Chapter 87: Steady Stream, The Dragon Crown Gradually Restores
Inside the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well valley, the misty seven-colored haze still flowed slowly. Under Ye Zhilan's meticulous care, the exotic flowers and rare herbs grew more orderly and prosperously. The dense Heaven and Earth Origin Qi and Life energy gathered here, making this valley a unique Cultivation Holy Land on the Douluo Continent.
Yu Yuanchen and Ye Zhilan did not leave immediately after returning here. Yu Yuanchen kept in mind the vast dragon power contained within the two God King dragon skeletons at the bottom of the spring, and Zhilan also discovered that this environment provided an indescribable and immense benefit to the Cultivation of her Sacred Heart Immortal Tang Martial Soul. The two hit it off and decided to go into secluded Cultivation here for a period of time.
"Zhilan, Cultivate here in peace. I'm going down," Yu Yuanchen said to Ye Zhilan while standing by the spring. More than half a month had passed since he forcibly absorbed dragon power to create a Soul Ring. Those two muddled dragon king remnant Souls, acting only on instinct, might have already forgotten his aura and previous "offense."
"Brother Yuanchen, be careful with everything," Ye Zhilan urged with concern.
Yu Yuanchen nodded, took a deep breath, and once again leapt into the spring water where ice and fire intertwined.
During the descent, he remained cautious, fully restraining his aura. Upon reaching the bottom of the spring, he did not immediately approach the two towering dragon skeletons but first observed quietly from a distance.
The two dragon Soul phantoms, one icy blue and one crimson, still circled their respective remains slowly as before. Their dragon eyes were hollow, exuding an eternal majesty and a faint sorrow, appearing as if nothing was unusual.
Yu Yuanchen's heart settled slightly as he once again employed his previously successful strategy.
"Seventh Soul skills, Thunder Sacred Dragon True Body!"
"nine crowns of the true dragon, Dragon Soul Awakening!"
In an instant, he once again transformed into the majestic purple-gold Thunder Saint Dragon. The nine crowns atop his head shimmered with brilliant lightning, exuding an incomparably pure and ancient Dragon Clan aura and the pressure of the Thunder Dragon King!
He slowly and cautiously approached the dragon skeletons.
Ten zhang, nine zhang, eight zhang... This time, just like the last, those two dragon king remnant Soul phantoms did not show any strong rejection or intent to attack. Their dragon eyes merely turned slightly, "watching" this "kinsman" who emitted a similar aura yet felt somewhat unfamiliar, seemingly performing an instinctive, blurred identification.
Yu Yuanchen successfully approached the dragon skeletons. Suppressing the excitement in his heart, he pressed his dragon claw toward the Ice Dragon King's remains. He did not attempt to absorb a large amount of dragon power like last time. Instead, he operated a secret method to minimize the intensity of the extraction, extremely slowly drawing out wisps of incomparably pure, icy dragon power from the skeleton like a thin, steady stream.
Once the extraction was complete, he immediately held his breath and focused, tensely watching the reaction of the two dragon Soul phantoms.
The icy blue dragon Soul phantom continued to circle slowly without any reaction. It seemed that the loss of this tiny wisp of dragon power, compared to the vast energy contained within the entire dragon skeleton, was like a single hair from nine oxen and could not trigger even a ripple of its instinct.
Yu Yuanchen was overjoyed. Following the same method, he cautiously absorbed an equal amount of scorching dragon power from the Fire Dragon King's remains.
The crimson dragon Soul phantom likewise had no reaction.
"It worked!" Yu Yuanchen suppressed his excitement and repeated the process once more. One wisp, then another... He was extremely patient, the amount absorbed each time was minuscule, and the intervals were perfectly timed, never greedily rushing forward.
Time passed slowly. Yu Yuanchen was like the most patient craftsman, "stealing" the God King's Treasure Trove bit by bit. It wasn't until the total amount of dragon power he had absorbed reached about ten percent of what he had consumed when creating the god-bestowed spirit ring last time—
That icy blue dragon Soul phantom, which had been circling slowly, suddenly paused. Its dragon head turned slightly toward Yu Yuanchen, and a very faint ripple of confusion seemed to flash through its hollow dragon eyes. The crimson dragon Soul phantom nearby made a similar reaction.
Yu Yuanchen was startled and immediately stopped the extraction. His dragon body slowly retreated while he maintained the Dragon Soul Awakening state at full power, exuding a pure Dragon Clan aura.
The two dragon Soul phantoms "watched" him for a moment. Seemingly finding no definitive evidence of "theft," that faint thread of confusion slowly dissipated, and they returned to their previous muddled state of circling.
Yu Yuanchen breathed a long sigh of relief. Daring not to linger any longer, he immediately turned and sped toward the surface of the spring.
"Splash!"
Water splashed as Yu Yuanchen burst out of the spring and landed back on the shore.
"Brother Yuanchen, how was it?" Ye Zhilan immediately came forward to meet him.
"It was a success!" Yu Yuanchen deactivated his Martial Soul True Body, a satisfied smile appearing on his face. "As I expected, those remnant Souls have no intelligence. As long as the amount absorbed each time is small enough and the intervals are appropriate, it's hard for them to notice. Although the gains each time are small, it's safe and can be a steady stream!"
He opened his palm. In the center of his palm, two spheres of pure energy about the size of a fist—one icy blue and one crimson, yet both exuding the same dragon majesty—rotated slowly. These were the results of his "theft" this time.
"This dragon power is enough for me to Cultivate for a while. Once it's used up, I'll just go down and get more," Yu Yuanchen laughed.
With the plan being feasible, the two settled down in the valley in peace.
Yu Yuanchen began a regular Cultivation Life. He divided his Cultivation in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well into two parts.
The primary part was using the stolen God King dragon power for Cultivation. He did not directly absorb this dragon power to raise his Soul Power Rank. Instead, he used it as fuel to operate the "True Dragon Immortal Body," a Body Refining method he had created by combining the strengths of many schools and was far ahead of its time, crazily tempering his Physical Body and Thunder Saint Dragon Bloodline!
The quality of God King-level dragon power and the purity of its energy were far beyond what ordinary Heaven and Earth Origin Qi could compare to. Even if he could only obtain a small amount each time, its effect could be described as Heaven-Defying!
Each tempering was like placing his body into a divine furnace for forging! His flesh, Meridians, bones, internal organs, and even the depths of his bone marrow were undergoing subtle yet fundamental transformations under the washing and baptism of this supreme dragon power. His Physical Body moved steadily toward a non-human Realm, with his strength, speed, defense, and recovery power all improving steadily. More importantly, his Thunder Saint Dragon Bloodline, under the nourishment and stimulation of this same-source yet higher-level dragon power, became purer and more active, even showing a faint sign of evolving toward a higher level!
The "True Dragon Immortal Body" was already extremely powerful. Now, with the God King dragon power as support, its progress was advancing by leaps and bounds!
The second part was normal Soul Power Cultivation. The environment of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well was also of great benefit to him. The Origin Qi here was dense and contained a trace of divine force characteristics. Cultivating here was far more efficient than in the outside world.
Ye Zhilan also gained significantly. The dense Life energy and vitality of all things here had an extremely high compatibility with her Sacred Heart Immortal Tang Martial Soul. Her Cultivation speed was at least several times that of the outside world! In her spare time, she didn't stay idle but began to enthusiastically organize those Immortal Herbs and exotic flowers that grew almost wildly in the valley.
Relying on her family's profound knowledge of medicinal herbs and her extraordinary perception of plants, she acted like a top-tier gardener, cautiously starting to "move" these natural treasures. She moved those that preferred shade and cold, like the Swan-White Kiss, to the vicinity of the cold spring's influence; she moved those needing a scorching environment, like the Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower, to the surroundings of the hot spring's influence; and she moved those with a mild nature, like the Fragrant Silk Immortal Grade and Strange Velvet Sky-Piercing Chrysanthemum, to the balanced area where the two springs met.
After her meticulous planning and transplantation, the Immortal Herbs, which were originally somewhat disorganized and squeezed together competing for energy, each found their most suitable growing environment. Suddenly, they appeared orderly, and their vitality became even more vigorous. Looking across the entire valley, it already resembled a perfectly planned divine medicinal garden, with an aura even greater than before.
Aside from Cultivating, the two would stroll through the valley, discuss their Cultivation insights, and occasionally spar with Spirit Abilities. Their days were peaceful and fulfilling, and their feelings grew deeper through their constant companionship.
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, four months had passed.
During these four months, Yu Yuanchen would dive to the bottom of the spring once every seven or eight days, repeating the process of "stealing" dragon power. He became increasingly proficient, controlling the amount absorbed each time perfectly, and never again caused a noticeable reaction from the dragon king remnant Souls. Through this steady stream, the God King dragon power he accumulated was already quite considerable.
Through his unremitting efforts, the "True Dragon Immortal Body" progressed rapidly, and the improvement of his Physical Body and Bloodline was immense. Along with this, his Soul Power Cultivation also followed naturally, rising steadily from just entering Rank ninety-three all the way to the Late Stage of Rank ninety-three, not far from Rank ninety-four! This kind of Cultivation speed, if spread, would be enough to shock the entire Spirit Master's world.
Ye Zhilan's Cultivation also advanced by leaps and bounds. With the enhancement of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well's environment and the push from the residual medicinal power of the previous Immortal Herbs, her Soul Power successfully broke through to Rank seventy-three, consolidating the Foundation of her Soul Saint Realm.
However, on this day, when Yu Yuanchen once again used the nine crowns of the true dragon, Open the Dragon Soul Awakening, and prepared to dive to the bottom of the spring, he suddenly noticed a trace of abnormality.
When he injected Soul Power into the nine crowns of the true dragon atop his head to stimulate the power of "Dragon Soul Awakening," he clearly felt that within those nine fragments, the Ancient Thunder Dragon King Soul imprint, which was originally just a faint remnant like a dead thing, seemed to... become a bit more active?
This change was extremely subtle. If not for his powerful Spiritual Power and his meticulous control over his own power, it would have been hard to detect. That feeling was like Soul fragments that had been slumbering for ages, after being repeatedly stimulated and moistened by same-source high-level dragon power (God King dragon power and Dragon Soul Awakening power), were starting to slowly awaken from their dormancy and instinctively attract and gather toward each other!
"This is..." Yu Yuanchen's heart stirred, and he immediately performed a careful internal inspection and perception.
Indeed! He discovered that the nine Soul Bone fragments that formed the body of the nine crowns of the true dragon were undergoing an extremely slow but real metamorphosis in their internal structure! At the edges of the fragments, there seemed to be extremely fine energy threads, like bone buds, slowly extending, attempting to connect with adjacent fragments! The dragon Soul pressure emitted by the entire nine crowns of the true dragon was also a bit more condensed and heavy than before!
Although it was still far from being truly restored to its original state and reuniting into a complete head soul bone, this was undoubtedly an unprecedented and exciting sign!
"The nine crowns of the true dragon... actually show signs of self-repair?!" An unbelievable light of joy erupted in Yu Yuanchen's eyes. "That's it! It must be that activating the Dragon Soul Awakening multiple times triggered the remaining Thunder Dragon King Origin imprint within them. More importantly, although the Ice and Fire Dragon King dragon power I absorb each time has different attributes, its essence is God King-level dragon power! This power is a great tonic for the nine crowns of the true dragon fragments, which belong to the same Dragon Clan! Under the dual nourishment and stimulation of the Dragon Soul Awakening and the God King dragon power, this shattered Soul Bone has begun an instinctive self-repair!"
Thinking through the key, Yu Yuanchen's heart couldn't help but pound!
If the nine crowns of the true dragon could be repaired, what would that mean? It meant he would obtain a complete, extremely high-quality head soul bone! Moreover, the predecessor of this Soul Bone was the Ancient Thunder Dragon King! Once fully repaired, its quality, at the most conservative estimate, would definitely be at the Divine Rank Soul Bone level! It might even be higher!
A complete Divine Rank head soul bone! Its massive boost to Spiritual Power, its protection of the Soul, its mastery of lightning attribute power, and the potentially powerful Soul Bone skills it would carry... its value was simply immeasurable! It was far beyond its current shattered state, where it could only provide temporary assistance!
More importantly, this Soul Bone originated from the Thunder Dragon King, sharing the same Origin and source as his Thunder Sacred Dragon Martial Soul, making it a perfect fit! Once the repair was complete, he would be the most ideal, and possibly the only qualified, successor to this Soul Bone!
"I must accelerate this process!" Yu Yuanchen made a decision in an instant.
From this day on, he changed his Cultivation strategy. He no longer used most of the God King dragon power stolen daily for the "True Dragon Immortal Body" to temper his Physical Body (after all, his Physical Body's improvement was already beyond imagination and could be slowed down). Instead, he cautiously guided more than eighty percent of it toward the nine crowns of the true dragon on his head, slowly injecting it into those nine Soul Bone fragments to nourish their Origin, stimulate their activity, and promote their self-repair!
At the same time, he used the "Dragon Soul Awakening" state more frequently. Even if he didn't dive to the bottom of the spring, he would activate it for a period every day, using the power of the awakened Thunder Dragon King Soul imprint to continuously nurture and guide the Fusion of the fragments.
This was a task of slow and steady work that could not be rushed. The repair of a Divine Rank Soul Bone was by no means the work of a day and night. But Yu Yuanchen had enough patience and time. Every time he inspected internally and saw the edges of the fragments imperceptibly grow a bit, and felt the dragon Soul pressure they emitted become a bit more solid, his heart was filled with anticipation.
The two God King dragon skeletons at the bottom of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well seemed to have become his inexhaustible top-tier Cultivation resource library. And he was like a patient thief, taking only a ladleful each time, a steady stream, quietly strengthening himself and nurturing a Divine Artifact embryo that would be enough to shock the world in the future.
In the valley, the years were peaceful and beautiful. Ye Zhilan's medicinal garden became more prosperous, and her Cultivation improved steadily. Yu Yuanchen's Physical Body and Soul Power continued to grow slowly but firmly under the nourishment of the God King dragon power, and his nine crowns of the true dragon, also in the day after day of dragon power tempering and dragon Soul nourishment, took a crucial step toward being complete.
Reuniting the Dragon Crown no longer seemed like an unreachable dream.
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