saint Demon Emperor was an old veteran who had lived for who knows how many years. He saw through Jiang Yun's thoughts with a single glance and chuckled softly.
"Sometimes, luck is also part of strength. Or rather, which of the powerful standing at the peak is not the child of fortune of their own era?"
"Do not dwell on it. At the very least, you have shown the potential to reach the peak. This proves my eyesight is still good."
"Jiang Yun, you still have nearly two hundred years. I look forward to the day you stand before me. I believe my main body feels the same way."
It was the first time the Saint Demon Emperor had truly committed Jiang Yun's name to memory. Unfortunately, this was only the manifestation of a child flame's will and had no way to contact the main body.
"I will definitely do it." At this moment, Jiang Yun looked at the Saint Demon Emperor with burning determination. To achieve his goal, he would inevitably have to face this ultimate powerful being. And now, he had already won one round against him. When the time came, he believed he would win again.
The Saint Demon Emperor smiled. How many years had it been since he last felt interest in something? Unfortunately, this manifestation of will could not last long. He could only experience this emotional fluctuation briefly.
He gave Jiang Yun one last deep look, as if wanting to imprint this 'ant' in his memory. Then, before Jiang Yun's eyes, his figure began to slowly fade and eventually vanished completely.
All that was left in place was a cluster of black-and-white flames. At this moment, it gave Jiang Yun a strange feeling. As if only now did it truly belong to him. It was no longer that the Saint Demon Emperor had granted him the right to use it. He had obtained ownership.
"Come."
Jiang Yun beckoned. The Saint Demon Flame trembled, then slowly drifted toward his palm.
He stored the Saint Demon Flame away and turned his attention to the Fallen Heart Flame outside.
At this point, after such a prolonged period of consumption, the Fallen Heart Flame had reached its weakest state since time immemorial. Although it still appeared very fierce on the surface, Jiang Yun could see at a glance its true nature: strong on the outside but hollow on the inside.
"Now, it is time to harvest."
Sitting cross-legged on his fire lotus, Jiang Yun looked at the dispirited Fallen Heart Flame outside the flame barrier. He smiled slightly. Black-and-white flames danced in his eyes. He slowly stood up. A sharp, storm-like aura swept out from him at this moment.
Roar!
Seeing Jiang Yun stand, a flash of panic crossed the Fallen Heart Flame's serpentine pupils. An intense sense of crisis welled up in its heart.
"You had fun attacking me earlier, did you not? Now, it is my turn."
Watching the anxious Fallen Heart Flame, Jiang Yun chuckled lightly. He waved his sleeve, and a black-and-white pillar of fire sprayed out from within, transforming into a giant dragon. Its form was exactly that of Zi Yan's true body, the Taixu Ancient Dragon.
It lunged toward the Fallen Heart Flame's invisible fire python, jaws wide open.
Roar!
Facing the oncoming dragon, the Fallen Heart Flame also let out an angry roar. Countless magma pillars shot toward the dragon. But their power was far weaker than before.
In the face of the Fallen Heart Flame's attack, the dragon simply opened its mouth wide. A dark, deep black vortex appeared within. A terrifying devouring force quietly spread outward.
Silent and invisible.
All of the Fallen Heart Flame's attacks were devoured by the dragon, not leaving a single ripple behind.
"Do not bother resisting. You are far too violent right now. Let me help you return to a more innocent state," Jiang Yun said in a good mood, grinning wickedly at the Fallen Heart Flame.
As his voice faded, the black-and-white dragon unleashed a terrifying devouring force from its mouth.
Panic had now completely filled the Fallen Heart Flame's eyes. Its massive body retreated continuously.
"You have lost."
Seeing the panic-stricken, retreating Fallen Heart Flame, Jiang Yun smiled slightly. His eyes turned completely black as the devouring force swirled around him.
The dragon in the sky crossed the distance in a few breaths, caught up to the Fallen Heart Flame, and grabbed it. Amid the flame's roars and struggles, it slowly swallowed it into its mouth.
After all this was done, Jiang Yun looked around his purple soul sea. A feeling of safety filled his heart.
"The Grand Elder and the others are probably anxious. I wonder if Zi Yan has come out of seclusion yet."
Chuckling lightly, Jiang Yun's figure slowly vanished from this space.
Outside.
The moment Jiang Yun withdrew from his soul sea, the meditating Jiang Yun slowly opened his eyes under Qing Ming's watchful gaze.