Deep beneath the Lake of Life, within an isolated space.
Gu Yuena held Lin Shuo's hand as their two figures, one large and one small, slowly made their way through the glow at the bottom of the lake. Her fingertips were cool, yet they carried a power that put Lin Shuo at ease.
"Xiao Shuo, sit."
Gu Yuena sat down across from Lin Shuo. Her long silver hair fell behind her like a waterfall, and her purple eyes gazed quietly at him. Six years had passed. She had raised this child with her own hands, watching him grow from a swaddled infant into the handsome young boy he was now.
Although she had previously speculated about the origins of Lin Shuo's bloodline, she had still been shocked when his Martial Soul had truly awakened.
"Xiao Shuo, next I'll tell you about the history of the dragon clan."
"The Dragon God was once the most powerful deity, and the first member of the dragon clan to become a God King. Long before any humans became gods, the Divine Realm was ruled by the dragon clan. But because the Dragon God governed different kinds of power, his divine consciousness split to some extent. Those utterly opposing powers often drove him into madness, even causing him to kill other beast gods. Later, human deities rose to power and established themselves in the Divine Realm. The conflict between our races led to a great war between humans and dragons. During the fighting, the Dragon God fell into madness once more, and the human deities took that opportunity to ambush us. The Dragon God not only failed to kill his enemies, but attacked the dragon clan as well. In the end, the Nine Great Dragon Kings fell, and the Dragon Prince was killed while protecting the Dragon God. After regaining his senses, the Dragon God was slain by Asura God, one of the human God Kings. The Dragon God split into the Golden Dragon King and the Silver Dragon King. In the end, the Golden Dragon King was sealed within the Divine Realm, while I escaped through the turbulence of space and time. Later, the Five Great God Kings—the God of Goodness, God of Evil, God of Destruction, Goddess of Life, and Asura God—established the God Realm Committee and no longer allowed beasts to cultivate into gods. They sealed the passage that had allowed Soul Beasts to reach the Divine Realm."
A long silence fell over the isolated space. Gu Yuena had finished speaking, and her purple eyes remained calm, but the slight tightening of her fingertips told Lin Shuo that she was not at peace.
Lin Shuo, of course, knew that the history of the dragon clan as Gu Yuena had told it was wrong. Based on what he had seen and his memories from his previous life, the Dragon God had been ambushed by the laws of the universe at the critical moment of creating the God Star. The Dragon Prince had sacrificed himself to help the Dragon God create it. After witnessing his son die before his eyes, the Dragon God had fallen completely into madness and killed the Nine Great Dragon Kings. Once he regained his senses, he had been consumed by boundless remorse, asked Asura God to cleave his body in two, and decreed that no beast could become a god unless the Dragon God returned. But that did not mean Gu Yuena was lying to him. This was simply the history of the dragon clan as Gu Yuena and Di Tian understood it.
"And Xiao Shuo, your bloodline and your Martial Soul both come from the Dragon God's son. If anyone in this world is worthy of inheriting the Dragon God's divinity, it can only be you. Only you can lead the dragon clan back to its former glory." Gu Yuena's usually impassive purple eyes brimmed with hope as she looked at Lin Shuo.
"Sister Nana, I understand. I'll inherit the Dragon God's divinity as soon as I can and break the curse that keeps Soul Beasts from becoming gods." Lin Shuo raised his head and looked at Gu Yuena with unwavering resolve.
Gu Yuena stepped in front of Lin Shuo and reached out. Her cool fingertips gently brushed his hair before she took a long spear from her spatial storage. It was a brilliant silver all over, patterned with hexagonal scales.
"This is the divine weapon, the Silver Dragon Spear. Use it as a stopgap weapon for now. If the opportunity comes, I'll find you one that suits you better. From now on, I'll personally guide your cultivation." Gu Yuena paused, then continued.
"Although you have the bloodline of the dragon clan, Xiao Shuo, you yourself are a pure-blooded human, so you still need to absorb Soul Rings to increase your cultivation. After tens of thousands of years of accumulation, Star Dou Great Forest has gathered a large number of Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones, but the Soul Bones of other Soul Beasts aren't worthy of fusing with your body. So aside from the Soul Rings you need to improve your cultivation, I don't recommend that you absorb Soul Bones." She paused, her purple eyes fixed intently on Lin Shuo as she went on.
"As for Soul Rings, none of the others are worthy of you. But to help you increase your cultivation, I'll have Scarlet King offer himself to you in sacrifice in a moment, becoming the first stepping stone on your path to growth—"
Before Gu Yuena could finish, the isolated space suddenly shook violently. It wasn't a tremor coming from beneath their feet. The entire space itself was resonating, as if something had torn through layer after layer of barriers and descended straight into this place.
A beam of light descended from the dome.
It was pure, utterly flawless light, its hues silently shifting through nine colors.
Gu Yuena's pupils contracted sharply. She instinctively tried to shield Lin Shuo, but the light was faster than she was. Like a meteor, it shot straight into Lin Shuo's chest. There was no collision, no impact. It slipped inside without resistance, like a wanderer returning home.
Lin Shuo's body jolted.
He lowered his head and saw a faint nine-colored glow shining from his chest. A warmth beyond all measure burst open inside him, surging along his meridians and flooding every part of his body.
"Xiao Shuo!" Gu Yuena cried out in alarm, striding in front of him.
But before she could reach out to examine him, a purple Soul Ring was already rising slowly from beneath Lin Shuo's feet.
Gu Yuena froze. Not because the Soul Ring was low in quality—quite the opposite. She felt an aura within it that made even her soul tremble. It was a God-Bestowed Soul Ring, and she sensed the Dragon God's presence within it.
Lin Shuo looked down at the purple Soul Ring beneath his feet. He could feel the power it contained. The Soul Ring was roughly three thousand years old, and if he wasn't mistaken, it would grow stronger as his cultivation improved.
Gu Yuena gazed at Lin Shuo, complex emotions roiling in her purple eyes.
"There's no need for Scarlet King to offer himself in sacrifice. There shouldn't be a Soul Ring in this world more suited to you than this one. If I'm not mistaken, the Dragon God bestowed it upon you. Perhaps some of his power remains in this world. He sensed your bloodline and sent this Soul Ring to you."
Lin Shuo felt the power surging through him. In his previous life, he had been an ordinary person and had never possessed such supernatural abilities. And after transmigrating to Douluo Continent, even before his Martial Soul awakened, he had only been much stronger than an ordinary person.
"Sister Nana, my Martial Soul, the Seven-Colored Dragon King, lets me freely wield the basic elements of water, fire, earth, wind, light, darkness, and space. It's also given me a powerful physique."
Gu Yuena gave a small nod. She had known that for some time. Lin Shuo's Martial Soul was the Seven-Colored Dragon King, and these powers were only the most basic abilities he possessed.
"And my First Soul Skill..." Lin Shuo focused his thoughts, and the purple Soul Ring lit up. His body quickly grew much taller, and a layer of seven-colored light appeared across his skin.
"I call it the Seven-Colored Dragon Body. It greatly reduces my Soul Power consumption, and it doubles all of my attributes."
"Not a bad Soul Skill." For another Martial Soul, this Soul Ring would have been incredibly powerful. But for the Dragon God's son, the skill was merely decent.
Gu Yuena's voice returned to its usual coolness, though anyone who listened closely would hear the carefully restrained emotion hidden beneath it. She turned around, her silver hair sweeping through the glow of the space in a graceful arc.
"Come on, Xiao Shuo. I have some things to tell Di Tian and the others."