Chapter 225: Dragon King's Legacy
After reaching the eighth ring and gaining a profound understanding of Ilex's magic, Xiao Qiang—now carrying the plundered destiny of Huo Yuhao—was finally prepared to explore the underground depths of the Yin-Yang Eye of Ice and Fire.
According to his knowledge, the Yin-Yang Eye of Ice and Fire normally housed dragon souls and dragon bones. That alone would be impressive, but now that Xiao Qiang's luck had reached the level of the original protagonist, he looked forward to discovering something even rarer—dragon pills.
After all, certain treasures might not appear for others, but with protagonist-level fortune, the impossible became probable. Where ordinary soul masters might return empty-handed, one like Huo Yuhao—or now, Xiao Qiang—could not help but discover fortune.
So, after informing the others that he would be entering closed-door cultivation, Xiao Qiang slipped into the misty valley and stood before the mystical spring. Without hesitation, he leapt into the icy half of the Yin-Yang Eye.
The freezing springwater, lethal to ordinary soul masters, was little more than a chill to Xiao Qiang. Even Huo Yuhao had withstood it at five rings, so with eight, Xiao Qiang found it trivial. As he dove deeper and used spiritual detection to scout the depths, his eyes caught on an awe-inspiring sight.
At the bottom of the spring lay an enormous skeletal dragon. Its bones shimmered with frosty light, and its hollow skull held faint, flickering remnants of soul power. But what truly caught his attention was the brilliant blue glow in its chest—a dazzling dragon pill.
"Dragon pill and dragon bone… No, there's even a dragon soul. Though it's faint, it definitely belongs to a Dragon King. The strength of this Ice Dragon King must have once far exceeded even Di Tian's!" Tianmeng gasped in Xiao Qiang's spiritual sea.
As someone who had suffered under Di Tian's rule for ten thousand years, Tianmeng had a deep understanding of dragon strength. For him to say the Ice Dragon King was stronger was no casual remark.
"Indeed, worthy of the title Ice Dragon King," Xiao Qiang muttered. "And if the Ice side holds this much, then the Yang side…"
Turning his spiritual sense to the fiery spring on the opposite side, Xiao Qiang quickly confirmed it also held a dragon pill—one radiating heat and power.
"Perfect. I'll keep the Ice Dragon King's pill as my martial soul's true body and simulate its environment until I reach level 99. As for the Fire Dragon King's pill…"
His mind raced. Xiao Qiang had long wanted to materialize the Holy Judgement of Heavenly Fire, but its energy demand was immense, relying on his mental strength, soul power, and ocular force. If he used the Fire Dragon King's pill as the core and its bones as the hilt, he could potentially forge a true soul-guided weapon.
"I'll refine the Fire Dragon King's remains into a soul guide. That's settled. Now, about these two dragon souls…"
"Wait, Xiao Qiang, I've got an idea," Tianmeng suddenly interrupted.
"What is it, Brother Tianmeng?"
"It's Bingbing's martial soul—it only has two rings. But what if we used this Ice Dragon King's remnant soul as her third ring?"
Xiao Qiang froze. "Use a Dragon King's soul as a soul ring? Brother Tianmeng, are you trying to get me killed?"
Although he hadn't read all of the fourth novel, Xiao Qiang had heard that the dragon race underwent a massive power boost, and all Dragon Kings became Divine Kings. If such a being became his soul ring, he'd explode instantly.
"What are you thinking? Of course not! This isn't a full soul. It's a remnant soul—even weaker than I was when we first met. It's almost gone, and it has no soul power. With the right undead magic, we can refine and control it. It won't increase your level, but it will boost the quality of your martial soul and provide some incredible soul skills."
Tianmeng's voice was serious. "With this, Bingbing might evolve into a true top-tier dragon."
"Can one soul ring really do that?" Xiao Qiang asked doubtfully.
"Not alone. But you also have the dragon pill. Fuse that with top-tier dragon-attributed spirit rings and spirit bones—especially a torso bone, which is the most important—and the transformation becomes possible."
"Alright," Xiao Qiang said. "Finding a top-tier dragon torso bone might be tough, but with my luck, something will turn up. Let's begin."
"Got it."
Even as a remnant soul, refining the Ice Dragon King's essence into a usable soul ring took six months. But for Xiao Qiang, those months were far from wasted. Soaking in the cold spring of the Yin-Yang Eye, meditating beside the Ice Dragon King's dragon pill, his soul power grew steadily.
Though the soul ring added no soul power itself, Xiao Qiang still advanced from level 81 to 85 over the course of six months—an unheard-of pace even for geniuses.
But the real gain was in quality.
From the ice-blue soul ring, Xiao Qiang received four soul skills:
Xuanbing Longxiang: Summons a real ice dragon as a combat companion.
Xuanbing Longxi: An instant-freeze breath attack with rule-based properties due to its extreme ice attribute.
Jiulong Xuanbing: Enhances Longxiang, allowing up to nine dragons to be summoned.
Absolute Zero: The ultimate ice ability, normally achieved only by combining multiple extreme ice sources at the ninth ring.
Huo Yuhao only unlocked Absolute Zero at his ninth ring. Xiao Qiang now had it at the third.
"I wonder… could I beat that Ghost Douluo now?" he mused aloud. "Too bad I met him too early."
He smiled faintly, then looked up through the icy waters, his golden Sharingan shining faintly in the deep blue.
Xiao Qiang had taken one more step on the road to godhood—and the dragons of this world were no longer legends, but tools beneath his feet.