"I want to become a dragon, Father," Yu Xiaogang said without hesitation.
He had no intention of becoming an ordinary man who could only manage a business. In this life, he would join the ranks of noble Soul Masters. More than that, he would evolve his martial soul into a Golden Sacred Dragon and make everyone who looked down on him pay.
"All right." Yu Yuanzhen took out a Sect Leader Token and handed it to Yu Xiaogang. "Use this to collect your Cultivation Resources. For the next three years, focus on training your body and clearing your meridians. Come see me again after that."
Yu Xiaogang nodded and accepted the token.
Yu Yuanzhen cautioned him, "Just train your body during these three years. Your Soul Power Level won't rise much, so don't let that discourage you. Come to me after three years. Leave the matter of raising your Soul Power to me."
"Yes, Father."
With his father's support, Yu Xiaogang was brimming with determination.
The next day, Yu Xiaogang went to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's Resource Pavilion and queued for his monthly Cultivation Resources. The clan divided its disciples into Clan Core Disciples, Clan Direct Disciples, Clan Collateral Disciples, Outer Disciples, and Outer Clan Disciples. Each rank received different resources.
When Yu Xiaogang's turn came, he placed the Sect Leader Token before the elder distributing resources. "One Core Disciple allotment, plus a month's worth of Body Tempering materials."
His words caused an uproar. The disciples around him voiced their displeasure.
"Wait, Yu Xiaogang gets Core Disciple resources?"
"His Innate Soul Power is only level 0.5. Any resources spent on him are a waste. What is the clan thinking?"
"My Innate Soul Power was level five, and I only got a Direct Disciple allotment. What makes Yu Xiaogang special?"
"He has a Sect Leader for a father. That's enough," one disciple said mockingly.
Yu Xiaogang lowered his head, hiding his expression. His fists clenched tight.
The elder also thought Yu Xiaogang wasn't worth training. Pouring resources into him was a complete waste. But at the sight of the Sect Leader Token, the elder opened his mouth, swallowed his objections, and ordered someone to prepare the requested resources.
After collecting them, Yu Xiaogang slunk away under the surrounding disciples' ridicule and resentful stares.
He did not see Yu Xiaomen among the crowd, quietly watching him leave.
"Young Master Xiao Men, should I have someone intercept the resources he's carrying?" a Direct Disciple asked with a fawning smile.
"Don't do anything unnecessary. The Sect Leader gave him that token. He must have his reasons," Yu Xiaomen said, shaking his head.
In the days that followed, Yu Xiaogang endured the clan's mockery and cold looks. Every month, he collected vast amounts of resources on schedule, ate medicinal herbs like meals, and soaked in Medicinal Baths every day. The extravagance of a good-for-nothing with shockingly poor Talent made the other disciples green with envy.
A year passed in the Lower Realm. In the Divine Realm, time flowed like water, gone in the blink of an eye.
A Divine Official entered the Main Hall and said to Huo Yuhao, "Your Majesty, the Divine Seed in the Holy Sculpture Hall has been fully restored."
Huo Yuhao closed his Eternal Eyes and went with the Divine Official to the Holy Sculpture Hall.
The magnificent hall was largely empty. Its sole feature was a Spirit Array: eight Crystal Towers formed a formation that gathered Spirit Qi from around the Eternal Temple and directed it toward the Divine Seed at the center.
Huo Yuhao studied the Divine Seed. The last time he had seen it, a barely perceptible crack had run across its surface. Now it was fully restored, without a trace of damage.
The Divine Seed carried an aura of Divine Light, yet the long passage of time had changed it. Its aura had gradually begun to turn toward Fallen Darkness.
The story of this Divine Seed began when Huo Yuhao crossed the Space-Time Turbulence.
As the Emotion God King, Huo Yuhao was extraordinarily sensitive to emotions. Amid the turbulence, he sensed an emotional surge he could not ignore: regret and loneliness!
Following it to its source, Huo Yuhao found a shattered Divine Seed drifting through the Space-Time Turbulence. Within it dwelled the soul of someone long dead who had never entered the cycle of reincarnation.
He took the shattered Divine Seed and recognized its origin: it was an Angel God Seed.
After that, once Huo Yuhao attained his Divine Throne, he brought the Divine Seed to the Divine Realm and slowly repaired it with Spirit Qi.
The soul dwelling within the Divine Seed belonged to Qian Renxue, the Angel God.
This was a Main God's Divine Seed, enough to nurture a formidable fighter. But possessing it did not mean someone could become the Angel God. This world already had one: Qian Hanyu.
Refining the Divine Seed could grant someone God-level Power. To truly claim the Angel God Position, however, that person would have to defeat the Angel God and take her place, or accept her inheritance.
By the same token, Huo Yuhao had arrived in this era with two Divine Seeds, those of Life and Destruction, but he could not use either to attain its Divine Throne. The Divine Realm's rules did not permit two Divine Kings to hold the same Divine Throne in one universe. He would have had to replace them or accept their inheritances. Instead, Huo Yuhao chose a third path: he fused the two Divine Seeds and forged an entirely new one.
Huo Yuhao shut down the formation and took the Divine Seed in his hand, sensing its aura. An angel should have been holy and radiant, yet this Divine Seed possessed the opposite Attribute, as if it had undergone an Extreme Reversal.
Perhaps Qian Renxue had met with some calamity in her later years, changing both her soul and her Divine Seed.
With Divine Power, Huo Yuhao separated the essence of her soul from the Divine Seed. It appeared as a violet-black orb of light, within which her faint figure could be seen. Her hair was white as snow, and she wore black dress armor trimmed in gold. Her six angel wings were violet-black and gave off an ominous aura. The bewitching woman slept peacefully.
When they had first met, her soul had been shattered, much like Elder Yi's had been back then. Now, under the influence of the Divine Realm's Spirit Qi, her soul had gradually recovered.
Tang San had taken everything from this angel. Consumed by hatred, she had fallen and died alone. Huo Yuhao decided to resurrect her and send her to the Lower Realm. He had already worked out the script in his mind.
Perhaps this would be Tang San's just reward.
Huo Yuhao cast Qian Renxue's soul before him and used Divine Power to resurrect her!
He had waited until now because of the cost. Resurrecting Qian Renxue while her Divine Core was shattered would also require vast Divine Power to repair the Angel God Position bound to her. Even as a Divine King, he would have suffered a tremendous loss.
In the original story, Bibi Dong had once killed Tang San. Unfortunately, she had not gone far enough and crushed his Sea God Godhood. Otherwise, how could two Second-level Gods have resurrected a Main God?
Huo Yuhao had been far more thorough in his Previous Life. When he crushed Tang San's Heart of Divinity, he crushed his two Divine Thrones as well—Shura God and Sea God.
Huo Yuhao turned his gaze to Qian Renxue as she began to awaken.
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