Inside the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well Valley, the swirling seven-colored mist continued to flow slowly. Under Ye Zhilan's meticulous care, the exotic flowers and rare herbs grew in an increasingly orderly and flourishing manner. The dense Heaven and Earth Origin Qi and life energy gathered here made this valley a unique sanctuary for cultivation on the Douluo Continent.
After returning to this place, Yu Yuanchen and Ye Zhilan did not leave immediately. Yu Yuanchen was preoccupied with the vast dragon power contained within the two God King Dragon Bones at the bottom of the spring, while Ye Zhilan discovered that the environment here provided indescribable benefits to the cultivation of her Sacred Heart Immortal Begonia Martial Soul. The two reached an immediate consensus and decided to remain here for a period of secluded cultivation.
"Zhilan, cultivate here with peace of mind; I am going down for a while." Standing by the shore, Yu Yuanchen said to Ye Zhilan. More than half a month had passed since he last forcibly extracted dragon power to create a soul ring, and those two muddled, instinct-driven Dragon King Remnant Souls had likely forgotten his aura and his previous "offense."
"Brother Yuanchen, be careful." Ye Zhilan urged with concern.
Yu Yuanchen nodded, took a deep breath, and leaped once more into the icy and fiery intertwined spring water.
During his descent, he remained cautious, exerting all his effort to suppress his own aura. Upon reaching the bottom of the spring, he did not immediately approach the two towering dragon bones, but instead observed quietly from a distance.
The two dragon soul phantoms, one icy blue and one crimson, continued to circle their respective skeletons as they had in the past. Their dragon eyes were hollow, radiating an ancient majesty and a faint sorrow, appearing to show no abnormalities.
Yu Yuanchen felt slightly reassured and once again employed the strategy that had succeeded before.
"Seventh Soul Skill, Thunder Sacred Dragon True Body!"
"True Dragon Nine Crowns, Dragon Soul Awakening!"
In an instant, he transformed once again into a majestic purple-gold sacred dragon. The nine crowns atop his head shone with brilliant lightning, emitting an incredibly pure and ancient dragon clan aura along with the pressure of the Thunder Dragon King!
He moved slowly and cautiously toward the dragon bones.
Ten zhang, nine zhang, eight zhang... This time, just like the last, the two Dragon King Remnant Soul phantoms did not display intense rejection or aggressive intent. Their dragon eyes merely shifted slightly, "staring" hollowly at this "kinsman" who radiated a familiar yet somewhat unfamiliar aura, as if performing an instinctive, blurred recognition.
Yu Yuanchen successfully reached the proximity of the dragon bones. Suppressing the excitement in his heart, he pressed his dragon claw against the Ice Dragon King's skeleton. He did not attempt to extract large amounts of dragon power as he had before; instead, he channeled his secret technique to keep the extraction force to a minimum. Like a trickle, he drew out a wisp of incredibly pure, icy dragon power from the bone with extreme slowness.
Once the extraction was complete, he held his breath and focused, nervously watching the reaction of the two dragon soul phantoms.
The icy blue dragon soul phantom continued to circle slowly, showing no reaction. It seemed that the loss of this wisp of dragon power was like a drop in the ocean compared to the vast energy contained within the entire dragon bone, failing to stir even a ripple in its instincts.
Yu Yuanchen was overjoyed. Following the same method, he carefully extracted an equal wisp of scorching dragon power from the Fire Dragon King's skeleton.
The crimson dragon soul phantom also showed no reaction.
"Success!" Yu Yuanchen suppressed his excitement and repeated the process. One wisp, then another... He was extremely patient, ensuring the amount extracted each time was minuscule and the intervals were perfectly timed, never becoming greedy or reckless.
Time flowed slowly. Like the most patient craftsman, Yu Yuanchen "stole" the God King's treasure bit by bit. By the time the total amount of dragon power he had extracted reached about ten percent of what he had consumed during his last God-Bestowed Soul Ring creation—
The icy blue dragon soul phantom, which had been circling slowly, suddenly paused. Its dragon head turned slightly toward Yu Yuanchen, and a faint, weak ripple of confusion seemed to flash through its hollow dragon eyes. The crimson dragon soul phantom beside it exhibited a similar reaction.
Yu Yuanchen was startled and immediately stopped the extraction. His dragon body retreated slowly while he exerted all his effort to maintain the Dragon Soul Awakening state, emitting a pure dragon clan aura.
The two dragon soul phantoms "stared" at him for a moment. Finding no concrete evidence of "theft," the faint trace of confusion slowly dissipated, and they returned to their previous muddled state of circling.
Yu Yuanchen let out a long sigh of relief. Daring not to linger, he turned and fled rapidly toward the surface of the spring.
"Splash!"
Water sprayed as Yu Yuanchen broke the surface and landed back on the shore.
"Brother Yuanchen, how did it go?" Ye Zhilan immediately came to greet him.
"Success!" Yu Yuanchen deactivated his Martial Soul True Body, a satisfied smile appearing on his face. "Just as I expected, those remnant souls lack intelligence. As long as the amount extracted each time is small enough and the intervals are appropriate, they cannot detect it. Although the gain each time is small, it is safe and allows for a steady, long-term accumulation!"
He opened his palm. In the center, two glowing orbs of pure energy—one icy blue and one crimson, each about the size of a fist and radiating the same source of dragon might—slowly rotated. These were the fruits of his "theft."
"This dragon power is enough for me to cultivate for a while. Once it's used up, I'll just go back down and take more," Yu Yuanchen laughed.
With the plan proven viable, the two settled down in the valley with peace of mind.
Yu Yuanchen began a disciplined life of cultivation. He divided his cultivation within the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well into two parts.
The primary part involved cultivating with the stolen God King dragon power. He did not directly absorb this dragon power to increase his soul power level; instead, he used it as fuel to operate the True Dragon Undying Body, a body-tempering technique he had pioneered by combining the strengths of many others—a method far ahead of its time—to frantically refine his physique and Thunder Sacred Dragon Bloodline!
The quality and purity of God King-level dragon power were far beyond that of ordinary Heaven and Earth Origin Qi. Even if he could only obtain a small amount each time, the effects were heaven-defying!
Every refinement felt like his body was being forged in a divine furnace! His flesh, meridians, bones, internal organs, and even the depths of his bone marrow underwent subtle yet fundamental transformations under the baptism of this supreme dragon power. His physique moved steadily toward a superhuman realm, with his strength, speed, defense, and recovery power all improving steadily. More importantly, his Thunder Sacred Dragon Bloodline, nourished and stimulated by this higher-level dragon power of the same source, became purer and more active, even showing faint signs of evolving toward a higher level!
The True Dragon Undying Body was already extremely powerful, and now, with the support of the God King dragon power, his 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 equally beneficial to him; the origin qi here was dense and contained traces of divine properties. Cultivating here was far more efficient than in the outside world.
Ye Zhilan also gained immense benefits. The dense life energy and vitality of all things here were highly compatible with her Sacred Heart Immortal Begonia Martial Soul. Her cultivation speed was at least several times faster than in the outside world! In her spare time, she did not remain idle but began to enthusiastically organize the immortal herbs and exotic flowers in the valley that had been growing in a near-wild state.
Relying on her family's profound herbology knowledge and her extraordinary perception of plants, she acted like a top-tier gardener, carefully beginning to "relocate" these spiritual materials. She moved the Snowy Swan Kiss, which preferred cold and damp conditions, near the influence of the cold spring; she moved the Cockscomb Phoenix Sunflower and others that required a scorching environment to the periphery of the hot spring; and she moved the mild-natured Aromatic Silk Beauty, Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum, and others to the balanced area where the two springs converged.
Through her meticulous planning and transplantation, the immortal herbs, which had previously been somewhat chaotic and competing for energy, each found their most suitable growth environment. The valley immediately appeared orderly and vibrant. Looking at the entire valley, it now resembled a perfectly planned divine herb garden, with an atmosphere far superior to before.
In their spare time, the two would stroll through the valley, discuss their insights on cultivation, and occasionally spar with soul skills. Their days were peaceful and fulfilling, and their bond grew deeper with each passing day.
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 every seven or eight days, repeating the process of "stealing" dragon power. He became increasingly proficient, controlling the amount extracted each time to perfection, never again causing a noticeable reaction from the Dragon King Remnant Souls. Through this steady, long-term accumulation, the amount of God King dragon power he had gathered was already quite considerable.
Under his unremitting efforts, the True Dragon Undying Body progressed rapidly, and his physique and bloodline improved significantly. Consequently, his soul power cultivation also reached its natural fruition, rising steadily from the early stage of level 93 to the late stage of level 93, not far from level 94! If this cultivation speed were known, it would shock the entire soul master world.
Ye Zhilan's cultivation also advanced by leaps and bounds. With the environmental boost of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and the push from the residual medicinal power of the immortal herbs, her soul power successfully broke through to level 73, consolidating the foundation of her Soul Sage realm.
However, on this day, when Yu Yuanchen once again activated the True Dragon Nine Crowns and initiated the Dragon Soul Awakening, preparing to dive to the bottom of the spring, he suddenly sensed an anomaly.
When he injected his soul power into the True Dragon Nine Crowns atop his head, triggering the power of the "Dragon Soul Awakening," he clearly felt that the ancient Thunder Dragon King soul imprints within those nine fragments—which had previously been merely weak residues, like dead objects—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 strength, it would have been impossible to detect. It felt as if the soul fragments, which had been asleep for eons, were being repeatedly stimulated and permeated by the high-level dragon power of the same source (the God King dragon power and the Dragon Soul Awakening power), beginning to slowly awaken from their dormancy and instinctively attracting and gathering toward one another!
"This is..." Yu Yuanchen's heart stirred, and he immediately began to carefully perceive his internal state.
Indeed! He discovered that the internal structure of the nine soul bone fragments that made up the True Dragon Nine Crowns was undergoing a transformation that was extremely slow yet undeniably real! At the edges of the fragments, extremely fine, bone-bud-like energy threads seemed to be slowly extending, attempting to connect with the adjacent fragments! The dragon soul pressure emitted by the entire True Dragon Nine Crowns was also a fraction more condensed and thicker than before!
Although it was still a long way from being truly restored to its original state and reassembled into a complete Head Soul Bone, this was undoubtedly an unprecedented and exhilarating sign!
"The True Dragon Nine Crowns... they actually show signs of self-repair?!" A light of incredulous surprise erupted in the eyes of Yu Yuanchen. "That's it! It must be that the multiple activations of Dragon Soul Awakening triggered the Thunder Dragon King Origin Mark remaining within them. More importantly, the Dragon Power of the Ice Fire Dragon King that I absorb each time, despite the difference in attributes, is essentially God King Level Dragon Power! For the fragments of the True Dragon Nine Crowns, which also belong to the dragon race, this power is a massive tonic! Under the dual nourishment and stimulation of Dragon Soul Awakening and God King Level Dragon Power, this shattered soul bone has begun its instinctive self-repair!"
Having figured out the key, Yu Yuanchen's heart could not help but pound!
What would it mean if the True Dragon Nine Crowns could be repaired? It would mean 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 restored, its quality would, at the most conservative estimate, definitely reach the level of a God-Tier Soul Bone! It might even be higher!
A complete God-Tier Head Soul Bone! Its massive boost to Spiritual Power, its protection of the soul, the bonus it provides to the control of Lightning Attribute power, and the potentially powerful soul bone skills it might carry... its value was simply immeasurable! It was far beyond the current state of being shattered and only capable of providing temporary power!
More importantly, this soul bone originated from the Thunder Dragon King, sharing the same origin as his Thunder Sacred Dragon Martial Soul, making it a perfect fit! Once the restoration was complete, he would be the most ideal, and perhaps the only qualified, successor to this soul bone!
"I must accelerate this process!" Yu Yuanchen made his decision in an instant.
From that day on, he changed his cultivation strategy. He no longer used the majority of the God King Level Dragon Power he stole daily to temper his body for the True Dragon Undying Body (after all, his Physique had already reached an unimaginable level and could be slowed down). Instead, he carefully guided more than eighty percent of it toward the True Dragon Nine Crowns atop 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 without diving to the bottom of the well, he would activate it for a period every day, using the power of the awakened Thunder Dragon King soul mark to continuously warm and guide the fusion of the fragments.
This was a slow, grinding process that could not be rushed. The repair of a God-Tier Soul Bone was by no means a task that could be accomplished in a day. But Yu Yuanchen had sufficient patience and time. Every time he looked inward and saw the edges of the fragments grow by an imperceptible amount, or felt the dragon soul pressure they emitted become a fraction more Solidified, his heart was filled with anticipation.
The two God King Level Dragon Bones at the bottom of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well seemed to have become his inexhaustible, top-tier cultivation resource library. And he, like a patient thief, took only a ladleful each time, letting the water flow steadily, quietly strengthening himself while nurturing the embryo of a divine artifact that would one day shock the world.
In the valley, time passed peacefully. The herb garden of Ye Zhilan grew increasingly lush, and her Cultivation Level improved steadily. Yu Yuanchen's Physique and Soul Power continued to grow slowly but Firmly under the nourishment of the God King Level Dragon Power, while his True Dragon Nine Crowns, under the day-after-day tempering of Dragon Power and the warming of the dragon soul, took a crucial step toward becoming whole.
Reassembling the dragon crown no longer seemed like an unattainable dream.
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Translated by: randomtranslator.com
Proofread by: GodKun-Chan