A Peerless, Natal Dragon Soul

Long Jiuyyao stretched lazily, changed into a fresh Black Brocade Robe, and fixed his gaze on the distant canyon peak.

After just a minute of staring, he withdrew his gaze. His foot suddenly stamped down, crushing the ground like tofu and leaving a deep pit, and his figure shot out of Fierce Hurricane Gorge like an arrow from a bowstring.

Long Jiuyyao didn't use a shred of Yuan power; he relied purely on the strength of his physical body.

After one year and three months, Long Jiuyyao had finally completed his body forging and emerged from the mountain.

The moment he left the gorge, the dense Heaven and Earth Yuan Power surged wildly into his Yin Yang Origin Core, a warm sensation flooding his entire body.

His pitch-black Dragon Wings gave a light flap as he soared across the vast, boundless land.

Before long, he had returned to his own courtyard. The instant he landed, two figures—one gold, one purple—were already at his side.

"Haha, Jin Ming, stop messing around!"

Zi Lin coiled around Long Jiuyyao's body while Jin Ming licked his face, drawing continuous laughter from Long Jiuyyao.

Now, Jin Ming and Zi Lin were nothing like they were a year ago. Their bodies had grown a full size larger, with Jin Ming undergoing the biggest change. Its strength now matched Long Jiuyyao's, also at the Lesser Origin Core Realm.

As for Zi Lin, it had advanced to the Form Creation Realm, but in terms of combat power, even an ordinary Qi Creation Realm cultivator was no match for it. And the killing force of its Golden Fangs would give even a Creation Realm expert a headache.

After landing, Zi Lin tugged at Long Jiuyyao's sleeve, signaling him to follow.

"Jin Ming, let's go." Long Jiuyyao swung himself onto Jin Ming's back.

One man and two beasts moved at incredible speed, soon arriving at a cave entrance.

The entrance was enormous, spanning a hundred zhang in every direction. The ground here was unlike anywhere else—the soil was a pale purple, and the surrounding trees were entirely black, their leaves tinged with a faint purple hue.

Long Jiuyyao approached a giant tree, clenched his fist, and threw a punch.

"Boom!"

Instead, Long Jiuyyao was sent flying back several meters. When his fist made contact, it felt like he had struck a block of Mysterious Iron.

He stepped closer for a look and found that the spot he had hit showed no change at all. Touching it, the surface was as smooth as a mirror, lacking any of the roughness expected from wood.

A smirk curled at the corner of Long Jiuyyao's mouth. He suddenly lashed out with his right leg, chopping down with full force, but the result was the same. The ground didn't form the expected deep pit; its toughness was equally terrifying.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk!" Long Jiuyyao stared at the ground in amazement.

He knew that punch and kick could shatter refined metal, yet here they had no effect at all.

"Who would've thought there was such a strange place so close to my own courtyard," Long Jiuyyao murmured.

He didn't linger outside the cave for long. Leading Jin Ming and Zi Lin, he entered. Inside, it was pitch-black like night, with not a trace of light; his vision extended no more than a zhang.

Long Jiuyyao took a Luminous Pearl the size of a human head from his Universe Bag. The pearl radiated a brilliant glow, dispelling the surrounding darkness.

The cave was filled with jagged rocks, its depth unknown. One man and two beasts walked on and on. As they ventured deeper, without the pearl's illumination, the places they had passed were once again swallowed by darkness.

"Damn it, how long have we been walking? When will this end?" Long Jiuyyao couldn't help but curse.

The Dragon Domain spanned a hundred thousand li. Though it was the habitat of the dragon race, it was equally rife with dangerous places. And this cave was so eerie. After spending so long in the darkness, Long Jiuyyao naturally felt a creeping unease in his heart.

As if sensing his unease, a faint dark purple glimmer appeared in the distance like a beacon in the dark cave.

The one man and two beasts quickened their pace, gradually approaching the source of light. When they arrived, they found it was a small-scale vein covered in something like Amethyst Crystals.

Purple crystals glittered everywhere on the rock walls. Long Jiuyyao swept his sleeve, summoning a gust of wind that flipped away a layer of soil.

As the soil receded, a purple glow came into view—a dark purple rock layer, somewhat translucent. Peering through it, one could faintly see deep within the rock layer, embedded pieces of deep purple crystals, gleaming like gems.

"What is this?" Long Jiuyyao was puzzled.

He broke off a piece of purple crystal the size of a pinky finger and examined it closely. It was cool to the touch and contained dense Heaven and Earth Yuan Power.

"Zi Lin!" Long Jiuyyao called out.

He tossed the crystal. Zi Lin's Golden Fangs instantly crushed it. The shattered crystal emitted a faint purple mist, and before they knew it, the mist merged into the bodies of Long Jiuyyao, Jin Ming, and Zi Lin.

The invisible mist flickered briefly in their eyes. A drop of pitch-black blood emerged from Long Jiuyyao's brow and vanished.

With the disappearance of that drop of blood, Long Jiuyyao and the others regained clarity. His face slightly pale, Long Jiuyyao clenched his fist and found his body felt strangely weak, as if drained of all strength.

"What's going on? Why am I so feeble?" Long Jiuyyao said weakly.

"Crack, crack, crack!" The sound of rocks falling echoed. The distant darkness gradually brightened as light dispelled the shadows, finally revealing the cave's true appearance.

Countless purple crystals lined the entire passage, and the cavern itself spanned a hundred zhang in width.

Weak, Long Jiuyyao leaned against Jin Ming, gazing at the transformed interior of the cave. The underground Amethyst Ore vein had also surfaced before his eyes under this change. Countless amethysts on the vein bore different patterns.

Long Jiuyyao didn't leave immediately. Instead, he rode Jin Ming and continued deeper along the vein. His lost strength gradually recovered somewhat, and his face was no longer as pale, gaining a touch of ruddiness.

As they went deeper, the purple mist grew thicker and more noticeable. Along the way, Long Jiuyyao and the others inevitably inhaled some, but it did no harm. On the contrary, it quietly restored their stamina and the Yuan power they had expended.

This made Long Jiuyyao realize that his earlier weakness wasn't caused by inhaling the mist from the amethysts.

He had no idea it was because he had lost a drop of Blood Essence. At that moment, he had been completely unconscious, as if in a coma.

Though Long Jiuyyao didn't know what other uses the amethysts from this vein might have, one thing was clear: they could enhance Yuan power cultivation and replenish lost Yuan power.

Long Jiuyyao reached the end of the vein. A several-meter-tall purple crystal stood out prominently, and he spotted it at once.

With his sharp eyesight, he could see a three-meter-tall, unidentified object inside that purple crystal.

Long Jiuyyao touched the Amethyst Crystal, and a powerful surge of Yuan power sent him flying dozens of zhang away.

Long Jiuyyao stared in astonishment at the amethyst crystal before him. What exactly was inside it? He also noticed that all the energy from this ore vein was surging into that massive amethyst crystal.

Long Jiuyyao couldn't make out who or what was inside at all. He only knew the rough shape—a person, or rather, a humanoid Talisman Puppet.

Long Jiuyyao observed for a while, then left. Since this was a place where some great figure had created and nurtured a Talisman Puppet, there was no need for him to linger.

But as he turned away, the towering Talisman Puppet's dormant eyes flickered with a trace of Black Radiance in the direction of Long Jiuyyao's departure—though Long Jiuyyao saw none of it.

He retraced his steps, naturally not one to leave empty-handed, taking three head-sized pieces of Amethyst Ore.

With Long Jiuyyao's departure, everything inside the cave returned to its original state. The Bright Light vanished, and darkness reclaimed the space.

Long Jiuyyao arrived at the Mountain Peak he often visited, because from here he could see most of the Dragon Domain.

But he hadn't forgotten the inheritance from the Six-Fingered Sacred Dragon Emperor. The first technique required the Origin Core Realm to comprehend.

He sat cross-legged, calming his mind, and a single sentence appeared in Long Jiuyyao's thoughts.

Condense the Natal Dragon Soul, and Heaven and Earth are but a single thought.

Behind the seated Long Jiuyyao, a pair of Dragon Eyes opened, their gaze piercing the soul. Then a Dragon Body flickered in and out of visibility, as the Yuan Power of Heaven and Earth poured endlessly into the indistinct Dragon Soul.

Long Jiuyyao used his Spiritual Power to stabilize the Dragon Soul's form. The process of condensing the Natal Dragon Soul was also a unique way of tempering his Spiritual Power.

The Dragon Body steadied, and pitch-black Dragon Scales emerged across it like armor being donned.

As the Dragon Soul coalesced, a fierce and brutal aura rushed forth. Condensing the Natal Dragon Soul required a massive amount of Heaven and Earth Yuan Power, and outside the Dragon Domain, few places could meet the conditions.

As time passed, the condensation of the Natal Dragon Soul reached its final stage. Heaven and Earth Yuan Power intertwined with Spiritual Power, and a pair of Black Dragon Wings gradually took shape.

Long Jiuyyao used his Natal Celestial Talisman as the foundation to stabilize the newly formed Dragon Soul.

"ROAR!" The Natal Dragon Soul cried out to the heavens, joyful as a newborn child.

The Natal Dragon Soul seemed alive, nuzzling affectionately against Long Jiuyyao. He stroked it, feeling as though he were touching a truly living creature.

Long Jiuyyao's eyes went vacant, his gaze empty. At that moment, his consciousness arrived at the Dragon Clan's Forbidden Ground, the "Bone Burial Hall."

"Jiuyyao, you have already condensed your own Natal Dragon Soul. Now I will tell you its power." The Six-Fingered Sacred Dragon Emperor lightly tapped Long Jiuyyao's brow.

Long Jiuyyao's mind snapped back into focus, and a description of the Natal Dragon Soul appeared in his thoughts.

The Natal Dragon Soul is like fate, like the soul.

It can devour all things in Heaven and Earth and nourish its host in return.