War in the Divine Realm, Asura Makes His Move
The instant the Vision touched the Ice and Fire Dragon Pearl, Gan Lin felt his sea of consciousness shudder. The cavern, the dragon bones, and the Ice and Fire Dragon Pearl before him abruptly twisted and blurred. It was no dim illusion: a power of utmost antiquity followed the pathways of their resonance, laying scenes from tens of millions of years ago directly before his eyes.
The heavens had long since shattered into countless ragged fissures. Golden divine lightning poured through the gaps, bathing heaven and earth in a deathly white glare. The land had broken into pieces, and crimson magma erupted skyward from the cracks, only to be frozen into jagged icicles by a breath of extreme cold. Ice and fire collided, exploding into a vast mist.
High above, two figures so enormous they blotted out half the sky were locked in battle.
One was a fire dragon, covered from head to tail in flowing crimson-gold scales, each burning with an undying divine flame. A sweep of his wings whipped up towering waves of fire, and the instant he exhaled his dragon breath, even the void burned, twisting and collapsing as golden clouds turned to ash in an instant.
The other was an ice dragon, his entire body seemingly carved from eternal ice crystal. His horns were as sharp as giant swords piercing the heavens, and a sweep of his tail fin brought down a skyful of freezing rain. Wherever he passed, even time seemed to freeze; splashing magma solidified into icy fragments in midair and pattered down.
The two Dragon Kings fought side by side, fire and ice moving in perfect harmony as though they were one. Even facing First-Level Gods and Second-Level Gods, surrounded by thousands of divine officials, they did not fall at a disadvantage.
Dragon roars shook the nine heavens. The fire dragon swooped down, smashing the light shields formed by divine guards with his claws; wherever the flames swept, gods turned to ash. The ice dragon circled beside him, his icy breath sealing the God King's escape route as shards of ice rained down on the gods' battle formation. The God King swung his sword, unleashing a torrent of golden light that collided with the ice and fire dragons' breath. Amid an earth-shaking crash, space split into a dense web of cracks, and chaotic currents surged out.
The battle raged from the sky to the ground, then from the mortal world back to the Divine Realm. Bottomless trenches were plowed across the earth, mountains collapsed beneath the dragons' might, and oceans boiled under divine power. Dragons and the Divine Realm's divine officials fell in swaths, their blood staining the clouds red before falling as rain.
Gan Lin held his breath as he watched. This was a war between gods, beyond comparison with any battle between Soul Masters he had ever seen. Every clash was enough to destroy an empire; every breath could wipe a continent flat.
But just as the battle reached the height of its stalemate, a boundless black fog suddenly surged up at the edge of the battlefield.
A figure slowly emerged from the fog. He wore no dazzling divine armor and had no massive body like the Dragon Kings, only robes so dark they were nearly ink-black, with an air of annihilation and slaughter coiling around him. Wherever he passed, flames and ice alike melted away like ice and snow before a fire, returning to deathly silence.
Asura God.
For some reason, the name surfaced in Gan Lin's mind.
He did not join the melee. He merely raised a hand.
There was no earth-shaking boom, no dazzling display of light. A black blade of light appeared out of nowhere and swept casually across the battlefield.
The fire dragon had raised his head in a sky-shaking roar and was about to unleash his strongest breath. The instant the blade of light swept past, his enormous body stiffened. His crimson-gold scales shattered inch by inch, the divine flames burning on them went out at once, and his massive head slowly drooped as golden dragon blood gushed out like a waterfall.
The ice dragon let out a long, mournful cry and charged over without regard for anything else. His wings swept up ice that filled the sky as he tried to block the blade of light. But it merely turned slightly, breaking through layer after layer of ice barriers before slicing along the side of his neck. His crystalline dragon armor shattered on impact, and his frigid blood froze in midair, falling as beads of ice.
One strike.
Just one strike.
The ice and fire dragons, who had fought side by side for tens of millions of years and swept unchecked across the Divine Realm, were both gravely wounded.
Without another glance at the gods, the figure in the black fog walked slowly over to the fallen dragons. The fire dragon was still breathing, his remaining flames still burning; the ice dragon was still struggling, his shattered ice wings still beating. They raised their enormous heads, their eyes holding no fear, only unyielding fury.
Asura God lowered his head slightly and said something. Gan Lin could not hear him clearly; he only saw him raise his hand a second time.
This time, two black rays pierced toward the spots between the fire dragon's and ice dragon's brows.
There were no screams, no struggles.
Both enormous bodies shuddered violently at once, and the light in their eyes went out completely. The fire dragon's body fell to the earth and crashed down, melting through the crust and becoming a scorching spring of fire. The ice dragon's body followed, crashing down beside the fire spring, freezing the surging magma and becoming a frigid spring of ice.
The two dragon corpses lay at a distance, their heads facing each other. With their own remains, they had carved a pair of eyes into the shattered earth.
The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
The black fog slowly rose, enveloping the figure and vanishing into a fissure in the heavens. The God King and the other gods gazed silently at the dragon corpses on the ground, then finally turned and left as well.
Only the howling wind and the gradually cooling dragon blood remained between heaven and earth.
The scene abruptly shattered.
Gan Lin snapped back to his senses. Before him was still the dim cavern, the two dragon skeletons facing each other from afar, and the origin pearl floating in the center.
Wind blew from deep within the cavern, carrying a chill tens of millions of years old.
He stood where he was, unmoving for a long time. That ancient war between gods seemed to have been etched into his sea of consciousness, every frame frighteningly clear.
"Was what I just saw... the great war in the Divine Realm back then?"
Just then, as if sensing something, Gan Lin took the Ice and Fire Dragon Pearl out of the Vision.
"Is this... asking me to absorb it?" Feeling a faint pull from the Ice and Fire Dragon Pearl, Gan Lin frowned, somewhat hesitant.
If he absorbed this thing, he would owe the Soul Beast Clan an enormous favor. After all, with his current physical condition, hoping to absorb the Ice and Fire Dragon Pearl was no different from a fool's dream.
But if the remnant souls of the Ice Dragon King and Fire Dragon King actively cooperated, that would be another matter.
To be honest, Gan Lin was not the sort of person who liked owing others favors.
What was more, the Soul Beast Clan's enemies were the gods of the Divine Realm, high above all others. If he had any connection to the Dragon God's remnants, even a God King might personally step in to erase him.
"Forget it. I'm taking the gamble!" Gan Lin steeled his heart.
Fail to take what heaven offers, and suffer the consequences instead.
With such a great opportunity before him now, if he still hesitated, he really would be far too much of a coward.
Besides, he still had the Sigil of Permission on him, so he could bear a certain amount of risk.
Since the risk was within controllable limits, what was he still hesitating for?
The moment he decided, Gan Lin sat down cross-legged at the bottom of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
After he obtained the Ice and Fire Dragon Pearl, neither the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well itself nor the dragon Qi it contained had any further effect on him.
Just as Gan Lin began absorbing the Ice and Fire Dragon Pearl, a blood-red eye opened in the Asura God Temple in the Divine Realm...