"The Titans of Old?" Shin raised his chin, enjoying the magnificence of the five colossal creatures. All this while, these behemoths had been sleeping within his Spiritual Body, steadily providing him with assistance without him even knowing it. The main reason why the Celestial Dragon was so feared, the main reason why the Lady of Water could dominate over her generation, was precisely because of the Five Titans of Old.
Back in the day, before humans and Spirit Beasts walked the Earth, it was the Titans of Old that ruled the land. Their farts could cause catastrophic natural disasters, and their mere presence could make any mortal turn crazy. If anyone of them were to be set free within the material realm, it would cause countries to fall into ruins and civilisations would be buried by their own whimsical movements. Just one of them was that destructive and yet...
Shin was inheriting five of them…
"Yes, the Titans of Old." The Lady of Water beamed. "Their powers have been watered down due to the passage of time, but they're still powerful nonetheless. For your fight against the Allfather, their assistance would prove to be of paramount importance."
"I know," Shin didn't dispute his predecessor's claims. He looked at the Five Titans with an awestruck expression, not knowing how these beings were eaten by the Celestial Dragon during its peak. "The Titans of Old… How overwhelmingly powerful. So from the very beginning, my Spiritual Body was never completely mine."
"Naturally… The Titans were once the most dominant beings of the planet. There's no way that they'll let you control them when you're a weak cultivator." The Lady of Water clapped her hands. As if on cue, the Five Titans surrounded the ninth crystal obelisk, bowing towards the final vessel as eunuchs would to their Emperor. "However, your current power far exceeds that of any Spirit Venerate and some Spirit Saints. Not to mention, your intellect and ability to analyse through any situation has prepared you well enough. You may even be overqualified for the inheritance!"
"..." Shin didn't reply to the Lady of Water's teasing. Instead, he took many deep breaths, calming his soul back to its original state.
"No, my soul was never complete in the first place."
"That's right, but it will be soon… Once you absorb the Five Titans into your ninth obelisk, you will gain the power to breach the second barrier of mortality! You will gain full control over this world and make it yours!!!" The Lady of Water's face flushed red in pure jubilance.
"Becoming a Spirit Venerate, huh?" Shin stroked his chin as the memories of his past came flying into his mind. All the defeats he faced throughout the years, the victories, the losses, the tears… Everything came running into his soul at that very moment. The ocean within Shin's Spiritual Body started to morph as well. Instead of a pure water body that never seemed to end, various landforms rosed to the surface, taking the shape of continents and islands.
Rainforests that would make the Uncharted Wilderness cry in shame. Deserts that looked far grander than the infamous Sahara Desert in the West. Arctic icecaps with vast amounts of Ice-Elements freezing the water surface. Rocky plains that lacked any Water-Elements but possessed the dominance of Space. And the enormous Celestial sky that never seemed to turn to the light of day finally beamed out like the morning sun.
The fundamentals of Shin's inner astral form was changing, and it was giving the man all the control he ever sought. In the past, whenever there were any significant changes within his Spiritual Body, Shin would often faint and allow his the beings within to do all the heavy lifting. When he formed his Spirit Core… When he created his Spectral Soul… Shin had blacked out during all those vital times in his cultivation journey.
However, as his fleshy body was ripped apart and rebuilt once more from within, Shin could acutely sense everything that was going on. His consciousness was fully intact, and he could control everything within the newly formed world of his. And that includes… The Five Mighty Titans that were forgotten to time.
The Lady of Water's astral body turned more illusory as Shin wrestled back control over the inner world. After all, she was just a memory created by the Celestial Dragon. The Lady of Water didn't have the right to remain in the world where Shin was the Hegemon. However, the legendary figure wasn't incensed in the slightest. She smiled in happiness, allowing the remnants of her consciousness to be devoured by Shin and the new Celestial Dragon.
'I sure hope… That you will fulfil the Celestial Dragon's dream, Shin Iofiel...' Spreading her arms open, the Lady of Water turned into a blob of pure energy and fell into the oceans beneath. Never to reappear in history ever again.
Alas, Shin was too engrossed with taking back control over his world that he hardly cared about the Lady of Water's departure. Within this world, Shin was the King. He could see every drop of water within this vast ocean. He could sense every lifeform movements as if they were waves of energy that rippled through space and time. And most importantly of all… Shin was able to control them all like a literal God.
Shin raised both his hands, taking control over the Five Titans that had submitted themselves to the Prince of Water. Mana flowed out of his outreached hands as the world shook in utter fear, anticipating the birth of the newest entity to its dimension. And then… With a vibrant smile, Shin said the one word that the Five Titans had been waiting for...
"Combine."
Whooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooosssssssssssssssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhh!!!
The Five Titans were sucked into the ninth crystal obelisk as if a whirlpool to another dimension had been opened up. Their colossal bodies, each one capable of destroying an island with just a slight movement, had been compressed and condensed into the obelisk that wasn't even ten metres tall. Water, Light, Mind, Space, Time… All of those elements wreathed the ninth crystal obelisk, and heaps of pure energy pulsated out from its core.
One had to wonder, how could the ninth obelisk withstand such power? Five colours radiated out from the monolith and each time Shin went near it, he felt as if his soul would be sucked in without any mercy. However, at the same time, Shin wasn't intimidated by that power. He reached his hand out and tapped on the glowing giant, sending a small ripple flying out from its epicentre. Almost instantly, the five colours merged into one, one pure and simple colour that represented Shin's current state of mind.
It was the colour of Shin's soul.
It was...
"The Ashen Grey of my Dream."