True Dragon Precious Technique

"Roar! Roar!"

In a nest woven from divine wood**, a Crimson True Dragon about a zhang long coiled up, letting out an occasional hiss tinged with fear.

"Little Dragon, you're the child of a True Dragon, and you were born with the cultivation of the Venerable Realm. How could you be frightened by a group of cultivators whose strongest members are only in the Array Formation Realm?"

Willow Deity looked at the True Dragon, who had fled back in a panic, with amusement.

That was right. The Crimson True Dragon had been born with the cultivation of the Venerable Realm.

The True Dragon race was hailed as an Immortal race. Its members could rival True Immortals once they reached adulthood, and had the potential to ascend to the Immortal King level. In every generation, supreme giants at the Immortal King level emerged without end.

Of course, under normal circumstances, the span of time from a True Dragon's birth until it reached full adulthood could stretch to a million years.

"Waaah..."

Willow Deity's attempt at comforting it only made things worse. The newborn True Dragon grew even more aggrieved, tears glimmering faintly in its eyes.

Those humans outside were so bad, so bad. They were always trying to skin it and pull out its tendons.

Its inherited memories clearly said that the human race in the Great Wilderness was weak and often eaten by all kinds of archaic fiends. So why was everything the other way around for it?

Could its inherited memories be wrong?!!

"Willow Deity, Ge Gu has only just been born, and no one is teaching him yet. Why not let me be his teacher?"

Shi Hao studied the Crimson True Dragon with interest.

Ge Gu was the name Little Shi had discussed with Willow Deity beforehand.

The thought of becoming a True Dragon's teacher was thrilling!

"You? A human cultivator in the Spirit Transformation Realm teaching a True Dragon in the Venerable Realm? Have you even sorted out your own path of cultivation?"

At that, Willow Deity shot him a sidelong glance, smiling faintly.

Shi Hao: "..."

"You can forget being his teacher. You might have a chance at being his senior brother."

After a long pause, Willow Deity spoke unhurriedly.

That was right. Since she had been entrusted with the child by a comrade-in-arms, Willow Deity planned to teach Ge Gu herself.

Besides, every member of the True Dragon race had the potential to reach the Immortal King level. The defeated Nine Heavens and Ten Earths needed more strength—and a new generation of Dragon Kings from the True Dragon race.

"...All right."

Shi Hao sighed helplessly. The title of True Dragon's teacher was truly slipping away from him. Alas!

But now it was time to reap his reward.

"Ge Gu~"

At the thought, Shi Hao forced a smile and beamed at the Crimson True Dragon.

But the other party wasn't having it. It only blinked its huge dragon eyes innocently at Shi Hao, pretending not to understand.

The name Ge Gu was simply too ugly!

"Uh, all right, Little Dragon. How about we make a deal?"

Shi Hao gave an awkward smile and changed tack. "You have the True Dragon Precious Technique, while your senior brother happens to wield the strongest technique of the True Phoenix race—the True Phoenix Precious Technique. How about we trade?"

"First, the True Dragon and True Phoenix are both among the Ten Archaic Evils, and they hold equal status."

"Second, you're the child of a Dragon King. If you master both the True Dragon and True Phoenix Precious Techniques, you'll be able to unleash the peerless Dragon-Phoenix Combined Strike. You might even surpass your father and become a supreme giant of a new generation."

Little Shi had coveted the True Dragon Precious Technique for a long time.

"Eeya?"

The young True Dragon tilted its adorable little head and thought it over. A hint of interest appeared in its eyes, but it didn't agree outright. Instead, it looked to Willow Deity.

Though this child of a True Dragon had only just been born, its intelligence was already on par with an ordinary person's. Willow Deity had been entrusted with it by its father and had personally overseen its birth. She would never harm it.

"It's a fair trade, Little Dragon. You won't lose out."

Willow Deity gave a simple, direct reply.

"Eeya, eeya~"

The young True Dragon was delighted by her approval. It raised the pair of scarlet horns, red as blood diamonds, on its head and gently touched Shi Hao, passing on the strongest technique of the True Dragon race.

Shi Hao closed his eyes and sensed the technique for a moment, then returned the flawless True Phoenix Precious Technique. After a moment's thought, he also passed on his insights from cultivating it.

"Eeya, eeya~"

The young True Dragon was overjoyed and told Shi Hao through divine sense:

He was welcome to visit the True Dragon Nest in the future and cultivate the True Dragon Precious Technique with the help of its abundant True Dragon aura and Dragon Scale Grass.

With that, the Crimson True Dragon settled into its nest of divine wood and rolled about happily.

In its eyes, its father had never even obtained the True Phoenix Precious Technique, yet it had. Didn't that mean it was more amazing than the Dragon King?

"Let's go. Give Little Dragon some time alone."

Willow Deity smiled and shook her head, then swept Shi Hao away with her as they vanished from the True Dragon Nest.

To keep the young True Dragon from being overwhelmed by the sight, Willow Deity had already taken away the two dead eggs that could not be hatched.

After obtaining the True Dragon Precious Technique, Shi Hao immediately asked for them.

Once cultivators reached the Spirit Transformation Realm, they could cultivate spirit bodies.

(Cultivators in the Spirit Transformation Realm already counted as powerful figures in their own right. Even in the great clans, where experts abounded, they were elders with real authority and considerable status.)

Ambitious as he was, Shi Hao naturally had no interest in cultivating an ordinary spirit body.

The third stage of cultivation in the Spirit Transformation Realm was known as Cave Heaven Spirit Nurturing.

It involved planting a flawless seed of the Dao inside a Grotto-Heaven and developing a deity with an almost independent will, one that could even rival the legendary divine ability, External Incarnation.

In the original story, Little Shi had died fighting the Seven Gods, then awakened from Reincarnation and settled accounts with the great ancient sects of the Eight Regions, sending out one Cave Heaven Deity after another.

Each of these Cave Heaven Deities, developed from a flawless Dao seed, possessed the terrifying combat power of the Venerable Realm. The great ancient sects, each guarded by only a few ordinary Venerables, were swept aside one by one. Their mountain gates were breached, and they all bowed at the feet of the young Human Emperor.

Earlier, during the Cave Heaven Spirit Nurturing stage, Shi Hao had nurtured Cave Heaven Deities from the pure-blooded creatures' precious techniques he had obtained from the Mountain Treasure, as well as the Vermilion Bird Method and Zhu Yan Method.

Later, he obtained the Nine-Leaf Sword Grass's Grass Sword Art and the True Phoenix Precious Technique, and replaced them one by one.

Now that he had obtained the True Dragon Precious Technique, with two True Dragon Eggs beside him, he naturally had a different idea.

Though the two True Dragon Eggs were dead and could not be hatched, they had been nourished by a supreme formation created by the True Dragon for millions of years. Their life essence remained, as did the True Dragon race's life essence; only the fluctuations of their souls were gone.

If so, why not use these two True Dragon Eggs, combined with the True Dragon Precious Technique and the method of Cave Heaven Spirit Nurturing, to nurture a unique spirit body—the True Dragon Body?

The Undying Being, a child of Kunpeng, had created the Primary-Secondary Body Technique.

Inspired by him, Shi Hao also wanted to create another kind of incarnation technique.

Willow Deity had never been a rigid traditionalist. Since the two True Dragon Eggs could no longer be hatched, they might as well be used to create greater value. She simply gave both dead eggs to Shi Hao.

She only smiled and remarked that this meant he had formed a great karmic bond with the True Dragon race. One day, it would likely fall upon Ge Gu, this child of a True Dragon.

Shi Hao had no objections. If he became an emperor, he would protect Ge Gu on the path to enlightenment.

With the two True Dragon Eggs in hand, Shi Hao immediately hurried into seclusion to nurture the True Dragon Body he had been plotting for a long time.

The young True Dragon, tucked away in the True Dragon Nest, was still a child at heart and couldn't stand being lonely. Later, it transformed into a child of two or three years old, took the assumed name Ge Gu, and joined the children of Stone Village to play, having a grand time.

The village elders, including the old chief, naturally knew Ge Gu's identity. They said nothing, only claiming he was a child they had found in the mountains and helping conceal the truth.

Later, when the Bear Children of the village encountered enemies in the Void God Realm and couldn't find the reclusive Shi Hao to help them fight, they simply brought along this seemingly unremarkable child of a True Dragon. The initial grounds were thrown into chaos once again.