Tian Xuan Continent, north of the Demon Domain.
A vast, boundless wilderness stretched out beneath the sky. Mountain ranges sprawled across the land like crouching dragons, and ancient forests towered everywhere. Immense ancient trees, tens of thousands of feet tall, stood like miniature mountains. Their spreading branches and leaves covered an area nearly a thousand zhang across, while a dense Barbaric Aura surged through the world.
Roars of all kinds of beasts echoed across the land from time to time. Their cries brimmed with untamed ferocity. This wild expanse was known as the Dragon Domain.
Deep within the Dragon Domain lay a basin surrounded by mountains. At that moment, beneath the ring of towering peaks, there was only a vast black pool.
The secluded pool was about a thousand zhang across. Its surface was utterly still, and its water thick and pitch-black.
The area around the pool was filled with enormous black trees. They were quite strange: black scales covered their trunks, reflecting a metallic sheen beneath the sunlight.
There were also plenty of clumps of grass on the ground nearby, but even these were like scales. They swayed in the wind, their sharp edges glinting coldly.
Everything around the pool seemed to have become strange and sharp because of the energy within it.
At that moment, a pale-white orb of light hovered above the black pool. An endless stream of pitch-black energy slowly rose up, wrapping around the orb and forming a black Energy Cocoon that sank into the pool.
"What is this place?" A bewildered voice came from within the orb.
"My hands—where are my feet?" the consciousness inside the orb cried out in alarm.
The black, viscous water was like sludge, covering the Energy Cocoon layer by layer.
The consciousness within the shrouded orb gradually fell silent, returning to stillness.
In an ancient hall, silent and blanketed in the dust of ages, a black cocoon of light appeared out of thin air.
Inside the hall, skeletons sat motionless. Countless strands of energy, thin as spider silk, wound around the black cocoon.
The orb of light inside the cocoon stirred faintly, and a weak Life Aura came into being.
Deep within the hall stood eight Bronze Platforms. A skeleton sat on each one, but these eight skeletons were not black. They were a dark gold color.
The eight dark-gold skeletons turned into strands of energy and flowed into the cocoon. Flesh gradually took shape around the orb, and the dark-gold strands formed a Dragon Bone that fused with it.
A brand-new life was born in the Dragon Clan's Burial Ground.
At the very back of the hall, on its highest point, stood a Lotus Stone Platform. At that moment, a skeleton was seated upon it as well.
At first glance, the skeleton looked like the most perfect jade in the world, crystalline and translucent. On closer inspection, one could even see faint jade-vein patterns within its bones.
Suddenly, a powerful pressure filled the air. When one looked again, a man in a purple robe was sitting calmly beneath the lotus platform.
The man was quite handsome, but the authority between his brows was enough to make anyone tremble. From his sleeve emerged a slender hand, bearing six remarkably perfect fingers.
"How interesting. I never expected life to be born in the Burial Ground. So be it. Since you were born here, you must be one of the Dragon Clan. I shall grant you an opportunity."
A calm voice suddenly echoed through the world, carrying an indescribably powerful authority.
"Hum!"
In the stillness, the earth suddenly trembled. Below, the black Dragon Transformation Pool surged with waves. Purple-gold light seemed to flicker within its dark water, and an ancient dragon's cry, old beyond description, rang out from its depths, shaking heaven and earth.
"Whoosh!"
Inside the Dragon Clan Grand Hall, everyone stared in shock. Their eyes turned toward the depths of the Dragon Domain. The commotion in the Dragon Transformation Pool had even brought an unmistakable look of astonishment to the usually composed face of the Dragon Clan Chief.
"Could it be... the Ancestor has awakened?!"
Outside the Dragon Transformation Pool, a commotion broke out. On the surrounding mountain peaks, countless onlookers stared at the churning pool in astonishment.
Every member of the Dragon Clan knew about the Dragon Transformation Pool. The energy within it was terrifyingly vast, so its water had become nearly immovable. Yet now, the pool—which could not be stirred even by dropping a mountain into it—was rising in enormous waves.
"What's going on?"
Some of the younger members of the Dragon Clan exchanged bewildered looks. They clearly knew nothing about the Burial Ground hidden within the Dragon Transformation Pool.
"This is..."
The elderly Dragon Clan Elders gathered around the Dragon Clan Chief were no longer calm, either. Their weathered faces were full of shock. Given their status, they knew a little about the Burial Ground, but as a rule, only those blessed with great fortune could enter it.
"This fluctuation comes from the Ancestor." The Dragon Clan Chief's expression was solemn. Looking toward the Elders, he said, "Someone has entered the Bone Burial Hall and made contact with the Ancestor's Will."
"Who is it?" one Elder asked angrily. The Dragon Transformation Pool had not been opened, yet someone had entered the Bone Burial Hall and triggered the Ancestor's Will. That was a dereliction of their duty.
"We haven't opened the Dragon Transformation Pool, so we don't yet know who it is. Form a sealing array. Once that person comes out, we'll investigate."
The Dragon Clan Chief shook his head slightly, his gaze fixed on the churning pool.
The Jade Skeleton seated atop the lotus platform had six translucent bone fingers on each hand. Suddenly, the index fingers on both hands faded, turning into streaks of Jade Light that flowed into the cocoon.
Inside the cocoon, the bones of the index fingers became jade-like. Flesh and bone fused rapidly amid the Jade Light.
The outline of a Young Dragon gradually solidified. One by one, pitch-black Dragon Scales grew across its flesh.
The consciousness that had lain dormant slowly awakened and merged with the body. A life was about to be born.
The strange spectacle in the Dragon Transformation Pool lasted a full five days. Only after those five days did the water gradually settle. The faint purple-gold light reflecting from its surface quietly faded away.
However, although the Dragon Transformation Pool had returned to calm, the person inside still had not appeared. The members of the Dragon Clan were growing terribly impatient, desperate to know what had happened within the pool.
But no matter how impatient they were, they couldn't rush in and drag the person out. All they could do was exchange helpless looks and wait patiently.
And so they waited for another full month.
Even after that month, the Dragon Transformation Pool remained perfectly still. The earlier spectacle seemed to have been nothing more than a brief flash, and not a single figure had emerged.
By their calculations, nearly three months had passed since the strange phenomenon began.
On a mountain peak outside the Dragon Transformation Pool, the Dragon Clan Chief stood with his hands behind his back. He had hardly left the spot in those three months, his gaze fixed on the pool below. It was clear how seriously he took the matter.
Behind him, the many Dragon Clan Elders waited with varied expressions. But as time passed, their brows gradually furrowed.
In the Bone Burial Hall, the man in the purple robe sat calmly atop the lotus platform, gazing at the cocoon in the air with a slight frown. "Strange. By rights, the life inside should have been born last month. Why hasn't there been any movement?"
The black young dragon inside the cocoon wore a pained expression, revealing the hardship it was enduring. Its original consciousness was fighting the newly born consciousness for control.
The wait continued, long and uneventful. The Bone Burial Hall remained utterly still as the days slipped by. In the blink of an eye, another half month passed.
"Crack, crack, crack!"
The sound of something breaking rang out through the silent Bone Burial Hall, startlingly loud.
As a pitch-black dragon emerged in the Bone Burial Hall, the countless black skeletons below instantly lost their sheen. The eight dark-gold skeletons did the same; who knew how many years it would take for their luster to return?
The black young dragon's ink-dark wings beat awkwardly. Its body wobbled in midair as its humanoid dragon eyes took in everything around it.
"Roar!"
An excited dragon's cry rang out in the silent Bone Burial Hall, announcing its birth.
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