Dragon Ascent

Old Chen stood at the very front, leaning on his vine staff, his eyes beneath his white brows gleaming with complicated emotions. As the village chief, he understood the Azure Dragon's pride better than anyone. This divine beast had never allowed a human to touch it, let alone permit someone like Lin Hai to ride upon its body.

The Ta Lo villagers by the lakeshore had long since been stunned senseless. They had never known that the Azure Dragon would carry a human through the skies.

The Azure Dragon seemed to sense the change in Lin Hai's mood as well, letting out a soaring dragon roar. Both Lin Hai and the Ta Lo villagers could hear the delight filling that roar.

Resonating with the Azure Dragon's emotions, Lin Hai discovered that the parts of his legs and hands touching it were beginning to grow warm. A warm yet vast power flowed from those heated places, following the circulation path of Life Force toward his dantian.

Lin Hai knew this was likely the Azure Dragon's power, and he believed it would never harm him. Though he did not know what it intended to do, he did not interfere, allowing the power to advance toward his dantian.

Even more wondrously, once the energy from the Azure Dragon entered Lin Hai's dantian, fragments of the Azure Dragon's memories began flashing through his consciousness.

On an ancient battlefield, a larger Azure Dragon battled shadows beneath the starry sky, dragon blood raining down. Those were the inheritance memories its mother had left for the Young Azure Dragon. At the bottom of Ta Lo Village's lake, a young dragon curled up beside a massive, cold dragon corpse, licking the scales on its tail wounded in battle against Soul-Eating Beasts. There was also the curiosity and joy it had felt yesterday upon sensing the rich aura of life on Lin Hai.

"I see..." Lin Hai gently stroked its scales. These memories made him understand the Azure Dragon's loneliness. As the last pure-blooded Divine Dragon, it bore the mission its mother had left behind, yet had no one to share that burden with.

When the energy transfer was complete, a message automatically surfaced in his mind: "Divine Dragon Heart—only those acknowledged by a true dragon may awaken it."

Within those memories, Lin Hai not only learned of the Azure Dragon's millennia-long past, but also gained a deeper understanding of the meaning and concept of the word "dragon."

At the same time, he learned the name of this power—the Divine Dragon Heart. It was a Divine Dragon Heart truly granted only to those recognized by a Divine Dragon, rather than the so-called Divine Dragon Hearts possessed by the Ta Lo villagers after learning natural magic from the Azure Dragon.

Unlike the intense transformation brought by Ego's Flower Bud, this power merged silently into the circulation of his Life Force like spring rain. Looking inward with closed eyes, he saw a ring of blue-gold radiance around the Emerald Energy mass in his dantian.

Once this power settled within Lin Hai, he realized that his Life Force seemed somewhat different. Yet it was nothing like the earth-shattering change that had occurred after absorbing Ego's Flower Bud. Aside from being able to directly sense the Azure Dragon's emotions, he had plenty of time to study what other changes had taken place.

Right now, with him atop the Azure Dragon, there was only one thing on his mind: trying to see whether he and the Azure Dragon could pull off Dragon Ascent, the ultimate move Rayquaza could use only after Mega Evolving in Pokémon.

The Divine Dragon's Power the Azure Dragon had given him allowed him to better sense its emotions, while his Life Force could convey his thoughts to it. He had also gained a deeper understanding of the concept of "dragon" through its memories. With all these conditions in place, Lin Hai was confident he could use this ultimate move. If they truly succeeded this time, then should the Soul-Eating Beasts or even the Dark Dweller escape in the future, he and the Azure Dragon could hit them hard with Dragon Ascent.

No sooner said than done. After Lin Hai conveyed his idea to the Azure Dragon through Life Force, it too wanted to try the immensely powerful move contained in this human's thoughts. Man and dragon immediately hit it off.

Lin Hai took a deep breath and pressed both hands against the dragon's neck. The Azure Dragon flew straight into the sky.

As it flew, the Azure Dragon began mobilizing its own power. Lin Hai, following its movements, sent his Life Force through his hands into the Azure Dragon's body, coordinating with its actions.

Emerald Life Force and blue-gold dragon power began to meld together, erupting into a dazzling sphere of light where they met.

In the eyes of the Ta Lo villagers, the man and dragon that had been flying normally through the sky suddenly shot straight upward for no apparent reason. At the same time, a lush green glow gradually began to spread across the Azure Dragon's body.

When man and dragon reached an immense height above the ground, the Azure Dragon suddenly stopped moving through the air, the blue light around its scales blazing brightly. Lin Hai, seated on its back, was enveloped in an emerald cocoon of light. The two energies intertwined, dyeing clouds for miles around a blue-green hue.

The light radiating from the Azure Dragon made it seem like a second sun in the sky—except this sun was blue-green.

Then, following Lin Hai's idea of Dragon Ascent, the Azure Dragon began diving toward a barren mountain below that showed no signs of life.

The Azure Dragon transformed into a streak of light and plummeted downward. Its speed far exceeded the speed of sound, yet no sonic boom occurred. All kinetic energy was converted into the increasingly brilliant blaze of light.

The Ta Lo villagers only saw the blue-green sun in the sky begin falling at tremendous speed, like a massive blue-green comet.

A few seconds later, the enormous comet "fell" onto a distant mountaintop. Immediately afterward, they saw dazzling blue-green light erupt from that direction, illuminating half the sky, followed by a massive explosion and dust shooting into the heavens.

BOOM—!!!

The intense light temporarily blinded everyone, and the shockwave snapped trees a thousand meters away in half. Once the dust settled slightly, the villagers discovered in horror that the mountain, which had stood eight hundred meters above sea level—no, there was no longer any mountain. Everything above the mountainside that had been visible just moments ago had completely vanished.

Returning to the man and dragon who had unleashed Dragon Ascent, the Azure Dragon had suffered minor injuries despite the protection of its energy. It was its first time using Dragon Ascent, after all, and it had not been proficient enough, crashing headfirst into the ground.

Lin Hai, on the dragon's neck, was completely unharmed. He was merely left a little dazed by the tremendous vibration and noise. Once he came to his senses, he used the little Life Force he had left to heal several small wounds on the Azure Dragon's head.

After dealing with this, immense joy surged through Lin Hai's mind. At the same time, he sensed that the Azure Dragon was extremely excited as well.

That was because the Azure Dragon had completely understood how to use Dragon Ascent during this experiment. It believed that even without Lin Hai's help, it could use the move on its own, though its power would not be as great. Moreover, it would have to hold back to avoid injuring itself, making the Dragon Ascent it used alone even weaker. Still, it would be more than enough to deal with the Soul-Eating Beasts that occasionally escaped. If Lin Hai were present, it even felt that it could defeat the Dark Dweller.

Thinking of the Dark Dweller made the Azure Dragon sad, because it remembered its mother. If its mother had learned this move too, perhaps she would not have died, and it would not have had to guard this place alone for thousands of years.

Sensing the Azure Dragon's emotions, Lin Hai touched its scales, as though comforting a child who missed its mother.

The Azure Dragon quickly recovered. After all, thousands of years had already passed. If it had been unable to let go of these matters, it would likely have withered away in despair long ago and never lived to see the day it met Lin Hai.

Having gathered its emotions again, the Azure Dragon carried Lin Hai and soared into the sky once more under the worried gazes of the Ta Lo villagers.

Upon seeing the Azure Dragon, the Ta Lo villagers finally let out their held breaths. They had thought something had gone wrong with it when it charged toward the barren mountain carrying such immense energy. If Old Chen had not calmed them down, they would have already rushed over to look for it.

When the Azure Dragon carried Lin Hai back to the lakeshore, his face still bore a flush that had not fully faded from excitement.

Old Chen and the other villagers gathered around, but they did not dare come too close, for lingering traces of energy still swirled around the man and dragon.

The old man asked in a trembling voice, "That just now was..."

"Dragon Ascent, a new offensive move." Lin Hai slid down from the dragon's back and patted its scales. "It came from a sudden idea of mine. Now that the Azure Dragon has learned it, dealing with those Soul-Eating Beasts will be much easier."

The Azure Dragon cooperatively lifted its head and breathed a stream of blue-green flames toward the lake. The fire stopped three zhang above the water, transforming into countless motes of light that scattered down.

The villagers collectively knelt in worship, while Old Chen bowed deeply. "Young friend Lin, from this day onward, Ta Lo Village will forever be your home."