Chapter 35: Dual Souls? Shut your mouth, old man!

After leaving the tomb, Lin Xuan made his way directly to Baiyin Pass. However, instead of entering the pass, he headed into a forest located just outside its borders.

Finding a cave, Lin Xuan immediately slaughtered the demonic beasts inside and happily roasted some meat for himself.

"Let me see what treasures the Dragon Venerable left behind."

Lin Xuan gleefully opened his storage bag and took out two boxes.

One was large and the other was small; the one Lin Xuan picked up was the smaller one, roughly the size of two palms pressed together.

Lin Xuan pursed his lips and opened the box.

Upon opening it, Lin Xuan was momentarily stunned.

Lying inside the box was a black bead.

After thinking for a long time, Lin Xuan finally remembered where he had seen this object before.

In the library of the Jixia Academy, there were all sorts of rare books, and one titled *The Record of All Under Heaven's Treasures* described the origin of this bead.

A Dragon Pearl!

That was right, it was a Dragon Pearl!

Lin Xuan could hardly suppress his excitement.

He hadn't expected the Dragon Venerable to actually leave a Dragon Pearl in his burial chamber.

However, upon closer inspection, Lin Xuan realized it was likely only a Flood Dragon Pearl.

Lin Xuan also remembered that while the Dragon Venerable possessed a dragon soul, it seemed to have been merely a Black Water Flood Dragon.

Of course, even a Flood Dragon was a top-tier primordial soul, one in ten thousand!

Dragons are the kings of all beast kings; any demonic beast with even a slight connection to dragons is an incredibly powerful existence. Moreover, a Flood Dragon is only one step away from becoming a True Dragon—the single step being the Heavenly Thunder Tribulation.

It seemed things had truly fallen into his lap; his primordial soul issue was finally resolved!

Lin Xuan smiled as he put away the Flood Dragon Pearl, intending to refine it immediately.

When one possesses good things to increase strength, one must use them directly. The advancement of cultivation is the most important thing; otherwise, keeping them might just mean making someone else's wedding dress.

Lin Xuan then opened the second box. This one was longer, about three feet in length. Once opened, an ancient, broken sword came into view.

Lin Xuan frowned slightly. A broken sword?

He took the broken sword out, but he couldn't tell what material it was made of. Looking at the fracture, it was clearly broken during a great battle.

"I thought it would be some great treasure, but it's just a broken sword. How boring."

Lin Xuan curled his lip. According to standard tropes, since this broken sword could be placed in the Dragon Venerable's main burial chamber, it must have an extraordinary origin.

But no matter how extraordinary its origin was, it was still just a broken sword, and for Lin Xuan's current state, it was utterly useless.

Helplessly, Lin Xuan put the broken sword back in the box and left it, hoping he might find a use for it in the future.

Lin Xuan withdrew the broken sword, composed himself, and once again took out the Dragon Pearl. Not only did he take out the pearl, but he also pulled out fifty thousand essence stones and the Form-Transcending Pill he had found in the Dragon Venerable's tomb!

This time, Lin Xuan intended to break through to the Third Stage of the Form-Transcending Realm in one go!

Lin Xuan planned to break through to the Form-Transcending Realm before the Huaqing Prefecture Clan Assembly. This way, the Lin Family could legitimately become a one-star family.

Becoming a star-level family meant they could be officially registered within the Great Desolation Empire.

A family of that level could not be targeted at will.

Of course, ultimately, it all came down to strength; even the Great Desolation Imperial Family didn't meddle in every little thing.

Having laid out all his preparations, Lin Xuan also set up a perimeter outside the cave to ensure nothing would disturb his advancement.

With everything ready, Lin Xuan swallowed the Form-Transcending Pill in one gulp and began to sense its power.

Furthermore, the primordial core within Lin Xuan's body began to melt, and the melting essence energy began to coalesce into a cloud of mist.

Lin Xuan had learned how to break through the Form-Transcending Realm back at the Jixia Academy, so theoretically, there were no problems.

Driven by Lin Xuan's essence energy, the Flood Dragon Pearl slowly floated into the air. The energy within the pearl turned into liquid, entering Lin Xuan's body and instantly reaching his dantian.

Lin Xuan closed his eyes slightly, feeling this immense, overwhelming energy.

The power of a dragon was truly domineering!

Legend has it that a True Dragon possesses the strength of the True Martial God Realm the moment it hatches, and a Flood Dragon possesses the strength of the Third Stage Form-Transcending Realm upon hatching!

Such creatures were terrifyingly strong!

A massive, vigorous power enveloped Lin Xuan's limbs and bones, slowly merging into his dantian and mixing with the cloud of essence energy, gradually condensing into a dragon shape.

The breakthrough proceeded methodically. Suddenly, Lin Xuan discovered that another cloud of essence energy had appeared in his dantian!

Lin Xuan was both shocked and delighted. He remembered there was a type of Form-Transcending Realm called the Dual-Soul Form-Transcending Realm!

It meant possessing dual primordial souls!

Such an existence was as rare as phoenix feathers or unicorn horns in the Great Desolation Empire. Even in the talent-filled Imperial Capital, dual primordial souls were extremely rare!

Lin Xuan had never imagined he could possess dual primordial souls; he had originally thought just breaking through to the Form-Transcending Realm would be a blessing from the heavens.

Now, it seemed fate itself was favoring him by granting him dual primordial souls!

However, Lin Xuan realized a problem: he hadn't prepared any materials for a second primordial soul!

He frowned, primarily because he had never expected to actually achieve a dual-soul state.

Just as Lin Xuan was contemplating a solution, the broken sword in his storage bag suddenly shot out and pierced directly into his brow.

Lin Xuan was struck with terror. What on earth was this broken sword?!

The sword's target was very clear; it rushed straight for Lin Xuan's dantian and directly absorbed his second cloud of essence energy.

"Damn it! You demonic sword, shut up!"

Lin Xuan was moved to tears. His dual primordial soul was being ruined by this broken sword like this?!

In response to Lin Xuan's roar, the broken sword ignored him completely, swallowing his second primordial soul within a dozen breaths.

With that, Lin Xuan's dream of a dual primordial soul was shattered.

Lin Xuan felt numb. He thought he had tricked Cui Yongyuan, but it turned out he had only tricked himself!

What was supposed to be a fine dual primordial soul had now reverted to a single one.

Lin Xuan let out a long sigh and decided to stabilize his first primordial soul first.

He was terrified that this broken sword might try to swallow his first soul as well.

However, after consuming the second soul, the broken sword seemed to become well-behaved, floating quietly above Lin Xuan's dantian and making room for his first primordial soul.

Lin Xuan hurriedly pulled another fifty thousand essence stones from his storage bag.

This breakthrough was going to be quite expensive.

Another fifty thousand essence stones. Lin Xuan even used up all the medicinal pills he had obtained from the Dragon Venerable's tomb in one go.

In total, Lin Xuan spent at least over two hundred thousand essence stones' worth of energy to satisfy the Flood Dragon primordial soul.

It was no wonder the Flood Dragon soul was so powerful; even the quality of the breakthrough was on a different level!