Volume 1, Chapter 8: Ambush, A Swap in the Dark

“Second brother, is that you? Why are you the only one...” Deep within the dragon’s lair, the ancient poisonous dragon Man Yi, stirred awake upon hearing Lin Yang’s voice.

But the moment he spoke, a mysterious force, similar to what had affected the eight other ancient poisonous dragons, took hold of him.

His massive body involuntarily shrank and flew toward Lin Yang’s dragon claw, secretly grasping the Chaos Gourd.

Even with his dull mind, this ancient poisonous dragon immediately sensed that his second brother was in trouble.

He roared angrily and struggled fiercely against the force.

His magical power was indeed formidable, managing to withstand the Chaos Gourd’s pull for a brief moment without being instantly absorbed.

Yet, despite his strength, he failed to resist.

In a fleeting instant, powerless, he let out a sorrowful roar before being swallowed into the gourd.

Like the eight other ancient poisonous dragons, he was imprisoned within the gourd, utterly immobilized.

Seeing that he had subdued the old dragon, Lin Yang silently felt a surge of relief. Fortunately, these ancient poisonous dragons were all brawn over brains—masters of magical powers and mystical arts but ignorant of the grand Dao, especially the Way of Cause and Effect.

This was understandable; the Way of Cause and Effect was one of the most profound paths among the three thousand great Dao.

Few in the vast primordial world truly mastered it, and even Lin Yang only wielded it through the aid of the Chaos Gourd.

In truth, Lin Yang himself was a novice in this Way.

But none of that mattered now. Having secured Man Yi within the Chaos Gourd, Lin Yang shifted his form and entered the gourd as well.

Inside the Chaos Gourd stretched an immense, boundless expanse, like a vast, infinite universe.

Scenes and landscapes shifted seamlessly with Lin Yang’s thoughts.

At that moment, the nine-headed ancient poisonous dragon, massive and imposing, was confined within this gourd, unable to move—like a fly trapped in amber.

Such was the power of a primal treasure. Taiyi, without achieving sainthood, wielded an incomplete primal treasure to become invincible below the saintly realm.

Lin Yang, though far weaker than Taiyi at his peak—miles behind in strength—had fully refined and mastered this Chaos Gourd, a primal treasure.

The difference between a fully refined primal treasure and one that isn’t was immense.

Now, with this primal treasure, Lin Yang could effortlessly suppress the nine-headed ancient poisonous dragon, whose power rivaled his own, rendering it utterly motionless.

They couldn’t even disturb the seals within their seas of consciousness, preventing their hidden masters from learning what was happening.

They were helplessly at Lin Yang’s mercy.

Having entered the Chaos Gourd, Lin Yang no longer needed to maintain the form of the ancient poisonous dragon; he reverted to his primal Dao body.

“This is much easier now,” Lin Yang said with a relaxed smile as he gazed at the nine-headed dragon. “It’s time to complete the task. I’m also quite curious about the master behind you all.”

“To set such a hidden trap on the Solar Star and cultivate nine-headed ancient poisonous dragons—what could they be scheming?”

Lin Yang pondered the intrigues and conspiracies, suspecting the culprits were likely powerful figures from the primordial realm.

Perhaps the Ancestral Dragon, the Primordial Phoenix, the Prime Kirin, or even Hongjun, Luo Hou, or others.

Yet, the most probable were the Ancestral Dragon, the Primordial Phoenix, and the Prime Kirin.

After all, they were contenders for supremacy and wouldn’t hesitate to set hidden pieces on the board.

Though formidable, the nine-headed ancient poisonous dragons lacked intelligence; their placement on the Solar Star was likely to await the day they would be unleashed as a surprise force to tip the scales of some conflict.

Lin Yang was not well-versed in such scheming and, having considered this, chose not to dwell further.

The urgent matter was to enslave the nine-headed ancient poisonous dragons before anything unexpected happened.

Thus, Lin Yang maneuvered the Chaos Gourd, arranging the nine-headed dragon into a formation resembling the Nine Palaces.

Lin Yang positioned himself at the center, seated in meditation.

Next, Lin Yang planned to employ a grand subterfuge: simultaneously shattering and reconstructing the seals within the nine-headed dragons’ seas of consciousness.

Failure to do so perfectly would alert their hidden master.

Failing the mission alone would be a heavy blow to Lin Yang.

After settling at the center of the formation, Lin Yang closed his eyes. Moments later, a gleam flashed from his brow, and an ethereal soul emerged—his very own primordial spirit.

This spirit did not take the form of his primal Dao body but appeared as a colossal vine—the true essence of the primal gourd vine.

A vine stretching billions of fathoms unfolded inside the gourd.

The vine trembled continuously, then sprouted nine molecular tendrils, each swiftly extending toward one of the nine-headed ancient poisonous dragons.

They tightly ensnared the dragons, binding them into what looked like nine enormous bundles wrapped like traditional rice dumplings.

Lin Yang was no stranger to adaptability; he had previously acquired the technique of spiritual division—splitting the primordial spirit into multiple avatars.

Though he had no intention of turning these nine dragons into his avatars, he cleverly adapted this technique to control all nine simultaneously.

The application of this spell was extraordinary.

Lin Yang stirred his primordial spirit, and suddenly, a dazzling jade-green light bathed the entire interior of the Chaos Gourd.

After nine successive flashes,

the nine dragons bound like giant bundles suddenly trembled.

They roared fiercely, shaking the heavens and earth.

The tendrils of Lin Yang’s primordial spirit retracted rapidly.

Then, his primordial spirit ascended, shimmered, transformed into a ray of light, and withdrew into his brow’s sea of consciousness.

Meanwhile, the nine-headed giant dragons soared, roaring thunderously, weaving and circling around Lin Yang, spewing torrents of fiery flames.

These dragons had been successfully subjected to Lin Yang’s grand deception—the seals within their seas of consciousness had been destroyed and replaced with his own.

In other words, Lin Yang had become their new master.

Yet, Lin Yang’s face bore no great joy.

He opened his eyes, smiled wryly, and said, “I really did guess correctly!”

At the very moment Lin Yang shattered the seals within the nine-headed dragons’ consciousness, across the boundless expanse of time and space, he effectively confronted the master behind them.

As Lin Yang had predicted, the master was indeed the Ancestral Dragon.

The Ancestral Dragon had subdued these nine ancient and powerful dragons on the Solar Star and commanded them to lie dormant—hidden pawns awaiting future use.

But who would have thought that after all these long years of uneventful slumber, Lin Yang’s arrival on the Solar Star would completely dismantle this secret gambit?