"Once my message is out, the visitors that follow might not only involve the Virtuous King and my sect... Probably, there will also be numerous hostile guests," An Jing said.
"Understood," Xu Tai was well aware of this. There were those who wanted to show goodwill to An Jing, and naturally, there were those who wished him ill — not to mention, those behind the Linlang Commerce Chamber definitely did not want An Jing to be easily recruited without any issues.
The means to target An Jing were actually quite limited.
At the very least, regardless of which faction’s power, it was absolutely impossible for them to dispatch a Divine Repository to forcibly eliminate An Jing, not only because the Bright Mirror Sect behind him would definitely erupt in fury, Wuchen Zi might even intervene directly. Moreover, because a Divine Repository True Person is not merely a ’subordinate’ but also someone with their own factional power and trump cards, they would not easily intervene on behalf of any single conspiracy.
The Martial Meridian represents the highest level of martial force that can be utilized in Da Chen’s internal conflict. Going beyond that would be improper — Yet, since An Jing already had three Martial Meridian victories, whoever sends a Martial Meridian would think carefully.
Since targeting An Jing personally was out of the question, then targeting Linjiang City with minor schemes to tarnish An Jing’s reputation was definite. Fortunately, as the leader of the Escort Masters, Xu Tai was well versed in these minor schemes and by targeting his defenses, he could definitely plug many gaps.
After sending Xu Tai away, An Jing went to advise his mother. Although An Jing thought his enemies would never truly wish to harm Shen Mubai and make him invincible by eliminating what little attachments and weaknesses he had, the mere possibility of his mother being kidnapped quietly was the most troubling.
An Jing had Cang stay beside his mother precisely to let this little demon spirit, sensitive to metals, provide some warning. And since Bai Qinghan spent most of his time not far from Shen Mubai, An Jing felt somewhat reassured by this arrangement."
After handling these matters, An Jing also received the related texts on the True Dragon Spine from You Ruhui’s Emperor’s Blood.
Actually, You Ruhui could have sent the texts much earlier, but those dragon-centric texts were not very friendly for humans. With Jin Yanhua’s help, You Ruhui organized them properly before sending the revised versions to An Jing.
Of course, this was not a waste of time. During the organizing process, You Ruhui gained a deeper understanding of his own cultivation.
"At last, they’ve arrived!"
After receiving a wealth of information from You Ruhui, An Jing felt a harvest-like joy — he didn’t have time to delve into this vast sea of texts right now, but attempting to find the weaknesses of the Half-Dragon Demon Shedding from them should be feasible.
Entering the Seclusion Room, An Jing calmed his mind and browsed through the True Dragon Spine texts. He quickly scanned through those details of cultivation explained in many a dragon’s perspectives, focusing on finding the ’wrong examples’ within.
"Heavenly Sea, a sea dragon who had accomplished the True Dragon Spine lost in a magical combat to a giant-clawed warrior. The cause of defeat was his confidence in his invincible flesh, thinking he could easily shatter his opponent’s shell, only to be outmaneuvered when his opponent shed his shell, used his giant claws to restrain key parts, and forced a surrender... Eh, indeed, while its vitality is strong, it’s weak against slashing and cutting. Perhaps I should use the Life-taking Sword."
"Biyin Volcano, a dragon turned human who didn’t wish to reveal his name fought against a Molten Fire Essence. Initially, the two were evenly matched. The dragon relied on the True Dragon Spine to extract nature’s spiritual energy and even managed to suppress the Molten Fire Essence, who had the terrain advantage. But during this, the Molten Fire Essence took the opportunity to infuse massive amounts of Spiritual Power into the dragon, causing him to lose control of his own power and critically becoming incapacitated by fusing too much with nature. The Molten Fire Essence then triggered a volcanic eruption that sent him flying into the sky, knocking him unconscious."
"Oh yes, even dragons have limits in controlling spirit qi. That Half-Dragon Demon Shedding, relying on Divine Skill through the body of a Martial Meridian to control Divine Repository Divine Skill, must be like a child wielding a heavy hammer. What I need to do is break its balance and then take the opportunity to kill it!"
After browsing through many cases, An Jing discovered that the dragons actually had quite a few losses, although they won more times. They were not an invincible race.
However, dragons are particularly adept at learning the strengths of other species and then changing themselves, evolving into many different dragon types — like the winged Yinglong series, the Fighting Dragon series with significantly stronger limbs and a shorter body, Dragon Whale series with bodies adapted entirely to the Heavenly Sea environment... and even.
"A Dragon Beast series with bodies completely resembling humans... Typical. Da Chen’s Emperor’s Blood, along with many other forces who have cultivated dragon lineage Cultivation Techniques and Divine Abnormalities?"
"What, this is considered Dragon Blood?"
Reading this, An Jing couldn’t hold back any longer: "Is this how the Ancestral Dragon Hall views Da Chen’s Emperor Blood? By that logic, which of the world’s human races doesn’t have some dragon blood? No wonder Da Chen has such a subtle relationship with various Dragon Blood True Spirits. Are we relatives coming over to work in each other’s households or what?"
Though he said this, in the eyes of the Ex Nihilo Ancestral Dragon from those years, probably very few species in Embracing the Void were outsiders. In this regard, the Ancestral Dragon Hall indeed had a tradition of venerating the ancient.
And while browsing through various dragon cases, An Jing’s understanding of the True Dragon Spine also deepened.
"I knew before that the True Dragon Spine is centered around the spine, deriving many nerve meridians thereafter, and by controlling the surrounding nature’s spiritual energy, it forms a Law Domain outside and condenses Dragon Qi inside."
"This has certain similarities with the Taibai Luminous Godly Ban which strengthens the viscera and Seven Souls, but the most strange part is... this form."