The old patriarch had led Tianlong underground to a place labelled as 'Ancestral Hall'. Even before Tianlong had entered the room, he could feel waves of hot demonic Qi surging inside him.
The Long Clan's bloodline was inherited from a Candle Dragon. Tianlong would've inherited this bloodline too if he didn't get Ancient Storm Dragon's sacred blood from his father.
Being superior in quality, the Candle Dragon's blood was absorbed to strengthen the other Storm Dragon's blood.
Hence, when he was in the periphery of the Ancestral Hall where the presence of the Candle Dragon was the greatest, his instinct told him that he was facing a rival. It was a showdown between two dragons of different races.
However, the dragon in front of him was his ancestor, even though he wanted to let out a roar and show his defiance, he had to keep himself in control.
The patriarch noticed these small details but didn't mention them.
"You must be thinking that this place looks like a tomb…" His old voice resounded.
There was a Yin Yang symbol drawn on side of the wall which was barely visible due to the poor lighting inside the room.
Inside the hall, the first thing that would catch everyone's attention would be the half black and half white dragon statue which had the head of a bearded old man.
The dragon was coiled around a gold pillar and facing the sky. With closed eyes, it revealed a wise look on its face as if it was thinking about something.
From the current situation, it was clear that the statue wasn't an inanimate object. At the very least, it contained some kind of remnant will or a spirit.
Thankfully its voice was just a faint murmur which only carried a hint of the creature's former majesty. After the whispers subsided, Tianlong felt the iron taste of blood in his mouth. Suppressing the roar inside of him had caused slight internal injuries.
Twenty-four figures were surrounding the Dragon statue and sitting around it in concentric circles. On closer look, one would notice that all these figures were corpses of men and women.
Their bodies were charred and emaciated with barely any discernable features remaining. It was difficult to distinguish their gender.
A candle flame was burning in their dantian region and releasing a soft glow. It was the only source of light in the room.
"Who are they?" Tianlong couldn't help but ask out loud.
The patriarch's eyes were filled with respect and sadness when he looked at the figures. "They are the Jade Core cultivators of the clan who tried to reach Nascent Soul realm …there were a few more, but they all became ashes…" His eyes shifted to one of the empty positions. A faint black mark could be seen on the floor. "There were a few more, but they all became ashes…"
Tianlong became quiet. Even though he never met these people before today, he felt a sense of respect for them.
Once he observed their features, he felt these emaciated corpses had a demonic feeling to them. Perhaps remaining near the Candle Dragon's statue had started to change their nature.
"The foundation of our clan is the Candle Dragon's bloodline. Others believe that the Candle Dragons are solar deities who rule over myriad flames. However, very few of them know that the inheritance of their race isn't fire but the dao of Yin and Yang…
"Day and night, hot and cold, summer and winter, all of these are just powers manifested by their Yin–Yang nature. When our ancestor found the carcass of the Candle Dragon, he had an ordinary cultivation base. However, he was a learned man who had seen many things in his life. Despite being dead, the deity still had a lingering will. When it encountered our ancestor, it asked him a series of questions…
"We don't know what kind of conversation they had, but after that incident, the Candle Dragon blessed him with his bloodline and bestowed its left eye. And that's how the Long Clan came to be…
The patriarch spoke unhurriedly while looking at Tianlong.
"The limit of our clan has always been the Half-Step Nascent Soul realm. None of us ever managed to reach the final step …due to our special bloodline, when we are about to form our Nascent Soul, we'll need to reverse our dao!
Tianlong's mind was shaken by the sudden revelation. He didn't know that there was such a huge reason which blocked the path to the Nascent Soul realm for his clansmen.
"Do you know that before becoming a bloodthirsty devil, your mother was one of the most respected people in the righteous faction? But now… I love my clan, all of you are my children …I can't sever my love and that's why I can't shatter my core either…"
The patriarch had a bitter expression on his face. However, it was clear that he had regrets about his choice. Maybe the dao each of these cultivators had was different, but in the end, none of them could reverse it. Either they couldn't do it, or they didn't want to do it.
"Isn't there any other way?" Tianlong softly asked.
The patriarch shook his head. "Nobody knows…"
When the two of them descended into silence once again, the patriarch gave the lamp to Tianlong. The fire had been extinguished.
"This lamp is proof that your mother had succeeded in forming her Nascent Soul and reverse her dao. Light it up and offer it to the ancestral dragon. You'll be presented with an incredible chance to observe the laws of heat and cold. This lamp is your serendipity…"
When the patriarch handed over the lamp, there wasn't a hint of envy on his face, but only an expectant and kindly look which senior generations had towards their junior.
Once he handed it over, he patted Tianlong's shoulder and let out a sigh.
"Before the first generation patriarch died, he had left a long string of laughter while charging at the sky. He considered his meeting with the ancestral dragon both as a blessing and a curse…"
The door closed behind him with a thud leaving Tianlong alone in the room. Hundreds of different thoughts were playing out in his mind at the moment.
"From what the patriarch said, this Candle Dragon was a strong existence even when it was alive. Even after its death, its remnant will can stir up my dragon blood. But if it was so strong, why doesn't anyone take it away? Our clan doesn't have the strength to protect such a treasure…"
Tianlong knew that Long Clan's bloodline wasn't a secret. And while others might not know about the Ancestral dragon's left eye, the big shots would sense its aura.
But strangely, no one tried to snatch it from them over the couple thousand years. He knew that if he would snatch other's treasures if it caught his eye.
"Hu~ Let's not think about it anymore." Taking a deep breath he calmed his mind. Copying the actions of the patriarch, he similarly lighted up the lamp. The sense of conflicting auras once again become clear on it.
The moment the lamp started to burn, a loud sound echoed in the room.
"Offering!"
It was the same voice that murmured in Tianlong's ears all the way. However, this time, it was no longer a faint whisper but a loud voice that came from the old dragon's mouth.
"Disciple Yun Tianlong greets Ancestor!"
He didn't kneel in front of the statue like the patriarch but still showed his respect with a bow. His hands raised the lamp in a show of offering.
A small growl resounded from the dragon's mouth as the lamp quickly flew up in front of the dragon statue and started to melt.
For the first time in 150 years, the Candle dragon finally opened its eyes. A blinding light erupted in the room which forced Tianlong to close his eyes.
"The earth and the sky existeth from since the eternal creation, mutually restricting each other. This is yin and yang; O sacred kinsmen of mine own raceth, bid me, wherefore shouldst the earth existeth if 't be true the world already hast a sky? wherefore shouldst the sky existeth if 't be true the world already hast earth?!"
"Because there is bitter cold, there is eke fireth; Because there is the day, there is eke night. This is yin and yang; O sacred kinsmen of mine own raceth, bid me, wherefore shouldst the world hast a fireth, at which hour it already hast snoweth? wherefore shouldst winter existeth, at which hour it already hast summer?"
If there was anyone else in his position, they would immediately cower and bend their knees. Even the patriarch would have difficulty in resisting the pressure from the creature.
However, this kind of pressure wasn't due to the cultivation base but rather a suppression due to the dragon's prestige.
Even though Tianlong couldn't see what was happening due to the blinding light, his spirit sense observed that the statue of the Candle Dragon was slowly moving.
"With a gaze of mine eyes, I can teareth apart the darkness of night. With a breath of mine own spirit, I can changeth the seasons of the world; O sacred descendant of mine own race…"
When the old dragon's head was only three metres away from Tianlong, it suddenly stopped its movements and looked ahead with a confused gaze.
"Thou …art …not …my …kinsmen-
As if understanding its confusion, the candle flames burning in all the corpses swayed violently and a portion of it turned into a flame serpent and covered his figure. It was so sudden that he had no time to dodge.
Roar!
Even though his figure looked to be burning, it was only an illusion created by the demonic Qi in the place. However, Tianlong still roared in pain because the illusion gave him a feeling of burning his blood.
Clasping his hands, he created a vortex of wind to cut off all wind around him. His body disintegrated into smoke as he tried to drift away from the illusion.
Although he didn't favour anyone between the Candle Dragon or the Ancient Storm Dragon, he had the former's bloodline since his birth. Naturally, he would favour the latter.
Moreover, he could feel that illusory demonic Qi was attacking with the three drops of dragon blood. He had no idea whether the Candle dragon was trying to wipe out the bloodline or trying to change it.
"I refuse to believe that mother didn't foresee all this!" Although he looked to be in a terrible situation, his mind was calm.
Quickly circulating his cultivation base, he hurriedly moved away from the statue. Due to being in the Ancestral hall, he couldn't even use his spells to retaliate.
As soon he moved out, the flame serpent let out a roar and rushed towards him. Despite not being able to see due to the brightness, he could still feel it rushing towards him with a breakneck speed.
Just as he was about to reach the door, the lamp from his mother finally melted and fused with the dragon. Its glowing eyes immediately turned black which caused the entire room to become dark.
The flame serpent which was following him also stopped midway. Its body eventually became black fused with the darkness.
A smile crept upon Tianlong's lips as he looked at the scene. His assumptions weren't wrong. Once again going in front of the statue, he sat down and started to meditate.
Soon, a muffled roar came from the statue. Its left eye which was spilling out a blinding light suddenly become the source of darkness in the room. If one looked at its eyes, they would feel as if they were witnessing a solar eclipse!
"Thou… art …mine …kinsmen…"
Due to the interference from his mother's lamp, the dragon once again believed that Tianlong carried its bloodline. Moreover, due to the quality of the blood, it considered him as one of the sacred descendants of its race.
The flame serpent once again pounced on him and covered him with an illusion of being covered in flames. Although it didn't specifically attack his dragon blood, he still had a feeling of his cultivation base boiling.
"At which hour I was born, the abyss hast still not shattered. With mine own eyes, I witnessed the mundaneness of the mortal world, with mine own spirit I hath felt the majesty of the immortals; O sacred kinsmen of mine, bid me, wherefore shouldst the world have mortals at which hour it already hast immortals? wherefore shouldst immortals are there if 't be true the world already hast mortals?"