Chapter 396 - 377: Beautiful Dragon Maiden, Dusk Token, Dusk Holy Ruins

Even so, the Soul Race’s resources had only managed to push the two of them to the Peak of Fusion Realm. My Dao, the Hundred Ghosts Dao, and the Dragon Race Dao were all incredibly resource-intensive, no less than resource black holes. After all, the Daos themselves were simply too powerful.

The fact that even a small portion of the resources remained was a testament to how extraordinary the Soul Race truly was.

With a thought, Jiang Qiu began to absorb these leftover resources. Suddenly, he felt a strange fluctuation from within, as if a consciousness of an extremely high level was resisting.

WHOOSH—

A large swath of resources became fuel for Jiang Qiu, nourishing his tyrannical body. Meanwhile, inside the Dragon Spirit Secret Realm Space, a dark gold token was left behind, inscribed with the words—Dusk Token.

With a casual grab, Jiang Qiu retrieved the token. He studied it for a moment, his brow furrowed slightly. "What is this thing?"

"Hm?" [Snow] blinked, examining it for a moment. She opened the delicate dragon-mouth of her mask and, with a CRUNCH, bit down on the edge of the token. "Mmmph~ Can’t bite through it."

"???"

Jiang Qiu stared at her, stunned, before adopting a serious tone. "Don’t test things like this with your mouth. What if it’s poisonous?"

He never would have expected that after gaining a physical body, [Snow] would do something like bite a token. The crucial part was that the mask on her face seemed to have fused with her skin; it was impossible to tell whether it was a mask or her real face.

’If this mask *is* her face, then my initial guess might never be proven...’

He was inexplicably reminded of the first time he met her. She was just a shy handmaiden with no status, and he had sensed a trace of a familiar from the Northern Boundary in her. But as she transformed more and more, as she grew up, that trace of familiarity had gradually faded.

Now, the mask was impossible to remove. Even though Jiang Qiu could see her in her most honest, uncovered state, even sharing her soul and memories, he still couldn’t see through the mask.

It wasn’t due to the influence of the Yin Yang Great Realm’s World Law. It seemed this was just how she looked...

’Heh, how could that be possible? She came from the Yin Yang Summoned Life ritual. She should have had the appearance of the Human Race, so how could she have the face of the Dragon Race?’

But this Dragon Maiden form truly suited her temperament, as if she were born to be of the Dragon Race. No matter which race’s standards of beauty one used, she was naturally gorgeous, possessing the transcendent aura of a goddess.

"I know, I just wanted to take a bite and see," [Snow] muttered, her bare toes hovering just above the ground. Her slender, jade-like fingers fidgeted with each other, and he could almost picture the pout hidden beneath her mask. "It should be something left over from the last era..."

Her newly sculpted form was completely bare, like a newborn creature that felt no need for modesty. Everything was displayed openly before Jiang Qiu’s eyes. He felt a faint blush creep up his cheeks and cleared his throat. "You should put on some clothes first. This form is a bit too alluring for other living beings."

He wasn’t joking. Even for beings of a different race, her allure was palpable. This seemed to be an effect of her Dragon Race bloodline, and it was especially pronounced in her Dragon Maiden form.

Her charm was in the midst of a transformation. But having just completed her Fusion, she hadn’t fully adapted yet, and the various abilities of her body had yet to be developed.

Still, one had to admit, this state was truly tempting. Her skin was like crystalline White Jade, flawless and utterly smooth, with gentle curves that seemed perfectly formed...

"Mm-hm."

Without any hesitation or discomfort, [Snow] turned. A stream of colorful light flowed past, and a Hanfu-style ruqun dress materialized on her body. She looked like a Dragon Maiden who had descended to the mortal realm. Turning back, her eyes shimmered with affection. "Senior Brother, what do you think of this outfit?"

"You, how did you get these clothes..."

Jiang Qiu’s heart skipped a beat. He saw the fluttering sleeves and light, winding silk ribbons. The Dragon Scale texture had faded, revealing skin as white as snow with a pinkish hue. Only a long dragon tail, longer than her shapely legs, remained, extending from her lower back, along with a pair of delicate Dragon Horns on her forehead from which a natural coldness emanated.

In this state, the mask finally looked like a mask, but the draconic features only added a touch of domineering presence. Yet, the vertical golden pupils in her eyes still reflected a soft, nostalgic tenderness.

Her long legs were naturally parted as she hovered in midair. Her light posture made it seem as though she was leaning on the wind, yet her delicate frame was unaffected by its currents. Only her ribbons fluttered, occasionally revealing a hint of snow-white skin.

This transformation was perfectly natural, without a single awkward detail. It was as if she was always meant to look this way, as if she belonged to a naturally existing race...

"Do I look good, Senior Brother?"

[Snow]’s lips curved into a smile. Even though their souls were connected, when she asked this question, Jiang Qiu’s heart still trembled. This feeling was an instinct from the depths of his soul. "Yes."

Anyone could appreciate beauty. If someone were to go against their heart and say she wasn’t beautiful, then nothing in this Great Realm, in all the All Heavens and Myriad Races, could be considered beautiful. It would be a blatant lie.

But perhaps it was because they both had pure Dragon Race blood flowing through their veins, coupled with their Soul Fusion, that Jiang Qiu truly found the current [Snow] to be stunningly and enduringly beautiful.

DING—

The chime of a message interrupted the infatuation heating up in his heart. He looked down at his watch-like communicator and saw a message from [Celestial Star]: "Where are you right now? The bounty on you on the Dark Web has been withdrawn. You don’t have to hide anymore..."

Seeing this, Jiang Qiu smiled but didn’t reveal his full situation. He simply replied that he was well and very safe now.

"That’s good. Honestly, it would’ve been a real shame if a prodigy like you were hunted to death because of a bounty," [Celestial Star] remarked with a sigh. "I don’t know what happened with the Soul Race. They suddenly withdrew the bounty. Even I was caught off guard."

Generally, bounties were not easily withdrawn, especially one that involved such a huge investment. It was even more unlikely for it to be voluntarily canceled, because posting a bounty already came at a high price. To withdraw it for no reason would be like handing free resources to the powers behind the Dark Web.

That was why [Celestial Star] hadn’t been monitoring the Dark Web constantly. It was only today, when someone mentioned they couldn’t find Jiang Qiu on it, that he realized the bounty had been removed.

Out of special concern, he had still informed Jiang Qiu, while wondering what on earth had happened to the Soul Race...

The two exchanged pleasantries for a while. Jiang Qiu didn’t tell him the truth. Instead, he glanced at the Dusk Token in his hand, and an idea came to mind. "Senior Celestial Star, have you ever heard of the Dusk Token?"

"Hm?" [Celestial Star] was taken aback for a second, then his expression grew solemn. "You have a Dusk Token?"

The Dusk Token was no ordinary item. It could be considered a supreme treasure on the level of a universal cluster. Countless races fought over it without exception.

The Dusk Tokens that existed in the entire Primordial world cluster were exceedingly rare and impossible to find for sale. Even he didn’t possess one.

And Jiang Qiu actually had one?

"No, I just heard about it by chance."

Jiang Qiu denied it smoothly, but he also sensed that the Dusk Token was something extraordinary. It seemed to represent something special; otherwise, it wouldn’t have made even a Harmonization Realm expert like [Celestial Star]’s expression change.

Hearing his denial, [Celestial Star] felt a slight sense of pity, but he also understood what Jiang Qiu was getting at. "Are you trying to ask about the Dusk Token?"

"Yes."

"You should know that the last era was called the [Era of Dragon Fall]. The destruction of an era is never a clean wipe. They leave behind legacies, such as the Dusk Token, which grants entry into the greatest ruin of that era, the Dusk Holy Ruins!

"Over the tens of thousands of years of this era’s development, countless races have grown strong and risen to the top of the Primordial world cluster by relying on the inheritances from smaller ruins. And from those small ruins, they received a message.

"At the one-hundred-thousand-year mark, the Dusk Holy Ruins, the greatest relic of the previous era, will open. This will happen only once. Entry is granted with a Dusk Token. Inside, one might find the legacy Divine Artifacts of the former Peak Races, or even large parts of a True Dragon’s remains..."