Although he didn't have wings, with his skill and agility, climbing the sheer cliff wasn't difficult for him.
He took out two sharp metal spikes from his storage ring, drove them into the stone wall, and used them to propel himself upward—hands and feet working together in a smooth, flowing motion.
Each leap carried him several meters higher, and without a single mistake, he reached the top after about ten minutes.
After retrieving the metal spikes, Yun Ze began to wander among the massive skeletal remains, searching for dragon souls that could serve—and were suitable—as soul spirits.
All around him lay the corpses of various great dragons: Crimson Flame Dragon, Holy Light Dragon, Ghost Dragon, Ironwing Mad Dragon... Yun Ze saw the skeletal remains of all these powerful true dragons.
Most of the dragon souls' spiritual fluctuations were weak—just faint remnants of their will that would soon fade away.
Only a small portion of dragon souls had spiritual strength sufficient to be preserved. After searching for several hours and examining nearly a thousand dragon souls, only a dozen or so met the requirements to become soul spirits.
"When I leave, I can take these dragon souls that are suitable for becoming soul spirits with me," Yun Ze murmured.
These dragons were relatively lucky—their souls remained well-preserved. As long as he stabilized their essence, they could survive like true soul spirits.
In the valley, thousands of dragon skeletons lay scattered. It took Yun Ze nearly twenty hours to inspect them all.
By observing them closely, he roughly understood the state of the souls hidden within. Only about forty of them were strong enough to become soul spirits.
Among these forty-plus dragon souls, some were extraordinarily powerful—representatives being the Emerald Dragon King and the Mountain Dragon King, both dragon-king-level entities.
The weakest among them were still formidable, like the Tyrant Dragon King and Thunder Dragon, sub-dragon species that could rival true dragons.
Gu Yuena had once told Yun Ze about the Nine Dragon Kings, briefly describing their appearances and traits.
Among the remains here, Yun Ze also saw the skeletons of the White Dragon King, Earth Dragon King, and Holy Dragon King, but unlike the others, their souls had completely dissipated—nothing but empty bones remained.
"Then I'll first absorb the Emerald Dragon King and the Mountain Dragon King," Yun Ze decided.
He didn't rush to absorb all three at once. Since he planned to take the rest of the usable dragon souls out of here, he could consider absorbing them later when needed.
The Mountain Dragon King's skeleton was enormous—nearly a thousand meters tall, its entire body a brownish hue. It had no wings, and its shape resembled a towering mountain.
The gravity in the area surrounding it was much heavier than elsewhere, and the energy waves it emitted made the air thick and heavy.
Standing near the colossal skeleton, Yun Ze began to carve a magic formation. It took him several hours to complete the detailed engraving.
Standing within the array, he released his Chaos Ancient Dragon Martial Soul, letting out an overwhelming dragon's might.
As the dragon's pressure spread, the surrounding dragon bones trembled faintly, emanating waves of reverence and submission.
"ROAR—"
The gigantic Mountain Dragon King skeleton trembled, glowing with a brown radiance as a vast dragon phantom appeared above it.
The dragon soul stirred slightly—previously merged with the skeleton, now it separated, becoming visible to the eye.
"Boom… Boom… Boom…"
As the dragon soul moved, the ground quaked beneath its immense weight.
Yun Ze stood before the dragon's massive head, meeting the gaze of the Mountain Dragon King's spirit.
Even under that awe-inspiring stare, Yun Ze showed no fear. He didn't intend to communicate with it—this was merely a remnant soul, driven by instinct, with little true intelligence left.
Cross-legged, he began to channel his soul power, guiding the Mountain Dragon King's dragon soul toward him.
The dragon instinctively resisted the sudden pull of power, but under the oppressive might of the Chaos Ancient Dragon, its resistance quickly weakened—it could not resist.
The Mountain Dragon King's spiritual power gradually merged with Yun Ze's martial soul, its source energy flowing into him as well.
Yun Ze skillfully manipulated his internal soul power, fusing the dragon's spiritual strength and origin energy.
Transforming the Mountain Dragon King's dragon soul into a soul spirit was far more difficult than when he absorbed the Thunder Saint Dragon—it was a much slower, more demanding process.
Meanwhile, in another valley—the one containing the Dragon God's Soul—Gu Yuena hovered in the air.
Streams of seven-colored energy flowed continuously into her body.
As the multicolored essence poured in, her aura grew stronger, and her bloodline was further perfected.
The Dragon God's soul rapidly shrank in size, and after more than twenty hours of absorption, it completely vanished.
Gu Yuena slowly opened her eyes—within them gleamed a dazzling nine-colored light, bright and beautiful as gemstones.
"ROAR!"
A primal dragon's cry burst from her lips, sending waves of nine-colored energy surging outward like ocean tides.
Her roar resonated throughout the valley—one after another, countless dragon souls answered her call with echoing dragon cries.
The skies churned with wind and clouds, elemental energy rapidly converging toward the valley.
"Boom… Boom…"
One by one, dragon souls burst forth from skeletal remains—some massive, others small—charging wildly across the valley floor.
Thousands of dragon souls stampeded across the ground, stirring up clouds of dust, the sight magnificent and overwhelming as they all surged toward Gu Yuena's position.
"ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!"The dragon souls howled in excitement, plunging into the radiant maelstrom surrounding her.
Upon entering, their forms dissolved into streams of pure energy, flooding into Gu Yuena's body and enhancing her power.
Only the forty-plus dragon souls capable of becoming soul spirits did not dissolve—they gathered at the edge of the valley, roaring in exhilaration.
The energy Gu Yuena was drawing in wasn't limited to this single area—it encompassed the entire pocket space.
And within that space, the two of them weren't alone—there were also several masked trial-takers present.
"What's going on? Why are all these elemental clouds rushing in that direction?" one of them exclaimed."I don't know! I've never heard of anything like this happening before. Could something have gone wrong in Dragon Valley?" another replied anxiously.
The strange phenomenon made them uneasy; a heavy sense of dread filled the air."Look over there!" the first man cried out, eyes wide with shock.
The others turned to see the distant hills twisting unnaturally—at first, only one spot distorted, but soon several more warped areas appeared.
"This isn't good—something's definitely happening to Dragon Valley! If we don't leave now, we might die here!" the man shouted in panic.
"Agreed!"
The two hastily took out small pearls, crushed them, and their bodies became translucent before vanishing completely.
They weren't the only ones—many others who noticed the spatial instability fled immediately.
All signs pointed to a major spatial disturbance within the pocket realm. Anyone who lingered, greedy for treasures, risked losing their lives.
Outside—in the real world—on a distant mountain peak, an old man and a man in black stood side by side, both wearing grim expressions.
Before them, the air flickered repeatedly with bursts of light. Each flash revealed another figure emerging from thin air.
"Bai Sixteen," the man in black said in a low, stern tone, "what exactly happened in Dragon Valley? Why did you come out after less than a day?"
If it were just one or two who returned early, it could be dismissed as bad luck or lack of strength.
But for multiple people to appear so soon—clearly, something extraordinary had occurred inside Dragon Valley.