[Note: Rus Wang in Seer has only the Water attribute, not the Dragon attribute, and isn't part of the Dragon Race. But in this story, by the author's will, Rus Wang is a True Dragon with the Water attribute, so dear readers, please don't take it too seriously. This is only a fanfic, after all.]
"This is the place."
Led by the Turquoise Dragon and the Lightning Tyrannosaurus, Rus Wang arrived at the edge of a cliff in the core region of Dragon Valley Forest, where a mountain range rose more than two thousand meters high. The surface of a nearby rock bore several Dragon Race forepaw prints of varying sizes.
"The most powerful Dragon Kings of previous generations all poured large amounts of Soul Power into this spot to open the spatial rift. But in our generation, none of us has lived for more than five hundred thousand years, so we don't have enough Soul Power to open it. Also, before each journey inside, our predecessors brought in quite a few energy-rich ores."
The Lightning Tyrannosaurus looked at the Turquoise Dragon, who nodded and used Soul Power to bring up all the ore that had been mined and piled beneath the cliff.
"Although we haven't been able to open the spatial rift for the past four hundred years, we haven't mined much ore either. We ask that, once you open the spatial rift, you take it inside with you."
"Of course."
Rus Wang took out her storage Soul Tool and put the ore inside. It took her quite a while to store it all.
Then Rus Wang placed her right forepaw on the print left by the Dragon Kings of previous generations. The Turquoise Dragon and the Lightning Tyrannosaurus quickly retreated to join the other Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts. As a ripple of Soul Power spread from Rus Wang, the Soul Beasts of Dragon Valley Forest saw the light patterns appear beneath her feet for the first time in four hundred years.
The patterns spread outward, quickly expanding to cover a hundred-meter radius. A hazy mist rose within them, and the aura grew increasingly intense. As Rus Wang's imposing presence suddenly surged, the white patterns on the ground began to ripple violently. White light rose, then shifted into a flowing rainbow glow. Suddenly, a pillar of light shot into the sky.
The pillar tore through the sky, and rainbow light spread outward, revealing a huge opening.
Having expended a great deal of Soul Power, Rus Wang immediately lifted her right forepaw from the print. Even with her six-hundred-thousand-year cultivation, pouring in such a tremendous amount of Soul Power had taken a toll.
No wonder the Turquoise Dragon and the Lightning Tyrannosaurus had said they weren't qualified. If she were still in her Rus Wang form, she figured her Soul Power would have been drained completely.
Looking at the dark opening of the spatial rift, Rus Wang nodded back at them.
"I'm going to meet the Dragon Soul. Leave the management of Dragon Valley Forest to you."
With that, Rus Wang stepped inside. She soon sensed the strange conditions around her: there was no air, and it was extremely cold. Considering Jia Lin, the Fire Dragon Clan leader in Soul Land IV, had mentioned a few details about the Dragon Valley World, Rus Wang wasn't overly worried about her surroundings.
Now, under the Divine Realm's suspicion and suppression, the Dragon Valley World drifted endlessly through the universe without a home. Rus Wang looked ahead. In the pitch-black world around her, there was only one point of light. It seemed she would have to fly toward it.
Rus Wang spread her wings and flew toward the point of light.
After an unknown amount of time, Rus Wang finally reached it. But unlike the scene she'd seen from afar, this was another spatial rift, connected to a world of forests and brilliant blue skies.
Rus Wang briefly sensed the area around the spatial rift. Only after confirming there was no danger did she enter.
When all four of her limbs had touched down in the Dragon Valley World, she felt the ground crumble beneath her feet. She lowered her head to examine it.
Ore with the texture of coal?
"Doesn't this feel like ore that's had all its energy absorbed?"
Rus Wang knew that feeling all too well. Back then, her foolish eldest son, Barus, had followed Elena, who hadn't yet become a Titled Douluo, as they studied the various natural treasures of Zheer Continent. He had even created a formation that could convert the energy in ore into absorbable Heaven and Earth Essence. Unfortunately, the materials it consumed weren't worth the amount of essence it produced, so Barus had eventually abandoned the idea.
She hurried into the air and took out the ore she'd packed into her storage Soul Tool, dumping it all out with the help of gravity.
Before long, tens of thousands of tons of ore had buried the forest around the spatial rift.
As if the commotion had triggered some mechanism, the ground around the spatial rift began to shake. This wasn't the movement of animals; the world itself was shaking.
Soon, right before Rus Wang's eyes, the ore she'd brought began turning into coal-like material at a visible pace.
Then, as if it had eaten its fill, the ore stopped turning into coal. Milky-white mist rose from the stones and eventually gathered into a single, complete cloud.
Rus Wang, hovering in the air, stared in surprise.
If her memories from her previous life were right, Dai Yun'er had said that the clouds in the Dragon Valley World were a manifestation of Dragon Souls. They were the safest kind because they had no consciousness of their own, only instincts.
This Dragon Cloud was unusual, though. It actually had a mind of its own. That must mean it was the Light Dragon King, the venerable ancestor the Turquoise Dragon and the others had mentioned.
Rus Wang stopped hovering and landed, approaching the milky-white cloud lying against the ground.
Sure enough, as Rus Wang flew down toward it, the cloud took the shape of a typical white Western dragon, noble and imposing, radiating an aura that seemed to warn others to keep their distance.
"I am Rus, the current Dragon King of Dragon Valley Forest. I pay my respects to you, senior, the Light Dragon King."
Considering what Ximing had told her about the Heavenly Sun Dragon clan, as well as what the Turquoise Dragon and the others had said about how the Dragon Kings of each generation opened the spatial rift every year to visit the Light Dragon King and report on the situation outside Dragon Valley Forest, it was clear that he was an ancient elder who had always cared about the Dragon Race's fate—not a "wise" one like the Silver Dragon King.
"Rus? A new dragon Yanlong never mentioned? It's been more than four hundred years since anyone came to see me. It seems that not only Yanlong, but Tianxing and the others must have met with misfortune—or perhaps died in the Heavenly Tribulation?"
The Light Dragon King's first words held no reproach. He looked at Rus Wang and asked first about the Soul Beasts of Dragon Valley Forest beyond the Dragon Valley World.
"According to the Turquoise Dragon, three Dragon Race members who lived in the four hundred years before I took over Dragon Valley Forest—the Yanlong and Tianxing you mentioned—died in the Heavenly Tribulation at the same time."
"They all died in the Heavenly Tribulation at the same time? That seems a little too coincidental. As for that Turquoise Dragon you mentioned, I heard of him from Yanlong. It's a pity that thirty-odd thousand years of cultivation is still too weak. As one of the Dragon Race, Rus, you came from elsewhere to rule Dragon Valley Forest, making up for its lack of powerful fighters—and you even brought me back to life. Very good indeed."
A flash of anger crossed the Light Dragon King's face, but he quickly suppressed it. He turned to Rus Wang and asked,
"Would you be willing to tell me whether anything major happened during these four hundred years—something significant even on the scale of the entire Douluo Planet?"
"Besides the strange deaths of three powerful Dragon Race members four hundred years ago, a human ascended to godhood in her twenties two hundred years ago. During that time, the humans of the Sun Moon Empire on Douluo Continent wiped out the humans of the Heaven Dou Empire. Over the past two hundred years, the other two human nations on Douluo Continent have begun searching for other continents under military pressure from the Sun Moon Empire. The Star Luo People happened to arrive when Dragon Valley Forest had no top-tier Soul Beasts and defeated the Indigenous People's kingdom to the north. Now, two hundred years later, the Star Luo People have moved a million people to the northern part of the continent where Dragon Valley Forest is located. They're beginning to extend their sphere of influence toward Dragon Valley Forest in the central region and the surviving Indigenous People's kingdoms in the south."
After hearing Rus Wang's account, understanding dawned in the Light Dragon King's eyes. Then his expression twisted with anger and amusement.
"Some of the gods in the Divine Realm really mean to take the Douluo Planet—this place where the remnants of the Dragon God's power remain—into their grasp. They even schemed against me, knowing that without a supply of energy, I'd end up like the other Dragon Clouds, with nothing but instinctive reactions. Fortunately, you came along as an unexpected variable, Rus. I no longer have to worry that I'll lose consciousness completely from exhaustion in another decade or so."
"Now, tell me about yourself in detail, Rus. Let this elder get to know the dragon who saved my life."
Before you continue