Eternal Life Starts from Tai Chi

Chapter 366: The Noble Mixed-blood Dragon Race

The Black Dragon’s furious roar echoed throughout the high tower, lingering on the top floor, refusing to dissipate. Its cry was tinged with a sharp, agonizing pain that went beyond mere anger.

Yang Chan watched from the side, his hand gripping a Long Sword, ready to strike at any moment.

Flying Needles had already pierced the Black Dragon’s body. They were embedded in its eyes, Reversed Scale, and heart, penetrating deep and causing its aura to weaken considerably.

Even a Soul Body was not invincible. If weakened little by little, it could still be completely worn away.

Yang Chan was well aware of this when he attacked.

"You lowly human cur! When I escape, I will pin you beneath the Nine Netherworld and torment you with the Nine Nether Qi until you die screaming in agony as your soul dissipates!"

It wasn’t that the Black Dragon didn’t want to dodge Yang Chan’s attacks. But whenever it tried to move, the chains held it fast, making evasion impossible.

On top of that, Yang Chan’s Flying Needles carried a special Sword Intent—a form of Spiritual Power. As it was currently just a Soul Body, and a sealed one at that, it couldn’t use any of its truly powerful techniques. It could only let Yang Chan’s attacks land on it unopposed.

Those attacks were aimed at its vital spots—the Reversed Scale, the heart, the head. If its physical body were still present, its powerful defenses would have allowed it to ignore them. But its Soul Body could not.

The Flying Needles pierced straight through, burrowing into its Soul Body and consuming its Divine Soul Power. It was being worn down bit by bit. Just those last two attacks had shaved off nearly a hundred years of its Soul Body’s Lifespan.

A Soul Body’s Lifespan wasn’t bound by the same limitations as a physical body’s, but it wasn’t eternal, either. Even with its level of Cultivation, it was not Immortal. It still had to face a great tribulation of Lifespan. If it couldn’t recover its physical body, it wouldn’t last much longer.

A Soul Body had few restrictions, but it could not be detached from a physical body. The physical body was the foundation for transcendence and the key to nourishing the Soul Body. Only with a physical body could a Soul Body endure for a long time.

The Essence, Qi, and Spirit provided by a physical body would flow into the Soul Body, allowing it to endure. But the physical body had its own great tribulation of Lifespan, and it was impossible to achieve true longevity without breaking through it.

In its current state, for example, while it could live for a very long time, it would still slowly dissipate. The Essence Qi it devoured from Exotic Beasts could replenish some of its strength, but this wasn’t a fundamental solution. When its Soul Body’s great tribulation of Lifespan arrived, everything would be reduced to nothingness.

Time is the most potent poison of the mortal world, capable of eroding all things.

’Sigh, I still have so many Flying Needles, Flying Knives, and Hidden Arrows. It’s quite a dilemma!’

’If I don’t use some of them up, this trip to Taiyin Heaven will have been a waste.’

A pile of Hidden Weapons appeared in Yang Chan’s hand. These were items he kept prepared at all times; as soon as he used even a few, he would immediately restock, never allowing his supply to dwindle.

Even back at the Cyan Yuan Sect, his preparations never slacked. Carrying these things gave Yang Chan a great sense of security.

And now, they could be put to use. ’It’s a rare thing for anyone to see a True Dragon,’ he mused. ’And slaying one would earn a place in the history books, becoming a legend.’

’While you’re alive, you should leave your mark. Only then is your time in this world not spent in vain.’

Yang Chan tossed a Flying Needle and a Hidden Arrow back and forth in his hands, his eyes fixed on the Black Dragon’s Soul Body, searching for a new spot to test.

His eager expression made it look as if he were about to accomplish the grand feat of slaying a dragon.

"Stop, boy! I am not a True Dragon, just a Flood Dragon with the bloodline of the Dragon Race."

"A True Dragon is a being that can contend with a True God, far stronger than I am."

"Even if you kill me, it won’t earn you a place in the history books."

When the Black Dragon saw the sheer number of Hidden Weapons in Yang Chan’s hand, its face instantly darkened. Paired with its already pitch-black dragon head, it looked even darker.

It hadn’t expected Yang Chan to possess so many Hidden Weapons. And from the look on his face, he planned to test them one by one, with even greater force.

How could it not be afraid? It had been suppressed in this tower for nearly ten thousand years, and its Soul Body’s Lifespan was already approaching its great tribulation.

Being worn down by Yang Chan’s Flying Needles and Sword Intent would only cause the great tribulation of Lifespan to arrive sooner, and it would lose any chance for revenge.

As a being that had nurtured a Deity within its Divine Palace, it was only a single step away from transforming into a True Dragon. How could it possibly be willing to die here?

"True Dragons... True Gods? Are there Mixed-blood Dragon Races, then?"

The Flying Needle in Yang Chan’s hand twitched slightly as he asked with curiosity.

"Mixed-blood, you...! It’s just a matter of an impure bloodline. Even the direct descendants of a True Dragon cannot become a True Dragon directly. They must leap through the Dragon Sect, shed the impurities in their bloodline, and only then can they transform into a True Dragon."

The Black Dragon wanted to curse but bit back the words.

It wasn’t afraid of the Flying Needles, Hidden Arrows, and other such things in Yang Chan’s hand. It simply felt the need to be a bit more polite.

As the noble Venerable Black Dragon, it needed to maintain its composure to reflect the dignity of the Dragon Race.

Yes, it was just that simple.

"In that case, Lord Black Dragon, I’ll have to ask you to tell me about the Martial Arts Cultivation Realms of the Human Race. I’m really quite curious."

Yang Chan looked at the Black Dragon, a friendly smile spreading across his face.

As he spoke, he flashed his pearly white teeth, looking for all the world like a simple, honest young man.

"The Cultivation path for the Human Race begins with tempering the physical body. This is the Body Tempering Realm, which involves tempering the muscles, bones, skin, marrow, and blood. Cultivators in this realm aren’t particularly powerful. Even after completing the entire process, their Lifespan won’t reach five hundred years. Completing the Blood Exchange tempering is considered stepping onto the path of Martial Arts Cultivation."

"After the Body Tempering Realm come Refining Divine Acupoints, Divine Forging Sea, and Nourishing Divine Body. Only by completing this stage of Cultivation can one obtain various Divine Techniques and achieve a true transformation in Combat Power."

"After the Divine Body is formed, one opens a Divine Palace and nurtures a Deity, becoming a true Divine Being. At this point, one’s Lifespan becomes extremely long, and they can be called a Venerable."

"I myself was once known as the Venerable Black Dragon, revered by hundreds of millions. I was truly... Hah!"

"Above that is the forging of a Divine Format to become a Martial Arts True Divine. At that level, you possess all kinds of powerful Divine Techniques and become a being that is nearly impossible to destroy."

As the Black Dragon recounted this information, its emotions were in turmoil.

It was as if it were recalling its glorious past, and then considering its present state—being coerced by a mere junior—made it feel pathetic.

It felt the sorrow of a mighty tiger stranded on open plains, being bullied by dogs.

If not for the suppression of the tower and the binding of the chains, how could it possibly be threatened by the likes of Yang Chan?

Every twitch of the quivering Flying Needle drew its gaze, because if that needle struck its body, it would consume the Lifespan of its Soul Body.

Without the support of a physical body’s Essence, Qi, and Spirit, any power its Soul Body consumed was nearly impossible to replenish. The Essence Qi it had extracted from those Exotic Beasts was but a drop in the bucket—it could only delay the inevitable and offered very little real help.

"That’s it?"

Yang Chan asked, his eyes fixed on the Black Dragon.

It was the first time he had heard such a detailed breakdown of the Martial Arts Realms, so he was naturally curious about the realms that followed.

He had always known this was a world of high-level Martial Arts, but now it seemed its peak was even higher than he had anticipated.