No Dragon Lords in This World

"A dragon can be great or small, rise or hide; when great, it summons clouds and breathes mist; when small, it conceals its form within reeds and shells. When it rises, it soars between heaven and earth; when it hides, it lurks beneath the rolling waves. Now that spring runs deep, the dragon rides the changing tide."

Since ancient times, the Dragon Race had always been an exceptionally powerful race. Whether in the Upper Realm or the Profound Yellow Realm, the Dragon Race occupied an immensely important position.

True Dragons worthy of being called Dragon Lords were the purest direct descendants among the Dragon Race, the finest of their kind.

Through the influence of the Dragon Lords, the Dragon Race established a Water Tribe system centered around the Four Seas Dragon Kings and Four Rivers Dragon Lords, ruling over the countless aquatic tribes of all rivers, lakes, and seas beneath the heavens.

Beyond that, the Dragon Race had bred numerous false dragons carrying Dragon Race bloodlines, and they too held important positions within the Water Tribe system.

Calling themselves members of the Dragon Race, they occupied remote lakes, deep pools, and even wells that were difficult for the true Dragon Race to influence, ruling over countless large and small bodies of water.

This was why the Lake Dragon Kings, Pool Dragon Kings, and Well Dragon Kings of folk legend came by their names.

Relying on the Water Tribe system, the Dragon Race defeated the Old One River Earl, who had once ruled over all waters, and claimed the position of overlord of the Water Tribe.

An Innate Spirit Pool was a pool of spiritual power that naturally formed within a body of water, gathering the spiritual essence of that region's waters.

The purity of its liquid spiritual power could nourish an enormous body of water, sustain its vitality and reproduction, and could almost be regarded as a Spirit Vein beneath the water.

Spirit Veins on land often stretched for dozens of miles and were vast in scale, while Innate Spirit Pools in the water were much smaller. Yet there was one thing Spirit Veins could never match.

The liquid spiritual power in an Innate Spirit Pool was far easier to absorb for cultivation than the spirit stones produced by Spirit Veins. It could be called a supreme treasure for cultivators breaking through bottlenecks.

Yet even with such a tremendous temptation, the major sects still expended enormous resources to construct formations. The reason was that Innate Spirit Pools, almost without exception, formed within large bodies of water and were the lifeblood of every Dragon Lord.

Only by protecting an Innate Spirit Pool could the spiritual power of a body of water remain stable, allowing awakened Water Tribe creatures to be born without end.

If you challenged a Dragon Lord, the Water Tribe might not care.

But once you tried to seize an Innate Spirit Pool, it meant attempting to destroy the Water Tribe system and declaring war on the entire Water Tribe. No one under heaven had the nerve for that.

So although Shen Yuan knew about Innate Spirit Pools, they had never been within his considerations from the very beginning.

It was not until that casual complaint just now that Shen Yuan realized a very subtle issue.

After three thousand years of spiritual energy depletion during the Dharma-Ending Era, did Dragon Lords truly still exist?

Shen Yuan believed that the Four Seas Dragon Kings and Four Rivers Dragon Lords surely possessed methods akin to Grotto-Heaven Paradises, allowing some members of the Dragon Race to evade the period of depleted spiritual energy.

But even now, with the return of the Spirit Tide, the spiritual energy of the Profound Yellow Realm was still insufficient to sustain a True Dragon, much less a Dragon Lord—the finest among True Dragons, ruler of an entire body of water.

With that, the answer seemed obvious.

There were no Dragon Lords in the present world!

And under the influence of the Spirit Tide, large bodies of water that had been drained of spiritual energy for thousands of years were qualified to give birth to Innate Spirit Pools.

Those Innate Spirit Pools were not under the jurisdiction of any Water Tribe Dragon Lord. They were still ownerless!

In an instant, Shen Yuan's thoughts became crystal clear.

"Why bother using formations to construct a sect Spirit Pool? Something artificially made like that is far too vulgar. How could it possibly suit my status as the master of Falling Cloud Sect?

I'll just find an Innate Spirit Pool, then claim it for the sect under the identity of Falling Cloud Sect's master, and complete Essence Refinement into Qi within that Innate Spirit Pool.

With an Innate Spirit Pool aiding me, the effects of generating mana after my breakthrough will definitely far surpass those of a sect Spirit Pool.

That way, this so-called beginner's guidance won't be a problem at all!"

Having finally found a way to break the deadlock, Shen Yuan could not help but reveal a delighted smile.

Although Innate Spirit Pools might not be easy to find at this point in time, it was still a method.

At worst, Shen Yuan could spend some time searching through Great Xia's major rivers, lakes, and seas one by one. He would eventually find a suitable target.

Having made up his mind, Shen Yuan prepared to rise and leave the cultivation room.

Finding an Innate Spirit Pool required a cultivator's intervention. At present, the Fu family had only Old Master Fu, who clearly lacked such ability.

So Shen Yuan had to handle it personally and make preparations in advance.

Just as Shen Yuan was about to step out of the resting room, the smile on his face abruptly changed.

His divine sense, enhanced by the Seed of Divine Ability of the Earthly Baleful Sword Art, detected an exceedingly concealed trace of demonic aura permeating the courtyard.

That trace of demonic aura was incomparably pure, far surpassing the little demons that had attempted to break into the courtyard days ago. Its concealment was so thorough that even Shen Yuan had failed to notice it immediately.

"A Qi-Refining Demon Race cultivator!"

The instant the thought flashed through his mind, the Dark-Bright Sword in the cultivation room shot into the air, transforming into a streak of white light that burst through the doors and slashed down toward the Qi-Refining Demon Race cultivator in the center of the courtyard.

The Maine Coon was staring at the astonished Bai Xue and was just about to ask about the past few days, when an overwhelmingly intense sense of danger swept through its body.

"Great King, watch out!"

With one motion, the Maine Coon shielded the dazed Bai Xue behind it. Demonic aura surged around its body, whipping up a violent gale within the courtyard.

The Maine Coon, which had been crouching on the ground, rose onto its hind legs. Its massive body took on the form of a cat-headed humanoid, crossing its arms before itself as the yellow-and-white fur across its body began to gleam with a metallic luster.

Transcendent Divine Ability: Bronze Head, Iron Arms!

One of the most common divine abilities among the Demon Race, yet also one of their most practical at lower realms. Once activated, even cultivators of the same realm would struggle to break through its defenses.

There had once been a tiger vanguard under a Demon King who relied on this divine ability to slaughter thousands of demon monkeys, earning fame in a single battle.

Yet after activating the divine ability, the sense of danger in the Maine Coon's heart did not vanish. Instead, it grew ever more intense.

A streak of white light pierced through the demonic aura enveloping the entire courtyard at a speed the naked eye could barely discern. The formidable demonic aura of the Qi-Refining Realm, enough to shatter mountains and split stones, was treated as though it did not exist. With peerless sharpness and a speed beyond thought, it slashed down toward the Maine Coon.

The Maine Coon forced its eyes wide open with all its strength, only able to see a rust-covered Bronze Ancient Sword descending toward it. Its soul trembled unceasingly beneath that ancient sword, nearly collapsing.

The sword intent gathered upon the blade was like an invisible sword that shattered all methods. The Bronze Head, Iron Arms divine ability that the Maine Coon had unleashed with all its strength shattered in an instant, and the powerful backlash made it violently cough up a mouthful of blood.

A cat demon of the Qi-Refining Realm had been grievously wounded with ease before it could offer even the slightest resistance.

The sword intent did not weaken. The Maine Coon could almost see the flying sword within that white light piercing through its skull, and an immense sense of powerlessness surged endlessly through its heart.

As expected of a Void-Refining True Lord. Even after breaking through, I still have no ability to resist.

In the end, I still failed to save Great King!

The terrifying sword intent fell, cutting away all the demonic aura surrounding the Maine Coon.

The next moment, all its sharpness withdrew, and the utterly ordinary Bronze Ancient Sword stopped before the Maine Coon's brow.