“Neither high nor low,” answered Ling Xi.
“As long as I have a sliver of a chance, I will work hard. I only have ten days, so I shall study it for a day. If I can produce results, then I can start thinking about rescuing Xiaolang in a few days. The Azure Dragon Halberd won’t stay in my hands for long after all.”
He shut the door tight and went to the underground cultivation room.
Ling Xi was afraid of disturbing him, so she returned to her sword while Long Chen sat on the ground, crossing his legs. Then he pulled the warm Azure Dragon Halberd out of his Universe Pouch. He studied the weapon in detail, and the more he did, the more perfect he thought it was.
After caressing the green dragon scales and feeling its patterns, Long Chen had a sudden feeling that their blood lineages were related.
“Primordial Dragon Soul … How should I get closer to it?” Long Chen didn’t know how, so all he could do was close his eyes and sink his mind into the halberd, feeling it with his heart.
“I should imagine the Azure Dragon Halberd as a living being.” The warm weapon in his hand made him feel like he was holding a beating heart. Although the heartbeat was faint, it was definitely there.
“This should be right.” Long Chen sat deep in thought. Ling Xi had told him to get close to it, but she hadn’t given any other hints. He thought about how two beings of the same species could easily form a bond. The Azure Dragon Halberd seemed to have its own intelligence, almost on par with a human’s. He found that he could imagine it as a living being and communicate with it as such.
In the beginning, he was doing it blindly. After connecting with the weapon in his hand, he suddenly found himself in a world full of white mist, directionless and clueless as to where the other being was.
I need to call for it. Long Chen couldn’t use his real voice, but he could call with his heart, which was not difficult. He thought about finding it, and at the same time, used his soul to get closer to it.
That was when the mysterious dragon jade in his sea of consciousness vibrated once. He sensed a wave of energy flow into his eyes, then the white mist suddenly disappeared. Now that nothing was blocking his eyes, all he saw was a huge mountain range spanning across his field of vision!
The mountain range was so large that Long Chen could only see a small portion of it. The rest of it was hidden in the infinite, illusory space.
This is not a mountain, this is the primordial dragon soul. With that guess, Long Chen started to walk. Indeed, he realized that this was a portion of the primordial dragon soul’s dragon body. Its body was as large as a mountain range, and every single dragon scale was over ten square meters in size. Were the dragons of ancient times really that gigantic? Long Chen was filled with awe. That was when the whole world shook, and the mountain-like dragon moved. Dust and clouds flew in all directions, then a gigantic dragon head appeared in front of him. It looked at Long Chen with both anxiety and confusion, along with a hint of fear in its eyes.
If anyone else confronted the primordial dragon soul directly, it would have attacked with all its might. But this was Long Chen, and the dragon soul was afraid. This is all thanks to the mysterious dragon jade. Without it, Long Chen might not even have found this piece of primordial dragon soul.
I can tell that the primordial dragon soul is extremely weak. But in terms of consciousness, it is still a little stronger than you. Long Chen, try communicating with it like you’re coaxing a child.
“Coaxing a child?” Long Chen was puzzled, but he was willing to do anything for the Azure Dragon Combat Technique.
How would he coax it?
He had no idea, so he tried his best to look at the humongous dragon head that was large enough to block out the sun and the sky above him with all the friendliness he could muster.
Its dragon beard fell like a waterfall, almost drowning Long Chen in it.
If this was the lowest-ranked dragon, then how terrifying were the other dragons?
“Be a good boy and come here. Big Brother’s got some candy for you,” Long Chen said shamelessly, as if speaking to a child.
“Brother Chen, I can’t stand you anymore,” said Ling Xi, rolling her eyes. She still looked pretty while doing so.
Just as she was trying to think of a way to help Long Chen deal with the primordial dragon soul, it suddenly let out a sorrowful cry, and a ray of green divine light shot out of its huge eyes and pierced through the clouds, pouring into Long Chen’s body.
A huge quantity of data appeared in his mind. “Azure Dragon Combat Technique?” Long Chen was stunned. Ling Xi had said that he needed to get to know it better, and he hadn’t even started. But the dragon soul had already given him the technique?
The primordial dragon soul slowly disappeared, and his consciousness exited the Azure Dragon Halberd and returned to the underground room. He was still in a daze. “Xiao … Xiao Xi, have I … succeeded?”
“I know you’ve gotten a good deal, but don’t be shameless about it.” Ling Xi chuckled, covering her mouth. She was genuinely happy for him. “I don’t know why either. Maybe the primordial dragon soul sensed your Dragon Warrior aura and treated you better.”
“I see. Does that mean that it took me less than fifteen minutes to accomplish something that Dongfang Tianxuan and the rest couldn’t do in ten days?” As he silently flipped through the information in his brain, he looked ecstatic.
“How is it? What did you get?” asked Ling Xi curiously, leaning in and staring at him with her huge eyes.
“The Azure Dragon Combat Technique, including a general playbook. Cultivating the general playbook will allow my Qi to carry the Azure Dragon’s Qi, forming Azure Dragon Qi. I think this is the same concept as the Blazing Thunder Power, but the Azure Dragon Qi is stronger.”
This was Long Chen’s first encounter with a combat technique that had a general playbook. The Azure Dragon Qi would greatly boost the Azure Dragon Combat Technique.
“Just the general playbook? What about the Earth-tier combat technique?” she asked expectantly.
“We can take our time. The Azure Dragon Combat Technique has a total of three attacks, and the legendary Earth-tier combat technique is the last attack, which is already inside. Since I have comprehended the Azure Dragon Combat Technique so quickly, I’ll spend five days cultivating the general playbook first. At the same time, I’ll work on the first attack—Split Yellow River!”
“Three attacks? What are the other two called?”
“Azure Dragon Halberd, Split Yellow River, Shattered Skies … and the Earth-tier technique called Starsweep Dragon!”
After making his decision, Long Chen started cultivating the Azure Dragon Combat Technique. Under his peerless power of comprehension, he easily cultivated the general playbook. But something unexpected happened when the Azure Dragon Qi was formed. When the newly generated Azure Dragon Qi encountered his original dragon soul Qi, it all turned blood-red. Long Chen now understood that the Inherited Blood Essence definitely belonged to a primordial dragon that was far higher ranked than the Azure Dragon.
“’Split the Yellow River in one slash with the power of the heavens and earth!’ The first two attacks, when used with the Azure Dragon Halberd and Azure Dragon Qi, are more powerful than my Sword Devil Finger. They’re considered the best advanced Black-tier martial techniques. I can even fight a master at the Heavenly Core Realm!”
Long Chen was filled with battle spirit. “It’s too bad that I will have to return the Azure Dragon Halberd soon.” He stood up, looking at the halberd that seemed to have a connection to his own blood. He couldn’t do anything about it.
He had been communicating with it for the past few days, and there were no signs of it recognizing him as its master. But Long Chen had grown more and more attached to it. Especially when he used it to practice the first attack, Split Yellow River. This powerful weapon couldn’t even be compared to the intermediate Black-tier halberd he had.
“Any signs of it recognizing you as its master? There are only five days left. Long Chen, when will you leave to rescue Mo Xiaolang?” Ling Xi asked.
“I have already comprehended the Azure Dragon Combat Technique and therefore completed my task. Although the Azure Dragon halberd is important, Xiaolang only has this one chance to escape. I can’t leave him there because of the Azure Dragon Halberd. Whatever, I’ll just leave this up to fate. Let me go discuss this with Sister Mengyao!”
Long Chen had always been decisive and quick to react. After saying that, he immediately exited his room.
He’d been thinking about Mo Xiaolang’s situation. Disregarding the consequences wasn’t an option, because he had people like Lingqing to worry about. After thinking about it for the past five days, he had decided to ask for Dongfang Xuanxiao’s help. Stepfather has helped me so much since the beginning of the inner family qualifiers, especially the time with Lingqing. Without him, Lingqing would’ve been someone’s wife by now. He sees me as an important person, and with Sister Mengyao begging him on the side, we might have a chance.
He had contemplated Dongfang Xuanxiao’s personality in detail and came to the conclusion that the plan could work.
Yin Mengyao hadn’t come by for a few days. He knocked on her door but realized that she wasn’t there.
It’s only been five days. She was so worried about Xiaolang, so she should’ve been waiting for me here. Where has she gone?
Long Chen was puzzled. They didn’t have much time, so he left in search of Yin Mengyao. There were not many buildings in the Eastern Azure Dragon family compound, but it was still a vast area. Long Chen went to the Xuanyun and Xuanyu Pavilions but still didn’t see her.
Why can’t I find her? Whatever, let me ask someone.
After walking around, he saw two teenagers approaching. He wanted to ask them, but to his surprise, they ran off as soon as they spotted him!
“Something’s wrong!”
Long Chen rushed forward and caught them, one in each hand. He asked sternly, “Do you two know where Sister Mengyao is?”
As if their secret had been discovered, both of them were startled and one of them blurted, “Brother Tianxing was the one who lured her into the Cloud Forest, it’s got nothing to do with me!”
