CHAPTER 299: CHAPTER 299: THE SOUL OF THE SKELETON DRAGON, EXPLORING THE DRAGON’S LAIR

The pool wasn’t very big, just about a hundred meters in size. The Map of Heaven and Earth could easily swallow it.

"Okay, let’s put this pool into the Map of Heaven and Earth." Johnnie thought, and then the Map of Heaven and Earth opened. Coco took control and quickly pulled the whole pool inside.

Hum...

The space around them trembled. The mist suddenly disappeared, and the world became clear again.

But just a second later, the mist from the distance gathered again, and everything turned into a thick fog once more.

Johnnie didn’t care. He thought about it and stepped into the Map of Heaven and Earth.

At that moment, Coco had already moved the pool under the Undead Tree.

Everyone gathered around with curiosity.

Cecilia carefully took out the dragon egg and put it into the pool.

Hum!

A strong energy surged, rushing into the dragon egg in an instant.

"Looks like it works." Johnnie could clearly feel the Life Force inside the egg becoming stronger and growing faster.

But soon, all the energy in the pool was completely taken, and the water became clear and normal, just like any other lake.

"So fast?" The Red Carp was surprised. She could feel how much energy was in the pool. Even if she used all her strength, it should have taken at least three days. But in just a few minutes, the energy was all gone.

Coco said."This must be a dragon pool. There was a strong dragon here before, which is why it has so much dragon power. But the return-to-ancestor Celestial Dragon is too strong. It swallowed all that energy easily."

Johnnie nodded, thinking about the skeleton dragon. It must have been training in this pool, and that’s why it turned into a skeleton dragon after death.

"Johnnie, are there more pools like this? This little one still wants more." Cecilia said, gently touching the dragon egg in her arms, her face full of love.

Johnnie felt a little jealous.

It wasn’t just Cecilia who cared about the dragon egg — the little thing was also getting more attached to her.

"There should be more." he thought, remembering the mist in the Dragon’s Lair. It seemed to come from this pool.

The whole Dragon’s Lair was covered in mist, so there must be more dragon pools around.

"Let’s go, we should leave." he decided, no longer staying in the Map of Heaven and Earth.

"Johnnie, can I come with you?" Bellina quickly asked, looking at him with a sad and pitiful face.

"I want to go out too." Finn added quickly.

Since Johnnie saved them, they had been stuck inside the Map of Heaven and Earth for a long time. They were all feeling bored.

"No way." Johnnie said firmly. "I’m still in the Dragon’s Lair. It’s full of Divine Powerhouses. You two would be too dangerous out there."

The Dragon’s Lair was full of strong enemies, and he couldn’t protect them all. Plus, if they died here, there was no law to protect them — they might be completely destroyed.

"Okay." Bellina said, a little disappointed.

"Benz, you should stay here too." Johnnie said, looking at Benz.

Benz was strong, but even he couldn’t stand up to a Domain.

He left the Map of Heaven and Earth with Nalorin Sylvia and The Red Carp, returning to the Dragon’s Lair.

Huh...

The surroundings were still covered in thick mist, and both his vision and spirit power were greatly affected.

Johnnie thought for a moment, took out the Induction Compass, but it still didn’t react.

He was confused. Had Douglas not entered the Dragon’s Lair? Or was the Dragon’s Lair too big, beyond the compass’s range?

If Douglas hadn’t come in, then what was the point of his mission in the Dragon Pulse Realm?

Johnnie couldn’t figure it out.

"Master, there seems to be a dragon spirit ahead." The Red Carp said after sensing carefully.

Johnnie put the compass away and looked ahead into the thick white mist, but he didn’t feel anything.

"Lead the way." he said.

The Red Carp nodded and led the two of them through the mist.

The mist around them got thicker and thicker, and the pressure on their spirit power became stronger.

Soon, another pool appeared in the mist. It was calm and still, its surface as smooth as a mirror.

But Johnnie could clearly feel a strong dragon power hidden within it.

There must be another skeleton dragon hiding here.

"I’ll take care of it." Nalorin Sylvia said, then jumped into the air. A sharp blade flashed, slicing through the air toward the pool.

Boom!

A loud explosion shook the water, and a deep dragon roar echoed through the air. A terrifying skeleton dragon shot out from the pool, and without any words, it charged straight at Nalorin Sylvia.

Whoosh!

A storm of wind blades swept through the air, rippling the atmosphere.

This was a powerful skeleton dragon that controlled the wind element.

Boom boom...

In an instant, the ice shield in front of Nalorin Sylvia shattered, and hundreds of wind blades flew toward her.

"Wow, it’s strong!" Her face turned serious, and she quickly called out to Johnnie: "Master, this one is too strong. I can’t beat it alone."

Before she even finished speaking, Johnnie had already summoned the Seven Swords and rushed toward the skeleton dragon.

Clang clang...

The sound of swords clashing echoed around.

Johnnie frowned. His flying sword attacks couldn’t break through the dragon’s defense, and neither the poison effect nor the Instant Kill worked.

Crack!

Suddenly, a purple lightning bolt, mixed with a sword beam, struck the dragon’s head.

-463,474,300

Over four hundred million damage!

Johnnie’s eyes lit up. This was a tenfold damage from the Heavenly Tribulation. That meant this dragon was an evil being.

"Roar!"

A painful dragon cry echoed through the air. The soul fire in its eye sockets dimmed slightly.

The power of Heavenly Tribulation wasn’t just about damage — it was about destruction and soul damage.

Johnnie’s eyes widened. This skeleton dragon was strong and strange. It was immune to poison and Instant Kill effects, but Heavenly Tribulation was a deadly threat to it.

"Myriad Sword Technique!" He thought, and the Sword Intention around him roared. A thousand sword beams flashed, surrounding the dragon.

Clang clang...

The sound of swords crashing continued, but the dragon’s defense still held. However, the Heavenly Tribulation attacks were doing real damage.

The Nine Heavens Tribulation Lightning kept triggering, and lightning bolts crashed down one after another.

The skeleton dragon howled in pain, and the soul fire in its eye sockets grew dimmer and dimmer.

Within just a few seconds, hundreds of lightning bolts struck down.

Boom!

The massive body of the dragon crashed to the ground, the mist around it exploded, and its presence vanished completely.

[Ding, you killed the skeleton dragon. Experience +36 million, Four Basic Attributes +10,000]

[God-Killing Power activated. Your own attributes permanently increased by 10%]

The prompt messages flashed. This dragon was also a Half-God-level enemy, and an elite one at that.

Johnnie’s own stats got a big boost again. And if things kept going like this, he’d soon reach Stage 6, Level 10 and unlock a class advancement.

Bzzz!

At that moment, a pure soul power floated out.

It wasn’t the dragon’s divine soul — just regular soul power.

Johnnie’s heart jumped. He quickly grabbed it with his mind.

[Dragon Soul: A soul without consciousness. Can be directly refined to increase Soul Intensity and mental power.]

It could be refined directly!

Johnnie felt excited. He thought back to the two azure dragons and the red dragon he had killed before — they probably had also killed skeleton dragons and collected their souls.

"Refine it." he said and chose to refine it.

Bzzz!

A pure soul power flowed into his mind. Johnnie felt his head clear up, and another prompt message appeared.

[You refined the skeleton dragon’s soul. Soul Intensity +10,000, Mental Power +100]

Johnnie’s eyes lit up. This soul had given a huge boost — not only 10,000 Soul Intensity, but also 100 Mental Power.

At this moment, his mental range increased by about a meter. That was because of the mist blocking his mental sensing.

If there were no mist, his mental range could have expanded by a hundred meters!

This was a huge boost for him, especially for the Myriad Sword Technique, which relied on mental power for attack range and the number of flying swords he could control.

"Okay, Coco, take this pool into the Map of Heaven and Earth." Johnnie thought. The Map of Heaven and Earth opened, and both the dragon’s body and the pool were pulled inside.

The dragon egg could absorb the power from the dragon pool, speeding up its development.

"Master, your Heavenly Tribulation power is really strong." The Red Carp said in surprise. She had used Heavenly Tribulation before, and she could feel how powerful the Nine Heavens Tribulation Lightning Johnnie was using was — it wasn’t any weaker than the ones used by true gods.

The scariest part wasn’t just one or two — when he used the Myriad Sword Technique, dozens of Heavenly Tribulations could be triggered. Even a Half-God wouldn’t be able to survive. Even a Lesser God would probably get hurt under such an attack.

Johnnie smiled and said."Let’s go. Keep looking for more dragon pools."

The dragon pools helped the egg grow, and the dragon souls increased his Soul Intensity and mental power. Both were very helpful to him.

The Red Carp nodded, and the three of them continued wandering through the mist.

Soon, they found another dragon pool, with the massive body of a skeleton dragon nearby.

It was clear that this dragon had already been killed, and the mist around it had also gotten much thinner.

It seemed that when a skeleton dragon died, the mist near the pool would disappear.

"Master, this looks like Pitiless’ style." Nalorin Sylvia said, looking at the sword marks on the dragon’s body, her voice full of concern.

There were still traces of ice power around, and the dragon’s body was covered in sword cuts. Its skull had a huge crack — clearly, it had been pierced through by one powerful strike.

"Did this woman also enter the Dragon’s Lair?" Johnnie frowned.

Pitiless had been chasing him all along, and she was a Core God. Even though Johnnie had gotten stronger, he still wasn’t a match for her.

The last time he used Heavenly Tribulation, Pitiless had tried to kill him — but he didn’t think she was helping.

Pitiless couldn’t survive a Core God’s Heavenly Tribulation. The only way to end it was to kill him.

"Let’s go. Keep looking for more dragon pools." Johnnie said, not wanting to think about it anymore. He collected the dragon’s body and the pool, then continued wandering through the mist.

This place was huge, still covered in mist, and the mist blocked mental sensing. It was unlikely they’d run into Pitiless here.

...

Without realizing it, Johnnie and the others had been wandering through the mist for three days. In that time, they had killed seven skeleton dragons, four dragon clan members, and one demon race Divine powerhouse. They also collected eleven dragon pools. His power, Soul Intensity, and mental strength had all improved a lot.

"Master, the mist around us is getting thinner." Nalorin Sylvia said in surprise. Now the mist was much lighter, and visibility had reached about a hundred meters. His mental sensing range had also improved a lot compared to before.

Johnnie nodded. "Probably because the skeleton dragons are being killed."