Volume 1: Bo'an Awakening & The Calamity Storm
Chapter 94
Inventory of the Primordial Dragon Pendant
The setting sun descended slowly over the mountain slope behind Feng Lan Magic High School, staining the ragged, tattered clouds along the western horizon in a murky, blood-like crimson.
Mountain gales howled through the granite crags, carrying biting frosty mist and the pungent, acrid stench of ash that had yet to settle in the aftermath of the long night of turmoil. Upon a rocky ledge jutting out from the secluded slope, Lin Feng sat cross-legged in silence, hands resting lightly upon his knees, his back leaned gently against the rugged gray cliff face. Beneath his downcast gaze, war-torn Bo’an City was slowly sinking into the somber shadows of dusk.
Faint pillars of greasy black smoke drifted lazily from the shattered ruins of the South Street residential quarter, dissolving into the gathering evening haze. Down on the outpost plaza, high-powered searchlights from armored military convoys swept back and forth without pause. The blare of heavy transport trucks ferrying refugees and the urgent crackle of mana loudspeakers announcing south-bound evacuation trains echoed intermittently—faint and mournful, like the distant epilogue to an era that had just ground to a close.
Noon today had been so dazzling, so clamorous. The thunderous ovations in the Great Hall of the Magic Tribunal; the reverent salutes of battle-hardened military officers; the solid gold Hero Medal inlaid with sapphire pinned over his chest; and that platinum card loaded with five million magic coins... Any ordinary youth would have lost themselves, hopelessly intoxicated in the blinding glare of glory and acclaim.
Yet sitting alone amidst this untamed expanse, Lin Feng felt his mind settle into an eerie, profound stillness.
He exhaled a long breath, steadying the steady rhythm in his chest. Streams of frigid mountain air rushed past his throat, purging every last trace of superficial vanity left behind by the ostentatious ceremony.
Having lived a second life in this raw, brutal world of magic, he understood a ruthless reality far better than anyone: the praises of the crowd or a gilded piece of metal pinned to one’s chest could never save a mage’s life when facing the fangs and claws of beasts. Before the razor talons of a Black Crimson Wolf or the wings of death of a Dreadwing Frenzy Wolf, the title of “hero” was as flimsy as scrap paper.
To survive, to protect his loved ones, to stride proud between heaven and earth without ever having to bow to anyone’s whim... there was only one path: His own fists had to be hard enough, and his own magic had to be strong enough!
Lin Feng slowly slid his right hand past the collar of his school uniform, grasping the pitch-black dragon jade—the Primordial Dragon Pendant.
A far cry from the coarse, dull gray stone that once resembled a roadside pebble, the pendant now burned like an ember cradled within his palm. Smoldering pulses of heat radiated through his flesh. Its rhythm was heavy, sonorous, and steady, like the colossal heartbeat of a primordial behemoth stirring from eons of slumber in the abyssal depths.
The time had arrived!
Last night, amidst the sea of gore and monster carcasses flooding the South Street intersection, the Primordial Dragon Pendant had frenziedly devoured a monumental harvest of souls unprecedented in history. Now, with the world around him hushed in total stillness, it was time to unlock this heaven-defying treasury!
Lin Feng closed his eyes, his spiritual intent stirring. He relaxed every muscle in his body, sinking his divine consciousness deep into the jade pendant resting against his chest.
Whoosh!
A bizarre sensation of weightlessness washed over him, as though his soul was plummeting through a bottomless spatial conduit. The desolate ruin of Bo’an City and the howling winds scouring the cliff ledge vanished in an instant without a trace.
In their stead, an expanse so vast and magnificent unfolded before Lin Feng that it shook his soul to its very foundations.
The internal space of the Primordial Dragon Pendant stretched boundless and shoreless, resembling an ancient, primeval galaxy sealed within the heart of the jade. The vaulted dome above was an endless, ink-black abyss where ethereal nebulae drifted lazily, weaving mystical halos of pale-blue luminescence. Right at the epicenter of this cosmic void, a colossal dragon stone pillar towered proudly, rising straight from the fathomless abyss below and piercing into the distant heavens. Carved along its rugged shaft, undulating draconic scales emanated an ancient, emerald-green vitality—at once solemn and profound, akin to the primordial breath of genesis itself.
And at this very moment, surrounding that dragon pillar, an unprecedented, ethereal spectacle unfolded before Lin Feng’s eyes!
Swarm after swarm of pale-blue motes of light danced through the void, blotting out the expanse. They flickered, swayed, and drifted like a mesmerizing sea of countless phantom fireflies entrapped within an invisible cage.
These were Remnant Souls!
The Remnant Souls of the Black Crimson Wolves, the Bone-Armored Frenzy Wolves, and countless Servant-class beasts that had fallen beneath Lin Feng’s lightning arcs and blazing embers throughout the night of blood-soaked battle defending Feng Lan School and the South Street intersection!
Under ordinary circumstances, governed by the laws of the magical world, whenever a demonic beast was slain, its soul dispersed with terrifying speed. Within mere seconds after its heart ceased beating, those fragmented soul shards would evaporate entirely into nothingness, returning to dust. Unless an Undead-element grandmaster deployed esoteric arts to bind the soul, or a battle mage bore an exquisite Soul-Gathering Vessel worth millions of coins to erect an absorption field, none could ever hope to collect intact remnant souls amidst the chaos of a battlefield.
Yet the Primordial Dragon Pendant was an overbearing anomaly that transcended every standard rule of human magic.
During that night of catastrophe, with every stride Lin Feng took across the battlefield, with every lightning bolt that tore open the chest of a rabid wolf, the Dragon Pendant had silently unleashed a terrifying, invisible gravitational vortex. Every soul fragment severed from a fresh carcass was swept into the heart of the jade by that unseen maelstrom, without letting so much as a stray wisp of residual will escape!
Lin Feng focused his consciousness, scanning across this miniature galactic vault. The number of pale-blue motes hovering around the dragon pillar was dizzying. With a rough tally, the count had already surpassed one hundred and thirty Servant-class Remnant Souls!
One hundred and thirty remnant souls! If an artisan magical crafter or a seasoned hunter witnessed this spectacle, they would be struck breathless with sheer disbelief!
Yet the true marvel did not end there.
In the heart of the void, the colossal dragon pillar suddenly emitted a low, resonant rumble—like the ancient roar of a primordial dragon echoing across eons. Ripples of emerald-green energy billowed outward from the pillar’s carved body, sweeping across the expanse like an invisible jade comb through fine silk.
With every sweep of draconic aura, fifteen to twenty frail, pale-blue remnant souls were drawn together into a swirling vortex. Under the absolute suppression and tempering of the primordial dragon breath, those ragged, fragmentary soul shards—steeped in malice and resentment—were compressed to their utmost limits. Foul impurities and dark strands of hatred were incinerated to ash by the emerald flames, preserving only the purest essence of primal life.
Under Lin Feng’s rapt gaze, the scattered remnant souls gradually merged, crystallizing into a single, cohesive entity!
The Law of Soul Fusion and Refinement!
A heaven-defying mechanism that forged supreme treasures from scrap—something that not even the most exorbitant national-grade magical instruments in royal imperial laboratories could ever dream of achieving!
Over on a level expanse to the right of the stone platform, seven spherical orbs, clear and transparent as crystal, hovered serenely. They radiated a gentle, soothing emerald brilliance, so pure and tranquil it was enchanting.
Each orb was roughly the size of a thumb, yet sealed within was an impeccably concentrated core of pure soul energy, utterly devoid of a single speck of worldly dust.
“Seven complete Servant-class Soul Essences!”
Lin Feng extended his intent. An emerald orb glided forward, settling obediently upon his ethereal palm. A soothing, revitalizing coolness akin to the finest jade rushed into his mind, making his senses feel as if they were submerged in a spring of primordial vitality.
This was a Soul Essence!
While Remnant Souls were mere fragmented scraps, usable only as cheap auxiliary materials, a Soul Essence was the complete, unmarred soul core of a magical beast. It was a strategic asset of the highest caliber across the entire global magical community!
A Soul Essence was the core ingredient for grandmasters forging high-tier magical artifacts; it was the spiritual soul needed to temper exquisite Shield Equipment or Armor Equipment. But above all else, for an individual mage, a Soul Essence was the sole key to Star Strengthening—upgrading ordinary magic stars into Rank 2 or Rank 3 Strengthened Stars, multiplying the destructive power of spells manifold!
In the outside world, the natural drop rate of a complete Servant-class Soul Essence from hunting beasts was less than one percent! An elite hunter squad might slaughter monsters for half a year in the deep wilderness, butchering a thousand beasts, before being blessed with the sheer luck of finding a single dropped soul essence.
Yet here, after merely a single night of turmoil, the Primordial Dragon Pendant had personally refined seven complete Servant-class Soul Essences for him!
However, as precious as those seven emerald Servant-class Soul Essences were, they were utterly eclipsed by the entity reigning atop the dragon pillar.
At the highest apex of this miniature galactic dome, an energy orb the size of a goose egg spun slowly.
It bore none of the soothing emerald glow of the lowly Servant beasts. Instead, it radiated a deep, regal, and mysterious violet luminescence, suffused with a suffocating, crushing majesty!
Deep within that dark violet sphere, one could clearly see the miniature silhouette of a gargantuan demonic wolf. Tattered black wings were splayed wide, vicious rib-spikes protruded like bayonets, and eyes burning like crimson coals tilted upward in a savage, silent roar. It was the residual soul origin of the Warrior-class Dreadwing Frenzy Wolf—the nocturnal overlord that had sowed sheer terror across the entire South Street defensive line!
Yet no matter how ferocious and savage that Warrior-class beast was, it could never escape the shackles of the Primordial Dragon Pendant.
From the carved dragon maw atop the stone pillar, four emerald energy chains extended outward, binding the violet sphere in an inescapable grip. The draconic chains constantly radiated purifying heat, grinding down every wisp of brutality, madness, and foul malice from the predator, preserving only the purest and most majestic vitality and soul mana!
A complete Warrior-class Soul Essence!
Gazing upon the violet sphere hovering in the heights, Lin Feng felt his pulse quicken.
The pressure rolling off this Soul Essence was so tangible that his sea of consciousness trembled with each rotation. The life energy compressed inside was like an overflowing reservoir of mana, exceeding all seven Servant-class Soul Essences combined by tens of times!
This was the crystallized soul of a creature perched at the apex of the food chain—a monster capable of slaughtering an entire battalion of elite soldiers in the blink of an eye!
Lin Feng stood quietly upon the ethereal stone platform, mentally tabulating the market value of the treasure in his hands.
In free magical markets and official national auctions, an ordinary Servant-class Soul Essence had a starting price ranging from three million to five million magic coins. Selling these seven Servant-class Soul Essences in a bustling hub like Whale Sea Capital would easily fetch no less than twenty-five million in liquid cash!
And that violet Warrior-class Soul Essence?
That was an invaluable strategic commodity that money often could not buy! Even century-old noble clans and expeditionary battle corps fought tooth and nail in private auctions to obtain one. The market price of a complete Warrior-class Soul Essence never dipped below twenty million coins. Given the rare traits of the Dreadwing Frenzy Wolf—possessing both superior Wind-element speed and formidable bone armor—its valuation could easily soar to thirty, or even forty million magic coins!
Tallying all the soul treasures floating within the Primordial Dragon Pendant: seven Servant-class Soul Essences and one Warrior-class Soul Essence... Their total real-market value converted to magic coins was no less than sixty million coins!
Sixty million magic coins!
A monumental fortune capable of turning any mid-tier noble clan green with envy!
The five-million-coin bounty awarded to him this afternoon by the City Mayor was already an unimaginable fortune for a humble working-class family like his. But set beside the soul treasury inside the Dragon Pendant, five million was a mere drop in the vast ocean. If one liquidated all of the Ling Clan’s real estate and mana stone mines accumulated over decades in Bo’an before the beast tide leveled them, their entire net worth would pale before the soul hoard resting in the breast pocket of a sixteen-year-old youth!
If Lin Feng cashed in these soul essences, he and his family could instantly join the ranks of the magical elite, living in ultimate luxury in any prosperous metropolis across Shenzhou. His father would never again have to bow his head hauling freight carts; Xiao Mo could be admitted to the empire’s premier magical hospitals to receive the most exorbitant meridian-repairing elixirs...
Yet the thought of selling them had barely surfaced before Lin Feng ruthlessly crushed it without hesitation.
Sell them?
That was the mentality of the mediocre, the complacent, and the shortsighted!
Lin Feng recalled the venomous, resentful glare of Ling Zhuofeng sitting in the shadows of the dais this afternoon. Though the old fox had lost his Bo’an enterprise, the Ling Clan’s northern lineage remained a colossal behemoth guarded by numerous Advanced and Super Mages. He recalled the crazed, sinister smirk of the traitor Lu Yuan before lightning struck him dead; he recalled the grim phantom of the Nether Cult lurking in the dark, thirsting for vengeance.
And above all, he remembered that hair-raising moment at the South Street intersection when the razor-sharp talons of the Dreadwing Frenzy Wolf were barely half an inch from his chest! Had he not leveraged the terrain and unleashed that timely, explosive lightning strike, he would be a corpse rotting under the rubble right now!
Wealth could never buy life before the claws of demons.
Wealth could never protect one’s family against the ruthless machinations of those wielding absolute power!
A weak Primary Mage holding such unfathomable wealth was like a toddler clutching gold bullion in a lawless night market. Sooner or later, he would be devoured alive, bones and all, by stronger predators!
Only personal power! Only converting this entire treasury into his own actual mana and cultivation realm—forging it into an iron fist to obliterate all enemies—was the bedrock truth of survival!
“The Intermediate Bottleneck...”
Lin Feng murmured, his gaze turning razor-sharp and resolute, like a blade unsheathed from its scabbard.
Over three months had passed since his Lightning Stardust and Fire Stardust reached the peak of Primary Tier 3. All seven Lightning Stars shone brilliantly like violet diamonds; all seven Fire Stars blazed like eternal embers. Yet no matter how diligently he meditated through the night, the stardust in his sea of consciousness could not expand by even a fraction of an inch.
An invisible membrane, sturdy as a thousand-year fortress wall, tightly sealed his spiritual domain.
The bottleneck barrier separating the Primary and Intermediate tiers!
In the magical world, ninety percent of mages were doomed to halt before this insurmountable wall for their entire lives. To shatter it, an ordinary mage needed three to five years of relentless cultivation to amass mana, or had to grit their teeth, borrowing tens of millions to purchase a vial of “Nebula Drop”—a rare magic elixir that increased the breakthrough success rate. Even with the aid of a Nebula Drop, success was far from guaranteed, hovering below fifty percent. If it failed, the stardust would suffer a violent backlash, knocking cultivation backward or even permanently damaging the spirit!
But Lin Feng did not have three or five years to wait!
Bo’an City was gone. He was about to escort his family to Whale Sea Capital—a thriving megacity teeming with hidden dragons and crouching tigers, where the empire’s most brilliant prodigies congregated. In that cutthroat realm, a Primary Mage was the bottom rung of the ladder, their fate entirely at the mercy of others!
He had to break through! Right here! Tonight!
Lin Feng drew a deep breath, his divine sense stirring at astonishing speed.
He lacked a Nebula Drop, but in his hands rested an energy source a hundred times purer and far more explosive: the Warrior-class Soul Essence of the Dreadwing Frenzy Wolf!
Ancient magical grimoires recorded that utilizing a Warrior-class Soul Essence to smash an Intermediate bottleneck was an act of sheer madness that no Primary Mage dared attempt. The soul origin of a Warrior beast was overwhelmingly violent; if a low-tier mage’s fragile spiritual sea could not endure that crushing pressure, it would instantly detonate, leaving them a mindless cripple or scattering their soul on the spot!
But Lin Feng possessed the ultimate trump card: the Primordial Dragon Pendant!
The ancient dragon breath had thoroughly purified every shred of malice, venom, and corruption from the Dreadwing Frenzy Wolf, refining it into the pristine, unadulterated quintessence of life and cosmic soul mana.
Furthermore, his heaven-sent Innate Dual Elements gifted him a spiritual sea far sturdier and a soul capacity vastly wider than any ordinary mage!
“Come to me!”
Lin Feng uttered a crisp, resolute command in his mind.
Atop the dragon pillar, the four emerald energy chains rattled with a resonant hum. The goose-egg-sized Warrior-class Soul Essence shuddered violently, broke free from the restraints, and transformed into a blazing violet shooting star tearing through the galactic night, plunging straight toward his divine consciousness!
BOOM!
Lin Feng’s intent instantly guided that violet beam of light back into his own sea of consciousness.
His spiritual space was currently as placid as a mirror-like lake, without a single ripple.
On the left flank, the Lightning Stardust with its seven violet stars revolved slowly, occasionally crackling with crisp sparks of electricity. On the right flank, the Fire Stardust with its seven crimson stars burned steadily like a roaring furnace. Both stardusts were swollen and distended to the utmost physical limit of the Primary Tier, trapped within a transparent, invisible cage. That barrier membrane was thick and dense, wrapping around the entire circumference of his sea of consciousness, sealing off all avenues of mana expansion like a wall of solid iron.
“Lightning element... Vanguard, breach the formation!”
Lin Feng did not hesitate for a moment, choosing his most explosive, aggressive magic element as the spearhead.
Guided by his iron will, the violet Warrior-class Soul Essence had barely entered his spiritual domain before his thoughts crushed it to pieces!
ROAAAR——!!
A torrential surge of deep violet energy erupted violently! Like an ancient frenzy dragon breaking free of millennial shackles, it roared and surged forward, slamming directly into the Lightning Stardust. The seven Lightning Stars instantly flared with unprecedented, blinding brilliance, madly guzzling the colossal life force unleashed by the Warrior-class Soul Essence.
Energy surged like a tidal deluge! Mana inside the Lightning Stardust swelled at a dizzying pace, filling every crevice in an instant, and then crashed savagely against the invisible barrier membrane!
Crack... Crack...
Agonizing pain surged from the deepest recesses of his soul, as though thousands of red-hot steel drills were boring relentlessly into Lin Feng’s every nerve!
The terrifying pressure of Warrior-class energy caused his entire spiritual space to violently quake. In the physical world, cold sweat soaked through his shirt, the blue veins on his forehead pulsed and throbbed, every muscle in his body tightened like drawn bowstrings, and his clamped lips bit down so hard that beads of salty, fresh blood seeped from the corner of his mouth!
Yet, the eyes of the youth within his spiritual sea blazed with an unyielding, unbreakable flame. He did not yield by even half an inch!
Marshaling every ounce of his remaining spiritual power, a thunderous roar erupted from the depths of his chest:
“BREAK FOR ME!!”
BOOM! RUMBLE——!!
Under Lin Feng’s manic drive, the entire flood of violet mana condensed into a gargantuan electric drill. Carrying the world-shattering might of the Dreadwing Frenzy Wolf overlord, it drove with pinpoint precision straight into the weakest point of the spiritual barrier!
A soul-shaking detonation resounded from the innermost depths of his spirit.
Across the surface of that millennium-old, unyielding barrier of the Intermediate bottleneck, a dazzling violet fissure abruptly ripped open, spider-webbing outward at terrifying speed...