Long Chen took a deep breath and walked up to the dragon scale, reaching out to grab it. Since he couldn’t resist this enticement, all he could do was try.

The main reason Long Chen was so set on trying to subdue this dragon scale was because of the confidence the barbarian race expert had given him. Long Chen trusted that the barbarian race expert wouldn’t harm him.

Unfortunately, they had run out of time. While it had seemed that the barbarian race expert had known some secrets about the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art, he hadn’t given him any information at all about that.

But from his words and tone, Long Chen could sense that he felt great reverence towards the Heir of the Nine Stars. That made Long Chen even more curious about the history of the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art.

However, thinking about that didn’t have any meaning right now. Since the barbarian race expert had led Long Chen to this dragon scale, it meant Long Chen definitely had some chance of succeeding.

BUZZ!

When Long Chen’s hand grabbed the dragon scale, it suddenly released a harsh light, seemingly provoked, and a terrifying pressure shot out.

Despite having summoned his FengFu Battle Armor, despite having his divine ring support him, Long Chen was still unable to resist that terrifying pressure. The flesh on his arms exploded, appearing incredibly horrifying.

At the same time, a spiritual pressure filled the world, a pressure that could suppress all living things, even gods. Long Chen felt as if his soul was being torn apart. He was able to bitterly endure the physical pain, but this spiritual pain was just unbearable.

This was not just pain, but a spiritual suppression. This was a pressure that would cause all things to be subdued, with not a single person being able to resist.

According to the legend, dragons were peak existences even above gods. They were inherently haughty and could overlook the entire world. No one was able to form a heart to resist. That was dragon might.

In front of dragon might, people could only crawl beneath their feet. If they dared resist, they would be mercilessly erased.

In records of ancient myths, when dragons were born, they were a green color. Green dragons were the weakest existences amongst the dragon race.

Once their strength reached a certain level, their scales would change color, going from green to white. However, they wouldn’t be called white dragons, but azure dragons[1].

Furthermore, it was said there were even higher levels above azure dragons. But these were all just mythological stories, so no one took them seriously.

When a dragon advanced ranks, its scales would all change color. Only this reverse scale wouldn’t change color. Instead, it would shed, and they would grow a new reverse scale.

If this myth was true, then this reverse scale in front of Long Chen was from the dragon’s first transformation. In other words, this was the weakest reverse scale of all reverse scales.

But just this weakest reverse scale caused Long Chen’s flesh to explode and make his soul feel like it was being torn apart. Furthermore, an involuntary feeling of subservient allegiance arose within him.

Instead of subduing the dragon scale, he was being subdued by it. That made Long Chen feel great humiliation.

“Be suppressed!” Long Chen clenched the dragon scale with both hands. His Spiritual Strength poured out, and at the same time, he released his powerful will.

This clash of wills caused the entire world to tremble. Although will was a formless existence, this clash released a terrifying pressure that made heaven and earth change color.

Yue Xiaoqian’s face was pale as paper. Long Chen’s clash with the dragon might made her feel incomparably terrified.

That was a kind formless suppression that came from the depths of her soul. She had never imagined Long Chen’s will was so powerful that it was able to face off against dragon might.

Will was something unrelated to cultivation base. A part of it was just inherent, but another portion was acquired through tempering. But it seemed like all other wills could be easily crushed by Long Chen’s.

Yue Xiaoqian had distanced herself greatly, and the dragon might wasn’t even targeting her. However, she still felt her body shuddering and intense pain in her soul. Long Chen, who was resisting with his full power, was definitely facing much more pressure.

His arms were dyed with blood as he tightly clenched the dragon scale. Fresh blood continued to pour out of his arms. Long Chen’s eyes were tightly closed right now as he pushed his Spiritual Strength to its peak.

BUZZ!

Suddenly, space trembled intensely. Long Chen spat out blood and was blown back.

“Long Chen!” Yue Xiaoqian cried out.

“HAHAHAHA!”

But Long Chen suddenly began to laugh heartily; his laughter growing more and more delighted, seeming like a madman.

“Long Chen, you…?” Seeing Long Chen laughing like a madman, Yue Xiaoqian was appalled. It couldn’t be that he had gone crazy due to an injury to his soul, right?

“I’m fine.” Long Chen finally stopped laughing. However, he was still smiling brightly.

“You succeeded?”

Long Chen shook his head.

Yue Xiaoqian felt some pity when she looked at Long Chen’s hands that were dripping blood. “Failure is normal. At the very least, you’re still alive. Let’s just give up. This is fundamentally impossible. A dragon’s reverse scale will be provoked as soon as you touch it. And as soon as it releases its dragon might, all living beings will be suppressed. Even a reverse scale that has been shed for countless years will still have its dragon might. That’s not something we can subdue.”

In the cultivation world, the weak were simply prey to the strong. When they ran into an opportunity to get stronger, they would risk their lives, going all-out to obtain it. But going all-out and risking your life for an opportunity you couldn’t possibly obtain was just folly.

“Although I didn’t succeed, I didn’t fail. On the contrary, I’m not far from success!” Long Chen smiled confidently.

He got back up and walked back to the dragon scale in front of Yue Xiaoqian’s stunned gaze.

“I was misled. In truth, it should be much simpler than I thought.”

Long Chen once more reached out to grab the dragon scale.

Yue Xiaoqian turned pale with fright. That was because this time, Long Chen didn’t put up any defenses at all. He hadn’t even released his aura before grabbing the dragon scale. As long as it released its dragon pressure, Long Chen would be instantly crushed to death.

She wanted to stop him, but it was already too late. Long Chen’s hand had already grabbed the dragon scale. But what stupefied Yue Xiaoqian was that the dragon scale merely released a bright light and didn’t release its dragon might.

Long Chen’s eyes were closed as he calmly gripped the dragon scale. As he held the dragon scale, it was as if the entire world had frozen. Yue Xiaoqian could only hear her own heartbeat.

Each breath felt as long as a year. Yue Xiaoqian was worried the dragon scale would suddenly explode in fury, crushing Long Chen to bits.

Two hours felt like ten thousand years. Long Chen still hadn’t moved. But then suddenly, the dragon scale released an even brighter light, causing Yue Xiaoqian’s heart to clench.

That light grew ever brighter, lighting up the entire abyss, making it so people couldn’t even see. However, even once that light reached its brightest point, no dragon might was released. Finally, the light began to fade.

It was only after a long while that Yue Xiaoqian’s vision recovered. She finally saw that Long Chen was still in the same posture as before. However, the dragon scale had disappeared.

“HAHAHA!”

Long Chen once more raised his head and laughed, his voice full of excitement.

“Long Chen, you… you succeeded?!” Yue Xiaoqian was filled with disbelief.

“Yup.” Long Chen nodded; his eyes still filled with a crazy joy. He extended his hand, and the reverse scale suddenly appeared over it.

“How did you do this?” Yue Xiaoqian found this to be completely inconceivable. Long Chen had actually managed to subdue a reverse scale.

“In truth, trying to subdue a dragon’s reverse scale was fundamentally a mistake,” sighed Long Chen. He had almost been misled by the barbarian race expert.

He trusted that the barbarian race expert hadn’t known the taboos regarding a dragon’s reverse scale. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have said that Long Chen should subdue it.

However, in truth, that barbarian race expert really did know a bit about dragon reverse scales, and he truly had heard of people subduing them. But what he didn’t know was that those dragon reverse scales were different from this one. This one could not possibly be subdued.

If a peerless expert wanted to rely on their powerful cultivation base to forcibly subdue it, it would automatically explode. Although it was just a shed scale, a dragon’s dignity would not allow anyone to step on it.

The dragon scales the barbarian race expert had heard of were actually from some mix-blood dragons, not pure-blood true dragons.

A true dragon’s scale contained its pride, and it would not submit to brute force. It was only because Long Chen had managed to sense this that he had switched methods.

When his will had clashed with it, Long Chen had realized that the dragon scale’s will was similar to his own in that it would not surrender to any power.

Neither the dragon might nor his will were able to subdue the other. Instead, there was actually a slight resonance due to the similarity between their wills.

That was why Long Chen had given up on suppressing it and tried using his will to connect with it. As a result, this gentle method had worked, and the dragon scale hadn’t rejected him.

It had connected to his soul now. It hadn’t even taken that long for that scale to be moved emotionally by Long Chen. It had now voluntarily merged into his body.

It was different from weapons. A dragon scale could not be placed in a spatial ring due to their pride. They could only merge with a person’s body.

As long as Long Chen wished it, it would come out of his body and move according to his desires. It was just like a part of his body.

Unbeknownst to Long Chen, the instant he succeeded in gaining control over the dragon scale, within an endless void, a large eye slowly opened.

Although it was just an eye, it was the size of a star. Along with that eye’s opening, countless stars within the void began flickering uneasily.

That eye looked toward a certain direction in the void. Incredibly far from it was a mote of dust. Within that mote of dust was Long Chen looking at the dragon scale in his hand with delight.

That eye merely stayed open for a moment before slowly closing again. The starry sky once more returned to calm as if nothing had happened.

“Long Chen, you really are smart!” Yue Xiaoqian praised. Long Chen’s intelligence really did make her admire him.

He was incredibly bold and scrupulous. If it had been her, she would have either believed the barbarian race expert and gone all-out trying to forcibly subdue the dragon scale, or she would have directly given up. She definitely wouldn’t have been like Long Chen, capable of coming up with such a brazen theory from faint clues and then even daring to act on it.

Long Chen was completely satisfied with the dragon scale. Looking at Yue Xiaoqian, he was just about to say something when he suddenly became unable to say a single thing.

[1] The first dragon form is 青龍, which is the name of the Azure Dragon found in Chinese mythology. The second dragon form is 蒼龍, which is another name for the Azure Dragon. So the raws are essentially saying azure dragons grow into (insert another name for azure dragons). I’m going with saying green dragons grow into azure dragons so it makes more sense.