Chapter 497: After Revision: Chapter 235 Aunt Ruo’s Teasing
"Dragon Clan Altar?"
On a path leaving the Bone Graveyard, in the Golden Dragon Soul Valley, Lu Jin’an listened intently to Xiao Yinruo’s introduction to the Dragon Clan Altar with a solemn expression.
Within the Dragon Clan, the importance of the Dragon Clan Altar is second only to the Dragon Soul Hall. It is a place for sacrificing the bloodline descendants to seek the immortality of the Ancestor Dragon Soul.
From the aspect of worshiping the Ancestor Dragon Soul, the function of the Dragon Clan Altar differs from that of the Dragon Soul Hall.
However, there is a significant difference between the Dragon Clan Altar and the Dragon Soul Hall: the distinction between active and passive.
The Dragon Soul Hall is where the Dragon Saint, knowingly facing the end, uses a secret technique to dissolve the dragon body and merge the soul, thus actively entering the Dragon Soul Hall to become a Saint Spirit, silently guarding the Dragon Clan’s destiny in slumber.
But the Dragon Clan Altar is different. Dragons put into the altar did not wish for their dragon bodies to be dissolved and enter the Dragon Soul Hall, as most of these Dragon Saints wanted to end their lives in battle.
They attained sanctity in battle and fell in battle.
In the chaotic times of the past, they wanted other races to know that even at the end of their limits, they would not dishonor the Dragon Clan’s name.
They hoped to die in this way, but some dragons did not wish for this to happen.
Because although the ancestral Saint Spirits of the Dragon Soul Hall cannot leave the hall, they can still display peak power in a short time under the hall’s empowerment, causing fear in other clans.
However, the Dragon Saints who died on the battlefield truly die, no longer calculable in the Dragon Clan’s combat power system.
Thus, the Dragon Clan Altar was born in such circumstances: ostensibly to extol and glorify these Dragon Saints before their fall, but in reality, it tricked these Dragon Saints and some of their bloodlines into the altar, with the Jiao Long as the core ’heart’, secretly dissolving the Dragon Saint’s form, forcing them to be buried alongside the bloodline and completing the process of blood fall through consuming their descendants.
The Dragon Saints after the blood fall, like the Dragon Saints of the Dragon Soul Hall, have Dragon Souls that barely reach the level of indestructible Saint Spirits, but their three souls and seven spirits are entirely imprisoned and mentally collapse during the process of consuming their bloodline, becoming unrecognizably violent.
They merge with the Dragon Clan Altar, and through regular sacrifices, they are continuously fed demon beast flesh and blood by the Dragon Clan, gradually reshaping the dragon body at the onset of limits, becoming Fallen Dragons to continue waging war for the Dragon Clan.
Although this secret technique makes the Fallen Dragons unrecognizable, it does not reduce their strength below the Dragon Emperor, so from this point of view, the flaw can be said to be non-existent.
Yet, the Dragon Clan’s upper echelons are well aware of the evil of this method, so they dare not openly conduct it to avoid causing internal and external troubles. Thus, the altar’s affairs have always been secretive, declaring internally the Dragon Saint has dissolved into the Dragon Soul Hall, while externally erecting ordinary altars to disguise the truth and commemorate the war achievements of deceased Dragon Saints.
But the paper cannot cover the fire, and not all Dragon Saints at their limit allow themselves to be helplessly slaughtered like fish on a chopping board.
When secrets become uncovered, it sparked the Hundred Clan war two thousand years ago.
The Dragon Clan completely lost the position of Cloud Peak Master, but their powerful foundation still allows them to maintain the top rank within the Hundred Clans.
"On the eve of the war’s end, the Dragon Clan abandoned this secret technique, and Fallen Dragons have indeed not appeared in the world in the past two thousand years, so this Dragon Clan Altar here should be one of the altar ruins left after the Dragon Clan retreated from the warfront."
Xiao Yinruo, walking, said: "That giant pit you saw earlier is probably the bloodline of this Dragon Saint."
In her introduction, she glanced at Lu Jin’an. Truthfully, upon realizing this might be the Dragon Clan Altar, her confidence waned.
But after a moment of contemplation, she calmly introduced Lu Jin’an to the place, wanting the child to understand that although she is wary of the Dragon Clan Altar, she does not take it too seriously.
"There are also human bones and fish bones in that giant pit..." Lu Jin’an pondered, "Fish bones are understandable, as there have been cases of fish leaping into the Dragon Gate and transforming into dragons, but even if humans leap over the Dragon Gate, they cannot transform into dragons."
"The atmosphere here just resembles the Dragon Clan Altar, and it’s only a connection I made; whether it truly is remains to be investigated. But even if it is, after so many years, no Dragon Soul should still reside here."
Xiao Yinruo’s voice was calm. After speaking, she turned and asked, "Haven’t you read about it in books? The intelligence on the Dragon Clan Altar was shared by Sect Master Zheng."
Lu Jin’an shook his head: "I haven’t seen it, but I’ve heard of the Dragon Clan Altar."
"Hmm..." Xiao Yinruo smiled: "Maybe you didn’t have the qualification to learn about it before becoming the Saint Heir."
Lu Jin’an turned to look at her: "Since it’s the Dragon Clan Altar, then how do you explain seeing Hao Yuan’s Will before? He was seeking a breakthrough opportunity here as his end approached... Was the Dragon Clan Altar the opportunity he was seeking?"
"The world changes over time, so whether this place was a Secret Realm is uncertain." Xiao Yinruo said softly: "Moreover, the Dragon Saints of the Dragon Clan Altar also regenerate as their end approaches. For those at their limits in Divine Concealment, it offers a slim chance of survival.
But when Hao Yuan fell, the Hundred Clan war hadn’t yet begun, so he might not have known about the Dragon Clan Altar, meaning it could have been a different opportunity."
"There are many Human Clan remains here," Lu Jin’an said: "Not all of them necessarily were at their limits, yet they all perished."
Xiao Yinruo did not immediately respond because if this indeed was the Dragon Clan Altar, there being no exit was normal.
Just like in the past when the Emperor died, would the ones buried alongside be allowed to escape?
So Xiao Yinruo speculated that after entering here, they initially did come to seek opportunities, and might have even found some, but upon discovering they couldn’t leave, they first felt shock, then joyously cultivated in this place with a time flow different from the outside.