Azure Snake Transforms into a Dragon!

In the remote outskirts of Nuoding City lies the Qing Family Manor.

This manor is nestled within a valley surrounded by mountains; from the outside, it appears to be nothing more than a lush, verdant forest, lacking even a proper path.

Even if someone were to wander into the deep mountains by mistake, they would only be led astray by a maze formation, never finding the entrance to this place.

The manor is not large, with its grey bricks and dark tiles hidden among ancient trees.

In the courtyard stand several towering old locust trees, their canopies blotting out the sky and shrouding the entire yard in a cool, refreshing shade.

This is the ancestral land of the Qing family.

One hundred years ago, the ancestors of the Qing family exchanged their illustrious military achievements for this fiefdom from the Tiandou Empire, becoming hereditary Viscounts and retiring here.

By now, it has passed down to the fourth generation.

At this moment, the secret chamber in the deepest part of the manor is brightly lit.

The chamber is small, roughly ten feet square, with a Blue Stone altar in the center.

Coiled upon the altar is a lifelike Blue Stone Snake Statue; its body winds upward, its head held high, and two emerald gemstones are embedded in its eye sockets, shimmering with a ghostly light under the candlelight.

This is the place where generations of the Qing family have awakened their Martial Souls.

Only those of direct bloodline are qualified to enter this secret chamber.

At this moment, four people stand within the chamber.

Qing Zhengyue stands to the left of the altar, dressed in a green robe with white hair, his posture as straight as a pine.

He is seventy-eight years old, a level 66 Soul Emperor who once fought on the battlefields of the Tiandou Empire's frontier, slaying countless enemies.

Now that he has been retired for many years, the aura of slaughter he once carried has long since faded, leaving only the appearance of a frail old man.

But those eyes remain as sharp as blades.

Liu Yunlan stands beside him, her silver hair and emerald eyes paired with a gentle expression.

Seventy-four years old and a level 55 Soul King, she hails from a family of medical practitioners and is well-versed in pharmacology and poisons.

At this moment, she is looking at the six-year-old child in the center of the altar with a smile, her eyes filled with maternal love.

Qing Hongyuan stands to the right of the altar, in his early forties, with a scholarly appearance and a level 47 Soul Ancestor cultivation.

He is the nominal head of the Qing family, though major decisions are still made by his father.

Shen Wanqing stands beside her husband, forty years old, still possessing a graceful charm, and a level 43 Soul Ancestor.

She comes from the Shen Clan of the Tiandou Empire, possesses the Jade Orchid Martial Soul, and is the actual manager of the Qing family's finances.

Four people, four pairs of eyes, all fixed on the child in the center of the altar.

Qing Mufeng.

Six years old.

The only son of the Qing family's third generation.

He is the fourth generation of the line.

The boy wears a short green robe, standing barefoot on the Blue Stone altar with a calm expression.

His features have not yet fully matured, but one can already tell he will surely grow into a handsome youth.

His black hair is tied loosely behind his head with a green cloth strip, with a few stray locks hanging over his forehead, making his eyes appear exceptionally bright and clear.

"Mufeng, come here," Qing Zhengyue says, his voice steady. "Place your hands on the snake statue."

Qing Mufeng walks to the center of the altar as instructed and stretches out his hands, pressing them onto the head of the Blue Stone Snake Statue.

The stone carving is ice-cold, yet the two emerald gemstones grow slightly warm beneath his palms.

Qing Zhengyue takes a deep breath, forms a seal with his hands, and channels his soul power into the crystals surrounding the altar.

The crystals light up one by one, and a green radiance spreads along the patterns on the altar, finally converging on the snake statue in the center.

The eyes of the snake statue suddenly ignite.

Two beams of emerald light shoot out from the gemstones, enveloping Qing Mufeng within them.

The awakening has begun.

Qing Mufeng feels something stirring from deep within his body, like a seed dormant in his bloodline, breaking through the soil at this very moment.

That power spreads along his meridians, surging into his limbs and bones, finally gathering at the top of his head and manifesting as a phantom.

Above the altar, a green Martial Soul phantom slowly emerges.

Inside the chamber, the four people hold their breath in unison.

It is a snake-shaped phantom.

Its entire body is a deep, vibrant green, with scales carved like jade, each one shimmering with a metallic luster.

The snake's body is several times larger than an ordinary Azure Snake, coiling above the altar with its head held high and its pupils glowing gold.

Those are not the eyes of a snake; they are the eyes of some higher-level existence.

Majestic.

Noble.

A faint, lingering pressure emanated from the phantom image.

Qing Zhengyue's pupils constricted sharply.

He had lived for seventy-eight years and witnessed countless martial soul awakenings.

He had seen the Qing Clan's Azure Snake martial soul no fewer than ten times himself.

Yet, never before had an awakening phantom possessed such an aura.

This did not look like an Azure Snake.

"The Soul Testing Orb." Qing Zhengyue suppressed the shock in his heart and spoke in a deep voice.

Shen Wanqing had already prepared the Soul Testing Orb; she stepped forward quickly and handed the fist-sized crystal ball to her son.

"Mufeng, place your hand on it."

Qing Mufeng nodded and pressed his right hand onto the Soul Testing Orb.

The crystal ball lit up.

Cyan light surged from the center of the orb, growing brighter and more intense. In less than three breaths, the entire Soul Testing Orb was filled with dazzling cyan light.

On the surface of the orb, a number emerged.

Two.

Then it changed to twenty.

Level twenty.

The air inside the secret chamber seemed to solidify.

Qing Hongyuan's eyes widened, his lips trembling slightly, but he could not utter a word.

Shen Wanqing covered her mouth, her eyes instantly turning red.

Liu Yunlan's tears fell immediately; the old lady clutched her chest and murmured, "Level twenty... Innate level twenty..."

Qing Zhengyue did not move.

The old man stood by the altar, staring at the blinding "20" on the Soul Testing Orb, remaining silent for the duration of a full cup of tea.

Innate Full Soul Power was level ten.

This was common knowledge on the Douluo Continent.

Yet his grandson had tested at level twenty.

What did this mean?

Qing Zhengyue dared not think.

He only knew that if this information were to spread, the entire continent would be shaken.

Martial Soul Hall would come, the major sects would come, and those forces hidden in the shadows would all come.

When that time came, he, a mere Soul Emperor, would not be able to protect this child.

Qing Zhengyue turned around and spoke to his entire family with a gravity he had never shown before: "Whoever lets word of today's events slip out, I will kill them with my own hands."

No one felt that this statement was excessive.

Qing Hongyuan was the first to nod: "Rest assured, Father."

Shen Wanqing wiped away her tears: "I understand."

Liu Yunlan did not speak; she simply pulled her grandson into her arms, holding him very, very tightly.

Qing Mufeng allowed his grandmother to hold him, his face devoid of much expression.

He knew exactly what had happened.

Because he was not a native of this world.

He came from another world, a place called "Earth."

There, he had read a book called Douluo Continent and knew the history of this world, its factions, and those so-called children of destiny.

He had transmigrated.

He had transmigrated to the Douluo Continent, becoming the only son of the third generation of the Qing Clan.

Six years ago, he was born into this world, carrying the memories of his past life.

For six years, he had grown up safely and securely, eating the best food, using the best resources, and being held in the palms of his family's hands.

But he had never forgotten how dangerous this world was.

Martial Soul Hall, soul beasts, evil soul masters, and those powerhouses who would stop at nothing for profit.

In this world, weakness was the original sin.

Therefore, he was not in a hurry.

He was not like the protagonists in those transmigration novels who showed off everywhere the moment they awakened, desperate for the whole world to know they were geniuses.

He chose to lay low.

Develop quietly, accumulate strength in the shadows, never expose himself, never show off, and never seek the limelight.

If he could avoid taking action, he would; if he had to strike, he must leave no survivors.

This was his rule for survival in this world.

"Mufeng." Qing Zhengyue's voice interrupted his thoughts.

The old man walked up to him, crouched down, and looked him in the eye.

"You have innate level twenty spirit power; you can absorb two spirit rings at once." Qing Zhengyue's voice was soft, yet every word carried weight.

"For your first spirit ring, Grandfather will find you an eight-hundred-year-old one. For your second, sixteen hundred years."

Qing Hongyuan gasped. "Father, eight hundred years? The limit for an ordinary spirit master's first ring is only four hundred..."

"He is no ordinary spirit master." Qing Zhengyue cut his son off, his gaze never leaving his grandson's eyes.

"Mufeng, are you afraid?"

Qing Mufeng looked into his grandfather's eyes and shook his head.

"I am not."

His voice was calm—so calm that it did not sound like that of a six-year-old child.

Qing Zhengyue stared at him for a long time, then laughed.

It was the first time the old man had laughed so heartily since his retirement.

"Good." Qing Zhengyue stood up and patted his grandson on the shoulder. "That is the seed of the Qing Clan."

In the secret chamber, the eyes of the Blue Stone Snake Statue gradually dimmed.

But within Qing Mufeng's body, the seed that had just awakened had already begun to take root and sprout.

Deep within his perception, a piece of inherited memory quietly surfaced.

[I am the Azure Dragon of the East, the Origin of Wood, Lord of the Seven Mansions.]

[For now, your bloodline remains in slumber; only by absorbing noble wood-attribute spirit rings can my true form gradually awaken.]

[The snake form is but a facade; the dragon soul is already within your heart.]

Qing Mufeng lowered his eyelids, the corners of his mouth curling upward slightly.

Azure Dragon.

Not an Azure Snake.

An Azure Dragon.

He did not tell anyone.

At least, not yet.