In front of the Library Pavilion.
A purple giant dragon soared excitedly through the sky. As it swallowed and exhaled clouds and mist, a vast dragon breath swept across the area, radiating an overwhelmingly terrifying might. Its enormous body could not be seen in its entirety, as nearly half of it was hidden within the void.
At this moment, several figures flashed over and landed beside Lin Yuan.
"Is this Zi Yan's true form? What a powerful aura, and what an incredibly powerful bloodline."
Looking at the giant dragon soaring through the sky and the void, a trace of astonishment appeared in Medusa's eyes. This bloodline power was almost excessively strong.
Although she had already made some guesses before, the quality of Zi Yan's bloodline still exceeded her expectations.
Even though she was also an ancient magical beast with a powerful bloodline, and even though she herself was not a dragon-type magical beast, she could still clearly sense an intense and noble bloodline pressure faintly emanating from Zi Yan's bloodline.
Beside her, Qing Lin and Xiao Yixian were also rather astonished as they looked at the giant dragon before them.
S-so big...
What a huge dragon!
After a moment, Zi Yan seemed to gradually calm down from her excitement.
She slowly pulled her body out of the void and descended before Lin Yuan. She turned her head to look at her own body, then at her dragon body, dragon tail, and dragon claws. She scratched her dragon head with one claw, her face filled with bewilderment.
"So this is what my true form looks like now?" Zi Yan muttered innocently to herself.
"What do you think? Alright, girl, change back."
Lin Yuan smiled lightly and reached out to gently pat her head.
"If you keep playing around in this form, you're going to wreck the spatial barrier around here."
"As for which race you belong to, I already have a pretty good idea."
Hearing this, a trace of joy flashed through Zi Yan's eyes. Purple light immediately surged around her as her body rapidly shrank.
The purple light continued for a moment before quickly fading. A moment later, it completely dissipated, revealing the figure within to the eyes of everyone present.
A tall and enchanting beauty of unparalleled elegance appeared before Lin Yuan once again, possessing a charm that was in no way inferior to Medusa's.
That somewhat familiar face and exquisite figure caused Medusa, who was witnessing the "Big Zi Yan Mode" for the first time, to freeze for a moment.
Was this really Zi Yan?
That little Zi Yan who used to throw herself into her arms and act spoiled?
Qing Lin stared intently at Zi Yan's exquisite figure, a trace of envy flashing through her eyes.
Although she had known for a long time that Zi Yan could do this, today was still her first time seeing it for herself.
But really, she was so big and so fair.
So enviable.
"Thankfully, I'm not at the bottom."
A trace of relief flashed through Qing Lin's heart as she cast an almost imperceptible glance at Xiao Yixian.
Xiao Yixian's expression remained unchanged, but her eyes involuntarily swept around once before lowering slightly and falling to her toes.
Her heart immediately sank.
Zi Yan put her hands on her hips and looked arrogantly at the areas in front of Xiao Yixian and Qing Lin.
However, when her gaze finally landed in front of Medusa, the smugness in her eyes immediately faded, replaced by several traces of wariness.
How could she be just a tiny bit bigger.
"A formidable enemy! She's going to be a formidable enemy in the future!"
Zi Yan secretly marked Medusa as a great enemy in her heart.
Then, she looked toward Lin Yuan's deep eyes. The corners of her lips curled into a smile, and she coquettishly threw him a flirtatious glance.
However, Lin Yuan, who received that flirtatious gaze, merely smiled lightly and looked at her calmly.
As if!
Lin Yuan was a carnivore, after all, and he had already experienced plenty with Xiyue and Xiao Yixian.
But she was really alluring.
Her charm was completely different from that of the Queen and Xiao Yixian.
A trace of amazement flashed through Lin Yuan's eyes, only to be immediately blocked by two jade-like hands reaching out from behind him.
The moment Medusa came back to her senses, she directly flashed behind Lin Yuan and covered his slightly heated eyes.
She calmly called out, "Xiao Yixian..."
Xiao Yixian nodded in perfect understanding and took out a set of clothes before tossing them to Zi Yan.
"Zi Yan, you're exposed. Hurry up and put your clothes on."
"Oh!"
Seeing that Lin Yuan's eyes had been covered, Zi Yan giggled. She took the clothes Xiao Yixian handed her and slipped them onto herself.
Then...
"Tsk..."
Zi Yan clicked her tongue as she looked at the clothes that had barely been squeezed onto her body. She frowned, tugged at the fabric around her chest, and pouted.
"These clothes are so small and so tight! Especially around the chest. There's simply no room."
"Hiss..."
Everyone present immediately sucked in a cold breath.
The atmosphere at the scene instantly became as cold as a northern wind sweeping across the land.
"So that's how it is. My clothes are very tight, are they?"
Before long, Xiao Yixian's gentle yet slightly chilly voice suddenly rang out.
She herself was also looking at Zi Yan with a smiling expression.
At this moment, Xiao Yixian's face was filled with smiles.
However, beneath that smile was a bone-chilling coldness that made everyone tremble involuntarily.
Seeing this, the quick-witted Zi Yan's survival instincts immediately exploded.
She hurriedly waved her hands.
"No, It's because I'm too big. No, that's not what I mean! It's because Big Sister Xiao Yixian's dress is beautiful and fits me really well! I like it very much."
Perhaps because she had just advanced and had yet to properly control her strength, or perhaps because she had waved her hands too vigorously.
"Riiip!"
The sound of fabric tearing suddenly rang out from Zi Yan's chest.
In an instant, the atmosphere at the scene completely fell into dead silence.
Medusa summoned all her strength to suppress her laughter. She released the hand covering Lin Yuan's eyes and transmitted to him, "Little man, hurry up and think of a way to save the situation."
Lin Yuan helplessly glanced at Medusa, then cautiously looked at Xiao Yixian, who had lowered her head so that her expression could not be seen.
"Cough..."
He lightly coughed and gave Zi Yan a meaningful look before saying in a deep voice, "Zi Yan, don't force yourself. You must be exhausted, right? Your 'Big Zi Yan Mode' consumes far too much energy. You've only just advanced, so you should use it as little as possible. Hurry and change back to your usual form."
"Oh, right I'm so tired. I need to change back quickly."
Zi Yan smacked her palm with her fist as she suddenly realized.
Purple light flashed and enveloped Zi Yan, while her figure slowly shrank along with it.
In the blink of an eye, she had returned to her previous appearance as a little girl.
The dress that had looked so tight before now hung loosely around her body.
It seemed that this little-girl appearance was enough to dispel Xiao Yixian's inexplicable sense of competition.
She slowly raised her head, and the icy atmosphere at the scene finally disappeared as well.
Seeing this, Zi Yan finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Oh, right, Big Brother, give this back to you!"
Her eyes shifted as she rushed over to Lin Yuan's side and transmitted an extremely pure strand of purple-gold dragon aura into his body.
With an obvious implication, she said, "Big Brother, I put a lot of effort into getting this for you."
Hearing this, Lin Yuan smiled.
"Little girl, when have I ever treated you badly? Come on, let's go back. I'll get you something good."
"Something good?"
Zi Yan's eyes immediately lit up.
Then, as if she suddenly remembered something, she hurriedly asked, "Oh, right! What race am I actually from?"
"You should be a member of the Ancient Void Dragon Clan."
Lin Yuan spoke softly.
"Ancient Void Dragon?"
Zi Yan scratched her head in confusion.
"This is the first time I've heard that name, but for some reason, it feels strangely familiar."
The other girls also looked at Lin Yuan with considerable curiosity.
Seeing this, Lin Yuan smiled lightly.
"Since we have this opportunity, I'll tell you a little about it. I'll explain some things about the magical beast clans of the Dou Qi Continent."
"There are three great magical beast clans: the Heavenly Demon Phoenix Clan, the Nine Netherworld Python Clan, and the Ancient Void Dragon Clan."
"Among them, the Ancient Void Dragon Clan is the most powerful and also the most mysterious clan. They are born with control over spatial power and can freely travel through the empty void. They can even prey on Heavenly Demon Phoenixes."
After a pause, Lin Yuan spoke solemnly.
"More importantly, the Ancient Dragon Clan is the only magical beast clan that still possesses a pure ancient bloodline."
"The only pure bloodline?"
Medusa and Zi Yan looked at Lin Yuan in confusion.
"Yes."
Lin Yuan gently rubbed his forehead and explained, "It's the difference between pure blood and mixed blood. The Heavenly Demon Phoenixes are mixed-blood descendants of the ancient Heavenly Phoenix, while the Nine Netherworld Pythons are mixed-blood descendants of the Devouring Heaven Python and the Ancient Heavenly Serpent."
"In the world of magical beasts, bloodline reigns supreme. As for the result of having mixed blood."
From the perspective of the races, the union between humans and magical beasts could potentially be a good thing, allowing both sides to complement each other's strengths and weaknesses. However, the union between different magical beast clans was ninety-nine percent of the time a bad thing.
Magical beasts placed great importance on bloodlines, with the purity of one's lineage being paramount.
As far as Lin Yuan knew, the only exception was the Dragon-Phoenix Origin Fruit. This heaven-defying treasure that stole the creation of Heaven and Earth had an absurdly low chance of appearing.
With a light smile, Lin Yuan looked at Queen Medusa and reminded her, "So, Xiyue, you and Little Cai are extremely important to the magical beast race. Before you have sufficient strength, unless absolutely necessary, never reveal your Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python form."
"I understand."
Queen Medusa took a deep breath and spoke solemnly.
Having learned about her own clan rights, Zi Yan became much more excited and hurriedly continued asking, "Big Brother, then do you know where the Ancient Void Dragon Clan lives?"
Hearing this, a trace of apology flashed through Lin Yuan's eyes.
Although he knew everything that would happen, and although he knew that Zi Yan was longing for her clansmen and parents, he still could not tell her.
Thus, Lin Yuan shook his head and said solemnly, "The Ancient Void Dragon Clan should be somewhere in the Central Plains, but that clan hasn't appeared for many years. There have been very few reports about them either, as if they have completely disappeared from the world."
"A clan this powerful suddenly losing all traces of itself means that something must have happened. So."
He looked seriously at Zi Yan and said in a deep voice, "Zi Yan, until we have more information, you must not casually reveal your identity. Understand?"
He would rather let Zi Yan return to the Ancient Dragon Clan later than gamble on whether the Eastern Dragon Island would discover her first.
If Zi Yan exposed her identity and the Western Dragon Island, Northern Dragon Island, or Southern Dragon Island learned about her first, then things would truly become troublesome.
Hearing Lin Yuan's words, Zi Yan fell silent as well.
Back then, she had been abandoned in the forest outside the Inner Academy and had spent her days braving the elements while being bullied by other magical beasts. Later, she accidentally ate a Transformation Grass, after which Su Qian brought her back to the Inner Academy.
If the Ancient Void Dragon Clan really was the strongest magical beast clan, as Lin Yuan had said, then there was no way one of its members would have been abandoned outside.
There could only be one possibility.
Something had happened.
Looking at the somewhat disappointed Zi Yan, Lin Yuan reached out and rubbed her head. He said solemnly, "Zi Yan, we will go to the Central Plains, and you will return home, but we can't act recklessly. Leave this matter to me. I'll help you return to the Ancient Dragon Clan!"
Hearing Lin Yuan's serious words, Zi Yan immediately became more spirited and nodded reassuringly.
"I understand, Big Brother."
Ever since she had met Lin Yuan, he had seemed almost omnipotent to her.
As long as something was left to him, everything would be fine.
Seeing Zi Yan recover her spirits, Lin Yuan nodded slightly and teased, "Girl, you'll have to work harder. Your clansmen are extremely powerful. Don't let our Strong Ranking's number one return home only to end up being the weakest one there."
"That won't happen!"
Zi Yan shook her little fist.
"This lady is already a Dou Ancestor, and not an ordinary Dou Ancestor either. How could I possibly be the weakest?"
"Hehe, let me see how strong you are now!"
Lin Yuan smiled. His soul power surged out from between his brows as he carefully sensed Zi Yan's current condition.
"Good grief, she's already at the peak of three-star Dou Ancestor."
Lin Yuan sucked in a cold breath.
At this moment, he was genuinely a little envious.
He had caused all kinds of trouble and fought countless life-and-death battles just to reach his current four-star Dou Ancestor strength.
Yet this girl who did nothing but "eat, eat, eat" had caught up with him in one go.
"The power of the Eighth-Grade pill, combined with the medicinal energy accumulated inside her body? What incredible luck, and what an appetite!"
He could not help feeling envious.
However, beyond that envy, Lin Yuan also felt considerably more excited.
The faster Zi Yan grew, the higher the chances of success for his future plans.
Sensing Lin Yuan's mood, Zi Yan smiled smugly.
"Am I amazing or what? Just wait and enjoy living off Zi Yan's success! Hehe."
Lin Yuan nodded and chuckled.
"Yes, our Zi Yan is exceptionally talented. Your future is limitless."
As he spoke, his eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at the mass of dragon aura in his hand that was almost solidified.
This dragon aura had accompanied Lin Yuan for a long time, and after being nourished by Zi Yan during her evolution, it had undergone an enormous transformation.
Not only had its color changed from light purple to deep purple, but there was also a trace of power that looked like a golden thread flowing through the mass of dragon aura. It carried an extremely mysterious aura, making it look quite extraordinary.
"Zi Yan this girl really put her heart into this."
A trace of warmth appeared in Lin Yuan's eyes.
He could sense that this mass of dragon aura contained a small portion of Zi Yan's most fundamental power.
Without being pretentious, he directly absorbed it into his body.
The dragon aura entered his body and returned to his natal blood pill, transforming into a tiny purple dragon.
It breathed in and out, refining the blood and qi within his body, which had already acquired faint traces of purple radiance.
With every strand of blood and qi refined by the tiny purple dragon, the purple hue within it became slightly more pronounced.
This long and solid process continued bit by bit within Lin Yuan's body, quietly waiting for the moment when quantitative change would transform into qualitative change.
Sensing the subtle changes within his body, the corners of Lin Yuan's lips curled upward.
As for the dragon aura Zi Yan had given him, quite a few interesting ideas surfaced in his mind.
"Dragon aura, spiritual energy, blood pill, alchemy Once I finish dealing with everything during this period, I can properly perfect that idea."
Shaking his head, Lin Yuan withdrew his wandering thoughts and sensed Zi Yan's condition once more.
"Zi Yan has completed her advancement. We should head back as well!"
Looking at everyone, Lin Yuan smiled before waving toward the Library Pavilion.
"Elder Bai, we'll be taking our leave."
With that, he did not wait for a response and simply led everyone away.
After everyone had left, a teasing voice slowly echoed out.
"I never expected Zi Yan to really be a Ancient Void Dragon. Tsk, tsk, tsk. An Eighth-Grade alchemist, a Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python, a Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils, an Woeful Poison Body, and a Ancient Void Dragon. This generation really is packed with monstrous talents."
"Once Mang Tian Chi finds out, won't he be ecstatic!"
Central Plains, somewhere within a gloomy and eerie palace.
A black-robed old man with an indifferent expression looked at the intelligence report in his hand. A sinister glint flashed through his eyes.
"Lin Yuan, nineteen years old, a Seventh-Grade alchemist and he possesses a Heavenly Flame as well! Heh heh heh, what a genius... ah!"
"Who else has seen this intelligence?"
The old man glanced at the middle-aged figure kneeling below and asked indifferently.
"No one, no one."
The middle-aged man hurriedly shook his head and respectfully replied, "You are the first person to see this information."
"Is that so? Then that's excellent."
The black-robed old man gave a cold smile.
A grayish-blue flame suddenly surged from his palm, instantly burning the intelligence report in his hand into nothingness.
"Lord Mu Gu you?"
The middle-aged man looked at the old man in horror.
"Heh heh heh, disappear!"
The black-robed old man looked indifferently at the man below as grayish-blue flames surged forth.
"If you want someone to blame, blame yourself for learning something you shouldn't have known!"
Before his voice had even faded, the flames had already surged toward the middle-aged man.
After burning the middle-aged man into nothingness, the black-robed old man glanced at the remaining ashes and waved his sleeve, scattering them into the air.
Thinking about the intelligence he had just seen, several traces of jealousy and greed appeared in the black-robed old man's eyes.
He murmured quietly, "Lin Yuan heh, you little brat. Let this old man see whether you truly possess the qualifications to wield a Heavenly Flame."
Before long, a black shadow flew out from the palace and headed toward the distant Black-Corner Region.
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