Douluo Dalu - The Story of Sheng Feilong

After Sheng Feilong entered the dome of light, the old lion king's eyes slowly opened again. "Let us see if your descendant dares to accept your heritage, my dear brother. If he does... I shall keep my part of our promise, as well." The old lion slowly stood up and began walking towards the exit of the cave.

Huang Jialong and Yuanen Yehui still waited in front of the cave entrance, staring into the darkness without moving from their places. After the voice sounded out before, the other golden lions had stopped staring at them with murderous intent, but many of them still retained their vigilance.

The crimson-maned lion still stood in front of the cave entrance, calmly keeping an eye on Huang Jialong and Yuanen Yehui as well as the rest of the pride. A few moments later, though, it suddenly turned its head around, looking into the cave.

Huang Jialong and Yuanen Yehui noticed its behaviour and vigilantly looked at it, but soon knew why it stared into the cave. Slow, heavy footsteps began echoing out from within and, after a few more moments, a new, massive golden lion came into view.

The king of lions looked at Huang Jialong and Yuanen Yehui, calmly assessing the two of them while they stared at it in high tension, shocked by its appearance, but even more so by the power radiating off of it. Meanwhile, the crimson-maned lion lowered its head, while the rest of the golden lions also came to pay their respects to their king.

The king of lions calmly dismissed them, causing the other lions to raise their heads again, but none of them left. It has been years since the king of lions had emerged from the cavern, and even longer since most of the golden lions had truly seen their king. Usually, only the crimson-maned lion had direct contact with it.

"You two are the humans that travel with the descendant of Sheng Wuyong?", the king of lions questioned Huang Jialong and Yuanen Yehui, its voice sounding calm, but filled with authority. Swollowing dryly, Huang Jialong took half a step forward, bowing before the lion king. "Huang Jialong greets Senior. It is as Senior said, we're Sheng Feilong's companions."

The king of lions looked at Huang Jialong for a moment before giving him an appreciative nod. "The descendant of Sheng Wuyong has gone into the deepest part of the mountain to claim the inheritance left behind. It will take a long time before he emerges again. You may choose to remain on this mountain or leave back into human territory."

Huang Jialong and Yuanen Yehui were shocked, the latter hastily stepping forward. "Senior, what do you mean? When will Feilong return?" Just after she finished, Yuanen Yehui realized that she may have overstepped some boundaries and carefully stepped back again, coming to a halt next to Huang Jialong.

The king of lions didn't pay too much attention to what she did, but also didn't her answer yet. It walked to the side, where another heightened platform stood, in the middle of the midday's sun, and laid down their. "You do not need to worry. No harm will befall him; That, I guarantee."

Huang Jialong could tell that Yuanen Yehui wasn't satisfied with that answer and neither was he. He also took a few steps to the side, matching the gaze of the lion king. "Senior, can you tell us what happened? What is that inheritance Feilong tries to claim?"

The king of lions intently looked at Huang Jialong, remaining silent for a long while and causing the other lions to stare at Huang Jialong as well. Still, the latter didn't back down, standing his ground and waiting for an answer. "...That you do not need to know. My dear brother's inheritance is easy to claim for those that are of his kin, but it will take a long time. There is nothing you, nor I, could do; Even if you tried, you would be unable to meet him."

Huang Jialong and Yuanen Yehui still seemed unconvinced and tried to ask more about what was happening, but the king of lions had already closed its eyes, ignoring them while it bathed in the sun.

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"Ugh-!" Sheng Feilong let out a muffled groan after he jumped into the pool of blood. He was holding his breath without a problem and still remained submerged in the blood, bus his body was aching all over. He could feel the energy in the pool of blood streaming into his body – a feeling as if thousands of needles pierced his skin.

His own blood was violently churning, rushing through his body with an unprecedented agitation. His heart was similarly beating with a crazed fervor. At the same time, his Radiant Emperor's Phantasmagoric Eyes Spirit Essence, as well as the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's Artificial Soul Bone started crazily absorbing the energy that was rushing into Sheng Feilongs body.

Of all of his powers, those two, in addition to his own bloodline, were tied the closest to Sheng Wuyong's Three-Eyed Golden Lion bloodline and were naturally prone to craving that kind of energy.

Still, all this caused Sheng Feilong to have to gnash his teeth even more violently. 'This kind of energy! It's ever stronger than what I've seen from Master!' He had expected a lot after feeling the reaction his own bloodline had to the pool of blood, but he had underestimated it by a long shot.

There was nothing he could do; If he were to jump out of the pool now, he would most likely suffer an immense energy backlash. Moreover, he could clearly feel how the energy was slowly changing and strengthening the Artificial Soul Bone and his Spirit Essence. 'Even if I feel like dying, I have to persist...!'

A long time passed and Sheng Feilong stopped to try and push the energy into a certain direction. He simply let it flow into his body like it wanted to, only concentrating his mind on staying calm and, even more importantly, staying conscious; He simply couldn't allow himself to pass out.

Slowly but surely, Sheng Feilong entered a trance like state. He could still clearly feel the energy entering his body, ravaging through him and strengthening every part it passed through. The Radiant Emperor's Phantasmagoric Eyes Spirit Essence continued to absorb the energy this whole time, its previously transparent, silhouette like body becoming more and more corporeal, slowly forming a deep, golden figure.

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion Artificial Soul Bone absorbed the energy even faster than his Spirit Essence did. Though its appearance didn't change, Sheng Feilong could clearly feel that it was becoming stronger; Its aura becoming deeper, more unfathomable, with each passing moment.

Sheng Feilong didn't know how much time had passed, nor did it feel like the energy in the pool of blood was ever going to run out. After another long period of time, he could clearly tell that he had entered some kind of incredible meditative state. He could clearly see all the details of his body, as if watching from a third person perspective.

However, this was also accompanied by an ever stranger feeling; While seeing his own body, he could also still clearly feel it. For a Soul Master, knowing their own body in and out wasn't unusual; With the help of their Spirit Power and spiritual consciousness, this was easily achievable, but the state Sheng Feilong was in was somewhat more complex.

It even went as far as him being able to tell how much energy his blood had absorbed; Even being able to see that it was taking on a much deeper shade of crimson when compared to before. His whole body started to feel heavier, but it didn't inconvenience him in the slightest; His physical strength was growing much faster in comparison.

At one point, Sheng Feilong felt like he wasn't actively absorbing the energy any longer; It was as if his body had reached a level of saturation where he couldn't take in any more, but the pool of blood didn't stop pouring all of this energy in to him. His Spirit Essence and Artificial Soul Bone had also stopped absorbing any more energy.

The former had formed a complete body of pure gold, looking like a statue of a divine God, the usual deep gold colour in its eyes that represented the core of the Spirit Essence's power glowing with an intense light, as if overseeing all of what existed around it.

The red, runic symbol on its forehead had also grown much more lustrous, radiating a powerful force. Moreover, it had changed somewhat; Instead of a winged diamond shape, it was now much more complex, looking like the abstract for of an eye, surrounded by the same diamond pattern, while the wings were much more pronounced.

The Artificial Soul Bone still hadn't changed much, appearance wise, but its aura had changed completely; It was not incredibly dense, radiating a powerful intent, even while laying dormant in Sheng Feilong's spiritual consciousness.

By now, the excess energy that was flowing through Sheng Feilong's body started spreading in the world of his spiritual consciousness as well. Slowly bathing the silvery white world, in a faint, faint layer of golden light; The lush, silver grass gaining an ever so slight hue of gold, as did the clouds and even the bright, azure sky itself.

This change in his spiritual consciousness was the most pleasant surprise for Sheng Feilong; He could clearly feel his Spirit Power growing stronger in real time as the world of his spiritual consciousness continued to change. Moreover, he could feel the clash between the silvery white – now slightly golden – world and the desolate, dark world, where the Netherworld Putrefaction Demon resided, calm down.

The two different parts of his spiritual consciousness were slowly reaching a fragile balance of power. Still, Sheng Feilong was more vigilant than joyous over this unknown change. 'Is this what Master meant? My Spirit Power rising in order to suppress the Netherworld Putrefaction Demon?'