Chapter 10: When a Dragon Rises, the Heavens Bow
Location: Purgatory Island – The Cave
The resonance was absolute.
Jiang Chen stood at the mouth of the cave, his body humming with a power that felt too big for the mortal plane. The Soul Union with Mo You and Feng Xi hadn't just healed him; it had fundamentally rewritten his DNA.
Inside his veins, the red human blood was gone. It was replaced by a shimmering, tricolor liquid—Purple (Grandmist), Black (Dragon), and Gold (Phoenix).
[System Alert: Bloodline Evolution Complete.]
[New Bloodline: The Trinity Origin Bloodline.]
But then, a second notification pinged. This one was red and flashing urgently.
[Passive Effect Triggered: Nine Generations Resonance.]
[Explanation: The Host is the 'Primordial Ancestor' of a new species. All biological relatives linked to the Host's DNA will receive a 'Echo' of this evolution.]
[Calibrating... Target: The Jiang Clan.]
Jiang Chen blinked. "Wait... everyone?"
"What is it, Husband?" Feng Xi asked, clinging to his arm, her skin glowing with happiness.
"I think..." Jiang Chen looked up at the sky, sensing a shift in the planet's atmospheric pressure. "I think I just gave my parents a birthday present."
Location: The Jiang Estate, Neo-Shanghai
It started with the koi fish.
In the central garden pond, the decorative golden carp suddenly stopped swimming. Their scales began to glow. With a splash, they leaped out of the water, growing claws and whiskers, transforming into Spirit Dragon-Fish.
Then, it hit the people.
Uncle Li, the loyal butler, was polishing the silverware. He was an elderly man, a C-Rank Earth Mage whose cultivation had stagnated forty years ago.
Suddenly, he dropped a spoon.
THUMP-THUMP.
His heart beat like a war drum. His grey hair turned black at the roots. The wrinkles on his face smoothed out.
BOOM.
A shockwave of mana exploded from his body, shattering the windows.
[Uncle Li: Rank C -> Rank A]
"My back..." Uncle Li stood up straight, his spine cracking into alignment. He looked at his hands, which were now crackling with high-tier Earth Mana. "My back doesn't hurt!"
All over the estate, chaos erupted. Maids dropped laundry baskets as they awakened dormant talents. Guards patrolling the walls fell to their knees as their ranks spiked from D to B.
But the epicenter of the quake was the Ancestral Hall.
The Ancestral Hall
Two people were watching the exam broadcast on a massive holographic screen.
One was Jiang Wu, the "God of War" (Peak SS-Rank).
The other was Lin Xi, the "Ice Empress" (Peak SS-Rank), who had just returned from the Northern Frontlines.
They were holding hands, watching their son walk out of the cave alive.
"He did it," Lin Xi whispered, tears of relief freezing into tiny diamonds before they hit the floor. "He survived, Wu. He's safe."
"He didn't just survive," Jiang Wu grinned, his chest swelling with pride. "He conquered. That's my boy."
Suddenly, they both froze.
It wasn't a sound. It was a feeling inside their blood. A call from the Origin.
THUMP.
They gasped in unison, clutching their chests.
"Wu?" Lin Xi's eyes widened. Her irises shifted from pale blue to a deep, cosmic indigo. "Do you feel that? It's... burning."
"It's not burning," Jiang Wu stood up, his skin glowing with a blinding golden light. "It's... evolving."
CRACK.
The roof of the Ancestral Hall—reinforced with S-Rank materials to withstand nuclear blasts—didn't just break. It evaporated.
Two pillars of light shot into the stratosphere.
One was Golden, radiating pure, unadulterated physical power.
The other was Glacial Blue, radiating a cold so absolute it froze the air molecules into stillness.
Jiang Wu and Lin Xi floated up into the air, involuntarily. The bottleneck that had held them back for decades—the insurmountable wall between "Mortal" and "Transcendent"—shattered like thin glass.
The laws of Earth tried to suppress them, but their bloodline simply ate the suppression.
[Jiang Wu: Rank SS -> Rank EX (Half-Step Transcendent)]
[Lin Xi: Rank SS -> Rank EX (Half-Step Transcendent)]
They opened their eyes.
To the left, Jiang Wu clenched his fist. The clouds over Asia swirled to form a massive golden vortex. He felt infinite. He could punch a hole in the moon if he wanted to.
To the right, Lin Xi exhaled. A wave of blue aurora borealis spread across the sky, lowering the temperature of the entire hemisphere by five degrees. She could feel every drop of water on the planet.
They looked at each other. They were glowing, terrifying, and godlike.
"EX-Rank," Jiang Wu laughed, a sound that shook the tectonic plates. "Both of us?"
"It seems our son is quite generous," Lin Xi smiled. She raised her hand, and snow began to fall in the tropical city of Shanghai. "He unlocked our genetic shackles."
Jiang Wu looked down at the city below. Every sensor in the Global Alliance was likely screaming right now.
"A Dragon does not sire a dog," Jiang Wu roared, his voice echoing over the entire city like thunder. "My son is a KING! And the Jiang Clan..."
He looked at his wife, the new Goddess of Ice.
"...We are the Royal Family of Earth."
Location: Global Alliance Headquarters
The Situation Room was in pandemonium. Red lights were flashing everywhere.
"Report! Massive energy spike in Sector 8!"
"Is it a Dungeon Break?"
"Sir! The scanners are broken!"
The Commander-in-Chief stared at the satellite feed. Two massive energy signatures—one Gold, one Blue—were piercing the atmosphere.
"Readings?" the Commander barked.
The head analyst was shaking, his glasses fogged up. "Sir... we have confirmed two entities. Both readings have surpassed the SS-Rank limit. They are... they are EX-Rank."
The room went deathly silent.
EX-Rank. Half-Step Transcendent.
There hadn't been an EX-Rank on Earth for five hundred years.
And now, there were two.
"Who are they?"
"Identified," the analyst swallowed hard. "Jiang Wu. And Lin Xi."
The Commander slumped in his chair. "Husband and Wife? Both of them?"
"Yes, sir."
The Commander rubbed his temples. The balance of power was gone. The Luo Clan? The Bai Clan? They were jokes now. If the Jiang couple wanted to, they could conquer the entire Federation before lunch.
"Get me a line to the Jiang Estate," the Commander whispered. "Actually, cancel that. Get me a car. I need to go kneel in person."
Location: Purgatory Island
Jiang Chen sneezed again.
"Bless you, Master!" Feng Xi chirped.
"Thanks," Jiang Chen rubbed his nose. He checked his System notifications.
[Bloodline Resonance: Successful.]
[Father's Rank: EX (War God).]
[Mother's Rank: EX (Ice Goddess).]
[Clan Status: Unrivaled.]
Jiang Chen smirked, shaking his head. "Show-offs. I barely reach S-Rank and they both jump straight to the level cap."
"It is good," Mo You noted, scanning the horizon. "Your clan is now safe. No mortal army can threaten an EX-Rank couple. We can focus on the hunt."
"True," Jiang Chen looked toward the central mountain peak.
"Luo Tian is still waiting there," Jiang Chen said, twirling Nightfall in his hand. "He thinks he's safe because he has a few bodyguards."
"Husband," Feng Xi tugged on his sleeve. "Since your parents are making a scene... can we make one too?"
Jiang Chen looked at his wives. Mo You, the Queen of Darkness. Feng Xi, the Queen of Light. And him, the Sovereign.
"Yes," Jiang Chen's eyes glowed purple. "Let's show the world what the next generation looks like."
He looked at Mo You. "Can you carry us?"
Mo You smirked. "Gladly."
Shadows erupted from her back. They didn't form wings. They formed a massive, sixty-meter-long Shadow Dragon. It materialized in the physical world, crushing trees under its weight, its scales absorbing the sunlight.
Jiang Chen and Feng Xi jumped onto the Dragon's head.
"To the peak," Jiang Chen commanded.
Mo You launched into the sky.
Location: The Central Peak
Luo Tian was huddled in a cave near the summit, surrounded by the remnants of his alliance.
"We just need to wait," Luo Tian muttered, clutching his spear. "My father will protect me. The Luo Clan has resources. We can hire assassins..."
Suddenly, the sun went out.
Luo Tian looked up. A massive shadow had fallen over the mountain.
"Found you."
Two giant purple eyes ignited in the darkness above them.
A colossal Black Dragon descended from the clouds, carrying a man with a glowing sword and a woman made of sunlight.
Jiang Chen stood on the dragon's head, looking down at the shivering students.
"Knock knock," Jiang Chen said.
The Dragon opened its mouth.
[Abyssal Breath.]
A beam of black energy obliterated the top of the mountain.
The hunting trip had officially ended. The King had arrived to collect his crown.