Emerald Alchemist, Ch 33: Unearthing the Past (Patreon)

The world around Verse felt like swirling mist and the comfortable sense of Stone as he descended. His spiritual awareness was spread out all around him, bringing him a sense of everything nearby.

With the help of the amulet, it was as easy as walking through a cloud bank.

He descended for over half an hour at a steady pace until he closed in on the location of the dragon blood. On the way, he searched the area for other titan remains, but there were none that he’d found.

It looked like this Ice Titan corpse had been close enough to the surface that the sect was able to find it. He wasn’t sure how it had ended up there, but hopefully he could find more clues below.

If not, he would have to leave it as a random event from the past. Perhaps the titan had fought the demons at a different time than the dragon here, and ended up in a different spot, or maybe an earthquake or a tunneling beast had shifted its remains higher.

Eventually, he settled the sphere of ice into a quiet cavern, one that was calm and dark, but filled with the slow current of an underground stream.

He gave it a nod before he continued on his way. Hopefully the Ice Titan would appreciate that type of place.

Then he continued down. It didn’t take too much longer until he reached the location he’d sensed, but now that he was closer, he could feel half a dozen different nearby areas that held traces of dragon blood.

They had overlapped when he sensed them from above. From this spot, he could tell that they were all within a dozen meters of each other.

As he moved through the stone toward the first one, the sense of a burning and majestic presence filled his mind. Whoever the dragon was who had spilled this blood, it was even more powerful than Galdred the Green, the one he’d heard from in the Emerald Hall.

The stone parted in front of him, opening onto a small cavern that was formed of crystalline stone and stalactites. There was an intense heat and spiritual pressure here, and the walls had turned half into brilliant spirit stones that glowed with emerald energy.

Even the stones that hadn’t been converted shone like they’d been polished by an intense heat, making the entire cavern ripple like it was ablaze.d

As soon as he walked through the wall, he felt the burning majesty filling this place. It was so intense it felt like he’d walked into an open volcano.

At the center of the cavern, there were a handful of emerald flames floating in the air. They roiled and burned like streamers dancing in the wind, but they never touched the ground or the ceiling.

It was their energy that had washed against the walls of the cavern and polished them over the ages. In fact, from the look of things, it was the force of energy from them that had carved out this place, turning what once was solid stone into a spiritual chamber.

Perhaps it was because of the shelter from the layers of stone around it or the power of its originator, but the energy here hadn’t faded over the years. It had only partially merged into the walls.

At the same time, those spirit stones now acted like a protective layer, shielding the rest of the energy here and keeping it from dispersing.

The flames at the center of the cavern weren’t droplets like he’d seen before. The shape of them resolved in his mind’s eye after a moment, dancing between being flames and streaks of blood that floated in place.

The amount of blood here was at least ten times greater than what he’d found in the Emerald Hall, and the dao in it was even stronger. Galdred’s blood had been powerful, but it hadn’t been like this.

These flames burned with a dominating presence, one that felt vast and endless.

To someone else, it might have been destructive, but to him it felt welcoming, like he’d finally met someone similar to himself.

“This blood is from someone related to you,” the shrine said quietly. Its voice was solemn. “Perhaps not a family member, but at least a cousin. It’s why you could sense it so well from above. Memory said your bloodline was noble and related to him. Even if he was just being smug, there’s some truth to that. There were never that many dragons in the world. Probably a quarter of them were related to you.

“Based on how this blood has endured for so long, even with the protection of Stone around it, this was probably from one of the most powerful dragons remaining.”

Verse nodded, but he didn’t immediately reach out to touch the blood. It wasn’t far from him, since the entire cavern was only half a dozen meters across, but he could feel that the energy in it was explosive.

The energy here was still imbued with a sense of battle and destruction, as if it had been trapped at the moment of the dragon’s attack.

The streaks of blood at the center were in a giant pattern like a claw had crashed down and buried its talons in the earth. Perhaps that was also the origin of this cavern, although it had been enclosed by time.

The sense of a spiritual technique was still imbued into the imprint it had made.

It looked like the dragon had been wounded, with his heart’s blood running down his claw, and he’d attacked something here, but the level of cultivation needed to preserve this energy for tens of thousands of years was extremely high.

There was an incredible sense of the dao still radiating from it, something full of both Wood and Flame. It felt like endless ages passing as a forest flourished, ignited in an explosive conflagration of flames, and then was reborn again as a field of vibrant saplings and herbs.

That law of renewal in it was one of the things that had kept the energy stable, but he wasn’t sure what name to give this dao.

On Verse’s shoulder, Leaf let out a burbling hiss of approval as he sensed the Wood energy here.

The elemental had no trouble passing through the stone with Verse, and he’d completely ignored the fight in the ruins above as beneath his interest, but now that they were so close to this dragon blood, he’d woken up.

His tail curled more tightly around Verse’s neck as he let out a sad chirp, as if he were paying his respects to the dragon whose blood this was. Verse rubbed his head as he nodded in agreement.

“The dragons always liked Fire,” the shrine said. “Even with your innate Wood and Stone affinity, you all tend to use it in some way. This dragon’s dao is powerful, but I don’t know the name for it either. The Dao of Renewing Flame perhaps.”

Verse stood silently as he considered the realm this dragon’s cultivation must’ve reached. Even Dao Echo couldn’t leave a mark like this. He had probably been at the Divine Essence realm...or perhaps higher.

Half a step to immortality?

The Divine Essence realm was the border between mortal and immortal cultivation. He knew some things about the higher levels, but he wasn’t too familiar with them. He had no memories of having reached that level himself.

This dragon’s dao was the most powerful energy he’d sensed on this world so far, with two exceptions: the shrine’s celestial dao and the ward on his own soul.

Both of those were at the immortal realm.

The shrine’s old master had been one of the elders of the Kin who left to fight in the heavens, just like his parents. Probably all of the Elder Races reached that level eventually, if they survived long enough.

His dragon parents had to be in the immortal ranks somewhere, and perhaps not at the lower stages. Anyone who could send a soul across the heavens had an unspeakable level of power.

The fact that this dragon had left an imprint here told him two things.

One, the descendants of the dragons had still been powerful.

And two, the demons had killed them anyway. That made him grimace.

Even if he reached a level of power equal to this dragon, he would still have to be careful about the Netherblood Demons and their allies, like the Magma Giants or the other races they’d taken over.

His bloodline was a powerful one, but it came with equally dangerous enemies. He could sense the rage and pain the dragon had experienced when he made this attack, as well as a sense of futility.

Even at this height of power, the dragon knew it wasn’t enough.

Verse shook his head. He had no time to dwell on those thoughts, since at that moment, his attention was caught at the final point of blood he’d sensed.

There were five streaks of flame here, one that matched each talon from the dragon’s claw,  but at the center, there was also a sixth one. It was in the middle of the area marked out by the claw, like the dragon had been holding it.

There was a crystalline gleam there that was covered by the final column of flame, like a buried gemstone. A moment later, he was standing in front of it and he was able to see through the emerald flames covering it for a better look.

It was a silvery crystal tablet half a meter wide and twice that tall. Its surface was streaked with the dragon’s blood, which covered it in a layer of protective energy that refused to submit to passing time.

That had also shielded the tablet from discovery, protecting it with the same dao that preserved the spiritual attack. He could faintly sense a thread of the dragon’s desire to protect this tablet woven into the technique.

Under the protective layer, there was a strong resonance of spiritual energy, one that spoke to his blood.

The surface of the tablet was covered in a complex formation made of draconic runes, but they weren’t carved into it so much as inlaid with a complex spiritual art.

From moment to moment, the surface shifted. Sometimes it was pristine and spotless, and other times it was covered in an extremely dense script that spread across the tablet to form ornate words in the draconic language.

There was something profound about the tablet and the formation on it. As soon as he saw it, it made his mind think of passing ages and ancient days.

He felt it calling to him.

It was a lot like the formations inscribed on Memory’s heart, but not as profound.

“That’s a heritage tablet from one of the Emerald Halls!” the shrine said with surprise. “They were used to record draconic arts, history, language, as well as an in-depth history of the local region. Young dragons would travel around to study them and gain knowledge of the world. Each of the halls had one as part of its main formation. Sometimes the elders would hide gifts of more unique knowledge inside as an encouragement to travel and explore the world.”

“This dragon must have been trying to protect it while he was fighting,” Verse said as he studied the tablet’s position, “perhaps while retreating from the Emerald Halls. Then he lost it here and never had time to recover it.”

His expression was solemn as he reached out to the tablet and held his hand above the flames.

Images of what must have happened flickered through his mind, of a great emerald dragon fighting off a wave of demons and Magma Giants as it seized everything from an Emerald Hall and tried to fly to the south.

Perhaps it was his imagination, but it felt true and it fit with the sense of power radiating from this place.

“If you can access this tablet, you’ll have a better understanding of your people and heritage,” the shrine said slowly. “One that is more foundational than I can give you. I know some arts and many things that can help, but it’s not quite the same as directly inheriting memories and knowledge from a tablet like this. There’s a reason these existed.”

“How do I use it?” Verse asked as he stared at the tablet. Now that he’d seen it, his attention was fixed on it and he didn’t want to look away.

“Just place your hand on it and send in your bloodline energy,” the shrine replied. “The formation on the tablet will do the rest. That’s how they were designed. If you do it before you gather the blood here, it would be for the best.

“Those tablets can endure the passing of time, but if that energy fades, I’m not sure if the tablet will survive. They’ve been together for too long.”

“Alright,” Verse said with a nod. “Then there’s no reason to delay.”

He held out his hand, slowly reaching through the emerald flames covering the tablet as he placed his palm on it.

The flames felt like a warm breeze, flowing over his skin in much the same way as his own flames did.

There was a pressure from the flame’s aura that said if he’d been anyone else, he would have been incinerated for daring to be so bold, but they didn’t harm him at all.

With a thought, he called up the energy of his bloodline and poured his own emerald flames into the tablet.

It immediately began to shine, the formation on it glowing as the runes flared to life.

Then the runes began to flow across the surface, moving faster and faster until they were a rushing river.

An image of the formation took shape that was made entirely of emerald flames, floating just above the surface of the tablet. Then it lifted away and shot into Verse’s hand.

He felt a giant weight of knowledge flowing into his spirit, like thousands of books had suddenly appeared at once. Within his mind’s eye, a mountain in his inner world was suddenly covered with a swirling fury of bloodline power.

Emerald flames swept over the surface of the mountain and terraced it, making it into a better shape with multiple levels from base to peak, with comfortable walking trails connecting one level to the next.

As the flames continued to spin around the mountain, those terraces were suddenly filled with stone bookshelves in orderly rows, making the slope into a towering edifice.

Some of the knowledge from the books imprinted itself into his mind directly, becoming part of his own awareness, but even with his strong spirit, there was too much to take in all at once. It waited there on the slopes, filling one book after another.

Then all of a sudden, his vision was replaced by a world of the past.

Images spun across his mind’s eye, showing him thousands of places and events, names and spiritual arts, herbs and stones. The shape of the land, maps of different regions, names for mountains, titles of rulers and the languages they spoke, all of it poured into his spirit.

How long it lasted was hard to say.

It wasn’t fusing just into his spirit, but also into his bloodline. As it continued, it unearthed those fragmented memories of the Ice Titans and made them more complete, along with other memories he’d never seen.

Ones of the other Elder Races, as well as beings and materials he’d never seen.

The heritage tablet wasn’t just granting him knowledge, it was somehow improving his bloodline’s ability to recall ancestral memories and then adding to them, building a sturdy fortress on top of his natural foundation.

A sense of amazement spread through him when he realized that, as well as an awareness of how profound this formation was. The dragons’ arts were powerful and immortal.

They had created something that transcended bloodlines and shared knowledge across time.

This was the result of millions of years of cultivation, the heritage of an Elder Race.

Eventually, the knowledge from the tablet was completely imbued into his bloodline, and the flames began to fade away, settling down into a calm existence in his inner world.

The tablet hummed beneath his hand as the formation subsided, but then there was a pause as a second surge of energy poured into his mind.

This time, it didn’t come from the tablet, but rather from the emerald flames surrounding it. A massive presence that was imbued with the same dao as the flames focused its attention on him.

Then the flames began to change shape, gathering together into the shape of an Emerald Dragon.

The dragon’s presence felt like it was extending through the stone all around, as if the world nearby was a part of him, but when he finally finished gathering together, his form was only about five meters long from head to tail.

The streak of blood that was covering the tablet had pulled together to take this form, but it was the largest size it could make.

The Netherblood Demons have attacked the Emerald Halls. When the dragon spoke, his voice was a mighty echo that resounded in Verse’s mind. His eyes were intense, but they stared into the distance as if he couldn’t see Verse standing there.

When will the elders return? Without them, we cannot hold on.

The words paused for a moment, before the question rumbled through Verse’s mind again, like a resonant echo of the past.

Verse stared at the dragon and then he reached out to touch it, his hand passing gently through the flames before he pulled it back. After a moment, he nodded.

Despite the power contained in the words, it was only a memory.

The question was something this dragon had asked back then, a hope he held. The words were an imprint of what the dragon was thinking at the time of the attack, preserved by the force of his dao and the energy in his technique.

At the same time, perhaps due to the heritage tablet organizing them like they were a record or due to the dragon’s strong presence of mind, the thoughts were composed and easy to understand.

After a moment, the dragon’s words changed, turning to another thought. They echoed out like a vast roar, one filled with fury and desolation.

I am at the verge of immortality, but even with my strength, I cannot stop them!

74,000 years...the elders have been gone too long, even for immortals. The young ones have never met them. Only the heritage tablets and our bloodline record their memory now.

The words were like a storm, battering the cavern around Verse with their force. The spirit stones on the walls shone brighter in response.

The dragon’s longing to change the world carried through with every moment, as well as the pain from his wounds.

The war against the Inferno Stars must have ended long ago! Why haven’t they returned?!

The strength of his voice rose and fell, as it felt like the dragon was flying and then fighting. Intense echoes of spiritual energy and dao energies were mixed with the words, striking Verse like tidal waves.

The demons attacked the hall I was guarding. All I had time to take was the heritage tablet and a few other treasures before I fled. I have to find reinforcements.

The words turned to images of silver-grey demons tearing through the gate of an Emerald Hall. The mountain gates crumbled, dissolving into a slowly spinning grey vortex that surrounded the attackers.

Their eyes were pure black and their claws were covered in emerald blood. The corpses of small and large dragons were scattered across the slopes below, as well as the bodies of a few Ice Titans.

That demon tried to rip my heart from my chest. He laughed and said they closed the Path to Heaven, so the elders could never return.

Their immortals never left to fight the war. They hid like cowards, and now they are stronger than us!

The dragon’s roar echoed out across the room, making the cavern shake.

They are tearing apart the alliance of the Elder Races. They waited until they were sure they were alone. Then they began to kill us!

The Treaty of the Kin does not stop them.

They have betrayed us all!

I must find a way to open the Path and bring the elders home!

At that moment, the dragon’s words ended, but the information continued. A flood of impressions and emotions poured into Verse’s mind, until it felt like he was sharing the dragon’s perspective.

Memories of the Emerald Dragons flying through the clouds, soaring above mountains and seas, swimming through the oceans, and sleeping at the bottom of ancient rivers filled his mind.

It felt like thousands of years of passing time flooding directly into his blood.

Lines of silver scales appeared on his skin, and his bloodline roared to life, resonating with the final will of this dragon who had tried to save his homeland.

All around him, the powerful blood left behind by the dragon leapt in response as it felt the presence of another Emerald Dragon.

The dragon’s eyes suddenly locked onto him, as if it were really seeing him for the first time. Its body rippled as the blood that made it up surged. It was liquid blood at one moment and a tide of emerald flames the next.

It felt like it wanted to leap toward him, but it was only a spiritual impression made of dao and powerful blood, a memory connecting the past to the present.

Besides changing its shape, it couldn’t move on its own.

Verse let out a slow breath as he steadied himself and sorted through all of the information he’d just learned. A sense of endless years stretching back to the distant beginning of the world filled his mind.

He had gained some memories of the dragons during the earlier ages.

There were scenes and key events infused into his awareness: names for a thousand places that had once been, treaties, important figures, lineages of beasts and birds, languages, draconic runes, and more, including some knowledge of the other Elder Races.

It wasn’t complete, but that was because this tablet was only one of many.

In front of him, the heritage tablet suddenly shook as some of the color faded from it, but thankfully, it didn’t shatter.

“The tablet should have been supported by a formation,” the shrine said. “Granting you its knowledge has drained most of the spiritual energy it had left. It’s made from a very durable stone, however, one that isn’t touched easily by passing time. It shouldn’t break easily.

“If you take it back to an Emerald Hall and are able to reactivate the formations that supported it, you might be able to find out where the other tablets are, even if they’ve left the halls. They should all have been connected.”

The shrine paused for a moment. It had seen what Verse had experienced through its bond with him.

“However, given that the demons might sense the activation of an Emerald Hall...perhaps it’s best to save that until you’re stronger. Much stronger.”

“He was at the peak of the Divine Essence realm,” Verse said slowly as he looked at the fiery blood in front of him. It was still in the shape of the ancient dragon. “Only half a step away from immortality.”

After the Divine Essence realm, the next level was the Immortal realm. They were called that due to the vast lifespan that came with them. At that level, time could not destroy what the dao had made.

The dragon’s proximity to that level and the fact that his dao had begun to change to an immortal form was why his energy had survived for so long.

Verse knew more than most about the immortal realms, since the Jade Scripture Sect had quite a few masters at that level. He didn’t have any memories of reaching that level himself, but he did have the words of the Jade Scripture to guide him.

There were several Immortal ranks, and they came together to create an entirely new concept of cultivation that was based on the dao.

At the moment, however, it didn’t make much difference. He had a long way to go to reach that rank.

He’d heard from Memory and from the record in the Emerald Halls that the elders of the Kin had left, but this dragon’s imprint added another layer to the story.

If the demons had immortal cultivators and the other Elder Races left on the world didn’t, it was no wonder they’d been able to succeed in their attack.

The dragon’s words about the Path to Heavens and the demons’ betrayal lingered in his mind.

“He said they closed the Path....” Verse turned the words around in his mind, trying to decide what the dragon meant. “Do you know what that is?”

“It should be a teleportation formation,” the shrine replied slowly. “I never saw it, but I heard rumors that some of the Kin were building one to allow them to leave the world and return easily. It would have to be an incredibly intricate design, one that was far stronger than the Nine Hearts. I think it was supposed to be a beacon to guide them back. Traveling through the heavens is risky.”

“If it still exists, then the demons have control of it,” Verse said with a dark expression. “That means it’s not just that the elders never returned...but that they were stopped. That’s the betrayal he meant.

“There must be some type of seal on the world,” the shrine agreed. “That‘s why my old master never returned, and why your parents didn’t come back with you. It’s amazing that they were able to send you here.”

“If there is a beacon, it must be disabled or misleading now,” Verse said. “I wouldn’t put it past the demons to change it so it is hiding the world instead, making it difficult for them to return.”

That would explain a lot about why the Kin hadn’t returned.

It also fit with what he knew of the Netherblood Demons. They were possessive and self-centered. The word ‘vindictive’ had practically been coined from their behavior over the ages.

Since they hadn’t agreed with the Kin going to fight in the war, they probably felt they were in the right. In reality, they chose to betray their allies and slaughter the other races, adults and children both.

Verse’s blood leapt with fury that matched this ancient dragon’s as he curled his hands into fists. His chest rumbled as a roar built up. It sounded like thunder in the cavern.

“I need to find out more about this Path to the Heavens,” he said as he clenched his hands. The desire to rip apart everything that opposed him flared through his veins.

He let it run for a moment, but then he forced himself to relax.

Everything here had happened thousands of years before. A few more wouldn’t change anything.

What was more, he couldn’t do anything about it yet.

He would need to reach the immortal realm first, if not higher, and be able to handle the demons who would try to stop him.

He doubted they’d changed their minds.

If he was lucky, they’d retreated to the secret world they’d built and were staying out of the way, but that was asking for a lot.

The memory of the River of Fate came back to Verse. That river wasn’t a normal path through the heavens. He’d thought it was an accident that he’d fallen into it...but perhaps it wasn’t.

Had his parents used it as a way to send him here, trusting fate and their bloodline to send him home?

The ability to do that was incredible.

The River of Fate was a natural power of the universe. Perhaps it was only something like that river that was able to get around the seal the demons created.

It meant they were probably still out there, searching for a way back themselves.

Now that he knew something of what happened, his mind was fixed on them, as well as all the elders of the Kin who had been exiled for so long.

Whether or not his parents had intended it when they sent him here, he had an opportunity to undo what had happened.

He looked at the dragon made of flames in front of him, and then he clasped his hands and bowed to it.

“I will carry out your final wish,” he said to the dragon, his voice rumbling in the ancient language as he made it into a promise. “I’ll find a way to open the Path. For you, for my parents, and for all the Kin who were betrayed.”

The dragon’s emerald eyes were locked on him. The sense of his spirit was still strong and vibrant even after all this time, and the vitality in the blood made the earth resonate, but he was only a memory from the past.

There was a moment of silence and then a wave passed through the flames as they swirled around and reformed as the streak of blood.

This time, it didn’t return to the tablet.

It floated in front of Verse, waiting as it had for untold years, but now there was something expectant about it, as if it were beckoning him.

Verse looked at the other five streaks of blood left behind in this cavern. Then he nodded.

“Your sacrifice will not be in vain,” he promised.

He was at the center of the claw, and now he looked around at each of the streaks of emerald blood left behind.

“Come to me.” The word echoed from him as he reached out with his bloodline.

The emerald blood responded. The one closest to him moved first, swirling into a large droplet before it shot toward his forehead.

Then the five streaks of flame that marked out the claw followed. Each of them turned into a blood drop before they flew toward him.

One headed for his heart and the other four for his hands and feet. As soon as they struck him, they merged instantly into his body and he felt an overwhelming fire raging through his veins.

He sat down, closing his eyes as he fell into meditation. There was a vast quantity of blood here, enough to feel like he was drowning.

It wasn’t only ten times greater in quantity than the droplet from Galdred, but far higher in quality. It was also split between spiritual and bloodline energy, and thanks to the bloodline connection, it was easy to absorb.

The spiritual energy poured into his cultivation and his foundation grew more solid. His inner world began to hum with vital force and the elemental pillars shone brightly.

Clouds swirled across the sky as his Jade Foundation expanded.

His early Aligned realm cultivated became the middle of the Aligned realm and then continued to increase. Massive jade cliffs rose from the essence sea in his dantian as waves crashed against them.

His inner world shook, expanded under the stress, and grew. The amount of energy in a single droplet of blood from the half-step Immortal realm was more than he’d had in his entire body before this.

Even though a large portion of it went to solidifying his foundation and improving his body, his cultivation continued to rise.

The middle of the Aligned realm became the late stage of the Aligned realm as energy roared through his meridians, condensed into jade essence, and poured into his dantian.

The level of the sea and the height of the cliffs rose again, and then the world expanded outward under the internal pressure, becoming twice the size, and then it expanded again.

The late stage of the Aligned realm turned to the peak of the Aligned realm.

His inner world reached a size ten times greater than it had before in an instant, and then the energy within began to condense. This time, it wasn’t forming new jade essence.

Instead, the intensity of his jade essence began to increase until his entire essence sea and jade foundation shone with brilliant light. That intensity continued to rise until it felt like his entire dantian ignited.

The flames and pressure at the center of his being condensed, taking their form from his spirit and his dao that was woven into it, as a primal spark ignited in the sky of his inner world.

It was a brilliant and shining jade star, one that felt like an internal sun.

His inner world roared around it, the jade foundation shuddering as it became denser and more profound. His elemental pillars grew taller at the same time, stretching to touch the sky as they arced like the pillars of heaven.

The waves of his essence sea rose into a storm, condensed under the force of that sun and the pressure that was still pouring into his dantian, and then rose again, crashing into the jade cliffs that were a dozen times stronger than they’d been before.

His jade foundation looked like it had gone through ages of the world. Some of the stones had become weathered, the mountains were taller and more realistic, the peaks stretched toward the clouds.

Everything was greater than it had been before.

The jade spark in the sky flared with power. Then it pulled in the rest of the spiritual energy that was still raging through his body and became a bit brighter.

It was a Dao Spark, the initial level of the Primal Spirit realm. His cultivation finally stabilized there as the force of spiritual energy he’d absorbed calmed down.

But that was only part of the energy here, and less than half.

The rest of the energy belonged solely to the Emerald Dragons. Even as the spiritual energy had been pouring through him, it was fusing into his blood and every cell of his body.

Some of it merged into his skin, making the scales on his body become brighter and more pronounced. Other parts joined his bones, muscles, and organs, even his eyes and hair.

It flowed like emerald flames through every part of him.

The thread of bloodline energy in his veins expanded, overflowing with force until it completely filled his veins and poured into the rest of his body.

At the same time, a vast amount of it poured into the first dragon meridian that was part of the Nine Dragon Meridian Art, causing it to swiftly advance, but he didn’t have time to pay too much attention to it as he felt his mind overflowing with a different knowledge.

When he’d come to this world, his body had been formed based on a concept from his soul, and that had nearly exhausted the energy he had left, but his body was always a dragon’s body, just one in human form that was waiting to gather energy and advance.

The drop of blood from Galdred had helped him to gain some of an Emerald Dragon’s innate gifts, unlocking concepts native to his bloodline, but the amount of power in this blood was much more.

It didn’t stop with unlocking one or two gifts. It poured through his blood, unlocking gate after gate of abilities that belonged to the dragons alone, inherited gifts passed down through the generations.

Dragon Bloodline Arts.

Dragon magic.

The shape of innate spiritual attacks appeared in his bloodline, as well as techniques for defense and flight, from shaping wings of bloodline energy to turning to mist and flame.

Some of them relied on his cultivation to show their full effect, but they were all imprinted into his mind.

Many of them could combine bloodline strength with spiritual energy.

As those techniques appeared, the emerald claw he’d used to smash the sect assassins suddenly seemed crude and ridiculous. His bloodline showed him the way to create a true dragon’s claw that was much stronger.

One that would crush his enemy with the force of his bloodline and his dao.

A dozen techniques suddenly became an instinctive part of him, and then another dozen.

His emerald flames and soul space grew stronger, his scales grew denser, and an innate knowledge of how to use his roar to stun enemies and strike their spirits formed in his mind.

There were some other abilities as well, some minor and others purely for utility or travel, but those were the ones that stood out the most.

Emerald flames gathered around him, flaring out like the majestic wings of a dragon in flight, and then poured into him as the cavern fell silent.

His body glowed with emerald light, his skin shining like a gemstone placed into a flame.

He breathed slowly as he sensed the differences, letting his body adjust to the change. Around him, he could sense the Dao of Stone and Wood more clearly than ever before.

It only took a moment to realize he had reached the Heart of the Dao in both.

As the emerald flames flowed beneath his skin, he discovered he’d also broken through to the Heart of the Dao in Fire.

He’d been on the verge before, and with the grand dao of this dragon roaring around him, it had pushed him the rest of the way.

It was only a trace of energy from a half-immortal dragon, but it was vastly more than he’d had before. The changes were profound.

He took some time to let everything settle in, becoming used to the difference. He could feel the new strength flowing through his body, and he opened his hand, shaping his fingers into a claw that radiated with force.

The air roared above the surface of his palm as streams of emerald flame ignited along his skin.

It was this type of claw that the dragon had used here, to leave his imprint on the ground.

He studied it for a while, and then he nodded in thanks.

This dragon had given him a great gift.

Eventually, he stood up, dusting off his robes as he let out a short sigh. His attention turned to the heritage tablet that was floating in the air in front of him.

Except for the subtle shine coming from its crystalline surface and the glow of the spirit stones on the walls, the cavern was dark now.

All the energy of the flames and the dragon’s dao was gone, but the strength of it roared beneath his skin.

The last thing he checked was the progress on his dragon meridians. He’d felt the bloodline energy infusing them, and now he studied the changes. When he saw the result, a serious expression crossed his features.

The first meridian was complete, and the second one was three quarters of the way formed. They flowed through his body in powerful arcs. The bloodline energy had been full of vitality that poured into them.

This place had been a treasure trove, but as he looked up through the stone toward the distant sky, he just nodded. Then he looked back at the heritage tablet and the locations that had been full of flames.

“I’ll keep my promise,” he said solemnly. “I’ll open the path.”

Even if it meant wading through an army of demons.

A wave of his hand brought the heritage tablet toward him and he stored it away in his spatial ring. Another wave of his hand pulled all of the spirit stones from the walls and stored them away.

Then he reached up and rubbed at the scales on Leaf’s head, who chirped happily in response.

Without saying anything else, he leapt upward, flying through the stone toward the sky.