Chapter Forty-Four: Azure Dragon: It Worked, and You're Still Not Satisfied? You Even Care About Efficiency?

Karmic Debt was the most troublesome thing in the Primordial Wilderness. Even Ancestral Dragon himself had been helpless against it back then, yet Ao Chen claimed he had a way?

But then again, considering the astonishing strength Ao Chen had just displayed, and that peculiar Daoist aura independent of the Primordial Wilderness, perhaps he really did have some unknown means?

"Good!"

A glimmer of hope reignited in Azure Dragon's eyes. He looked at Ao Chen and spoke solemnly.

"If you're confident, then go ahead and give it a try! You can do as you please in the Dragon Abyss Forbidden Land from now on. If you need anything, just ask!"

"But you really mustn't call me Ancestor anymore. With your current cultivation and strength, simply call me fellow Daoist."

Azure Dragon gazed at Ao Chen with admiration, anticipation in his eyes. Given Ao Chen's current strength, it was no longer appropriate to call him Ancestor.

"Fellow Daoist?"

Ao Chen paused, then didn't refuse. He simply nodded.

"Very well!"

He had a karmic connection with the Dragon Race, but he didn't feel much of a sense of belonging to them. After all, to put it plainly, even though he had become Ao Chen, he wasn't the Ao Chen of his previous life, who had fought for the Dragon Race.

He had his own ideas, and calling Azure Dragon Ancestor had indeed felt awkward. Since Azure Dragon had brought it up himself, Ao Chen naturally wouldn't refuse.

"Excellent." Azure Dragon laughed heartily, then led Ao Chen deeper into the Dragon Abyss.

And so, Ao Chen settled for the time being in the Dragon Abyss, the Dragon Race's most forbidden place and the site of its heaviest Karmic Debt.

He didn't rush to act. Instead, each day he sat cross-legged in the central area, where the Karmic Debt was most concentrated, carefully observing and sensing the enormous Karmic Debt wrapped around the Dragon Clan Elders and even permeating the entire Dragon Abyss.

This Karmic Debt was black as ink and thick as a swamp. It contained not only the negative forces of slaughter and destruction, but also the Dragon Race's past glory and resentment, as well as the karmic shackles brought about by their great ambition to guard the Four Seas forever.

"Just as I thought, it's complicated. But at its core, it's still a kind of 'debt' based on the workings of the Primordial Wilderness's Heavenly Dao."

Divine light flowed in Ao Chen's eyes as he activated his Heaven-Defying Comprehension to its fullest.

"My Mythical Grand Unity Method exists independently of the Primordial Wilderness's Heavenly Dao and forms its own system. Since I can cast off Karmic Debt, there's no reason I can't directly extract the Karmic Debt of others."

A bold and reckless idea gradually took shape in his mind!

The Mythical Method didn't exist in this world in the first place. In theory, it could ignore the Heavenly Dao's karma and directly refine Karmic Debt!

Still, he would have to test it to find out how well it worked.

Once he had an idea, he put it into action!

Ao Chen focused his mind, combining his Great Dao Origin Scripture with his understanding of Karmic Debt as he tried to create a Heaven-Defying Method specifically designed to refine the Dragon Race's Karmic Debt!

With his Heaven-Defying Comprehension and the experience he had gained from creating the Great Dao Origin Scripture, it didn't take Ao Chen long to devise the method.

In a mere few hundred years, a brand-new divine ability appeared in his mind. It was called...

Chapter Forty-Four: Azure Dragon: It Worked, and You're Still Not Satisfied? You Even Care About Efficiency?

Deep in the Dragon Abyss, near an ancient palace guarded by countless dragon bones, Ao Chen sat cross-legged, surrounded by an unfathomable aura.

His eyes were shut. His Heaven-Defying Comprehension worked at full capacity as countless runes related to Karmic Debt, karma, spacetime, and his own Mythical Grand Unity Method collided, evolved, and combined within his sea of consciousness.

He was trying to create an unprecedented, Heaven-Defying divine ability specifically for the Dragon Race's immense Karmic Debt!

Time passed slowly. Nobody knew how long it had been—perhaps months, perhaps years.

At last, Ao Chen suddenly opened his eyes!

Sun and moon seemed to sink and rise, while galaxies were born and died within them. A perfectly integrated, self-contained Daoist aura that pointed straight to the Origin flashed across him!

Success!

After countless deductions and attempts, a divine ability specifically meant to resolve Karmic Debt had finally taken complete shape in his mind!

This method was called Trace Origin to Transform Karma. At its core, it used the unique command his Mythical Grand Unity Method had over spacetime to forcibly trace time backward and seek out the original point where every strand of Karmic Debt entangling the Dragon Race had arisen.

Then, using the transcendent nature of his Mythical Great Dao—"existing beyond this world and untouched by karma"—as its foundation, it would act like an outsider and forcibly "sever" this Karmic Debt, which should have been bound tightly to the Dragon Race's fate, from the spacetime point where it had formed. Finally, the power of the Star River Universe would refine or annihilate it completely.

This method truly defied Heaven and ignored karma. Only the Mythical Grand Unity Method, independent of the Primordial Wilderness's Heavenly Dao, could possibly make it work.

Ao Chen stood and blurred from sight, appearing before Azure Dragon, who was nearby struggling to suppress the backlash of Karmic Debt within his body.

Feeling Ao Chen's aura, Azure Dragon slowly opened his weary dragon eyes and looked at him questioningly.

"Fellow Daoist Azure Dragon, I've fulfilled my promise. I've created a divine ability that might be able to resolve the Karmic Debt on you. We can give it a try."

A confident smile appeared on Ao Chen's face.

"What?"

Azure Dragon's aged body trembled. An incredulous light flared in his eyes.

"Are you joking with me?"

Resolve Karmic Debt? The vast amount that had accumulated within the Dragon Race over countless ages? How could that be possible!

Since ancient times, apart from merit and fortune, he had never heard of any divine ability or method that could directly resolve such deep Karmic Debt!

Although Ao Chen had said he would create a method, Azure Dragon had assumed he was merely trying to comfort him. He hadn't thought much of it.

Besides, Ao Chen was exceptionally powerful. Perhaps he could find the Dragon Race some other way out.

He had never expected Ao Chen to actually see it through—and now claim he had succeeded?

Ao Chen didn't explain much. He simply said,

"I'm not joking. If you don't believe me, I can test it here and now. I need to verify it myself, too."

"Come to think of it, I haven't tried this method yet. It's just..."

"Just what?" Azure Dragon asked instinctively.

Ao Chen didn't hesitate. He immediately explained what he needed.

"Since this method has to be used on someone else, they need to open their mind to me. Otherwise, it will be difficult to make it work."

"In short, I need someone to test it on."

Azure Dragon paused. Looking at Ao Chen's serious expression, he couldn't help but waver.

He realized that Ao Chen might actually be serious.

Azure Dragon drew a deep breath, a resolute look in his eyes.

"Since you say so, I'm willing to be the first to test your divine ability!"

Ao Chen nodded, his expression turning solemn as well.

"Rest assured, this method won't harm you."

Creating a method was one thing; putting it into practice was another, especially with a Heaven-Defying divine ability that directly interfered with karma and Karmic Debt.

Thoughts turned in Ao Chen's mind, and he immediately began.

He drew a deep breath. The power of a peak Mythical Heavenly Immortal began to circulate, and countless mysterious runes that shimmered with starlight and the radiance of spacetime appeared at his fingertips.

"Trace Origin to Transform Karma!"

Ao Chen shouted softly, forming hand seals and pointing them toward Azure Dragon from afar!

The mysterious runes instantly turned into countless fine golden threads. As if alive, they burrowed into Azure Dragon's body—or, more precisely, into the visible wisps of black Karmic Debt wrapped around his True Spirit Origin like maggots clinging to bone!

Bzzzt—!

The instant the golden threads touched the black Karmic Debt, the dark aura around Azure Dragon shuddered!

Ao Chen immediately circulated the divine ability with all his strength. His divine sense followed the threads of Karmic Debt and karma upstream, while the powerful force of spacetime enveloped a faint wisp of black Karmic Debt and tried to sever it from some point in the distant past!

The process was incredibly difficult, like struggling against the entire River of Time and the Heavenly Dao's karma!

Sizzle... sizzle...

Under the constant cleansing force of Ao Chen's Mythical Great Dao, the targeted wisp of black Karmic Debt was finally dragged out as if from a swamp. It began to fade slowly, visibly, and then vanished completely!

Success!

Trace Origin to Transform Karma worked!

However, as Ao Chen looked at the tiny wisp of Karmic Debt that had vanished and compared it with the seemingly endless mass of black Karmic Debt still covering Azure Dragon, his brows drew tightly together. His dissatisfaction was plain on his face.

At this rate, even if he used the divine ability day and night, resolving the Karmic Debt on Azure Dragon alone would probably take tens of thousands of years, if not longer!

And there were so many other elders burdened with Karmic Debt in the Dragon Abyss. The result fell far short of what he had expected!

Yet while Ao Chen was dissatisfied with the divine ability's low efficiency, Azure Dragon had already been swept away in a tide of elation and astonishment!

It worked! It really worked!

The terrifying Karmic Debt that had tormented him for countless ages had actually been resolved, if only by a sliver!

It was only a sliver, but what did that mean?

It meant hope, a chance at survival, and the possibility that the Dragon Race still had a future!

How many years had it been since the Dragon-Han Calamity? When had old survivors like them last felt so light?

Even if it was just for a moment, even if the relief was only the tiniest bit!

"Haha... hahahaha..."

Feeling the long-lost lightness deep in his True Spirit, Azure Dragon couldn't help laughing through tears of joy, his laughter brimming with endless delight and release!