Under the pressure and stimulation of Golden Crocodile Douluo's aura, Chen Ming felt a subtle agitation stir within the very core of his Martial Soul. After a brief moment of thought, he slowly closed his eyes and released it.
Two Spirit Rings—one yellow, one purple—lit up in succession, and a young yet imposing dragon's roar burst forth from his mouth, reverberating through the hall.
The instant his Martial Soul appeared, every worship elder present saw it clearly—behind Chen Ming, a vast dragon's shadow emerged, radiating a brilliant golden light.
Though its power was far inferior to Golden Crocodile Douluo's, all of them could unmistakably sense one thing: this was no mutated draconic descendant.
This was a true dragon.
And that sacred golden radiance… it seemed to embody the very essence of the golden bloodline itself.
In terms of pure quality alone, this Martial Soul even surpassed the Golden Crocodile King.
At that very moment, Golden Crocodile Douluo, Fifteen Ton Douluo, and Falling Devil Douluo all felt it—their own Martial Souls gave a faint, involuntary tremor in response.
The Coiling Dragon Staffs of Fifteen Ton and Falling Devil Douluo housed the dragon soul of the Heaven-Awakened Holy Golden Dragon, a manifestation of righteous energy born of heaven and earth—both part of the dragon race and yet distinct from it, even beyond the dominion of the Dragon God.
But for Golden Crocodile Douluo, whose Martial Soul shared an extremely high degree of similarity with Chen Ming's, the sensation was different.
It felt… suppressed.
"What Martial Soul is this?" he asked, staring intently at Chen Ming, curiosity flickering in his eyes while the desire to take him as a disciple deepened further. "Wasn't your awakened Martial Soul supposed to be a Heavy Armored Earth Dragon with innate Level 7 Spirit Power? This… is definitely not that, is it?"
Just look at it—this was a strength-type, metal-attributed true dragon Martial Soul, carrying the golden bloodline. The overlap with his own Golden Crocodile King was astonishingly high.
Golden Crocodile Douluo had lived for over two centuries. In his youth, his life had been ordinary—no dramatic tragedies, no twists of fate. He had married and had children at the proper age.
Now, even his grandson's grandson was nearing a hundred years old.
Yet across so many generations, not a single descendant had emerged who could truly satisfy him as a successor.
His bloodline continued without issue—but in terms of cultivation talent, not one possessed even the potential of a Titled Douluo, let alone a Super Douluo.
"In the Sunset Forest, I once came across an immortal herb—the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum," Chen Ming explained calmly. "After consuming it, my Martial Soul underwent a transformation. The true dragon bloodline hidden within me awakened and evolved into a genuine dragon Martial Soul."
"However, since I'm not deeply familiar with the golden bloodline, I can't say for certain whether it is directly related to the Golden Dragon. Because it carries both earth and metal attributes, I've been calling it the Earth Sacred Dragon."
"It is indeed of the Golden Dragon lineage—that noble golden aura is unmistakable," Golden Crocodile Douluo said after a moment of thought. "But the name 'Earth Sacred Dragon'… isn't quite appropriate."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"Back in the day, there was a member of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan who awakened an extremely peculiar mutated Martial Soul—so peculiar that it could only be described as useless. He once studied within our Spirit Hall as well."
"Because his uselessness was so… uniquely remarkable, even I took a look at his Martial Soul. What I discovered was something interesting—it had originally mutated in a positive direction, but the mutation ultimately failed, causing its quality to plummet drastically. Even with abundant resources, he could never break past Level 30."
"However, when this person later traveled the continent, he coincidentally encountered two others. Together, the three of them formed a triadic Martial Soul Fusion Skill. By stimulating the latent golden bloodline within their Martial Souls, they could unleash a fusion known as the Golden Holy Dragon. Because of this, the three came to be known as the Golden Iron Triangle."
"After hearing of this, I grew curious and secretly sent people to investigate, wanting to see what that Golden Holy Dragon was truly like. In the end, I found that it lived up to its name—it possessed both the bloodline of the Golden Dragon and that of the Light Dragon clan. Truly extraordinary…"
"But if we're being precise, your Martial Soul is the one that truly deserves the name 'Golden Holy Dragon.'"
Golden Crocodile Douluo's voice carried unmistakable envy.
"The evolution of a Martial Soul is a blessing beyond measure. For someone like you to leap directly from a draconic descendant to a true dragon… such fortune is something most could never hope to encounter."
His own Martial Soul was the Golden Crocodile. Upon reaching the Titled Douluo level and acquiring a hundred-thousand-year ninth Spirit Ring, it had evolved into the Golden Crocodile King. As his cultivation deepened over the years, his Martial Soul had continued to strengthen step by step.
Now, it stood just a hair's breadth away from truly transforming into a Golden Dragon.
All it needed was one final opportunity—one last push—and he could achieve true draconic transformation. If that happened, he would break through to Level 99 and become a Limit Douluo.
But…
The path before him had narrowed to a single, nearly impossible route.
Only by first reaching the realm of a Limit Douluo could he hope to trigger that dragon transformation and push his Martial Soul to the next stage. Yet most methods that might aid such a breakthrough were effective only for the young—for someone like him, already aged and declining, they were useless.
He was over two hundred years old. His vitality had waned. Under normal circumstances, even if his life depended on it, he could not break into that realm.
To transform his Martial Soul, he needed to become a Limit Douluo.
But to become a Limit Douluo, he needed his Martial Soul to transform.
A perfect deadlock.
It looked within reach, yet in truth, it was separated by an unbridgeable chasm.
Even under the most optimistic estimate, Golden Crocodile Douluo knew he likely had no more than thirty years left to live—and his strength had already begun an irreversible decline.
Though he still possessed Level 98 Spirit Power, along with a hundred-thousand-year Spirit Ring and Spirit Bone, his actual combat strength was no longer equal to a true Level 98 Titled Douluo.
As time went on and his vitality continued to dissipate, there might come a day when, despite retaining his cultivation level and equipment, he could only exert the power of Level 97—or even 96.
As for why no one questioned Chen Ming's Spirit Rings, or found their colors unusual…
If one paid attention to Bibi Dong, they would notice that the configuration of her first Martial Soul's Spirit Rings was yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, black, red.
There were only two possible explanations.
Either the divine trials of the Rakshasa God had gradually increased the age of her Spirit Rings—adding decades at a time—so that by the end of the trials, only specific rings had advanced in rank…
But that wouldn't fully explain why her first ring remained yellow, unless the enhancements applied selectively rather than universally.
Or…
She had possessed such an extraordinary configuration from the very beginning.
Compared to the idea of divine trials granting only minor incremental improvements—or affecting only certain Spirit Rings—it seemed far more reasonable that Bibi Dong's Spirit Rings had always been this exceptional.
Whatever her mental state—or the circumstances involving Qian Xunji—no one could deny one thing: setting everything else aside, her cultivation talent was nothing short of astonishing. If not for Tang San, she would have been the youngest Limit Douluo in the world.
"Senior Golden Crocodile… do you truly wish to accept me as your disciple?"
"Of course." Golden Crocodile Douluo struck his chest, his tone firm despite the strain beneath it. "Your talent is already exceptional, and now you possess such a powerful Martial Soul. Your future achievements will inevitably surpass mine."
He paused briefly, then continued with absolute conviction:
"You can see for yourself—I possess a hundred-thousand-year Spirit Bone. Although it did not come from a true dragon, but rather from a tiger-type spirit beast that, for some reason, emerged from the Star Dou Forest and invaded the human world, it is still an immensely powerful strength-type Spirit Bone."
"If you are willing to become my direct successor, then after my passing… this hundred-thousand-year Spirit Bone will be yours."
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