by KSY
Ryan sent Death Sword back to the black part of his Soul World once all the Evil spirits had entered the Undead Rearing Space. Death Sword started emitting Death Elemental Energy with a single thought from Ryan, and Ryan once again channeled Death Elemental Energy to the little Dragon-serpent via the Soul-link between them. The little Dragon-serpent was once again content when the supply of Death Elemental Energy was restored.
Since Death Sword was Ryan’s Life Weapon he knew what was going on inside the Undead Rearing Space. Death Sword had forcefully placed powerful Enslaving seals on all the Evil spirits. These Enslaving seals merged with the Runic seals that Ryan had used to enslave them, so they would not be able to revolt against Ryan even after evolving into wraiths.
Death Sword started providing the Evil spirits with Death Elemental Energy after it finished placing Enslaving seals on them. They turned feverish, as they started devouring it in large gulps. The purity of Death Attribute Spirit Power provided by Death Sword was equivalent to the purity of Death Elemental Energy found in high-grade Death lands of Grandura. These places are generally occupied by powerful beings, so this was the first time the Evil spirits had had an opportunity to absorb such pure Death Elemental Energy. Their sulky moods quickly disappeared, and they concentrated on cultivating Death Elemental Laws instead.
Ryan still had twelve hours or so before the start of the Entrance Ceremony, so he decided to cultivate Poison laws in the meantime.
As Ryan was doing that, a strange phenomenon was taking place inside his Beast pouch. The inside of the Beast pouch was a vast Spatial space, in which the Asura Dragon’s egg was floating. The egg was still shining with an Unholy black light as the little Dragon-serpent devoured Death Attribute Elemental Energy. Baleful aura slowly swirled around the egg. As time passed the Unholy black light didn’t recede, but on the contrary, built up. The swirling of the Baleful aura increased with the increase in the intensity of the Unholy black light. As time passed the size of the black egg tripled. The Unholy black light disappeared after a few hours, and the speed with which the Baleful aura was swirling around the egg also became normal. The moment these phenomena ended around the enlarged egg, the little Dragon-serpent started attacking the egg shell from the inside with the intention of getting out.
The Dragon-serpent egg was hatching!
The moment the little Dragon-serpent started to hatch it issued a powerful roar that disturbed Ryan during his cultivation, so Ryan decided to end his Cultivation session. The roars of the little Dragon-serpent intensified as time passed, but Ryan already knew what was happening since he was connected with it via Soul link. Ryan had a big smile on his face. He could sense the change in the cultivation of the Dragon-serpent. It had already entered the Immortal Realm successfully, which meant that the bloodline purity of one of its bloodlines had reached original-grade! He approached the Beast pouch and sent his consciousness into it.
An ethereal figure of Ryan appeared inside the Beast pouch. Ryan was shocked for a second because of the increase in the size of the egg, but quickly regained his composure as Yama informed him that it was normal for all dragon eggs to increase in size as the day of the hatching came near. Ryan could see the black egg trembling violently, as the little Dragon-serpent slammed the egg shell from the inside with its full might.
“This little Dragon-serpent had most likely already completed its incubation period some time ago. It just lacked Death Elemental Energy to cultivate, so it could reach a particular realm before attempting to break out of the egg,” Yama explained, and then continued, as he looked curiously at the egg that was shaking from the aftershocks of the little Dragon-serpent’s attacks, “The Death Elemental Energy from Death Sword made its strength and powers increase quickly.”
Soon cracks started to appear on the egg’s shell. Occasionally, Hell’s Fire flame also leaked out of the cracks, which Ryan and the rest were astonished to see.
“It seems that this little guy is quite lucky. It has received a powerful Innate Ability like Hell’s Fire flame without undergoing the pain of absorbing a Heavenly flame,” Earl commented.
“The inferior Asura Physique possessed by Asura Dragons lacks immunity towards Fire and Evil Attributes, though it does possess high resistance towards those attributes. It still won’t have been easy for the little Dragon-serpent to absorb a Heavenly flame without risking its life. Let’s see what other Innate Abilities it was able to gain from us,” Earl added while the rest nodded their heads in agreement.
Asuras and Asura Dragons don’t have inborn Hell’s Fire flames. These flames only ignite inside their bodies after they devour a Fire Attribute Heavenly Treasure or a Heavenly flame.
It didn’t take long for the little Dragon-serpent to widen the cracks it had formed in the egg shell and soon the egg shell cracked through, and the little Dragon-serpent emerged.
“Roar!” the little Dragon-serpent roared at full strength as it emerged from the egg, as if it was proclaiming to the world about its birth. The egg shell turned into dust soon after.
The Dragon-serpent was a one meter long and as thick as a human arm and was male, pitch-black in color and had red eyes. His draconic head looked exactly like that of an Asura Dragon while his remaining body resembled that of a Heaven Devouring Serpent. His draconic head was twice as big as that of an adult human fist. The draconic scales that adorned his body had a thorn-like structure growing over them with menacingly sharp edges. These draconic scales were like the scales of an Asura Dragon. Anyone meeting these scales head on would certainly pay a heavy price.
The little Dragon-serpent floated in the Spatial space, as he looked at Ryan’s ethereal form with his curious red eyes. His eyes reflected deep intelligence. Ryan released him from the Beast pouch to meet him properly. The little Dragon-serpent hovered in the air after Ryan released him from the Beast pouch. Baleful aura swirled around his body.
Since the little Dragon-serpent was already an Immortal beast, that meant that he possessed the ability to fly – actually, it was really the ability to slither on air, not actual flight. All non-flight Elemental Beasts gain the ability to run or slither or crawl on the air after becoming Immortal beasts.
“Ryan, the little Dragon-serpent has gained complete Asura Physique and Hell’s Fire flame from you. His Asura Physique is now comparable to yours. Anyone that wishes to mess with him will have to pay a heavy price,” Yama said all in one breadth. So, his excitement can be understood.
Ryan nodded his head in agreement. Unlike Caius, Yama and Ryan were able to tell that the little Dragon-serpent had gained Asura Physique due to the Baleful aura he was releasing which was exactly the same as Ryan’s. Caius’s aura had had little to no change after gaining Asura Physique because of which Ryan and company were unable to tell if he had gained Asura physique. Yama suggested it was due to the differences in the biology between Caius and the little Dragon-serpent, as one was a Plant spirit while the other was an Elemental Beast.
Ryan extended his hand towards the little Dragon-serpent’s head. Since the Asura Dragon-serpent and Ryan were connected to each other via Soul link, he knew about Ryan’s intentions. He moved his head closer to Ryan’s hand, and Ryan patted his draconic head very gently. The little Dragon-serpent’s scales that were like sharp swords became soft like grass when Ryan patted him – obviously he liked Ryan patting him. The Baleful aura stopped emanating from his body, but once it stopped, his presence disappeared, as if he didn’t exist in the same dimension as Ryan. Ryan was shocked on seeing this and was not at all able to detect the presence of the little Dragon-serpent. His ability to hide his presence even surpassed that of Caius by multiple levels.
“This little guy has many powerful Innate Abilities,” Earl said. Ryan and the rest agreed. They could tell this was mostly likely the Innate Ability of Heaven Devouring Serpent, which is a Fire Attribute Serpentine Elemental Beast, that got its name from its powerful Innate Ability named Heaven Devouring. This Innate Ability allows it to devour everyth
ing around it just like a black hole. A mature Heaven Devouring Serpent can devour a whole high-grade world within a few seconds – no one would deliberately mess with one.
“He is a descendant of two Tyrannical Elemental Beasts so that’s natural,” Yama said and the others could only nod their heads in agreement.
“What should we call him?” Ryan asked.
“Let’s name him Thorn. The name matches his scales,” Earl suggested.
“Sounds good to me,” Ryan said.
“How about I call you Thorn from today onwards?” Ryan asked the little Dragon-serpent. The little Asura Dragon-serpent nodded his head vigorously. He liked the name as it matched the scales on his body.
Caius who’d been stealing glances at Thorn while hiding within Ryan’s hair flew out to meet him, who was not at all hostile towards Caius. On seeing this, Caius gently patted Thorn’s head just like Ryan had. Caius enjoyed patting Thorn very much and was simultaneously talking to him via Mental-message transmission. It didn’t take long for Caius and Thorn to become fast friends. Thorn even allowed Caius to sit on his head. Ryan and his Martial Spirits were happy on seeing Caius and Thorn become friends. In some cases, the Soul beasts of a Martial Artist are unable to form good relationships, which can lead to unimaginable consequences because of lack of coordination between them during fights.
Ryan gave Thorn a big piece of meat of an Elemental Beast of Fire attribute as he could tell that Thorn was hungry, because of the Soul-link between them. The moment Thorn saw the big piece of meat he didn’t waste time on any formalities and started eating it, and it was finished by him within a few minutes. He had a satisfied expression on his face.
Seeing that it was already morning, Ryan decided to check out the Martial Pavilion as the Entrance Ceremony was going start within two hours. He took a bath and changed into a set of clean clothes. After that, he packed up his stuff.
“Thorn, how about you enter the Beast pouch for the time being?” Ryan asked Thorn. Ryan already knew that Thorn did not like the Beast pouch, but Ryan had no choice. Due to his size Thorn would attract a lot of unwanted attention.
Thorn was able to understand Ryan’s reason for asking him that, so he started to shine with black light as his size reduced to a few inches. He looked at Ryan with expectant eyes.
Ryan was stunned for a second, but not as stunned as before when he was unable to sense Thorn’s presence. This Innate Ability used by Thorn is called Transformation and it is quite common amongst Elemental Beasts. It allows them to change their size and mass at will.
Ryan smiled at Thorn as he extended his hand towards him. Thorn issued a small roar in happiness as he entered the sleeves of Ryan’s robes and coiled around his wrist. Since Thorn lacked presence, Ryan could easily hide him inside his sleeves without attracting unwanted attention. Thorn could even launch a Sneak attack while Ryan was fighting enemies. Ryan checked the Cultivation room once again before he departed for the Divine Martial City’s Administrative Building.
Ch.13
Ryan arrived at the Administrative Building of Divine Martial City that was mentioned in the certificate given to him by Aaric. The building was simple in structure and had six floors. Ryan approached its reception which was being manned by an old man, who was doing some clerical work at that moment.
Ryan asked him,” Sir, can you tell me where the Entrance Ceremony for new disciples is going to be conducted?
“Go to the Auditorium on the first floor,” the old man said without even looking at Ryan, as he was too engrossed in his work.
Ryan followed these instructions and arrived at the Auditorium on the first floor. It was a big hall with the capacity to hold at least ten thousand people and had a stage at its end.
Ryan’s entry in the Auditorium attracted a lot of attention. He could feel a lot of gazes falling on his body, but he ignored them and kept a calm face. He knew that the first impression was the last impression. If he showed any kind of weakness now, then he would have to deal with a lot of problems during his stay in the Divine Martial Sect.
“It is most likely due to the incident at Hope City,” Ryan thought to himself as he found himself a wall to lean against. Ryan had always tried to avoid doing things that drew the attention of others towards him both in this life, as well as in his previous one, as he knew how dangerous it was to be in the limelight. He silently waited for the Entrance Ceremony to start.
Ryan could tell that he was still hogging a lot of attention; he was the main topic of discussion amongst the new disciples present in the Auditorium. Many of the newly recruited disciples had backgrounds that were inferior to the that of the Rook Family Clan. This made them curious as well as wary about Ryan, as they knew about the incident at Hope City.
As Ryan was contemplating the situation inside the Auditorium, he noticed the Thunder Martial Artist and Fire Martial Artist from before in Hope City approaching him with smiles plastered on their faces along with two more Martial Artists. The other two Martial Artists had also taken the test for the Divine Martial Sect on the same day as he had and were also present in the room at the time he’d offended Barton.
“We were not able to have an introduction last time due to complex circumstances. By the way, I am Hayden,” the Fire Martial Artist said with a smile. Ryan relaxed as he could not sense any ill will from them.
“It’s OK. I can understand the dilemma you people were in last time. I am called Ryan,” Ryan said with a smile.
Hayden and company were happy on hearing Ryan’s reply. They’d been expecting Ryan to hold some resentment towards them for not interfering between him and Barton, but they’d been asked by their respective factions to form a good relationship with Ryan, so they had no choice but to bite the bullet and greet him. They were all just hoping that he wouldn’t hold anything against them, as that would make things difficult for them back home.
But Ryan understood their situation, and as he could tell that they didn’t have any bad intentions, he didn’t make things difficult for them. He too required contacts – he couldn’t always rely on his grandfather or mother.
“I am Ryder. I would like to spar with you sometime,” the Thunder Martial Artist said, as he introduced himself. He had a wild smile on his face and Ryan could feel his fight spirit which made it clear that he was serious.
“Anytime,” Ryan said with a grin. He liked the wild side of Ryder, which resembled that of his best friend from his previous life.
“I am Sofia,” a beautiful girl with a petite figure introduced herself with a smile. Her eyes were green in color which made them quite attractive, but they were of no use on Ryan as he was head over heels for the Life Attribute Martial Artist, and least interested in other girls. Ryan just gave Sofia a slight nod which astonished her. Generally, wherever she went, men buzzed around her with the desire of just talking to her, and this was the first time she had been ignored by a guy.
“I am Davion,” a boy with a hood introduced himself as he extended his hand towards Ryan with the intention of shaking hands. Ryan immediately shook hands with him with a smile. It was difficult to see Davion’s features because of his hood, but it was normal for Martial Artists to hide their facial features in Grandura. There were many Family Clans whose members hid their faces from the public.
“We were not expecting you to survive after messing with Barton, as there are not many factions on Dragon Head Continent, that are capable of intimidating the Rook Family Clan. Even our Family Clans asked us to be courteous towards the members of the Rook Family Clan,” Haden said with a smile. Ryan had a wry smile on his face, as Haden’s words had a dual meaning. They explained the reason they were unable to step in to help him avoid a confrontation with Barton, and additionally pointed out that he had a powerful background.
“I just have a powerful grandfather, nothing else,” Ryan said casually, which made many people choke on his words. Many people in the Auditorium were paying attention to Ryan, so they were also keenly listening to the c
onversation between him and Haden. The senses of Martial Artists are many times stronger than those of normal people, so even people at the other end of the Auditorium could clearly hear the conversation between them.
“Just having a powerful grandfather is not enough to scare the Rook Family Clan. Who are you trying to fool?” many people in the Auditorium thought to themselves.
“Ryan, why did you decide to join the Divine Martial Sect?” Sofia asked. She was curious, as she was certain, like everyone else, that Ryan had a powerful background, so there was actually no need for him to come to the Divine Martial Sect. Everyone in the Auditorium immediately perked up their ears, because they wished to hear Ryan’s answer –this question had been on their minds for quite some time too.
“I have come here because of a girl. Since I am here, then I will also try to become a disciple of an Ancestor Level Poison Martial Artist,” Ryan said without elaborating much. This took many people by surprise. They gave Ryan a weird look, but his words also made many try to guess the identity of the girl who could make him take such a considerable step. Many girls in the Auditorium felt envious of the girl that he liked.
“Who is she?” Davion asked with curiosity. Davion’s question again perked everyone’s ears.
“No idea. I only know that she is from the Inner-sect because of her uniform. I don’t know anything else. It should not be that difficult to search for her. I remember her face. She was quite beautiful,” Ryan said with a dreamy face when he talked about the Life Attribute Martial Artist. Many people were certain now that Ryan had not been joking earlier. He had truly come to the Divine Martial Sect to pursue a girl!
Ryan asked Haden and company, “What do you guys think would be the chance of her being engaged to someone?”