Chapter 10: Dragon Transformation Pool
The sky was dim, already evening.
Tonight, the ancestral baptism would begin. Deep within the great canyon of the Heavenly Sacrifice Mountain Range, Lin Lei waited patiently. After a short while, he spotted a warrior in standard cyan armor flying down from above.
"Who is Lin Lei?" the cyan-armored warrior called out sharply.
Lin Lei's heart jumped with joy, and he immediately stepped forward.
"I am Lin Lei," Lin Lei said with a smile. The cyan-armored warrior looked him over, scrutinized him for a moment, and frowned. "What kind of joke is this? Those who attend the ancestral baptism are all under a hundred years of age. You, a mid-stage god—surely you haven't been alive for less than a century? Hurry, have the real Lin Lei come out."
Lin Lei didn't know whether to laugh or cry; he'd been mistaken for an impostor.
"I *am* Lin Lei. I used to reside in another plane and only returned to the Heavenly Sacrifice Mountain Range eighty years ago," Lin Lei explained. "So, to this day, I have never undergone the ancestral baptism."
"Oh?" The cyan-armored warrior sounded skeptical.
Down below, Baruch, Dilia, Bei Bei, and the others were also amused. The warrior simply refused to believe Lin Lei's identity. Baruch himself flew up to join them, hovering beside the warrior. "It's true, he really is Lin Lei. He wasn't born here in our Heavenly Sacrifice Range, which is why he hasn't had the chance for the ancestral baptism yet."
The cyan-armored warrior glanced at Lin Lei and gave a cold snort. "Fine, I'll believe you for now. But remember, boy... if you've been baptized before, going in this time will be useless. And if I find out you're an impostor, you'll regret it. Now, come with me."
The warrior shot back up into the sky.
Lin Lei turned back to say goodbye to Dilia and Bei Bei, then quickly followed.
They flew onto the Dragon Path and continued onward. After a short time, the warrior veered off the main path, leading Lin Lei to the peak of a dark, towering mountain.
Several cyan-armored guards stood at the summit, along with a bald man in a black robe and a group of about a dozen young men and women.
"Sir, I've brought Lin Lei," the warrior reported, landing respectfully.
The bald man in the black robe glanced at Lin Lei, nodded, and then dismissed the warrior. "Alright, you may withdraw." He turned his gaze to Lin Lei. "Lin Lei, wait here a while. You'll enter once everyone else has arrived."
"Yes." Lin Lei joined the group of young men and women.
"These dozen or so are all still at the Saint Domain level," Lin Lei discerned at a glance. The youths, however, looked at him with confusion and surprise—they could clearly sense that they couldn't see through his power!
"Is this person not at the Saint Domain?" the group whispered amongst themselves.
Born less than a century ago, especially for descendants of the Azure Dragon clan who hadn't undergone the ancestral baptism, it was practically impossible to reach the god domain on one's own.
Lin Lei waited silently. One by one, more young men and women arrived, escorted by cyan-armored warriors.
"Twenty-eight in total. Everyone's here," the bald man in black said with a slight nod. His tone turned indifferent. "Alright, little ones, follow me. Remember... without my permission, you are not to wander off."
With that, he led the way into a passage carved into the mountain peak.
The entrance was framed with dragon carvings, and the passage sloped downward into the mountain's interior. It was nearly six meters wide and four meters tall, quite square, with ancient reliefs adorning the walls. The floor was covered with woven carpets.
Lin Lei followed silently behind the bald man.
"Hey, you... are you already a god?" a young girl with green hair walking beside him couldn't contain her curiosity and whispered.
Lin Lei glanced over, smiled, and simply nodded.
Her eyes lit up immediately, filled with admiration. "That's incredible! You became a god without the ancestral baptism and in less than a century!" The other youths preparing for the baptism looked at Lin Lei with a mixture of awe, surprise, and envy.
Less than a century? Well, he'd actually been alive much longer than that. But... back on the Yulan Continent, when he'd first become a god, he had indeed been cultivating for less than a hundred years.
"Quiet," the bald man in black commanded coldly.
Instantly, the twenty-seven Saint Domain youths fell silent, terrified. Lin Lei's expression didn't change. "This bald guy has quite the temper," he thought, but kept following. Soon, they reached the end of the passage, which opened into a vast hall. Several other black-robed figures were inside.
"You're here?" One of the black-robed men approached.
"Twenty-eight in total. They're all here," the bald man said. "You keep an eye on them first. I'm going to invite the two elders to open the Dragon Transformation Pool."
"Right. Do you know where the elders are?" the other black-robed man asked.
The bald man frowned. "Haven't the two elders arrived yet?"
"They have, but they went into a secret chamber just now. They said no one is allowed to enter without permission," the man explained, sounding puzzled. "They're in the innermost chamber in the Eastern Hall."
"I'll go check," the bald man said, and immediately left.
Deep within the Eastern Hall at the mountain's core, inside a secret chamber.
Two men stood side by side. One had a hawkish nose, a bald head, and two strands of hair hanging down his temples; his gaze was as cold and piercing as a viper's. The other was strikingly handsome, his long hair tied back.
Both wore cyan battle armor adorned with gold-patterned trim and draped in cloaks imbued with mysterious magical runes, which shimmered with faint, shifting hues of light.
They were currently fixed on a floating screen projected in the air before them.
"Amazing," the bald man murmured in admiration.
"That single strike—neither you nor I could have blocked it easily," the handsome man agreed, equally impressed.
The scene playing on the screen was, without a doubt, Lin Lei's fierce battle above Miluo Island from the past. What the two elders had just praised was the moment the red-robed elder of the Bagshaw family had shattered Lin Lei's 'cube' with a single cut of his blade.