At his table on the second floor of Rest Peak, Ekosus sat and pondered the last few moments while sipping on his wine.
"You know, I thought that fight would be a good way for me to test the limits of my newfound strength, but I didn't even break a sweat." Ekosus muttered to himself.
"It's kind of to be expected. Your true cultivation is at the Utter Peak of the Meridian Opening stage. He wasn't even at the Late Meridian Opening stage. When you also take into account your meridians and the Primal Essence, it's absolutely understandable that you could annihilate him without any trouble. If you want to measure your strength, your father should probably have some strength measuring stones back at the manor." Kaiser replied
"I'm going to take a look around town a little bit more, and then I'll head home and see." Ekosus said after taking the last sip of his wine. He stands and after paying his bill, exits the tavern.
It's still only been a short while since the fight, so there's still a little bit of a crowd, but next to Jacob's beaten body is a group of guards in shining armor. They all have the aura of Qi around them, signaling Ekosus that they're all in the Qi Absorption stage.
One of them looks around at the crowd and asks in a cold voice, "Does anyone know who did this to our young master?"
"You don't have to ask around, I'm right here!" Ekosus said to the man.
"You've got a lot of balls kid. Men! Capture him! We're taking him back to the Duke's manor!" The man said coldly before his men start to surround Ekosus.
"He threw the first punch! I just responded out of self-defense. Just because he's the son of a Duke, doesn't mean he can try and attack whoever he wants!" Ekosus said coldly while eyeing the leader of the guards.
"A stupid commoner like you has no right to argue with me! Men, attack!" He said coldly while ordering his men.
The moment they start to move, a title plate appeared in his hand, and was on full view for the guards to see, making them stop in their tracks.
On that title plate had the insignia of his father, a blood red Asura, as well as the City Lord insignia.
"There's no way you were the one who beat our young master then! Our young master mopped the floor with you not three weeks ago!" The guard said coldly.
"You can ask the crowd around us! They saw me beat your young master into the ground earlier." Ekosus replied with indifference.
The guard looks around at the crowd and since none of them are refuting Ekosus, then he understands that it's probably the truth.
"So, still planning on trying to capture me and take me to the Duke's manor?" Ekosus asked with ridicule.
"This isn't over. Wait till the Duke learns that you've beaten the young master so badly!" He grunted before lifting Jacob off the ground, and him and the other guards disappear into the distance.
Ekosus ponders for a moment and decides that it's probably best for him to go inform his father that he's going to have a seriously pissed off Duke to deal with. So instead of heading to look around the city, he makes his way back towards to City Lord manor.
He makes it to the manor without a hitch, and soon approaches his father's room and knocks upon his door.
"Who is it?" His father's chill inducing voice echoed from the other side.
"It's me!" Ekosus exclaims
"Ahh Isa.. Ekosus back from town already?" His father says after he opens the door and lets Ekosus inside.
"Yeah, I kinda ran into some complications, and thought it'd be best to inform you as soon as I could." Ekosus said
Iskar's eyes go cold before he asks, "What is it? Did someone try to hurt you??"
"Not exactly.. It's more like I hurt someone, and that might bring some complications." Ekosus said with an embarrassed smile.
"Who did you hurt?" Iskar asks confused.
"I sort of crippled Jacob Pasher's meridians, and beat him to a pulp." Ekosus replied
"You did what?! You only have 12 meridians unlocked, how could you beat up someone whose at Mid Meridian Opening?" Iskar asks astonished.
"I don't know. I kind of just did. He was honestly so weak that I thought he was a complete mortal for a minute" Ekosus explained vaguely
"Come with me! We're going to test your strength." Iskar said before grabbing Ekosus and before he knows it, they're both outside at the training grounds of the manor.
At the center is a large bronze stone a couple meters in size.
"Go ahead and punch that strength measuring stone." Iskar says as he releases Ekosus.
"Alright!" Ekosus says before walking and standing in front of the stone.
"Should I use all my strength?" Ekosus asks Kaiser
"I'd say use about half! Having your kind of strength at 12 meridians is absolutely impossible. Half of it should at least be somewhat believable." Kaiser replied
Ekosus pulls his fist back, and then throws a fist towards the stone at half his strength.
His fist connects, and the stone shakes a little bit before it turns a color between orange and yellow.
"Your punches have about 200kg of force at 12 meridians?! The average peak Meridian Opening stage only has about 200kg of force! I was thinking that you took after me when it came to natural gifts, but it seems like you're taking after your mother! Her physical strength was ungodly when compared to people at her stage, and it seems yours is going to be even more so!" Iskar exclaimed with excitement and pride.
'Dad seems to have an explanation for everything. I'm not complaining though." Ekosus thought to himself.
"Don't worry about Duke Pasher! I was ready to kill his son when I found out what he had done, but since it was a conflict of the younger generation and he is kin to the royal family, I could only swallow my anger then. If he wants to try and get revenge, I'll make him remember why I'm called Asura" Iskar said with a cold light in his eyes.
"Okay. I just wanted to make sure and let you know so you wouldn't be caught unaware. I'm going to head back to my room and rest for a bit if that's alright?" Ekosus replied
"Go on son. Rest as much as you need and don't worry. If he so much as tries to lay a finger on you, he will know true terror" Iskar said in a chilly tone.
Ekosus leaves the training ground and heads back towards his room, eager to take a look at the spoils he's collected today.
He reaches his room and locks the door behind him.
He walks towards his bed and sits down before withdrawing the jade pendant he got from the old man. The moment it appears in his hand, he feels the same feeling he felt from before. His blood feels like it's boiling and he doesn't know what it means.
"Kaiser, are you sure that there's nothing off about this pendant?" Ekosus asks
"Other than the tiny amount of flame essence inside the pendant, I don't see anything special. Since your blood is reacting to it, try dripping a drop of it onto the pendant." Kaiser replied.
Ekosus then takes a small knife beside his bed and pricks his finger before letting a droplet of it fall onto the pendant.
The moment his blood touches the surface, a change occurs with the pendant. It's original color of green changes to a deep red, and the pendant starts to emit a dull red light.
Ekosus begins to feel like his soul is being pulled out of his body, and the next moment, his consciousness is pulled into the pendant.
After a period of darkness, Ekosus is greeted by a world bathed in red as far as the eye can see.
He looks around, trying to see if he can find anything, but he comes up empty handed.
"Hello? Is there anyone else here?" He yells out, only to be greeted by nothing in return
The next moment however, he feels a chill from behind him, and turns around.
He's greeted by a sight that terrifies him. Two humongous blood red eyes are staring at him from a distance. They're so massive that he wouldn't be surprised if whole planets could fit inside them.
A few seconds go by with him staring at the eyes in shock before a voice filled with majesty and pride enters his ears.
"What is a human mortal like you doing inside my Ancestral Dragon realm!? Answer me before I turn your soul to nothingness!"
Terrified, Ekosus hurriedly replies, "I don't know! I dripped some blood on a pendant, and the next moment, I'm here!"
A few seconds go by without a reply. The eyes are still coldly looking at Ekosus, seemingly trying to discern whether or not he's lying.
"Only those with dragon blood can enter an Ancestral Dragon realm, and the purity of their bloodline determines the rank of the realm they can enter! I'm am the Ancestral Dragon Emperor Laos! Tell me, to which generation of the dragon bloodline do you come from?" Laos questioned
"I have no clue! I didn't even know I had dragon blood inside me until now!" Ekosus answered truthfully.
"That can't be right! To enter my realm, you need to have dragon blood close to my level of purity, and I'm almost a fully Pure-Blooded Dragon! You have human blood in you as well, there should be no way to reach here unless..." Laos replied with an aloof tone.
"Unless what?" Ekosus asked in confusion
"Unless one of your parents was a Pure-Blooded Dragon, making them royalty among the Dragon Race!" Laos replied
'How can that be? My dad's a human, and my mom... well she had to have been human as well!" Ekosus said astonished.
"There's no other way! You wouldn't be able to reach my realm otherwise!" Laos explained
"However, it seems that you haven't truly unlocked your dragon bloodline! I wouldn't have mistaken you for a human otherwise!" Laos continued
"How do I unlock my dragon bloodline?" Ekosus asked
"I will do it for you. It will prove your purity!" Laos said before the eyes in the distance start to shrink, and a still massive, scaly three-horned crimson dragon appeared before Ekosus, making him feel smaller than an ant.
"Touch my claw!" Laos said before placing his massive and sharp claws before Ekosus.
Ekosus hesitantly placed his hand on one of the claws that are at least 10 times his size.
Nothing happens for a moment before Ekosus feels a change happen inside his body.
Tightly bound seals emerge from his body, shining with golden light.
"So that's why you don't show draconic attributes! Someone has sealed your bloodline! They even used Immortal Sealing runes to do it! To break them, I'm going to have to purify them with my Nirvanic Flames to destroy them. This might hurt, but bear with it." Laos said before pure white flames extended from his claw and engulfed the runes and Ekosus
Ekosus is immediately bombarded by a searing pain reaching deep into his soul.
Ekosus grits his teeth and tries to bear the pain, watching as the runes around his body slowly start to lose their sheen. After about 30 minutes of pain, the flames subside and Ekosus feels a dam inside his body shatter as all the seals break. His body emits a resounding dragon cry as a grey light emerges from his body, and engulfs the whole realm, bathing it in a dull grey instead of it's original red.
This doesn't last long, however, as the grey light is sucked into his body, and the realm returns to its original color.
Ekosus looks down at his palm, and sees a pale grey dragon tattoo with three horns.
Meanwhile, Laos' huge body is actually noticeably quivering. A moment later, he calms himself and starts to speak.
"I think I know why your bloodline was sealed young man!" He says with a little disbelief in his tone
"And why do you think it was sealed?" Ekosus asks confused
"Because your bloodline isn't just any regular dragon bloodline! Most dragons bloodlines are tied to an element. Mine is fire. Others can be earth, water, air, and such, but yours..." Laos stops speaking as if he's afraid to acknowledge it himself.
"What is my bloodline element?" Ekosus asked with undisguised curiosity.
"It's....Chaos!" Laos said in disbelief.
"How is Chaos an element?" Ekosus asked confused
"Chaos is every element and its own element all at the same time. Chaos Dragons are the rulers of the Dragon Race! They are so rare that one may not even be born within within a single epoch of time! It's said that if another dragon can consume a Chaos Dragon, they can become a Chaos Dragon themselves, but Chaos Dragons are so important to the Dragon Tribe that they're all protected until they can grow strong enough to protect themselves. I think whoever sealed your bloodline was trying to protect you from harm! The Dragon Tribe must've changed since I was last around since your bloodline was sealed." Laos explained with a bit of regret in his tone.
"Oh trust me, apparently people would already want to consume me just for my other qualities, having another secret won't make a difference!" Ekosus said with a laugh.
"You must hide your abilities of Chaos. Choose an element that you like, and only use that one from now on! That way others won't know you have a Chaos Dragon bloodline! I'll place an imprint on your soul containing some techniques of our dragon tribe, but they will be sealed. Only when you grow strong enough will you obtain corresponding techniques!" Laos said before a white light enters Ekosus' forehead.
"If consuming a Chaos Dragon can promote a dragon to that level, why aren't you trying to consume me?" Ekosus asked
"Young man, I'm long gone from the physical world. I'm only a soul that resides in an Ancestral Dragon realm. Consuming you would bring me no benefit. Now go! The more time I talk to you, the less time I can sustain myself. My job is only to impart the legacy of the dragon tribe to members with befitting purity. Your purity is the same as mine, so that's why I have imparted our legacies onto you. Grow strong young man! I don't want to see you here any time soon!" Laos said before disappearing, and in his place was a white door, probably leading back to the real world.
"Many thank's Laos!" Ekosus yells before opening the door and stepping on through.