Above The Sky
Chapter 1000 - 1000 101 This Time It Really Turned into a Dragon 5700_3

1000: Chapter 101 This Time It Really Turned into a Dragon (5700)_3 1000: Chapter 101 This Time It Really Turned into a Dragon (5700)_3 The dark silver giant shark raced forward like lightning, cutting through the increasingly vibrant nearshore waters of the Southern Sea, before diving straight towards a secret passageway deep in the open sea.

This was once a passage used by the Crystal Dragon to access the Great Labyrinth—a shortcut leading directly to the Crystal Lake.

Now, it served as Shasha’s homecoming entrance, where Ian and others, avoiding outside eyes, entered the hidden inner passage of the labyrinth.

“This is my first time here.”

Leaning against Shasha’s back, Elder Pude curiously stroked his beard as he took in the strange sights of the deep sea surroundings.

Due to the Great Storm’s origins and the labyrinth’s energy system overheating, much of the seabed in the area displayed eerie molten-solidified states.

These formations looked almost extraterrestrial, with rows of smooth, hexagonal pillars standing on the ocean floor.

As they moved deeper into the passage and closer to the interior of the Crystal Lake, this peculiar crystalline pattern became increasingly evident.

The dense natural primordial essence and Spirit Energy Field even caused the elder to furrow his brow in slight shock.

“The natural primordial essence here is nearly solidified… No wonder the labyrinth nurtures creatures like the Labyrinth Master, which far surpass ordinary Magical Beasts.

In an environment like this, even the most basic Tidal Fish Swarm could give rise to a Fish King approaching draconic levels, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Indeed.

Moreover, the primordial essence within the Crystal Lake is exceptionally pure.

Elder, if you ever find the time, you can bring Elan here to rest and train.”

Ian hadn’t recommended this place earlier to Elder Pude and Elan chiefly because the elder was busy at the time.

After the Redwood Natives’ defeat, as Viscount Grant’s deputy, he had much work to oversee.

Not to mention, nurturing health required a stable, ordinary environment rather than a highly concentrated primordial essence environment.

At that time, Elan hadn’t undergone formal training.

Recklessly entering an environment rich in primordial essence might have caused disruptions to his bodily functions.

Much like the Imperial Capital’s Upper City District, where even approaching the area could lead to fatal consequences for regular folk, while the Crystal Lake wasn’t as dangerous, it could easily turn benefits into irreversible harm.

However, now that Elan was capable of attaining the ‘Tranquility’ level of meditation, the Crystal Lake held nothing but benefits for him.

“I understand.”

The elder nodded gravely; he was well aware of these points.

“How wonderful it would be for us in Xiawei Territory to have an environment like this someday.”

Green Tide shared these sentiments, thinking how advantageous the lake’s surroundings would be for individuals at the Second Energy Level like himself.

Not only could it enhance the body’s adaptability to primordial essence, but it could also accelerate soul growth—a myriad of benefits without any drawbacks.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t like Elan, who would reside in Harrison Port for the long-term and could visit here frequently for cultivation.

“It’s not impossible.”

Ian pondered for a moment before realizing that Xiawei Territory indeed had a similar area: the bottom of Dazzling Lake.

Its depths held a high-energy environment resembling the Crystal Lake.

However, the lakebed was too confined and lacked the spacious cavern-like structure of the Crystal Lake.

Additionally, it required diving to a depth of a thousand meters, which made it inaccessible to ordinary people—only Sublimators could utilize it.

Once the Earthpulse Furnace research was completed, perhaps they could emulate the principles of the Sombre Crystal Engine to create artificial high-energy zones.

As the group shared their thoughts, Shasha arrived at the Crystal Lake.

Inside the Crystal Lake, everything remained exactly as Ian had left it.

Shasha had managed the area impeccably.

Shasha brought the group to the lake’s shore, while Ian headed directly for the central Crystal Island.

He was determined to examine the suspected source of crystallization affecting both Elan and Shasha—the Crystal Dragon Egg—and to uncover what had transpired with it.

Situated at the center of Crystal Island, the egg was initially the size of a human head.

After being continuously catalyzed by the Spirit Energy Field surrounding the Crystal Lake, it had now grown to half the size of a person.

The egg resembled a massive diamond composed of countless structured crystals, with thousands of glimmering facets absorbing every glint of light from its surroundings and radiating a mellow and pure brilliance outward.

The egg’s shell bore visible cracks.

As Shasha had mentioned, it had hatched.

However, despite this, the Little Crystal Dragon hadn’t left the egg and remained in a “not fully emerged” state.

Nonetheless, its vitality showed no signs of decline.

On the contrary, it grew stronger with time.

Silver-blue eyes gleamed faintly.

[Aether Crystalline Dragon Egg]

[First Energy Level · Variant Species · Keystone · Edible]

[One of three eggs produced through the final life-force of the Aether Crystalline Dragon as it reached its perfected form, surpassing all expectations of its creators]

[As the only flawless egg of the three, it was meant to hatch naturally into the first naturally-nurtured Aether Crystalline Dragon.

However, due to contamination by the Worm Nest, it underwent peculiar changes, developing a soul before birth and establishing a profound link with its siblings, meant to perish prematurely.

This has led to indescribable transformations]

[The egg has hatched, but its complete emergence requires one final step]

[Contained Primordial Essence: 2853.1391 baseline units]

[…]

“Hmm?”

Ian raised an eyebrow in surprise.

The egg’s anomaly was something he had long known about, as was the contamination—or rather, transformation—caused by the Worm Nest.

Given the Worm Nest’s longstanding feud with the Crystal Dragons, Ian had never doubted its effort to develop countermeasures.

The Worm Nest’s approach to the Crystal Dragon could be summed up as: “If I can’t defeat you, surely I can handle your offspring?”—their direct and efficient contamination methods targeted the eggs powerfully.

Even the purifying force of the dying Aether Crystalline Dragon couldn’t entirely eliminate these anomalies.

The two eggs taken by Master Gossay were catastrophically affected.

Recognizing this, Ian deliberately designated those two eggs as task objectives, reserving the flawless egg for himself.

But now, it appeared that the connection between the eggs exceeded Ian’s expectations.

Even the seemingly perfect egg retained some residual “side effects.”

Of course, such effects might not necessarily be harmful.

In certain respects, introducing external influences could accelerate evolution for inherently adaptive and mutable species like the Crystal Dragon.

“Fascinating.”

Ian thought back to the ‘Three-Headed Crystal Dragon’ that had emerged from the Dao Path of the Swarm in the ocean and narrowed his eyes.

“Could it be that the creation of the Three-Headed Crystal Dragon wasn’t just my whimsical experiment but an inevitable outcome?”

“So, the three eggs, affected by the Worm Swarm, are essentially interconnected as one entity, rather than separate beings… Does this mean they must hatch together as a unified whole?”

“The egg I currently possess hasn’t completely hatched because the transcendent bond between the three eggs prevents its full maturation before the other two hatch?”

This was merely conjecture, and Ian sensed it might not be entirely accurate.

Such an explanation didn’t account for the changes affecting Shasha and Elan.

The relationship among the three eggs was likely simpler than he assumed.

Overanalyzing wouldn’t help.

Ian approached the egg directly, extending his hand to touch its surface.

In that instant, he was met with a sensation akin to joyous celebration.

A feeling of invitation.

And… an expectation for guidance.

It was like an innocent newborn beast, or a machine newly activated yet without any instructions—unaware of how to eat or breathe—remaining trapped within a shell even after growth, awaiting the arrival of its ‘Instructor.’

Awaiting the one who would teach it how to ‘exist.’

How to become ‘alive.’

Ian was to be its ‘Instructor.’

Its… [Parent].

“How should I teach you?”

Ian asked aloud.

And then, he received an answer.

——By demonstration, of course.

——Using another body.

At that moment, Ian felt an invitation toward his spirit—a sensation similar to when he accessed the labyrinth’s authority to descend into Shasha, the ‘Acting Master of the Labyrinth.’ Suddenly, his soul gained another perspective.

“Another body… interesting.”

Confirming no immediate danger, Ian grew intrigued.

“Alright, let’s give it a try.”

He then channeled his consciousness into this new perspective.

Everything went black.

And when Ian reopened his eyes.

Ian found himself transformed into a dragon.