The sky was covered in clouds that occasionally rumbled with thunder.
Howling westerly winds caused the curtain to move in a disorderly pattern.
Crackle!
A huge bolt of lightning sliced the sky.
In that brief moment, a huge Azure Dragon whose body seemed to have ends could be seen swimming in the storm clouds.
Due to the countless thunderbolts swimming in its body, it looked like a living bolt of thunder that had taken dragon form.
The movements of its gigantic body created the storm, its breath formed the clouds, while the deafening roars caused thunder to rumble in the sky.
Unfortunately for the dragon, it couldn't contain the entire sky for itself. Another beast just as majestic as itself was vying for supremacy.
Skree!
A resonant bird's cry that even the rumbling thunder couldn't silence echoed throughout the sky.
Due to the ridiculous speed of the beast, it was very difficult to observe what the creature looked like; only a streak of silver that was engaged with the dragon could be seen.
But if anyone managed to catch a glimpse of the creature, they would think that it looked similar to a falcon or a hawk.
However, in terms of sheer size, even the dragon could barely match it. This kind of bird could only be called by one name – Roc!
Every time it flapped its wings, the howling wind would become quiet. Every time it flashed its claws, the sky would get wounded.
Gusts of freezing cold and scorching hot air would occasionally come from its wings that would distort the storm clouds.
It was a battle between two behemoths of extreme strength and extreme speed.
Unfortunately, there was only one person who was witnessing this battle.
Unfortunately, all of this was only his dreamscape.
"Ever since I have entered the statue of the Candle Dragon, my cultivation base had increased at a frightening rate. Almost all the vortexes in the acupoints have turned into fused with the meridians. I'm only half a step away from reaching the Yin Yang Cleansing Stage…
Tianlong looked at the clash of the beasts with a pondering expression.
"In reality, these beasts are not just a figment of my imagination. They represent my innate demonic nature and potential…
With a single thought, he could connect with any of these creatures. Although the connection he had with them was faint, it was surely there.
Once he connected with the Silver Winged Roc, he had an illusion that it was him who was fighting against the dragon while flying at such a speed that it could be called teleportation. Moreover, his entire blood would boil in excitement and he would have a feeling of breaking through.
Likewise, when he connected with the Ancient Storm Dragon, he could feel its majestic presence and control over heavenly lightning. The terrifying fleshly body strength almost made him not want to terminate the connection. In a similar fashion to what was happening with the Roc, he again felt a calling from his blood.
Roar!
A faint roar of a creature resounded beside him and stopped his immersion.
It wasn't even a roar but sounded more like the hissing of a snake, but that wasn't surprising considering how the beast who let out the roar was a small serpent.
Tianlong patted the head of the small serpent and said, "Don't worry, I haven't chosen it yet."
The black and white serpent hissed happily and wrapped around his arms. It revealed a fawning expression towards Tianlong and rubbed its little head on his neck.
"Yin Yang Cleansing …Yin Yang Cleansing, this stage requires one to form a connection with the world and cleanse one's body. It would cause the acupoint vortexes to fuse with the Yin and Yang Meridians and turn them into spirit veins. The more a person understands his or her dao, the easier they'll find this process…
"The Roc and the Storm Dragon all come from my bloodline. Due to the purity of my blood, I can choose any of them and immediately reach the Yin Yang Cleansing Stage! But for some reason, I feel that something is missing here…
His eyes lingered on the two behemoths for a long time. He had been able to sense their presence for about two weeks now.
At first, he was confused about which beast he should fuse with. The Ancient Storm Dragon would give him unimaginable fleshly body strength while the Silver Wing Roc one would make him faster than lightning.
No matter which one he chose, he knew it would dictate his future path.
However, as time passed, he could feel that there was something wrong with the entire process.
He always trusted his instincts.
The little snake wound around his arm made constant angry hissing sounds while looking at the Ancient Storm Dragon, but its gaze towards the Roc was much more fearful.
Upon seeing its antics, Tianlong curiously asked. "Little fellow, are you a Candle Dragon?"
The snake's face wasn't completely serpentine and looked like the mixture between a human baby and a snake, giving it a rather bizarre look. However, for Tianlong who was more interested in a person's internal body structure, external beauty held little meaning.
As if not understanding him, the snake hissed in return, inciting a dry chuckle from Tianlong.
"Maybe there was remnant blood left inside me from my mother's side that the Storm Dragon's blood wasn't able to devour. It must have regained its spirit after I entered the Candle Dragon's statue.
"That's why it's so angered at the Storm Dragon because if I fuse with it, this remnant spirit will most likely be completely wiped out. As for its fear of the Roc, what kind of snake doesn't fears them? The Garuda was supposed to have True Dragons for meals…
All of this was just an assumption on his part and he had no conclusive evidence. However, all of this was most likely true.
No longer looking at the two gigantic beasts, he walked off in a different direction.
The shower of rain became even heavier while the wind blew directly on his face, making his journey even difficult.
It seemed that they didn't want to part with him.
Tianlong let out a cold harrumph. "The more you try to hold me, the more I feel there is something wrong with this entire thing!"
Understanding Tianlong's difficulty, the small Candle Dragon slithered and coiled around his neck. With its small head, it tried to shield him from the heavy downpour.
While its left eye glowed with a small flame that brightened a small area around them.
In the company of that little snake, Tianlong gradually moved away from the place where two beasts were clashing.
However, no matter how much he tried to get away from the storm, he couldn't see an end to the black clouds.
"If there is light, there'll also be darkness. If all darkness vanishes, how can light even exist?!"
Tianlong trembled for a moment. He knew that the person who had spoken just now was the little snake.
"At least I know that you are not the spirit of the statue or else you would've spoken in an old fashioned way."
He didn't look at the snake's expression and continued to walk under the guidance of its light.
Its words echoing in his mind again and again.
The race of Candle Dragon's were all supposed to have eccentric personalities.
Being a race of dragons that lived according to the alteration of day and night, their core nature followed the dao of Yin and Yang.
Even if Tianlong didn't want to, he was still forced to think about whatever the Candle Dragon was speaking.
"The rays of light travel in straight lines. Shadows only exist because they can't penetrate opaque objects. Even a lamp has a shadow. Light and Darkness are just like the two faces of the same coin. They are inseparable."
Tianlong looked at the little snake who was shielding him from the rain and asked, "Little snake, are you trying to say that if there is a storm, there'll also be clear sky?"
The little snake stayed silent like before. Tianlong didn't know whether the snake really couldn't understand him or just didn't want to talk to him.
Letting out a sigh, he continued to walk forward.
In the dreamscape, he didn't know how many days he had kept on walking. It was impossible to figure out the time.
Meanwhile, in the real world, barely a week had passed since he entered the statue.
Under the administration of the Demonic Qi accumulated by the Long Clan over the past thousands of years, Tianlong's cultivation base finally peaked at both the Blood Surging realm and Qi Condensation realm.
Whenever it was daytime, he would practise the spell of Tempest Rage and cultivate.
And once it was night, he would be drawn into the dreamscape.
This cycle would repeat itself, day after day, and night after night.
Fortunately for Tianlong, his relentless pursuit paid off.
He had long crossed the region covered by storm. Now, only the faint rumblings of thunder that occasionally echoed out were the only thing that reminded him of the place.
This new area didn't have any of that raging wind or stormy sky. It was entirely covered by fog.
The visibility there was so low that he couldn't even see his arms.
Unfortunately, he couldn't even use his spirit sense in the dreamscape. Otherwise, he would have a better time traversing the fog.
Even the Candle Dragon's flames couldn't do anything.
Tianlong had no choice but to continue his journey. In the fog, it was easy to lose one's direction. Hence, he tried to walk in a straight path should he ever desire to go back.
Again an unknown amount of time passed by.
Tianlong's mind was drowning in this silence. Even the sound of thunder had long since vanished.
An eternal silence pervaded in the fog. Not only light but all kinds of sounds too were drowned in it.
He couldn't even hear his heartbeat and the sound of breathing.
This kind of situation could drive many people crazy. However, Tianlong had even dared to refine his soul and experiment on himself.
His temperament wasn't something others of his age could compare to.
He continued to walk further ahead.
As if understanding his persistence, the fog finally let him hear a sound.
It was the wailing of a woman.
He knew her.
She was called Su Fei.
He had personally killed her in the past.