"Grandpa, I want to try out my newly awakened ability," Qing Mufeng said.
Qing Zhengyue raised an eyebrow. "What ability?"
Qing Mufeng did not answer. Instead, he closed his eyes.
He stirred the newly awakened power within his body.
It was not Soul Power, but something more primordial, a talent engraved in the Azure Dragon bloodline.
Azure Dragon Wind Control.
He felt lighter.
Not that his body had become lighter, but that some invisible force was supporting it.
It was the power of the wind, the currents of air that existed everywhere between heaven and earth. At this moment, they had all become his aid.
His feet left the ground.
An inch.
Two inches.
A foot.
Qing Mufeng opened his eyes and looked down at his feet hanging in midair, a broad grin spreading across his face.
He was flying.
He needed no wings, no soul skill. By his own power, he was flying.
"This..."
Qing Hongyuan's eyes widened, his mouth open wide enough to fit an egg inside.
Shen Wanqing covered her mouth, her eyes reddening instantly.
Liu Yunlan stood frozen in place, the short dagger in her hand nearly falling to the ground.
Even Qing Zhengyue, who had always been composed, sharply contracted his pupils, the long saber in his hand trembling slightly.
Flight without wings.
There were no wings, no sign of Soul Power manifesting outwardly. He had simply, naturally, left the ground.
On the Douluo Continent, such a thing had never been heard of.
"Feng'er, you..." Qing Zhengyue's voice tightened. "How did you do that?"
Hovering in midair, Qing Mufeng looked down at his family's stunned faces and smiled. "My third divine ability, Azure Dragon Wind Control. Azure Dragons don't need wings. They are born able to fly."
As soon as he finished speaking, he began rising higher.
Ten meters.
Twenty meters.
Fifty meters.
He was incredibly fast, like a gust of wind shooting straight into the sky.
Qing Zhengyue looked up at the figure growing smaller and smaller in the heavens. His throat bobbed before he finally squeezed out, "This child's third divine ability... is flight?"
Liu Yunlan tilted her head back, tears streaming down her cheeks, yet she was smiling. "Old man, our grandson can fly."
Qing Hongyuan drew a deep breath, suppressing the shock in his heart as he carefully observed his son's flight path.
He was not rising in a straight line. He spiraled through the air, flipped, stopped abruptly, and accelerated.
His agility was more practiced than that of even flying soul beasts.
"This isn't a soul skill," Qing Hongyuan muttered. "A soul skill couldn't be this natural... It's like an instinct."
High in the sky, Qing Mufeng soared to his heart's content.
The wind howled past his ears, blowing his hair back and making his robes snap loudly.
Yet he felt no discomfort. Instead, he experienced an unprecedented sense of exhilaration.
Freedom.
True freedom.
The sky was boundless for birds to fly, the sea vast for fish to leap.
In his previous life, he had been an ordinary person who had barely even flown on a plane.
In this life, at six years old, he could soar into the sky on his own power.
He circled through the air several times, feeling the flow of the wind's power.
Those invisible currents became clearly visible to his senses.
He could see at a glance where the currents rose, where they fell, where they were turbulent, and where they were calm.
Wind Perception.
This, too, was part of Azure Dragon Wind Control.
He could sense changes in the airflow within a radius of a hundred zhang. Any creature entering that range would disturb the air currents and be detected by him immediately.
This was not merely a flight ability, but also an exceptionally powerful ability for perception and early warning.
Qing Mufeng flew higher and higher.
One hundred meters.
Two hundred meters.
Three hundred meters.
At a height of three hundred meters, he felt a little pressure in his chest, and his breathing became less smooth.
It was not that there was anything wrong with his body. The altitude was simply too high, and the air had grown thin.
He knew he was nearing his limit, but he still wanted to push higher.
To see where his ultimate limit lay.
He gritted his teeth and continued ascending.
Three hundred and fifty meters.
Four hundred meters.
Four hundred and fifty meters.
The pressure in his chest grew stronger and stronger, and his eardrums began to buzz.
But his eyes were filled with excitement.
Higher still, higher still!
Five hundred meters!
The instant he broke through five hundred meters, he finally felt his limit.
It felt as though a massive stone was pressing on his chest. Breathing became extraordinarily difficult, and his head began to spin. He felt like he was truly about to die. This time, it was real. There was no more room to push further.
He could not go any higher.
Going any higher would truly kill him.
Qing Mufeng did not force himself further. He turned his body, pointed his head downward, and dove toward the ground like a meteor.
The wind shrieked past his ears as the scenery below rapidly enlarged.
Just before reaching the ground, he abruptly slowed. The wind's power formed a soft cushion beneath him, and he landed steadily before his family.
"Five hundred meters," Qing Mufeng said between breaths. "My limit is five hundred meters. At that height, my chest feels tight and I can barely breathe. If I go any higher, I might get hurt."
Qing Zhengyue stepped forward and patted his grandson's shoulder, his eyes full of pride.
"Five hundred meters. Do you know what that means?" the old man said. "Most flying-type soul masters would be doing well to reach fifty meters at the Soul Elder level. You flew straight up to five hundred meters. That's a tenfold difference!"
"And this is an Innate Divine Ability, not a soul skill," Qing Hongyuan added. "Soul skills consume Soul Power and have duration limits. An Innate Divine Ability consumes very little, so you can keep flying."
Shen Wanqing's eyes lit up. "So Feng'er can stay in the sky indefinitely?"
"In theory, yes." Qing Zhengyue nodded. "As long as he does not get tired, he can keep flying."
Liu Yunlan stepped forward and took her grandson's hand, looking him over from head to toe. The old woman's eyes were still red, but she could not suppress the smile on her lips.
"My precious grandson." She spoke softly. "You're far stronger than your grandfather. The Qing Clan's future will depend on you."
Qing Zhengyue choked on his wife's words. He opened his mouth, then closed it again. In the end, he merely snorted and offered no rebuttal.
Qing Mufeng gave his family a detailed explanation of Azure Dragon Wind Control's effects—flight without wings, massively increased speed, Wind Control, and Wind Perception.
After hearing it, his family was shocked once more.
"This is more than just flight." After pondering for a moment, Qing Zhengyue slowly said, "Wind Perception can provide warnings, while Wind Control can attack and defend. This one divine ability is worth several other people's soul skills."
The old man looked at his grandson, his gaze profound.
"Mu Feng, you already have all three major soul skills—attack, healing, and defense—and each of your three divine abilities has its own purpose. Armor Body Protection, an increase to all attributes, Eye Technique Truth-Seeing, and Wind-Riding. As long as you proceed steadily, your future achievements will be limitless."
He paused, sweeping his gaze over everyone present.
"The same goes for all of you. You are all cultivating the Azure Dragon Method. Though you cannot fully master it, as long as you continue researching and integrating it, once your Azure Snake martial souls complete their dragonification, you may not be unable to awaken similar bloodline divine abilities."
Qing Hongyuan drew a deep breath, a flash of burning excitement appearing in his eyes.
Dragonification.
Bloodline divine abilities.
Three months ago, he would not even have dared to dream of such words.
But now, his father had spoken them, and he felt they were entirely possible to achieve.
Liu Yunlan held her grandson's hand and said softly, "Our Qing Clan is finally going to rise."
Shen Wanqing looked at her son, then at her husband, then at her parents-in-law. Her eyes reddened slightly, but she was smiling.
In the twenty years since she had married into the Qing Clan, she had never felt as hopeful about the future as she did today.
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