When Long Jinyu stepped into the culture cabin, the emerald green dormant liquid slowly spread over his body, gently lifting him up. "Candlelight" Soul Bone gently rotated between the crown form and the streamer form, and finally turned into a ray of nine-color morning light, gently gathering between his eyebrows.
Just before the contact, there was a throbbing coming from the origin of blood and soul. It was a sigh of contentment, like returning to the mother's body.
That crown has been waiting for its owner for too long, too long.
Long Jinyu's last consciousness rested on Yu's smiling emerald eyes. She stood outside the cabin, her dragon tail swaying gently, and her lips said silently: Relax and leave it to me.
In the beginning, there was chaos.
There is no up and down, no distance, no real sense of the passage of time. Long Jinyu feels like a speck of dust, floating in the eternal silence.
The expected severe pain did not come.
He closed his eyes, tightened his body, and was ready to bear the "price of Soul Bone fusion" - he had read too many records, and those strong men who fused high-level Soul Bone all described in their memoirs the torment of "recasting their bones and tearing their souls apart".
But...
No.
There is only warmth.
It's like the kind of warmth that Mother Jin felt when he had a fever when he was a kid and put his hands in his palms and said over and over again, "It's okay, just sweat and you'll be fine."
The nine-color dawn seeped in from the center of his eyebrows, unhurriedly, like a stream returning to the sea. Where it flowed, the bones itched slightly and the meridians trembled slightly, as if the land that had been sleeping for many years was finally waiting for the first spring rain.
Not conquest.
It's home.
Long Jinyu's consciousness sank into a sea of light.
He "saw" himself standing in the endless void, with countless dragon-shaped shadows floating around him - gold, silver, red, green... They were slowly swimming around him, like a group of ancient souls who had finally waited for their successors.
The largest shadow among them lowered its head and looked at him.
In those eyes, there were the birth and death of stars, the rise and fall of civilizations, and the vastness and vicissitudes that he could not understand.
Then, the phantom spoke - as if the thought was imprinted directly into the depths of the soul:
"My bloodline... will end here."
Long Jinyu trembled slightly.
He understood that this shadow might be the remnants of the first generation Dragon God left in this crown. He was looking at him, confirming him, and... waiting for him.
Wait for him to cross the eternity to inherit this inheritance that has been prepared for a long time.
"I..."
Long Jinyu opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.
The shadow seemed to be smiling.
"No need to say anything. Just walk on."
As soon as the words fell, the shadows disintegrated into light spots all over the sky, all falling on Long Jinyu.
At that moment, he felt that his whole being was being "rewoven" - not torn apart, but an evolution that was more refined, deeper, and touched the essence of the soul.
Every bone is plated with nine-colored shimmer.
Every meridian is widened and strengthened.
Every drop of blood is boiling, purifying, and sublimating.
That "Candlelight" crown is slowly taking shape in his Spiritual Sea - it is no longer a foreign object, but a part of him, staying with him and growing with him.
Outside the cabin.
Dozens of light screens in front of System-chan flashed simultaneously, and the data stream scrolled at a speed that could not be captured by the naked eye.
Her heterochromatic pupils reflected countless waveforms, energy spectrum lines and bloodline structure models. Her fingers were hanging in the air, but she did not touch any interface - she no longer needed to operate, she was just recording and witnessing.
"Blood activity...387%... no, 492%... still rising!"
"The peak energy density breaks through the threshold... the meridian load rate is 91%... the warning line is 95%... can he hold on?"
"Yes."
Yu's eyes never left the figure in the cabin. His eyes reflected the outline of the young man who was constantly twisting and reshaping in the nine-color light stream.
"What he is doing is not 'absorbing' a piece of Soul Bone. Rather, he is 'claiming' something that belongs to him."
"Candlelight" is not an external force.
It is the prototype of Dragon God Crown, the embodiment of bloodline authority, and a will left in this world, waiting for the true successor to appear.
And now, the heir to the will is using every drop of blood in his body to prove himself.
The breakthrough came faster than imagined.
The moment "Candlelight" was completely integrated into the sea of consciousness, Soul Power, which had been dormant for a long time in Long Jinyu's body, suddenly boiled. The fifty-level bottleneck was as thin as a cicada's wings, and was broken by the torrent of nine-colored Soul Power.
Fifty-one.
Fifty-two.
Soul Power is still climbing crazily.
But he did not indulge in it and made a prompt decision to suppress his desire to continue leveling up.
He is clear in his heart - this power comes from Soul Bone and is not the result of his own hard work. If he relies on "external forces" to break through excessively, he will only damage the foundation and lose more than he gains.
The nine-colored sea of light within the body dispersed.
Long Jinyu Open your eyes.
The first thing you see is the familiar zenith light, the inner wall of the culture chamber and the emerald green dormant liquid.
He blinked, and the feeling of soaking in the liquid was clearer and sharper than before. He could even "feel" the composition of every drop of dormant liquid, and could "see" how the life energy contained in the liquid slowly penetrated into the pores of his skin.
This is not a mental scan.
It's a... instinct.
Just like fish know water, birds know wind.
The dormant fluid in the culture cabin gradually receded, and he stood in the center of the cabin, his whole body wet, his silver hair sticking to his cheeks and shoulders.
The hatch cover opens automatically.
Yu stood by the cabin and stretched out his hand to him.
"Welcome back. Jin Yu, you did a great job. Better than I imagined."
Long Jinyu held her hand and used her strength to step out of the cabin.
As soon as his feet landed, what came into view was System-chan's wide eyes, his mouth slightly open, and the light screen that was analyzing something automatically closed with a "pop" sound.
"What, what's wrong?"
Long Jinyu was a little confused by what she saw, and subconsciously touched his face, "Is there something on my face?"
System-chan's throat rolled and he let out an inaudible "Gulu".
"... Data abnormality, urgent update."
Her voice was a little wavy, "It has been detected that Jin Yu's appearance index has completely exceeded the upper limit - facial features +32%, sacred temperament +47%, overall 'want to touch' index... cough, appearance optimization index...+∞! It is recommended that the host reduce public appearances in the near future to avoid causing riots onlookers!"
"What the hell?... What is the appearance optimization index +∞? Please explain it clearly to me!"
"It's just... a whole level better than 'perfect'~"
Long Jinyu: "..."
Yu added leisurely on the side, "She is right. Jin Yu, why don't you take a look for yourself?"
She waved her hand lightly, and a ray of green light condensed into a smooth mirror, floating in front of Long Jinyu.
Long Jinyu raised his eyes and looked in the mirror.
It's still the familiar face, and the gold and silver eyes are still clear, but upon closer inspection, everything is different.
The contours of the eyebrows and eyes are a bit softer, but they do not lose the sharpness of a young man; the skin is smooth and translucent, with an almost transparent luster under the cold light of the laboratory. The already delicate facial features seem to have been carefully polished, losing some of their childishness, and instead gaining a wispy and ethereal temperament.
He stared at the mirror for a long time, struggling over and over again, unable to find the right words, and finally choked out. "... immortal energy?"
System-chan nodded crazily.
Long Jinyu Suddenly noticed something was wrong in the mirror.
He raised his hand and touched the top of his head.
Two... things?
Hard, cool, delicate and warm to the touch, like the finest warm jade. It extends backward from both sides of the forehead, with a graceful arc...
--A pair of dragon horns grew out of his head.
Nine colors.
There was a brilliance flowing from the same source as his eyes.
Under the cold light of the laboratory, it glows with dreamy iridescence, more magnificent than any gemstone in the world.
"I, I, I, I... this, this, this..."
Long Jinyu stuttered, and hurriedly touched the opposite corner again. This time, a strange feeling spread from the tip of the corner to the top of the head - it was like... an extra pair of hands, which could sense the flow of air and "see" the scene behind him.
He tried pulling it out - but of course it didn't budge.
"Soul Bone brings more than just strength."
Yu explained, "'Candlelight' is Dragon God Crown, which carries his understanding of the law and the tempering of his bloodline. When you fuse it, it is equivalent to recasting a foundation. The leap of Soul Power is only the most superficial result."
Long Jinyu shook Yu's arm coquettishly.
"Sister Yu, don't worry about that for now. Take a look at this... can this... be put away? I can't go out with this thing, right? It's a bit too ostentatious."
He covered his lips and smiled softly.
"Of course you can take it back. You try to feel it - it's not a foreign object, it's a part of you, just like your fingers or your silver hair. Move with your heart. If you want it to appear, it will appear; if you don't want it, it will disappear."
Long Jinyu followed the instructions and closed his eyes, silently reciting in his heart: Put it away, put it away, put it away...
After a while, I felt a slight itching on my forehead.
When he opened his eyes again, the dragon's horns had disappeared.
He raised his hand and touched it, and his skin was as smooth as ever.
"It's really affordable! This is so convenient!"
He tried to let it out and then take it back again, going back and forth several times, having a great time, "Sister Yu, since you can take it back, why do you grow it back? To intimidate your opponent in battle?"
"It's not just for fighting."
Yu walked up to him, stretched out a finger, and gently tapped the dragon horn on his forehead, "The dragon horn is a sign that the dragon bloodline has awakened to a certain level. It symbolizes that you have truly embarked on the 'Dragon God Road', rather than just possessing a bloodline."
She paused, with a smile in her eyes:
"As for why it can be retracted... it's like a cat's claws. They are usually hidden in the pads of the flesh, but they show their sharpness when in danger."
Long Jinyu couldn't help but laugh out loud after listening to it.
"A cat's paw... Sister Yu, your metaphor is too down-to-earth."
He smiled more and said nothing, but raised his hand to straighten his messy silver hair.
"Then, next-"
Before she finished speaking, System-chan's voice came in again, with a bit of excitement like asking for credit:
"The main event is next! Dragon Core Gather! Jin Yu Are you ready?"
Long Jinyu nodded.
He knew that this was the real key.
Soul Bone is the inheritance from outside, and Soul King is the accumulation of quantitative changes.
And Dragon Core is the foundation that has widened the gap between him and all "ordinary strong men".
Yu's expression became a little more solemn.
"Jin Yu, the next process will be more... profound than absorbing Soul Bone."
She considered her choice of words, "Soul Bone means return, Dragon Core means reshaping. You need to combine the origin of your bloodline, your spiritual power, and the power of the newly integrated 'Candlelight' to create a 'core' that truly belongs to you in your body."
"This process will be a little painful."
She looked directly at him, without avoiding or exaggerating, "You will feel like a piece of ore that was thrown into a furnace. All the impurities were burned away, leaving only the purest essence. Can you bear it?"
Long Jinyu met her gaze without hesitation.
"Yes."
One word, light yet heavy.
The corners of Yu's lips raised slightly.
She raised her hand, emerald green light flowed, and a complex magic circle suddenly lit up on the ground under Long Jinyu - those lines were so ancient that they seemed to originate from the beginning of the world, and each line contained the rhythm of life and laws.
"Sit down cross-legged and relax your mind."
Long Jinyu Sit down as instructed and close your eyes.
The light of the magic circle gradually rose and enveloped his entire body.
System-chan's voice sounded for the last time, with a rare seriousness:
"Start the Dragon Core condensation program. Energy supply: Nine Guards' Dormant Space reserve pool. Auxiliary guidance: Emerald Dragon King Guard·Heal. Monitor: this system."
"Jin Yu, come on."
After those two words fell, everything returned to silence.
Then--
Long Jinyu feels like he is "burning".
It's not a metaphor, it's a colorful flame that really ignites from the depths of the soul.
His blood was boiling, and every drop of blood seemed to have turned into magma, rushing and roaring in his veins. His Spiritual Sea set off huge waves, and countless memory fragments were shattered, reorganized, and shattered again.
And the newly fused "Candlelight" crown burned loudly in the depths of his consciousness, turning into a nine-color sun, pressing all the rays of light toward one point -
That point is at his lower Dantian.
Ultimate compression.
Extreme pain.
Long Jinyu gritted his teeth, veins popped out on his forehead, but he suppressed the groan that was about to burst out of his throat.
He promised.
Can.
Yu stood at the edge of the magic circle, closely watching his every change, the dragon's tail swaying uneasily, ready to stop forcibly at any time when he could no longer hold on.
But he didn't.
The young man had his eyes closed, his whole body was shaking, and his clothes were soaked with sweat, but he never let out a cry of pain.
A hint of distress flashed through Yu's eyes.
"You are stronger than I thought."
I don't know how long it took--
Maybe it's a moment, maybe it's eternity.
Within Long Jinyu, the extremely compressed light finally reached a certain critical point.
"Boom--"
Silent vibrations spread from deep in the chest.
It's not an explosion, it's a "birth".
A fist-sized crystal with nine colors flowing slowly took shape at his lower dantian.
It is like a seed, condensing endless vitality and original power.
Every pulse is at the same frequency as his heartbeat; every rotation is vomiting a purer and more original "dragon power" than Soul Power.
Dragon Core.
It's done.
Long Jinyu opened his eyes again.
At that moment, the entire sleeping space seemed to tremble slightly - that was the law confirming and accepting that a new "successor to the Dragon Clan" had officially embarked on his own path.