In Yue Jiang's eyes, what Xu Yang possessed wasn't just strength—it was potential. An explosive, terrifying potential. Even the Dragon God's crown prince hadn't possessed such terrifying latent power.
That crown prince had been the designated successor chosen by the Nine Dragon Kings themselves—a being only a step away from surpassing even the God King level to become a Supreme God King.
And yet, even that heir had never given Yue Jiang this kind of feeling. That was precisely why she had opened up to Xu Yang, shared so much about the secrets of Godhood, and was now preparing to make a deal.
"Since you trust me this much… then I'll believe in you too. What's our trade going to be?" Xu Yang asked seriously, his eyes focused.
"I know you won't fully trust me, and you won't accept a direct transfer of knowledge through God Sense. So, I'll engrave the cultivation method onto Zhao Yan's dragon horn. That way, you can inspect it freely, whenever you wish."
"Ah?!"
Zhao Yan, who had been sulking quietly off to the side, suddenly jolted. "Why are we using my horn?!"
"What 'ah'? Hurry up and bring your broken horn over," Yue Jiang snapped impatiently.
"Oh…" Though still confused about Yue Jiang's intentions, Zhao Yan obeyed. With a flick of his divine sense, a severed piece of crimson dragon horn broke through the earth beside the dragon corpse and soared through the air, landing before Yue Jiang.
Although it was only a half horn, it was over three meters long—glimmering like crimson crystal, translucent and radiant.
Fwoosh—
Yue Jiang opened her maw and breathed out a stream of blue flames that instantly enveloped the dragon horn, beginning to temper it.
As the fire burned, beautiful azure patterns began to emerge on the crystalline surface of the horn. Xu Yang stared at them—though he didn't recognize the script, he somehow understood what the markings conveyed.
"This is Dragon Script—a language used to inscribe the Laws themselves. Even if you don't know it, you can still comprehend its meaning," Yue Jiang explained with a faint smile, clearly having read his thoughts.
She continued refining the horn with her flames, and soon it was completely covered in dense, intricate blue runes—glowing faintly, giving off an almost sacred aura.
Retracting her flames, Yue Jiang gently floated the horn over to Xu Yang.
"This dragon horn is yours now. Also—when you reach Rank 90, come back here. I'll have a gift waiting for you."
"I'll look forward to it."
Xu Yang smiled as he accepted the dragon horn and stored it inside his spatial ring. Then, with a flicker of movement, he rose into the air and vanished from the depths of the Yang Spring.
Only when Yue Jiang could no longer sense his aura did Zhao Yan finally speak, unable to hold back any longer.
"Yue Jiang, why would you hand over the Dragon Clan's cultivation methods to a human? And using my horn, no less! Is that kid really worth investing in?"
Yue Jiang didn't answer. Instead, she turned her gaze toward Zhao Yan and asked calmly, "Zhao Yan, do you believe it? That human will become a God King."
"So what if he does? He's still just a human!" Zhao Yan scoffed with disdain.
"He might be our only chance at resurrection," Yue Jiang said quietly. "Don't you want revenge? Against the Time Dragon King and Space Dragon King? If not for those two bastards, would the Dragon God have fallen? Would we have ended up like this?"
"What's the point? They're dead too. Probably worse off than us—not even a remnant soul left," Zhao Yan muttered bitterly. He still remembered how brutal that final battle had been. All Nine Dragon Kings had perished. How could anyone have survived?
"You think so?" Yue Jiang's voice was calm. "We both left behind remnants. You really believe that the strongest two—Time and Space Dragon Kings—couldn't manage even that? Besides, giving that human a few basic cultivation techniques costs us nothing. If it works and he revives us, great. If it fails, we've lost nothing. Am I wrong?"
Zhao Yan fell completely silent.
Who wants to die if there's still a sliver of hope?
If there was even the slightest chance he could come back, he was willing to bet everything on it—rather than just sit here and wait for his soul to fade.
"…Fine. I'll trust you. Just this once."
——
Back outside the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, Xu Yang didn't immediately take out the dragon horn or inspect the cultivation method within using his spiritual sense.
He was cautious.
He wanted to wait until his strength had improved a bit more before attempting to access its contents. If Yue Jiang had left behind any hidden traps, he needed to be ready.
Better safe than sorry. After all, he was only a Soul Sage now. Time was on his side.
He didn't stay in the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well for long—barely a day, in fact. Ning Fengzhi and the others didn't question anything.
After returning to his room, Xu Yang took out his long-neglected notebook and began outlining his plans.
First: becoming emperor was a must. If he wanted to collect faith power, holding a position of authority was the most straightforward way to do it. Eventually, he could establish a theocratic state—merging church and state—perhaps modeled after ancient Egypt or modern Arab nations, while integrating aspects of Huaxia's dynastic systems.
He had full confidence he could elevate an empire to new heights.
The second step: build a semi-religious organization, similar to the Spirit Hall. Something that could both gather faith and manage soul masters across the continent. He considered creating a purely religious structure but ultimately dismissed it.
Why?
Because spreading religion was exhausting. You had to draft dogma, laws, indoctrination texts… building a faith from scratch would take decades.
More importantly, Xu Yang understood that in this world where power reigned supreme, most ordinary people didn't seek much—just enough food, warm clothes, a safe home. If he could provide that… gaining their faith would be simple.
When it came to feeding the people, the first thing that came to Xu Yang's mind was a great man from his past life: the father of hybrid rice, who solved national hunger and became a real-life Shennong. If Xu Yang could replicate that achievement here, perhaps deification wouldn't be far off.
The final step: unify the entire continent.
To do that, he needed to boost his nation's military strength—not just by training stronger soldiers, but through equipment. And the simplest, fastest route was soul tools.
He had to push soul tool research forward. Once they had mass-produced eighth- and ninth-tier fixed-installation soul tool cannons , kingdoms like the Barak Empire and Star Luo Empire wouldn't stand a chance—a few bombardments would be enough.
——
And so, page after page, Xu Yang scribbled out his detailed plan, then read over everything twice to ensure there were no gaps.
Finally satisfied, he stowed the notebook away and turned his thoughts toward the looming war against Heaven Dou.
He couldn't kill Qian Renxue just yet—but crippling her? That was still an option.
Dustheart would take on Qian Daoliu. Xu Yang would deal with Golden Crocodile and the others. Of the six Elders of Spirit Hall, he planned to take down at least three this time.
Time to make Spirit Hall pay—heavily.
"…I wonder how Qian Renxue will handle Teacher's scheme," Xu Yang murmured with a smile tugging at the corner of his lips, thinking of Ning Fengzhi's plan.
PS: Read Advance Chapters at https://www.patreon.com/c/ReadJin