Chapter 137: Dragon Soul Infusion

In a daze, Li Ren could no longer feel that initial sensation of being torn apart. His entire body seemed to have been cast into water, drifting aimlessly up and down.

His body felt languid and utterly powerless. He could not even summon a single thought.

Li Ren himself could not put into words what he was feeling.

At first, a powerful purple-gold flame had suddenly appeared within him, but before long it seemed to have been extinguished by the boundless water. Then it vanished without a trace.

The blazing golden radiance that had followed was no different; it had been completely ineffective.

The once-mighty flame and sacred power now seemed so feeble.

On the back of the dragon eagle, Fan Yunshan sat with his brows tightly furrowed. He had been praying silently that there was still enough time, but no matter how he calculated it, even if he reached Li Ren now, there was probably nothing he could do.

As though sensing its master’s urgency, the dragon eagle was flying with all its might. Although it was gradually drawing closer to Li Ren’s location, an increasingly ominous premonition enveloped Fan Yunshan.

“You must hold on! In my eyes, you may be the one most likely to approach that legendary figure. Don’t disappoint us. There’s no time left.”

Fan Yunshan clenched both hands so tightly that he failed to notice the nails biting into his flesh, staining his fingers crimson with blood.

Li Ren lay groggily upon the ground.

The vigorous blue flame that had once burned within his eye sockets had now dwindled to the tiniest thread. Though this was a stone cavern, utterly still and without even the slightest breeze, that sliver of flame seemed to be flickering in the wind, wavering and trembling without pause.

Had anyone come to Li Ren’s side at that moment, they would probably have taken him for nothing more than a skeleton that had completely lost all signs of life. Indeed, Li Ren’s condition had deteriorated to such an extent.

Mao Mao’s enormous body guarded him protectively. His great dragon eyes remained fixed on Li Ren, holding a trace of doubt, a trace of confusion, and, mingled with them, a trace of restless impulse.

Just as the last remnant of Li Ren’s flame flickered to its limit and was about to go out, Mao Mao suddenly moved.

His enormous body assumed the posture of something about to soar into the heavens.

Then, without warning, a much smaller version of Mao Mao, its entire body gleaming with black and gold, flew out from within his own skull.

This miniature Mao Mao no longer had the appearance of a creature made entirely of bones. His body, solidified from energy, was so splendid and extraordinary that anyone fortunate enough to possess such a mount could truly have no regrets in life.

Li Ren, however, knew nothing of what was happening before him.

The instant the miniature Mao Mao left his original body, the bone dragon Mao Mao—who had just been poised to shoot into the sky—seemed to have the magic supporting his enormous frame suddenly drained away. In the blink of an eye, he collapsed into a heap of bones, his former majesty nowhere to be seen.

The miniature Mao Mao circled twice in the air. He looked at the bones scattered across the ground, then at the skeleton before him whose soul flame was on the verge of extinction. Without the slightest hesitation, he charged toward the skeleton.

The collision that might have been expected never occurred.

The moment Mao Mao’s energy body drew near Li Ren, it seemed to burrow directly into his body. A new force appeared within Li Ren.

With the emergence of this force, the dim soul flame that had been about to fade suddenly blazed with renewed vitality.

And with that power now present, the purple-gold flame and sacred golden radiance that had once appeared when Li Ren was in the direst peril both burst forth with their most brilliant light.

Li Ren’s bones, originally white as jade, were dyed a deep purple-gold by the surging forces. From a distance, he looked like a skeleton carved from purple-gold metal.

Within the Skeleton Cavern, after releasing his immense dark power, the Skeleton King watched, with the aid of the small black tablet, as the blue point of light was gradually drawn out. It seemed to be emerging from the void, struggling slowly, and when more than half of the entire sphere of light had appeared, the Skeleton King could not restrain a loud laugh.

In his eyes, there was no longer any possibility of a change in the outcome. Things had progressed this far; given just a little more time, his true purpose would be accomplished. As for what was about to happen, once he possessed the blue soul flame, would he truly have any reason to care?

Yet as he laughed aloud, the blue point of light that had been gradually pulled free suddenly snapped back toward the void.

Affected by the force of that recoil, the Skeleton King’s previously steady power became chaotic. A faint wisp of black mist drifted from his body and soon vanished into the air.

The Skeleton King stared fixedly at the blue point of light. Under the tug of those dark incantations, the blue light continued to slowly retreat into the void.

The Skeleton King let out a roar, and the red soul flame in his eye sockets began to surge violently.

“I refuse to believe that you still possess the strength to resist this innate soul core! This time, you will surely die here!”

The Skeleton King seemed to have gone mad. Dark energy surged from his body like a raging tide, pouring relentlessly into the black tablet—in other words, into the innate soul core he had spoken of.

As the Skeleton King infused it with dark energy, the abstruse incantations formed by the innate soul core grew darker and deeper, while the force of attraction radiating from them became ever more powerful.

Under the influence of that tremendous force, the blue sphere of light came to a halt in the void. Half of it remained outside, while the other half was hidden within. The exposed portion was clearly larger than the part concealed in the void, and it still seemed faintly poised to surge farther outward.

Seeing this, the Skeleton King began to gasp heavily. A feverish light filled his eyes as he watched the blue sphere of light gradually emerge before him.

The aura surrounding Li Ren weakened further.

Even with Mao Mao’s energy body added to his strength, he still seemed unable to withstand the overwhelming influence of the innate soul core.

At that moment, a resounding dragon cry suddenly erupted from within Li Ren’s body. Immediately afterward, it was as though something had shattered. With a soft pop, an incomparably powerful force appeared within him.

Purple-gold flames roared to life, and Li Ren’s body slowly began to rise into the air.