Throughout history, no one had ever seen or heard of a yellow dragon bloodline!
Luan Ling’s dragon bloodline was actually yellow. What in the world was going on?
Not only was Ye Jingyu completely stunned, Luan Ling himself was utterly dumbfounded. He had read all the relevant books of this world and knew there were only seven kinds of bloodlines. Yet he had become the eighth—an unprecedented yellow.
Suo Lun, that bastard, might have been very “yellow” in a different sense, but he himself was as clean as water.
Was this because of his own physique? Or because of the demon star? Luan Ling had absolutely no idea.
Moreover, the yellow colour inside the jade bowl grew deeper and deeper, until suddenly it shook violently.
A beam of golden light burst forth. In an instant, the yellow bloodline transformed into a golden one.
Ye Jingyu was now completely speechless. Immediately afterwards, she swiftly poured a nearby bowl of pig blood into the dragon spring water. The golden-yellow hue shattered at once and vanished without a trace.
Then the two of them stared at each other in silence.
After a long while, Luan Ling finally asked, “So…… which kind of martial dao am I suited to practise?”
Ye Jingyu shook her head. “I really don’t know. A golden-yellow bloodline is something I have never seen nor heard of.”
Luan Ling said, “Perhaps this is because…… I come from another world?”
“It probably is,” Ye Jingyu replied. “In the future, when you test your bloodline, you must be extremely careful. Apart from you, me, and the young miss, no fourth person can ever know about this.”
“I understand,” Luan Ling said. “Then what do we do next? Do we still continue training?”
Ye Jingyu closed her beautiful eyes, took a deep breath—causing the curves at her chest to become even more impossible to ignore—then opened her eyes again and said, “We continue. Perhaps there will be a surprise.”
……
“The first step of martial dao enlightenment is to sense dragon force,” Ye Jingyu explained.
People in this world all carried more or less dragon blood power within their bodies. However, for the vast majority, it remained hidden, undetectable and unfelt.
Therefore, the very first step in cultivating martial dao was to discover and sense this dragon force.
Dragon force was the power buried deep within the bloodline. It was the very foundation of martial dao in this world.
As long as one was not completely devoid of dragon bloodline, there would certainly be dragon force within the blood. It lay dormant in the bloodline and only surged forth from the depths of the heart when the body reached its absolute limit and could no longer endure, flooding into the limbs and bones.
This was somewhat similar to the latent potential in people on Earth—for example, a mother lifting an entire car in an instant to save her child. Of course, on Earth such potential was only momentary and erupted only in the most desperate situations. But here in this world, dragon force resided permanently within the bloodline and could be released continuously.
The existence of dragon force was what gave the people of this world the root of their formidable martial power. And what was called “dragon force sensing” meant using one’s spirit to clearly feel, and even inwardly visualise, this dragon force. Only by inwardly visualising the dragon force with the spirit could one later control it.
“I don’t know how high your mental talent is, but we will strive to complete this first step of dragon force sensing within one month,” Ye Jingyu said. “One month from now, you will enter the Royal City Academy.”
Among the five major talents, mental talent was by far the most important, because martial dao was fundamentally the process of using the spirit to control dragon force.
Luan Ling asked, “In general, how long does it take for someone with high mental talent to complete dragon force sensing?”
Ye Jingyu replied, “One month. Of course, I have seen those with the highest talent complete it in half a month. And in the past hundred years, there was one person with the absolute highest talent who finished dragon force sensing in only ten days.”
“Who was he?” Luan Ling asked.
“The northern hegemon, King Jiang Shang of Eastern Li,” Ye Jingyu answered. “Today, his martial prowess has already reached the point where he stands at the absolute peak, looking down upon all the lesser mountains.”
In recent decades, the Raging Waves Kingdom had only just risen to become one of the hegemons of the Central Continent. Eastern Li, on the other hand, had been an old-established northern hegemon for hundreds of years, with eleven provinces, seventy million people, and a million-strong army.
And King Jiang Shang of Eastern Li was renowned throughout the world. Even the monarch of the Flame Empire, Ying Qu, had to show him three parts respect.
Ye Jingyu’s words filled Luan Ling with immense admiration for King Jiang Shang of Eastern Li.
“Of course, what makes Jiang Shang feared across the world is not only his martial prowess, but also his authority and the national power of Eastern Li,” Ye Jingyu continued. “Later, after you become the Lord of Tianshui City, remember this as well: as a high noble and feudal lord, your personal martial strength is merely an ornament. The true foundation lies in the wealth, armies, and authority you control.”
Luan Ling nodded. “I understand.”
He was very clear on this point. Once a world’s civilisation and order had been established, personal martial strength could hardly play a decisive role anymore.
The King of Raging Waves, Zhi Bian, possessed only average martial skill, yet that did not stop him from becoming one of the hegemons of the Central Continent, nor did it prevent him from being the most outstanding king in the history of Raging Waves.
The monarch of the Flame Empire, Ying Qu, was even less skilled in martial arts, yet this did not hinder him from becoming the king of ten thousand kings, the sovereign of the world.
“Alright, we begin now,” Ye Jingyu said. “First, you must push your body to its absolute limit. Only then will the dragon force within you be aroused.”
Luan Ling could not help but wonder inwardly. He was an Earthling after all. Was there really dragon force in his body? Inside him, there was only the demon star.
“How much is the maximum strength of your hands?” Ye Jingyu asked.
“Probably around a hundred jin,” Luan Ling replied.
Although he had grown up enduring hardship, he had lived in the city. Even though he had started working part-time early on, he had not done much heavy lifting.
Ye Jingyu brought over a stone and said, “This stone weighs one hundred and ten jin. It should be your limit with both hands. Hold it in your arms and squat in horse stance.”
“Yes.” Luan Ling half-squatted in horse stance, arms encircling as if embracing.
Ye Jingyu placed the one-hundred-and-ten-jin stone into his hands. Instantly, Luan Ling’s body sank heavily, almost dropping to the ground.
Horse stance alone was already gruelling enough. Now he had to hold a one-hundred-and-ten-jin stone. In just two seconds, Luan Ling could no longer bear it. His entire body trembled on the verge of collapse.
“Force yourself to hold on. Wait until your body reaches its limit,” Ye Jingyu instructed.
Luan Ling trembled all over, sweat pouring like syrup. His whole person seemed about to collapse at any second.
But right at that moment, a surge of heat suddenly welled up from deep within his heart and flooded into his limbs and bones. Instantly, the agony throughout his body melted away, replaced by a warm, comfortable sensation.
“Did you feel it?” Ye Jingyu asked.
“I felt it,” Luan Ling replied. This power felt extremely familiar, yet he truly could not tell whether it came from the demon star or from his bloodline.
He continued, “I only felt it, but I still cannot sense or inwardly visualise it.”
Ye Jingyu said, “Next, we will practise the ‘Inverted Moon Technique’ to sense dragon force.”
The Inverted Moon Technique was the most basic element of martial dao in this world, yet it would accompany a martial practitioner throughout their entire life. Every battle would instinctively draw upon it. To be precise, the Inverted Moon Technique was a form of mental condensation art.
Ye Jingyu said, “Next, follow me in reciting the incantation, and fully immerse your spirit in the world described by the words.”
Then Ye Jingyu began to recite the incantation, and Luan Ling followed along.
“Clear water like a mirror, bright moon reflected, perfect circle without flaw……” This segment contained only forty characters, depicting a tranquil scene of the moon reflected in still water.
“A huge stone crashes in, the water surface explodes, the round moon shatters……” This segment also forty characters, showing a stone smashing down and completely shattering the moon’s reflection.
“I wish to gather it, to restore the round moon, yet the wind does not stop, the waves do not cease. I seek to borrow strength, but from where……” This segment, thirty characters, expressed the desperate desire to calm the wind and waves, to restore the perfect reflection of the moon in the water, yet having no hands, no feet, nowhere to draw power from, utterly helpless.
Luan Ling memorised these one hundred and ten characters after only two or three repetitions.
“Use your mind to visualise the scenes in the incantation, then completely submerge your spirit into that world,” Ye Jingyu instructed.
This was simple. The incantation was straightforward, the imagery clear and vivid. It was easy to sink into.
Closing his eyes, Luan Ling’s mental world immediately turned pitch black all around, with only a stretch of water surface and the moon reflected upon it. At this moment, the water was turbulent, the reflected moon fragmented and broken.
He desperately tried to calm the water surface, but the wind never stopped, the waves never ceased. What he could投入 was only intangible spirit, without hands or feet, unable to touch anything, filled with powerlessness.
Ye Jingyu asked, “In the world of the Inverted Moon Technique, what is your strongest feeling?”
Luan Ling answered, “Powerlessness.”
“Correct, powerlessness,” Ye Jingyu said. “Therefore, your spirit will desperately search for strength. At that moment, when the dragon force from your bloodline surges from your heart, after thousands upon thousands of searches, your spirit will finally sense this power. You will be able to inwardly visualise your dragon force—a ball of coloured light. And the colour of your bloodline will be the colour of that light.”
Luan Ling was instantly filled with admiration. The principle behind dragon force sensing was so simple yet so profound, and it was filled with rigorous logic.
“When you sense this power, borrow it bit by bit, thread by thread, accumulating gradually until you finally calm the entire water surface and restore the reflected moon to perfection,” Ye Jingyu said. “When you achieve that, it means you have completed dragon force sensing. It is also the first time you have successfully condensed your spirit.”
Restoring the reflected moon in the water to perfect stillness was the single most important step for almost every martial practitioner. Only at that moment could one gather all of one’s spirit and achieve absolute focus.
Next, Luan Ling maintained the half-squatting horse stance, holding a forty-jin stone in his hands. In his mind, he continuously recited the incantation of the Inverted Moon in Water. With eyes closed, he poured all his spirit into the world of the incantation, desperately striving to calm the wind and waves and restore the reflected moon to wholeness.
Every few seconds, his body would reach the painful limit, and then a surge of bloodline dragon force would pour forth from deep within his heart, flooding into his limbs and bones.
His mental power desperately searched for any strength he could borrow.
Again and again, over and over. Luan Ling completely lost track of time.
Ye Jingyu sat to the side, guarding him.
Half an hour passed, then one hour, one and a half hours, two hours!
Ye Jingyu was somewhat astonished. For a beginner, the bloodline energy would normally be exhausted after little more than an hour. How was Luan Ling still able to continue without end?
Immersed in the mental illusion of the Inverted Moon in Water, Luan Ling searched desperately, searched.
Yet he could find no trace of dragon force at all, nor see any light appear.
Just when he had almost given up hope of sensing dragon force in such a short time, suddenly, in the boundless darkness, he seemed to catch a faint glimmer, flickering in and out of sight. At once, his spirit hurriedly chased after it.
In the endless darkness, his mental power pursued for who knew how long until finally it reached the source of that glimmer.
It was a nearly transparent ball of light, faintly golden, composed of thousands upon thousands of strands of energy, gently pulsing as though alive.
Luan Ling was instantly overjoyed!
But immediately afterwards, a voice rang out inside his mind.
“Master, I told you that you would need me.”
This ball of light energy directly transmitted its consciousness into Luan Ling’s mind.
Sure enough, it was the demon star. Luan Ling’s emotions became a tangle of five different flavours.