“One last question. If I let you out, what's to stop you from going back on your word and not giving me the cultivation technique?”
Tyr wasn't about to do something that would leave him empty-handed.
“I've only just emerged from the magic stone crystal wall, and my strength isn't even at the First Circle. My life is entirely in your hands. Do you really think I would go back on my word?”
The Five-Clawed Golden Dragon had lost all its temper and spoke completely honestly.
It was indeed the truth.
The Innate Sword Heart didn't sense any deception.
“Avia, let it out.”
Tyr stepped back, giving Avia enough room to act.
“Yes, Young Master.”
Avia stepped forward. Magic power gathered in her hand, and she slammed a fist toward the magic stone crystal wall.
“Bang!”
Following a dull thud, cracks began to form around Avia's fist, rapidly spreading across the entire magic stone crystal wall.
“Young Master, stand back.”
Avia withdrew her fist and took a few steps back, shielding Tyr.
“Crack, crack, crack.”
Countless fractures soon covered the entire magic stone crystal wall, and fine magic stone dust continuously drifted down from it.
“Boom!”
With a deafening roar, the entire magic stone crystal wall shattered, sending massive chunks of magic stone crashing to the ground.
Tyr peeked out from behind Avia, looking toward where the wall had been.
In the direction of the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon, a brilliant golden light suddenly flared. The blinding radiance forced Tyr to instinctively close his eyes.
When he opened them again, the massive magic stone crystal wall had turned into a pile of rubble. The colossal Five-Clawed Golden Dragon was nowhere to be seen, leaving only a large golden egg floating in midair.
Tyr asked, “Uh, where did the dragon go?”
“Young Master, it seems to have turned into an egg,” Avia said.
She pointed at the golden egg floating before the rubble. With her Sixth Circle strength, the intense golden light from before hadn't affected her much, and she had watched the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon shrink until it ultimately became an egg.
“Turned into an egg? Holy crap, did you just go straight back to the womb?”
Tyr stepped forward and reached out to tap the floating dragon egg.
“You're not trying to use this as an excuse to go back on our deal, are you?”
“Bullshit! The great dragon clan would never stoop to lies!”
The Five-Clawed Golden Dragon's furious voice echoed from within the egg.
At the same time, a beam of golden light shot out from the egg and sank directly into the space between Tyr's brows.
Instantly, a technique called the 《Primordial Dragon Soul Refining Technique》 appeared in Tyr's mind.
The Primordial Dragon Soul Refining Technique... Can humans actually practice this? I won't end up turning myself into a dragon if I practice this, will I?
Seeing the words “Dragon Soul” in the technique's name, Tyr couldn't help but wonder.
“How should I know? Our dragon clan's techniques are never shared with outsiders. No human has ever practiced this technique before.”
The 《Primordial Dragon Soul Refining Technique》 was one of the ultimate secret arts of the dragon clan. Even among dragons, it wasn't something just anyone could practice, let alone other races.
“Is it really fine for you to just give it to me like this, then?”
So this is actually an ultimate secret art of your clan, and you just handed it over like that? Isn't that a bit too reckless?
But this golden dragon was surprisingly straightforward. Instead of using some random soul-refining method to trick him, it had directly pulled out its clan's ultimate secret art.
Talk about loyal.
Of course, Tyr had no idea that it wasn't out of loyalty that the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon had done this, but rather because it didn't possess any other soul-refining techniques at all.
Dragons were proud creatures, and the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon, born with inherited memories, was the pinnacle among them.
They were born with a complete system of cultivation techniques and looked down on any others.
Furthermore, the dragon clan's inherited memories were all-encompassing, so it had absolutely no need to seek out other techniques.
Combined with the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon's bloodline status, anything it could produce would naturally be an ultimate secret art of the dragon clan.
“What of it? When I first arrived in this world, my divine sense covered the entire continent. I was the only divine dragon here, making me the Ancestral Dragon of this world.”
The Five-Clawed Golden Dragon's boastful words echoed from the golden egg. It didn't seem to feel the slightest bit of despair over its current plight.
“By the way, how exactly did you end up in this world?”
Tyr was quite curious about this. Since he could cross over and this Five-Clawed Golden Dragon could too, did that mean other living beings could as well?
“Back then, I was traveling the Eastern Sea when I was ambushed and surrounded by ten True Demons. They wanted to pry out my dragon bones, extract my dragon tendons, and use my dragon soul to forge weapons.”
“I fought them for three hundred rounds and slew them all.”
“However, I was also gravely injured. I originally intended to tear through space to return to the Dragon Valley to recuperate, but I unexpectedly ran into a space storm. While trying to evade it, I accidentally entered a spatial node, which brought me to this world where I crashed onto this mountain.”
Well, I'll be. So the 'fallen dragon' of the Dragonfall Mountain Range actually refers to you! Tyr had always assumed that a Western-style dragon had perished here.
“Human, your situation is likely similar. Normally, after your death, your soul should have returned to the Underworld, passed through the Ghost Gate, walked the Yellow Spring Road, and looked back at your loved ones one last time from the Home-Viewing Pavilion. After that, you would pass the Three-Life Stone, enter the Hall of Yama to review the merits and faults of your life, and finally head to the Naihe Bridge to drink a bowl of Meng Po's soup before reincarnating.”
“But after the Three Realms split, passing through the barriers between them is essentially a form of spatial travel. And as long as there is spatial travel, there is a chance of encountering a spatial node along the way. I shouldn't need to explain the rest for you to understand.”
So his reincarnation onto the Elan Continent wasn't some grand scheme orchestrated by a powerful deity, nor was it some conspiracy. He had simply been hijacked by a spatial node on his way to the Underworld.
Upon learning this, Tyr felt a strange sense of relief.
It was great that there was no conspiracy. This meant he could focus on growing stronger in peace without constantly worrying about hidden schemes.
“By the way, I haven't asked for your name yet.”
“Ao Chen.”
“I am Tyr Callis,” Tyr said, pausing before adding, “My name in my past life was Nangong Jiyu.”
By the time Tyr and Avia returned to the camp, it was already close to noon.
The reserves who had managed to catch Dust Shadow Roes had already returned with their prey. Those who hadn't returned by now would likely have to skip lunch.
Since carrying such a large egg around was inconvenient, Tyr had Avia put it in her bag for now.
Ao Chen complained quite a bit about this, but it understood its current situation. If it didn't want to be taken by House Callis for research, it had to keep as low a profile as possible.
“Brother Tyr, where did you go?”
When Sevira had returned with her prey earlier, she had immediately wanted to find Tyr.
But when she reached his tent, she found that both Tyr and Avia were gone, with only the carcass of a dead Dust Shadow Roe lying outside.
“Nowhere in particular. I got back too early and had nothing to do, so I just went out for a stroll.”
Rate on N.U.
