Wielding His Own Power While Wearing a False Mask

Night fell. Neuvillette, who had awakened his martial soul less than eight hours ago, was still somewhat lost.

Looking at himself in the mirror, Neuvillette felt deeply conflicted.

"The Hydro Dragon King... is actually me!"

"Ancient Dragon Authority..."

"When exactly did I become the real Neuvillette?"

At first, he had thought he had awakened the martial soul of Neuvillette, the Hydro Dragon King. Never in his wildest dreams had he expected that, after studying it for half the day, he would discover that this was actually an Original Martial Soul!

As for why it produced the phantom of his adult self, Neuvillette had no idea.

An Original Martial Soul meant that the martial soul was himself. He was the true Hydro Dragon King Neuvillette!

That was also one reason why, even after withdrawing his "martial soul," his appearance and features had not changed.

"Why is my power..."

Since he was the true Hydro Dragon King and possessed the complete Ancient Dragon Authority, why was his power so weak?

Wait, he was the Hydro Dragon King, and Neuvillette was also him. Then, based on the saying that dragons grew stronger the longer they lived, had he only been "born" for six years???

Hmm...

Six years old... perhaps being this weak was understandable?

Neuvillette stroked his chin and silently pondered.

"Why don't I have any memories of Teyvat Continent?"

"Since I am the true Neuvillette, what brought me across to Douluo Continent?"

"And was my past life merely an illusion?"

"Which one is the real me?"

Neuvillette was not the only one troubled by this. Even Focalors would have been unable to offer a reasonable explanation after learning of his situation.

This Neuvillette seemed rather strange. He clearly knew what had happened, yet lacked the detailed memories of it.

He even possessed memories of an "other world." Could Neuvillette be a "Descender" as well?

Both Focalors and Neuvillette were muddled and unable to figure it out. In the end, they simply stopped thinking about it. Given enough time, perhaps they would naturally come to understand.

Neuvillette sat cross-legged and began his first session of "cultivation." So-called cultivation was actually basic meditation, using meditation to guide the Soul Power in the outside world into one's body.

On Douluo Continent, apart from Tang San, there was currently no complete cultivation method. Soul Masters relied on their Innate Soul Power to meditate and strengthen their own Soul Power.

That was why those without Innate Soul Power were destined to never become Soul Masters.

Without Innate Soul Power, one could not even perform basic meditation, much less generate Soul Power.

In truth, Neuvillette did not need to cultivate at all. He only needed to live well and lie low. In a thousand years or so, he would still be invincible in the world!

The longer a dragon lived, the stronger it became.

From the moment Neuvillette became the Hydro Dragon King, lifespan could no longer restrain him. As long as he did not perish by accident, he could live until the end of time!

Even if he did perish unexpectedly, he would awaken once more at some point. Of course, that Neuvillette could no longer truly be considered Neuvillette.

When a first-generation Dragon King died, a second-generation Dragon King returned carrying part of the first-generation Dragon King's memories, yet it would no longer be the first-generation Dragon King.

"Hmm?"

"That's strange?"

Neuvillette suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze filled with confusion.

There was a rule on Douluo Continent, one that no one could break. Only by surpassing the consciousness of Douluo Continent could one escape its influence, but after surpassing that consciousness, there would be no need to obey the rule anyway.

That was, Soul Masters had to obtain Soul Rings in order to increase their strength!

No matter how a Soul Ring was obtained—whether by killing a soul beast, condensing one oneself through soul beast transformation, or receiving a god-bestowed Soul Ring—one had to possess a Soul Ring in order to break through to a new major rank!

Yet during that cultivation session just now, Neuvillette had not sensed any bottleneck at all!

Although his Soul Power had not broken through, he could clearly feel that it had improved considerably.

With Innate Soul Power at level twenty, there were two bottlenecks before obtaining the first Soul Ring.

One was the bottleneck from Soul Scholar to Soul Master, and the other was the bottleneck from Soul Master to Soul Grandmaster.

Yet to Neuvillette, these two bottlenecks seemed not to exist at all. With only a little cultivation, he could feel his Soul Power improving!

"Gasp..."

As if he had thought of something, Neuvillette sucked in a sharp breath and murmured, "Could it be that I don't have this limitation?"

His Soul Power could break through without Soul Rings!

If he truly did not have that limitation, then whether he needed Soul Rings or not did not seem very important, did it?

As a Complete Dragon, ordinary Soul Rings—no, even Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings—would merely sully his body.

This cultivation system, where Soul Masters had to obtain the power of soul beasts in order to advance to the next level, should never have existed!

It was not only pitifully weak, but entirely reliant on external power!

If Soul Rings ever stopped functioning properly one day, Soul Masters would be nothing but "ordinary people" with Soul Power who had no idea how to use it.

For Soul Masters with martial souls like Ma Hongjun's "Fire Phoenix," breathing fire was actually a soul skill rather than an instinct...

And Tang San—was plant entanglement not an instinct?

How was that also a soul skill?

"Those who are different are often considered abnormal."

"Just like the God of Wind and the God of Rock, who both wear fake glass beads."

"Should I wear fake Soul Rings too?"

"To wield my own power while wearing a false mask for disguise... that really is rather unpleasant!"

At that moment, Neuvillette seemed to understand why his counterpart in Teyvat had resisted wearing a fake glass bead.

Dragons were born powerful. They were creatures at the apex of the elements, and pride was inevitable.

"Unless absolutely necessary, I will not add even a single genuine Soul Ring or soul bone."

As for disguising Soul Rings, Neuvillette had a way. He could control water. Though he was not very powerful yet, forming two Hydro Blue "Soul Rings" would not be a problem.

"Is it really alright to fool the old man like this?"

After a while, Neuvillette came up with an explanation to fool Lakesius. Yet as someone upright and just, should he really do such a thing?

Well, it was a well-intentioned lie.

Surely the old man would not blame him!

"Neuvillette, you've become naughty."

Suddenly, Focalors's teasing voice sounded in his mind. Neuvillette could not help but freeze before his face reddened.

"Focalors, I'm no longer who I used to be."

Neuvillette forced himself to say it. Though he had no memories of Teyvat Continent, he still had memories of Blue Star.

He still knew what had happened in Teyvat. Otherwise, he would not have called Focalors a short-lived wife...