One drop, two drops, three drops, and then more and more...
Countless drops of golden blood, carrying boundless power, flowed from Xiao Yan's Bodhi Heart into every limb and bone.
If anyone could have seen through Xiao Yan's body to his meridians, they would have found the network of meridians throughout his body growing wildly like the roots of a tree. Dyed gold by the Golden Dragon King's power, they were several times thicker than an ordinary person's meridians. Yet they had not completely reshaped Xiao Yan's body, turning him into a muscle-bound master of external cultivation. Outwardly, he was still as lean as ever, his delicate features as pretty as a woman's. Only a true expert could see what immense power lay hidden beneath that somewhat slender frame.
Xiao Yan remained in the position he had taken to pull out the Golden Dragon Spear, but the next moment, the five-meter-long heavy spear suddenly shrank to the size of an embroidery needle and entered his forehead. In the blink of an eye, it vanished without a trace.
The five Ferocious Beasts and the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, however, plainly had no attention to spare for the Golden Dragon Spear's whereabouts. What concerned them was that Xiao Yan had only pulled the spear free for a few seconds, yet the power within him had instantly become incomparably mighty, like that of a true god. His presence was so overwhelming that even the Silver Dragon King, when she first fell to the Douluo Continent, had been far from his equal.
After the Golden Dragon Spear entered Xiao Yan's forehead, his body swayed slightly. Had the six beasts not sensed the overwhelming Bloodline Power within him, they might have thought some hidden force had attacked him, leaving him looking rather too frail to withstand a breeze. A few seconds later, Xiao Yan fell stiffly to the ground, and the six beasts gathered around him, panic on their faces.
Somewhere unnoticed, ripples suddenly spread across the nearby Lake of Life. The waves seemed to hold countless emotions: shock, delight, helplessness, and bewilderment. But that was indeed the case. If there was anyone on the Douluo Continent who could sense His power, it could only be this King of Silver Dragons.
Cracking sounds came from Xiao Yan's body as newly formed flesh pressed upon and reshaped his bones. A layer of golden scales gradually grew over his skin. They were not the purple-gold scales of the Ancient Void Dragon Phoenix, but a pure, dazzling gold, marked with faint crimson patterns of light. Like the dragon cocoon that enveloped the Golden Dragon King in the Divine Realm, the crimson-gold scales covered Xiao Yan's entire body, leaving only his forehead exposed. Then a pattern of light flashed between his brows, like a halo around the sun.
Under the radiance of the sun between his brows, the golden scales all over Xiao Yan's body fell sparsely to the ground like drops of water falling from leaves after rain. Like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon, he underwent yet another round of strengthening, and at its end came another Blood Essence Soul Ring.
A layer of bloody light washed over the seven purple-gold Blood Essence Soul Rings, then spread to Xiao Yan's Ancient Void Dragon Phoenix body. From the outside, Xiao Yan's Ancient Void Dragon Phoenix form seemed to have undergone no particular change. His scales, dragon claws, and horns had merely grown a size larger, and his purple-gold dragon scales had begun to flicker with red light. His left claw was still the same enormous purple-gold dragon claw, bearing a strange fluctuation that seemed capable of tearing through space and holding it in its palm. His right claw, however, had grown even larger than the left, revealing a crimson-gold hue that seemed capable of destroying all things in existence. A layer of armor had also formed over his forearm, faintly taking the shape of an arm blade. Had Zi Yan been present, she likely would have sensed at once that Xiao Yan's physical body had now completely surpassed hers, the orthodox Ancient Void Dragon Phoenix Ancient Dragon Sacred Body. This was unlike the past, when Xiao Yan had been able to suppress Zi Yan in physical strength with his Dou Di cultivation. Now, Xiao Yan's cultivation could be said to be only in its initial stages, yet his physical body had truly become superior to Zi Yan's Ancient Dragon Sacred Body.
If one day Xiao Yan could return to the Nine Revolutions Dou Zun Realm, then with his current body, it would be no great difficulty for him to suppress Zi Yan, who had already become a high-level Dou Sheng.
A golden light lifted Xiao Yan's body, letting him float gently in the air before it entered his back. A pair of wings, nearly five meters long, then extended from behind him. On the left, the wing retained the shape of the Heavenly Phoenix Wings, but the right had transformed into the Golden Dragon King's blood wing, clad in heavy golden armor. A gentle flap stirred up a powerful wave of air that even the Ferocious Beasts present found somewhat unsettling to their souls.
Xiao Yan then opened his eyes and landed on the ground. He could sense that the Golden Dragon King's Destruction Godhead had fully fused with his Ancient Void Dragon Phoenix body. The Golden Dragon King had left fourteen layers of seals on the Divine Core, however, and seven had now been broken, plainly closely tied to his Blood Essence Soul Rings. The Golden Dragon King had likely been worried that his own power would kill this partner of his, and had been forced to place the seals.
Now there's another seal inside me. Strange... I'm practically turning into a walking seal, Xiao Yan thought with a bitter smile. His eyes now held a trace of blood-gold luster, and his presence was magnificent. A single glance would likely strip anyone of poor resolve of the will to fight, leaving them to bow their heads and submit.
"My lord... you, did you obtain..." The five great Ferocious Beasts and the Three-Eyed Golden Lion stared at him in astonishment, plainly unaware of what had happened. In the end, Di Tian could not quite contain himself and spoke up. He seemed to have an answer already, and was desperate for confirmation of the unrealistic wish in his heart.
"Di Tian, rejoice." Xiao Yan spoke slowly, his red-gold eyes gazing beyond the heavens, as though announcing the return of a king.
"From this day forth, I, Xiao Yan, shall share the position of Golden Dragon King."
"From this day forth, I shall be the rightful Soul Beast Co-Ruler of the Douluo Continent. I shall determine the future for humans and Soul Beasts."
"Di Tian..." Xiao Yan sighed softly. The enormous Golden Dragon Spear flew from his forehead and, in an instant, grew back to five meters long. Xiao Yan gripped it in his giant claw.
"Would you like to test whether my Golden Dragon King Bloodline is as you imagined?"
Di Tian was somewhat shocked, but clearly eager to try. After all, that was the power of the Golden Dragon King, the ancestor of power, a mighty being comparable to a God King who had inherited the Dragon God's body and strength. Let alone Di Tian, even the Silver Dragon King herself had never witnessed the Golden Dragon King's fighting prowess. How could he not look forward to it?
Di Tian bowed to Xiao Yan and said, "Then allow this subordinate to make a fool of himself." With that, he unleashed the power of nearly eight hundred thousand years of cultivation. The overwhelming majority of the Soul Beasts present could not even remain standing. He was indeed worthy of being called the Beast God of the Star Dou Great Forest. With strength like that, he was likely only a few steps away from godhood.
Aside from the Silver Dragon King and Gu Yuena, who continued cultivating calmly, Xiao Yan was the only one present who still stood with his hands behind his back, unmoving as a mountain. The pressure that shook heaven and earth seemed to him no more than a passing breeze.
Xiao Yan extended his Golden Dragon Claw, pointed the tip of the Golden Dragon Spear straight at Di Tian's face, and replied with a smile:
"Please."