The one-hundred-and-eighth floor looked uncannily similar to Basil's Mindscape. It was a vast plain decorated with millions of purple hyacinths surrounding a massive apple blossom tree. It also had a simple yet elegant wooden house not far away from the tree. The path that connected her to the house made it even harder for her to think it was not her Mindscape.
"Asia," she called softly.
No answer could be heard, signifying that her connection with Asia had been cut off. She tried to connect herself with the Fragments inside her and she found that her connection with the first one had been temporarily blocked.
She hummed to herself in amazement and looked around. She was trying to find the only different thing that the space had from her Mindscape.
"I wonder where…oh? The Guide is still working."
Basil was surprised to find that the Guide answered her question. It wasn't her first time having her connection with her Mindscape severed; the Guide had never worked whenever it happened, which was why she was slightly surprised.
Walking to the east, in the direction that the Guide told her to go, she was slightly surprised when she found a pair of gigantic blue eyes staring at her from the sky. She could immediately feel the immense presence and overwhelming pressure, yet she kept walking.
Before long, she felt that the space had "ended." She could still move forward but she didn't feel that she should because she couldn't feel anything before her.
The eyes were still looking at her; still far in the sky yet she felt like they were right before her. Silence descended upon the space as they stared into each other's eyes and it was maintained for a few minutes.
"You reek of Gods. I hate it," a thunderous voice reverberated in the sky, breaking the silence. The eyes blinked and the voice continued, "That peculiar thing inside your body—I can't suppress its influence…. I wonder which Higher Being gave that to you."
Basil was aware that the voice was referring to the Guide but she remained silent. She still didn't know what was before her—the Guide didn't want to answer her—but she guessed that it was a creature that defied Gods, so she was being extremely careful.
"Those eyes…you…have gone through a lot, haven't you? Such a bewildering amount of distrust and questions in your eyes shouldn't be obtained the moment you were born," the voice remarked as the pupils of the gigantic blue eyes in the sky widened.
"Interesting…very interesting. You are not a God but you are as mature as one. You are a human but your body works differently from humans. What are you? …. Ah, so that is the case. A perfect vessel indeed."
Basil could feel the realization that dawned on the voice in its tone. It seemed to have understood her situation and she didn't bother to deny or acknowledge it.
In the next moment, the eyes in the sky disappeared. The space became deafeningly quiet for a few seconds before a gigantic creature like a snake with blue scales and a gigantic head appeared in the sky.
The gigantic snake had four feet: the first pair was close to its head meanwhile the second pair was close to its shining, white tail. It didn't have wings but it managed to stay afloat in the sky. Its long body swayed hypnotizingly yet its head remained unmoving. With its menacing blue eyes, it stared deep into Basil's eyes.
"My name is Qing Long, The Azure Dragon. I am the strongest of the Five Dragon Kings, the coward who watched his siblings die protecting him," the Mythical Dragon uttered thunderously.
"Are you not going to sympathize, Xiao Hou Xin? Was that not tear-inducing enough? What about mocking me for my cowardice? Don't you find it cowardly enough? Why do you keep silent, Xiao Hou Xin?"
The barrage of questions didn't budge Basil in the slightest. She kept looking at Qing Long with fascination in her eyes, carving every little detail of his appearance deeply in her mind.
"You seem to be more interested in my out-of-the-norm appearance rather than the fact that I am before you," Qing Long remarked.
Basil stopped observing Qing Long and cupped her hand. "Pardon me for my insolence, Venerable Dragon. Meeting you made me think that I never fought a true Dragon, so I was slightly overwhelmed by the embarrassment of calling myself a Dragon Killer."
"Hoh? You are not as arrogant as—"
"With that said, I don't care about what you have gone through. We all create the path of our lives by ourselves, so we should not seek someone's pity when misfortune decorates our path," Basil added, silencing Qing Long.
"…you are incomprehensible."
"I will like to say the same to you, Venerable Dragon. According to my knowledge, your anatomy is very different from the Dragons I have killed, which makes you incomprehensible."
"Hmph! What do you even know about Dragons? Have you ever killed a named Dragon?"
"Now that I know how powerful they truly are, I won't say I have defeated the real them; however, I have defeated the reconstructed Tiamat, Azhdaha, Leviathan and Vritra."
"Reconstructed…by who?"
"Dantalion."
"Hoh? It was that sneaky bastard. His mind is too bright for something that comes from the darkness." Qing Long nodded his head lightly. "You are talking about the past, aren't you?"
Basil said nothing and merely smiled. It was not a surprise that Qing Long could figure that out. Although he could only suppress one Fragment, it was already an incredible feat since it was part of a Divine Artefact that only Gods had.
Dragons were the only creatures that were born to defy the heavens. Gods feared them because they could grow stronger at an absurd rate. They weren't bound by the world's law. They could Ascend to Godhood as easy as Carving one's first Magic Circle.
They were brash and battle maniacs—which was why a lot of them died before they reached maturity. Those who managed to control their urge grew to be a powerful force that made Gods have difficulty sleeping at night.
It was only one conflict that triggered the great war between Gods and Dragons—Fafnir's unjust punishment. Countless fearsome Dragons were enraged; they attacked the Gods who still stayed in the mortal world at the time.
The war caused massive casualties on both sides. Gods were forced to move into a new realm—the Heavenly Throne—meanwhile Dragons were brought to the brink of extinction.
There were a few hundred years of peace after the great war; humans grew at a rapid pace, meanwhile, Dragons tried their best to find a way to restore their population. Demons came not long after, unfortunately bringing their age to an end.
Had it not been the case, humans wouldn't probably stop at being a Ninth Circle Mage or a Purple Core Knight. Dragons would let humans learn how to defy the heavens as they did.
"Now, let me ask you, Xiao Hou Xin. What is your true name?"
"Basil Pacifer."
Qing Long kept quiet for a while before smiling softly. "So, you are that guy's…heh. Interesting." Moving his head down, he stopped only after his muzzle was within Basil's reach. "I would like to run a trial on you but I know it will be useless. Therefore, touch my muzzle and become the 108th successor."
"What am I going to succeed?"
"My body and my army." Winking his eyes, he continued, "You will regain your true physique quicker and experience the might of having a Dragon Physique."
Basil looked at Qing Long sceptically and it made him snort in slight indignation.
"I have enjoyed more female humans than you, lad. Don't you look at me like that—I know what I am talking about."
Dragons also had a human form, so Qing Long felt the need to explain that. Basil already knew that, of course, and the reason why she looked at Qing Long like that was that she didn't expect him to be interested in such a matter.
Shaking her head faintly to discard the thought, Basil extended her hand and touched Qing Long's muzzle. His Qi entered her body immediately, tearing it apart and reconstructing it.
Blue light enveloped them as Qing Long's Qi entered Basil's brain. He imparted the knowledge he had regarding how to Ascend and how to Forge the Dragon Physique even further.
The space was deafeningly silent during the process. The brighter the light enveloping both of them, the faster the space that resembled Basil's Mindscape faded.
After some time, one could see nothing but a dark infinite space with one lonely blue star in its centre.
….
On the eighty-sixth floor of the Tower of Legacy, Chang Yu was standing before a mirror that was as tall as she was. Her gaze was fixated on it but her eyes were empty. Qi was faintly coming out of her body, going into the mirror that absorbed it. She had remained that way for two hours straight.
She wasn't possessed nor was she sleeping. She was undergoing the trial to obtain the Legacy that attracted her attention.
"Kuhak! Koff! Koff! Koff!"
She coughed up a mouthful of blood as she keeled over. She was thumping her chest as she coughed relentlessly as if she was trying to get something out of her chest.
Blob!
An arduous minute later, a mass of black viscous substance came out of her mouth and fell to the ground. She stopped coughing and thumping her chest before sighing in relief.
"Huh…that was tiring." She sat down and leaned on the wall. Turning to her left, she remarked in surprise, "The mirror has gone. I wonder if this means that I have passed the trial." Recalling what she had gotten, she smirked. "I guess I have. I can already master that, after all."
The Legacy that she had managed to obtain was a Dao. One would normally groan if they were given a Dao as a Legacy because it was not something that one should inherit…unless it was a special one.
Chang Yu was almost disappointed when she heard that she would only get a Dao. She had spent so much effort to climb that high, so it was very underwhelming; at least, until she heard the name of the Dao.
"Dao of Mirror. It allows me to mirror everything: appearance, attitude, manner, Cultivation, Techniques and even talents," she said with a giggle. "Though, I have to comprehend it further to be able to achieve those feats. Still, it's bloody amazing!"
Knock!
"Ouch! Hey, what are you…Sister Hou?"
Chang Yu blinked her eyes as she stared at the Goddess before her. Basil was already extremely beautiful before but she looked even more beautiful now. Simply calling her beautiful was even insulting to her appearance. Her perfection was indescribable by words.
"Let's get out of this boring place."
The Goddess commanded; thus, nod her head Chang Yu did.
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