Chapter 494: Chapter 60: Another Primordial Spirit
"Tsk, that hurts," Yue Jinghua felt her body light and ethereal, as if it were going to disperse at any moment.
If she had known it was like this, she wouldn’t have imitated others in self-immolation.
It was only when she entered the Nirvana Fire Array that Yue Jinghua realized a serious problem. Qing Pu once said that with her current Cultivation, the state of her Second Primordial Spirit could be maintained for 24 hours.
That meant, after 24 hours, she would have to return to her physical body.
But the problem was her physical body...
Yue Jinghua looked downward and saw only a few team members surrounding the Nirvana Fire Array, some wiping tears, some wailing, completely oblivious to the state of her Second Primordial Spirit.
Just as Yue Jinghua tried various methods to remind her companions,
she felt a strong spiritual power calling out to her.
It was a desolate voice, filled with power, slicing through layers of fog like a sharp sword, piercing directly into Yue Jinghua’s soul.
Unconsciously, guided by that voice, Yue Jinghua’s Second Primordial Spirit floated towards the source of the sound.
After passing through a burst of colorful illusions, Yue Jinghua saw a barren slope.
Nothing grew around the slope, only a solitary, broken skull lay there.
The voice that drew Yue Jinghua’s Primordial Spirit was emitting intermittently from this broken skull.
On the skull, there was still a helmet.
Even after a millennium of weathering, the helmet was still exceptionally magnificent, like the most vivid sunset at the horizon.
Seeing the helmet, Yue Jinghua’s heart stirred, recalling what the Gold Eater Worm had once said.
"Rao Ri Armor, with armor but no helmet, is but an incomplete set," Yue Jinghua stared blankly at the Rao Ri Helmet.
"You’re finally here," a weak voice came from the Rao Ri Helmet.
Compared to the earlier spiritual power, this voice seemed particularly frail.
From inside the helmet, where flesh had long since eroded, the voice emerged with a "crack" sound, as if dislocated.
Then, a pale and trembling Primordial Spirit emerged from the Rao Ri Helmet.
"I’ve waited for over a thousand years, and finally, someone capable of communicating with my Primordial Spirit has arrived," the revealed spirit was a man about the same height as Yue Jinghua, his complexion ash-grey, looking as sickly and fragile as if a gust of wind would disperse him.
"You are the Dragon Slayer Hero, Mo Kang," Yue Jinghua painfully recognized the feeble spirit in front of her, flickering like a dying lamp.
Legends are deceiving. After seeing the heroic statue of the Ancient Hero at the Ancient Hero Square and then looking at Mo Kang before her, Yue Jinghua felt a sense of being cheated.
"What Dragon Slayer Hero, it’s just an empty title, I am merely a victim of the Dragon Transformation Pond legend," Mo Kang said indignantly, as he looked at Yue Jinghua with a mix of emotion and schadenfreude.
His fluctuations in mood were all observed by Yue Jinghua.
The body may perish, but the Primordial Spirit is eternal, these words seem to hold truth.
A victim of the Dragon Transformation Pond legend? Yue Jinghua didn’t understand what Mo Kang meant.
Could it be that his current state was all thanks to the Dragon Transformation Pond?
"The Dragon Transformation Pond is clearly a vile method used by the Holy Beast Dragon Clan to eliminate the dissidents," Mo Kang spoke of the past, his expression agitated and his pale Primordial Spirit occasionally flickering. Yue Jinghua, fearing that his excitement might cause his Primordial Spirit to dissipate with the wind, soothed him with gentle words.
Perhaps it has been too long since he last spoke with someone, Mo Kang, after calming down, rambled about many past events, including his harrowing experience of being trapped in the Sky Dragon Palace and having his body devoured by the Dragon Transformation Pond, with his Primordial Spirit nearly perishing.
A thousand years ago, Mo Kang, already at the Dark Heavenly Peak, felt the limitations of his lifespan and was restrained by his physical body, unable to break through to the Dan Realm.
He traveled all over the Canglong Continent, and later while passing through Wohua Imperial City, he bought an ancient book from a local noble.
The ancient book was titled "Candle Dragon Heart Method", according to which if one could find the bloodline of the Ancient Dragon Clan and use their blood for body refining, it could wash marrow and renew bones, resulting in rebirth and directly transforming into a Holy Beast Body, advancing to the Dan Realm.
Mo Kang treated this hint as a treasure. Since then, he had been searching the continent for records related to the Dragon Clan.
Unfortunately, the Ancient Dragon Clan had vanished from the world, leaving only traces of Sub-Asian Dragons on the continent. It was not until he reached Xuan Beast Ridge that Mo Kang learned from a local that there was an Evil Jiao claiming supremacy at Kalan Peak.
"I thought since Jiao Clan’s blood is similar to Dragon Clan’s, and dragon blood can wash marrow and bone, so can Jiao’s. Thus I fought fiercely with a Jiao Long and finally slew it under my sword," Mo Kang spoke of his past feat of killing the Evil Jiao, his words charged with excitement, faintly revealing his past vigor.
"After obtaining the Jiao Long Blood, I then constructed this Sky Dragon Palace according to the Candle Dragon Heart Scripture. Little did I know, there was not just one Evil Jiao in Kalan Peak, but a pair," after killing the Male Jiao, Mo Kang, according to the Candle Dragon Heart Scripture, used Jiao Long bones to construct this Sky Dragon Palace and claimed supremacy in the region of Xuan Beast Ridge.
Unbeknownst to him, his actions enraged the pregnant Female Jiao, who laid siege to the newly built Sky Dragon Palace the day it was completed, precisely when it laid the Jiao Long Egg.
"Unexpectedly, that Female Jiao’s prowess surpassed the Male Jiao. Although I gravely wounded it after an intense battle, my own Yuan Qi was severely depleted. As it hid within Kalan Peak, I had no strength to pursue further. By then, the Dragon Transformation Pond was already completed, and I poured all the collected Male Jiao Blood into the pond," Mo Kang paused, a flicker of terror crossing his eyes.
Recalling the moment he entered the Dragon Transformation Pond, Mo Kang’s Primordial Spirit was still traumatized.
In his life, Mo Kang had never seen such a beautiful pond; the water was calm, like a flawless ruby.
Upon seeing the Dragon Transformation Pond, Mo Kang couldn’t help but feel parched.
The Dragon Transformation Pond, legend has it that once you find it, cultivation could break through to the Dan Realm.
Little did Mo Kang know, when he removed his armor, laid down his Sword, and entered the Dragon Transformation Pond alone, he would realize that what seemed to be a flawless ruby was in fact most deadly.
"The Jiao Long Blood, like thousands of white ants, madly devoured my flesh and blood. In the blink of an eye, my Dark Heavenly Peak body disintegrated into a skeleton, and the Jiao Long Blood wouldn’t even spare the bones. When I regained consciousness, only a broken skull and an incomplete Primordial Spirit remained," Mo Kang concluded profoundly while looking at Yue Jinghua. Seeing her bright Primordial Spirit shining like Venus, a stirring moved within Mo Kang.