At a thousand five hundred zhang tall, Lin Changqing's pupils narrowed.
This Ink Flood Dragon was a great demon at the late stage of the Golden Immortal realm!
Flood dragons were the beings with the strongest dragon bloodline apart from true dragons and transformed dragons.
The Dragon Clan's secret land had appeared, and it had certainly been discovered by him long ago.
No wonder the Ink Flood Dragon had found the Ancestral Dragon Pool as soon as he came in. But how had his thin bloodline allowed him to pass through the golden mist above the pool?
Lin Changqing looked toward the Ink Flood Dragon and saw a golden scale several zhang across clutched in his claw.
This was... a true dragon's scale armor—and a reverse scale, no less!
No wonder the Ink Flood Dragon had been able to enter the Ancestral Dragon Pool. He had relied on that reverse scale.
At that moment, though, the golden scale was extremely dim, with a murky tinge and several tiny cracks.
It seemed that activating the power of the bloodline in a dragon scale had damaged the reverse scale quite a bit. It was far inferior to his Dragon Pearl.
With the Dragon Pearl in his hand, Lin Changqing remained hidden in the mist, completely at ease.
The Ink Flood Dragon was a late-stage Golden Immortal. He was certainly much stronger than the likes of Green Vine and Golden Condor.
Ao Ying was sitting cross-legged in the Ancestral Dragon Pool, protected by a formation. For the time being, Lin Changqing didn't need to step in and save her.
If he acted now, he might instead throw Ao Ying off balance and give the Ink Flood Dragon an opening.
Lin Changqing looked toward Ao Ying. She was covered in wounds, some deep enough to expose bone. Blood trickled from her mouth, and she looked utterly dispirited.
She had been injured this badly in only a moment.
The gap between the early and late stages of the Golden Immortal realm was like heaven and earth. Even if he stepped in, he probably wouldn't be able to hold out.
"Ao Ying, absorb the Ancestral Dragon Pool's bloodline power first. Cultivate and raise your cultivation!"
A prolonged standoff wasn't good. Lin Changqing looked at Ao Ying and sent his voice through his divine sense across a distance of ten thousand zhang, straight into her mind.
Ao Ying's eyes lit up at once. She lifted her head slightly, but didn't see anything.
"Don't let on. I'm hidden, and the Ink Flood Dragon can't find me right now."
"The formation is holding him back, so he can't do anything to you for now. If you're in danger, I'll step in."
"Only after you break through will we have a chance if we attack together!"
Lin Changqing continued transmitting, and Ao Ying felt much more at ease.
Even though Daoist Brother Changqing was only a Mystic Immortal, Ao Ying had a feeling that as long as he was here, she would be safe.
Then no problem was a real problem!
Ao Ying didn't send a reply to Lin Changqing. Instead, she twisted her dragon body and sank into the golden pool.
In an instant, an incredibly rich power of the Dragon Clan's bloodline, mixed with golden blood, surged into Ao Ying's wounds and between her scales.
The Dragon Pearl contained countless inheritances, and Lin Changqing had taken a cursory look through them.
The three ancient clans were all extremely rare. To expand their strength and compete for the world's fortune, each had its own way of growing its ranks.
The Phoenix Clan had a way to use Yuanfeng's essence blood to grant the Primordial World's birds and beasts innate life, resulting in Yuanfeng's nine sons.
The Qilin Clan gathered the beasts of the world. Once they entered the Qilin Heavenly Pool, they became bound by the Qilin Clan's karma.
As for the Dragon Clan, aside from the many sons the Ancestral Dragon had sired, its primary means of expansion was the Dragon Transformation Pool.
The saying "a carp leaping over the Dragon Gate" referred to the lowest-grade Dragon Transformation Pool.
Once a carp crossed the Dragon Gate, it could transform into a dragon.
But dragons formed this way had extremely thin bloodlines. Only the genuine Dragon Transformation Pools could turn them into members of the Dragon Clan, and even then, they weren't true dragons—they were still transformed dragons.
Those Dragon Transformation Pools had all been made from the essence blood of powerful true dragons.
And among the Dragon Transformation Pools was one especially wondrous kind: the Ancestral Dragon Pool!
Forged from the Ancestral Dragon's essence blood, it was a true treasure of the Dragon Clan. Only true dragons could enter it to refine their bloodline and raise their cultivation!
The Dragon Transformation Pool before them was the finest Ancestral Dragon Pool.
The golden liquid contained a drop of the Ancestral Dragon's essence blood!
No wonder the Quasi-Sage Dragon Clan member had been struck dead by a Purple Firmament Divine Lightning countless years ago, yet the Ancestral Dragon Pool had remained completely unharmed.
Ordinarily, when a true dragon entered the Ancestral Dragon Pool, its bloodline was already pure. Absorbing the Ancestral Dragon's power was a gentle process.
The power entered the body between the dragon's scales, slowly strengthening its bloodline.
But Ao Ying was gravely wounded, so the countless streams of Ancestral Dragon essence blood rushed straight into her body, rampaging wildly!
The violent power was absorbed at a rapid pace. Ao Ying's flesh healed quickly, only to be torn apart again by the equally violent Ancestral Dragon power, returning her to her previous state.
The thousand-zhang Azure Dragon's flesh kept healing, then splitting apart again, while her aura continued to surge.
But the violent Ancestral Dragon power tore through her, and the pain came in unending waves.
"Roar!!!"
A howl of unbearable pain burst from Ao Ying's mouth. Her blue Dragon Scales began to shimmer faintly gold along their edges.
The Ancestral Dragon bloodline was rapidly strengthening the Azure Dragon bloodline that belonged to Ao Ying!
"Damn it! Damn it, damn it, damn it!!!"
"Azure Dragon, how dare you steal my opportunity! I'll kill you!!"
"This is mine! This Dragon Transformation Pool is my fortuitous opportunity! How dare you defy me!!"
Outside, the Ink Flood Dragon grew more and more deranged. Murderous intent poured from his eyes without restraint, and he wanted nothing more than to tear apart Ao Ying, who was growing stronger by the moment.
The Dragon Transformation Pool had long been his, in his mind.
But as Ao Ying absorbed it, the bloodline power grew thinner, while she kept growing stronger.
Her thousand-zhang body slowly grew. In an instant, it surged by fifty zhang, reaching a thousand and fifty zhang.
If he let her keep absorbing it, the entire Dragon Transformation Pool would be drained!
The Ink Flood Dragon glared furiously at Ao Ying, wheeled around, then charged back even faster.
The single horn atop his head radiated boundless cold light as he rushed toward the golden formation and slammed into it in an instant.
"Roar!!!"
But how could a flood dragon use the power of a flood dragon to harm a formation left behind by the bloodline power of the Dragon Clan?
Even at full strength, he could do no more than make the formation covering the Dragon Transformation Pool tremble slightly.
"Roar!!"
Seeing this, the Ink Flood Dragon stopped holding back. Black-brown flames erupted from the claw that held the reverse scale. Golden light flashed across the scale, transforming into a golden radiance that took the form of a thousand-zhang true dragon phantom, which charged at the formation.
BOOM!!!
The formation shuddered violently. The barrier compressed rapidly, caving inward into a huge hole nearly two hundred zhang deep, barely a hundred zhang from Ao Ying's body!
But the deeper he pushed, the greater the pressure became. The Ink Flood Dragon had already reached his limit.
A distance of a hundred zhang was like an uncrossable chasm.
The increasingly frenzied Ink Flood Dragon instantly became hysterical.
"You forced me to this! You forced me to this!"
"Damn Dragon Clan! How dare you steal my opportunity! Once I break through this formation, I'll grind you to dust and scatter your soul!"
"I'll use your Dragon Pearl to make up for what I've lost!!"
The Ink Flood Dragon roared, his eyes so furious they seemed ready to spit fire.
The scale in his palm continued to radiate divine might, while a golden pearl appeared in his other claw.
This was a Dragon Pearl!!
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