Bloodline awakening, victory!

Time flew!

In the blink of an eye, Jiang Yun had spent a year in seclusion at the bottom of the Heavenly Burning Qi Refining Tower, and Su Qian was growing increasingly uneasy!

Why hadn't Jiang Yun come out yet?

If the Fallen Heart Flame hadn't been lying quietly there, and Jiang Yun hadn't already possessed a Heavenly Flame, he would have suspected that Jiang Yun was refining the Fallen Heart Flame.

A whole year, without the slightest stir?

With his talent, breaking through to Dou Wang shouldn't have taken this long, should it? Especially with the King-Breaking Pill Elder Huo had refined to help him.

Had something gone wrong?

While Su Qian was puzzling over this, elsewhere, in Jiang Yun's dormitory, Zi Yan finally stirred after a year of silence.

Inside the room, the purple cocoon that had been rapidly drawing in and releasing the energy of heaven and earth suddenly trembled.

The entire room shook violently!

Then dazzling light erupted from the purple cocoon!

As the light on the cocoon grew increasingly intense, faint cracking sounds finally rang out. The tiny fissures covering its surface silently split open, and countless brilliant purple rays shone through them.

As the cocoon shattered, a purple pillar of light suddenly shot skyward, surging toward the roof.

Buzzz-

As it rushed toward the roof, an energy barrier immediately appeared and blocked the purple pillar. This was the Space Seal Su Qian had left behind.

However, Su Qian had still underestimated the commotion an Ancient Void Dragon would cause upon advancing to the sixth rank.

As the pillar of energy grew stronger, a crisp sound of an energy barrier cracking suddenly rang out between heaven and earth.

Although the sound was not particularly loud, it seemed to possess some strange magic, drawing the attention of many people in the Inner Academy. Gaze after gaze abruptly turned toward the dormitory district.

"Zi Yan!" Su Qian was the first to notice the disturbance. A delighted smile immediately appeared on his face, but his expression soon changed dramatically.

"This is bad!"

With that alarmed thought, he was already rushing toward Jiang Yun's dormitory.

Crack-

Unfortunately, Su Qian was a step too late. With a bang, the barrier he had laid down shattered. Immediately afterward, everyone in the Inner Academy felt their hearts sink, as though an enormous dragon had appeared before them and was staring straight at them.

Everyone instinctively tensed, unaware that cold sweat was already running down their backs.

Roooar-

A resonant dragon's roar shook the heavens, accompanied by a terrifying pressure.

Everyone in the Inner Academy paled at once!

"What was that cry?"

"Has a high-rank Magical Beast invaded the Inner Academy?"

"This pressure... I've never felt such terrifying bloodline pressure in my life! What kind of Magical Beast is this?"

"A dragon! A high-rank dragon!"

Everyone, without exception, began discussing it. Many elders wanted to investigate, but the pressure they had just felt left them wary.

"Everyone, leave this area immediately!"

Fortunately, Su Qian's voice rang out right afterward, allowing all the elders to breathe easier. The Great Elder was here, so everything would be fine!

Once the area was cleared, Su Qian turned his gaze toward the purple pillar of light. Feeling that bloodline pressure, he swallowed with a dry throat and murmured, "Just where did this girl come from?"

From that cry, he could tell that Zi Yan's true form should be a dragon, but he had no idea which kind. He would never have thought of the sovereign of Magical Beasts, the Ancient Void Dragon.

Ancient Void Dragons had vanished from the world's sight nearly ten thousand years ago. Very few people still knew of this sovereign of Magical Beasts.

Underground!

An endless sea of molten fire!

A mysterious space filled with boundless darkness and silence, steeped in an ancient, timeworn air.

At the very center of the space was an enormous mass of light. Within it stood a majestic stone gate tens of thousands of feet tall, radiating endless light and an ancient aura.

The stone gate stood there quietly, as though it had existed since time immemorial.

Four ancient characters were engraved atop the stone gate: "Ancient Emperor's Cave Mansion." Though the ancient script was neither ornate nor dazzling, its plain simplicity revealed the supreme majesty of one who ruled heaven and earth, along with a transcendent bearing.

Before the stone gate lay an equally enormous plaza, an ancient expanse stretching beyond sight.

In the space above the plaza coiled a mysterious creature so enormous that words could not describe it, seemingly stretching endlessly toward the distant heavens.

The mysterious creature was purple-gold from head to tail. Sharp, sturdy scales covered its winding body, evoking the rugged strength of a great wall of steel.

It remained quietly coiled in the dark void, utterly motionless.

At a certain moment, it abruptly opened its enormous, ferocious eyes, tinged with faint red and filled with countless overlapping pupils. Waves of wild joy now surged through those cold, indifferent eyes.

"My child's aura!!!"

"Yes, there's no mistake! It's my child's aura!!!"

An earth-shaking shriek suddenly erupted in the silent space. Its enormous body, which had remained coiled and unmoving for thousands of years, abruptly surged forward and slammed into the space around it.

Yet how could a Dou Sheng shake the power of a Dou Di?

Faced with its desperate collisions, a faint glow emerged across the space, making it as solid as a cage.

"Tou She Ancient God, you bastard-"

"You bastard-"

"Aaargh-"

Seeing that the space remained completely unmoved, Zhu Kun abruptly turned his head. His enormous dragon eyes glared viciously at the ancient stone gate floating there, while his unwilling roars of fury echoed endlessly through the space!

They sounded so desolate!!!

"Hmm?"

"The Ancient Dragon Clan's aura?"

At the bottom of the tower, within Jiang Yun's soul sea, the three different flames had already moved beyond their initial situation. The Fallen Heart Flame occupied seventy percent of the territory, while the Saint Heavenly Demon Flame and Jiang Yun divided the remaining space equally.

The three sides were now locked in a stalemate. Although the Fallen Heart Flame held an overwhelming advantage, it could not completely refine Jiang Yun and the Saint Heavenly Demon Flame in a short time.

At that moment, a puzzled voice suddenly sounded from the center of the Saint Heavenly Demon Flame, sending ripples through the deadlock.

"Now!" In an instant, Jiang Yun's closed eyes snapped open, and he let out a long cry.

His eyes were bloodshot and filled with profound exhaustion. Even his soul sea was on the verge of collapse. Without the Bodhi Tree's pure energy to help him, he had no idea whether he could have held on until now. That alone showed how much agony he had endured.

But now, the bitterness had finally ended, and sweetness had come!

"Evil Spirit Eye, God-Slaying Xuan Mo Light!"

An enormous fissure abruptly split open within his soul sea. A gigantic purple eyeball appeared, purple light gathering furiously within it.

The next moment, the strange purple eye suddenly trembled. A beam of purple mystic light shot out from it, vanishing without a trace the instant it appeared.

When it reappeared, it was already slashing fiercely toward the true bodies of the Fallen Heart Flame and the Saint Heavenly Demon Flame!

Silent and soundless, the purple mystic light seemed to transcend time and space. Before either the Fallen Heart Flame or the Saint Heavenly Demon Emperor could react, it struck their origins with brutal force!

"Roar-" The Fallen Heart Flame immediately let out a piercing wail. It, which had once burned souls, felt agony from the depths of its own soul for the first time.

With its "feeble" intelligence, it could not withstand Jiang Yun's soul attack, which approached the Mortal Realm Peak.

Within the boundless sea of milky-white flames, a speck of purple light emerged, growing brighter and brighter as time passed.

At that moment, furious roars and fiery explosions erupted within the flame-filled Void Space.

Amid the explosions, Jiang Yun sat cross-legged inside a purple barrier, his body somewhat illusory, upon a lotus seat formed from purple flames. He remained utterly motionless, his expression unchanged no matter how the Invisible Fire Python attacked outside.

As he examined the flawless purple barrier, a feeling of perfect mental clarity rose within him. He had never felt so at ease.

He looked toward the black-and-white Saint Heavenly Demon Flame flickering in the corner, swaying as though it might go out at any moment, and said hoarsely, "Saint Heavenly Demon Emperor, it seems I've won this round!"

After a long silence, the black-and-white flame flickered, and a figure slowly emerged. It was the Saint Heavenly Demon Emperor. His expression was calm, without the slightest anger at having lost to an ant. Instead, he looked at Jiang Yun with admiration.

"I truly wasn't mistaken. You really are a special existence. An ordinary person's soul would have long since vanished under the Saint Heavenly Demon Flame's burning, yet you endured the scorching of two great flames. You are extraordinary indeed."

Jiang Yun fell silent at his words. Looking back now, even he felt his heart pound with lingering fear. If he searched his heart, could he endure it again?

He slowly shook his head. Even he dared not guarantee that he could scrape out another victory.

Many coincidences had contributed to this success. The Fallen Heart Flame was intensely hostile toward the Saint Heavenly Demon Flame and had spent most of its power wearing it down.

Although he had anticipated that to some extent, the amount of power it had expended exceeded his expectations.

It seemed the former owner of the Wan Huo Indestructible Body and the Saint Heavenly Demon Emperor had shared quite a "twisted bond"!

Still, that had greatly reduced the pressure on him!

And that dragon's roar?

Had it been Zhu Kun? Why would he have reacted for no reason?

All these coincidences together had brought about Jiang Yun's success!

"Heh." What kind of man was the Saint Heavenly Demon Emperor? An old hand who had lived for who knew how long. He saw through Jiang Yun's thoughts at a glance and chuckled.

"Sometimes, luck is part of strength. Or rather, among the powerhouses who stand at the pinnacle, which one wasn't a favored child of fortune in their own era?"

"You needn't dwell on it. At least in this respect, you have the potential to reach the pinnacle. That proves my judgment was quite good!"

"Jiang Yun, you still have nearly two hundred years. I look forward to the day you stand before me. I believe my main body feels the same!"

For the first time, the Saint Heavenly Demon Emperor committed Jiang Yun's name to memory. Unfortunately, he was merely a manifestation of will within a wisp of child flame and lacked the ability to contact his main body.

"I certainly will!" Jiang Yun stared at the Saint Heavenly Demon Emperor with blazing eyes. To accomplish his goal, he would inevitably have to face this supreme powerhouse. Now that he had won one round against him, he believed he would win again when that time came!

The Saint Heavenly Demon Emperor smiled. After so many years, he had taken an interest in something for the first time. Unfortunately, this strand of will could not endure, and he could only briefly experience the stirring of his heart.

He gave Jiang Yun a long, deep look, as though trying to engrave this "ant" in his memory. Then, under Jiang Yun's gaze, his figure slowly faded until it disappeared completely.

A wisp of twin black-and-white flames remained. It now gave Jiang Yun a strange feeling, as though only at this moment did it truly belong to him, rather than merely being something the Saint Heavenly Demon Emperor had granted him permission to use.

"Come!"

Jiang Yun beckoned. The Saint Heavenly Demon Flame trembled, then slowly settled into his palm.

Putting away the Saint Heavenly Demon Flame, Jiang Yun turned his gaze toward the Fallen Heart Flame outside.

After such prolonged depletion, the Fallen Heart Flame had now reached its weakest state ever. Although it still acted ferociously, Jiang Yun saw through its outward strength and inner emptiness at a glance.

"Now it's time to reap the harvest!"

Seated cross-legged upon the Fire Lotus, Jiang Yun looked at the dispirited Fallen Heart Flame beyond the fiery barrier and smiled faintly. Black-and-white flames danced in his eyes. He slowly rose, and a fierce aura swept out like a storm in that instant!

"Roar-"

Seeing Jiang Yun rise, a trace of panic flashed through the Fallen Heart Flame's serpentine eyes, and a powerful sense of danger welled up within it.

"You enjoyed beating me earlier, didn't you? Now it's my turn!"

Looking at the anxious Fallen Heart Flame, Jiang Yun chuckled and lightly waved his sleeve. A pillar of black-and-white fire spouted from it, transforming into an enormous dragon in the likeness of Zi Yan's true form, an Ancient Void Dragon.

It lunged to bite the Invisible Fire Python formed by the Fallen Heart Flame!

"Roar-"

Seeing the enormous dragon charge, the Fallen Heart Flame let out a furious roar as well. Countless pillars of molten fire immediately hurtled toward the dragon, but their power was nowhere near what it had been before.

Facing the Fallen Heart Flame's attack, the enormous dragon merely opened its mouth. A deep black vortex instantly appeared, and a terrifying devouring force silently spread.

Without a sound!

Every attack the Fallen Heart Flame unleashed was swallowed by the enormous dragon, without raising so much as a ripple!

"Stop resisting. You're far too irritable now. Let me help restore your innocence so you can enjoy the happiness of childhood!" In excellent spirits, Jiang Yun looked at the Fallen Heart Flame with a wicked grin.

As his words fell, a terrifying devouring force erupted from the black-and-white dragon's mouth.

The Fallen Heart Flame's eyes were now utterly filled with panic, and its enormous body kept retreating.

"You've lost!"

Seeing the Fallen Heart Flame panic and begin to retreat, Jiang Yun smiled faintly. His eyes turned completely black, with a terrifying devouring force swirling within them.

With a few rushing sweeps, the enormous dragon in the sky caught up to the Fallen Heart Flame and seized it. Amid its roaring struggles, the dragon slowly swallowed it.

After finishing all this, Jiang Yun surveyed his purple soul sea, his heart filled with a sense of security.

"The Great Elder and the others must be getting anxious. I wonder whether Zi Yan has come out of seclusion!"

With a soft chuckle, Jiang Yun's figure slowly vanished from the space.

Outside!

The instant Jiang Yun withdrew from his soul sea, his cross-legged body slowly opened its eyes under Qing Ming's watchful gaze.