The Dragon God: I'm Here!

Outside the Awakening Hall at the Spirit Pagoda headquarters.

"Little one, did you come here by yourself? Where are your mom and dad?"

Qian Jue blinked innocently, a flicker of hesitation inadvertently crossing his azure eyes, before he took out his identification and said:

"Uncle, I'm an orphan. My parents passed away from illness a long time ago."

The staff member was momentarily speechless, wishing he could slap himself. This was Shrek City, after all; even an ordinary family wouldn't let a child attending their martial soul awakening wear clothes covered in patches.

He offered an awkward smile, took the identification, and softened his tone:

"Little Qian Jue, hello. My name is Su Jiangtao, and I'll be in charge of your martial soul awakening today."

"Thank you, Uncle."

Following Su Jiangtao into the awakening room, Qian Jue stood in the center of a hexagram formation as instructed. Su Jiangtao immediately activated his martial soul, two yellow and two purple rings floating around him.

Qian Jue frowned slightly. Why does this martial soul look like a lone wolf?

Afterward, Su Jiangtao took an antique crystal ball from his storage ring and placed it on the table with great reverence.

"This is an awakening crystal passed down by my ancestors. It is said that my first ancestor once used it to awaken the martial soul of a god."

"Children who undergo the awakening ceremony with this crystal have a high probability of having an excellent martial soul. It's very accurate." His voice sounded as if he were showing off.

So he's a descendant of Brother Tao. My respects, my respects.

Qian Jue stepped into the center of the formation and placed his hand on the legendary crystal ball.

As Su Jiangtao channeled his soul power, the crystal instantly erupted with a dazzling light.

The next moment, Qian Jue opened his right hand, and a long staff covered in fine dragon scales appeared. At each end of the staff, a lifelike divine dragon was carved.

A super martial soul: the Coiling Dragon Staff.

I'm set!

Qian Jue could vaguely sense the Heaven-Awakening Holy Golden Dragon soul within the Coiling Dragon Staff—unruly and filled with righteous energy—quietly coiled inside the weapon.

A naturally born variant of the dragon race, immune to the bloodline suppression of the Golden and Silver Dragon Kings. It was ready to soar.

Su Jiangtao, witnessing this scene, was so shocked his jaw dropped. He hadn't expected Qian Jue to awaken the ancestral martial soul of the Qiangu clan of the Spirit Pagoda.

Could this child be related to the Qiangu family?

But the next moment, a sudden change occurred.

The lights in the entire awakening room dimmed instantly, a fierce wind began to howl outside, and even the ancestral crystal ball cracked for no apparent reason.

Time seemed to freeze.

Qian Jue heard the Heaven-Awakening Holy Golden Dragon soul within his martial soul let out a mournful cry.

Immediately, his Coiling Dragon Staff began to change. The fine dragon scales no longer displayed the monotonous gold and gray, but erupted with a brilliant, eye-catching nine-colored divine light.

"I have finally, finally reunited with you!"

Inside the Coiling Dragon Staff, a faint divine consciousness gazed at the bewildered Qian Jue in the outside world.

In his previous life, He had been too weak, watching his beloved "white moonlight" die tragically in his arms as her soul dissipated and she perished.

After that great war, the Dragon God had inherited Qian Jue's dying wish, expanding territories and building the dragon race into the greatest power in the universe.

Rather than waiting for reincarnation, the Dragon God had chosen to race against time, gathering the faith of the God Realm and the combined might of thirty-two God Kings in an attempt to forge a God Star and ascend dimensions to reverse the tragedy.

Alas, He had failed in the end, and in his despair, he had taken his own life.

After more than a hundred thousand years, He had finally sensed Qian Jue's successful reincarnation, decisively splitting his soul to reincarnate and pouring his original divine soul into the boy.

The Dragon God's soul licked his lips, completely devouring the soul of the original Coiling Dragon and taking its place.

"Accept my gift. In this life, you will no longer have to live as arduously as you did in the past."

In human terms, He was Qian Jue's "golden finger" grandfather.

With that, the Dragon God's soul gradually fell silent.

His main soul had already been reincarnated; this sliver of soul needed to conserve its strength to protect Qian Jue.

Outside, the brief commotion ended, and both Qian Jue and Su Jiangtao noticed the changes in the Coiling Dragon Staff.

If the previous Coiling Dragon Staff had given off an air of upright, awe-inspiring majesty, the current staff looked more like... a magical girl's wand?

Yet, why did it feel so filled with divinity?

"This... did the martial soul mutate?"

Moreover, Qian Jue, who had been sallow and thin, now looked like a different person, his skin supple and delicate.

Su Jiangtao frowned. Martial soul mutations could be beneficial or harmful. Judging by this change, it had to be beneficial, right?

"Let's test your soul power first."

Qian Jue nodded, looking down at the nine-colored Coiling Dragon Staff in his hand, feeling an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

This aura... it feels so familiar.

Forget it for now, I'll just test my soul power. Either way, innate full soul power is a given...

Qian Jue placed his hand on the cracked crystal ball. It instantly erupted with a powerful surge of soul power, causing that imperceptible fissure to rapidly widen.

"This... this seems to exceed innate full soul power!"

Su Jiangtao stepped forward, gripped Qian Jue's wrist, and injected his own soul power to sense the situation.

"In-innate level twenty...?!"

This scene defied Su Jiangtao's understanding. His ancestors had been performing soul awakening ceremonies for generations, but this was the first time he had ever encountered innate level twenty.

Qian Jue's small face showed confusion. Was his talent in this life really this good?

No, that couldn't be right. No one had ever been born with innate level twenty; even Qian Renxue's extra ten levels were a gift from the Angel God.

Could it be because he was the reincarnation of the Dragon God King?

On the other side, Su Jiangtao was already too excited to speak.

He had a premonition that he might surpass his ancestors and become a figure in the Su Family whose name would be recorded on a new page of the genealogy.

This crystal ball passed down through the generations was truly miraculous!

"Crack."

With a crisp sound, the crystal ball that had been passed down for ten thousand years shattered before their stunned eyes.

Qian Jue scratched his cheek and asked awkwardly, "Um... do I need to pay for that?"

Elsewhere, at the Sea God Pavilion.

Yun Ming and Ya Li were snuggled together on a bench on the island, admiring the scenery of the Sea God Lake under the moonlight.

Seeing Long Yeyue hurrying by, Yun Ming stepped forward and bowed, "Sister Yue."

Long Yeyue nodded, showing no intention of stopping.

Yun Ming called out to her.

"Sister Yue, when will you bring Elder Bei's grandson over to meet Na'er? Ever since they met last time, the girl has been clamoring to see him again."

"They are both of the same generation, and Na'er is only two or three years older than him. I'm sure they would get along very well."

Long Yeyue retorted irritably, "That brat is a good-for-nothing! His father's aptitude was mediocre; what kind of decent martial soul could he possibly awaken?"

"That boy isn't worthy of Na'er."

Ya Li looked concerned and tried to reason with her, "It doesn't matter if the child's talent is a bit lacking; we can just provide more resources. Isn't the most important thing whether he has a kind heart?"

At the mention of Qian Jue, Long Yeyue's gaze flickered with evasion before she said:

"He's not feeling well right now. Let's meet another day."

"Is he sick? I can go take a look at the child." Ya Li's willow-leaf brows furrowed slightly, her tone gentle.

"It's nothing major. I just accidentally knocked him over, and he got scalded by some porridge."

Upon hearing this, Ya Li felt a tremor in her heart. Usually gentle, she spoke with rare intensity:

"A child's body is extremely delicate. Sister Yue, how could you be so careless while looking after him?"

Long Yeyue felt a slight panic at Ya Li's rebuke, but she quickly regained her usual elder-like demeanor:

"I've been raising Qian Jue for years. He certainly won't have any problems just because of a small injury like that. You two don't have children, so you don't understand how to raise them."

With that, Long Yeyue left without lingering.

Ya Li clutched the hem of her skirt. Long Yeyue's words just now felt like needles pricking her heart. Was it intentional? Did she know I couldn't conceive...

"Brother Yun, why don't we bring Little Qian over to live with us next time? Sister Yue really doesn't know how to raise a child."

Yun Ming wrapped his arm around his wife's shoulders, his tone helpless, "You know what Sister Yue's temper is like—stubborn and extreme. Plus, that child is the bloodline left behind by Elder Bei and an outsider."

"In any case, once Little Qian grows up, the academy can just compensate him well with resources."

"I believe the descendants of Elder Bei cannot have poor aptitude. The future of Shrek ultimately belongs to these young people."

A tragic childhood? A miserable past?

None of that mattered. Once they entered the gates of Shrek, they would eventually be influenced by its ten-thousand-year glory and submit from the bottom of their hearts.

This was the source of Yun Ming's confidence.