The Heaven-Defying Demon Dragon and the Heart! (Part One) (Seeking Investment! Bookmarks! Recommendation Votes!)

The dragon soul phantom above Qin Xu's head vanished in an instant, but the shock it had dealt everyone in the great hall did not fade with it.

"What a magnificent dragon soul!" Zhao Yong exclaimed in delighted surprise, excitement blazing in his eyes.

"Wait, Feng, doesn't Xu'er's martial soul look a little different from the Dark Demon King Dragon martial soul?" Bai Jian asked in puzzlement.

"A little different? It's completely different!" Qin Feng replied, his face a mixture of shock and confusion. "Uncle Bai, can you believe it? My martial soul actually felt suppressed just now!"

"Xu'er's martial soul must be a Royal True Dragon." Wei Zhiyi stroked his chin, then looked at Zhang Lexuan beside him. "Xuan, did you capture an image of Xu'er's martial soul?"

"Of course." Zhang Lexuan turned and quickly fetched the image recorder she had prepared beforehand, handing it to Wei Zhiyi.

The image recorder was a soul tool recently released by the Sun Moon Empire. It could imprint the martial soul phantom manifested during martial soul awakening, preserving it as a record.

In the past, Douluo's sects and prominent families had already made a habit of recording martial soul appearances during awakening. Before soul masters acquired their Martial Soul Avatars, this was one of the few ways they could learn their martial souls' true forms. The only difference was that those records had been drawn by hand.

Everyone gathered around and began studying the recorded image.

"A dark dragon soul capable of suppressing the Dark Demon King Dragon must be a king dragon of the dark dragon race," Wei Zhiyi analyzed. "The dark dragon race has two great king dragons: the Dark Sacred Dragon and the Hell Demon Dragon. Which one is Xu'er's martial soul?"

The dragon race had a strict internal hierarchy, and even true dragons differed in rank. Those above were royalty; those below were ordinary. Royal True Dragons were few in number and held transcendent status, forming the absolute core of the dragon race. Ordinary true dragons were numerous and varied, serving as the race's steadfast pillars.

"It must be the Dark Sacred Dragon," Zhao Yong said. "Look at those golden eyes. They're practically identical to Beast God Di Tian's!"

"Impossible. I've never met Di Tian, but I have met the Dragon Emperor Douluo. His Dark Sacred Dragon martial soul doesn't look like this!" Bai Jian immediately countered.

"Long Xiaoyao's Dark Sacred Dragon doesn't even possess ultimate darkness. How could it compare to my grandson's?" Unhappy with Bai Jian's words, Zhao Yong immediately shot back.

"Uh, couldn't it be the Hell Demon Dragon?" Qin Feng said. "Our Qin Family ancestor, Black Dragon Douluo Qin Fei, had the Hell Demon Dragon as his martial soul. Xu'er's martial soul could very well be an ancestral reversion."

"I've seen the painting of our ancestor's martial soul. It does bear some resemblance to Xu'er's," Qin Tiansui said. "But our ancestor's martial soul had blackish-purple scales, and its build wasn't as slender and well-proportioned as Xu'er's."

While everyone was discussing it, Qin Xu opened his eyes. His brief confusion gave way to delight and excitement. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that his martial soul would actually be...

"All right, quiet down for a moment." Seeing Qin Xu awaken, Qin Tianji immediately spoke. He had heard their entire discussion and was also immensely curious about exactly what kind of dragon Qin Xu's martial soul was, but that was not the most important matter right now. "Xu'er, let's test your innate soul power first."

To Qin Tianji, it was enough that Qin Xu's martial soul was a true dragon with the darkness attribute.

"Yes, yes! Xu'er, come over to Great-Granduncle. Let's test your soul power first." Qin Tiansui immediately caught on and hurriedly beckoned to Qin Xu.

The others also suppressed their curiosity and looked toward Qin Xu. Indeed, after martial soul awakening, innate soul power was the highest priority.

Qin Xu quickly walked over to Qin Tiansui. Under his guidance, he pressed his right hand into a specially reserved palm-shaped recess in the base of the [Nation-Guarding Dragon King] statue. Both eyes of the Dragon King statue erupted with brilliant blue light.

As mentioned earlier, the Nation-Guarding Dragon King's eyes were two soul power testing crystals. Now that both crystals were filled with blue light, what this meant was self-evident.

"Innate full soul power! It really is innate full soul power!" Qin Tianji was the first to speak, laughing heartily in his joy. "Hahaha! Good, good, good! Wonderful, absolutely wonderful! I, Qin Tianji, finally have a worthy successor! Heaven truly watches over our Qin Family!"

"Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!" Zhao Yong also exclaimed repeatedly, the excitement on his face practically overflowing.

The four Douluo—Qin Tiansui, Qin Feng, Wei Zhiyi, and Bai Jian—as well as Zhang Lexuan all smiled with delight and could not help applauding. Their fortunes were closely tied to Qin Xu's. For them, his supreme talent of innate full soul power meant a future filled with promise and security.

Qin Xu also broke into an overjoyed smile. Although he had mentally prepared himself for this, once it was truly confirmed, he still could not suppress his happiness and excitement.

"Xu'er, how do you feel?" Qin Tianji walked over, patted his shoulder, and asked with a smile.

"Great. Better than ever!" Qin Xu answered.

Qin Tianji's smile grew even brighter. "I'll give you three days to convert your innate soul power. Three days from now, Great-Grandfather will personally take you to choose your first soul ring. How does that sound? Will that be enough time?"

"No problem," Qin Xu said confidently.

For those who possessed innate soul power after martial soul awakening, their first priority was to convert it, transforming and assimilating this energy containing innate qi into their own energy. In other words, they had to transfer their innate soul power from their martial souls through their bodily meridians into their dantians, thereby completing the initial synchronization of their martial souls, soul power, and bodies.

Three days was enough for anyone with innate full soul power to complete that conversion.

"Second Brother, Third Brother, Tiansui, Feng," Qin Tianji instructed, "Xu'er's successful martial soul awakening is a joyous occasion for our Black Dragon Duchy.

"Second Brother, announce this to the ministers at court. Third Brother, announce it to the officers and soldiers in the army. Tiansui, announce it to the commandery governors and city officials. Feng, announce it to our clansmen and vassals. Go."

"Yes."

The four answered in unison, yet none moved to leave immediately.

"Elder Brother, what should we say Xu'er's martial soul is?" Qin Tiansui asked. Clearly, the old drunkard's heart was not in his wine.

Qin Tianji considered this briefly before answering, "The Dark Demon King Dragon martial soul, of course! We shouldn't publicly announce that Xu'er awakened a king dragon martial soul just yet. We need to wait for the right opportunity."

Hearing this, Qin Tiansui and the other three could only leave the Offering Hall first.

Only Qin Xu, Qin Tianji, Zhao Yong, and Zhang Lexuan remained in the great hall. Zhao Yong walked up to Qin Xu with a cheerful smile and rubbed his head. "Xu'er, tell me about your martial soul."

Qin Tianji immediately turned his attention their way as well. He, too, was full of curiosity about Qin Xu's king dragon martial soul.

"Sure." Qin Xu nodded. "My martial soul is called the Heaven-Defying Demon Dragon!"

That was right—the Heaven-Defying Demon Dragon!

Qin Xu's martial soul was none other than the race he had belonged to in his previous life: the dragon kings of both the Creation Continent and the Holy Demon Continent, the sole sovereigns of the seventy-two Demon Gods and the countless demons, the race born alongside the Super Divine Artifact, the Pillar of the Sun—the Heaven-Defying Demon Dragons!

He was astonished and excited. As someone who had once been the Demon God Emperor's own son, he knew the Heaven-Defying Demon Dragons' formidable abilities and terrifying talent all too well. Given time to grow, never mind Beast God Di Tian—even if the Silver Dragon King herself came, she would have to pin her hair up.

"The Heaven-Defying Demon Dragon?" Qin Tianji looked puzzled. "So, it's a mutated martial soul?"

"You could say that." Qin Xu nodded, offering a reasonable explanation of sorts. He could hardly tell Qin Tianji outright that the Heaven-Defying Demon Dragons were a dragon race from another world. That would be far too absurd; Qin Tianji would never believe it.

"Then it must be a beneficial mutation of the Hell Demon Dragon martial soul," Zhao Yong said. "Ultimate darkness, hahaha! Stronger even than Long Xiaoyao's Dark Sacred Dragon. I'd really love to see the look on that old fellow's face if he saw Xu'er's martial soul!"

Listening to Zhao Yong's somewhat giddy remarks, Qin Tianji frowned slightly. "Old Zhao, mind your words!"

After all, Dragon Emperor Douluo Long Xiaoyao had longstanding ties to both him and the Black Dragon Qin Family.

Zhao Yong shrugged, looking utterly unconcerned. There was some friction between the Body Sect and Long Xiaoyao. Well, to be precise, the Body Sect had conflicts with the vast majority of Titled Douluo on the continent.

Because of Qin Tianji, their problems with Long Xiaoyao were actually among the smallest.

The love, hatred, and tangled grudges between these figures at the pinnacle had nothing to do with Qin Xu for now. Ignoring the two elders' exchange, he said something that froze Zhao Yong's expression and sent Qin Tianji's emotions erupting.

"Great-Grandfather, Great-Grandfather Zhao, I have another martial soul."

As soon as he finished speaking, Qin Xu revealed his second martial soul. A faint golden radiance slowly spread from the left side of his chest, flowing outward through the meridians throughout his body until his entire figure shone with brilliant light. At the same time, faint peals of thunder sounded—the rhythm of his beating heart.

"What?"

The two elders cried out almost in unison, then each shouted his own realization.

"Twin martial souls?!"

"A heart martial soul?!"