"Done," Halosa nodded in satisfaction. Although he lost a powerful Undead Knight to gain this opportunity to enter, it was worth it as long as he could bring out the pure Dragon Qi and death force from the Dragon Valley for his main body to absorb and study.
The Netherworld Gate was simply an excellent 'porter' and 'storage cabinet'.
Putting away the Netherworld Gate, Halosa continued to explore deeper into the plain. Not long after, he encountered another type of 'resident' in the Dragon Valley—Dragon Souls.
These Dragon Souls were not true souls, but rather semi-corporeal entities formed by residual Dragon race will and energy. They varied in form and size, some appearing as blurry dragon shadows, while others were clearer, emitting energy fluctuations of varying strengths.
Most Dragon Souls were intensely aggressive, and upon discovering Halosa, the 'outsider', they immediately roared and pounced.
Halosa did not choose to fight head-on. He knew the fragility of this body; once injured or even killed, not only would this exploration be for naught, but the precious death dragon bone might also be lost here. He did not have the Dragon Pearl given by the Tang Sect, which allowed him to be teleported out if his injuries exceeded a certain limit.
He calmly observed the pouncing Dragon Souls and raised his hand again.
"Collect!"
The Netherworld Gate reappeared, precisely manifesting in front of the several Dragon Souls charging at the forefront. A powerful suction instantly enveloped them.
These energy bodies, with only instincts, were powerless to resist the pull of the Netherworld's rules. Their startled roars ceased abruptly as they were instantly sucked into the dim gate, disappearing from sight.
The Dragon Souls behind seemed to be momentarily deterred, their offensive slowing. Halosa seized the opportunity, rapidly changing his position while repeating the process, continuously opening the Netherworld Gate to 'package and take away' the pouncing Dragon Souls one by one.
The Dragon race aura and faint fragments of will contained within these Dragon Souls were also extremely valuable research materials.
"Good efficiency," Halosa assessed while 'clearing' the obstacles in his path. Using the Netherworld Gate to avoid combat greatly conserved the already meager strength of this body and reduced risks.
However, Halosa was well aware that both the Dragon Clouds and these ordinary peripheral Dragon Souls were just appetizers.
The true core of the Dragon Valley, the place containing the most massive Dragon race remains and the purest power, was the Dragon Tomb mentioned in the original work!
That was his ultimate goal for this trip, and the key to obtaining the vast death force sufficient to break through his main body's bottleneck.
He no longer lingered on the 'harvests' along the way, his gaze fixed on the deeper parts of the plain, where the mist seemed thicker, the Dragon's might heavier, and a profound death aura also lingered. Halosa quickened his pace.
Halosa finally arrived at his destination—the true core of the Dragon Valley, the Dragon Tomb.
He stood on the edge of the collapsed valley, looking down. The valley floor, a kilometer deep, presented an extremely shocking sight: as far as the eye could see, it was densely covered with colossal bones!
These bones varied in form, some as massive as mountains, others relatively slender, but all without exception exuded an ancient, heavy, and heart-pounding aura.
This was the burial ground of true dragons, over a thousand true dragon remains, exposed in this world, forming an endless sea of bones.
"Finally here," Halosa's heart settled. This was the burial ground of true dragons described in the original work, the place where Tang Wulin buried dragons for a thousand days.
And at the very center of this bone sea, in that deeper valley within a valley, lay the Dragon God's Dragon Soul—the biggest target of this trip.
He no longer hesitated, pinpointed his position, and directly leaped down. During the descent, he continuously inserted the bone sword in his hand into the rock wall to slow his speed, finally landing safely at the bottom of the valley, stepping on a colossal rib bone.
Standing amidst these true dragon remains, an indescribably heavy sense of deathly stillness washed over him.
This feeling of 'twilight of death' was not merely a simple death aura, but contained the unwillingness and sorrow of these top-tier lives at their demise, as well as the eternal silence brought by the passage of time.
Halosa felt a touch of surprise.
He had been accompanied by death his entire life, considering himself numb to it, but at this moment, standing in this true dragon burial ground, his consciousness actually felt a profound pressure originating from the very level of life.
True dragons, as expected of creatures at the top of the food chain, even the death imprints they left behind were so extraordinary.
He immediately tried the most direct method—to use the Netherworld Gate to entirely package and take away these precious true dragon remains. However, after communicating with the Netherworld Gate with his mental force, the feedback was clear: impossible!
The energy and residual will contained in these true dragon remains were too vast and resilient, far exceeding the current limit the Netherworld Gate could withstand. Forcibly collecting them would only cause the spatial tunnel to collapse.
"Tsk, as expected, it's not that easy," Halosa was not surprised by this result. With the Dragon God's Dragon Soul still presiding here, and some residual will existing in these true dragon corpses, how could he possibly move them?
He immediately changed his strategy. Since he couldn't move the bones, he would absorb the most essential thing on the bones—the Undead's resentment!
This was the sorrow that Tang Wulin felt in the original work. In fact, because Tang Wulin had the Golden Dragon King bloodline, what he felt was sorrow. In Halosa's eyes, this was the purest death aura.
This power affected Tang Wulin's state of mind until the thousand-day dragon burial ended, and that sorrow disappeared.
Each true dragon remains was surrounded by an extremely rich and pure Undead's resentment. This was a special power formed by the strong will, unwilling soul fragments, and death energy combining after the true dragons' demise. For Halosa, it was a hundred times more precious than ordinary death force!
Halosa no longer delayed. He walked to a giant dragon skeleton, sat down, concentrated his mental force, and communicated with the Netherworld Gate. This time, the Netherworld Gate did not fully open, but instead formed a tiny, stable spatial vortex in front of him.
He carefully guided the gray-black Undead's resentment, tinged with faint dark golden light, emanating from this dragon skeleton, peeling and pulling it away thread by thread, like unwinding silk from a cocoon, slowly absorbing it into the spatial vortex. This pure power, through the Netherworld Gate, was directly transmitted back into his main body, located somewhere on the Douluo Continent.
"Heh, I'm also burying dragons here. No need for a thousand days. I hope the Dragon God's Dragon Soul doesn't attack me."
This process required immense patience and precise control. The Undead's resentment contained in each true dragon remains was like a deep pool; draining it would take time. Moreover, forcibly extracting it too quickly might awaken the dormant lingering thoughts within the remains, inviting unnecessary trouble.
Time quietly flowed in the silent Dragon Tomb.
Halosa, like a tireless miner, 'mined' the Undead's resentment from these true dragon remains one after another. His movements became increasingly skilled, and his efficiency gradually improved.
Hei Yi's body became a pure tool and conduit, enduring the bone-chilling cold and the heavy pressure at the soul level brought by the flowing Undead's resentment.
He didn't know how long had passed, perhaps a few days, or even longer.
When Halosa stood up from the last giant dragon skeleton, the vast bone sea of the Dragon Tomb, though the remains were still there, the suffocating Undead's resentment that had enveloped them had become extremely thin, as if their souls had been extracted.
"Hoo…" Halosa let out a long breath. This body was already exhausted, and his mental force was greatly depleted. Even Halosa's semi-divine consciousness felt very weak across two planes.
But the results were significant; a massive amount of incredibly pure Undead's resentment had been absorbed by his main body.
His gaze finally turned to the center of this bone sea—that even deeper, more terrifying valley within a valley.
From there, an indescribable pressure faintly emanated, as if the heart of the entire Dragon Valley was beating. The Dragon God's Dragon Soul, or rather, a fragment of the Dragon God's divine consciousness, was there!
Halosa's eyes became extremely solemn. He knew very well that with Hei Yi's current state, and the suppression of the Dragon Valley's rules, let alone touching the Dragon God's Dragon Soul, even approaching the valley entrance might cause him to be directly crushed into dust by that pressure, which surpassed the God King level, potentially affecting his attached consciousness as well.
"Now is not the time," Halosa made a calm judgment. This body was too weak; its value as a tool had been utilized to its limit. Forcibly confronting the Dragon God's Dragon Soul would be tantamount to suicide. The death dragon bone and bone seed were still on him, so he couldn't die like this.
