Within a vast space of consciousness, a colossal golden dragon flew with a young man on his back.
"Brat, you've already met the Dragon God, haven't you? I can sense a trace of a familiar, complex scent deep in your soul." The Golden Dragon King wrinkled his nose. His tone was still as disagreeable as ever, but it was a little friendlier.
Xiao Yan nodded, remaining silent. At that moment, he still had no idea where he was. Before his eyes stretched a vast, magnificent cosmic panorama. In Xiao Yan's view alone, more than ten star systems radiated a dazzling, warm, and far-reaching light. Their power spread through the surrounding space, providing every dragon present with light, warmth, and the power of life.
Flocks of enormous dragons soared up and down through the cosmos, their wings beating. Their forms were somewhat illusory; after flying only a short distance, they became hard to see. A while later, their forms appeared again, dreamlike and indistinct.
"This place..." The Golden Dragon King's voice held a rare note of tenderness as he spoke in deep, resonant tones. "This was once the Divine Dragon Realm, the home I have never seen."
The Golden Dragon King gazed softly at those gentle rivers of stars. Among the illusory dragons, he was the only tangible being Xiao Yan could touch, even though he was now no more than a wisp of soul power.
"In the battle that destroyed the Divine Dragon Realm, the Dragon God's spirit and soul were annihilated. His evil thoughts were severed from him and became me, suppressed within this human Divine Realm to be worn away day after day." The Golden Dragon King spoke wistfully. Clearly, to him, this had been a calamity he had done nothing to bring upon himself. He had only just been born, yet he had borne all the sins of the mad Dragon God and had never known freedom in his life.
"And so, only in this dream can I see my home, my family, and..." With that, the Golden Dragon King's tone abruptly turned savage and violent. For the first time since they had met, Xiao Yan could clearly sense that the golden dragon beneath him was the malice of the mad Dragon God who had slaughtered countless gods and destroyed countless worlds.
Suddenly, a vast streak of blood-red sword Qi swept in from the horizon, as though it could cleave heaven and earth apart. In an instant, it engulfed everything Xiao Yan could see.
At that moment, the entire Divine Dragon Realm was shrouded in blood-red. Everything in Xiao Yan's sight was covered in crimson, and the corpses of countless dragons fell into the void without making a sound.
Heaven and earth became a world of blood-red, and beyond it, nothing remained.
At the edge of the crimson, a flickering figure flashed past. Then, in the empty space, only Xiao Yan and the Golden Dragon King remained.
The Golden Dragon King sighed and squeezed his eyes shut, as though he could not bear to keep watching. Then Xiao Yan saw clearly that time here seemed to race backward. In only a few seconds, the Divine Dragon Realm stood before him again, flourishing beyond measure.
"...And my clan's blood-deep vendetta."
The Golden Dragon King sighed. His voice was still as violent and resentful as before, but Xiao Yan knew something else lay hidden beneath it.
Xiao Yan knew that what he hated was himself.
"Ever since I can remember, I have been sealed here. Every day, every hour, every moment, I have placed my divine sense in the moment of the Divine Dragon Realm's destruction."
"I cannot allow myself to be worn down by time. I cannot allow myself to forget this blood-deep vendetta one day."
Only then did Xiao Yan fully understand that the Golden Dragon King-or rather, the Dragon God's evil thoughts and madness-were not merely the supposed interference of the laws of the universe with the strong. They also came from the mad Dragon God's pain and remorse, the pain and remorse arising from his destruction of countless dragons and the Divine Dragon Realm.
After that, neither of them spoke again. They simply flew aimlessly through the vast void, witnessing the scene of the Asura God slaying the Dragon God and destroying the Divine Dragon Realm again and again. Then, after Xiao Yan's body had grown more and more illusory, the Golden Dragon King finally spoke once more.
"From that wisp of your divine sense, I learned everything I needed to know. Xiao Yan... your Dragon-Phoenix Bloodline shares the same roots as my golden dragon king bloodline when it comes to power and the physical body, but in other areas, it is clearly stronger."
"In the plane of the Douluo Continent, there is no one but you who can bear my power and bloodline. Not even my other half can do it."
"I know. I can sense that you made some kind of deal with the Dragon God. There's a feeling about you, as though the Dragon God has bestowed a divine rank upon you. You made some kind of deal with my other half as well. I can sense it. So I, too, want to make a deal with you."
Xiao Yan was somewhat surprised. He knew the Golden Dragon King was sealed in the Divine Realm, and given Xiao Yan's current strength, let alone contending with a god-level powerhouse, even reaching the Divine Realm was completely beyond him. How was he supposed to make a deal with the Golden Dragon King? Were they going to do it by talking?
Sensing Xiao Yan's confusion, the Golden Dragon King's enormous eyes showed a rare glimmer of wisdom. Then he spoke, seemingly with an air of deep foresight. "When I was first born, I knew that I bore the Dragon God's malice, and that those human God Kings could not possibly spare my life. So I hurled the Golden Dragon Spear, which had been passed down from the Dragon God, into a lower plane with all my might. I hoped that one day, a being who had inherited a bloodline from the same source as mine could use the Golden Dragon Spear-one of the Dragon God's ribs, and now one of mine-to cross the layers of the void and connect with my divine sense."
"Fortunately, I have found you at last: a person from another world, chosen by the Dragon God and my other half, who bears the extraordinary bloodline of a divine Dragon Phoenix."
With that, he spat out a core that pulsed slowly like a heart, glowing blood-red and crimson-gold. It floated before Xiao Yan.
"This is my Divine Core, a God King-level treasure that bears all the Golden Dragon King's power and a lifetime of cultivation."
"The Golden Dragon Spear is connected to me. It is like a stairway linking the plane of the Douluo Continent to the Divine Realm. Only by passing along this stairway can physical objects connected to me travel from the Divine Realm to the mortal realm."
"Originally, I intended to give this Divine Core to a descendant of my clan, hoping that one day they would fight their way into the Divine Realm and repay every debt of our old grievances. But now I have met you, and there is no longer any need to place my hopes on the younger generation."
"I know you need power, so I will give you all of mine. In return, you need only do one thing for me."
Xiao Yan took the Divine Core. His gaze immediately sharpened as he looked resolutely at the Golden Dragon King.
The Golden Dragon King's offer was truly charcoal delivered in the snow. Even with his status as shared sovereign, Xiao Yan could not currently stand on equal footing with the Silver Dragon King in either bloodline kinship or strength. In practice, it was difficult for his authority to be fully exercised. But with the Golden Dragon King's Divine Core, everything would be different.
As for bloodlines, both the golden dragon king bloodline and the silver dragon king bloodline came from the Dragon God. Xiao Yan's Dragon-Phoenix Bloodline was powerful, but it had no connection to this world's Soul Beasts, and whether they would support him remained uncertain. Once he had the golden dragon king bloodline, however, not even the Silver Dragon King could strip him of his legitimate standing.
As for strength, the Golden Dragon King's Divine Core possessed power comparable to a God King's. If Xiao Yan took it into his body, he would certainly have to place several layers of seals on it, or he would likely be the first one it obliterated. But the Silver Dragon King was not in much better condition at the moment. Even with Xiao Yan's help, her true body would need to recuperate in the Lake of Life for at least ten thousand years before she could use it. Both sides' power was restricted, but now that Xiao Yan had something to rely on in a direct confrontation with the Silver Dragon King, he was more confident in uniting the Soul Beast Clan.
"What do you want me to do?"
"Very simple." The Golden Dragon King's divine soul had become somewhat illusory and unstable. Clearly, without the Divine Core, the central source of his power, his consciousness was gradually growing hazy. He was evidently about to fall asleep.
"The day I break my seal remains far beyond sight, but those enemies have begun seeking successors, one after another."
"Xiao Yan, I want you to help me destroy the Asura God's inheritance on the Douluo Continent. Better yet, make it impossible for the Asura God ever to find a successor."
"When the time comes for revenge, I do not want him to have already handed his position to someone else and flown far away."
"When you attain godhood and ascend to the Divine Realm, I hope you will stand on my side."
Xiao Yan nodded and agreed to the Golden Dragon King's first request, but he pondered the second for a long time before replying, "I only hope that humans and Soul Beasts can coexist peacefully, not just on the Douluo Continent, but in the Divine Realm as well. So I won't favor either side. But I can promise you that the Soul Beast Clan will never again suffer the tragedy of extermination. What I can do is divide the Divine Realm equally between both sides."
Had an ordinary person said this, the Golden Dragon King would surely have laughed at him for not knowing his own limits: a mere six-ring cultivator boasting that he would divide up the Divine Realm. But he felt no doubt whatsoever about Xiao Yan and merely nodded emphatically.
Though the Golden Dragon King was mad, he also knew that relying on his strength alone, he had almost no chance of taking the entire Divine Realm. His greatest dream was to die in battle on a campaign against the human gods. After his death, the fate of the Soul Beast Clan would be left to Xiao Yan and his other half.
The Golden Dragon King raised his head and looked into the distance. There, a blood-red figure swung a sword once more, annihilating everything in the world before dissipating between heaven and earth.
The Golden Dragon King's draconic body seemed to dissipate along with it, turning into specks of golden light. His voice drifted to Xiao Yan's ears, now near, now far.
"Do not worry about me. The Divine Realm's forbidden grounds are also the place where the energy in the Divine Realm is at its most violent and potent. Every day I have spent here, I have taken that power into my body, increasing my energy and tempering myself. Now that I am inevitably about to fall asleep, I need no longer fear the pain of violent energy entering my body. The more energy I take in, the better. With the toughness of my physical body, forging a new Divine Core is only a matter of time."
"I look forward to the day I meet you in the flesh."
The golden dragon's body dissolved, and Xiao Yan's soul body lost its support, falling into the void at the speed of light.
At the end of the void, his physical body still held the pose of pulling out the dragon spear. It seemed that the half day he had spent with the Golden Dragon King had been only a few seconds in reality.
The crimson-gold Divine Core, which resembled a dragon scale, was now enveloped by his soul. With the Golden Dragon Spear's power, it flew toward the distant Douluo Continent.
Within the Divine Realm's forbidden grounds.
The blood-red figure from the Golden Dragon King's dream walked slowly inside.
The Asura God gazed at the Golden Dragon King's dragon cocoon. He had sensed a slight disturbance in the Golden Dragon King's divine sense: an uninvited guest had entered this place and communicated with him.
That uninvited guest was surely connected to the earlier pillar of purple-gold light.
"...Golden Dragon King, what are you plotting?"
The Asura God's brows knitted together. Countless guesses rose in his mind, making him somewhat angry.
Clearly, this matter was beginning to slip out of his control.
The Golden Dragon King said nothing. The Asura God could not discern his emotions within the dragon cocoon, but he could sense the Golden Dragon King's final expression.
It was mockery directed at him, the Asura God.
"Very well, then. Let us each rely on our own abilities. I was able to slay your true body once, and there will be no mistakes the second time either."
The Asura God swept his sleeve and left. For the first time in its history, the Divine Realm's forbidden grounds fell silent.
But that silence was merely the prelude to an even greater catastrophe.