C37 With the Help of the East Wind

Hidden Dragon Lake has always been an anomaly among the world's cultivators.

On both the Heavenly Source and Quietus Continents, the majority of sects looked down upon the Hidden Dragon Lake lineage.

The reason lies in the fact that the Hidden Dragon Lake lineage serves dragons as "human" attendants—the servants of dragons.

In the vast expanse of the Boundless Land, the Dragon Clan once reigned with unmatched strength.

Yet, today, their former glory has faded, and it is the human race that now dominates the Boundless Land!

Many of the most powerful cultivators from the Heavenly Source and Quietus Continents capture dragons to use as mounts and craft artifacts from dragon bones and sinews.

Institutions like the Demon Palace and the three great upper sects of the Heavenly Source Continent commonly enslave dragons for their own purposes.

Often, the Dragon Clan finds itself subservient to humans, bound by loyalty and obedience.

However, Hidden Dragon Lake stands apart—humans serving dragons as their masters, embracing the role of servants.

"The young dragon's soul within you is consuming your life force, stealthily drawing upon the faint soul power emanating from your three souls," Yu Yuan observed, eyeing the blue bloodline that was growing increasingly agitated. "Your failure to advance into the Spirit Accumulating Stage is due to its interference."

"I'm well aware," Zhao Yafu replied in agony.

She acutely felt the young dragon's soul pilfering the power from her very flesh and blood.

The process was excruciating, akin to being flayed alive, and she felt an overwhelming desire for it to end.

Yet, she found herself powerless to resist.

"It continues to grow, yet its wisdom remains dormant. Once it has drawn sufficient nourishment from your three souls, its intellect will fully blossom," Yu Yuan said, taking her hand. "Then, your flesh and three souls will become its most delectable feast."

With a somber expression, Zhao Yafu bowed her head and murmured, "I understand all too well."

"The dragon soul is potent. Should you assimilate and refine it within your three souls, the benefits will be immense," Yu Yuan continued, shifting his tone. "From the moment you reach the Penetrating Stage, the process of condensing the Yin God, progressing through the Soul Wandering Stage, and forging the Yang God will be significantly smoother. Moreover, your Yin God and Yang God will be far more powerful than those of others at the same level."

"Yes," Zhao Yafu confirmed with a nod.

"I'll give it a shot."

Yu Yuan inhaled deeply, and the "Nine Glorious Heavenly Wheel" in his palm began to whirl at an accelerated pace. Invisible to others, only he was aware that his palm had, in a flash, transformed into a black hole capable of engulfing all forms of energy.

Despite wielding the Nine Glorious Heavenly Wheel, Yu Yuan, at the Pulse Opening Stage, couldn't project his spiritual energy through his skin to attack others. His only option was to harness a High Rank Spiritual Spell to absorb the energies of the external world.

The energies of heaven and earth dispersed throughout the valley, including the fiery specks released by Yuan Qiufang, were all forms of Spiritual Qi. Even the blood rain shed by the ghost-like Ann Ziqing contained vital blood and essence energy.

Ordinary Spiritual Spells struggled to draw in such energy, but the "Glorious Heavenly Wheel" was an exception.

"Ah!"

Zhao Yafu trembled, a spark of excitement flashing in her eyes. Zhao Xi, standing beside her, sensed something too.

In that moment, as Yu Yuan fervently stimulated the "Glorious Heavenly Wheel," they either felt it intuitively or witnessed with their own eyes how the scattered sparks and droplets of blood rain began to be drawn towards them.

Yu Yuan had become like a peculiar magnet, attracting the dispersed forces.

"Ah!"

Suddenly, Zhao Yafu's complexion turned ashen.

With a suspicious glare, she fixed her eyes on Yu Yuan and demanded, "What are you doing?"

The young dragon spirit, long implanted within her, surged down her arm and into her palm, desperately trying to break through her skin and merge with Yu Yuan's palm.

"You're trying to take it!" she accused, her voice laced with panic and anger.

The young dragon spirit that had caused her years of agony was her family's hope!

How could she let it fall into someone else's hands?

"What a cunning scheme!" Zhao Xi, too, had misread the situation. His expression turned icy as he warned, "Young Master Yu, I suggest you refrain from coveting what isn't yours! How dare you be so audacious? To act so recklessly right under my watch?"

"Silence!"

Yu Yuan barked furiously.

In just that brief exchange, beads of sweat had formed on his forehead, and the hand gripping Zhao Yafu's was quivering. "Given my current state at the Pulse Opening Stage, unless I'm seeking death, why would I entertain such thoughts?"

Upon hearing these words, Zhao Xi and Zhao Yafu managed to regain some composure.

"Concentrate and help me!" Yu Yuan called out once more.

It was then that Zhao Yafu noticed sparks of fire and droplets of blood rain descending into Yu Yuan's palm. The juvenile dragon spirit, lured by the scent of a feast, sought to burrow into Yu Yuan's body, but it was firmly ensnared by the Nine-valued Ability emanating from his hand.

Their palms pressed together, Zhao Yafu could feel the Nine-valued Ability distinctly.

With a sizzling sound, the fire and blood rain slipped through the crevice of their joined hands, seemingly burning and refining the young dragon spirit caught in the grip of the Nine-valued Ability.

Zhao Yafu keenly sensed the dragon spirit's agony at that moment. It realized the pain, instinctively recognized the trap, and struggled to free itself from the Nine-valued Ability, desperate to retreat into her chest and never emerge again.

"Indeed, its wisdom is yet to awaken; it took the bait so effortlessly. I've already reeled it in; did you think I'd let you slip away that easily?" Yu Yuan sneered, feeling the dragon spirit's frantic attempts to escape. "Such greed. The moment you sense a power to absorb, you rush to plunder it. The Nagas have always been this way in ancient times. It's an intrinsic trait, deeply embedded in your lineage. Unfortunately for you, the era of the Dragon Clan's dominion is long past."

The true lure for the young dragon spirit was the blood rain exuded by Ann Ziqing, rich with potent blood energy.

Yu Yuan harnessed the "Glorious Heavenly Wheel" to collect these scattered droplets of blood energy and focus them. As their palms met, the dragon spirit naturally sniffed out the exquisite, tantalizing essence of the blood, tracing the scent to its source.

Once it realized it was bound by the nine luminous strands and that Yuan Qiufang's fiery power had begun to seep in and consume it, the dragon spirit understood it had been deceived.

Now it was desperately trying to break free, to flee back into the safety of Zhao Yafu's body.

"Ouch!"

Sweat beaded on Zhao Yafu's nose and forehead, shining like pearls. Her palm throbbed with a scorching pain, scorched by Yuan Qiufang's fiery might, while the invasive blood essence forcefully surged in as well.

The essence of blood carried with it an overwhelming scent of violence and bloodshed.

The young dragon soul, which had been concealed within her for years, intricately linked to her own blood and spirit, now seemed to shiver within her perception.

Her pain was unbearable. With her head bowed, she could sense the blue bloodline within her contorting and quivering as if it were rolling about in the palm of her hand.

Suddenly, Zhao Yafu experienced a surge of satisfaction, finding solace in witnessing the young dragon soul's agony.

Night after night, during her meditative practices, she was acutely aware of a foreign presence within her, covertly observing and siphoning her life force and power.

She was helpless, despite knowing everything.

Her father and grandfather had even informed her that this... entity was her master, the one to whom she must pledge her lifelong allegiance.

Why should she serve such a being?

Why was her destiny entwined with it? Why obey its commands, and in the event of its demise, sacrifice herself for its resurrection?

For what reason?

Zhao Yafu couldn't accept it!

"Hey!"

Yu Yuan, gently holding Zhao Yafu's hand, smiled and remarked, "The Blood God Cult, the dense blood of a Yin God, seems like a delicacy when scattered. But once it's concentrated, it becomes lethal. I now have an inkling as to why your true form perished outside Hidden Dragon Lake, unknown to all."

"Foolish, such a foolish dragon."

The droplets of blood that Ann Ziqing shed during her battle with Yuan Qiufang were insignificant when scattered.

But their potency was not to be underestimated once condensed.

"Eh, a young dragon soul?"

It was then that Ann Ziqing, who had long evaded the Blazing Inferno Halberd, came to a mysterious halt in the valley's airspace.

Her figure materialized.

She blinked, amused, "Young Master, you're preoccupied with aiding the Zhao family's young lady in ridding her of her internal peril, even as I fight tooth and nail? Honestly, once the young dragon soul is refined, will you pin the blame on the Blood God Cult and the Red Devil Sect?"

Yu Yuan chuckled sheepishly, "Since it doesn't bother you and is but a trivial effort, why not perform a good deed?"

"I'd rather not!"

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