Chapter 20 - This little ...

I took the tear-shaped bead, which my father called the ‘Dragon Seed,’ into my hands. It felt cool to the touch, and a warm, fuzzy sensation spread from it into my hands, quickly extending all over my body. It was so comfortable that I almost let out a moan.

As the feeling spread, I sensed something resonating within me—likely the Legacy within my blood. But before I took further action, I needed more information from my father.

“Dad, why do you have this with you? Didn’t you say that our entire family was extinguished?”

“*Sigh*,” he said, “the day the Church attacked our family, my father was the Clan Chief. This is one of the items our ancestors managed to salvage from ancient times. Most of the treasures ended up being useless, extravagant, or their use was unknown, so they were sold off to maintain the living conditions of the people. The stone tablet, this bead, and one other item—which I will give you when you activate your Legacy—are the only things remaining.”

“When those experts from the Church attacked, my father gave these items to my brother and told us to escape. After my brother and the expert died here, I retrieved these items from my brother after burying him. I didn’t think I would ever have the chance to use them in my lifetime.”

He looked at me with a complicated expression. It seemed he had come to accept his painful past after sharing his burden with Mom and me. However, there was still anxiety and a hint of fear in his heart regarding my future. I felt grateful to have such deeply loving parents in this life.

Without saying anything more, I nodded at my father and sat down on the cool rock floor. My father stepped back and stood facing me as if on guard. I looked at the bead in my hand once again and had an idea.

“[LILY, scan the bead in my hand.]”

“[Scanning initiated, Master.]”

“[Scan incomplete. Signal interference from the outer casing of the crystal. Crystal material is unknown. High readings of Quantum Energy and Void Energy mixed in an unknown ratio. In-depth scanning is not supported by the present battery level.]”

Hmmm… wait a moment… an unknown ratio of Quantum Energy and Void Energy? Didn’t I get similar results when I tried to scan my Soul in the Soul Realm? Is there a Soul in the bead? Ah, didn’t my father mention that there’s a Dragon Soul and a drop of blood in it? It seems there really is a soul in the bead.

I felt a pang of hesitation and fear at the thought of swallowing it after these results. From experience, dealing with anything related to the Soul requires complete care and caution. I didn’t want to have this almost-sentient, potentially dangerous thing inside me. I shifted my gaze from the bead to my father.

Seeing the expectant look on his face, I steeled my resolve and swallowed the bead. I immediately closed my eyes and concentrated on the bead, not wanting it to affect my body too drastically.

The bead slowly slid down my throat, giving off a warm, comfortable sensation as it traveled. It eventually reached my Dantian, where my seven-colored energy vortex was slowly rotating. It settled at the center of the vortex and began to revolve, pulsing intermittently.

Ten minutes passed… twenty minutes… an hour passed… nothing happened except that the bead’s rotating speed gradually increased. The pulsing also became more frequent. Suddenly, the bead began rotating in sync with my energy vortex. The pulsing stopped, and the bead started glowing brightly.

The energy vortex suddenly flowed towards the bead, which was rotating at its center. The bead absorbed the energy flowing into it like a bottomless well. I panicked at this development. I immediately tried to stop the flow of energy, but no matter what I did, it felt like I had no control over it. I watched helplessly as the hard work of nearly two years of effort was absorbed. There wasn’t a single trace of energy left in my body. It felt as if I had been returned to a mortal state.

In my panic, I didn’t notice that the seven bright threads were the first to be absorbed into the bead. The energy vortex followed on its own into the bead, like soldiers following their General.

After absorbing the energy vortex, the glowing bead pulsed brightly once again. Instantly, I felt a searing heat at the base of my spine, and I sensed something draining from that point into my Dantian. I immediately recognized it as the mixture of life energy and Spirit energy from the Root Chakra of my Body Refining Technique.

As I watched in horror, even that energy was sucked into the bead. I was on the verge of tears. Remember, I had endured soul-wrenching pain to reach this point in both Body Refining and Spirit Energy cultivation. To see all that pain’s results being absorbed by this little object, which was supposed to help me activate my Legacy, made me furious.

As I was about to open my eyes and give my father a solid beating, a sudden pain assaulted my mind. It was so intense that I nearly lost consciousness. With great effort, I managed to say six words before blacking out:

“[LILY, record everything going on.]”

I slowly opened my eyes, expecting to see the cave and my father, but instead, I found myself in a vast plain stretching as far as I could see... I suddenly had a strong sense of déjà vu...