"All right. Bear with it for now; it might hurt quite a bit at first." Ao Linxi took a deep breath and opened her eyes. "I'll temper your bones and muscles first, so your body won't reject this power and explode."
She took a step back and pressed her palms together, fingertips pointing up against her lower lip as she murmured an unknown incantation. Behind her, a hazy silhouette appeared, gradually condensing and taking shape. It was a gigantic dragon, its body shimmering with nine-colored radiance and its belly covered in dark golden scales, exuding a savage, brutal beauty.
The inheritance began.
"Boom—!"
Gu Tian's body shuddered violently.
The first force was the Golden Dragon King's power of destruction. Gu Tian felt as if every inch of his bones had been thrown into a furnace and repeatedly hammered, crushed in an instant. Every drop of blood seemed to turn into boiling magma, rushing wildly through his parched meridians as a frenzied killing intent battered his sanity.
The pain had already surpassed the limits of human will. The veins on Gu Tian's forehead bulged, and cold sweat ran down his temples, soon soaking through his thin undergarment. He clenched his teeth so hard that his lips bled, yet he refused to utter even the faintest groan.
Next came the Silver Dragon King's power of creation. Cool energy poured into him, yet Gu Tian felt a different kind of agony. His flesh, torn apart moments before, healed and grew at a frantic pace, his cells cycling between destruction and rebirth. His three souls and six spirits seemed to be drawn from his body and merged with all things.
He could feel an unimaginably terrifying power awakening inside him. It carried nine entirely different auras, and at that moment, it forcibly pried open his dantian and soul.
Just as Gu Tian's consciousness was about to collapse from the tearing sensation, a crisp crack suddenly rang out in his mind.
"Crack!"
All his senses vanished in an instant, and darkness completely swallowed his vision.
When Gu Tian opened his eyes again, he found that he was no longer lying in that narrow, dim room.
He was in an endless ocean. The water wasn't azure blue, but shimmered with a bewitching nine-colored divine light, like liquid gemstones in motion. Above him stretched a chaotic starry sky, with countless stars slowly turning according to some ancient pattern.
This was his Sea of Consciousness. The force that had just forcibly expanded it had made it vast beyond his comprehension.
And standing upon that nine-colored sea was a person.
Gu Tian froze. Over the past six years, he had pictured the Dragon God countless times in his mind. He had imagined an awe-inspiring, peerless powerhouse, or perhaps an aloof and proud Ice Queen.
But he had never dreamed that the person before him would be a gentle, sweet big sister from next door.
She wore a plain white robe, as pure as snow, and a colorful sash around her waist accentuated her perfect figure. Her long hair wasn't any single color; under the light, it refracted nine different hues and fell smoothly to her waist.
Her face was exquisitely beautiful, yet held none of the coldness that kept people at a distance. Gu Tian's reflection shone in her warm, gentle eyes, and the faint, tranquil smile at the corner of her lips made her look wonderfully kind.
"What's wrong? Spellbound?"
Ao Linxi walked over with a bright smile. Her steps were so light they made no sound, as if a cloud had drifted up to Gu Tian. She reached out with hands as smooth and white as mutton-fat jade and casually ruffled his hair.
"You're... the Dragon God, Ao Linxi?" Gu Tian's voice was still a little hoarse.
"Who else? Were you hoping I'd have a blue face and fangs?" Ao Linxi giggled behind her hand, her voice clear and sweet.
Gu Tian swallowed. From where he was standing, he had a perfect view of the fair, deep cleavage on Ao Linxi's chest. Through the thin fabric, he could just make out the pale pink lace beneath.
"But shouldn't the Dragon God be a man?" Gu Tian turned his face away, trying his best to keep his little brother from standing at attention.
Ao Linxi seemed not to notice Gu Tian's embarrassment. She casually tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, making her chest sway again, then grew slightly more serious. "This is my true form, but here in the Sea of Consciousness, I can do as I please. Since you'll officially awaken tomorrow, there are some things you need to see with your own eyes first."
With that, Ao Linxi slowly stepped back.
As she moved, the nine-colored sea around them suddenly began to churn.
In that instant, the gentle, sweet big sister from next door underwent a complete transformation. Supreme imperial pressure burst from her petite body.
Nine-colored radiance wove around her, then contracted. In the blink of an eye, an exquisitely ornate battle form covered her from head to toe.
It was armor made of countless tiny dragon scales, each one glimmering with divine light in nine colors. Her bracers, greaves, and breastplate... every line was a perfect blend of brutal beauty and artistry. Behind her, nine colorful bands of light floated like wings, each one representing an extreme elemental power.
These nine elements symbolized, in order, fire, ice, light, darkness, wind, earth, mountains, space, and time.
Gu Tian stared in stunned silence. The transformation from utter softness to absolute strength shook him beyond words.
"This is our dragon clan's battle form. Wearing this armor helps us control the elemental powers more effectively."
When Ao Linxi finished speaking, she beckoned toward empty space.
The phantom image of a nine-colored divine dragon slowly appeared above Gu Tian's head. It gave off none of the savage, destructive aura he had expected. Instead, it radiated a tranquil air that seemed to command all things and embrace the universe. Its horns looked as if they had been carved from crystal, and wisdom and authority shone in its eyes.
"This is our dragon clan's true dragon form. Based on the battle form, we can summon our true dragon to fight alongside us."
"And this true dragon will become your Martial Soul—the Chaos Dragon God."
Gu Tian lifted his head and stared fixedly at the breathtaking scene before him, his earlier embarrassment at Ao Linxi's teasing swept away. The nine-colored divine dragon seemed to possess its own consciousness. It gently touched the space between his brows, and a feeling of blood connection surged through him.
"All right, let's put it away for now." Ao Linxi dispelled her battle form and turned back into the gentle big sister. "Next, I'm going to show you a few things."
Ao Linxi approached again, moving slowly, as if unveiling some hidden secret in a ceremony.
At that moment, Gu Tian's gaze was drawn to her despite himself. The skin at the very center of her brow was smooth, almost translucent. A bead of sweat slid along her hairline and stopped above her brow, forming a tiny patch of shimmering moisture.
That spot, just above her eyes, seemed to conceal an unopened pupil.
Ao Linxi suddenly stopped moving without lowering her hair. She held her head at a slight upward tilt, her eyes half-closed, her eyelashes trembling faintly in the light.
"Xiao Tian..." Her voice was as low as a whisper. "Do you feel anything here...?" She extended her index finger and gently touched the center of Gu Tian's brow. "...Does it feel hot?"
Gu Tian froze. Not because of what she said, but because at that moment, he truly felt a warm tremor travel from her fingertip, spreading in ripples until it reached his forehead.
The center of Gu Tian's brow suddenly felt as if it had been lightly pricked by an invisible needle. It didn't hurt; it was a tingling, numb sensation. Heat burst from that spot, flowed down the bridge of his nose, then curled back along his temples, as if someone were repeatedly tracing the very center of his brain with the softest feather.
Gu Tian's breathing turned ragged. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, and his heartbeat pounded as if it would burst through his chest.
Ao Linxi opened her eyes a little wider. Gu Tian's flustered face was reflected in her pupils. She didn't laugh; she simply curled her lips into a faint smile, as if she had known this would happen all along.
"Do you see?" Her fingertip remained against Gu Tian's brow, not moving away. "It's responding to you."
Images flashed through Gu Tian's mind.
He saw the Dragon God's unparalleled glory as she ruled over all beasts and founded the Soul Beast Dynasty.
He felt the pain and unwillingness of the Dragon God as human gods surrounded her in the war in the Divine Realm and finally cleaved her in two with a single sword strike.
He was immersed in the eternal instant when the Dragon God's soul split into the Golden Dragon King and the Silver Dragon King, in the ultimate madness and loneliness of a whole self forcibly torn into two.
"Look... This is betrayal... This is the end... Inherit my power... and then... help the Soul Beast Clan reclaim its glory!"
Gu Tian dropped to one knee, panting violently. Every breath he exhaled carried tiny motes of elemental light. He felt the power surging through him, strong enough to shake heaven and earth, and clearly sensed the indelible Dragon God Mark deep within his soul. It was a power, a curse, and a heavy test all at once.
Ao Linxi bent down, helped Gu Tian to his feet, and held him in her arms, gently patting his back as if comforting the little boy who had just been entrusted with a great responsibility.
He knew that what he had inherited wasn't merely a perfect divine position, but also a shattered dynasty and a divided legacy. Yet he also understood that perhaps he had already opened a new crack in the door for this ancient power—a passage leading to the future.
After a long while, the turmoil in the Sea of Consciousness gradually subsided, and Gu Tian's breathing steadied.
Ao Linxi released Gu Tian and looked around at the Sea of Consciousness, vast but rather empty. She gently shook her head. "The foundation here is pretty good, but it's still too bare. Since I'll be living here from now on, I should at least make it comfortable."
With that, Ao Linxi closed her eyes.
A tangible golden spiritual divine power, along with a wisp of supreme nine-colored divine power, streamed from her palms into the vast sea.
"Rumble—!"
The entire Sea of Consciousness trembled again. Before Gu Tian's eyes, a soft, pristine white beach rose out of nowhere from the surface of the sea.
On the beach, a luxurious white villa with a distinctly modern design rose from the ground. It had floor-to-ceiling windows, an outdoor swimming pool, and even palm trees swaying in the breeze.
"This..." Gu Tian's eyes widened. As someone who had crossed over from another world, he of course recognized what he was looking at.
"Don't look at me like that." Ao Linxi gave him a playful wink. "This is your Sea of Consciousness, so naturally it takes shape according to what you remember and imagine. I think this style feels cozy, though. When you're tired, you can come in and sunbathe with Big Sis."
As this divine power poured in, Gu Tian felt his mind grow clearer than ever before. His spiritual power surged by leaps and bounds. The feeling of controlling everything made him feel as if he had become the master of this world.