Chapter 83: Half a Year

The thunderous rush of water echoed all around. Within the serpent-dragon’s maw, Luo Hao could clearly sense the creature plunging downward like an arrow loosed from a bowstring. He had no idea how long this descent lasted before he finally perceived the beast’s speed begin to slow.

A sliver of light pierced through the gaps between the serpent-dragon’s dagger-like teeth. After a few breaths, the creature opened its jaws and, with a gentle flick of its tongue, unrolled the severely wounded Luo Hao and laid him flat upon the ground.

“Aunt Serpent-Dragon, where are we?” Luo Hao glanced around and immediately noticed the difference from the stone chamber he’d visited before—this was a place filled with light and warmth, the air fragrant with the scent of flowers and grass.

Suddenly, the serpent-dragon widened its basin-sized eyes and called down to Luo Hao on the ground. Then, with another deft movement of its tongue, it rolled him up again, though this time, thankfully, it didn’t stuff him back into its mouth. The taste inside Aunt Serpent-Dragon’s mouth, Luo Hao thought, was truly something to be endured.

As the serpent-dragon strode forward, Luo Hao used the opportunity to survey his surroundings. He was deeply astonished, for he realized this was a tranquil mountain valley whose only entrance was hidden beneath a pool of water.

“Spirit energy liquefied—this is a spirit essence pool!”

The serpent-dragon halted, and Luo Hao’s expression shifted at once. Before him was a small pool, no more than two feet square, its surface veiled with a thick, milky-white mist of spiritual energy. The water itself was viscous, like liquid mercury, shimmering with a milk-like opalescence.

Around the pool, countless stalagmites rose like bamboo shoots. Such a concentration of spirit essence in a pool so small could only be the result of millennia of accumulation.

Before Luo Hao could react, a joyful cry rang out from atop the serpent-dragon’s head. The little black creature, always perched there, dove headlong into the spirit essence pool, swimming about with obvious delight and emitting satisfied hums as it went. Luo Hao could not help but envy the little fellow.

“Hey, Little Black, you greedy thing, keeping all the good stuff to yourself!” Aunt Serpent-Dragon flicked out her tongue and dropped Luo Hao into the pool as well. Luo Hao shouted at Little Black, half-joking, but the creature only responded with carefree, happy sounds, oblivious to Luo Hao’s words.

In an instant, the mercury-like essence enveloped Luo Hao’s body. A gentle force surged into his limbs and bones; the fractures throughout his body began to heal on their own as he soaked in the pool. The process was slow—his injuries were too severe for him to circulate his Twin Dragons Dominance Technique, so he could only rely on his body’s absorption of spiritual energy to recover.

In truth, Luo Hao was deeply grateful. Aunt Serpent-Dragon was using the spirit essence pool to heal him—a treasure that could not possibly exist without hundreds or thousands of years of accumulation. That she would offer such a precious thing to heal him filled Luo Hao with gratitude. In comparison, his own sect, the Heavenly Sea Sect, seemed rather lacking.

When disciples of the sect found themselves in peril, the elders of the Heavenly Sea Sect did nothing to rescue them but simply abandoned them without hesitation. Though staying behind would likely have been futile, Luo Hao knew that this experience had created a rift in his heart between himself and the sect.

“What should I do from here on?” Luo Hao sighed inwardly, but then resolve flashed in his eyes. “I have two hands and two feet—even if I lose the support of a sect and become a wandering martial artist, so what? True strength comes from within.”

Suddenly, he seemed to hear again the words of Long Ao on the lost battlefield. In fact, the moment he escaped the secret realm, his ties with the sect were doomed to be severed. For a martial artist at the Spirit Qi Realm to survive such a battle was simply unheard of.

The Myriad Demons Sect, the Western Mountain Clan, the Infinite Sword Sect—elders from each knew of Wan Qianyi’s existence. If they learned Luo Hao had survived, they would surely come to the Heavenly Sea Sect, demanding his person for the sake of some so-called inheritance.

When that time came, what would the sect choose? Would they risk offending three great powers for the sake of a mere new disciple? The possibility was nearly zero.

The more Luo Hao considered these connections, the more anxious he became. But as his heart gradually calmed, he realized both Little Black and Aunt Serpent-Dragon were gone from the essence pool.

Most likely, Aunt Serpent-Dragon had taken Little Black away to prevent it from disturbing him. With that thought, Luo Hao composed himself and began to absorb the power of the pool without distraction.

This process was bound to be interminably slow. Fortunately, as a martial artist, Luo Hao only needed spiritual energy and had no fear of hunger.

He had no idea how long he soaked in the pool, but he found that most of his shattered bones had healed, his meridians were restored, and seemed even more resilient than before.

“To think the spirit energy here hasn’t weakened at all. Good, let’s try this!” At that thought, a long-missed dragon’s roar echoed from within him. Two indistinct dragon shadows appeared behind him, their maws opening and closing as torrents of spiritual energy surged into Luo Hao’s body like a river of stars pouring down.

“Ah! Ah! This is overwhelming!”

Suddenly, moans escaped Luo Hao’s lips—sensations he hadn’t felt in a long time since his injury. As the sea of spiritual energy poured in, his wounds continued to mend.

The twin dragons roared low, their heads now vividly clear, ancient scales covering their fierce faces. The bodies beneath were still only partially formed, and it was clear they could not take complete shape anytime soon.

Sensing the transformation of the twin dragons behind him, Luo Hao pondered, “This Twin Dragons Dominance Technique is truly extraordinary. I wonder if, when fully mastered, it could really give rise to two true dragons.”

But he quickly dismissed the thought. The dragon race was a terrifying force beyond compare. Before meeting Long Ao, Luo Hao might not have known this, but now he had a vague understanding.

“What is this?” As he instinctively probed his sea of consciousness, Luo Hao was stunned. Within, a divine dragon formed of dragon patterns lay dormant, opening its eyes only when Luo Hao’s awareness approached. Yet before the dragon’s head floated a fist-sized seal shaped like a cauldron.

“Could it be…”

Upon seeing the cauldron-shaped seal, Luo Hao was first shocked, then overcome with joy. He was not unfamiliar with this cauldron. As his consciousness touched it, three ancient runes surfaced in his mind.

“Seal of Mountains and Rivers!”

Indeed, it was the Seal of Mountains and Rivers, a martial technique of the Human King. Luo Hao was amazed that this legacy had been entrusted to him, only at the Spirit Qi Realm.

In a flash of inspiration, Luo Hao began to study the Seal of Mountains and Rivers, observing the cauldron-shaped imprint as it evolved in his mind’s eye. Ancient patterns unfolded upon its surface, each bearing the weight of the human race’s boundless mountains and rivers.

“The Path Patterns of Mountains and Rivers. It seems the first step to cultivating this art is to condense these very patterns within oneself.”

Every blade of grass and tree in the world possesses its own innate markings; the so-called Path Patterns of Mountains and Rivers are the innate lines of earth and water. To condense them, one must first subdue the spiritual essence of mountain veins and water veins.

Although Luo Hao was unable to train for the moment, nothing stopped him from studying the art. Once he fully understood its mysteries, the path to mastery would be far smoother.

Day after day passed. Luo Hao became ever more engrossed in deciphering the Seal of Mountains and Rivers. As he delved deeper, he realized how daunting this martial technique truly was—it far surpassed any technique his nominal master had ever mentioned. This art was undoubtedly one that pointed directly to the pinnacle of the Dao.

A cheerful roar roused him from his meditation. When he opened his eyes, a massive creature nearly three meters long appeared before him.

With each powerful step, it left deep claw marks in the ground. Its black-gold body gleamed with a divine aura and a faint sense of pressure. Yet the two fleshy lumps atop its head spoiled any sense of majesty.

“Little Black!”

Luo Hao was astonished. The last time he’d seen Little Black, the creature had been about a meter long—now it was nearly three! Clearly, he’d been soaking in the essence pool for quite some time.

“Strange. After all this time, the pool’s spiritual energy hasn’t diminished in the slightest. How long have I been here?”

Just then, a calm voice sounded in the tranquil valley. Following the sound, Luo Hao’s face lit up with joy.

“You’ve been in the essence pool for half a year.”