To fully awaken the mythic bloodline within his body, an enormous and pure source of energy was indispensable—at least of a divine grade. Anything below the divine level was completely unqualified to serve as nourishment for the awakening.
This realization made Li Chang'an suspect that the bloodline hidden within him was of an exceptionally high rank, even in this world. Once fully awakened, it might not only greatly increase his confidence in ascending to godhood but perhaps even enable him to achieve divinity independently, without relying on any bestowed divine position.
The thought was incredibly tempting.
After all, despite his many advantages, Li Chang'an had always harbored doubts about whether he could truly become a god.
As a transmigrator, he had no cheat system, no golden finger. Even with the help of his soul beast avatar, at best, he could reach the rank of Ultimate Douluo. Becoming a god seemed utterly out of reach.
Without a cheat, and aside from the long and arduous path of gathering faith, the only way to become a god was to pass a divine trial. However, whether one could pass a trial largely depended on whether the god found you agreeable. It was fraught with uncertainty.
If the god liked you, they might open every possible back door, designing simple and easy trials and even giving you second chances if you failed. They might practically beg you to inherit their divine position. This was evident in the original story, where both the Sea God and Shura God treated Tang San like their own son, even going so far as to resurrect him after death.
If the god didn't like you, however, the trials would be hellishly difficult—practically impossible. Even if you miraculously passed, inheriting the divine position was out of the question.
Take Tang Chen in the original story, for example. After decades of painstaking effort and near-death experiences, he finally completed the eighth trial, just one step away from inheriting the divine position. But in the end, his body couldn't withstand it, and he had no choice but to pass the fruits of his labor to his great-grandson, Tang San. This allowed Tang San to skip all the prior trials and easily inherit the Shura God position, ultimately achieving dual divinity.
This was clearly Shura God pulling the strings behind the scenes.
How could all of this be mere coincidence?
Tang Chen just happened to fall short by one step. His body just happened to fail at the crucial moment. His accomplishments just happened to be transferable. And Tang San just happened to be his great-grandson, conveniently positioned to inherit everything like an heir receiving a legacy.
Coincidence?
Coincidence, my foot.
When so many "coincidences" pile up, it's no longer a coincidence but a carefully orchestrated scheme.
One might even surmise that Tang San's very reincarnation into the Tang family was orchestrated by Shura God, who took advantage of Tang Chen's divine trial to set everything in motion. The so-called coincidences and the excuse of Rākṣasa God's interference were nothing more than pretexts.
Otherwise, how could a mere first-level god like Rākṣasa have sabotaged the trial of a divine king's inheritor? How could Rākṣasa God have nearly killed an almost-successful candidate for divine inheritance?
Was Rākṣasa God really that powerful? Or was Shura God just that incompetent?
Looking back at the original story's many plot points, the deeper one examines them, the more absurd they seem. While such plot devices might be excusable in a novel due to creative liberties, Li Chang'an now lived in this world. From this perspective, the so-called "coincidences" in the original story reeked of hidden agendas and sinister manipulations.
This world was too dark.
Li Chang'an realized that without some sort of trump card, even if he passed the Sea God's Nine Trials, inheriting the Sea God's position was far from guaranteed.
After all, who could say if the Sea God might suddenly find Tang San more agreeable? Or what if Shura God pressured the Sea God into changing the inheritor, kicking Li Chang'an out of the trial? Worse yet, what if he was merely being used as a stepping stone, a sacrificial lamb to pave the way for Tang San's ascension?
Just like Tang Chen, who completed the Shura God's Eight Trials through near-death efforts, only to find himself unable to proceed further. His painstakingly earned results ultimately became an inheritance for someone else.
Although the original story didn't suggest a high likelihood of the Sea God turning on him, the possibility remained.
Li Chang'an wasn't willing to stake his life and future on someone else's goodwill, hoping they wouldn't betray him.
Thus, he urgently needed a trump card, something that could allow him to break free from the chessboard constructed by the gods and become a player himself, controlling his own destiny.
The mythic bloodline hidden within him represented precisely such a possibility—provided he could fully awaken it.
Under his current circumstances, the dragon souls before him were likely his only chance to acquire divine-level energy.
After all, the Sea God's path was riddled with uncertainties. Even if there were risks in targeting these two dragon souls, and even if he couldn't guarantee success, the potential reward was too great to ignore.
"Let's go for it!"
"Fortune favors the bold."
"Besides, these dragon souls clearly have no intelligence, only instinct. With the Ice and Fire Immortal Herbs I consumed, my aura now blends with this environment. As long as I keep my distance and stay hidden, I should be safe," he reassured himself.
Quietly, Li Chang'an concealed himself in a corner, using the dragon corpses to shield his body. He then summoned his martial spirit, the Jade-Scaled Sword. With a thought, his sword transformed into its serpent form.
A ten-meter-long jade-scaled serpent, as thick as a barrel, slithered forward. Though far smaller than his soul beast avatar, the martial spirit's serpent form moved with deliberate caution, inching closer to the two dragon souls drifting aimlessly nearby.
As the serpent approached, the dragon souls seemed oblivious, continuing their aimless wandering.
Li Chang'an initially thought he was in the clear, but just as the serpent reached within two meters of the dragon souls, an unexpected change occurred.
The previously passive dragon souls suddenly erupted with radiant light, exuding overwhelming dragon might as they launched a ferocious attack.
Startled, Li Chang'an barely had time to react before the dragon souls sank their ethereal teeth into the serpent's body.
Instantly, a searing pain pierced his soul!
Ice and fire energies surged through the serpent's form, transmitted directly to Li Chang'an's consciousness. Despite being ethereal entities, the dragon souls manifested tangible force, inflicting real damage on the Jade-Scaled Serpent.
Fortunately, the Ice and Fire Immortal Grass had granted Li Chang'an some resistance to extreme temperatures. Otherwise, even an Ultimate Douluo in his place would have been reduced to ashes or frozen solid after just one bite from the dragon souls.