"Prison-Subduing Dragon?" Nan Zhou broke into a satisfied smile. "A very good name."
Then he took out a metal sphere. "Let's test your innate Soul Power. Judging by that imposing display just now, it should be at least level seven or eight."
Under Nan Zhou's guidance, Nan Zhuliu held the metal sphere and slowly poured his Soul Power into it.
As the Soul Power flowed in, a faint yellow glow began to radiate from the sphere's surface, and a number appeared on it: "Ten."
At the sight of that number, Nan Zhou froze for a moment, then reached up and rubbed his eyes, seemingly unable to believe what he saw, before slowly widening them.
"Ha... hahaha."
Nan Zhou could not help bursting into laughter. "One with innate level three, one with innate level four, and we actually had a child with innate full Soul Power! Heaven truly blesses our Nan Family."
After laughing wildly for a good while, Nan Zhou suddenly remembered that Nan Zhuliu was still standing before him, and instantly hid his bared teeth.
Seeing his son looking at him with a polite yet awkward smile, Nan Zhou's old face reddened.
Within seconds, he could not resist scooping Nan Zhuliu into his arms again. "Our Zhuliu is truly incredible! You actually have innate full Soul Power, something extremely rare even across the entire Douluo Continent."
"I'm going to tell your mother this wonderful news. Once we're ready, we'll go to the Star Dou Great Forest together and hunt down a suitable first Soul Ring for you."
Nan Zhuliu nodded excitedly as well.
Even with an adult who had lived two lives at his core, Nan Zhuliu was immensely eager to discover what sort of ability his first Soul Skill would be.
By the time he returned to his room, Nan Zhuliu's excitement had cooled.
Once the excitement faded, Nan Zhuliu could not help recalling the inexplicable, angry words that voice had spoken during his Martial Soul awakening: "Human, why do you carry my bloodline?"
The voice's owner was probably the owner of those terrifying blood-red eyes he had seen when he dreamed of the giant golden cocoon that morning.
But what did that voice mean by saying he carried its bloodline?
Bloodline...
Nan Zhuliu gently stroked the diamond-shaped golden dragon scale on the back of his hand, cool to the touch.
Was it because of the unknown spirit fruit his mother had eaten while pregnant, or had his Prison-Subduing Dragon Martial Soul evolved its bloodline after mutating, just like Yu Xiaogang's Luo Sanpao?
Full of questions, Nan Zhuliu wanted very much to ask the being inside the giant golden cocoon exactly what was going on, but that being felt far too uncanny.
Judging by that Thunder Dragon's tone, it seemed deeply resentful of humans.
Perhaps some mighty human expert had sealed it in that void.
Although Nan Zhuliu did not know why he possessed that Thunder Dragon's bloodline, he was still fundamentally human.
If the Thunder Dragon saw through his true nature and vented its anger on him, he would really be suffering an undeserved calamity.
So until he was prepared, Nan Zhuliu had no intention of facing the Thunder Dragon directly.
With that thought, Nan Zhuliu took several deep breaths, calmed himself, and prepared to cultivate his Soul Power.
When Nan Zhuliu's mind sank fully into meditation, light and shadow shifted, and he discovered to his astonishment that he had actually arrived in the void where the Thunder Dragon resided. He froze on the spot.
Wait, I haven't even figured out how to deal with this yet. How did I suddenly end up here?
Damn it, get out! Get me out of here!
At that moment, Nan Zhuliu was as frantic as an ant on a hot pan.
Sensing that this human, Nan Zhuliu, actually dared to appear before it again, the Thunder Dragon opened its blood-red eyes, and a vicious gleam shot from them, almost solid enough to take form.
Feeling the Thunder Dragon's hostile gaze land on him, Nan Zhuliu immediately felt as though someone had savagely clenched his heart, and his body slowly stiffened.
In his panic, Nan Zhuliu actually failed to register something at first.
Since someone had sealed the Thunder Dragon in this void, it ought to have been an extremely powerful being itself.
Yet he was standing right before it now, facing it directly, without sensing any presence emanating from it whatsoever.
The Thunder Dragon finally got a clear look at the human who had repeatedly disturbed its quiet cultivation and recovery.
Nan Zhuliu clearly looked human, yet he possessed the traits of their dragon race, and its bloodline even flowed within him. Though the bloodline's concentration was not particularly high, its purity was by no means low.
A trace of confusion involuntarily appeared in its vicious eyes, making even its fierce gaze look considerably gentler.
The Thunder Dragon studied Nan Zhuliu closely for quite a while before slowly asking, "Little thing, are you human or dragon? If you are a dragon, why do you look like a human child?"
Nan Zhuliu's body tensed even further. He did not know whether the Thunder Dragon truly could not discern his condition or was bluffing him.
But one thing was certain: given the Thunder Dragon's earlier attitude, admitting outright that he was human would gain him absolutely nothing, and might even put him at risk of death.
Nan Zhuliu steadied himself and said, "I was originally a hundred-thousand-year Thunder Dragon. I ended up looking like this because a small accident occurred when I possessed this human not long ago."
His heart was practically in his throat. He had no idea whether such a flimsy excuse could fool the Thunder Dragon before him, which very likely possessed god-level cultivation.
Hearing this, the Thunder Dragon grew even more confused. "Why would you abandon the dragon race's powerful physique for no reason and possess a human's frail body?"
Nan Zhuliu feigned confusion. "Senior, don't you know? The Soul Beasts' path to godhood has been cut off. If we want to become gods, our only option is to cultivate anew as humans and gamble on that elusive chance at godhood, isn't it?"
The Thunder Dragon fell silent for a long while before finally squeezing out a question. "Why has the Soul Beasts' path to godhood been cut off?"
Nan Zhuliu was a little speechless. Go ask your Dragon God.
Despite his inward grumbling, Nan Zhuliu shook his head. "I only heard it from other Soul Beasts."
"They told me that, for some unknown reason, no god-level expert has emerged among the Soul Beasts for hundreds of thousands, even a million years."
"Even the current Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King, the Beast God Di Tian, whose cultivation has reached eight hundred thousand years, is still nowhere near touching the threshold of godhood."
"I wasn't willing to stop there like the Beast God, and I was worried that simply cultivating anew would still leave me unable to become a god. As it happened, a human with mixed human and beast blood attained godhood ten thousand years ago, so I decided to blaze a different trail by possessing a human and gambling on that elusive possibility."
"Di Tian? I remember him. To think his cultivation has already reached eight hundred thousand years. By all rights, he should have attained godhood long ago," the Thunder Dragon murmured.
Nan Zhuliu went with the current. "Senior, you know the Beast God?"
The Thunder Dragon snorted coldly. "Do you know who I am?"
"Please enlighten me, Senior."
The cold voice suddenly rose, carrying the innate majesty of a superior, its volume deafening. "I am one of the Dragon God's two halves, the Golden Dragon King who commands strength and destruction."