Chapter 1 In the Depths

As an anomaly appeared in the Dragon Pearl, solidifying into a phantom of a man, the shocked barrage of comments on the internet, not directly facing the Dragon King's pressure, continued to explode.

"This looks like a remnant soul awakening? Or a resurrection?"

"Doesn't seem like a resurrection, judging by the look of it."

"It's not a dragon head with a human body."

"Even just watching the livestream, I can feel a surge of immense pressure..."

"I didn't expect to see the Dragon King's remnant soul... Was this also within your expectations, program team!"

Meanwhile, at the Dragon King's remains on the seabed.

The phantom of the Tianchi Dragon King, supported by the power of the Dragon Pearl, gradually became more solid.

Although this seemingly normal, tall, black-haired man gave off a sense of deep weariness, a feeling that even the greatest fluctuations of spiritual energy and pressure couldn't conceal.

But anyone could understand. After all, the Tianchi Dragon King had been dead for thousands of years. The energy and willpower required for his remnant soul to persist until now couldn't be explained by mere fatigue, but only by obsession.

[A nostalgic aura.]

Watched by everyone, the Tianchi Dragon King reached out and received the jade scroll that Su Zhou handed over. He gazed at the scroll in his hand, stroking the patterns on it, and said softly: [Back then, in the Central Divine Court, I and many fellow Daoists left our marks, thinking that one day, we could build it into the most immense inheritance palace in all the myriad worlds, so that our descendants could freely choose suitable inheritances within it...]

[But everything has dissipated, like raindrops falling into the sea.]

The Tianchi Dragon King raised his head. He surveyed Su Zhou, Jiu Ming, and the exploration team in the five submersibles before him. His ancient, unchanging voice carried a trace of emotion: [A new True Dragon, my inheritor, a descendant of the Xuanwu family... There are even inheritors from Fusang and Europa? Could it be that in the future, humans from different realms will unite?]

At this moment, Su Zhou took a slight step forward. Unlike the others, he wasn't overwhelmed by the Tianchi Dragon King's pressure to the point of being unable to speak. Su Zhou solemnly raised his hand slightly, performing an ancient salute: "Dragon King, Your..."

[No need for formalities. I have long since passed away, so why continue to address me as king? Time is short. The inheritance within my Dragon Pearl is incomplete, merely casual imprints from my past, lacking many parts, and not even my most peak cultivation methods. I will imprint my most complete inheritance as quickly as possible.]

Without waiting for Su Zhou to formally request an audience, the Tianchi Dragon King waved his hand slightly with the hand not holding the jade scroll. He said calmly: [Compared to inheritance, etiquette is but a trivial matter. Future generations must remember this.]

Having said that, he didn't hesitate at all. With the activation of his will, a surge of vast, deep-blue spiritual light began to rise from the Dragon Pearl, then entered the phantom of his soul. This power flowed like a river, eventually transforming into profound and mysterious runes of light, imprinting themselves onto the jade scroll bearing his name.

Watching this scene, Jiu Ming, who had just recovered from the pressure, noticed the Tianchi Dragon King's gaze fixed on him.

[A good choice.]

Then, he heard the Dragon King's encouraging voice: [Although you obtained my inheritance by accident, you didn't choose to hoard it jealously. This is the original intention behind my leaving behind this 'inheritance': anyone can cultivate my methods.]

[Although it may be long overdue, I now acknowledge you, my disciple.]

This voice seemed to be audible only to Jiu Ming, and the moment the Dragon King's words fell, the Flood Dragon felt that the Dragon Pearl, which had originally been indifferent to him, suddenly possessed a trace of closeness. Although the vast spiritual energy was still mostly maintaining its own circulation, a faint strand of pure spiritual energy was already surging into his body, driving him to circulate the Transformation Dragon Art.

The top of his head suddenly became scorching hot, as if two long horns were trying to break free from their restraints and rise high.

However, before the surprised and awed Jiu Ming could bow his head in accordance with draconic etiquette, the Tianchi Dragon King turned his attention back to engraving the inheritance.

As the 'inheritance' was continuously injected, the phantom of the man was gradually breaking down and fading away, little by little.

If the Dragon King of the past wanted to engrave an inheritance, he probably wouldn't have needed to expend much effort at all, but now, it would accelerate his self-destruction—but the Tianchi Dragon King didn't care about this. He calmly gazed at the jade scroll in his hand, allowing the memory fragments unrelated to the inheritance, as well as those related to it, to spill out from his remnant soul.

It could be seen that with the hand holding the jade scroll as the center, immense spiritual energy was fluctuating, stirring the surrounding sea area, and those fragmented memory remnants were being transformed into realistic illusions under the impetus of this surging spiritual energy.

"This feeling..."

It was clearly a deep-sea abyss, a place of extreme cold and darkness, devoid of light, but at this moment, a dry and warm summer breeze was blowing, and even the sound of rustling forests and children's laughter could be heard.

In an instant, Su Zhou could vaguely hear a long sigh.

In the ancient years, an unknown time ago, among the overlapping mountain ranges, there was a mountain village located in a secluded valley. The village was located on the inner side of the valley, living a self-sufficient life, and at the entrance and exit of the valley, a nest of spirit snakes thrived.

The mountain village and the spirit snakes lived in peace. Human hunters never hunted snakes, and spirit snakes never bit humans. Humans imitated the breathing techniques of spirit snakes to cultivate, and spirit snakes imitated humans to build nests. Even the spirit snakes at the entrance and exit of the valley would block other spirit beasts that wandered nearby, preventing them from harassing the humans in the village. In return, the farmers in the mountain village would specially spend effort to plant and care for the fruits that the spirit snakes liked.

In the chaotic ancient times, such a harmonious and peaceful relationship of mutual assistance was very rare.

And a boy, just like that, was born in this harmonious mountain village. He was named 'Cenyun' (thick rain clouds) by the village elder who had once ventured out of the mountains to explore and then returned to his hometown, because on the day he was born, the mountains were covered in dark clouds, and a great rain fell a few days later, unseen for hundreds of years.

Cenyun gradually grew up, planting and hunting with the elders, and guarding and helping each other with the spirit snakes. In his memory, the happiest days were the days of harvest, when he could eat one or two fruits on the way to deliver fruits to the spirit snake nests, and play with a few familiar spirit snakes for half a day.

Cenyun never thought about anything too complicated. He just felt that such days could continue forever, until he grew up to be the strongest hunter like his father, until he also had children, until he also died like the elders and was buried in the wasteland of the valley, his name engraved on the wasteland stele, becoming a member of the epitaph.

There was nothing wrong with that, was there?

However, on the day Cenyun turned sixteen, the surrounding mountains experienced a great drought, the likes of which had never been seen since the village was established.

It was said that someone saw a Yong bird flying past, taking away all the moisture, but some also believed that it was the two strange beasts, Boyu and Feiyi, fighting nearby, their power spilling over, turning thousands of miles around into scorched earth... There were many theories.

But regardless of whether it was the battle of divine beasts or strange beasts, or even just passing by, the great drought had arrived.

In the mountains, the water sources were cut off, the grass and trees withered. Not to mention the fruit trees and crops that the spirit snakes liked, even the weeds in the fields withered and died. The earth cracked open, just like wounds on a person's body, but without blood flowing out.

In order to compete for the few remaining water sources, and also to alleviate hunger, countless mountain spirit beasts were fighting each other. The victor could drink blood and eat flesh, occupying the water source for a period of time, while the loser's bones would not remain.

And the relationship between humans and spirit snakes was naturally no exception.

People go mad when they are hungry and thirsty. At that time, they can even attack their own kind and their own children, and snakes are naturally no exception... At first, both sides could endure it, but for the sake of a small puddle of water left in a shady area of the mountain range, the maddened snakes and humans eventually fought.

Snakes killed people, and people also killed snakes. Several large snakes were captured and killed by hunters, and several hunters were also swallowed by giant snakes.

Hatred began to be buried.

Cenyun's father was one of them. He was an old hunter who had once gone to the snake nest and learned the breathing techniques of the spirit snakes. He blocked the old snake, the snake king of the snake nest. Although he died himself, he also caused the snake king to be injured and forced to retreat.

The illusion transformed by spiritual energy could be seen even in the livestream. This situation, which exceeded the program team's expectations, not only did not drive away the audience, but the number of viewers increased instead. And the officials, in addition to being shocked, also chose not to cut it off, but to continue broadcasting.

"I thought those snakes were the Tianchi Dragon King, I didn't expect that person to be..."

"Can humans cultivate to become Dragon Kings? I thought it was innate!"

"When I saw them learning snake breathing, I thought that's how the Dragon King came to be, simulating spirit beasts, but then they fought again... So why did the Dragon King become a dragon?"

Most viewers were very interested in the Tianchi Dragon King's past. And the illusion continued because of the spillage of memory fragments.

Until the drought disappeared, the water source recovered, and the heavy rain fell, giving the mountain range new life, but the hatred that had already been buried also took root and sprouted from the hearts of people, along with the regrowth of plants... The relationship between humans and snakes was no longer as close as it used to be. They continued to hunt and kill each other, no longer guarding and helping each other.

Perhaps, this was the return to the natural state of affairs.

In the long, long battle, in the process of killing spirit snakes, dissecting internal organs, and devouring blood marrow, Cenyun, who had lost his father and friends and became silent, learned the cultivation of spirit snakes. Special spiritual power grew and strengthened in his body, eventually changing his body and internal organs.

His power became greater and greater, stronger and stronger, and his combat wisdom also made great progress.

Time flowed. Cenyun still had friends and relatives who died from the bites of spirit snakes, and the number of spirit snakes that died in his hands also increased. As he continued to eat spirit snakes and simulate spirit snakes, his eyes gradually turned into snake pupils, and his body began to become flexible and soft. Even when he lurked in the forest, even spirit snakes could not detect his aura.

Regarding all of this, Cenyun was just silent. Only when he killed a few familiar spirit snakes did he occasionally recall that when he was a child, he used to sit on their bodies and play, feeding them fruits.

But everything had dissipated, like raindrops falling into the sea.

Finally, thirty years after that great drought, in a surprise attack, Cenyun led a hunting team into the snake nest. In the fierce battle, Cenyun killed the last spirit snake in the spirit snake nest—the old snake king could have perished together with Cenyun in the end, but it didn't resist in the end.

The cold and ruthless snake pupils actually had a hint of wise liberation.

Yes... Spirit snakes also had wisdom. The snake king should also remember the time decades ago.

Thinking like this, the silent Cenyun turned around and looked around. He was surrounded by the bones of spirit snakes and humans, emitting a bloody and decaying aura.

This nest, which was full of the sweet taste of fruit and happy memories in his childhood, was ultimately transformed into such a graveyard just because a mere drought beast passed by.

The silent Cenyun ate the other party. He didn't know why tears flowed out of his eyes, and he swallowed the last spirit snake into his stomach in silent weeping—the spirit snakes ate many of his relatives and friends, and he ate the other party, perhaps this could represent that they were still together, in his stomach, perhaps they could return to harmony in the past... or perhaps continue this battle.

Who knew.

From the way of the spirit snake, gradually growing, and gaining power, Cenyun led the remaining people of his village out of the mountain village. He became the leader, walking on the lands of the various realms, probing or fighting with other strange beasts, and cautiously communicating with other humans.

Cenyun gradually grew up, and as his power became stronger in battle and devouring, he also encountered other cultivators, obtained more knowledge, and even encountered cultivators like him who had obtained the power of spirit beasts.

And in the long time, to be calculated in centuries, this silent man eventually gradually embarked on his own unique path, transforming into a large snake, transforming into a Flood Dragon, and even a True Dragon.

He became a Divine Dragon, became an immortal god, and embarked on the road to Kunlun, to pay homage to the West Mother Heavenly Venerate, and the Xi Huang and Nüwa.

[After becoming an immortal, I was no longer just a hunter. I also began to kill people. I would kill humans who had different views from me, humans who fought with me, humans who became greedy for me, and humans for whom I became greedy.]

[The struggle between people is far less simple and pure than the struggle between people and snakes in the past. If it hadn't been for that great drought, I'm afraid all hatred and struggle would not have occurred. I would have become a beginner cultivator imitating spirit snake breathing, perhaps I would have gone out to explore the outside world like the old village chief, but more likely I would have died old in the mountain village, and it would have been impossible to become a Dragon King.]

The Tianchi Dragon King's voice echoed in the illusion, and the illusion continued to unfold. Cenyun, who became a True Dragon, went to hunt down those strange beasts that brought drought to the world as the first thing after becoming an immortal. His face was filled with nothing but hatred at that time. This killing continued until he could no longer find half a strange beast on his homeland.

And in reality, the Dragon King watching his own memories, his words were full of desolation: [I was once the son of my parents, the husband of my wife, the father of my children, the leader of a clan, and finally became the overlord of a land. In the great disputes, I lived to the end, so I became the Dragon King of a realm.]

[But I still remember my original thought... I just wanted to ensure that there would be no more disasters in this world, that everyone could have delicious food when hungry and fine wine when thirsty.]

[I am not afraid of death. When I learned that spiritual energy was about to be cut off, and that because of my demon god body I could not follow the West Mother Heavenly Venerate to leave the ancient immortal realm, I even felt that this was how things should be. I ate so many creatures in this realm, and killed so many people, how could I take this power away from the world? My death is just repaying the karma of the world, but I was only unwilling because the inheritance could not be left behind, so I was unwilling to dissipate my soul, relying on a breath of obsession to survive until now.]

At this moment, the runes of light floating on the jade scroll had gradually dissipated. The Tianchi Dragon King returned the jade scroll to Su Zhou. His phantom had faded, and cracks appeared when his fingers touched Su Zhou's palm.

[Cultivators of later generations.]

The Dragon King Cenyun, whose phantom was becoming increasingly fragile, asked softly: [In the thousands of years after I chose to die, are there still natural disasters in the world today? Are there still divine beasts?]

[Are humans doing well? Without the Dragon King summoning wind and rain, without the help of immortal magic... Can the human race still have a good harvest, can they still be full?]