Martial Universe (Wu Dong Qian Kun)

Darkness surged. Even the concept of time seemed to have stealthily faded away in the lightless bottom of the Dragon Transformation Pool.

At a certain spot within this darkness was a figure covered in thick layers of black viscous water. The water was like sludge and tightly wrapped around the figure such that one was barely able to see the silhouette of a human within.

Endless black energy continued to pour in from all around, yet the interior of the sludge remained completely still.

Ch.

This silent infusion continued for an unknown amount of time until a certain moment when the sludge finally trembled all of a sudden. A pair of flickering black eyes appeared within it.

“Aih.”

Lin Dong opened his eyes as he let out a soft sigh in his heart. He should have already been in this Dragon Transformation Pool for over half a month. Unfortunately, ever since his bones were reconstructed and transformed into top grade Dragon Bones, the Dragon Bones within his body continued to remain at the top grade level regardless of how much energy he absorbed from this Dragon Transformation Pool. He was clearly still unable to reach that so called Ancient Dragon Bone level.

“No wonder the Ancient Dragon Bone is so rare in the Dragon tribe…” Lin Dong bitterly smiled. He finally understood just how difficult it was for the Ancient Dragon Bone to appear. No wonder only an individual like elder Qing Zhi possessed it.

“I believe… this Ancient Dragon Bone is not something that one can gain by simply absorbing the energy within the Dragon Transformation Pool.” Yan’s opinion sounded while Lin Dong felt a little helpless.

The former had been paying attention to Lin Dong’s transformation during this period of time. By relying on the overbearing Devouring Power of the Devouring Ancestral Symbol, Lin Dong was able to swallow the energy within the Dragon Transformation Pool like a whale. However, other than Lin Dong’s metal like black bones becoming darker, there were no other changes. Clearly, the reason was not because he had absorbed an insufficient amount of energy.

“Oh? Have you discovered something?” Lin Dong gradually calmed down and inquired in his mind. Yan was after all an old fox and there were many aspects in which Lin Dong could not compare to him.

“According to what the Dragon tribe has said, the experts who successfully managed to obtain the Ancient Dragon Bone did not know exactly what happened in that moment when they obtained the Dragon Bone. Moreover, I am also not very familiar with the so called Dragon Bone of the Dragon tribe…

Yan’s tone was flat. He paused for a moment before continuing, “However, my master back then had once seen this Ancient Dragon Transformation Pool. Back then, he said that true strength was not simply the strength of one’s physical body.”

“Not simply the strength of one’s physical body?” Lin Dong frowned slightly and mused for a moment. The words of the Symbol Ancestor were not overly deep. Besides training one’s physical body, there was another path, Mental Energy.

Could it be that one not only required a powerful physical body but also a certain level of Mental Energy in order to obtain this Ancient Dragon Bone?

“I am uncertain.” Yan hesitated for a moment before replying.

Lin Dong nodded. He was quiet for a long time before he suddenly gritted his teeth. A thought passed through his mind and a sliver of Mental Energy surged out from his Niwan Palace.

Sizzle sizzle!

However, the surrounding black pool water surged over the moment this wisp of Mental Energy was emitted. Traces of black energy adhered to it and a ear-piercing sound was emitted.

Pain!

An intense pain, which was even clearer than the previous breaking down of his bones, crazily surged into Lin Dong’s mind when the ear-piercing sound was emitted, causing veins of blood to rise within his eyes.

Lin Dong’s fists were tightly clenched and his fingernails had even pierced into the flesh of his palm. A determined expression flashed across Lin Dong’s eyes as he took a deep breath a moment later.

Bang!

As Lin Dong fiercely gritted his teeth, surging Mental Energy swept out from his Niwan Palace like floodwaters.

Gulp gulp!

The surrounding water seemed to boil as this surging Mental Energy gushed out. It crazily adhered to every single bit of Mental Energy, mercilessly cutting Lin Dong’s boundless Mental Energy like sharp blades.

A maddening intense pain rushed into Lin Dong’s mind. This indescribable intense pain caused several bulging green veins to emerge on Lin Dong’s face.

As the intense pain surged into Lin Dong’s mind like a flood, the giddiness within his head continued to accumulate. To his horror, he could feel his consciousness gradually diminishing.

The intense pain created by this Mental Energy was even more intense compared to the breaking down of his bones from earlier. It was no wonder that those from the Dragon tribe, who entered this place, firmly guarded their physical body and did not dare to allow their Mental Energy to seep out.

“Yan… Yan…”

Lin Dong’s consciousness was a blur. He used his final bit of clear-headedness to urgently cry out within his mind. However, Yan’s voice had completely disappeared this time. It was as though Yan had been isolated from him.

“Damnit.”

Lin Dong cursed in his heart. However, with his consciousness gradually disappearing, he could feel that he had lost control of his body.

“Will I fail in such a manner…” Lin Dong muttered deep within his heart as his consciousness was lost.

His consciousness had finally descended into darkness.

Amidst this darkness, Lin Dong could vaguely feel his consciousness continuously sinking as water moved around him…

There was no concept of time here. Hence, in his fuzzy state of mind, Lin Dong did not know how long he sunk in this darkness. The only thing he could do was firmly guard his last thread of consciousness while floating in this darkness.

Although that trace of consciousness appeared like a small boat within a raging storm, Lin Dong was aware that if he lost this final bit consciousness, he would never be able to recover again!

Nevertheless, it was clearly not easy to guard this trace of consciousness amidst this endless deep darkness. Even though Lin Dong was tenacious, his last bit of consciousness was slowly being eroded as time seemed to flow by year by year…

“Really… am I going to die here…”

A mumbling voice was emitted from the depths of Lin Dong’s consciousness. That trace of consciousness seemed to be like a firefly that was emitting its final light before disappearing.

However, the trace of consciousness that belonged to Lin Dong was about to vanish when a light figure suddenly appeared before him. It belonged to a slim young lady. The young lady had icy blue long hair and her eyes were completely ice-cold. However, those extremely icy eyes were currently filled with anxiety. Soon after, a voice seemed to drift over from an extremely distant place.

“You promised me… you won’t die…”

The beautiful face gradually lost its young and inexperienced look from before, revealing a pretty appearance that could make all living things go crazy. It was Ying Huanhuan!

“You promised me…”

“You won’t die…”

“You won’t die!”

The young lady’s anxious cry penetrated the tremendous time and space between them and entered Lin Dong’s blurry consciousness. It was akin to a huge stone being thrown into deathly still water, suddenly stirring many ripples.

“Huanhuan!”

That consciousness which was about to vanish seemed to awaken at this moment while the deep darkness also began to crack an inch at a time like a crystal.

Lin Dong suddenly opened his eyes as control of his body once again returned to him. Just as he was about to flee, his eyes looked at the scene around him and abruptly froze.

“This… what is this place?”

Lin Dong mumbled to himself. Shock was revealed in his eyes as they observed the surroundings. Presently, he was within a huge hall. Many figures were seated within, but the blood and flesh of these figures had already turned to nothingness. Only black skeletons remained seated like rocks. However, a vast, mighty and calm energy faintly emanated from them.

This place was just like a burial ground!

　　……

The scene was shifted from the mysterious burial ground where Lin Dong was present to a distant quiet ice mountain within the Dao Sect in the Eastern Xuan Region.

A young lady was silently seated on an ice lotus on that same ice lake. Her tightly shut eyes suddenly opened at this moment as a frightened expression flashed across her originally cold and emotionless face. Her slim jadelike hand gently covered her chest as she felt a piercing pain.

Although she did not know what had happened, she was clearly aware that she had just seen that familiar figure…

Moreover, he was obviously facing a critical life and death situation.

“You promised me… you will not die…” The young lady’s hand was slowly clenched as she softly muttered to herself.

Swoosh.

A rushing wind sound was suddenly transmitted from a great distance away. Soon after, a figure landed on the ice lake. Ying Xiaoxiao looked at the dazed young lady and hurriedly stepped forward as she asked, “Huanhuan, what is it?”

“Elder sister, I just saw him.” Ying Huanhuan stared at Ying Xiaoxiao with icy eyes and said.

Ying Xiaoxiao was startled. She asked in surprised, “He has returned?”

“I saw him here.” Ying Huanhuan shook her head. Her finger was pointing at her heart.

Ying Xiaoxiao bitterly smiled. She merely thought of it as this lass missing a certain person far too much. Hence, she comforted her. Soon after, she sighed again. Her expression appeared exceptionally grave as she said, “I have received some news recently. It seems that there is some unusual activity within Yuan Gate…”

Ying Huanhuan slightly knitted her brow. Ying Xiaoxiao could clearly sense the surrounding chilly air suddenly become much colder when the former heard the name ‘Yuan Gate’.

“Father has said that Yuan Gate is likely planning on starting a war.” Ying Xiaoxiao clenched her hand tightly.

“Start a war huh…”

Ying Huanhuan’s pretty face did not show even the slightest ripple after hearing this shocking news. Soon after, an ice mountain like arc appeared from the corners of her mouth.

“Let them start it.”

Ying Huanhuan slowly inhaled a breath of chilly air. It could be seen from her eyes that she seemed to have made a certain decision as she suddenly stood up and directly walked away from the ice lake.

“Elder sister, I will need to leave Dao Sect for a period of time.”

Ying Xiaoxiao looked at Ying Huanhuan’s back and hastily asked, “Why?”

Ying Huanhuan paused. White cold Qi spread from within her body. It froze her body into an ice statue and a split second later, the ice statue shattered and her body strangely disappeared.

“I am going to take back something that belongs to me.”

The young lady’s calm voice reverberated over the ice lake as her body mysteriously disappeared.