Chapter 279: Indestructible Dragon Soul

“You want to ask me how I know so much? Hehe... it's not that I know a lot, but that you know too little. Ninth Brother, do you know that our Dragon Clan has a great secret?”

Yazi's attitude was beyond amiable. Li Yunxin was stunned: “...What secret?”

He just wanted to hear him out first, regardless of whether it was the truth or a lie.

But Yazi didn't hesitate at all. He said in a deep voice: “The Indestructible Dragon Soul.”

“Do you also know how our Nine Sons came to be?”

Li Yunxin was still processing the four words, “Indestructible Dragon Soul.” At this moment, he could only widen his eyes instinctively and say: “Hmm?”

“They were divided from the True Dragon after it subdued all the demons in the world,” Yazi looked at Li Yunxin like an older brother looking at a younger one, “The True Dragon split its own Dragon Soul in half at that time. One half remained within the current True Dragon, and the other half transformed into our nine brothers.”

“Our Big Brother Qiuniu, do you know how he came to be?”

“The True Dragon first split one half of the Dragon Soul again, and then combined it with the Primordial Energy of a Great Demon—and thus, we had the Eldest Dragon.”

“And then, one half of that half was split into another half, and combined with the Primordial Energy of a Great Demon—and thus, we had my Second Brother.”

Li Yunxin thought for a moment: “Are you saying... the Dragon Soul that formed Qiuniu was a quarter of the original. And when it came to you, the remaining quarter was split, becoming an eighth—then next... it would be a sixteenth?”

Yazi looked at him: “Precisely. Therefore, Ninth Brother, you should know that by the time it reaches you—”

“The Dragon Blood is extremely diluted,” Li Yunxin said after a moment of silence.

He didn't know why Yazi was telling him this, nor whether what he said was true or false. But if it was true, it was truly an unpleasant thing—to be a Dragon's Son with extremely thin bloodline.

...No wonder that Young Master Nine was so weak!

Yazi noticed his expression and smiled: “Ninth Brother need not be sad. You should know that a diluted bloodline is also a good thing—do you know why the Divine Dragon has not appeared for so long?”

“It is precisely because only half of its Spiritual Soul remains. Therefore, its clear consciousness is also limited. It is awake for a few days, then has to slumber for many years. For our nine brothers, although we don't sleep for many years like the Divine Dragon, we follow a daily cycle.”

“Big Brother Qiuniu is only awake for a few shichen (two-hour periods) a day. My Second Brother is awake for half a day. Your Third Sister Chaofeng is awake for longer than me—so, lining them all up, it is Ninth Brother who can be free for all twelve shichen of the day—don't you think that's a good thing?”

When Li Yunxin heard this, he slowly realized what he was getting at.

“So, when you asked if I've realized recently that I lose consciousness at night—you should know that I, your Second Brother, have always been without consciousness at night. However, recently I have indeed been doing a lot of strange things—for example, about a month ago, I somehow started fighting with the Ghost Emperor of the Li Kingdom who had strayed into my Tongtian Marsh. For example, every day after that, I would wake up and find myself closer to the Qing Kingdom. And for example, finally realizing I was heading toward Wei River...”

“Therefore, I thought, perhaps my original Ninth Brother has died.”

Li Yunxin watched him silently, while also glancing up at the sky—Young Master Nine would probably appear in about another quarter of an hour.

“Indestructible Dragon Soul,” Li Yunxin whispered.

“That's right, the Indestructible Dragon Soul,” Yazi looked at Li Yunxin, “When a person dies, there is a ghost soul. If the ghost soul is scattered, both form and spirit are annihilated. When a cultivator or a demon dies, there is also a ghost soul. But if the ghost soul is not scattered, it can be reborn into the Ghost Path and become a Yin Spirit. Only when this cultivated Yin Spirit is scattered and killed, is it considered form and spirit annihilation. Therefore, compared to mortals, demons and cultivators have an extra life.”

“But our Dragon Clan, even if the body is destroyed, the soul cannot be destroyed. If it cannot be destroyed... it will seek out its own kind.” Yazi reached out and gently patted his chest, “I am in the Tongtian Marsh, the closest of the brothers to the Wei River. Little Jiu died... and returned to my body. If I were to die again, Little Jiu and I would return to—”

“Next to me, the closest is your Third Sister, Chaofeng—we would go to her body. So, Ninth Brother, you should know that your older brothers and sisters are not always conscious because there is something missing in their bodies. Now that he has returned—even though the nighttime me is not my true self, it is still a kind of completion. This is the Indestructible Dragon Soul.”

“You asked me how I know? Now that you've heard all this, do you understand?”

Li Yunxin took three seconds for his brain to work at high speed to determine whether what Yazi said was true or false. The final conclusion was... it was highly likely to be true.

But—

“Why are you telling me this?” He tensed his body, “I plotted against you. And I killed your Ninth Brother.”

Yazi shook his head and laughed: “No. I said, in Second Brother's eyes, you are already accepted as a member of the Dragon Clan. You are now my Ninth Brother. As for why—”

“Because the Dragon Clan's bloodline is scarce. There are only nine of us in the world. And because we are inconvenient to mobilize, the masses of demons do not entirely fear and obey us. Now that we suddenly know we have a Ninth Brother with high cultivation and unmatched intelligence, how can we not be happy?”

“And you did not kill Little Jiu—you only made him return to me. We are fundamentally from the same source. So, what you have done, in fact, is add an extra bloodline to the Dragon Soul out of nowhere. We are overjoyed, so why would we harm you?”

Li Yunxin calmly thought for a moment: “If these words of Second Brother's came from the mouth of a mortal, I might believe them. But coming from the mouth of a demon... I find it hard to believe.”

Yazi stared at him: “You kill a mortal, and that person's immediate family comes to you and says they don't care—do you truly believe that is more credible than what I'm saying now?”

“You and I are demons after all—”

Yazi interrupted him: “We are the Dragon Clan.”

Li Yunxin wanted to say more, but Yazi shook his head: “The time is coming. Whether you believe it or not, you must remember—if you want to save your life, you must survive tonight. Use this Grand Array to maneuver with Little Jiu and keep yourself alive.”

“As long as you survive until dawn, you will never have to worry about the issues between you and Little Jiu again,” Yazi smiled, “The True Dragon is coming here—this night is for the True Dragon to see. To see if you are worthy of being a true Dragon Clan member.”

“Is it really coming?!” Li Yunxin only had time to say this one sentence before Yazi had already flown back a dozen zhang (approx. 33 meters), as if to give him some room to maneuver.

But his figure quickly stopped again—as if the picture had suddenly frozen.

“Yazi's” expression changed in an instant. His eyes suddenly widened, staring at Li Yunxin like a terrifying beast.

Then he let out a furious roar: “Li Yunxin—!!”

—Li Yunxin sighed and turned to flee.

He fled into Weicheng.

The city was burning with sky-high flames. But those flames were not mortal fire, but True Fire generated in the Array Formation by resentment and Spiritual Power. If he were merely a True Realm Human Cultivator, he would be utterly annihilated the moment he plunged into the fire. If he were merely a True Realm Dragon's Son, he would last a little longer—about a quarter of an hour.

But he had the Array Incantation left to him by the remnant soul of Kun Wuzi. He clenched the Incantation and plunged into the sea of fire. A layer of hazy, clear light quickly emerged around him, blocking the flames outside.

Young Master Nine, who had once again been tricked by Li Yunxin and thought he had killed him, now sobered up and saw this guy still in front of him—he knew he had been fooled again. The old grudges, past hatreds, plus the current humiliation, made him lose his mind instantly. He roared and followed Li Yunxin, plunging into the sea of fire.

The other part of this Dragon Two Yazi's demonic bloodline was unknown, but it was certainly one that feared water and loved fire. Relying on his innate ability to not fear flames much, and being a Profound Realm demon, he was temporarily safe, even in this True Fire.

If this Weicheng was still the ordinary Weicheng—both demons had bodies of bronze sinews and iron bones, and they could charge through unimpeded, so how could Li Yunxin possibly escape?

But the reason for choosing this place as the battlefield was that the houses in the city had been tempered by the True Fire of the Array for nearly a month. These bricks, tiles, and earth, even if not quite magic treasures, were no longer ordinary objects. Although they couldn't withstand a blow from a True Realm or Profound Realm demon, it would take some effort to crash through them.

The situation was like two demons who had become martial arts masters, fighting in an ordinary city.

The Profound Realm Young Master Nine first locked onto Li Yunxin's direction and intended to charge straight through. But after smashing through two houses, he realized this fact—even with his bronze sinews and iron bones, he was almost buried. Thus, he realized that this was not a place where he could casually exert his power.

But he was not annoyed. In fact, he sneered in his heart—

He had stayed by the edge of Weicheng for a thousand years!

He often flew over Weicheng on clouds and mist; how could he not know what the city looked like?!

Immediately, he looked at Li Yunxin's path in the firelight and, relying on his memory, took a shortcut and lunged forward.

He didn't expect to miss.

How could he know that although he was familiar with Weicheng, he usually bird's-eye viewed it from high up? But Li Yunxin, although he had only been in Weicheng for a few months, had once walked through the streets and alleys, carving secret incantations and talismans in many hidden places to form his Yin Spirit body. With that kind of project—turning the streets into his meridians and the landmarks into his vital points—who could be more familiar with it than he?

Moreover, he had the Spirit Map of Rivers and Mountains with the surrounding terrain of Weicheng drawn on his fan. Every move of this Young Master Nine was clearly visible on his fan, making it harder to catch him than climbing to heaven!

And this was something he had anticipated—that Young Master Nine was too proud and would not easily admit defeat.

Furthermore, he had tricked him time and again. At this point, killing him alone would not be enough to appease his rage.

An opponent understands an opponent best, and the proudest person understands the proudest person best. He knew that precisely because of this, Young Master Nine would be even more eager to completely crush and defeat him in an area where Li Yunxin considered himself strong.

So...

...what could be more to Young Master Nine's taste than this current situation?

—This Li Yunxin, being too clever for his own good, chose to hide here. But he didn't know that Young Master Nine was "more familiar" with this place.

“I'll be patient and capture him here—and then watch him be hoist by his own petard!”

Li Yunxin desperately hoped that Young Master Nine would think this way.

And so, Young Master Nine thought exactly as he had expected.