NOVEL NEXT Volume 1 SS: Dragon Amongst Men
Mu Ran stood in front of the frozen figure of a colossal dragon deep within his consciousness, the place where cultivators grow their dao foundations.
The dao foundation is a very flexible concept. It adopts the form of what one subconsciously believes it to be, provided that they have enough control over their cultivation techniques.
As someone who had cultivated the extra, special layer known as the zeroth layer of the physique transformation realm, Mu Ran's unorthodox dao foundation was the living proof of this.
A majestic dragon, coiled into a crouch, with its head reaching thousands of meters high amidst the illusory purple clouds was what Mu Ran thought of when the conversation was about his path of cultivation.
A true dragon, the ancient monster that now only existed in myths and fairy tales which even children did not believe in.
The dragon's body was massive enough to create dozens of coils, from the tip of its tail to the top of its head.
A thin layer of black fog covered its body, with only the lowest of the coils visible clearly. The rest of its body above was like a silhouette made of smoke and fire.
But Mu Ran's gaze was concentrated on the newly revealed portion of its tail. Almost a dozen entire new scales had been freed of the black fog.
"A significant portion of our soul seems to have recovered. How much longer can you hold on?" He finally asked after a long period of silent observation.
The inanimate dragon's tail shivered slightly.
"The Abomination has taken a rather reckless path, dividing the combination of three souls into twenty-one parts. We managed to snatch one complete soul shard inside the platform, and another afterwards. After purifying the corrupt parts, about one-tenth of our soul in total has been assimilated here. This should give me...about a couple of years of time. I can also now recall some higher-level techniques and deeper knowledge of laws. Now it depends on whether you can use our gains to breakthrough to the required realm to go chase down the purified abomination."
A deep voice from the dragon's body, similar to the automaton's from back inside the platforms, replied to Mu Ran.
The answer made Mu Ran clench his fists.
"That's way too short of a time limit. The abomination has to be at least at the brink of a breakthrough to the creation realm. By the time I reach the soul reformation realm, he might even complete the first genesis. Moreover, he definitely won't stay back inside that ruined world fragment now that he has purified himself. Where are we supposed to find him?"
Trailing off, Mu Ran gloomily considered his options. His future was not looking particularly bright at the moment.
"If you had managed to meet the abomination face to face and use the astral spell, our situation might have been different. Even if we didn't manage to assemble at least half of the soul shards, collecting three-tenth wouldn't be an issue. Granted, that might have affected our sanity a bit, but we currently do not have the luxury to think about the damage we'd receive from the forced assimilation. What a pity, that boy Xuhan flipped the situation around somehow and made a fool out of everyone, despite his good intentions."
"Now that he has possibly purified himself, who do you think will be the dominant personality among the trio? Prime disciple Jin Tuyi, freak Shi Xian, or you?" Mu Ran asked curiously.
"A wounded dragon is still a dragon. No human can dominate my mental strength. I will not lose even if a single shred of my soul resides in the body of the abomination."
Mu Ran ran a hand over his face and said, "Give me two years. I'll do my best to reach the soul reformation realm and look for that bastard again. If by chance he doesn't manage to reach the creation realm within that time, we can go all out and force a reverse assimilation."
"Impossible. Two years is way too long. I can give you fifteen months at most. If you cannot break through within that time, I'll take over our body," the voice from the dragon replied angrily.
"...Fine. Fifteen months it is," Mu Ran mumbled in a depressed tone and turned to leave.
"And another thing...I think we both agree that we need to be more careful when dealing with our underling, don't we? At least we shouldn't let him in on any more of our secrets for now." The voice added behind him, making him come to a stop.
"...Well, I agree. But I don't know what to think of him when he seems so genuinely interested in being our underling. He's a promising youth, even you realize that."
"Indeed, I do. But I also believe that Han Xuhan is definitely hiding his cards, even better than we are. I refuse to accept that he isn't an oddity like us. No way," the voice replied before Mu Ran retracted his consciousness from his dao base.