Chapter 12: Silver Dragon

Four years later, the Spirit Transmission Tower, Intermediate Spirit Ascension Platform.

Amid layers of lush greenery, the girl wore a pure white dress, her silver hair cascading past her slender waist, her silver eyes ethereal and clear, glowing like morning stars, her features exquisitely perfect, her otherworldly face dimming the very heavens and earth.

“Roar—”

Opposite the girl, the soul beast roared in fury—a translucent toad, about two meters tall, its body snow-white as jade, its two beast eyes blazing crimson as if dripping blood, terrifying to behold.

Zhu Qing Bing Chan, three thousand years of cultivation!

A soul beast of ice, fire, and extreme toxicity, its territory once lay at the border between the Jibei region and the human world, known as the King of the Cracks!

A flash of silver light—her signature Baiyin Longqiang appeared in her grasp, revealing her identity: Na’er, four years later. The tip of the Baiyin Longqiang slanted toward the ground, her figure heroic and commanding, like a majestic female war goddess.

“Baiyin Long Nu!”

Na’er cried out, her voice crisp as pearls tumbling upon a jade plate; two purple soul rings instantly rose beside her, the second ring blazing with light!

Her silver eyes burned with radiant brilliance; the Baiyin Longqiang erupted in brilliant silver light. A layer of silver dragon scales emerged from her right hand gripping the spear, spreading rapidly across her entire body, covering all exposed skin except her face in the blink of an eye!

Second soul skill of the Baiyin Longqiang: Baiyin Long Nu!

An enhanced soul skill—the Baiyin Longqiang’s Baiyin Dragon King bloodline nourishes Na’er, drastically increasing her attack, speed, spiritual power, and soul skill potency!

The enhancement of Baiyin Long Nu was extraordinarily fierce; flame-like radiance surged upward. Na’er seemed to transform into a volcano in eruption, intense light and flame clinging to the silver scales, her body vanishing within them, coalescing into a colossal silver dragon silhouette, its dragon roars clear and soaring!

“Roar…”

Na’er’s unleashed aura far exceeded her soul power; the Zhu Qing Bing Chan instinctively retreated half a step, standing opposite the silver dragon, its breathing labored, its heart crushed beneath an impossibly heavy boulder—the terror stemming from the deepest depths of its bloodline!

A three-thousand-year soul beast possessed considerable intelligence; this human was extremely dangerous. The Zhu Qing Bing Chan knew it must give its all—bumps on its back burst open, streams of blue-white, liquid-like light shot toward Na’er!

Innate soul skill: Corrosive Ice!

Though its name contains “ice,” the Zhu Qing Bing Chan’s true terror lies in its fusion of the world’s coldest essence with its fire-attributed eyes, producing Zhu Qing Bing Chan Poison!

Just a single drop could corrode a same-level Plateau Rhinoceros into a pool of toxic sludge!

The Zhu Qing Bing Chan held absolute respect for Na’er, nearly draining its entire toxin reserve; Corrosive Ice blanketed the sky, a dense rain of deadly poison falling from above!

Yet the next second, Na’er showed the Zhu Qing Bing Chan: your ancestor is still your ancestor!

The silver-white dragon roared to the heavens; Na’er did not dodge or retreat, charging straight into the ice rain. Flames danced with tiny black sparks, tiny spatial rifts devouring the Corrosive Ice!

Na’er is the half-body of the Baiyin Dragon King; even without inheriting its multiple elemental powers, her innate elemental affinity remained. The fused soul spirit, Jingji Long, served as a conduit, allowing her to communicate with her internal spatial attribute—since then, space became her weapon!

The Zhu Qing Bing Chan’s strength lay ninety percent in its poison; its physical constitution and close combat were mediocre. Na’er closed the distance instantly, sweeping the Baiyin Longqiang!

First soul skill: Baiyin Zhan!

Suspended midair, the Zhu Qing Bing Chan spewed blood furiously, only stopping after smashing through seven or eight ancient trees, its forelimbs shattered, its chest and abdomen cracked in vast patches, crimson blood oozing down, its aura withered and feeble.

“Zhao Xuanzhen!”

Having severely wounded the Zhu Qing Bing Chan, Na’er shouted aloud.

The person Na’er called stood tall and slender, black hair tied back, his face pale and handsome, wearing a dark blue inner robe with wide outer sleeves adorned with Taiyi totems, reflecting the flow of yin and yang.

While Na’er battled the Zhu Qing Bing Chan, Zhao Xuanzhen faced another soul beast of imposing presence.

A toad-like soul beast, its appearance neither grotesque nor repulsive, but exquisitely luxurious and magnificent, its body dominated by radiant gold, its eyes gleaming brightly, three legs supporting its entire frame.

Four-thousand-year soul beast: Sanzu Jinchan!

Sanzu Jinchan is a divine bloodline descendant, naturally controlling metal, also known as the Metal Controller.

Since the predecessor of the Rìyuè Federation—the Rìyuè Empire—Sanzu Jinchan has held a revered status within the federation; a family that inherits Sanzu Jinchan as its martial soul has served in high offices for generations in Rìyuè!

Sanzu Jinchan’s golden eyes brimmed with murderous intent. Originally, one slept in the Rìyuè Federation’s metal mines, the other lived on the edge of Jibei; both were forcibly transformed into soul spirits by the Spirit Transmission Tower and placed into this Intermediate Spirit Ascension Platform, simulated as a hybrid zone of the Star Dou Great Forest.

By chance, they met and became lifelong partners. Zhu Qing Bing Chan’s poison and Sanzu Jinchan’s metal control were both top-tier abilities; the two toads gradually became dominant lords of the Intermediate Spirit Ascension Platform, deterring ordinary soul beasts from approaching.

Zhao Xuanzhen and Na’er invaded their territory; Sanzu Jinchan flew into a rage, determined to bury these two humans beneath endless metal artillery fire!

“Clink, clink…”

Amid the metallic clangor, golden rings ascended; cracks opened on Sanzu Jinchan’s back, and barrels emerged, bathed in radiant light!

Sanzu Jinchan resembled a soul-tool artillery platform—the legendary origin of soul tools was precisely this soul beast; tens of thousands of years ago, ancient soul-artificers modeled soul tools after Sanzu Jinchan!

Countless metallic light points coalesced around them, surging like rivers into the barrels; each point of light, as it neared Sanzu Jinchan, was nourished and strengthened, spreading thick golden auras, the metallic aura thick and boiling!

Innate soul skill: Metal Explosion!

Zhao Xuanzhen’s gaze was calm—so calm it held no warmth whatsoever, as if nothing in the world could reflect within it; this was absolute arrogance, yet utterly natural, his entire being embodying the realm of “all things within my heart.”

True Self, Embodiment!

A strand of black hair turned white; two thousand-year soul rings surged forth—unlike Na’er’s brilliant purple, Zhao Xuanzhen’s soul rings radiated a profound, abyssal black!

The Metal Explosion struck; the artillery fire roared violently, as if piercing eardrums, forming a blinding, sky-obscuring curtain of flame with immense kinetic force. Sanzu Jinchan’s eyes gleamed with human-like triumph—divine bloodline innate abilities were beyond mortal reach; its pupils widened slightly, eager to witness the artillery crush the human into dust!

“Gah!?”

Sanzu Jinchan froze, staring in disbelief at Zhao Xuanzhen engulfed by the Metal Explosion.

A scene shattered Sanzu Jinchan’s four-thousand-year understanding—not a single shell struck Zhao Xuanzhen; each one, upon nearing, was pulled by an unseen force, swirling endlessly around his body, the final deep-purple soul ring blazing brilliantly!

Second soul skill: Yin-Yang Reversal!

Yin and yang energies formed an inviolable black-and-white domain; every metal shell that approached was enveloped by yin-yang qi, converging around Zhao Xuanzhen into a swirling vortex of black, white, and gold.

Sanzu Jinchan, refusing to believe it, increased output; the barrels on its back smoked from metal overload, yet the result remained unchanged—the vortex not only did not dissipate, but grew even larger!

If Sanzu Jinchan could speak, it would first laugh three times, then curse the heavens: “This is an anti-heaven matching system!”

The human’s soul skill was the absolute counter to ranged attacks!

Then came something even more terrifying: the vortex that absorbed all its attacks now surged back at it—and the energy contained within was greater than what Sanzu Jinchan had released in total!

The gold was Sanzu Jinchan’s artillery, the black and white were Zhao Xuanzhen’s yin-yang; the fusion of two soul skills produced a power far more terrifying than the original Metal Explosion!

Sanzu Jinchan knew better than anyone the destructive power of two rounds of Metal Explosion. As Yin-Yang Reversal descended, instinctively it felt no escape—its body would surely be annihilated by yin-yang qi in the next instant!

Yin-Yang Reversal’s soul skill carries a lock-on effect!

The principle of Yin-Yang Reversal is simple: use the enemy’s force against them, reverse heaven and earth. Yin-yang qi absorbs ranged attacks and returns them as its own, guaranteeing a hit.

The power of this soul skill was the greatest Zhao Xuanzhen had ever unleashed since gaining his second soul skill—ninety-eight percent of the power came from Sanzu Jinchan’s century-honored ranged artillery bombardment!

Borrowing force, returning force—the core lies in the force borrowed.

If it were a Wind Baboon, Yin-Yang Reversal would fail; those two wind balls it spat were less potent than one barrel of Sanzu Jinchan!

To counter a guaranteed-hit skill, besides invincible intangibility, one could only minimize damage—Sanzu Jinchan’s body instantly melted into liquid metal!

Yin-Yang Reversal detonated; the sharp metallic aura ravaged everything. The liquid form of Sanzu Jinchan was sliced into fragments, then reformed into a mangled, scarred Sanzu Jinchan!

Sanzu Jinchan’s heart pounded like a drum; fortunately, its divine bloodline granted it a lifesaving technique—otherwise, it would have been crushed by its own innate soul skill!

Two-on-two, Sanzu Jinchan and Zhu Qing Bing Chan were nearly simultaneously crippled; the soul beasts knew humans would show no mercy—the ferocity of cornered beasts surged within them!

Sanzu Jinchan charged toward Zhu Qing Bing Chan; the two toads merged like two pools of liquid into one colossal crimson-gold toad, blending Sanzu Jinchan’s metal with Zhu Qing Bing Chan’s poison, its two black beast eyes like dark grave pits!

“A soul beast version of a martial soul fusion technique—I’ve never seen one before!” Na’er appeared beside Zhao Xuanzhen.

“There’s precedent. Ten thousand years ago, two soul masters possessed this skill. If humans can do it, soul beasts can too,” Zhao Xuanzhen said.

Soul beasts don’t just possess fusion techniques—they even have three-in-one fusion techniques—and the fusion of Sanzu Jinchan and Zhu Qing Bing Chan has occurred before!

“You handle the ranged attacks!”

The Baiyin Longqiang dissolved into a streak of light, returning to Na’er’s body; the silver scales receded like a retreating tide. Na’er safely hid behind Zhao Xuanzhen—the gap between the two thousand-year soul beasts and Zhao Xuanzhen was too vast for any martial soul fusion technique to bridge.

“Alright.”

Zhao Xuanzhen smiled faintly, unconcerned by Na’er’s slacking.

The second soul ring ignited, expanding outward; the Yin-Yang Reversal vortex enveloped them again!

The crimson-gold toad opened its massive mouth; deep within its throat, a blinding white light coalesced—infused with the cold hardness of metal and the sinister chill of ice-fire poison, a twisted, hysterical madness erupted!

Human, I wonder if you can reflect this now!

“Extreme reversal!”

Zhao Xuanzhen pushed both palms forward; the yin-yang vortex rippled, visible waves enveloping the light, the martial soul fusion technique’s power spinning at incredible speed within the vortex!

Withdrawing his hands, the ancient martial soul fusion technique known as “Worldly Attachment” blazed with even greater radiance, trailing a magnificent tailfire as it streaked toward the crimson-gold toad!

“BOOM!!!”

A terrifying explosion erupted, dazzling and radiant like a blooming lotus; in the crimson-gold toad’s despairing gaze, Yin-Yang Reversal reflected back, annihilating all life within its radius.

Energy feedback: seven hundred years!

The final piece fell into place—the black overpowered the purple!

Spirit Ascension: Ten-thousand-year soul ring!

Two ink-black ten-thousand-year soul rings floated above and below Zhao Xuanzhen; his aura surged violently.

Relying on the absolute physical resilience of True Self, Zhao Xuanzhen could now withstand two ten-thousand-year soul rings; his spiritual power had already broken through the Spirit Sea realm one and a half years ago, sufficient to carry a ten-thousand-year soul spirit!

Na’er’s body and spirit far surpassed soul masters of her level, but the physical enhancements from Baiyin Longqiang and True Self were not on the same level—her soul ring limits had been reached; she could not yet bear two ten-thousand-year soul rings. Today, she was here to assist Zhao Xuanzhen in his ascension.

She pressed the signal device; the two departed the Intermediate Spirit Ascension Platform.

Awakening from the metal cabinet, the crisp sound of high heels on the floor echoed clearly in the silent underground space; a graceful, slender figure approached them, speaking softly:

“Xuanzhen, any physical abnormalities?”

Zhao Xuanzhen rose and looked at the figure, smiling: “All as before, Teacher.”

Leng Yaoju exhaled in relief; she treasured this, her only direct disciple, having hoped he’d wait longer before ascending, but she couldn’t dissuade Zhao Xuanzhen.

“Don’t worry, Leng Yi, I’m watching him!” Na’er grinned.

Leng Yaoju helplessly poked Na’er’s small head. “It’s been three months since your last physical scan. Let me see your recent changes—Xuanzhen first.”

A helmet descended onto Zhao Xuanzhen’s head; in her hand appeared a blue crystal ball.

On the white soul-tool screen, spiritual power values flickered rapidly; the crystal ball, capped at level thirty, blazed brilliantly, just a hair’s breadth from full capacity.

“Twenty-nine-level peak,” Leng Yaoju nodded.

“Last night, my soul power showed signs of breakthrough—likely two or three days until Soul Elder.” Zhao Xuanzhen said.

Four years: from level thirteen to twenty-nine. If calculated at level thirty, subtracting the one level granted by the second soul ring, the average is precisely four levels per year.

Drawing comparison with Xu Xiaoyan and Xie Xie, both of whom had innate full soul power, Zhao Xuanzhen’s cultivation speed was like cruising on a highway.

“Dii-dii-dii!”

Spiritual power value stalled.

Six hundred sixty-six — six six, smooth sailing.

Spirit Sea Realm: 500 to 5000 — the mind like an ocean, vast and boundless; spiritual power truly reaches high tier, capable of fusing five yellow soul spirits, or three purple soul spirits and one black soul spirit.

Thanks to the full teachings of the Innate Spiritual Penetration Realm and Soul Douluo Han Tianyi, plus thrice-weekly training in real illusions, Zhao Xuanzhen’s spiritual power far surpassed that of his peers.

Moments later, Naer’s data appeared: Great Soul Master at level twenty-seven, spiritual power five hundred twenty, Spirit Sea Realm!

“520 — the perfect number!”

Naer stared at her spiritual power value and cackled with delight; Zhao Xuanzhen helplessly covered his face.

Trouble — signs of romantic delusion have appeared!

(End of Chapter)