As the blueprint of the giant dragon sharpened in his mind, Mo Qi identified which part of the mountain was the dragon’s eye, its nose, and its mouth.
The place where the Pig Emperor had landed him was the dragon’s mouth.
The area was a craggy plaza of shattered stone, bordered by two cliff faces that towered thousands of feet into the air.
One to the left and one to the right, they stood distinctly apart.
Mo Qi knew that the plaza under his feet was actually the giant dragon’s lower jaw, and those cliff faces were the upper jaw of its wide-open mouth.
The giant dragon’s might grew ever more oppressive, and the Dark Horse-level Token grew more scorching. Its light was like a miniature sun, bathing the plaza in daylight.
The Pig Emperor pointed at the two cliff faces. "Mo the kid, see that? This dragon’s head was split in two by a single palm strike, without even a chance to struggle. A person with that kind of power would be an absolute colossus, even in the vast world beyond the Mountain and Sea Empire."
Mo Qi gasped as he stared at the sundered cliffs. ’Split open by a single palm strike?’
He couldn’t help but compare this scene to the mory of the black-clad figures who had pursued his mother, especially the massive hand that had seized her at the very end. To his despair, he realized his own Realm was so low that he couldn’t even discern which of them was stronger.
’I’m still so, so far behind!’ Mo Qi clenched his fists, an unbearable frustration welling up inside him.
The Pig Emperor sensed the instability in Mo Qi’s aura and knew the sight had shaken him.
It went over and patted his shoulder. "True masters of the Martial Dao contend for the very essence of destiny and wrest longevity from heaven and earth. Their struggles are asured in millennia. How long have you been in Cultivation, to think you can already compete with them? You have to take things one step at a ti."
Mo Qi reined in his thoughts and gave the Pig Emperor a grateful glance, then said with a wry smile, "I understand the logic, but when your emotions flare up, willpower alone isn’t enough to control them. Don’t worry, though. I know what I need to do."
The Pig Emperor was confident in Mo Qi’s temperant, so it didn’t offer any further comfort.
It looked toward a fissure in the cliff face. "If this Emperor is not mistaken, the so-called Dragon Vein Imperial Bell lies behind that cliff. That is where this dragon’s reverse scale was—the point where its entire essence converged after death."
"A reverse scale?" Mo Qi asked, confused. "I thought the Dragon Race had Dragon Pearls inside them. Aren’t those their cores?"
The Pig Emperor rolled its eyes, giving him a look one might reserve for a complete idiot. "You’ve been listening to too many folktales, haven’t you? Other Demon Beasts produce an Inner Core once their Cultivation reaches a certain Realm, but the Dragon Race is different. The source of their power cos from their reverse scale—what’s commonly known as the Dragon Source!"
"’If I could get my hands on that Dragon Source, it would be a great help to this Emperor,’" the Pig Emperor muttered to itself, its gaze fixed on the cliff.
Mo Qi’s spirits lifted at the words, and he laughed. "Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go! We’ll find the Dragon Vein Imperial Bell first, and then we’ll help you seize the Dragon Source!"
Though inwardly touched, the Pig Emperor just pursed its lips and shot him down. "A Dragon Soul is certain to be guarding the Dragon Source. This Emperor can disperse Dragon Energy, but I can’t deal with a Dragon Soul right now. The two of us trying to seize the Dragon Source would be suicide!"
Unmoved, Mo Qi darted toward the fissure in the cliff.
"No matter how powerful it is, a Dragon Soul is still just a dead thing. We’re alive. There has to be a way!"
The trio—man, pig, and incarnation—quickly passed through the fissure. Suddenly, the world began to spin, and the scene before their eyes dissolved like an illusion.
The dizziness ca and went in a flash. Mo Qi steadied himself and focused his gaze. Several hundred yards away stood an old bronze bell, about twice the height of a man. It looked completely unremarkable.
Of the na "Dragon Vein Imperial Bell," this thing only seed to fit the "Bell" part.
Looking around, the area was plain and unremarkable. Even the oppressive Dragon Energy was gone without a trace.
Everything felt eerily strange.
"This is the Dragon Vein Imperial Bell?" Mo Qi was dumbfounded, finding it hard to believe.
But the Chaos Scripture showed, clear as day, that this bronze bell was indeed the Dragon Vein Imperial Bell!
"Pig Emperor, have you figured anything out?" Mo Qi asked.
The Pig Emperor’s small eyes widened as it stared intently for a full fifteen minutes before finally shaking its head. "This Emperor can’t make heads or tails of it. The one who set this place up possessed heaven-defying abilities. It’s impossible to imagine what happened here."
"’If we can’t figure it out, we’ll just have to test it!’"
The External Incarnation moved forward. However, the mont it stepped within a few hundred yards of the bronze bell, an imnse force sent it flying. It slamd violently against the cliff face, sending countless rock fragnts showering down. The shockwave from the impact reverberated through the air, lingering for a long ti.
Mo Qi’s true body and his External Incarnation shared thoughts and sensations, so he felt the full brunt of the force that had struck the incarnation.
Even though the Obsidian was indestructible and suffered no damage, the force exerted upon it was enough to blast Mo Qi’s mind into a complete blank. It took him a long while to co to his senses.
His true body was affected as well, his face turning pale.
Not from injury, but from sheer terror that made his heart pound.
’If it hadn’t been the External Incarnation that stepped forward, but my real body, that single blow would have obliterated , leaving not even dust behind.’
ROAR!
Just then, a dragon’s cry echoed from within the bronze bell. A mont later, a translucent, hundred-foot-long dragon erged, flying out of it.
"That’s a Dragon Soul!" the Pig Emperor exclaid in alarm, quickly pulling Mo Qi back.
But the Dragon Soul didn’t pursue them. Instead, it patrolled in a circle around the several-hundred-yard periter of the bronze bell before its gaze finally settled on the External Incarnation. Its eyes were hollow, devoid of any emotion.
"You have survived one of my strikes. You are worthy to ascend the Dragon Vein and begin the trial."
The Dragon Soul had spoken, and it was speaking to the External Incarnation.
"What does that an?" Mo Qi asked.
The Pig Emperor mused for a mont before replying, "Your External Incarnation survived a strike from the Dragon Soul. It seems that has earned it the right to attempt ringing the Dragon Vein Imperial Bell."
Huh?
Mo Qi was stunned. ’It’s that simple?’
’That’s all it takes?!’
’Jin Sanpang’s father can be saved!’
Overjoyed, Mo Qi quickly had his External Incarnation step back inside the periter.
Sure enough, the Dragon Soul did not stop him.
The External Incarnation soon stood before the bronze bell. It looked it up and down but still couldn’t find anything special about it.
Without further thought, it raised a fist and smashed it violently against the bell.
CLICK!
It was an incredibly faint sound, like a failed finger snap. If you weren’t listening closely, you might not have noticed it at all.
Mo Qi was baffled. ’What was that?’
’Did it ring, or not?’
’Besides, a single punch from my External Incarnation carries the force of hundreds of thousands of pounds. How could it make such a faint sound when hitting a tal bell?’
Refusing to accept it, Mo Qi had the incarnation unleash a flurry of heavy punches, hamring away at the bronze bell’s surface. Yet, the sound it produced remained barely perceptible.
When it stopped, everything was exactly as it had been, as if nothing had happened at all.
Clearly, this didn’t count as ringing the Dragon Vein Imperial Bell.
"What’s going on?" Mo Qi frowned.
Just then, the Dragon Soul spoke, its tone flat, without the slightest emotional fluctuation: "A body not of flesh and blood cannot awaken the Dragon Vein. Zhong Wuxiang!"
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