Blue Silver Dragon-Devouring Spear

[For the next ten-odd days, you and the Blue Silver King guarded Ah Yin's cocoon of light, never leaving its side.]

[On the first day, a faint heartbeat came from within the cocoon, beat after beat, steady and strong, resonating from afar with the earth veins of the entire forest.]

[On the second day, the surrounding Blue Silver Grass began bowing toward the cocoon of its own accord, leaves drooping and stems dipping, like a silent multitude paying homage.]

[The third day, the fourth, the fifth... the cocoon's radiance deepened day by day, shifting from pale blue to deep indigo, then from deep indigo to a tranquil platinum.]

[Fine golden patterns gradually emerged on the cocoon's walls, winding and twisting like ancient, mysterious totems inscribed with some profound law of heaven and earth.]

[The Blue Silver King kept watch beside the cocoon each day, one vine resting gently against its wall. His deeply furrowed, aged face was bathed in soft light, carrying less of its usual solemn majesty and more of an almost kindly anticipation.]

[The days spent guarding the cocoon were quiet and long.]

[You used this rare stretch of leisure to devote yourself to refining your newly acquired fifth Soul Skill-the Blue Silver Overlord Spear.]

[This was a formidable spear suited to both long-range throwing and close-quarters combat, with exceptionally powerful single-target bursts.]

[Its tip possessed an innate, supreme piercing quality, capable of concentrating all its power into a single point to shatter metal and break armor, with nothing able to withstand it.]

[More precious still, the spear could draw upon the life force of surrounding vegetation to strengthen itself. Driven at full power, it could even pierce straight through the Clear Sky Hammer's heavy, crushing momentum.]

[Condensing the spear consumed considerable Soul Power, but once formed, maintaining its shape required very little expenditure, making it an exceptionally handy weapon for slaughter.]

[Yet after several rounds of practice, you soon noticed its weakness-]

[The shaft was rather brittle and shattered easily in violent collisions. Although the spear could gradually grow stronger alongside the Life-bound Soul Ring, it ultimately lacked toughness and was nowhere near capable of sustaining intense life-and-death combat.]

[You settled your mind and tried to remedy these flaws.]

[At a thought, your fourth Soul Ring quietly lit up.]

[Fourth Soul Skill-Blue Silver Armor Attachment.]

[The power of the scale armor spread from your palm, fine red and blue scales covering the shaft layer by layer like living creatures. Black formed the base, with gold and red tracing the patterns. The shaft's hardness suddenly soared, leaving ordinary weapons unable to inflict even the slightest damage.]

[Yet while it had hardness to spare, it still lacked resilience. Under heavy blows, the scale armor remained intact, but the shaft beneath was still prone to snapping.]

[You did not stop, and the third Soul Ring beneath your feet lit up next.]

[Third Soul Skill-Myriad Forms Mimicry.]

[With exquisitely precise control, you adjusted the properties of every part of the spear's internal framework. You used the vitality of Blue Silver Grass to compensate for its lack of resilience, making it hard without being brittle and flexible without being soft, truly balancing strength and suppleness.]

["This should be enough to handle ordinary battles."]

[Looking at the spear, you could not help recalling the two most famous divine spears in the original story-the Silver Dragon Spear and the Golden Dragon Spear.]

[Both spears shared one characteristic-they could devour an opponent's Soul Power and life force during combat and feed them back to their wielders, allowing them to grow fiercer as they fought and battle for long periods without tiring.]

[Your gaze shifted slightly.]

[Your second Soul Skill, Essence Devouring Absorption, also possessed the ability to devour.]

[If you incorporated it into the spearhead, could this spear gain that same characteristic?]

[Once the thought arose, you immediately activated your second Soul Skill, Essence Devouring Absorption, and tried pouring its devouring power directly into the spearhead.]

[At first, it did not go smoothly.]

[Essence Devouring Absorption relied on the fine pores covering the vines to devour. Forcing it into the spear's blade caused the life force contained within the vines to directly disrupt the blade's smoothness and sharpness.]

[You pondered quietly and soon adjusted your approach.]

[Instead of pursuing a forced structural fusion, you condensed the devouring power into a film of Soul Power as thin as a cicada's wing and spread it evenly over the spearhead.]

[This way, its sharpness was not diminished in the slightest. In combat, wherever the spear's edge reached, this film could cling like an ulcer gnawing at the bone, silently eating away at the opponent's Soul Power and vitality and feeding them back to you continuously through the shaft.]

[Even if this film was torn apart in fierce combat, it could repair itself with the energy it absorbed, returning to its original state in an instant.]

[The combination of Soul Skills had taken shape. Next came refining it fully into a complete Self-Created Soul Skill.]

[With your previous experience fusing the Myriad Forms Dragon Scale Armor, this process of working out the technique was still complex, but went much more smoothly.]

[Using the Blue Silver Overlord Spear as your blueprint and Blue Silver Grass's unique compatibility with all attributes as your furnace, you refined and harmonized the various powers anew, pouring them all into the spear.]

[Several days later, you stirred your will.]

[A completely new spear slowly condensed into shape in your palm.]

[The spear's main body was a deep blue-gold, with faint silver star patterns flowing and flickering across its surface, like shattered stars sinking into a long river or fireflies circling the shaft.]

[Its tip was incomparably sharp, retaining its supreme piercing quality, its edges as thin as cicada wings gleaming with a heart-chilling light.]

[Devouring power lay hidden within the spearhead. Wherever its edge reached, it could silently eat away at an opponent's Soul Power and feed it back to you.]

[Gold and red dragon-scale patterns covered the shaft, with a faint dragon silhouette roaming across it. The scale armor brightened and dimmed with each breath, as though a living creature lay dormant within.]

[The entire spear formed a seamless whole, its various attributes greatly enhanced. Its overall strength was already no weaker than the finest Tool Martial Souls of the age.]

[You gently stroked the shaft, feeling the solid weight and sharpness conveyed through your palm. After a moment's thought, you said softly, "From now on, you shall be called... the Blue Silver Dragon-Devouring Spear."]

[With the Soul Skill fully refined, your mind settled into tranquility as well.]

[Now that you were a Prince of the Blue Silver Clan, you also wanted to understand this people more deeply.]

[You sat leaning against an ancient tree, your gaze resting on Ah Yin's cocoon of light, and asked casually, "Senior, could you tell me about the Blue Silver Clan's past?"]

[The Blue Silver King remained silent for a long time. His weathered eyes gazed at the cocoon, filled with distant recollection.]

["In the eyes of the world, we of the Blue Silver Clan are the most common, most unremarkable plants on this continent."]

[His voice was low and slow, carrying a rasp worn into it by the years, as though he were reciting an ancient genealogy.]

["We are born in the wilderness and grow upon cliff faces, neither vying with the beasts for supremacy nor contending with the people of the world."]

["From frozen earth to muddy marshes, from towering ridges to deep valleys, wherever there is soil, our roots spread."]

["We are born fragile, our stems and leaves slender, our lives lasting no more than a season. We wither when frost comes and turn to ash when fire passes."]

["As plants, awakening awareness and intelligence is far harder for us than for birds and beasts. Often, before intelligence can even stir, we have already withered and flourished for years, returning once more to the spring soil."]

["One generation withers, another flourishes. Countless blades of Blue Silver Grass live and die without cease through the years."]

[His voice paused, its tone gradually growing deep, resonant, and far-reaching.]

["But heaven and earth never cut off every path to life."]

["As the days and months accumulate, there is always that one blade of Blue Silver Grass that survives natural disasters and the jaws of beasts, endures bitter cold and scorching heat, and accumulates its essence through countless cycles of withering and flourishing, climbing step by step to a hundred thousand years and awakening the racial gift unique to our clan."]

["From that point on, with the aid of its racial gift, it uses itself as a nexus to communicate with its kin for a thousand li around, absorbing the vital essence they willingly offer. At the same time, it suffuses the clan with its own aura, imprinting the evolutionary path toward a higher bloodline deep within their instincts and helping them awaken awareness and intelligence."]

["Over time, more and more of its kin gather around it, their vital essence flowing like a hundred rivers returning to the sea."]

["And thus-"]

["The first sovereign was born."]

["The sovereign's racial gift transformed as well, becoming the supreme gift of the Blue Silver Clan-the Blue Silver Domain."]

[Hearing this, you too felt a measure of awe stir in your heart.]

[So the emphasis in "Miracle Among Mortals" had never been on the word "miracle."]

[Countless plants withered and flourished generation after generation, living and multiplying year after year. Struggling amid barrenness, reborn amid desolation. Straining with all their might to grow toward the sun, then giving back to their clan without reserve, protecting the flame of their people so it could burn on-this was the true foundation of this clan.]

[You collected yourself and asked, "Was this Ah Yin's ancestor?"]

[The Blue Silver King nodded.]

["After each sovereign passes away, their standing and bloodline return to the clan's source, slumbering among its countless people. They remain there until the next clansman bearing the Imperial Bloodline cultivates to a hundred thousand years, awakens the Blue Silver Domain, and claims the throne once more."]

["And so the lineage is passed down, living on without end."]