23 The Plan

Shu continues to say, "Yes, there is a way to 'give you a new life' but how interested are you?" This remnant spirit looks at Hei and shakes his head, "While this dragon here was once in the Transcendent Step, I am still just a remnant spirit. Who knows where my real body is? Probably my original died long ago!"

An aged and mysterious laugh echoes out from Shu as it cunningly says, "What if there was an almost sure method to give this remnant spirit a true soul and body? Granted, I cannot guarantee 100% success but can guarantee at least 60%." The shameless remnant spirit's eyes open wide as a fire of pure desire can be seen on its face.

"You kidding this dragon of antiquity? What's the catch Old One? You think I can't hear the cunningness in your voice!?"

The remnant spirit suspiciously looks on Hei as it thinks to itself, "You who is a being born from his physique probably only cares about his wellbeing. The mere fact you offered me help means you want something in return for him!"

Shu calmly replies, "Naturally such a heaven defying method requires certain materials. If you let's say possess the blood of your original body along with various heavenly materials which could increase the chances of success, then it could even go as far as 99.9% chance of possibly being successful."

Hei thinks to himself, "Instead of confirming the dragon's suspicions, Shu actually tempts it even more….Brilliant!"

Upon hearing the possibility of as far as 99.9%, the dragon's eyes almost pop from its eye sockets. "Fuck! This dragon of antiquity here is now really interested! You damn bastard…No matter what, you will help this one here to get new life!" Shu calmly replies without the least bit of hurry, "Then you should know that a very serious requirement will be given to you."

The remnant spirit considers the situation carefully, "While I am loyal to my original, if I could actually get new life in itself that means I could possibly surpass myself! With my knowledge of cultivation along with a new body, I could possibly go as far as the God Step!"

"I cannot let this opportunity pass. Besides, I have long since been unable to sense my original. That means he is either dead or so weak that the connection was lost!"

After considering the pros can cons of the situation, the dragon stares at Hei and nods calmly, "Fine, let this one hear your terms and conditions."

Shu calmly states, "That is up to my Master." The remnant spirit's face stiffens as it looks on Hei. For some reason, it gets a terrible foreboding when it looks into the calm and somewhat evil eyes of the little kid who is supposed to be a beast without a bestial form.

Hei smiles calmly, "Be my slave for the next million years." The dragon roars in angry and snaps, "You fucking kidding me!? Like seriously!? You expect me to being your slave and not just that but for the next million years!?"

"Fuck you little bastard with my name!"

Hei laughs a bit as if he expected that outcome, "Then simply be one of my partners in crime. It's obvious you were once powerful. With your knowledge, even if I placed a contract between us, you would break it."

"Thus, in my opinion, it is better I just have you around as an ally than a slave. Besides, I don't think you're qualified for that role!"

Upon hearing those words, the dragon looks on Hei in complete shock.

"You mean to tell me you wouldn't want much from me in return? Wait...What do you mean by not qualified? You must mean because I am too supreme to be anyone's slave! You couldn't mean I am too lowly! Little bastard who has my name, don't let this dragon of antiquity rip you apart!"

"But seriously, that is the only thing you want? This is too suspicious, I do not accept. There must be a trick!" Hei shakes his head and calmly replies, "No trick, that's all I want."

The dragon looks at this little kid who doesn't seem more than 5 years old carefully as if trying to imprint his entire being in his memories or maybe he is really considering how stupid this kid is.

After a few breaths of time, the remnant spirit utters, "I don't know why but it seems you're 'genuine'. Fine, I will accompany you for a bit. If you drag me down I will immediately leave!" Hei nods with a faint smile on his face.

"Whatever you say shameless dragon of antiquity is just fine by me. What I would like to know now is if you have any precious materials and possibly a drop of your blood."

The dragon thinks carefully and slowly replies, "I do not have a drop of blood. I used that a few years ago to extend my lifespan…damn it! But I have a few resources which might be useful. Follow me…"

The dragon slowly floats off towards the center of the pocket realm. Hei quickly follows the dragon. After a long while of running, a small distortion can be seen.

The dragon grits its teeth and barely manages to say, "In that distortion is a separate space which has the garden….it's being maintained for quite a time now…All the astral essence of this place is sent towards there..."

Hei casually looks on the dimension and smiles. This smile causes the dragon's heart to beat rapidly as it seems to sweat. "Why is it that you are smiling…so…sinisterly? It seems like you're up…" The remnant spirit's words stay stuck in his throat as the visage of an ancient black tree that towers up the top of the dimension materializes behind Hei. The leaves on this tree gently sway as many root of darkness spring forth from the tree.

Before the dragon could even utter a word, the roots seem to pierce the space containing the distortion and actually pull it right into the tree. The spatial distortion holding the garden disappears along with the visage of the ancient tree!

The dragon looks on the area where the distortion was with eyes as wide as saucers. His mouth is opened so wide that an entire mountain could easily fit.

"My…My…My precious garden! What did you do!?" Hei nods slightly with a look of appreciation, "Such a wonderful garden. I am impressed shameless dragon of antiquity! With such a garden, I wonder how much my own has grown. Hopefully your garden will be useful to me and not just for reviving you!"

"Damn you little bastard! You're evil! You're definitely a demon and not a beast! Curse your generation!" The remnant rages which make Hei laugh a bit with interest. "If you're that worried about the garden, do you want to see where it went? After all, you're going to have to enter there eventually."

The remnant spirit looks on Hei with suspicion. "You mean, your dimension…? You think this dragon is dumb? Who knows what might happen when I enter there?" Hei laughs a bit and coughs slightly, "Who knew that this shameless dragon was also a coward. Interesting, very interesting indeed!"

"Open that dimension right now! This dragon of antiquity will enter immediately! Let's see this famed God Physique in action!" Hei stares at the dragon with a smile that doesn't seem like a smile. This makes the dragon shiver a bit and before he can even change his mind, a dark shadow covers it and pulls it into a familiar dark dimension.

The dragon looks around and exclaims, "I cannot see crap! Where the hell am I really? Why is it so dark and horribly empty? Is there anyone here?"

Hei laughs a bit which echoes through the dimension. This makes the dragon shake in fear as only a single word comes to mind. "God…" Very slowly, the dragon's vision improves as if the world is being revealed before him.

"What…the actual fuck!? The entire place still looks dark! Everything is made from black…even the water is black…The sky is black! Everything…Black! This is frikking depressing, even for someone like this dragon here! Wait…What is that standing in the…distance…A..Tree! My garden is over there!

The dragon begins flies towards the ancient tree and the closer he gets, the more the uneasiness appears. "Where is this one's dragon garden!?" Hei slowly follows the dragon with a look of interest plastered on his face. Upon reaching closer to the tree, the dragon sucks in a cold breath.

Near the tree, he notices that the once beautiful pond which was a part of his garden is now being slowly corrupted, turning it black! This pond which was extremely rich with astral essence useful for the soul is actually slowly being turned into a pond in this world. For some reason, it seems to become more corrupted and horrible.

Many rare plants have already been planted into the ground and seem to emit a dark luster to them. Various astral inscriptions seem to be placed on the lands which are related to fire, lightning and darkness.

The astral essence which once belonged to the garden of the dragon seems to have been placed into the astral inscriptions. Various herbs can be seen flourishing perfectly as a thick medicinal essence travels through the surroundings.

Pure law energy and astral essence constantly circulate in the area in a calm manner. The energy is so thick and rich that it actually forms natural orbs of starlight that slightly sway in the area. Hei stands to the side and nods in appreciation, "Good work Shu…Ren. The farm looks awesome."

To the side, 3 animals can be seen sleeping as they soak in the astral essence in the surroundings. These 3 animals seem to be constantly strengthening themselves. The ancient tree calmly says, "As you can see dragon, your garden was assimilated into this world which holds a small farm. This is nothing to be alarmed or angry about."

The remnant spirit looks on the garden along with the profound astral inscriptions which are constantly flowing through the farm. These astral inscriptions seem to work extremely well with the law stones and astral stones placed on the farm.

Furthermore, as the beasts strengthen themselves with astral essence, some sort of air is released from their bodies. This air seems to be used by the astral inscriptions to form liquid which actually flows into the soil, successfully making the herbs strive even more.

The dragon shakes his head as if seeing something impossible. "I don't believe this! Such high leveled inscriptions? A Colossan did this?" Shu ignores this and calmly states, "In regards to you gaining new life, it is simple. The Black Poison Crocodile right there should be sufficient to give you a new life."

Hei and the black dragon both look on a somewhat small black crocodile. This crocodile seems quite peaceful as it sleeps but a faintly discernible aura of death can be felt from it. Hei nods his head as if agreeing with Shu.

The black dragon angrily looks on the ancient tree and curses furiously. "You expect a fucking dragon of antiquity will become a trashy crocodile? I mean, yes it hasn't cultivated yet and could gain a good spirit and bloodline but fuck!"

Shu states without any hint of impatience, "That is understandable if it was a normal situation. However, this black crocodile has potential beyond your comprehension. I have long since fed it a few things which are all beneficial to a certain event. If you completely fuse your soul with the soul of this crocodile, you can actually gain new life."

The black dragon glares at the ancient tree and retorts, "That is your plan? To think that this dragon of antiquity thought some foolproof plan was going to be given is embarrassing! This is bull!" She calmly replies, "You will fuse this remnant soul of yours with this body and then immediately undergo the Astral Awakening Ritual."

The dragon looks on the ancient tree with suspicion as it impatiently says, "What is that supposed to do? You think that will be helpful?" She laughs a bit and wisely says, "You think it will not? Foolish beast who only managed to enter the transcendent step at its peak; you think the Astral Awakening Ritual is simply about getting an astral spirit and in this case, a bloodline?"

"Astral Awakening is about connecting with the Heavenly Dao itself for the first time. It is about making an impression on the heavens. Once someone does the ritual, they will be recognized as someone who wishes to cultivate to earn the respect of the heavens."

"With the foundation that I made for this crocodile and your natural soul strength, you will be able to get a very good reaction from the heavens. Besides, you will do this ritual here in this dimension which in itself will be beneficial for you."

As if understanding something, the normally shameless and arrogant remnant spirit looks on Shu with fear and trepidation.

"So…That's your plan with this garden and those other 2 beasts! I see…Now I understand! Who knew…? This dragon of antiquity is genuinely impressed…"

The always shameless dragon sincerely speaks from the bottom of its heart with respect for Shu.