Ji Long gave a bitter smile as he said, “If it were before, then I would believe Senior….” He then let out a deep sigh as he continued, “However, I have suffered a tremendous blow to my Origin Blood during a fight in my youth. It was already a miracle that I reached the Origin Realm.”

The dragon let out a sly smile as he said, “He he, my cultivation may have dropped to the Early Stage Saint Realm but boy, remember this, I used to be a Heavenly Sovereign. My sight, experience, knowledge is something that very few in this Realm can match.”

Hearing this, Ji Long let out a puzzled look towards the dragon as he asked, “Heavenly Sovereign?” Jing Fang nodded his massive head as he said, “The Sovereign Stages are what come after the Saint Realms. And currently, unless someone has managed to subdue the Realm’s Will, it is the peak of our cultivation path.”

Hearing this, Ji Long’s eyes widened as he hesitantly asked, “Realm’s Will?” The dragon let out a sigh and said, “Yes, each Realm has it’s own Will. Those that manage to subdue it are known as Realm Lords. Once one manages to subdue a Realm’s Will, they will be in complete control of the Realm. Inside their own Realm, even other Realm Lords could only die left and right. They will literally be the Heavens of the Realm.” Ji Long let out a deep breath as he felt cold sweat as he thought to the power held by such a person.

Jing Fang then said, “If you also undergo my Jing Clan’s Dragon Blood Transplant, your Origin Blood will be completely recovered with your talent’s and comprehension also being raised by several notches.” He then thought for a moment before he added, “Becoming a Heavenly Saint isn’t out of the question either.” Hearing this, Ji Long’s eyes burned with passion.

Each cultivator pursued power and wanted to climb higher and higher. However, the only thing that made him hesitate was a simple question; What did this Senior want in return? Unable to resist the allure of the proposition any more, he grit his teeth as he asked Jing Fang, “What does Senior wish in return? I am afraid that what ever treasures or heaven defying techniques we possess, they are only mundane things in Seniors eyes….”

After saying so, he turned quiet as he waited for an answer. What Ji Long had said was true, his Ji Clan was so weak and pathetic compared to Jing Fang and Ji Long didn’t entertain the ludicrous thought that they had some Heaven Defying treasure or technique that the Senior in front of him would fancy. Jing Fang stayed quiet for a moment before he let out a deep sigh, “What I wish for is a family.”

Hearing this, Ji Long and Uncle Zheng both blanked as they looked at each other, completely stupefied. Ji Long asked absent mindedly, “A family?” Jing Fang looked at Ji Long in the eye with a melancholic look as he said tenderly, “I spent over a million years to reach the top. All that time, I was alone. Even when I founded the Jing Clan, I didn’t spend any time with them.”

His words trailed off as he fell silent for a moment before continuing, “However, after I was sealed down there for god knows how many years, I realized how weak my will was. If Curo hadn’t come along when he did and pulled me out of the hole, I am afraid, I would have lost my mind, alongside my heart to the loneliness and despair. I would have slowly kept wasting away there until the day came when I would lose every bit of what I am, used to be and become a mindless rabid animal.”

Hearing this, Ji Long was startled. He truly was shocked by this revelation. However, he could faintly understand and relate to the feeling. His own father and mother had died when he was young and he had put his complete focus on training. He became a cold and uncaring person that only focused on cultivating, however, when he met Curo’s mother, Jing Qing, his heart warmed up and even though he still spent most of his time cultivating, he cherished the time he spent with his wife.

When she died, he also fell into the same slump that Jing Fang was talking about. It was called not knowing how to cherish something until you lose it. After he lost his wife and Curo became crippled, he felt his world crumble and his own sanity slip and personality slowly growing colder and colder. If he had not managed to break through to Origin Realm by chance, then he was afraid that he would have become a shell of a person. Alive but dead inside.

Ji Long then asked with a smile, “Would Senior like to join our Ji Clan? We are made of a rowdy bunch that have roots from all around.”

Hearing this, the dragon let out a soft chuckle as he said, “I would very much like that.”

***

Curo had no idea what had transpired after he left. After leaving the mountain cave, he headed back to his own courtyard and slowly sat down to cultivate. He wasn’t striving to increase his cultivation but rather, he was adjusting his body to it peak condition. When he thought back to special training he did down in the sealed area, he felt a shiver go down his spine.

The amount of time’s he was a breath away from death was something he didn’t even want to count. Now that he was going to get the training to reach the Palace Building Stage, he was definitely going to go through something far more intense. Foundation Establishment was divided into three major steps: Qi Kindling Condensation, Qi Spring Excavation and Qi Sea Formation. Those three stages were respectively: Early, Mid and Late Stages of Foundation Building. He was currently in the Early Stage, Qi Kindling Condensation Stage.

He had managed to condense only 12 Qi Kindling’s as of now. This step was the most crucial one that determined the whole future of ones cultivation. The most Kindling’s anyone could condense was 99. That was the up most limit, however, not everyone could condense 99 Kindling’s. Usually, when one condensed 50 Kindling’s they could move onto the next stage, Qi Spring Excavation.

However, these people were considered the weakest amongst the same level people. Each Qi Kindling that was condensed meant one more Qi Spring. One more Qi Spring meant more Qi and a purer Qi. If one was able to condense around 70 Qi Kindling’s, they were usually seen as a rarely seen genius. Around 80 Qi Kindling’s was considered a heaven defying genius and 90 Qi Kindling’s was seen as a peerless monster of a genius.

However, if one managed to condense 99 Qi Kindling’s, they would be matchless. Even in times of Ancient Antiquity, the number of people across the countless Worlds that could condense 99 Qi Kindling’s could be counted on one hand each generation. Out of countless cultivators alive each generation, only a measly 1 or 2 or 3 managed to condense that last, 99th Qi Kindling. in some generations, none managed to do it. Curo, with his 12 Qi Kindling’s could be considered being in one of the earliest possible stages of Qi Kindling Condensation.

He was over 5 years behind in cultivation compared to the rest, however, that didn’t dampen his mood one bit. He wanted to show everyone, that no matter that he started later, he would step past everyone, stand with his head high in the sky.

Although the number of condensed Qi Kindling’s played a huge role in strength, the Art one practised played more. The Art Curo practised was something specifically tailored to his new body called, “The Dragon Human Unification Art” that focused on tempering his body like a Primordial Beast while at the same time, thanks to his stronger body, condensing purer and bigger Qi Kindling’s. The size of a Qi Kindling was what determined the amount of Qi one Kindling could hold.

For example, Curo practised a Top Grade Art, that was specifically tailored to his own body, so the Qi Kindling was a 9 meter tall Kindling. A Low Grade Art condensed a Kindling that was only one or at most two meter’s tall. A Medium Grade Art condensed a three to four meter’s tall Kindling, a High Grade Art usually, condensed a five to seven meter’s tall Kindling. As always, there are exceptions, for example, if another person has a Special Bodily Constitution or a specifically tailored Art, they can condense a bigger Kindling than normal Arts of the same level.

With all of that in mind, the Cultivation Level was always a vague and rough indicator of one’s strength. Some can defeat people stages above themselves while some can barely fight the people of the same level to a stand still. However, there are still a few iron clad rules; like, no matter how strong an Origin Realm Cultivator is, they are no match for a Saint and no matter how strong a Heavenly Saint is, they are no match for a Sovereign, even if they are just promoted.

The gap between those two Stages of Cultivation was not something that technique, Art’s or Artefacts could overcome. As Curo thought about this, he sucked in a deep breath as he felt the warm rays of sunlight on his face. He determined that it was morning already and as he stood up, he lightly flexed his body as cracks emitted from his joints.

After relaxing his body, he felt extremely comfortable. As his face turned serious, he headed towards the mountain range that housed Jing Fang. When Curo arrived, he noticed that two small stone rooms had been created to the side wall of the cave. After greeting Jing Fang, the dragon shrunk down to be as big as Curo. He guided him to one of the stone rooms, where on the ground was an extremely complicated formation etched into it.

Jing Fang looked at the Formation and said lightly, “This is the Dragon Blood Awakening Formation. With the helps of this, we will awaken the dormant Dragon Blood in you.” His voice then turned serious as he added, “At all times, stay extremely vigilant. When the Dragon Blood awakens, all of the power will as well, by using [The Dragon Human Unification Art] you will be able to negate the berserk power by directly channelling it to temper your body and condense Qi Kindling’s.”

He then added solemnly, “You have to be extremely careful, one wrong step may end with you shattering your meridians again or even worse, exploding from the Qi bursts.” Hearing this, Curo gulped for a moment before he let out a deep, determined breath. Seeing this Jing Fang nodded his head lightly as he instructed Curo a bit more on how to deal with the Berserk Energies from his body and if worst comes to worst, to immediately tell him, so he can immediately stop the Awakening.

Curo gave a solemn nod before he went to sit down cross legged in the middle of he Formation. After taking a few minutes to regulate his breathing, adjusting his body a bit, he gave Jing Fang the signal that he was ready. Jing Fang then used one of his claws and cut across his leg. As fresh blood spilled out onto the Formation, it started rushing along the formation lines and soon, the entire Formation had been covered in lines of blood.

After it had finished, Jing Fang let out a deep breath as he slowly started pouring Qi into the Formation to activate it. As the Formation slowly activated, Curo could feel his body slightly starting to tingle as something awakened.

As the feeling grew more and more prominent, a powerful aura started to radiate out from his flesh and bones.