The moment the dragon soul burst out, both Ye Liuyun and Qiong Qi were stunned.

Its soul was as solid as Ye Liuyun’s, but a single one of them was already bigger than the combined size of both their souls.

The terrifying soul pressure made the Myriad-God Token in Ye Liuyun’s sea of consciousness blaze with light, shielding him from the dragon’s might.

While ordering his two clones to pour their soul power into his own sea of consciousness, Ye Liuyun stepped forward and planted himself in front of Qiong Qi, blocking the pressure for him.

Qiong Qi’s whole body was shaking; under the dragon soul’s oppression he could barely stay upright. The instant Ye Liuyun blocked for him, the crushing weight on his soul lightened.

“This thing’s soul power is insane!”

Qiong Qi couldn’t help sending Ye Liuyun a mental grumble. He already wore a neckpiece that guarded against soul attacks, yet it still couldn’t stop something this strong.

But Qiong Qi knew Ye Liuyun possessed the Myriad-God Token; if the dragon soul dared attack him, no matter how powerful it was, it would die for sure.

The dragon soul hadn’t expected this human to be so odd—not only had the fire spirit failed to stop him, even its soul intimidation hadn’t fazed Ye Liuyun.

It was already considering that if this still couldn’t deal with him, it would have to strike directly at Ye Liuyun’s sea of consciousness.

“You’ve got some skill, human. But if I want you dead, it’s still effortless.”

Unsure how much soul power Ye Liuyun actually had, the dragon soul could only probe his reaction first before deciding.

Ye Liuyun didn’t want to turn hostile, so he didn’t talk tough; he simply explained, “Senior, this junior once received kindness from the Dragon Clan, so I’ve always respected them. There’s even a group of dragons living in my spatial world.

If senior is willing, I can send your soul back to the dragon clan—and your life-fire along with it.”

He had even thought of the dragon’s primal fire from its living days. If the dragon soul couldn’t bear to part with it, he wouldn’t force the issue; he’d simply fulfill its wish. He didn’t absolutely need that fire.

But the dragon soul took those words as a show of weakness, and the mention of dragons inside his spatial world as nothing more than bait.

“Hah! My soul may have slumbered here for tens of thousands of years, but I’m not stupid. Once I enter your spatial world, will I ever come out again? At that point, my life-fire will naturally end up yours!”

It didn’t believe anyone could be so noble—facing true-dragon life-fire yet remaining unmoved, even offering to escort it back to the dragon clan for free.

Ye Liuyun knew it wouldn’t believe him, so he said at once, “Senior can inspect the dragon breath the dragon patriarch left on me. I can also sign a soul contract guaranteeing everything I just said.”

“Tch, that scrap of dragon breath on you is nothing. Even if it came from a patriarch, it only proves their strength is pathetic.”

The dragon soul had already sensed the breath inside Ye Liuyun; it just hadn’t cared because it was too weak.

But its eyes slid sideways, and it added, “You can summon that patriarch and let it negotiate with me in person.”

It figured a dragoness’s body wouldn’t suit it even if it seized her; a male dragon’s would be far better. Then it could refine the dragoness’s body to strengthen its new flesh.

“Watch out—there’s trickery here!” Qiong Qi immediately sent a mental warning. “Not every dragon cares about protecting juniors.”

“Fine.” Ye Liuyun was on guard too, yet he agreed straight away.

He only added, “Senior must first sign a soul contract guaranteeing you won’t harm us; then I’ll release the patriarch.”

This dragon soul was too strong; he himself wasn’t afraid of its attacks, but the patriarch inside his spatial world was far weaker. If its soul were wiped out, he’d have no way to answer to the dragon clan.

“Huh? Some crap contract—I don’t believe in that. Are you bargaining with me? Don’t forget, your lives are in my hands right now! First release that true dragon in your grasp and show your sincerity. Otherwise, I’ll attack!”

Naturally the dragon soul refused any guarantee; it simply ramped up its soul pressure and threatened Ye Liuyun again.

“This thing has zero sincerity; it just wants to snatch a true-dragon body to restore itself. Just wipe it out!” Qiong Qi warned once more.

“Not yet—let me try again. I promised the dragons I’d do my best.” Ye Liuyun replied, then resumed negotiating.

“This junior absolutely means no offense. But before I release them, I must ensure their safety. Senior is currently in soul form; your attack speed is too fast for me to guarantee their lives.”“Actually, signing a soul contract isn’t that troublesome. If Senior is sincere—”

Before Ye Liuyun could finish, the dragon soul had already lost patience.

“Do you think I really don’t dare kill you?” It threatened again, then lunged straight at the Qiong Qi behind Ye Liuyun. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

The dragon soul still had some scruples about Ye Liuyun, so it planned to devour Qiong Qi’s soul first to strengthen itself.

The only reason its soul hadn’t dissipated was because it had swallowed the souls of many intruding martial cultivators.

Ye Liuyun had been watching for a sudden strike; the instant the dragon soul moved, he released five souls to besiege it.

Qiong Qi didn’t send out his own soul—he simply dived into the furnace to avoid being targeted.

The dragon soul never expected Ye Liuyun to unleash so many souls at once. Ordinary cultivators could cultivate two souls at most.

Not only were Ye Liuyun’s souls numerous, each was powerful—and every one could shapeshift. Using the Great Evolution Soul Art, he morphed all five into long ropes, trussing the dragon soul up like a rice-dumpling.

“Damned human, you dare lay hands on me!” With no hope of breaking free, the dragon soul could only hurl threats.

Ignoring them, Ye Liuyun asked, “Don’t you want to return to the Dragon Clan?”

“The so-called Dragon Clan you speak of? Hah! Those puny weaklings count as dragons? I am an ancient Draconis.” The soul sneered at the dragons Ye Liuyun mentioned.

Now captured and unable to resist, it said, “Bring those whelps to me. Find a Draconis’s body so I can restore my flesh and power—then I might consider accepting them.”

“Tch, courting death.” Qiong Qi clicked his tongue, hopped out of the furnace, and headed straight for the source of the flame.