By the spiritual spring deep in the Dragon Abyss, mist curled like silk.
Ao Xuan sat cross-legged on a cyan-gold dragon-patterned stone, a pale purple jade fragment resting in his left palm—the Chaotic Violet Qi Jade Fragment gifted by Daoist Hongjun years ago. At this moment, the jade fragment was wrapped in a thin layer of cyan-gold spiritual light, a shield condensed from his Pangu Merit Golden Light, completely isolating the fragment from the spiritual energy around him.
Three layers of spiritual light surrounded him—pale blue water fortune power, emerald green wood-element spiritual energy, and golden-crimson Pangu blood essence light. The three intertwined into a translucent cocoon of light, blocking the residual chaotic energy from the outside world. Only the Chaotic Violet Qi Jade Fragment was deliberately placed at the edge of the cocoon, maintaining a delicate distance.
The innate spiritual spring at the bottom of the pool glowed with faint white light. When the bubbles gushing from the spring eye burst, the pure water spirit essence was automatically absorbed by the light cocoon, resonating with the Water Spirit Pearl in his palm. The flowing water patterns on the Water Spirit Pearl perfectly synchronized with the spring's fluctuations, like two beating hearts, continuously channeling the Dao rhyme of the water fortune law into his body.
"Still missing a little..."
Ao Xuan slowly opened his eyes, a hint of concentration flashing in his dragon pupils. Since Yinglong and Zhulong's return, he had secluded himself in the Dragon Abyss for several years. The powers of the Golden Metal Spiritual Crystal and Heavenly Burning Golden Crystal had initially merged with the Nanming Golden Metal in his body.
Yet the dominance of Pangu's blood essence still resisted complete integration with his dragon core. The fist-sized, solid dragon core in his dantian was still covered with tiny cracks. Every time he circulated spiritual energy, tearing pain surged from the cracks—clearly the result of collisions between multiple origins.
Cyan-gold Merit Golden Light emanated from his fingertips. Instead of invoking the Chaotic Violet Qi as usual, he condensed the golden light into a thin stream, carefully infiltrating his dantian.
As soon as the golden light touched the dragon core, a soft glow emanated from the cracks. The once violent Pangu blood essence light gradually subsided like a calmed beast, coiling with water fortune and wood-element spiritual energy into three-colored streams that slowly nourished the dragon core. He pointedly ignored the Chaotic Violet Qi Jade Fragment at the edge of the light cocoon.
This was no oversight. Since obtaining the jade fragment at Zixiao Palace, Ao Xuan had always remained vigilant.
He knew that while Chaotic Violet Qi could help one attain Dao, it also attracted Heavenly Dao karma. Once integrated into one's origin, it would be like putting on chains forged by the Heavenly Dao, making it impossible to break free from the kalpa's constraints. During previous attempts to refine his origin, he had deliberately used Merit Golden Light to isolate the jade fragment, daring only to occasionally observe the Great Dao patterns through it—never allowing its origin to truly fuse with his dragon soul.
"It worked!"
Joy surged in Ao Xuan's heart. He quickly activated the advanced method of the *Water Abundance Scripture*. The water spirit essence in the spiritual spring surged into his body frantically, intertwining with wood-element spiritual energy and Pangu blood essence light to form a rotating vortex in his dantian.
At the center of the vortex, the dragon core trembled violently. The cracks on its surface healed at a visible speed, while the core continuously contracted and condensed—shrinking from fist-sized to goose egg-sized, then to walnut-sized, and finally forming a cyan-gold pearl glowing with four-colored streams of light.
The pearl's surface was covered with delicate dragon patterns, each containing the Dao rhymes of water fortune, wood element, golden metal, and merit. As it rotated, the spiritual spring around it automatically floated up, forming a miniature phantom of the Nine-Turn Heavenly River around the pearl.
Inside the pearl, a tiny Azure Dragon phantom swam slowly—his dragon soul origin, now completely fused with the pearl, indistinguishable from it. Not a trace of Chaotic Violet Qi could be seen. The pale purple jade fragment still lay quietly at the edge of the light cocoon, its cyan-gold shield intact.
"Innate Dragon Pearl!"
Ao Xuan let out a low shout, flicking his fingertip. The dragon pearl flew out of his dantian, hovering before him.
The moment the pearl appeared, the entire Dragon Abyss trembled violently. The innate spiritual spring at the bottom gushed forth, transforming into dozens-of-zhang-tall water dragons converging toward the pearl. The distant Four Symbols Black Water Formation glowed with cyan, red, white, and black spiritual light, and the spiritual veins at its core resonated automatically, continuously channeling the East China Sea's water fortune power into the Dragon Abyss.
This was a celestial anomaly that only occurred when an Innate Spiritual Treasure appeared—proving that this dragon pearl had transcended an ordinary dragon core to become a supreme treasure containing innate laws. And none of this had relied on the power of Chaotic Violet Qi.
He reached out to grasp the pearl, and a mighty power surged through his limbs and bones. Previously, his control over the water fortune law had been limited to the East China Sea, but now he could clearly perceive the flow of water veins across the Four Seas, and even faintly invoke tributaries of the Nine-Turn Heavenly River.
His wood-element spiritual energy became more agile. With a flick of his fingertip, the withered wood by the pool instantly regained vitality, sprouting emerald green shoots. The fusion of Pangu's blood essence and Merit Golden Light boosted his dragon prestige drastically. The cyan-gold spiritual light spreading around him automatically purified the chaotic turbid energy deep in the Dragon Abyss, leaving the air as clear as washed.
As he finished cultivating, Ao Xuan instinctively touched the shell at his chest—where he kept the Chaotic Violet Qi Jade Fragment. When condensing the dragon pearl earlier, he had deliberately moved the jade fragment from his palm to the shell, fearing that spiritual light fluctuations would cause accidents.
The moment his fingertip touched the shell, he clearly felt the jade fragment still emanating faint Dao rhymes, yet it did not resonate with the dragon pearl at all. He let out a sigh of relief.
"Congratulations, Elder Brother! Condensing the Innate Dragon Pearl has elevated your strength to new heights!"
A hearty laugh echoed from the entrance of the Dragon Abyss. Yuan Hao strode over carrying an innate stone staff, his snow-white fur still dotted with spiritual spring droplets.
He leaned closer to the dragon pearl, curiously poking it with his stone staff—only to be bounced back by the spiritual light. He clicked his tongue in amazement. "Whoa! This pearl is harder than my stone staff, and its spiritual energy is incredibly dense. It's probably even more precious than that Golden Metal Spiritual Crystal!"
Cang Lie arrived soon after, clad in silver-white battle armor. The White Tiger mark on his forehead glowed with faint golden light—clearly, he had used the Heavenly Burning Golden Crystal left by Ao Xuan to fully stabilize the Nanming Golden Metal in his body.
He stood beside Ao Xuan, his White Tiger pupils filled with determination. "Elder Brother, with the Innate Dragon Pearl complete and our strength greatly enhanced, now is the time to unite our forces. Demon flames spread across the Primordial World, and the beast tide shows no sign of stopping. Relying solely on the East China Sea clan will ultimately be too weak. In my opinion, we should first go to the Western Wasteland."
Ao Xuan was slightly stunned, about to speak when Cang Lie raised his hand to stop him, continuing. "Elder Brother, no need to overthink—the Western Wasteland is my ancestral home. I was once the White Tiger Overlord of the Western Wasteland."
"In my early years, I ruled over the golden metal clans, Black Armored Turtle soldiers, and some innate spiritual plant tribes in the Western Wasteland. Though I left temporarily to find the Golden Metal Spiritual Crystal, my old subordinates remain. Moreover, the Western Wasteland has suffered from demon flames and chaotic beasts in recent years. The surviving creatures, lacking protection, live in constant fear."
"If we go there, first, my old subordinates will respond, making it easy to unite our forces. Second, the Western Wasteland has the most abundant golden metal spiritual veins, which align with my Nanming Golden Metal origin. We can use the spiritual veins to reinforce the Black Armored Guards' defenses and supplement the golden metal Dao rhyme for your Innate Dragon Pearl—killing two birds with one stone."
Yuan Hao's eyes lit up. He slung his stone staff over his shoulder and spun in a circle. "Great idea! I've been to the Western Wasteland before. The golden metal spiritual veins there are massive, and there are many stone clan brothers who can spit golden blades! With you leading the way as the Overlord, we'll definitely rally everyone to our cause. All the bullied creatures will come flocking to us!"
Ao Xuan's mind cleared instantly. Though he had wanted to find allies earlier, he had not considered Cang Lie's foundation in the Western Wasteland. As a native of the Western Wasteland and the innate White Tiger, Cang Lie had ruled over its creatures for years. With him taking the lead, uniting forces in the Western Wasteland would be far smoother than in other regions.
He integrated the Innate Dragon Pearl into his forehead, where it intertwined with the Azure Dragon mark to form a cyan-gold pattern. He instinctively touched the shell at his chest again to confirm the Chaotic Violet Qi Jade Fragment was safe, then spoke solemnly. "Cang Lie is right. With your years of rule, the Western Wasteland has a solid foundation—this trip will surely yield twice the result with half the effort. But what about the East China Sea's defense..."
"The East China Sea is guarded by Mr. Jiao Xuan and the Twelve Sea Generals—no need to worry." Ao Xuan waved his hand, and a water mirror appeared before him, reflecting the scene of the East China Sea Dragon Palace.
In the mirror, Qinghe and Li Hong were dispatching spiritual veins to reinforce the Azure Dragon Sea-Suppressing Formation. Xie Ao led the Black Armored Guards on patrol in the Ink Mist Strait, with the Black Armored Giant Whale and Rotten Bone Venom Squid guarding the formation's core. Moyuan was revising the formation patterns of the Nine-Turn Water Formation in the Formation Research Hall, preparing to integrate Yinglong's rain power into it.
"I've already issued orders: Mr. Jiao Xuan will oversee all East China Sea affairs, Qinghe will assist the Water Spirit Department and Ritual Platform, Xie Ao and Moyuan will oversee defense, and the Twelve Sea Generals will guard the seventy-two sea areas." Ao Xuan added, "With the Azure Dragon Sea-Suppressing Formation and Four Symbols Black Water Formation, plus the water fortune and cold water power left by Yinglong and Zhulong, we are fully capable of repelling the beast tide."
Yuan Hao patted Cang Lie's shoulder, laughing. "Big guy, with you leading the way as the Western Wasteland Overlord, we'll definitely unite all forces there! Then we can go to the Southern Region to find the Vermilion Bird—so we'll have the Four Symbols framework set up!"
A faint smile tugged at Cang Lie's lips. He said no more, simply gripping the golden metal long sword at his waist—a weapon reforged with the Heavenly Burning Golden Crystal. The sword's blade glowed with faint golden flames, resonating with his Nanming Golden Metal as if also anticipating the return to his ancestral home in the Western Wasteland.
Looking at the two of them, warmth surged in Ao Xuan's heart. Yuan Hao's liveliness, Cang Lie's calmness and ancestral foundation, complemented his own patience—they were the most reliable companions.
He summoned the Azure Dragon Reverse Scale Sword. The water pattern Dao rhymes on the sword intertwined with the spiritual light of the dragon pearl between his brows, emitting a faint protective power. "There's no time to waste—we depart immediately. Though you have old subordinates in the Western Wasteland, we must remain cautious of demonized beasts and rogue cultivators causing trouble."
Before leaving, Ao Xuan checked the shell at his chest once more, confirming the Chaotic Violet Qi Jade Fragment was securely protected by the Merit Golden Light.
The three of them wasted no time, transforming into three streams of light—cyan-gold for Ao Xuan, snow-white for Yuan Hao, and silver-white for Cang Lie—flying out of the Dragon Abyss entrance, skimming over the East China Sea's blue waves, and speeding toward the Western Wasteland.
The aquatic creatures of the East China Sea below looked up in awe at the celestial anomaly. The Black Armored Guard soldiers raised their weapons, letting out respectful roars to see them off.