Chapter 138: Soul Intent! Soul Intent!

In Muria's courtyard, a snow-white "big cat" paced into an ancient stone hall. Upon entering, a tangible breath of life hit him like entering a vibrant ancient forest, causing the white tiger, Troy, to take a deep breath.

After acclimating to the dense life force in the hall, which seemed almost tangible enough to condense into droplets, Troy approached the tranquil, mirror-like surface of the large pool, looking down into the jade-green waters.

With narrowed aqua eyes, he observed how the water, deepening in color over time, grew increasingly rich in life force. Yet, even as the water turned nearly ink-black, it could not conceal the dazzling tri-colored spiritual light from the base, an anomaly formed by a substantial accumulation of elemental crystals.

Beneath this tri-colored glow, Troy could clearly see Muria, with wings on his back and six horns on his forehead, lying still. Below him, there were eighteen pale golden rings of profound soul intent, still not fully solidified.

"An incomplete ring of soul intent!" Troy murmured softly. "Just a little more."

Although the eighteen rings of soul intent beneath Muria were striking, emitting an aura that even made Troy wary, they gave him a sense of being illusory and fragile.

"At this rate, Muria should wake up soon." Troy spoke softly, filled with an inexplicable anticipation for Muria's awakening. He had a feeling that something very interesting was going to happen when Muria woke up, and that it would bring significant changes to his tiger life.

"Troy, you're here to see Muria too!" Just then, a gentle voice came from behind the big cat, timid and soft.

Turning around, Troy's aqua eyes met the entrance of the hall, where three beautifully dressed girls with red hair and red eyes stood. The one who had spoken was a girl who appeared somewhat delicate.

"Yes!" Troy nodded at the delicate Renata and then squinted at the other two, now beautiful young women transformed from red dragons, "You two, behave yourselves. Don't touch anything here."

Red dragons Cynthia and Jessica felt unnaturally watched by Troy, glancing around guiltily and avoiding his gaze. Among the five-color dragons, red dragons were the most greedy, their lust for treasure far surpassing other dragon kinds.

These two, unlike Renata, who had come purely to visit Muria, were also eyeing the elemental crystals that nearly submerged Muria at the bottom of the Life Pool. These crystals were much purer than those naturally formed in the outside world, a rarity not to be missed.

"You think too much, Troy," Cynthia chuckled dismissively. "With Cassio overseeing everything, what can we do?"

"We just came with Renata to check on Muria, that's all."

"Better be," Troy snorted coldly. His aqua eyes flashed a warning. Not long ago, these two red dragons, disguised as human girls, sneaked into the pool to steal elemental crystals from the Life Pool and were caught red-handed by him.

However, before he could act, Cassio had thrown these two greed-blinded little dragons out.

...

Time flew by as Muria remained in deep slumber. Every month, Troy, the three red dragon sisters, and the scholarly white dragon Claudia came to check on him.

During this time, many titans familiar with Muria in the titan lands specifically came to visit, like the female titan Herolys with her unique weapon, the soul intent fourth-tier titan Atreyn, and the titan youth Gerald, among others.

In truth, many were merely curious about Muria's state of slumber, as titans, unlike dragons, do not need sleep to progress through age stages.

Half-blood titans were not unheard of in the history of Erathia, but a high-caliber mixed-blood titan with dragon king blood like Muria was unprecedented in tens of thousands of years in titan history, making his existence extraordinarily special.

During his slumber, Muria was oblivious to all external occurrences, his consciousness immersed in a realm of understanding and mastering the power of the soul, a necessary path for advancing to soul intent.

As Muria deepened his understanding of this power, the soul intent rings beneath him gradually solidified. The previously illusory feeling dissipated, and the emanating aura became even more astonishing. Dragons and titans who came to visit, especially those less powerful, felt a sense of oppression.

As Muria began breaking through to the realm of soul intent, his body naturally emitted a devouring force, absorbing the vigorous life force and elemental crystals spread across the pool's bottom.

With an ample supply of energy, his body slowly grew larger and his physique more robust.

Muria's form did not remain constant during his slumber; it changed periodically.

Sometimes, the visiting titans would see a dazzling golden dragon sprawled at the bottom of the pool, six horns extending backward like

 a crown, radiating a mild but undeniable pressure.

This form of Muria inspired a sense of awe and submission in the red dragon sisters, Claudia, and other visiting dragons.

Other times, Muria would transform into a tall and robust titan, surrounded by thunder, devoid of any dragon features, almost a god-like presence purely of titan blood.

More often, Muria's form was a mix of titan and dragon, such as having a titan's upper body and a golden dragon's lower body, or sometimes his torso would appear titan-like but his limbs would be dragon claws—a true monster.

His titan and golden dragon bloodlines were merging further during this slumber...

On the day Muria turned fifty, exactly one year into his slumber, the rings of soul intent beneath him fully solidified. In that moment, Muria, in a half-titan, half-dragon form, opened his eyes. Golden beams, solid as arrows, shot from his eyes, piercing the now pale-colored waters.

Rising from the bottom of the pool, Muria stood atop the eighteen golden rings of soul intent. Below him, the rings, entwined with thunder and flame and winds swirling within, began to rotate slowly...