"I am curious to see what would happen if you actually cultivated your soul properly"
"I'm making an exception in this trial. I shall grant you a soul cultivation technique"
Aegon touched Bruce's head and transmitted countless of information to him.
"By properly cultivating this technique, your soul should be as powerful as that of a dragon"
"You will have 6 months to cultivate your soul and defeat my descendants in soul power"
"You will be competing against the elites of my clan who are on par with the strongest Great Emperor experts"
"Wait, that's totally unfair!" Bruce cried out.
"Would you rather attempt to defeat my other weaker descendants whose strengths are at the Great Emperor stage?"
"No…" Bruce replied quietly.
"Remember this, none of my trials is impossible"
Aegon disappeared leaving Bruce annoyed. Clearly, all trials thus far had been impossible if not for a freak of nature like Bruce. Bruce didn't want to raise any more complaints because he knew Aegon would reject them.
Bruce sighed and sat down on the floor. He was quite happy to pass the second trial and yet his mood had turned sour after hearing the contents of the third trial.
There was no point to feel depressed for himself, so he took a look at the soul cultivation technique that was provided by Aegon. Bruce couldn't help but be surprised by the name of the technique.
(Dragon God Secret Technique – Soul Extinction)
The cultivation technique itself was quite complex but extremely powerful. Not only would the users be able to cultivate their souls to match that of the Dragon God, but they would also be able to use the technique offensively to destroy the souls of their enemies.
Bruce slowly digested the technique and began to cultivate his soul for the first time in his life. He absorbed the surrounding energy, instead of cultivating the energy through his body, he sent them to his soul.
Bruce's soul began to grow stronger over time as he executed the soul cultivation technique flawlessly.
After one month, Bruce finally opened his eyes and stood up.
"Soul Extinction"
ROOOAAARRR!!!!!!
An image of a powerful dragon appeared right above Bruce's head and shook the entire realm.
Aegon saw the dragon in the sky and smiled.
Bruce was happy with the result of his cultivation session, but it wasn't enough. At the rate at which he cultivated his soul, he would not be able to match the souls of the dragons.
Bruce wanted to enter back to the River of Darkness but the only way he could get there was through Aegon teleportation.
He thought for a few moments and recalled how Aegon teleported him. He created runes in the air that imitated Aegon's teleportation. A portal appeared in thin air, and he jumped into it.
Voila, Bruce successfully arrived at the River of Darkness.
"Impossible…" Aegon muttered.
As the ruler of the Realm of Aegon, he had full control over the entire realm. The River of Darkness was a treasure that only the elites of his race could enjoy. Only he can control who enters the River of Darkness. Yet, Bruce managed to sneak into that place like a thief.
"Don't tell me… He can also control space!"
That was the only thing Aegon could think of. Powerful runemasters are rare, but none of them could do what Bruce just did because the law of space is something that cannot be learned by the majority of beings in the universe.
Runemasters can only conjure runes for laws they understand. Humans who can control various elemental of energy can also understand the laws of those elements. Likewise, it is impossible for the most powerful runemasters to conjure a space rune unless they themselves understand the law of space.
Over billions of years, there were only a few known gods in the universe who could control space. Never would Aegon expect to see a weak human attempting his trial be able to understand the law of space.
Aegon couldn't help but smile. Perhaps it is destined that he would meet Bruce. Soon, the mission given to him by the Dragon God will be completed.
In the River of Darkness, Bruce looked around to see if Aegon would punish him for entering the River of Darkness without his permission. Seeing that nothing bad happened to him, he sat down at the river source and began to cultivate diligently.
Six months have passed as Bruce quietly cultivated in the River of Darkness. At the four months mark, he already finished cultivating his soul. He could no longer make his soul stronger.
Bruce suspected it was due to a limit placed by his cultivation realm. Bruce guessed that he needed to reach Divine Emperor before he could cultivate his soul further.
Bruce created the runes once again and got out of the River of Darkness. There, he met Aegon staring at him in amusement.
"Did you enjoy your time in the River of Darkness"
"Yes, I did very much enjoy the service" Bruce shamelessly answered. He already figured that the River of Darkness wasn't something that the dark dragons throw their enemies into. It was obviously a cultivation treasure.
Bruce blushed a little because he did feel embarrassed cultivating in the River of Darkness without Aegon's permission. Throughout the entire trial, Aegon had done nothing but helped him get stronger.
Bruce started to see Aegon as an ally rather than a trial examiner.
"You humans can be so shameless" Aegon flicked Bruce in the head.
Being flicked by a supreme expert made Bruce cry out in pain. He felt that his head was going to break in half.
"Why did you hit me?" Bruce yelled.
"Did you ask my permission to enter the River of Darkness?" Aegon looked at Bruce like he stole his wife.
"No…" Bruce put his head down like a kid who knew he did something wrong.
"I have a feeling you're a bandit in the outside world" Aegon said jokingly.
"I will try to refrain my bandit ways when I leave the trial" Bruch coughed because Aegon was dead on.
Hearing Bruce's answer, Aegon began to sigh. Now, he wasn't so sure that Bruce could represent the Dragon God. The kid openly admitted that he was a bandit!
"Let's get back to the trial"
"Behind me are the elites of my race"
"To pass the trial, you must withstand their soul attacks and injure their souls"
"Got it" Bruce turned serious.
"Begin" Aegon flew up to the sky and began to spectate.
Five giant dark dragons appeared right in front of Bruce. Looking at their auras, he knew that they were able to contend against Peak Stage Great Emperors.
The sky trembled when the five dragons revealed their souls to the world. Above the sky are five images of powerful dragons staring at Bruce with extreme arrogance. Bruce's soul began to protect itself when the five powerful dragon souls locked onto it.
The eyes of the dragons began to glow purple, and Bruce's soul started to shake.
"ENOUGH!" Bruce roared.
An image of a dragon large enough to cover the entire sky appeared. The five dragons immediately withdrew their soul attacks because they trembled when they saw the dragon soul that came out of Bruce.
"To think that he managed to master the technique to this level" Aegon looked at the dragon in the sky. Though the dragon was not the real Dragon God in size, it was very similar in appearance.
"You passed" Aegon flew down and arrived in front of Bruce.
Bruce withdrew his dragon soul and smiled.
"The next trial will be the last trial"