Chapter 886 - The Final Gift
As he was being gazed at by this enormous dragon, Ye Qingyu felt as though a magnificent and uncontrollable force had locked on to him. The force field of Saint realm laws around him indistinctly felt like it was on the verge of collapse. This astonished him and caused him to involuntarily draw back even more, such that he stepped back a total of nearly six hundred meters before he could steady himself.
"Human?"
A vicissitudinous and ancient accent rang out in the space.
Cyclones formed in succession as the giant dragon opened its mouth and breathed, raising up an immeasurable amount of orange lava. This was a natural, rather than a deliberate, emission of its breath. Perhaps because it had just woken up from a deep slumber, the ancient True Dragon was not in full control of its power.
Moreover, the ancient accent that was uttered from its mouth was unclear and strange. Most people would not have been able to understand it at all, and would even have taken it to be nothing but a series of meaningless roars. As luck would have it, however, Ye Qingyu had spent some time carefully studying ancient writings and languages, and was thus able to discern that the word "human" had been uttered, mixed with a kind of uncertainty and surprise.
Subsequently, the giant dragon spoke again without waiting for Ye Qingyu to reply.
"You aren't a disciple of the Sky Dragon Sect? Who are you?" The same obscure accent was uttered from the giant dragon's mouth in a manner that was close to roaring. Ye Qingyu was able to perceive the deep uncertainty in its words.
For some time, he did not know how to reply.
Knowing that it did not bear much malice, he said after a pause, "I'm Ye Qingyu of the Heaven Wasteland Domain..."
Before he finished speaking, the massive dragon body made a slight movement as if it wanted to rise up, but it eventually only budged a little and caused the lava ocean to churn, while its breath became heavy. Appearing extremely exhausted, it said, "Which year is it according to the Divine Dragon calendar now... No, why... am I sensing the wails of living things, the aura of death, and the portents of domain destruction... What... is going on, and what happened?"
It was apparently in extreme shock.
Intent on rising up, its massive body struggled once more, but remained unable to as before.
"My power has declined too severely, why is that..." As it gasped strenuously, a storm formed and the elemental forces in the space became disordered, creating a scene akin to an extremely terrifying chaotic windstorm. Its expression seemed to be one of extreme confusion when it looked again at Ye Qingyu.
"Human, what exactly happened?" It asked pantingly.
Ye Qingyu could distinctly feel that the aura of this massive creature had reached its absolute weakest. But of course, this was relative to its massive body and legendary race. It apparently did not know what had happened in the Ancient Sky Dragon Domain, nor that the Black Snake Demon had set up an array to devour its power.
After a brief pause, Ye Qingyu released a streak of divine consciousness which contained an account of everything that happened in the Ancient Sky Dragon Domain.
The giant dragon received this streak of divine consciousness.
After a good while.
"This day was inevitable, eh?"
It seemed to have finally digested everything that took place in this domain, and muttered to itself in a tone which contained indescribable bleakness and loneliness and a faint despair. Nevertheless, it did not appear overly shocked.
Judging from its tone, it seemed to know a few things.
A sort of deep sadness filled the Void.
Even at a distance, Ye Qingyu was infected by these kind of sentiments, and his mood inexplicably lowered.
But he quickly realized that this was not right, and immediately operated the nameless breathing technique to guard his mental state. It took a bout of sharp pain from biting the tip of his own tongue for him to become completely clear-headed and shake off the sad emotions.
"That's scary, it's indeed proving to be an ancient creature. To think its emotions can actually infect and disturb a Saint."
A certain degree of astonishment involuntarily arose in his heart.
Unexpectedly, the giant dragon's highly-natural mood swings were comparable to many psychological tricks, such that he nearly fell prey to them. Even in its weakest state, it proved that a True Dragon was indeed a kind of ancient creature which was in the same class as fiendgods. Had it been at the peak of its powers, perhaps he would have instantly become completely lost and confused in such a sorrowful atmosphere.
He took continuous steps backward.
Below him.
"I was ultimately unable to wait until that day. I've disappointed you, father..." The giant dragon sighed, steeped in grief. "I'd never thought that monster would reappear. I was too careless and actually allowed such a little monster to plot against me... A new reincarnation is about to begin. Who will come to hold up the sky this time?"
The giant dragon murmured to itself.
It seemed to have forgone the plans to stand up, and instead coiled quietly where it was.
Ye Qingyu, too, did not know what else to say.
Should I leave now?
Or...
He could not make up his mind.
Just then, the giant dragon lifted its head slightly and looked at Ye Qingyu again. After sizing him up, it asked with some uncertainty, "Human, you aren't a disciple of the Ancient Sky Dragon Sect, yet I can sense a familiar aura on you... Why is that so? Is that... a True Dragon aura? How's that possible?"
Ye Qingyu was taken slightly aback.
A dragon aura?
"Is it because of the [Dragonblood Halberd]? Perhaps, being an ancestral weapon of the Dragon Human Race, it has a tinge of True Dragon aura?" Believing this to be the case, Ye Qingyu offered an explanation.
"No, that can't be, the Dragon Human Race? I know about them, but they are certainly not True Dragon ... You're just a normal human, how can you..." The giant dragon appeared rather disdainful while talking about the Dragon Human Race. The gleam in its eyes grew ever brighter as it looked at Ye Qingyu with a great deal of doubt yet also some excitement.
Ye Qingyu's heart jolted when he heard its words.
The only other plausible explanation as to why he would have an aura related to the Dragon Race was the [True Will of the Sky Dragon] technique, which allowed him to transform into a dragon.
After a brief hesitation, Ye Qingyu verbalized this conjecture.
"[True Will of the Sky Dragon]?" The giant dragon was astounded. "Who imparted such a technique to you? This is incredible, can you... demonstrate it?"
Ye Qingyu nodded and began to operate the [True Will of the Sky Dragon]. The next instant, he turned into a kilometer-long silver-colored Sky Dragon and hovered in the Void, emanating bouts of dragon might. But certainly, his body and vigor could not be compared to those of the giant dragon which was several dozen kilometers in length below.
The giant dragon was amazed.
"Sky Dragon... this is genuine Sky Dragon aura... Who would've thought that there would be such a brilliant technique in this universe?" It gawked at the dragon-form Ye Qingyu, finding it hard to believe this all. Only a long while later did it seem to think of something, becoming even more shocked. "My father once mentioned that there indeed existed such a supreme technique, but that it was the secret technique of a certain sect and was never shared with outsiders. As time went by, that frightening sect was said to have perished, so why..."
As if it had thought of something terrifying, it dared not speak further.
In the Void, Ye Qingyu reverted to a human look.
The giant dragon stared at him as if it had discovered something else. "Hmm, your body also has a True Phoenix aura, albeit a very weak one... You seem to have cultivated True Phoenix power... eh? You've attained nirvana before? Have you really? How's that possible... who exactly are you? It shouldn't be possible to possess both a True Phoenix and a True Dragon aura at the same time... Are you actually a person with no fate? What... kind of monster are you?"
Ye Qingyu was terribly astounded upon hearing this.
That the giant dragon was able to discern all this showed that its vision and perception were exceedingly frightening. It was even able to detect the Phoenix power which Ye Qingyu had completely refined and expended when he was seeking to attain the Saint realm.
What he did not know was that the Dragon Race had all along possessed an exceedingly keen perception of the Phoenix Race's aura. This was an innate instinct which was not really related to how strong they were.
The giant dragon muttered to itself, its expression appearing worked up like never before.
It looked at Ye Qingyu with fiercely blazing eyes.
Then, it suddenly laughed wildly.
"Hahaha, this must be the will of Heaven for such an opportunity to be offered right up to me. Although I don't have long to live, the bloodline and will of my race can be carried on using this human's body. No wonder... haha, no wonder such a fateless monster, which is actually a human who possesses the True Dragon and True Phoenix aura, would come. This reminds me of that ancient prophecy... Perhaps this is my only opportunity in such dark times, hahaha, I... will be able to die with no regrets."
It laughed derangedly.
As he listened to its soliloquy, Ye Qingyu vaguely perceived a few things.
But before he could respond, the giant dragon below suddenly stopped laughing. The scales on its massive body began to burn brilliantly as incomparably-mysterious and densely-packed Dragon Race formation patterns flickered on its surface. A divine True Dragon aura filled the entire Void, as if sealing the space. Ye Qingyu became frozen in mid-air and could not move no matter how much force he exerted. Similarly, the Saint realm power of laws was frozen and could not be activated.
This was an extremely terrifying magical ability.
A divine and deathly aura circulated throughout the space.
The flames on the dragon's body grew ever fierier until the power of the dazzling red radiance reached an incredible level. The several-dozen-kilometers-long dragon body burned endlessly as its scales turned into ashes and broke off, revealing the dragon bones beneath...
This process was a highly mind-blowing sight.
Like burnt firewood, the dragon body shrivelled at a visible speed, before its bones, skin, and scales dispersed into ashes...
Only the mysterious blood-red True Dragon formation patterns did not disperse for a long time after being burned. Circulating and flickering in a dense arrangement, they vividly formed an outline of the dragon's body where it had been...
"This is..."
Ye Qingyu was astounded by the scene before him and did not know what the dragon was intending to do.
"Haha, human, with your unique fatelessness, you shall take over the bloodline and power of the last True Dragon King. Although my body and spirit will disperse, the bloodline and glory of the True Dragon King shall be carried on according to your will. Hahaha, it would be the most sonorous music to the ears of the True Dragon Race if you really are able to break and destroy the cycle of life and death."
The voice of the giant dragon was excited like never before.
It sounded like that of a fanatical religious believer who had lost all reason.
The burning flames crept across its body until only its head, which was several kilometers in length, was left. As it raised its head, a few mysterious, profound, and obscure syllables were uttered from its mouth, sounding like the closing words of some ancient scripture.
Subsequently, the dragon's head turned completely into ashes, even before the echoes of these profound syllables had died out.
During that moment, Ye Qingyu knew for sure that he would forever remember the strange expression in the eyes of the giant dragon before its head vanished - a mix of relief and expectation, and more so of having tried something crazy.
The dragon's body dissipated completely among the flames.
Leaving behind the True Dragon formation patterns which were flickering wildly and densely on the body's surface.
These True Dragon patterns, which flickered with a strange splendor, not only did not vanish along with the incinerated body, but even became brighter than before. As they flickered within the orange lava, they indistinctly formed an outline of the massive dragon body, like a painter creating a simple sketch.
Similarly, the mysterious and divine power in the Void not only did not disappear but even became more distinct and overbearing.
During the moment when the echoes of the syllables finally died out, the True Dragon patterns suddenly seemed to come alive and swarmed toward Ye Qingyu like newborn swallows returning to their nests.
The sky full of True Dragon patterns instantly formed what seemed like a flowing blood river.
The first streak of True Dragon patterns hit Ye Qingyu's body.
Chi!
A strange noise rang out.
Ye Qingyu felt a hard-to-describe pain. As they pressed on him, the patterns seemed to be branding his body using a fire-heated branding iron. Subsequently, blood-red shapes appeared on his arms.
Chi chi chi!
Strange noises rang out incessantly.
Bouts of sharp pain were continually felt.
The True Dragon formation patterns successively appeared all over the surface of Ye Qingyu's body, on his arms, palms, chest, abs, thighs, legs... and even his face. Differing from one another, these patterns densely superposed until Ye Qingyu's body seemed as if tattoos of all kinds of odd shapes had been etched into his skin.
Because of the massive size of the dragon, it left behind as many True Dragon patterns as there were stars in the Milky Way. They frenziedly branded onto Ye Qingyu's body, inundating him completely.
Besides bringing along a painful feeling, every pattern injected a peculiar power into Ye Qingyu's body as they branded on it.
This process would go on for a full three days and three nights.