Strange mists rose deep within the Sunset Forest, while a halo of milky white and vivid crimson light swirled across the surface of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. Huo Yuhao sat cross-legged on a bluestone by the spring, a pale golden medicinal fragrance lingering around him.
As the medicinal power of a Nine-Grade Purple Ganoderma dissipated, color returned to his pale face. The Soul Power that had long lain dormant within him surged through his meridians like rivers and seas awakening; in his sea of consciousness, his spiritual power transformed into a brilliant galaxy, bursting with unprecedented radiance.
He gazed at the churning two-colored vortex in the spring, his eyes growing deep. According to legend, the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well had come into being when the two great dragon lords, the Water Dragon King and the Fire Dragon King, had fallen together in the Sunset Forest. Their bodies lay buried thirty thousand meters beneath the well.
"Their immense life force nourished the surroundings, giving rise to this hidden realm of Immortal Herbs, where the spiritual essence of heaven and earth gathered. It's because of the Water and Fire Dragon Kings that there are so many heavenly treasures here.
"Now I just have to see whether that legend is true. The bones of the Water and Fire Dragon Kings might help my Ultimate Attribute.
Huo Yuhao clenched his fist, his fingertips still trembling slightly with excitement.
At the spring, Ice Qi and Fire Qi coiled and rose like two giant pythons, rumbling in low bursts. Huo Yuhao took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the freezing and scorching air. "They say the more magnificent the surface, the more secrets lie hidden beneath it. Let me take a good look."
He stretched his limbs, his bones popping crisply, then turned toward the empty air. "Teacher, I'll leave the protection outside the spring to you."
Before he finished speaking, a gray shadow emerged from between Huo Yuhao's brows. The fragment of divine consciousness belonging to Electrolux, Scourge of the Undead, transformed into a brilliant streak of light and merged into his body in an instant.
The presence surrounding Huo Yuhao abruptly changed. His gray hair stirred without wind, and a sacred presence swept over him. Gray energy surged like a tide, condensing on his skin into a protective shield covered in mysterious runes. He leaped into the spring, and the water he splashed into the air froze into ice crystals, only to be instantly vaporized into white mist by the intense heat.
The moment he entered the water, a powerful current swept Huo Yuhao rapidly downward. The forces of ice and fire tore madly at him from every side, as if intent on grinding his body to pieces. Electrolux's voice sounded in his sea of consciousness, carrying a trace of gravity. "Yuhao, finish this as quickly as you can. Although the Immortal Herbs outside have nourished my fragment of divine consciousness and made it stronger,
"the deeper we go, the less time I can possess you because of the Qi here. For your safety, I cannot let you take risks. There isn't much time, so make good use of it."
Huo Yuhao gritted his teeth, letting the spring's chill seep into his marrow. He floated at the boundary between water and fire, closer to the icy-blue side of the spring, feeling Ice Qi and Fire Qi batter his meridians again and again.
Three thousand meters.
Six thousand meters.
Nine thousand meters...
As he descended deeper, the pressure around him became almost tangible, and the Ultimate Attributes contained in the spring water grew increasingly intense. Faintly, he seemed to hear the roar of an ancient dragon echoing through the abyss.
In the depths of the dark spring, time seemed to lose all meaning. Huo Yuhao continued sinking through the intertwined currents of ice and fire, the water pressure stabbing painfully at his eardrums as the scene before him grew ever more bizarre.
After an unknown length of time, the water around him suddenly stopped flowing, and an enormous space opened up before his eyes. Two utterly different yet equally powerful presences soared upward: on one side was a chill capable of freezing the soul, and on the other a heat that could burn all things to ashes.
Huo Yuhao's pupils contracted sharply. At last, he saw clearly: at the far end of the space, two enormous dragon skeletons stood intertwined—the icy-blue bones on the left were covered in ice crystals, while the crimson-gold bones on the right were wreathed in flames whose embers had yet to die, like a magnificent altar built from the remains of the Dragon Clan.
"Found them!" Huo Yuhao's heart pounded, and even his breathing quickened. Forcing down his excitement, he slowly walked toward the dragon bones. The ground beneath his feet trembled faintly, as if a sleeping dragon were awakening.
"It seems we have a visitor." A voice as deep as muffled thunder echoed through the space, carrying a hint of teasing.
"Who knows how many years it's been? To think this place could still have a visitor." Another voice sounded somewhat languid, yet was just as oppressive. "A little human child."
Huo Yuhao clenched his fist and said in a low voice, "Teacher, these are the legendary bones of the Water and Fire Dragon Kings. It seems we haven't come all this way for nothing."
Electrolux's divine consciousness rippled faintly in his sea of consciousness. "Be careful! Though these two dragons have fallen, the presence in their bones is extraordinary."
Just then, two puzzled voices rang out again:
"The Qi on this boy is awfully mixed."
"Why do I get the feeling he carries the Golden Lord's presence? Could it be that our master has taken human form and come to find us?"
"But even if the Golden Lord took human form, he shouldn't be a child, should he?"
Huo Yuhao stopped and gazed at the dragon bones. Icy-blue and crimson-gold light flowed between them, as though the two dragons were still asleep. They don't look particularly unusual. Could it be that I have to absorb both skeletons? He had only just begun to ponder this.
A sharp voice suddenly exploded through the air. "Little child, what is your relationship with the Golden Lord?"
Before the words had faded, a dazzling light erupted from the dragon bones. Two masses of light, one blue and one red, soared upward and transformed into the phantoms of two giant dragons. Ice crystals circled the Water Dragon King's phantom, and the droplets falling from his whiskers instantly froze;
the Fire Dragon King's phantom breathed flames, and the sparks bursting from between his scales scorched the surrounding air until it warped and twisted.
"Or are you our master?" The Fire Dragon King's phantom looked down at Huo Yuhao from on high, wariness and anticipation flickering in his eyes.
Huo Yuhao was wild with joy inside, but he forced himself to remain calm. "As expected, the two Dragon Kings really do exist here, just as the legends say." He took a deep breath and replied calmly, "No, I'm not the Golden Dragon King. I'm merely someone who possesses his power..."
The Water Dragon King's phantom narrowed his eyes slightly, an icy presence washing over Huo Yuhao. "A human can withstand the Golden Lord's power? Interesting..." The Fire Dragon King let out a heaven-shaking roar, flames surging around him. "In that case, why have you come here?"
Huo Yuhao lowered his eyes, a sigh drifting away like a dead leaf in the wind. His eyes glistened with the moisture of remembrance. His acting was superb; he looked as if he truly were immersed in a sorrow that spanned time and space.
He stepped slowly forward, golden light flowing around him, his voice low and deeply moving. "Dragon Kings, in truth, the Golden Dragon King and I were the closest of friends in my previous life, and I, too, was a future god. Back then, the Golden Dragon King invaded the Divine Realm and fought against it. When the Asura God saw the Golden Dragon King break away and come here, he joined forces with the gods and used the Three Realms Judgment Sword to slay him."
At this point, Huo Yuhao's expression grew somewhat complicated. "I received word that the Golden Dragon King was close to death. Seeing my dearest friend gravely wounded, I fought the Asura God for three hundred exchanges, but still couldn't defeat him. When the Golden Dragon King saw this, he thought that since he himself was going to die..."
"He entrusted his core to me. By a fortunate coincidence, I was reborn, and I thought of the two Dragon Kings of the dragon race being here, and then I... The Golden Dragon King's presence within me guided me here."
As his words fell, golden light blazed around Huo Yuhao, and the vast presence of the Golden Dragon King spread outward like a tide. The temperature in the space rose sharply with it.
Crimson-gold energy gathered around him into the enormous phantom of a dragon, majestic and overbearing. "This is the best proof. The Golden Dragon King's sole wish before his death was for me to find the Silver Dragon King and help her revive the Soul Beast lineage. That was also his final charge to me."
The phantoms of the Water Dragon King and Fire Dragon King exchanged a glance, shock in both their eyes. Two utterly different presences collided fiercely within the space, yet strangely reached a certain balance.
"So that's what happened!" they exclaimed in unison, their voices full of relief. "This presence, this figure—and he was able to come here. He's no ordinary person. He truly is a future god, the one the Golden Lord entrusted!"
Huo Yuhao struck while the iron was hot, his expression sincere. "I originally planned to go to the Star Dou Great Forest first and explain everything to the Silver Dragon King. I never expected to meet you two here. I suppose this is fate at work."
He paused, then added, "As far as I know, the Silver Dragon King is currently recuperating deep in the Star Dou Great Forest."
"He even knows exactly where the Silver Master is hiding. It must be true! There's no doubt about it now!" the two Dragon Kings' phantoms said excitedly, the light around them blazing.
"We should also do our part for the Soul Beasts," the Water Dragon King said.
The Fire Dragon King smiled. "Since he's someone our master acknowledged, we can leave this life without regrets."
At last, they looked at each other and grunted in agreement, as if they had made a momentous decision. Both transformed into streams of light and landed before Huo Yuhao, their voices solemn. "Future god, since you are the Golden Lord's dearest friend, you are the most honored friend of our Dragon Clan!"
"To help you become a god as soon as possible, we are willing to offer our dragon souls to aid you, along with our Dragon Cores and dragon bones. We ask only that you fulfill the Golden Lord's dying wish, help the Silver Master restore the Dragon Clan, and let the Soul Beasts rise!"
With that, two masses of light radiating ancient pressure slowly flew toward Huo Yuhao, like two stars about to fall.