Chapter 284: Chapter 284: The Gift of the Time and Space Dragon Kings
The scene before them was one of utter ruin. Like a silent and solemn cemetery, although not a single complete dragon corpse could be seen on the vast plain, this valley was filled with piles of white bones, grim and terrifying.
Dragon bones were interlaced and stacked, forming white mountains of bone. The pale skeletons, illuminated by the hazy light, took on an even more desolate and tragic quality. They lay there quietly, silently recounting the former glory and current desolation of the dragon race.
This race, which had once looked down upon the world and soared through the nine heavens, could now only endure in this manner.
Looking at the endless dragon bones, Lin Feng could imagine how prosperous and glorious the dragon race must have been, and how tragic the great war that led to their decline must have been.
Gu Yuena’s voice sounded a little heavy. "This space was placed here by the Dragon God using his power. While setting the rules, he also restricted the inflow of energy. Ten thousand years have passed, and the energy here has not been replenished. Even for them, it has become difficult to maintain their consciousness."
Lin Feng squeezed her hand a little tighter. "Let’s go down."
"Mmm."
They leaped down. The cold wind whistled past Lin Feng’s and Gu Yuena’s ears as the two landed steadily, stepping into this valley full of dragon bones.
The sizes of these dragon bones ranged from tens to hundreds of meters. Some of the bones still retained a hint of undissipated draconic might, as well as an unyielding resentment.
Gu Yuena couldn’t help but stroke a giant dragon bone beside her. Although its scales had long since fallen off, one could still feel the prideful backbone of the dragon race. As if sensing Gu Yuena’s touch, the dragon bone actually emitted a faint, weak light. Tiny streams of energy seemed to flow slowly between the complex patterns, like the last trace of life in an ancient bloodline, gently awakened after an endless slumber.
Gu Yuena’s eyes flickered. Even though they had passed away, they would still respond when their lord arrived.
As they continued forward, the dragon bones began to react. The weak lights gradually converged, and even the resentment emanating from the bones began to slowly subside.
She stopped. Before her was a massive mountain of dragon bones, towering majestically. This mountain of bones was different from the other small hills; the light it emitted was more brilliant, and the heavy quality of its power caused a slight distortion in the area.
"Is this... a Dragon King?"
Lin Feng asked. Strangely, he did not feel the pressure that a God-King should have from this enormous body.
"Yes," Gu Yuena answered softly, a complex emotion flashing in her eyes. "These are the remains of the Mountain Dragon King. The Dragon God promised that every adult mountain dragon could have the title of a royal, hailed as the head of the nine Dragon Kings who did not walk the world. They possessed ultimate strength and physique. The one here is not the first generation, but he was extremely close to the first. He did not die at the hands of an external enemy. Rather, at the end of that great war, he voluntarily sacrificed himself to become one of the cores of this space, permanently binding his soul and dragon bones to this plane to stabilize its turmoil. He understood that no clansmen would arrive for a very long time."
Gu Yuena slowly walked towards the mountain of bones. A faint light began to glow in her palm. The moment she gently touched the remains of the Mountain Dragon King, the mountain of bones seemed to receive some kind of call, and the heavy sense of sorrow it exuded diminished by more than half.
Countless tiny points of light suddenly lit up on the enormous skeleton, like the brightest stars in the night sky. They spread out from where Gu Yuena touched, quickly covering the entire dragon skeleton.
Just as Lin Feng and Gu Yuena were about to continue forward, a gentle and deep voice suddenly sounded in their ears, as if traveling through the ages, carrying an endless vicissitude.
"Is... is it the Lord?"
Gu Yuena whipped her head around, but there was no one in sight, only the remains of the Mountain Dragon King faintly glowing.
"It is you! It is really you!"
The voice came from the void. The will of the Mountain Dragon King seemed to have condensed into some kind of substance at this moment. Although it could not be seen or touched, its majesty and ancientness could not be ignored.
"Ten thousand years, I have finally waited for the bloodline of the dragon race to step into this space again," the Mountain Dragon King’s voice revealed a hint of relief. "Lord, as the inheritor of the Dragon God’s bloodline, it is my good fortune that you can sense my existence."
Gu Yuena’s lovely mouth opened slightly. "I... I came too late."
"No, not at all," the Mountain Dragon King’s voice was gentle and full of affection, as if comforting a child who had returned home after a long absence. "The rise and fall of the dragon race cannot be decided in a day. Your arrival is the new hope and beginning for the dragon race. Although the past glory has faded, the future can still be reforged."
Gu Yuena nodded. "Along the way, I have not encountered a will like yours. Are there... are there remains of other Dragon Kings here?"
The Mountain Dragon King’s voice sounded a little low and distant. "Remains... there should be no more. But the Time and Space Dragon Kings, they should be in the depths of the Dragon Valley at this moment. In that battle, their bodies were directly shattered. Only their remnant souls followed us here. They have remained in the depths and have never appeared outside. Even I have not seen them in these tens of thousands of years."
The Mountain Dragon King continued, "As for the other Dragon Kings, I do not know where they have gone..."
Gu Yuena nodded slightly. "I will find them."
"Lord, please allow me to ask, this person beside you... who is he?" The Mountain Dragon King’s voice carried a hint of curiosity and scrutiny.
Gu Yuena turned to look at Lin Feng, her eyes full of tenderness. "He is Lin Feng, my partner."
Lin Feng took a step forward and bowed respectfully to the enormous skeleton. "Senior Mountain Dragon King, although I am not of the dragon race, I am willing to do everything in my power to assist Na’er."
The Mountain Dragon King was silent for a moment, then actually laughed. "The energy fluctuations on your body are very peculiar. To be of a different race, yet have such determination, is truly rare. I trust the Lord’s judgment."
"I will not fail your trust."
"Mmm, go. Lord, Mistress, they are waiting for you."
With that, the light on the enormous mountain of bones gradually dimmed, and the will of the Mountain Dragon King seemed to fall back into slumber.
Lin Feng once again took Gu Yuena’s hand and walked towards the depths.
Gu Yuena first glanced at the Mountain Dragon King’s remains, then looked at Lin Feng’s expression and said jokingly, "Why didn’t you refute the title ’Mistress’ this time?"
"He didn’t specify who he was talking to. He was clearly calling you Mistress, and me Lord."
"Hmph."
In the depths of the valley, this was a dark and mysterious domain. Compared to the valley of dragon bones outside, it had an added sense of oppression and the unknown. The surroundings were shrouded in thick darkness, with only sporadic lights shining through the cracks in the dragon bones, like the last remnants of light from an ancient era.
Beneath this deep valley was an even deeper underground cave. The entrance to the cave emitted a faint, seven-colored light, as if it were a gateway to another world.
And before the two of them, aside from the abyss, two illusory figures were slowly emerging. They were as ethereal as smoke, yet they exuded an indescribable majesty and ancientness.
These two figures were the remnant souls of the Time and Space Dragon Kings.
However, they were currently kneeling at the edge of this abyss, as if bound by invisible chains. Their bodies trembled slightly, their eyes were hollow. When they saw Lin Feng and Gu Yuena, they merely lifted their eyes to glance at them before continuing to stare into the abyss.
Gu Yuena couldn’t help but call out, "You two..."
They did not look back at Lin Feng and the others, but a response came.
"Finally... finally, this day has come," a slightly hoarse but emotional voice sounded. It was the remnant soul of the Time Dragon King speaking. His figure was eroded by time, appearing somewhat mottled.
"Yes, after ten thousand years of waiting, we have finally welcomed the new hope of the dragon race," another voice, gentle and deep, responded. It was the Space Dragon King. His figure appeared even more illusory, as if he could dissipate into the world at any moment.
"Seniors, we are..." Gu Yuena was about to speak but was interrupted by the Time Dragon King.
"There is no need to call us seniors, Silver Dragon King. Lord, as the one who has inherited the Father God’s bloodline, you are meant to become the new king," the remnant soul of the Time Dragon King said slowly, his voice carrying a hint of respect and anticipation.
The Space Dragon King also nodded slightly, his illusory figure seeming to solidify a little at this moment. "Although we are only remnant souls, we can feel the Dragon God’s bloodline flowing in you. That is the purest and most powerful strength of our dragon race."
"Lord, the one beside you, is he your partner, and also the one to whom we will entrust our legacy?" The remnant soul of the Time Dragon King’s voice carried a hint of scrutiny and expectation. Although his voice sounded somewhat hollow, it exuded an invisible pressure.
The two before them had possessed the strength of God-Kings in life. The pressure they exuded, even as remnant souls, made Lin Feng feel strained.
If their bodies were still intact, it was debatable whether this plane could even maintain its existence.
Lin Feng took a step forward. "That’s right. I, Lin Feng, may not be of the dragon race, but my heart is with Na’er. I will also regard the rise and fall of the dragon race as my own responsibility."
"Emerald, do you feel it?"
"Mmm."
The Space Dragon King responded, "There is something very unusual about him. Mistress, could you release the golden energy from your body for us to perceive?"
Lin Feng nodded slightly. Without hesitation, he raised his hand, and a brilliant golden light gradually gathered in his palm.
"A very strange energy. The Father God back then also..."
Lin Feng’s hands did not stop. The five-colored divine light, the yin and yang qi, the power of wind and thunder, the power of time and space, were all fused by him into that golden energy with a mysterious rhythm. As the energy gathered, the entire region was illuminated with a golden light, as if even time and space were trembling before this power.
The Time and Space Dragon Kings suddenly turned their heads to look at Lin Feng.
"This... what is this power?" The remnant soul of the Time Dragon King’s voice carried an undisguised shock. He had lived for countless years and had seen innumerable strange powers and arts, but the energy Lin Feng was displaying made him feel an unprecedented unfamiliarity and power.
The Space Dragon King also said with a trembling voice, "It contains some kind of law that we cannot comprehend. It is all the ultimate elements. How is this possible? And what is that black and white color? Are you really human?"
Lin Feng retracted the energy in his hand. "Yes."
The Time and Space Dragon Kings fell silent. After a moment, the Time Dragon King was the first to speak, "Emerald, it is time."
"Mmm."
Gu Yuena and Lin Feng were both startled. The former asked, "What are you going to do?"
The two Dragon Kings stood up. From their appearance, they both had the image of composed, middle-aged men. Although they were just illusions formed from remnant souls, they still maintained the unique majesty and nobility of the dragon race.
"May the dragon race prosper forever."
The Time Dragon King’s voice slowly sounded. His remnant soul began to flicker slightly, and countless lights overflowed from his body, resonating with the surrounding space.
The Space Dragon King acted in sync. His figure became even more illusory, but his deep eyes shone with a strange light. "Although we have fallen, the glory of the dragon race cannot be severed here. Please accept our final gift."
As the words of the two Dragon Kings fell, their illusory figures began to slowly dissipate, turning into points of light that floated towards Lin Feng.
"Wait!" Gu Yuena shouted urgently. She wanted to stop all this, but it seemed it was already too late. The points of light, as if they had a life of their own, quickly merged into Lin Feng’s body and disappeared without a trace.
Lin Feng only felt a vast and warm power surging within him, as if something was quietly taking root and sprouting in the depths of his soul. He closed his eyes, quietly feeling the changes of this power. The power of the Time and Space Dragon Kings transformed into warm currents, finally settling in his two legs, merging with his own time and space soul meridians.
Lin Feng’s legs trembled slightly, and an unprecedented sense of power welled up in his heart. He opened his eyes, a brilliant light flashing past. In that instant, he saw through the flow and change of all things in the world.
"This is..." Lin Feng looked at his legs in astonishment. He could feel that the gift of the Time and Space Dragon Kings had bestowed upon him their complete understanding of the laws of time and space. His legs seemed to have become bridges of time and space, capable of crossing the long river of time.
"Father God, forgive us..."
With a low whisper, there was no longer any trace of the Time and Space Dragon Kings here, leaving only Lin Feng and Gu Yuena standing quietly on the spot, feeling this heavy gift.
Gu Yuena looked at the silent Lin Feng, stepped forward and took his hand, asking softly, "Are you okay?"
"Mmm."
The two looked at each other, bowed to the place where the Time and Space Dragon Kings had been, and then turned their gaze towards the deep abyss that emitted a seven-colored light.
The seven-colored light within the abyss seemed to be even more dazzling than before.
Hand in hand, Lin Feng and Gu Yuena leaped, their figures lightly landing in the abyss that emitted a seven-colored light.
As they went deeper, the surrounding light became more brilliant, as if they had stepped into a grotesque and variegated world. Strange runes and patterns flowed on the walls of the cave, flickering and resonating with the energy in Lin Feng’s and Gu Yuena’s bodies.
The two landed. Before them was a huge underground space.
The surrounding stone walls were like natural scrolls, carved with ancient and mysterious totems. With the arrival of Lin Feng and Gu Yuena, they seemed to be activated by some mysterious power, slowly flickering with a weak light.
In the very center of the space was a sphere shining with a seven-colored light. It rotated slowly, emitting an energy fluctuation that made one’s heart palpitate.
This ball of seven-colored light was clearly very small, but the light it emitted was exceptionally dazzling, illuminating the entire underground space.
"You have come."
Under the astonished gazes of Gu Yuena and Lin Feng, a dragon shadow slowly appeared above the ball of seven-colored light. It was enormous and majestic, its entire body shimmering with seven-colored light. Even its scales were in the shape of rainbows.