The courtyard slowly emptied, but the tremor Dua Lin left behind lingered like thunder beneath the earth.
Even as the crowd dispersed, whispers clung to the air like mist.
"Triple resources…"
"The dragon bloodline revived…"
"Can that boy truly be the heir of the Nine Dragons legend?"
No one noticed the faint vibration beneath their feet — the subtle rhythm of heaven and earth's qi gathering toward one point: Dua Lin's courtyard.
When he returned to his chamber, the jade tiles glowed faintly beneath his steps.
The moment the door closed behind him, the calm mask he wore before the clan vanished. His breathing deepened. His meridians pulsed with light.
Inside his dantian, a golden vortex spun with increasing speed — at its core, the shadow of a coiling dragon swam in circles, its eyes faintly open, its roar silent yet echoing through every fiber of his being.
"Nine Dragons War Sovereign Technique — first vein awakened."
The moment the thought crossed his mind, a torrent of information surged from the depths of his soul — ancient, profound, overwhelming.
Memories that did not belong to this life flooded his consciousness — the Rebirth Martial Emperor's lifetime of cultivation, the battlefields of divine realms, the roar of dragons that shook continents.
Each vision came and went in a blink, but their weight pressed heavily upon him.
"So… this is the true inheritance of the Nine Dragons," he whispered, eyes half-closed.
"No wonder the Patriarch looked shaken. Even they have forgotten their origin."
He sat down cross-legged again, palms resting over his knees, and began circulating the technique anew.
The Nine Dragons War Sovereign Technique was unlike any ordinary cultivation art.
Most methods drew qi into the dantian, refined it, then dispersed it to temper the body.
But this one — this devoured heaven and earth's essence directly into blood and marrow.
Each breath he took, each cycle of qi, carried the faint echo of a dragon's heartbeat.
With every pulse, his bones rang faintly, as if forged anew.
His flesh hardened, his veins shimmered faint gold beneath his skin.
A few courtyards away, within the ancestral hall, the elders were still in quiet discussion.
"This boy… he can't be allowed to grow unchecked," Elder Han said darkly, voice low but venomous.
"To awaken a bloodline that's been dormant for generations? Impossible. He must have found a forbidden art."
Another elder shook his head slowly. "And yet, the Patriarch himself recognized it. Are you saying the Patriarch was wrong?"
Elder Han's jaw tightened. He bowed slightly, concealing his fury. "No, Elder Wei. But you know what this means. If that boy truly carries dragon blood, then all of us who've been cultivating impure veins—"
His voice faltered as the Patriarch's presence filled the chamber.
Longwei Zhen stood near the altar, his back straight, his hands clasped behind him. His aura was restrained, yet the air bent faintly around him — a sign of overwhelming power hidden beneath calm.
"Enough," he said quietly. "Let the boy grow."
Elder Han stiffened. "Patriarch—"
Zhen turned, his eyes sharp as blades. "The clan has stagnated for a century. Perhaps a dragon's return is the trial we need."
No one dared to speak after that.
That night, the moon rose high, pale as frost.
Within his courtyard, Dua Lin still cultivated, his body surrounded by a faint golden mist.
But tonight, something was different.
The qi between heaven and earth had grown restless.
A gust of wind swept through the courtyard, carrying a low, ancient hum — the resonance of something vast awakening in the distance.
Dua Lin's eyes snapped open.
A single rune, glowing faintly gold, appeared above his right palm — unbidden, yet filled with sacred authority.
It pulsed once.
And then the world shifted.
He found himself standing within a boundless void — sky and earth both golden, rivers of qi flowing like celestial dragons through the air.
Before him stood nine colossal dragon shadows, their eyes burning like suns, each coiled around a mountain of divine light.
"Who dares awaken the first vein of the Sovereign Blood?"
The voice was neither male nor female — it came from everywhere and nowhere, shaking his soul.
Dua Lin took a step forward, his expression calm.
"I am Dua Lin, heir to the fallen bloodline. I have inherited your call."
The nine dragon shadows stirred faintly, their gazes piercing through him.
A single, ancient voice whispered:
"Nine veins. Nine trials. Each awakening will shake heaven and earth.
If you cannot withstand their wrath, your blood shall burn to ash."
Dua Lin bowed deeply, his tone steady. "Then let heaven bear witness. I, Dua Lin, will not falter."
The dragons' eyes flared once, and then the vision shattered.
When he opened his eyes again, dawn had not yet come, but his entire courtyard was filled with golden mist.
Each breath he took drew in waves of spiritual energy that shattered the natural balance of the surroundings.
He clenched his fist — power surged, raw and terrifying.
"So this is the true resonance of the Dragon Vein…"
The Nine Dragons War Sovereign Technique shifted subtly within him.
A new layer revealed itself — one that demanded not just qi, but willpower and comprehension.
He could sense it: the second vein waiting to be awakened — deeper, more dangerous, tied to the dragon of wrath.
But to touch it now would mean risking collapse.
He smiled faintly. "Not yet. The body must first endure."
By mid-morning, another disturbance rippled through the clan.
A messenger arrived at his courtyard, bowing deeply.
"Young Master Lin," the servant said breathlessly, "the Patriarch has summoned you again. To the Hall of Ancestral Flames."
Dua Lin's eyes narrowed slightly. The Hall of Ancestral Flames — that was not a place an ordinary disciple ever entered. It was where the Longwei Ancestors were enshrined, and where the clan stored its most sacred relics.
"I see," he said calmly. "Lead the way."
The hall loomed vast and silent, pillars carved with dragons whose eyes seemed almost alive.
At the center burned an eternal flame — the Ancestral Fire, said to be lit by the first Patriarch himself.
Longwei Zhen stood before it, his hands behind his back.
When Dua Lin approached, he bowed. "Patriarch."
Zhen turned slowly. His gaze was deep, unreadable.
"The clan has not seen such blood in a hundred generations," he said. "Tell me truthfully, boy — where did your technique come from?"
Dua Lin met his gaze without flinching. "From within, Patriarch. When I awakened, the knowledge was already etched in my blood. I do not know how — only that it calls to me."
Zhen studied him for a long while, then turned back to the flame.
"That art is dangerous. It once forged emperors — and destroyed them."
He waved his hand lightly. A jade tablet flew from the altar, hovering before Dua Lin. "This contains the records of the Nine Dragons lineage. Take it. Study it. But remember — every awakening will attract heaven's envy."
Dua Lin caught the tablet, bowing. "I will remember."
As he left, the Patriarch's voice echoed behind him, low and distant.
"The dragon stirs once more… Heaven help us all if it truly wakes."
That night, Dua Lin sat alone beneath the full moon, jade tablet before him.
The carvings glowed faintly, lines forming the ancient characters of the Dao.
Each symbol pulsed like a heartbeat, each word vibrating with power.
He traced one line with his finger, murmuring aloud.
"'To awaken the second vein, one must temper the will in the flames of wrath, and face the reflection of one's own soul.'"
He smiled faintly. "A trial of will… perfect."
His qi began circulating again, slow and steady.
Above him, the night deepened — and within the depths of the heavens, faint ripples spread.
Far away, in lands beyond the Longwei domain, ancient eyes opened — forces long dormant stirring as if sensing the reemergence of something once feared by gods and demons alike.
The Nine Dragons were awakening.
And Dua Lin — their chosen vessel — was only at the beginning.
He opened his eyes. They gleamed gold under the moonlight, cold and resolute.
"Let them come," he murmured. "I am the War Sovereign reborn.
Heaven itself will bow before the Dragon Veins."