Chapter 39 – Dragon Bone

The eight individuals stood firmly in their positions, and Master Yun Boquan promptly summoned the Azure Dragon. A dragon’s roar echoed across the sky, reverberating through the valley. From the dragon’s cry, Yun Xiguang heard the Azure Dragon’s lament.

This was Yun Xiguang’s first time seeing the legendary Azure Dragon that had guarded the Yun family for a hundred years. If his spirit root hadn’t vanished, the Yun family had intended to pass on the Azure Dragon to him. Even if Yun Xiguang’s father didn’t wish to burden his son with the Yun family, the young Yun Xiguang was unaware of this.

Back then, everyone around him would say that the Azure Dragon would be his future spirit beast. Little Yun Xiguang looked forward to the Azure Dragon and scoured for legends about it, constantly flipping through stories of the Azure Dragon and Yun Guanyue in the Yun family library. He held these two heroes, who had accomplished countless feats, in high esteem.

At that time, he was filled with anticipation for the Azure Dragon. He hoped that the Azure Dragon wouldn’t just bond with him due to a contract; he wished that the Azure Dragon he admired could actually like him. Unfortunately, fate was unpredictable, and he had long since lost his connection with the Azure Dragon. Regardless, Yun Xiguang’s admiration for the Azure Dragon never diminished.

Now, hearing this mournful cry, Yun Xiguang felt a pang of sorrow in his heart. He saw a slender dragon shadow envelop Yun Boquan, and on Yun Boquan’s body, a suit of dragon scale armor appeared. This dragon scale armor seemed to have grown onto Yun Boquan’s body, a manifestation of fusion.

Yun Xiguang’s eyes darkened.

Yun Boquan was indeed attempting to absorb the Azure Dragon’s power using secret techniques, foolishly trying to control the strength of a spirit beast with a human body. Had the Yun family been treating the Azure Dragon like this all along? Anger surged within Yun Xiguang. He crouched down, placing both hands on the ground, and a small red snake slithered out from his sleeve. As everyone’s attention was fixated on the Azure Dragon, no one noticed Yun Xiguang’s actions, nor did they notice the presence of the Crimson Chi. The Crimson Chi silently infiltrated the formation, crawling up along Yun Xinglei’s trouser leg.

Meanwhile, several elders of the Yun family summoned their spirit beasts, channeling all their spiritual energy into the formation. As the formation operated, the deputy headmaster of Zhuzhao Academy and the members of the Special Affairs Bureau felt the tremors in their contract spaces. The spirit beasts within the contract spaces were involuntarily summoned, and the spiritual energy inside their bodies was being continuously transferred to the formation. “Yun Boquan, what are you doing?!” the deputy headmaster exclaimed, realizing he couldn’t recall his spirit beast. He tried to leave the formation, but his feet felt locked in place, completely immobile. He was enraged.

Yun Boquan, seeing that the experts were trapped within the formation and becoming sources of energy for its operation, felt reassured. He burst into laughter, declaring loudly, “Please bear with me for a moment, and soon you will witness humanity’s evolution, the transformation of an era. From now on, Spiritbond Masters will no longer suffer under contracts. As long as they obey the Yun family, they can obtain superhuman strength.” The deputy headmaster had assumed Yun Boquan was targeting Yun Xiguang and had come to assist out of responsibility for his student. He never imagined that Yun Boquan’s ambitions extended far beyond that. Fortunately, they still had three Grade A Spiritbond Masters!

“Ji Xuan!” the deputy headmaster shouted.

Without needing to be called, Ji Xuan had already taken action. His mind was torn between the thoughts of “rescue” and “escape to deliver the message,” oscillating back and forth until his head split into two halves. Ji Xuan aimed to cast “Square Inch Land,” immobilizing the four Yun family members within the formation so they couldn’t continue operating it. However, just as his head split in two, someone slapped him hard across the face, merging the two heads back together.

An elder of the Yun family retracted his hand after striking Ji Xuan, calmly stating, “We’ve collected complete information on the abilities of Zhuzhao Academy’s teachers. Your ‘Square Inch Land’ spell is indeed troublesome once activated, but if we target the principle behind the skill, it becomes easy to prevent its activation.”

The activation condition for “Square Inch Land” was Ji Xuan’s conflicted state of mind. As long as his thoughts were unified, the skill couldn’t be triggered. The elder’s spirit beast was a bee, possessing abilities such as flight and stingers, but its most powerful and unique ability was the queen’s “Absolute Command.” Bees are creatures of focus, each with their own tasks, performing various actions based on the queen’s instructions without hesitation. “Absolute Command” could forcibly purge extraneous thoughts from one’s mind, leaving only a single thought remaining. But there was a prerequisite: that person must have that thought in their mind to begin with.

The elder of the Yun family guessed that Ji Xuan harbored thoughts of saving others, so he issued a command to Ji Xuan. The notion of “escaping to deliver the message” was wiped clean from Ji Xuan’s mind, preventing him from manifesting his Beast Spirit Form and casting “Square Inch Land.”

At the same time, the other two teachers from Zhuzhao Academy were surrounded by the Yun family elders. Seven people had arrived from Zhuzhao Academy and the Special Affairs Bureau combined, and the Yun family sent seven as well, including the family head and six elders. Four from each side stood on the formation, leaving the remaining three versus three, all Grade A Spiritbond Masters.

In reality, the teachers from Zhuzhao Academy had more combat experience, but since they were always leading students, the Yun family had thoroughly analyzed their abilities, enabling them to counteract the teachers’ moves effectively. This put them at a disadvantage, making it difficult for either side to gain the upper hand. Thus, they were entangled. They couldn’t stop the formation or escape the mountain to relay the message.

Everything was proceeding smoothly according to Yun Boquan’s plan. Yun Boquan chuckled and spoke to those inside the formation. “It’s time for you two to make your final contribution to the Yun family. The Yun family has nurtured you for so many years; it’s only natural that you repay us with your souls, isn’t it?” Yun Xinglei wasn’t entirely foolish. Hearing Yun Boquan’s words, he realized that in the eyes of the Yun family, he was no different from Yun Xiguang. The Yun family intended to abandon him just as they had intended to do with Yun Xiguang.

Only then did he realize that his position within the formation was identical to Yun Xiguang’s, without any distinction. “You lied to me!” Yun Xinglei shouted, his eyes bloodshot with despair. “You said that after using Yun Xiguang to activate the formation, even if I lost my spirit root, I would still gain power. You told me that standing at the center of the formation would confer the greatest benefits! You lied to me, why should I believe you?”

He turned to one of the elders conducting the formation, saying, “Father, you’re my biological father, and you lied to me too?” It was precisely because his biological father had persuaded him that Yun Xinglei hadn’t harbored any doubts! Yun Xinglei’s father replied indifferently, “I have more than one child, and my lifespan is nearly at its end due to Spirit Contracts. Once this formation succeeds, my life will be extended, and I’ll regain the vitality of my youth. I’ll have more children. Sacrifice yourself for the sake of the Yun family and me.”

Yun Xinglei shook his head in anguish, attempting to flee, but the snake tails within the formation transformed into phantoms, tightly coiling around him, rendering him immobile. On the other side, Li Zheng was also ensnared by a snake’s body. He attempted to summon the Golden-Winged Great Peng to break the formation from within, but it seemed suppressed by some force, unable to appear.

Yun Boquan clasped his palms together, saying, “All for the Yun family, you will be recorded in the clan genealogy, and your descendants will remember your sacrifice.” With that, Yun Boquan struck his palms together, injecting the Azure Dragon’s domineering power into the formation. The two snakes constricting Li Zheng and Yun Xinglei tightened their grip, with enough force to tear them apart.

Yun Xinglei emitted a pained wail. Just as everyone’s attention was focused on the formation, a small yellow spirit bird with three strands of hair on its head casually emerged from Yun Xiguang’s pocket, slowly entering the formation. Meanwhile, Yun Xiguang held a two-meter-long phoenix feather, which circled him like a ribbon, giving him an almost divine aura. Unfortunately, due to the law’s effects, no one could see this phoenix feather.

Heavenly Law stipulated that Chi Qiong couldn’t withdraw the phoenix feather or utilize its power, and anyone other than Chi Qiong who used the phoenix feather would be influenced by the law, their hearts filled with destructive desires, ultimately leading to the world’s destruction. However, the law hadn’t anticipated that Yun Xiguang and Chi Qiong would form a pact contract.

This allowed Yun Xiguang to use the power contained within the phoenix feather with Chi Qiong’s permission while suppressing the apocalyptic law within the feather with the power of the contract. He was the only person in the entire world capable of wielding the phoenix feather according to his own will.

The little yellow chick proudly walked into the formation, telling Yun Xiguang, “I grant you the use of my power.” Its tiny claws stepped on the snake’s body within the formation, arrogantly declaring, “I don’t allow it, who dares to use my power?”

The tender claws lightly stomped on the formation. The two phoenix feathers submerged in the tainted blood at the mountain’s core immediately became subdued. The phoenix feathers belonged to Chi Qiong. Even if someone obtained the phoenix feathers, it was difficult to instantly harness Chi Qiong’s power; one had to find a way to suppress Chi Qiong’s mark. The Yun family chose the method of pollution. They used countless gallons of human and spirit beast blood filled with resentment to concoct a vile liquid, soaking the phoenix feathers in it to taint them, aiming to utilize the spiritual energy within.

If Chi Qiong remained in eternal slumber, they might have succeeded. But now that Chi Qiong had awakened, how could the phoenix feathers tolerate such contamination? As Chi Qiong’s tiny claws stomped, raging flames ignited on the phoenix feathers at the mountain’s core, incinerating the foul liquid.

These two flames instantly shot into the sky, breaking through the formation along the snake patterns! Sensing the power of the phoenix feathers, the Golden-Winged Great Peng let out a delighted “kakadaka” sound in Li Zheng’s contract space, using this power to break free from the contract space. Subsequently, the Golden-Winged Great Peng snatched the small fluff belonging to Chi Qiong from Li Zheng’s pocket, transforming into a Peng bird enveloped in golden flames amidst the sea of fire. It wrapped Li Zheng within its wings.

Amidst the blazing inferno, Li Zheng and the Golden-Winged Great Peng fused completely, transforming into a being with golden wings and a human body, soaring into the sky. This sudden turn of events occurred in an instant, not allowing the Yun family any time to react. It wasn’t until Li Zheng appeared that Yun Boquan realized the person in the formation wasn’t Yun Xiguang, but Li Zheng.

He hurriedly looked outside the formation, where Li Zheng was supposed to be, only to see his nephew Yun Xiguang floating there, with a phoenix phantom behind him. “Xiaoxi, why are you here? Aren’t you supposed to be inside the formation?” Yun Boquan asked in confusion. Hearing “Xiaoxi,” Yun Xiguang sighed softly and said to Yun Boquan, “Uncle, you’ve lost your original aspirations and forgotten the Yun family’s initial dreams. Did you hear the Azure Dragon’s lament?”

“I did!” In front of this Yun Xiguang, Yun Boquan couldn’t help but speak from the heart. “Every day and every night, the spine bone would transmit a distant wailing sound, tormenting me to the point of unbearable pain. That’s why I have to complete the formation! You envy the Heaven-grade Spiritbond Masters, but where do you know of my suffering? I don’t want to endure this pain anymore; I want to obtain the Azure Dragon’s power and become a true god!”

Yun Xiguang looked at Yun Boquan with a hint of pity in his eyes. His uncle, originally a spirited youth, had once strived like him to form a contract with the Azure Dragon. Who knew that decades later, he would transform into this state.

“You’re in great pain, right? Let me help you find release,” Yun Xiguang said. Yun Boquan, however, responded, “Even though I don’t know what power you’ve gained, the formation has already been set. Even without sacrifices, I can still harness these two streams of spiritual energy!” He bent over and struck the ground with his palms, attempting to draw power from the formation. However, instead of gaining power, the formation rewarded him with two streaks of flame, burning his hands to a charred black.

Yun Boquan stared at his pitch-black, agonizing hands, disbelief in his voice. “What’s going on? The formation was clearly already operational.” Yun Xiguang sighed. “You’re using someone else’s power, have you received the owner’s permission?”

With that, he manipulated the phoenix wings, wrapping them in roaring flames and striking toward Yun Boquan. The phoenix wings swept across Yun Boquan’s body, and a dragon bone flew out from his spine. The Azure Dragon emerged from the contract space, snapping its jaws around its own dragon bone!