Free Web NovelChapter 355: Chapter 56: Sea Cucumber Dragon Transformation Art
A dragon. A Flood Dragon, 21.57 meters long, with azure eyes and a body of dark cyan. Its scales were fine and sturdy, it had four claws, and it commanded the Water Attribute.
A dragon. A Thunder Dragon, its length indeterminate because electric currents struggle to form visible arcs in water. However, cyan-blue Thunder Spirit Qi had gathered into a body roughly three meters long, wielded in someone’s hand.
Su Zhou. Height: 180 cm. Thanks to cultivating Extraordinary Power, he’d had another growth spurt, finally breaking through Zhengguo’s Level 2 disability height standard before his nineteenth birthday. He had a fit physique, was of the omnivore attribute, and was currently wielding the Thunder Dragon to threaten the Flood Dragon.
The relationship between the three was: Su Zhou > Thunder Dragon > Flood Dragon.
’Clearly, the omnivore attribute is at the top of the food chain—the prevailing trend in Earth’s ecosystem. And thunder really does beat water. Pocket Monster was right all along.’
Although the Flood Dragon had yet to fully break through, form a Dragon Horn—a True Dragon’s specialized Spiritual Qi Control Organ—and achieve a True Dragon Body, it already had its inheritance. In its very bones, it carried the pride of a True Dragon. The Dragon Race scion before it was one of its own kind, but his bloodline was of a higher tier. The moment it was revealed, the Flood Dragon’s entire body had trembled, almost causing it to sink stiffly to the seabed. But it was a Flood Dragon! It would not be outdone by anyone!
So, faced with Su Zhou’s "friendly" exchange, it obediently stopped and let out a long cry.
[This is my territory!]
The Flood Dragon’s tone was much like that of an innocent young farmer whose fields had been invaded by the village bully—a bully who was casually picking his watermelons and pumpkins and even commenting, "Your gourds are really nice and sweet." Its voice was a mixture of three parts anger, three parts indignation, three parts fear, and ninety-one parts grievance.
"Just because you say it’s your territory, that makes it your territory? Did you apply for statehood? Do you have a notarized certificate from the United Nations? Have you established diplomatic relations with other countries?"
After his casual retort, Su Zhou reflected. He knew, of course, that this wasn’t the dragon’s home. These were Earth’s high seas. Furthermore, in theory, the Zhengguo Government held the succession rights to all orthodox Extraordinary Power inheritances related to Zhengguo—though that was a lingering historical issue. Su Zhou hadn’t come here to forcibly rob an innocent Flood Dragon of its lair, and Zhengguo didn’t need a set of Dragon Bones—the Kunlun Ruins contained at least several hundred similar Demon God Remains, enough to form entire mountain ranges. They really weren’t hurting for one more.
They had more important things to do.
’Hmm, not a bad build. You’ve been working out lately, haven’t you.’
Su Zhou knew that ordinary Dragon Species would feel suppressed in his presence due to Yara’s bloodline. This Flood Dragon was clearly no exception; it was completely dominated by him, not daring to entertain a single stray thought.
Su Zhou didn’t immediately respond to the creature’s territorial claim. Instead, he used his Spiritual Vision to carefully inspect the Flood Dragon’s entire body, comparing it to the Dragon King’s Remains nearby.
’It’s true. They’re cast from the same mold, practically identical. The only difference is the lack of Dragon Horns. At best, this Flood Dragon can stir up rivers and roil the seas, but it can’t Call the Wind and Summon the Rain. A True Dragon’s horn is a unique Extraordinary Organ, part of its Demon True Body. If I got one myself, I could probably create a downpour anywhere there’s moisture in the air.’
’So, even the weakest True Dragon has to be at the Perfection of the Extraordinary High-tier. And a pure-blooded True Dragon, as long as it gets a good education when young, can reach the Peak Realm upon maturing. It’s not impossible at all.’
’And once a True Dragon reaches adulthood, it just needs to train a little, have half a brain, and comprehend its own Divine Techniques to advance to the Commander Tier—the equivalent of the Demon King realm for other races.’
Watching the Dragon Race scion before it point a bolt of lightning at it, then size up its entire body with a look of keen interest, even a dragon would be terrified. The Flood Dragon instantly let out another furious roar!
[This is my home!]
As Su Zhou and the Flood Dragon interacted, the production crew immediately focused the cameras for the live broadcast. Surprised comments began to flood the screen.
"Oh my god, there are actually dragons in this world!"
"It doesn’t have horns, so it’s a Flood Dragon! Still, it already has four claws and scales, so it’s very close to a True Dragon. By the way, are all members of the Demon Race this big? This Flood Dragon looks bigger than the submersible. It must be at least twenty-something meters long, right?"
"Uhh, call me crazy, but... did it look like Su Haihuang was threatening it just now?"
"You’re being too cautious. It wasn’t your imagination. Su Haihuang was definitely threatening it."
"What are you talking about? How is that a threat? The Flood Dragon was clearly about to attack. Professor Su is engaging in peaceful diplomacy."
"But that’s its territory..."
The online comments were rather mild, completely lacking the simple, direct style of a negotiation between members of the Dragon Race. In response to the Flood Dragon’s second declaration, Su Zhou simply laughed. "No problem. Your home is my home. I’ll make myself right at home."
Flood Dragon: [?]
True to his word, Su Zhou tilted his head, signaling for the Flood Dragon to follow. They moved together toward a field of hydrothermal vents, leaving the camera’s view. The five international submersibles also dispersed, beginning to scan the Dragon Bones from different angles.
Although many viewers online complained that they could no longer watch Professor Su bully the Flood Dragon, they also understood that some things couldn’t be shown to the public. ’Official secrets, you know? If you know, you know.’ Then again, the fact that this expedition was being live-streamed at all was a genuine surprise. Many people had declared it was all worth it the moment they saw the Dragon King’s Remains. Sticking around for the two-hour broadcast had definitely paid off.
Just then, Su Zhou heard instructions from the Holy Seats through the Communication Array.
"Professor Su," a voice came through, "ask this Flood Dragon when it received its inheritance and from whom. We need to verify if the Dragon Remains on the seafloor belong to the Celestial Pool Dragon King we know of."
Although various analyses had already confirmed the identity of the Dragon Remains with ninety-nine percent certainty, the matter was too important to not be cautious. In the near future, several nations planned to reveal the Dragon King’s true identity to the public, along with the origin of the Mimic Dao inheritance. There could be no room for error.
Su Zhou knew how important this was. He dissipated the Thunder Light in his hand and led the Flood Dragon to a spot atop two hydrothermal vents that were no longer spewing material from beneath the seabed. Then, he began to speak in earnest.
"We truly did not come here with malicious intent. As you are the inheritor of the Dragon King’s Remains, this place can remain your territory, provided we act with mutual goodwill. You are intelligent, which means we can communicate. You can express your needs to us through dialogue."
Now that he had demonstrated his strength, there was no need for further intimidation. Su Zhou spoke with ease. "Right now, we have a few questions for you. In turn, you can ask us anything you want to know. Just relax."
"So, roughly when did you receive this inheritance?"
Su Zhou’s words seemed to hold some kind of command over the Dragon Race. The moment he said "Just relax," the Flood Dragon felt its entire body loosen. The natural suppression that had felt like Mount Tai crushing down on it vanished completely. But this only made its heart pound faster than before. The stark contrast made the Flood Dragon understand that it stood no chance of resisting the Dragon Race scion before it.
Not in bloodline, and not in strength.
So, it answered obediently: [According to the method of calculating time in the inheritance, eleven years have passed since I received it.]
It wasn’t very skilled with human concepts of time or language, so its speech sounded a bit like a machine translation. But as it conversed with the human and activated the memories within its inheritance, its words grew more fluent: [One year ago, I reached the Flood Dragon Realm. The inheritance unlocked further. The Spiritual Qi from the hydrothermal vents is very dense—denser than at the sea’s surface—so I have remained in my lair and not left.]
It sounded as if it had visited the surface before but returned because the Spiritual Qi concentration wasn’t as high as it was in the Spiritual Rich Circle around the hydrothermal vents. Its current strength was only at the Extraordinary Middle Stage, and its progress was even slower than Su Zhou’s.
’About eleven years ago? That’s around the same time I awakened my Spiritual Power.’
Su Zhou’s eyebrows rose slightly at this. He nodded to himself. ’Although the true Spiritual Energy Revival and its explosive growth only began in the last year, the Spiritual Qi concentration ten years ago must have reached the critical point for activating the inheritance.’
"So, how did you obtain the inheritance?"
Su Zhou asked, and the Flood Dragon answered: [I do not have many memories of before. It feels like... I was just crawling on the seabed. By the time I had the wisdom for basic memories, I was already lying on the Dragon Pearl, receiving the inheritance of the "Celestial Pool Dragon Ancestor."]
The Dragon King’s Remains on the seabed did indeed belong to the Celestial Pool Dragon King. As the descendant who had received its inheritance, the Flood Dragon naturally referred to it as "Ancestor" rather than "King."
’So, this Flood Dragon was a deep-sea dweller from the start? Just crawling around on the seabed? I thought it was some Sea Serpent that answered a call and risked its life diving into the abyss.’
After confirming the source of its inheritance, Su Zhou felt that something was off. He pressed with a few more questions, and the Flood Dragon racked its brain to answer: [I have no sensation of it. My former self was likely a creature with no intelligence. I cannot recall anything at all. I even feel as though I had no brain.]
This wasn’t a metaphor. The Flood Dragon’s words likely meant that it literally did not have a brain. At this point, Su Zhou pretty much understood. A look of astonishment on his face, he used his Spiritual Power to grab a sea cucumber from the nearby seafloor and held it up for the Flood Dragon to see. "Were you like this before?"
Flood Dragon: [Yes! It felt just like that!]
