Book 17, Indigo Prefecture – Chapter 11, Innate Divine Ability
Countless streams of azure energy circled about like serpents slithering in the Dragonize Pool. These azure energy currents flooded towards those twenty eight people, surrounding them like azure silkworm cocoons which continuously spun themselves around them.
“What an unusual feeling.”
As soon as he had entered the Dragonize Pool, Linley had sensed a large amount of energy surrounding him. It was as though he had been returned to his mother’s womb. The strange energy brought warmth to every part of his body and seeped deep into it.
His body felt both numb and comfortable.
“So this is the Ancestral Baptism. Quite comfortable, actually.” Linley closed his eyes, luxuriating in the feeling of that unique energy entering his body.
The energy continuously seeped in through his skin. His flesh, his nerves, his blood vessels, his blood...they were all infused with it. Even his bones were infused with it...and even his eyes and eyelids were going numb. From inside to outside, not a single part of his body was left unchanged.
In terms of spirit or body, Linley was currently in a very relaxed state.
The palace hall where the Dragonize Pool was located was extremely large. It was three or four hundred meters wide, and nearly a hundred meters tall. The ceiling of the palace hall, in particular, had an image of a bellowing dragon carved into it.
“Bubble, bubble...” The Dragonize Pool continuously frothed.
At the side of the Dragonize Pool, quite a few black-robed men were resting while watching these twenty eight junior descendants metamorphosize.
“The Ancestral Baptism will take at least one or two days. Some with purer bloodlines will have their Ancestral Baptism last for six or seven days.” The bald, black-robed man shook his head. “The two Elders went to rest, but we still have to wait here.”
A silver-haired youth by the side of the bald, black-robed man laughed. “When one day you become one of the Elders, you can be like that as well.”
“Me? Become an Elder? I’ll wait to have the power of a Seven Star Fiend first.” The bald, black-robed man said resignedly.
“Hey. These juniors are beginning to slow down in their rate of absorbing the energy of the Dragonize Jewel.” The silver-haired youth suddenly said.
The bald, black-robed man turned to look. Indeed.
Currently, in the Dragonize Pool, twenty five of the twenty eight azure cocoons had ceased absorbing the azure energy, with only three left which continued to devour the azure energy.
“During this Ancestral Baptism, there’s actually three who have high potential.” The bald, black-robed man sighed in praise. “The longer they can absorb the power of the ‘Dragonize Gem’, the purer the ancestor’s blood is in their veins, and the greater amount as well.”
“Right.” The silver-haired youth nodded. “However, juniors these days all have very shallow amounts of the lineage. Now that they are done absorbing the energy of the Dragonize Gem, they’ll have completed their Ancestral Baptism shortly.”
“I heard that the more powerful second and third generation members of our clan, when undergoing their Ancestral Baptism, took one or two full days just to absorb the energy of the Dragonize Gem.” The bald, black-robed man said mysteriously.
“Are you serious?” The silver-haired youth didn’t dare believe it. “Ordinary clansmen only need a few moments to complete the absorption part. Is the lineage of the second and third generation clansmen that much superior to ordinary clansmen?”
“Why would I lie to you? Not long ago, that Baruch fellow. Do you know of him?” The bald, black-robed man said.
“I do.” The silver-haired youth sighed in praise. “Supposedly, he spent a full night just absorbing the power of the Dragonize Gem. The purity of his lineage is truly quite rare.”
“Just think about it. If even Baruch’s lineage could be so pure, how pure is the lineage of the second and third generations?” The bald, black-robed man laughed.
“That Dragonize Gem had been completely charged, but he immediately absorbed almost a third of it.” The bald, black-robed man sighed with feeling. “I saw this happen myself.”
“A third? That much?” The silver-haired youth said in shock.
A single ‘Dragonize Gem’ would generally be swapped out for a fully charged Dragonize Gem after using up half of its energy. However, generally speaking, half of the energy of a Dragonize Gem would be enough to provide Ancestral Baptisms for thousands of years for the clan.
Given there was an Ancestral Baptism every hundred years, that meant it could be used for tens of times, consecutively.
But Baruch had caused the Dragonize Gem to have a third of its energy used up in a single Ancestral Baptism. This was indeed shocking.
“It seems as though today’s Dragonize Gem is fully charged.” The bald, black-robed man said.
The Dragonize Gem was a fairly precious item for the Azure Dragon clan. To others, however, it was worthless. After all, the energy of the Dragonize Gem would only take effect on someone who had the ‘Azure Dragon lineage’. The Azure Dragon clan, in turn, had to spend an enormous amount of money to create these Dragonize Gems.
“Look, just one left. The other twenty seven have stopped absorbing the energy of the Dragonize Gem.” The silver-haired youth said.
The bald, black-robed man turned to look, only to see that in the Dragonize Pool, just a single, large azure energy cocoon remained. A large amount of azure energy continuously, ceaselessly flooded towards that azure cocoon, which seemed to be like a bottomless pit, capable of absorbing as much energy as came to it.
“Whoah-oh! This one should be that God.” The bald, black-robed man, glancing at the other twenty seven, knew that the remaining one was Linley.
“God?” The silver-haired youth laughed. “I hear that he just came back not long ago from the outside world. He was able to reach the God level without undergoing the Ancestral Baptism; he’s quite talented. No wonder he’s able to absorb so much of the energy of the Dragonize Gem.”
“Tell me, how much do you think he will absorb?” The bald, black-robed man laughed.
“Hard to say. Perhaps he might be able to absorb a tenth of the energy of the Dragonize Gem.” The youth said.
“A tenth? That’s not very likely.” The bald, black-robed man shook his head.
As they spoke, the two continued to pay attention to the final, remaining azure cocoon within the Dragonize Pool. As for the other twenty seven, they were in a state of slumber.
Time flowed on...
“Half the night has passed. He’s still absorbing?” All of the black-robed men around the Dragonize Pool were discussing this amongst themselves now.
“Crackle...”
That azure energy continued to endlessly flood towards Linley’s azure cocoon, which didn’t reject any of it, instead constantly absorbing all the azure energy. The strange energy of the Dragonize Gem continuously flooded every single part of Linley’s body.
But it seemed as though Linley’s bones and flesh were able to absorb as much energy as was sent to them.
“My entire body is shaking.” Linley felt extremely comfortable. He could sense that unique energy seeping deep into every part of his body, merging with the latent, potential energy throughout his body. The energy of the ‘Dragonize Gem’ was completely compatible with Linley’s bloodline energy.
However...
It was as though the bloodline energy in Linley’s body hadn’t been completely discovered yet. Thus, a large amount of the energy of the ‘Dragonize Gem’ continued to flood in, constantly drawing out the energy hidden deep in the blood which flowed throughout Linley’s body.
“It’s been an entire night.” The black-robed men surrounding the Dragonize Pool were awestruck.
“Last time, I heard that Baruch spent an entire night absorbing. But this person actually...right, what’s his name?” The silver-haired man asked.
“Linley. He’s Linley.” The bald, black-robed man had been in charging of assembling Linley’s group, and so he was very familiar with Linley’s information. “Oh, that Linley is just like Baruch. He also comes from the Yulan branch.”
“The same branch?” The silver-haired youth was astonished.
“I wonder how much energy this Linley will be able to absorb.” The bald, black-robed man stared at the Dragonize Pool.
The azure energy continued to flood out, not stopping at all.
Only a long time later...
The speed of the azure energy flow slowed down, then came to a halt. That azure cocoon merged into Linley’s body as well. Within the Dragonize Pool, Linley completely stopped moving, falling into a slumber, just as the other twenty seven had.
“Half a day, and a full night.”
The bald, black-robed man and the silver-haired youth looked at each other, their eyes filled with amazement and envy.
The longer one could absorb, the more pure one’s lineage was, and the more talented one would be in water. In addition, one’s ‘innate divine ability’ would also be more powerful!
Half a day and one night!
Only the legendary members of the second and third generation could compare to this.
“Ah!” Linley seemed to be asleep, but his consciousness was still quite clear.
Linley could sense that his skin, his flesh, his bones, his organs...his entire body seemed to be trembling with excitement as countless microscopic threads of energy danced about.
Throughout his body, every single cell was vibrating minutely.
The energy of the Dragonize Pool and the energy of his lineage was fusing together.
“It feel as though every part of my body is coming alive.” Linley felt that this was inconceivable. In addition, the energy of the Dragonize Gem, along with the energy of his lineage, when coming together, were silently transforming Linley’s body.
From his skin to his flesh to deep within his cells, a transformation was occurring.
An intrinsic metamorphosis.
As this silent transformation occurred, Linley allowed his body to change unimpeded, just using his consciousness to sense it.
Not long after Linley stopped absorbing the energy of the Dragonize Gem, the other people throughout the Dragonize Pool began to change dramatically.
“Hoooooowl!” First was a youth in the Dragonize Pool who suddenly opened his eyes, then let out a wild howl. Draconic scales suddenly emerged from his body, and his draconic tail began to thrash about in the pool as well.
Waves were sent splashing everywhere.
“Aaaaaaaaaaah!” This Dragonformed youth let out an agonized howl. Moments later, he slowly calmed down, regaining his calm.
At the same time...
“Rumble...” A rippling surge of energy came as the natural Law’s descended.
A black-colored stone that glowed with an azure-greenish aura appeared, hovering above his head. It was a water-type divine spark!
“This kid is going to become a Demigod.” The silver-haired youth chuckled. All those who entered the Ancestral Baptism would naturally become Deities of water, and would also gain their innate divine ability.
“Hmph. The first one to transform is the one who absorbed the least amount of energy from the Dragonize Gem, and has the least potential.” The bald, black-robed man couldn’t help but snicker disdainfully.
“You...geeze. This junior just completed his Ancestral Baptism. Say something nice instead, can’t you?” The silver-haired man laughed calmly. He, too, knew that although the other had said some unpleasant words, these words were true. The lesser the lineage, the lesser the elemental affinity to water, and the weaker the innate divine ability.
As time flowed one, one person after another in the Dragonize Pool became Deities. The vast majority of them completed the process in just two days. The second and third to last required three days before becoming a Deity. After the two of them became Deities...in the entire Dragonize Pool, only Linley remained, still ‘slumbering’.
The twenty seven had gathered at the sides of the Dragonize Pool and were watching Linley within it.
“Wait slowly. From the looks of it, this Linley will need at least quite a few days before he will complete his transformation.” The silver-haired youth said.
“I expect he’ll take more time than Baruch did.” The bald, black-robed man said.
Time flowed on. In the blink of an eye, eleven days had passed since Linley had entered the Dragonize Pool. Very, very few members of the Azure Dragon clan would take eleven days for the transformation. Linley remained the only person in the Dragonize Pool.
“Aaaaaaah!” Linley suddenly let out an agonized howl.
Immediately, the group of black-robed men surrounding the Dragonize Pool, as well as those twenty seven others, felt their hearts tremble. They immediately looked over. At this moment, draconic scales completely covered Linley’s entire body, and savage spikes had sprouted out as well.
A terrifying aura drifted out.
“So painful!” Linley gritted his teeth. He felt as though every single cell in his body was exploding with terrifying power, and countless surges of energy were constantly merging inside his body. This exploding energy caused Linley to be unable to refrain from transforming.
The latent energy inherent in his mighty body continuously flowed out and merged like countless rivers that were flowing upwards.
Up, up, up!
Up into his mind!
At this moment, that soul-protecting Sovereign artifact was completely ineffective. This soul-protecting Sovereign artifact would defend against enemy attacks, but wouldn’t defend against Linley’s own energy.
This massive flood of energy poured directly into Linley’s sea of consciousness, completely surrounding the souls of Linley’s four clones.
In the sea of consciousness, that bizarre azure light began to glow like a halo. On multiple occasions, even as far back as when Linley was a Saint, this azure halo had saved him. But this time, the glowing azure halo was constantly growing more and more powerful!
The glowing azure halo grew more and more powerful, until it seemed to have transformed into the sun, illuminating the entire sea of consciousness.
The people by the side of the Dragonize Pool stared with wide eyes at this scene.
Around Linley’s body, the phantom of an enormous Azure Dragon appeared, filling nearly the entire palace hall as it coiled around him. This Azure Dragon phantom hovered directly around Linley, and its illusory eyes actually swept the group of people by the side of the Dragonize Pool with its gaze.
“The Azure Dragon Phantom! It’s actually the Azure Dragon Phantom! And what an incredibly clear Azure Dragon Phantom.”
The black-robed men stared, slack-jawed.
As for Linley, he was currently opening his mouth, and as he did so, that Azure Dragon Phantom also opened its mouth, emitting a terrifying draconic cry....and as it did, a blurry azure energy halo suddenly spread out in every direction, filling the entire palace hall.
Every God and Demigod present suddenly froze, as though having lost all consciousness.
Even those black-robed Highgods could feel their souls be trapped in a very peculiar state.
The bald, black-robed man instantly regained his clarity of mind, then said in astonishment, “Innate divine ability, ‘Dragon Roar’, at such a terrifying level of power...and he is only a God. If he were a Highgod...”
“Rumble...”
The natural Laws suddenly descended.
Linley had become a Deity in water as well!