Azure Snake Dragon Wing!

The battlefield was a complete mess.

The ground had been gouged with scars by Wind Blades and claws. Several large trees had been smashed apart, lying sprawled in every direction.

The air was thick with the smell of blood, lingering poisonous mist, and scorched grass and wood.

Qing Hongyuan leaned against a tree trunk, gasping for breath.

Several holes had been torn in his robe, and he had wounds all over his body, but they were rapidly healing beneath the glow of Spring Returns to Earth.

Liu Yunlan withdrew the poisonous mist. The old woman's face was somewhat pale, but she was still in good spirits.

She took a small porcelain bottle from her cloth pouch, poured out two pills, swallowed one herself, and handed the other to Qing Hongyuan.

Shen Wanqing stopped channeling her support soul skill. Her eyes were closed, and sweat streamed down her cheeks.

She had exhausted too much energy and needed time to recover.

Qing Zhengyue stood beside the Wind Wood Dragon's corpse, his long saber planted against the ground as his chest rose and fell slightly.

A wound deep enough to expose bone ran across his arm.

It had been left by the Wind Wood Dragon's final strike before death.

Qing Mufeng descended from the sky. The glow of Spring Returns to Earth enveloped everyone, green motes flickering across their bodies and accelerating their recovery.

None of the five spoke. They simply recovered their strength in silence.

After a while, Qing Zhengyue spoke.

"Hongyuan, absorb the Soul Ring."

Qing Hongyuan opened his eyes, looked at the corpse of the thirty-thousand-year Wind Wood Dragon, took a deep breath, and nodded.

He walked over to the Wind Wood Dragon and sat down cross-legged.

A black Soul Ring slowly rose from the Wind Wood Dragon's corpse.

A Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring.

Black.

Deeper and heavier than every Soul Ring he had possessed before.

It was the distinctive color of a Soul Ring from a thirty-thousand-year soul beast.

Qing Hongyuan closed his eyes and steadied his breathing.

The black Soul Ring drifted toward him and slowly entered his body.

The instant it entered his body, agonizing pain struck.

It was not physical pain.

It was pain of the soul.

The greatest difference between Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Rings and thousand-year or hundred-year Soul Rings was this.

Soul beasts over ten thousand years old already possessed considerable intelligence.

After their deaths, their souls did not immediately disperse. Instead, they lingered within their Soul Rings, carrying their anger and unwillingness from life as they assaulted the absorber's mind.

The physical impact could be endured through sheer toughness.

The impact on the soul could only be borne through willpower.

Qing Hongyuan's body began to tremble. Veins bulged on his forehead as his hands tightly gripped his knees, his knuckles turning white.

Sweat mixed with blood on his face, dripping to the ground drop by drop.

Within his mental sea, the phantom of a massive Wind Wood Dragon rammed about wildly.

It was the lingering resentment of the soul beast within the Soul Ring. Carrying thirty thousand years of accumulated rage and unwillingness, it sought to devour his consciousness and seize his body.

Qing Hongyuan clenched his teeth and desperately guarded the clarity of his mind.

I will not be devoured by you.

I will absorb you, digest you, and become your master.

I will undergo Dragon Transformation.

I will fly.

He repeated those words over and over, as though chanting an incantation.

Dragon Transformation.

Flight.

Dragon Transformation.

Flight.

Qing Zhengyue stood nearby, watching the pain on his son's face. His grip on the long saber tightened, then loosened.

But he did not intervene.

No outsider could help with absorbing a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring. Qing Hongyuan could only rely on himself.

Liu Yunlan sat on the ground. The old woman's eyes were red, but she did not cry.

She believed in her son.

Shen Wanqing held her husband's hand without speaking, silently passing her warmth to him.

Qing Mufeng hovered in the air, his Azure Dragon Pupil observing his father's body.

He could see the black Soul Ring merging inch by inch with his father's martial soul. Though the process was difficult, it was proceeding in the right direction.

Live.

Father.

No one knew how much time passed.

Perhaps a quarter of an hour, perhaps an hour.

Qing Hongyuan's body suddenly shuddered, then fell still.

He opened his eyes.

There was no weakness after pain, only the clarity that came after transformation.

Five Soul Rings slowly rose beneath his feet.

Yellow.

Yellow.

Purple.

Purple.

Black.

The Fifth Soul Ring was black.

Thirty thousand years.

His Soul Power surged from level fifty to level fifty-six.

But that was not the greatest change.

The greatest change was within his dantian.

Qing Hongyuan closed his eyes and looked inward.

His martial soul.

That Azure Snake.

It was undergoing a transformation.

It had nearly doubled in size. Its body was thicker, its scales denser, and its color had changed from light azure to deep azure.

Its head had grown broader, and a slight bulge rose from its forehead—the budding form of dragon horns.

The entire snake's aura had changed.

It was no longer an ordinary Azure Snake.

It was an Azure Snake carrying a trace of dragon might.

Dragon Aspect.

Qing Hongyuan opened his eyes, their rims slightly red.

He had done it.

Information about his fifth soul skill flooded into his mind from the Soul Ring.

Azure Snake Dragon Wing.

It was not merely a flight soul skill.

The Azure Snake temporarily assumed the form of a Wind Wood Dragon. With the Azure Snake as the foundation, it fused the Wind Wood Dragon's wind and wood attributes, forming a pair of translucent azure dragon wings behind his back.

The wingspan was roughly three zhang. Azure scale patterns covered the wings, while their edges gleamed with a faint azure light.

The instant the wings spread, the power of wind supported his body, allowing him to fly freely with extreme speed and exceptional maneuverability.

While flying, all his attributes would soar.

Speed, attack, defense, and Soul Power recovery speed—all would increase drastically.

It consumed Soul Power continuously, but as long as his Soul Power was not depleted, he could remain airborne indefinitely.

This was his fifth soul skill.

These were his wings.

Qing Hongyuan rose to his feet and looked up at the sky.

His eyes were filled with anticipation.

The next moment.

"Let me see just how powerful you are!"

Qing Hongyuan took a deep breath. The black thirty-thousand-year Fifth Soul Ring within him lit up.

He raised his right hand and spread his fingers.

Azure light poured from his palm, spreading up his arm and throughout his body.

At that moment, his body underwent a strange transformation.

He did not grow larger. Instead, he became illusory, as though his body had overlapped with some far greater existence.

The Azure Snake martial soul briefly took on the form of a Wind Wood Dragon.

It was not a true transformation, but an external manifestation of his martial soul.

An azure phantom rose from his body.

A serpent's body, a dragon's head, four claws, and two wings.

It was a fusion of the Azure Snake and the Wind Wood Dragon. The Azure Snake remained dominant, but it already possessed a distinct dragonlike form.

A pair of translucent azure wings slowly spread from the phantom's back.

Their wingspan stretched three zhang.

Azure scale patterns covered the wings. Every scale pattern flowed with faint light, as though alive.

An azure halo shimmered around the edges of the wings. The power of wind circulated within it, emitting a faint hum.

Qing Hongyuan's feet left the ground.

He did not jump.

He flew.

With a gentle beat of his wings, his body shot into the sky like an arrow loosed from a bow, so fast that even Qing Zhengyue narrowed his eyes slightly.

He traced an arc through the air, turned back, stopped sharply, dived, and climbed.

Every movement flowed smoothly, completely unlike someone flying for the first time.

Fifth Soul Skill: Azure Snake Dragon Wing.

All attributes surged.

At that moment, he was no longer a snake crawling upon the ground.

He was a creature soaring freely through the sky.