Chapter 9: Unexpected Loot (2)

"Exalted One, why did you let them take your prize?" Red Shadow hissed.

"Whoever said I had only five? It seems the two human boys I robbed were quite rich. These particular eggs are sold in the magical beast shop for one thousand demon spirit coins each. They're camouflaged to look the same through formations, displayed in large patches to trick customers into thinking they have a good chance of picking a powerful magical beast," Guo Yang said, taking out two more. "I suspect the third-year student's ring contained most of these eggs. I also got a few thousand spirit beads and some spirit crystals. Quite the unexpected loot. I figured the two boys were nobles, as most are proud and willing to fight to be class president. Turns out, I was right."

"The Exalted One is quite cunning. What do you plan to do now? My human master might have suspicions about how you learned your practitioner arts," Red Shadow asked.

"Don't worry. You know how we snakes deal with humans. We never make the same mistake twice," Guo Yang replied. He looked at one of the two eggs he kept aside and gingerly set it at the edge of the pond. Then he focused on the other two and cracked them open. He closed his eyes, swirling his arms and hands in opposing circles, ending with them at his chest. The yolk from the eggs rose out of the shells and vanished as the pure spirit energy entered his mouth. After repeating the process with the second egg, he let Red Shadow eat one of the baby magical beasts within the eggs and consumed the other. He frowned upon discovering it was a baby dragon but then smiled, realizing he would consume dragon blood. His luck was truly great!

Spirit crystals contained more spirit energy than spirit beads, as they were crystallized versions of it. He didn’t know who possessed them but was aware that if he were discovered with them, many would kill him for it. Spirit crystals were exceedingly rare and valuable. He set thoughts of the spirit crystals aside, as he wasn’t at the cultivation stage where he could truly benefit from them. Grabbing a handful of spirit beads, he began to cultivate.

Due to his neidan, his absorption rate was just too fast. Even the spirit energy from his surroundings seemed to surge into him. The pond rippled, and the blades of grass waved as his body absorbed all the spirit energy in the area. Such a surge immediately alerted Guo Jing and Guo Feng, who raced out to see what caused it. They gaped as three wisps of spirit energy surged around him—one for each elemental attribute he had. Rings of rock, water, and light soon appeared around his body as he continued to cultivate.

"Im, im, impossible," Guo Jing stammered as he stared at his grandson.

"What is it?" Guo Feng asked.

"No, I can't believe it. Did he consume dragon blood? He must have!" Guo Jing exclaimed, turning to his son. "Do you understand what is happening? Guo Yang is forming a Yin Yang, heaven and earth, divine tattoo! This is no lesser, ordinary, or higher-ranked divine tattoo. See how his body changes? His bone density will harden, and his cartilage will improve by leaps and bounds. Even his muscles, organs, and skin will undergo drastic changes!"

They watched as the wisps multiplied, while the rings enlarged, forming a cocoon around Guo Yang. Li Ting soon arrived and gasped upon seeing it. Behind her was Guo Li, Guo Jing's wife, who had just come out of closed-door training after almost twelve years due to the commotion Guo Yang was causing. She too was shocked by the sight of the cocoon.

"Guo Feng, make sure no one enters anywhere near this pavilion! No one is to know or spread knowledge of what is happening here!" he yelled. Guo Feng nodded and left to carry out the order. "That smart rascal! He must have eaten a magical beast egg! I see one by the pond. He would have wasted such a magical beast, but he did not contract with it, thus preserving its wonderful effect. A heaven and earth tattoo. This is just too much."

"That's Little Yang?" Guo Li asked, staring at the cocoon. "What happened?"

As Guo Jing described what the triplets had done while she was away, Ji Ting yelled as they waited past midnight and saw a glowing crack on the cocoon. "The cocoon is breaking!"

Save for a ring, Guo Yang emerged completely naked as the cocoon shattered. He grew three inches, and his muscles had become leaner with less fat on his body. His sand-colored eyes now had a golden luster, and his black hair fell past his shoulders. Instead of a normal dragon with a lizard body and wings, a serpent-bodied dragon appeared on his back, featuring the head of a dragon, white catfish whiskers, red scales, brilliant deer antlers, and a jade-colored mane extending from the top of its head to its tail.

"What manner of dragon is this? It looks like a snake!" Guo Jing cried, never having seen a picture of such a dragon before.

A black pillar of light fell on Guo Yang, lifting him three feet as Guo Feng arrived with Guo Mei and Guo Lin. Guo Mei had an owl magical beast, while Guo Lin had a manticore magical beast, resembling a small lion cub with bat wings and a scorpion tail. Normally, everyone would be overjoyed to discover a clan member with a mythical-type magical beast. However, their attention was solely on Guo Yang. No one but them saw an image of that exact dragon appear in the sky, their eyes widening as they followed its descent from the heavens and into Guo Yang's body.

They covered their ears as an inhumane shriek echoed in their minds, like the cry of a mother dragon seeing its child for the first time. White horns appeared behind the top of Guo Yang's ears, and the pillar of light faded. Unbeknownst to them, every living creature on the Pangu continent and every dragon and snake magical beast in the world had heard the shriek in their minds. Only the dragons and snakes understood its significance.

"So that is the first dragon-snake the Exalted One should have been," Red Shadow hissed as the wisps disappeared into Guo Yang's body, glancing at the broken egg. "Uh oh. The Exalted One liked that egg."

"No one is to speak of what happened here. No one is to know he formed a dragon body. Divine tattoos are not uncommon in powerful clans, but dragon bodies and Yin Yang divine tattoos are. Do you understand? Our Guo Clan will be endangered if this leaks out," Guo Jing warned, everyone nodding vigorously as Guo Feng hastily covered his son's lower body.

"What about the school?" Guo Feng asked.

"Tell them he will take a week off due to the strain from his spirit energy consumption. It is acceptable, as he used elemental attribute practitioner arts," Ji Ting replied. "Father-in-law, will my son be alright?"

"Yes. He will sleep in my guest room. No one is to disturb him during this week. I've only heard a similar shriek in my mind three times. It was from the three talented children—out of ten—of the emperor, as publicly announced," Guo Jing shivered. "No one can know of this. No one. That dragon's shriek sounded different. It had to. I've never seen such a dragon. Divine tattoos are strange, so we might be able to pass it off as an ordinary or lesser divine tattoo."

"Finally, a worthy rival," Guo Lin said innocently, while Guo Mei felt hurt as she realized her brother never considered her as such. All but Guo Jing left the pavilion, with Guo Li formally meeting her older grandchildren for the first time since helping with their births.

Many thousand miles away, movement occurred in a giant golden pavilion. Servants and guards rushed through smaller buildings, as if checking on something. Within the grand hall of the largest pavilion, many generals and ministers stood before a man on a white wooden throne, dressed in a black robe with five gold dragons coiling around his limbs and chest.

"What happened? Head of the palace guards, which of my other seven children formed a Yin Yang divine tattoo?" the emperor of the Song Dynasty roared. His empire encompassed the entire Pangu continent, making it the largest and most powerful across the fifteen continents.

"Your Imperial Majesty, I am afraid none of them have formed a Yin Yang tattoo. Of the seven who did not have one, five have already formed higher and ordinary-ranked divine tattoos. It is not possible for them. As for the last two, their backs remain barren," a guard in luxurious gold dragon armor shouted, kneeling on one knee.

"What!" he roared, slamming the left armrest of his throne into dust. "How can this be? I want soldiers sent into every province of the empire. Someone must have seen a radiant pillar of golden light. I want that person found and brought to me. He either submits and is married into my family or is annihilated alongside his entire clan! I don't even care if he is a member of a sect or academy! Find the person with the Yin Yang divine tattoo!"

Unaware of the palace's activities, the members of the main branch of the Guo Clan secretly celebrated the power of their two triplet grandsons. One had a Yin Yang divine tattoo, and the other possessed four elemental attributes along with a mythical-type magical beast. Only one person did not celebrate as she gazed at the moon, a tiny owl nibbling on her hand. Unbeknownst to

everyone, she had fused lightning and darkness to create black lightning.

"I... I can't lose. They need to see me, recognize me!" Guo Mei declared as darkness seemed to swallow the world around her. "I need the power to be stronger than my brothers. To show them that I am worthy to walk alongside them with pride. To be known as Guo Mei, not their elder triplet."

"And what would you sacrifice for such power?" a voice whispered into her ear.

"Anything. I can't be left behind," Guo Mei replied as a giant, crimson eye appeared before her, a massive form shrouded in darkness gazing down at her.

"Embrace the darkness, child. Harness that variant lightning. It is your birthright, your power. Child of the Darkness, accept my power, and you will form your soul realm and gain power beyond your imagination. Embrace your destiny. Embrace your fate as a harvester of souls," the eye urged, and Guo Mei's screams were silenced as it fused into her body, even her soul-bound magical beast affected by the unknown darkness.