By all rights, with Li Yan's fifth-grade spirit soul, he should have been torn to shreds in minutes upon entering the Space-Time Vortex.
But with his soul out of his body, he was in an invincible state, and he managed to withstand the terrifying force trying to rip him apart.
Did it hurt? Of course it hurt a little.
He could feel the Space-Time Vortex trying to tear him apart every second, but compared to what he gained, that little pain was more than worth it.
As a cultivator, he had a great capacity for enduring pain. This little bit was nothing.
Instead, Li Yan discovered that his spirit-soul grade was soaring!
The Ancient Dragon King, in the eye of the storm, even called out a reminder: "Young one, an hour has passed. You've passed the first trial."
But Li Yan remained unmoved, staying inside the Space-Time Vortex. "Wait a moment."
What!?
The Space-Time Vortex that everyone else feared like the plague, and Li Yan was asking the Ancient Dragon King to wait?
The Ancient Dragon King froze for a moment, then threw back his head and laughed. "You little rascal, how interesting! Truly, how interesting."
Before the Ancient Dragon King could laugh more than a few times, the Dragon Soul Golden Body of Li Yan, still inside the storm, suddenly swelled!
[Congratulations, Host. After being battered by the Space-Time Vortex storm, your spirit soul has been tempered and broken through to the fourth grade!] [Your Golden Body Dharma Aspect has grown from eight hundred zhang to one thousand six hundred zhang!] [Your spirit soul's strength has surpassed your cultivation level. You can now use your spirit soul to nourish your physical cultivation.]
Li Yan's Golden Body Dragon Soul doubled in size, his body growing larger by the moment.
Seeing the little yellow dragon suddenly grow, the Ancient Dragon King was both surprised and delighted.
After breaking through to the fourth-grade spirit soul, Li Yan didn't get greedy. He knew that a steady stream flowed far.
Besides, the more important purpose of this trip was to learn the Ancient Dragon King's Space-Time magic.
With that thought, Li Yan finally withdrew from the Space-Time Vortex and came before the Ancient Dragon King.
"Your Majesty, did I pass your test just now?"
The Ancient Dragon King hesitated. He wanted to praise Li Yan, but letting the boy get too carried away wouldn't do, either.
The Ancient Dragon King gave a cold snort and said slowly, "You barely passed. A truly outstanding Ancient Dragon can last twelve hours in this king's storm."
Hearing that, Li Yan raised a claw. "I could stay in there for forty-nine days and nights."
"Cough... cough, cough!!!"
The Ancient Dragon King broke into a fit of coughing and scolded him angrily, "Insolent Young Dragon! A newborn calf doesn't fear the tiger."
"Our Ancient Dragon clan needs more than powerful dragon souls and bodies. We must also be humble."
As the Ancient Dragon King lectured him, Li Yan muttered inwardly, Actually, I could stay in that Space-Time storm for the rest of my life and be fine.
Forget it. I'll humor this lonely old man rattling around an empty nest and go along with him.
Seeing that Li Yan finally didn't argue back, the Ancient Dragon King nodded in satisfaction.
"Since you've barely passed the trial, this king will teach you a spell."
At last, they'd reached the main event. Li Yan also grew serious. "Please teach me, Your Majesty. Can this spell be used for spatial teleportation?"
"Mm. Spatial teleportation is merely its most basic use."
"This Void Breaking Claw can tear enemies apart, and it can also open a portal out of thin air."
The first Ancient Dragon spell could open a portal!?
Li Yan perked up at once. He hadn't expected to learn the spell he'd dreamed of so easily.
"Then, Your Majesty, can I open this portal wherever I want?"
Seeing how eager Li Yan was to learn, the Ancient Dragon King chuckled. "Of course. Wherever you want to go."
Li Yan was secretly delighted. Now he could finally escape White Jade Capital's imprisonment and teleport straight into the Abyss of the Netherworld.
Once he entered the Abyss of the Netherworld, he'd be the real Heavenly Emperor of the Abyss of the Netherworld!
Just as he was filled with anticipation, the Ancient Dragon King poured a bucket of cold water over him.
"But the distance you can travel depends on how well you comprehend the technique, as well as your spirit soul's ability to pinpoint your destination."
"For a beginner to teleport accurately to the place he wants to go, it takes at least a hundred years of cultivation."
"Even a peerless genius of the Ancient Dragon clan like me spent a full ten years before I could teleport accurately anywhere within a hundred-li radius."
At the Ancient Dragon King's words, Li Yan's heart gave a lurch.
Ten years!?
At least ten years!?
By then, Li Yan's physical body would have long since been turned into an immortal pill and swallowed by some mighty figure from White Jade Capital.
He'd be long dead in ten years.
And he'd need ten years of cultivation just to teleport within a hundred li.
Mount Bugui was who knew how many tens of thousands of li from the Abyss of the Netherworld. Teleporting only a few hundred li at a time was more than a little ridiculous.
Li Yan's spiritual dragon soul shifted, irritation showing in his eyes.
"Your Majesty, if it takes ten years to master, and I can only teleport a few hundred li, isn't it a little too useless?"
Hearing Li Yan say that, the Ancient Dragon King was displeased.
"Young man, even without cultivating, the Ancient Dragon clan lives for tens of thousands of years."
"Besides, every Ancient Dragon cultivates. Living for hundreds of thousands, even a million years, is nothing to our clan."
"Ten years, even a hundred years, pass in the blink of an eye."
"You're so young, yet so impatient. How could you inherit my legacy? How could you inherit the position of Ancient Dragon King?"
The Ancient Dragon King was disappointed in this little yellow dragon.
He didn't know that Li Yan had less than a year before someone sent him off to be made into an immortal pill.
How could he spend ten or a hundred years cultivating a single spell?
He couldn't even afford two and a half years. It would cost Li Yan his life.
Li Yan clenched his teeth and thought it over before asking, "Is there an easier way? Could you first teach me how to open a spatial portal?"
The Ancient Dragon King shook his head, his attitude firm. "The Void Breaking Claw is the most basic! The most introductory Ancient Dragon Space spell."
"This spell is the starting point for all Space spells. If you can't even master this, how will you learn the others?"
In the Ancient Dragon King's eyes, Li Yan was just a proud Young Dragon who didn't want to suffer. He hadn't even learned to walk, yet he wanted to fly!
Li Yan pondered for a moment, then tried a different approach.
"Then, Your Majesty, is there any chance I could be so gifted that I learn this spell within a year?"
The Ancient Dragon King let out a mocking laugh. "Forget one year. If you can master this spell within ten years, I'll give you ten dragon clan treasuries!"
They said Ancient Dragons loved collecting treasures. The Ancient Dragon King had offered ten treasuries, betting that Li Yan couldn't learn the spell within ten years.
To count as having learned it meant being able to use the Void Breaking Claw to open a spatial rift and teleport accurately to wherever he wanted to go.
Even if Li Yan couldn't do it now, he had to make it happen! His very life was at stake; he couldn't let up.
"Your Majesty, let's begin!"
The Ancient Dragon King said, "Watch closely!"
A dusky purple light gathered at the tip of his dragon claw. Slowly, the sharp claw sliced a rift through the air.
Li Yan watched and tried to comprehend it. Then, when he saw the Ancient Dragon King open a spatial rift out of thin air—
A sudden thought struck him.
What interesting changes might happen if he infused the Ancient Dao Runes into an Ancient Dragon's Space magic?
Before you continue