Ji Yuan vanished straight from the Star-Gazing Tower.
When he appeared at the edge of the Fish Pond, the sight before him stopped him cold.
The entire surface of the Fish Pond was boiling.
Thick columns of water shot skyward, bursting at their peaks into clouds of spray flecked with golden motes.
Even the stone walls around the Fish Pond were glowing.
Dragon shadows emerged across them, swimming slowly along the stone as low dragon cries sounded one after another.
The sight, the signs—it nearly made Ji Yuan think the Fish Pond had evolved into the Dragon Pool.
At the center of it all was a rapidly swelling cocoon of golden light in the middle of the pond.
It had grown nearly two zhang across. Its walls were translucent, revealing the vague outline of a long figure writhing and growing inside.
A pair of horns was slowly pushing out from its head.
Long Yun had evolved.
He had broken through from the peak of the Fourth Tier to the Fifth Tier, triggering the Level Five Fish Pond's Spirit Effect, Horned Chi Dragon.
Chi Dragons had no horns. Horned Dragons did.
Evolving from a Chi Dragon into a Horned Dragon was the crucial step in awakening the Chi Dragon Clan's ancestral bloodline. Crossing that threshold made all the difference in the world.
Ji Yuan stood on the bank and watched in silence.
Another Chi Dragon watched too: Long Fei, hovering above the Fish Pond's surface.
In her girl's form, she gazed up at the enormous cocoon, her expression deeply conflicted.
Only when she spotted Ji Yuan did she fly over and call softly to him.
"Young Master."
Ji Yuan saw how downcast she looked and knew what was on her mind.
Both dragons had been at the peak of the Fourth