"I am one of the Dragon God's two halves, the Golden Dragon King, who commands strength and destruction."
The arrogant words echoed from every direction through this boundless world of nothingness, now distant, now near, sounding perfectly clear yet somehow unreal.
Nan Zhuliu was instantly shocked, and this was no act. He truly had not expected the golden cocoon to contain the Golden Dragon King, one of the Dragon God's two halves.
Just then, Nan Zhuliu suddenly remembered that Legend of the Divine Realm seemed to mention how the Golden Dragon King had been gravely wounded by a combined attack from the deities of the Douluo Divine Realm. On the verge of death, he had transformed into an indestructible dragon cocoon, which the deities had ultimately sealed in the God-Forsaken Land. No wonder he hated humans so much.
If he was going to put on an act, he had to see it through. Nan Zhuliu hurriedly dropped to one knee. "Greetings, my lord."
"Oh? A little dragon barely out of the egg like you has heard my legends too?"
Shortly after splitting off, the Golden Dragon King had been sealed in the God-Forsaken Land by the deities for hundreds of thousands, if not a million years. In his eyes, a "hundred-thousand-year Thunder Dragon" like Nan Zhuliu really was little different from a newborn.
"Even though the dragon race has now fallen into decline, we still pass down your legends by word of mouth, my lord. So even after hundreds of thousands of years, they have endured without fading."
Nan Zhuliu did not deliberately show off the secrets he knew from the original novel to the Golden Dragon King. In his current situation, the more he said, the more mistakes he could make. Caution was best.
"After that battle, all your former soul beast followers thought you had fallen alongside the Nine Dragon Kings. Since you are safe, my lord, why haven't you returned to unite the soul beasts and rebuild?"
The Golden Dragon King pondered for a moment before slowly explaining, "It is not that I do not wish to return and lead the soul beasts back to their former heights. But in that great battle, I fought desperately to the very end. The deities of the Divine Realm could not kill me, so they devised a way to seal me in this God-Forsaken Land. That seal has held for a million years."
"The seal laid down by the combined strength of the Divine Realm's gods is too powerful. Even though my cultivation has recovered to the Supreme God level, I still cannot break through this damned seal."
Seemingly reminded of something, he asked, "Back then, under my protection, the Dragon God's other half, the Silver Dragon King, finally slipped into the turbulent currents of spacetime and escaped. Has she not returned to the dragon race either?"
Hearing this, Nan Zhuliu could not help smacking his lips. Why was so much of what the Golden Dragon King said different from what he knew?
Had the version been updated again without me keeping up with the times, or was the Golden Dragon King trying to salvage his dignity?
Nan Zhuliu shook his head. "As far as I know, since the great battle, the soul beast race has received no further word of our other lord."
"But I have heard that the Beast God personally experienced that battle. Perhaps the Beast God knows something."
The Golden Dragon King said, "In that case, once you leave, go find Di Tian and ask whether he has any news of the Silver Dragon King."
Nan Zhuliu found himself in a bind, however, and said rather awkwardly, "My lord, I have had no dealings with the Beast God. Besides, I have now possessed a human, and my cultivation is far below what it once was. If I seek an audience with the Beast God, never mind whether he would receive me-I fear I would become food for other soul beasts before I even saw him."
"That is true. In that case, there is no need to rush."
Although the Golden Dragon King very much wanted news of the Silver Dragon King as soon as possible, hoping they could work together from inside and outside to break the seal, become the Dragon God once more, and take revenge on the deities.
This was indeed no easy task, however. Besides, he had already endured so many years. One day in the Divine Realm was a year on earth; what difference would a little more time make?
After some thought, the Golden Dragon King looked at Nan Zhuliu.
The next instant, a streak of golden-red light suddenly shot out of the dragon cocoon at an astonishing speed.
Before Nan Zhuliu could react, the golden-red light plunged straight into his chest like a meteor, trailing a brilliant blaze.
"I am in a good mood, so I shall bestow a fortuitous opportunity upon you, a descendant of our dwindling line."
His consciousness was abruptly pulled away. Nan Zhuliu's vision blurred, and he was back in his room.
Then, in an instant, his entire body seemed to catch fire. His blood began to boil, and every inch of him felt as though countless ants and insects were gnawing at it, making death seem preferable to life.
As his nerves gradually went numb, Nan Zhuliu felt for the first time that time could be so long-so long that it seemed to have stopped flowing altogether. Only the searing pain told him that he was still alive.
His boiling blood finally began to settle, but immediately afterward, his right arm felt as though someone were smashing it apart bit by bit, then sticking it back together.
Golden dragon scales rapidly covered his entire right forearm. His palm swelled and his finger joints lengthened, slowly transforming into a massive golden claw with extremely sharp tips.
After an unknown amount of time, the pain finally receded, and life slowly returned to Nan Zhuliu's numb, unfocused eyes.
Nan Zhuliu instinctively looked at his right hand, which had become a thick, powerful golden dragon claw. Though the agony had numbed his mind, he could still clearly feel that his right hand was brimming with unprecedented strength.
Golden Dragon Claw?
The first thing Nan Zhuliu thought of was the dragon transformation ability granted to Tang Wulin when his Golden Dragon King bloodline first awakened in the original novel.
He likewise possessed the Golden Dragon King's bloodline, and this dragon transformation ability had been awakened with the help of the Golden Dragon King himself. It was hard not to connect the two.
But after examining it carefully, Nan Zhuliu discovered some differences.
Tang Wulin's Golden Dragon King bloodline abilities existed independently of his Martial Soul and could be considered an unconventional bloodline Martial Soul. They also consumed an enormous amount in the early stages.
Nan Zhuliu's dragon claw, however, required possession by his Prison-Subduing Dragon Martial Soul to use, and its consumption was nowhere near as great as Tang Wulin's Golden Dragon Claw.
Even his current soul power of only rank ten was enough to sustain his dragon transformation for quite some time.
Nan Zhuliu picked up the cup on the table and gave it a gentle snap, easily breaking off a piece.
It lacked the Golden Dragon Claw's distinctive crushing property.
Presumably, his dragon claw had only inherited the Golden Dragon Claw's strength.
That made sense, though. Tang Wulin possessed the complete Golden Dragon King bloodline, whereas he had only acquired a portion of it through a chance coincidence.
Moreover, if not for the fortuitous opportunity the Golden Dragon King had bestowed on a whim, Nan Zhuliu would still have been able to undergo dragon transformation, but the boost to his strength would certainly not have been anywhere near this great.
Nan Zhuliu could not help letting out a soft sigh. Did this count as a blessing in disguise?
At first, Nan Zhuliu had only thought he possessed the bloodline of some lightning-attribute true dragon. He had never expected it to be the bloodline of the Golden Dragon King, who stood at the very pinnacle of soul beasts.
Unless the Dragon God revived or the Golden Dragon King and Silver Dragon King arrived in person, the end of his "future" really was plain to see now.
Nan Zhuliu reviewed his conversation with the Golden Dragon King and finally realized, belatedly, that the Golden Dragon King seemingly could not discern his exact condition. He could only roughly sense the human presence and the presence of his own bloodline within him.
Likewise, under normal circumstances, a soul master with only rank-ten cultivation and not even a soul ring, standing before the Golden Dragon King with his God King cultivation, should long since have been ground to dust by the pressure he gave off.
Could this be my perk as a transmigrator?