Consuming Earths, Devouring Skies

Yan Zaizen looked at the egg. It was jet black, oval, and the size of a baseball. It had a hard-scaled shell that seemed like a dragon’s with creases forming hexagonal shapes. The shocking thing was that it had no soul fluctuation or life force. It was a dead egg.

"This is...?" Curiosity overwhelmed his previous pain and exhaustion. His heavenly, soul, and dao energy receded back into his body, allowing him to regain his original appearance outside of a little paleness.

"This is my daughter; this is your daughter." Her words were matter-of-fact.

"...my daughter?" Frowning, Yan Zaizen felt a headache. He was slightly looking forward to a physical relationship when he saw Saphira transform into a human, after all - he was a male. Even if Pinaka occupied his heart, that didn’t mean he didn’t have thoughts of others. In fact, he would dream of the day he claimed a body for her and the things he would do.

’Hehe.’

His mind wandered slightly as he refocused, "it’s a dead egg?" Even if he placed a portion of his soul, cleansed or not, it would still be a dead egg. Instilling lifeforce into it wouldn’t change much.

The lifeforce that a newborn child requires is far from standard lifeforce. It is an intermixing of soul, life, yin and yang, blood, bone, flesh, growth, decay, the five elements, lightning, and various other laws to produce something called a Natal Force. A unique lifeforce produced by mothers, bestowed upon their child during childbirth. It’s why giving birth to a new body was incomparably difficult.

Even Yri couldn’t avoid this. Her fresh body was likely a clone of herself, which meant, by all purposes, she gave birth to herself. If not, the alignment of the body and its growth would be incomplete and hellish, inducing all sorts of soul, life, yin-yang, or the other myriad laws mutations.

This was how mutants were created.

Saphira seemed to see through Yan Zaizen’s thoughts as she asked, "Have you found something odd about my demeanor? My disposition, my voice, or aura?"

Yan Zaizen immediately inspected her again to realize that she had a very maternal disposition. He had noticed it before, and it was why he thought she was the All-Immortal Dragon. A being who he thought carried a child to term for tens of billions of years, constantly nourishing it and thereby changing on a fundamental level.

"You’ve been nourishing Natal Force?" Yan Zaizen inquired. To nourish Natal Force in herself, long enough to change her aura and disposition, Yan Zaizen couldn’t help but feel some praise in his heart. It was like having a mental parasite constantly influencing who you were and your actions. You would act like a mother even though you weren’t with child by instinct alone.

If she did, it made sense why she was deemed by a Seer to be in a weakened state. All her energy would be devoted and imbued within that Natal Force, causing a severe deficiency of her own strength.

Saphira replied with a slight nod. She had indeed nourish Natal Force and not just any normal type, but one that could give life to a dragon. Unfortunately, a dragon, especially an All-Immortal Dragon, was different. It was exceptionally difficult to give birth.

That’s not completely true. It was difficult to give birth for second generation All-Immortal Dragons. They were a combination of a Yaoguai, All-Father Dragon, Lord of Dragons, and another existence. Their mother didn’t have the Lord of Dragons or the other existence inherent in their bodies.

"The All-Immortal Dragon’s are a flawed race with a large hindrance to their development. If we weren’t in the Third Heavenly Origin Grounds, perhaps this could’ve been corrected. Unfortunately, we are, and therefore, we can’t give birth to new souls." Saphira explained.

’A flawed race?’ Yan Zaizen mused at the true meaning behind it and why the Heavenly Origin Grounds was the cause. He felt that there was a huge piece missing in the puzzle. As he pondered, he couldn’t help but think why they didn’t just leave the Third Heavenly Origin Grounds. Wouldn’t that be easier?

"The Third Heavenly Origin Grounds is a prison. There are reasons, but I’m sure I can’t tell you why without shifting your fate and...causing you to experience ’that’ again. Unless you..." Saphira said, a teasing curl formed at her lips.

"No, no! I’m fine. I’ll find out one day." Yan Zaizen felt his forehead grow wet with sweat. He may not like his fate being decided, but he much rather not deal with that experience again.

"Now you’re learning. With due time, as long as you survive your...upcoming challenges, you’ll find out all." Her words alluded to greater hands at work, and even to a challenge. Yan Zaizen knew she referred to the Three Trials she mentioned earlier, but as she swore an oath not to go into more detail, he remained silent.

However, the thought couldn’t help but emerge, "Why do I have to face three trials? Are they predestined or generalized? Did a Seer once say this?" These thoughts confused him, but he still knew better than to ask.

"Why my soul?" Finally, he decided to ask this. His soul had too many unique aspects about it, and he wanted to know why him specifically.

"You’ve established your Demi-Mortal Soul, the only person in the entire Third Heavenly Origin Grounds. Only a Demi-Mortal Soul can separate a portion of their Soul Source and give birth to a new soul, without flaws. I emphasize: ’without flaws.’" Explaining curtly, Saphira seemed to become somewhat distracted as she looked to her left. Yan Zaizen subconsciously looked there and saw or sensed nothing.

"This Demi-Mortal Soul, is it my Paragon Soul Realm?" He inquired.

Saphira nodded, somewhat absentmindedly. "The Soul Source Path is one of the Nine Immemorial Paths, it involves developing a Mortal Soul to its peak, then developing a Demi-Mortal Soul, transitioning to a Demigod Soul to a complete Soul of God." She explained. That being said, as a Yaoguai with a Celestial Bloodline, she couldn’t cultivate this path.

"Nine Immemorial Paths?" He frowned. This was the first time he had ever heard of this.

"You know of some, Fiendgod, Essence(Energy), Soul Source, Infernal, Heavenly, Celestial..." she didn’t continue. She looked away from her left to Yan Zaizen and frowned slightly. Sighing, she shook her head. "You truly have too many restrictions on what you can and can not know, it’s somewhat ridiculous." Her frustration was evident, but Yan Zaizen was also frustrated and more so than her.

He wanted to know, but for some reason, something felt that if he knew ahead of when he should, he would die without a doubt. He didn’t understand the reasoning, but he did feel that it had good intentions, or at least, its intent is to keep him alive. To him, that’s good intent.

"Your ’Paragon’ Soul Realm is just your Demi-Mortal Soul. By severing a portion of your Soul Source and cleansing it, with my Natal Force, we can give birth to my daughter, your daughter, a complete and whole child without flaws. It’ll cost you something to do so, but it won’t be too lasting."

Yan Zaizen calmed himself down and stared directly at Saphira. "Then, I want to ask, why would I agree?"

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