How far had he swum downward?
Li Chang'an wasn't sure. Gradually, he noticed faint traces of crimson and icy blue glimmers ahead.
Moreover, the narrow vertical tunnel suddenly opened into an expansive underground cavern.
After descending a bit further, he finally saw the source of the light.
"Is that... a dragon?"
Before him were two luminous dragon-shaped figures, each less than three meters long. Though purely energy constructs, their intricate details were impeccable—layered scales, translucent dragon horns, and an imposing majesty that radiated dominance.
The two dragon projections swam leisurely through the dim and seemingly eternal cavern, illuminating their surroundings with faint red and blue glows wherever they passed.
Thanks to this light, Li Chang'an could vaguely make out the cavern floor below—a sprawling terrain resembling jagged mountain ridges.
However, upon closer inspection, he realized these weren't mountain ridges at all. They were the spinal bones of an enormous beast, with jagged, menacing spikes protruding like saw teeth.
As the dragon projections continued their aimless drifting, their glow illuminated more of the cavern. Li Chang'an could now see layers of scales covering the enormous corpse and, beneath them, the powerful muscle contours that hinted at its explosive strength.
Fixing his gaze, Li Chang'an was struck by the sight of two massive dragons, each several hundred meters long!
Though lifeless, their colossal forms exuded an aura so overwhelming that it was almost suffocating. Their bodies, though petrified by time, remained intact—like ancient statues frozen in eternal slumber.
"So these are two of the Dragon God's nine offspring: the Ice Dragon King and the Fire Dragon King..."
Li Chang'an stared in awe at the massive corpses below. He was momentarily lost in thought, but his eyes quickly lit up with fervor. Despite their ancient death, the two dragon corpses remained intact, with flesh and bone still preserved.
This meant, barring any unforeseen circumstances, he might actually get to taste dragon meat today.
Cautiously, Li Chang'an approached the two dragon kings' corpses, glancing frequently at the two aimlessly drifting dragon souls in the distance, worried they might attack him.
After all, according to the original lore, each of these dragon souls wielded the power of a First Class God. There was no way he could match them in his current state.
Fortunately, perhaps due to the effects of consuming the Ice and Fire Celestial Herbs, his aura blended seamlessly with the surrounding spring water. His approach did not attract the attention of the two dragon souls.
Lightly landing on one of the scales, Li Chang'an noticed that even after all these years, the scale beneath his bare feet was still extraordinarily hard. If crafted into armor, it would undoubtedly be top-notch.
Balancing himself in the water with soul power, he steadied his bare feet on the scales, bent down, and closely examined them. To his surprise, each scale was nearly a meter wide. The two dragons had countless such scales covering their bodies.
However, crafting armor from scales this large would be impossible using the primitive forging methods of this world. Such materials could only be refined into usable items through techniques akin to artifact crafting in cultivation worlds.
Unfortunately, he didn't possess such abilities. With a resigned shake of his head, he dismissed the unrealistic thought.
Next, he grabbed hold of a scale, firmly planting his bare feet on the adjacent ones, and mustered his strength to pull.
Though the corpses hadn't decayed, the passage of countless years had loosened the scales. With considerable effort, he managed to pry one off, exposing the pale flesh beneath.
Li Chang'an casually tossed the scale aside and summoned his Jade Scale Sword to begin cutting into the flesh.
To his dismay, even with the sword's sharpness, slicing through the dragon's hide proved incredibly difficult. The physical toughness of this ancient divine beast was nothing short of monstrous!
Left with no choice, he activated his spirit rings and infused his sword with enhanced sharpness through his spirit abilities. Only then did he barely manage to cut through the hide and, after a prolonged effort, extract a piece of dragon meat.
The dragon corpse didn't bleed. The flesh he extracted glimmered like a crystalline gemstone. Li Chang'an couldn't help but wonder if his teeth would even be able to chew through it—or if he might end up breaking them instead.
Carefully, he sliced off a thin sliver and put it in his mouth to try.
The raw dragon meat had no fishy smell, but it was dry and tough—akin to chewing on leather.
After chewing for a moment, he spat it out in frustration and tossed aside the remaining chunk of dragon meat.
"Damn it! This dragon meat contains almost no energy at all!"
By now, Li Chang'an realized that while the dragon corpses had remained intact, the energy within them had long since dissipated. Over the millennia, as the bodies soaked in the spring, their essence had seeped out, merging with the spring water and dispersing into the environment.
It was like steeping a snake in wine—the essence was infused into the wine, leaving behind only the dried-out remains.
He should've figured it out sooner. Creating a miraculous site like the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Spring would have required an enormous amount of energy. It was impossible for the dragon corpses to have retained their essence after all that.
"What now?"
Scratching his head, Li Chang'an realized that obtaining energy by consuming dragon meat was no longer feasible. Where else could he find high-quality energy now?
"Forget it. Let's see if their inner cores are still intact."
Clinging to a shred of hope, he began searching around the two dragon corpses.
As for the Water and Fire Dragon Kings' spirit bones, that was out of the question. These were divine beasts—spirit bones didn't exist in ancient times. Not even spirit rings formed upon their deaths.
The modern concepts of spirit rings and spirit bones were merely byproducts of the God Realm's distortion of the Douluo World's rules.
After an extensive search, Li Chang'an found no trace of inner cores. He suspected they might still be inside the dragon corpses, but the sheer size and toughness of the bodies made excavating them a daunting task.
Even if the cores still existed, they might have dissolved over time, leaving behind only empty shells.
"Sigh, forget it."
Shaking his head, Li Chang'an ultimately abandoned the idea of finding the inner cores.
Just as he prepared to swim back up and leave this bottomless cavern, something caught his eye.
In the distance, the two wandering dragon souls came into view. His gaze sharpened, and a bold idea struck him.
Could he... eat the dragon souls?
"Should I take the risk?"
"Opportunities like this don't come often."
Standing frozen in thought, Li Chang'an hesitated. Although his bloodline had only been partially awakened, he could already sense significant changes within himself.
If he fully awakened, what kind of extraordinary abilities would he gain?
(End of Chapter)