Such a being—pure of bloodline, with a bright future ahead, and beneficial to the entire clan—the three Ancient Dragon Elders naturally welcomed him without delay.
Cheers shook the heavens, and the elderly elder seated at the center spoke once more: "Clansman Yang Kai has returned! His name shall be inscribed in the Dragon Register!"
"Granted!" A deep voice suddenly rang out from an unseen direction. It was booming, resonating like a great bell in his ears, and at the same instant the voice sounded, Yang Kai felt a divine sense sweep over his body.
The vastness of that divine sense was not at all inferior to Ancestor Xiaoxiao's.
Yang Kai's heart tightened. He realized the owner of this divine sense was likely the Dragon Clan patriarch—the sole Sacred Dragon of the Dragon Clan.
In the Dragon Clan's classification system, those beneath a thousand-zhang dragon body were classified as Young Dragons. The gap in strength among these dragons was enormous—newly born Young Dragons were quite fragile, perhaps even weaker than ordinary human warriors, but once they grew to eight or nine hundred zhang in body length, they were equivalent to Seventh-Order Open Heaven cultivators.
A thousand zhang marked a Great Dragon. At that level, they were equivalent to the Seventh-Order.
Five thousand zhang marked an Ancient Dragon, equal to the Eighth-Order of the human race.
Ten thousand zhang marked a Sacred Dragon, comparable to a Ninth-Order Supreme of the human race.
Of course, that was how strength and rank were classified, but in actual combat, Sacred Spirits of the same level would naturally be somewhat more powerful. Sacred Spirits possessed far too many advantages that humans lacked.
Take Yang Kai's current seven-thousand-zhang dragon body for instance—it was not weak even among Ancient Dragons. In his dragon form, he could contend with even peak Eighth-Order cultivators.
The current Dragon Clan had only one Sacred Dragon—not a Dragon Emperor, because Sacred Dragons also varied in strength. The current patriarch felt he did not deserve the title of Dragon Emperor.
Such a situation was not unique in the long history of the Dragon Clan.
If not for this, the Dragon Clan would still have had only five Dragon Emperors throughout all of history, and those five Dragon Emperors had all been the strongest among their respective generations of Sacred Dragons.
Yang Kai knew the Dragon Clan had a Sacred Dragon patriarch, but he had never laid eyes on the true form. This time, the Sacred Dragon patriarch again made no appearance, only responding when the Ancient Dragon Elders made their request.
What exactly the Dragon Register was, Yang Kai truly did not know. He had never heard of it before. Huang Siniang had told him some things about the Dragon Clan, but she had never mentioned the Dragon Register—whether she had simply forgotten or had reservations, he could not say.
While Yang Kai was still puzzling over this, the elderly elder beckoned: "Come with me."
With that, he led the way, the other two Elders flanking on either side.
Yang Kai stepped forward to follow.
The other dragons had ceased their cheering as well, following behind Yang Kai with solemn expressions. Sensing this atmosphere, Yang Kai vaguely felt that being inscribed in the Dragon Register was likely an extremely solemn matter for the Dragon Clan.
Before long, they arrived at an ancient, unadorned great hall. The three Elders entered one after another, with Yang Kai close behind, while the dragons who had followed them all stopped outside.
The great hall was immensely spacious, yet its furnishings were remarkably sparse, giving it an unusually empty feeling.
At the very top of the hall stood an altar, surrounded on all sides by dragon power and covered layer upon layer with restrictions.
Yang Kai narrowed his eyes to look. He could make out what appeared to be an irregular, stone-slab-like object floating above the altar.
The slab looked to be only the size of a washbasin, shrouded in restrictions. Yang Kai couldn't discern anything particularly extraordinary about it, though he vaguely guessed this was the Dragon Register the Elders had spoken of.
What exactly was this thing?
In the midst of his confusion, the three Dragon Clan Elders took their positions at three points around the altar. Each activated their Dragon Clan secret techniques, and amid profound dragon cries, the restrictions opened layer by layer.
After a moment, the elderly elder called out: "Present the Dragon Register!"
As his words fell, the three Ancient Dragons opened their mouths and spat out their essence blood, which fell into the Dragon Register.
The unremarkable-looking Dragon Register swiftly devoured all of the three Ancient Dragons' blood. The next instant, a faint luminescence began to bloom from within.
The Dragon Register flew forth. The elderly elder reached out and caught it, then turned to face Yang Kai. "The Dragon Register is a wondrous treasure born alongside heaven and earth at the dawn of creation, when the Dragon Clan first came into existence. It has been passed down through the generations since. Since ancient times, a total of fourteen thousand three hundred and sixty-two dragons have inscribed their names upon it. You will be the fourteen thousand three hundred and sixty-third."
Yang Kai raised an eyebrow slightly. The Dragon Clan had existed for untold ages, and this Dragon Register was a treasure born alongside them from the very beginning.
He had never heard of it before.
If every dragon had their name inscribed in the Dragon Register, then the total number of dragons born throughout all of history was fewer than fifteen thousand.
That was a remarkably small number.
But upon reflection, it was not so strange. Dragons themselves had immensely long lifespans, but producing offspring was exceedingly difficult.
That Yang Kai had encountered three Young Dragons during this trip to Buhui Pass was already one of the rare booms in the Dragon Clan's recent history. In the past, there might have been thousands or even tens of thousands of years without a single new clansman being born.
The elderly female elder gazed at Yang Kai with a warm smile. "Perhaps you were unaware of the Dragon Register's existence before, but having your name inscribed in it is not only a recognition from the clan—it also brings tremendous benefits to yourself."
Yang Kai spoke humbly: "Please enlighten me, Elder."
The elderly female elder smiled and said: "First, for any dragon inscribed in the Dragon Register, the clan can sense whether they are alive or dead. Should you encounter danger abroad, you may activate a Dragon Clan secret technique to call upon the clan for aid. Second, the Dragon Register is connected to the Dragon Pool. Should you truly meet a tragic end outside—body destroyed and Dao extinguished—a thread of your original spiritual essence still remains within the Dragon Register. Through the combined power of the Dragon Register and the Dragon Pool, it may be possible to reverse time and allow you to be reborn within the Dragon Pool."