Formless Cloud! Dragon of No Form! The Cloud encompasses all things! Dragon of Devouring! This cultivation method demands the attribute of Cloud.

In truth, when Taishi Kong first encountered this manual in an ancient ruin, he was profoundly shocked. To be capable of devouring and consuming everything—wasn't that the characteristic of the Progenitor Dragon? Legends claimed the Progenitor Dragon could directly swallow an entire Great Thousand World; and a Great Thousand World is not a Minor Thousand World, but one composed of tens of thousands of Minor Thousand Worlds. To think the Progenitor Dragon could consume them all in a single breath attested to its immense prestige. Could it be that he had obtained the Progenitor Dragon’s cultivation method back then? However, further deduction revealed it wasn't quite the case; although this manual was formidable, repeated, meticulous analysis showed little connection to the Progenitor Dragon. There were times Taishi Kong himself contemplated switching to this method, but considering the Formless Dragon and the seven Devouring Dragons, all of which were exceedingly difficult to cultivate, and given that this was merely an incomplete copy, he ultimately gave up the thought.

Now, Lu Yuan has chosen this cultivation method.

The Formless Devouring Art!

Lu Yuan hadn't considered such complexities. He simply felt this manual suited him perfectly. Since it was suitable, he would practice it. Lu Yuan was inherently a man who went with the flow.

In the Formless Devouring Art, the Formless Dragon merely establishes the foundation for this minor technique.

Right now, he needed to first coalesce the Formless Dragon.

Taishi Kong said, "I studied the Formless Devouring Art extensively myself long ago. The first step requires manifesting the cloud attribute into seven distinct properties, which you have already achieved. What you lack now is the final step: coalescing the Formless Dragon. To achieve this, you require the True Dragon Souls of various types." "The Formless Dragon can simulate any dragon, and thus requires the True Dragon Souls of all dragons. What you currently lack are these True Dragon Souls."

"To coalesce the Formless Dragon, you need forty-nine Gold Dragon Souls, forty-nine Wood Dragon Souls, forty-nine Water Dragon Souls, forty-nine Fire Dragon Souls, forty-nine Earth Dragon Souls, forty-nine Wind Dragon Souls, and forty-nine Thunder Dragon Souls—a total of three hundred and forty-three True Dragon Souls. With these three hundred and forty-three True Dragon Souls, you can coalesce the Formless Dragon and complete the first stage of the Formless Devouring Art," Taishi Kong explained.

Lu Yuan was just about to mention that he possessed quite a few True Dragon Souls, but upon hearing the requirement of three hundred and forty-three, he immediately clamped his mouth shut. He still had a long way to go. He couldn't help but ask, "Then where in Sword Gate does one find True Dragon Souls?"

Taishi Kong replied, "On this star, there is a Dragon Hunting Sea. Check your identity jade token." Hearing this, Lu Yuan immediately sent his divine sense into the token. On the map displayed on the identity jade token, a Dragon Hunting Sea was indeed marked, though it was quite a distance from the Mount of Emptiness.

Taishi Kong continued, "And within the Dragon Hunting Sea, numerous dragons are active."

"You will hunt True Dragon Souls there. However, hunting dragons in the Dragon Hunting Sea is no simple task. It’s not that the Dragon Hunting Sea itself is unusually ferocious; most dragons there have not yet reached the Cave Void Realm and are mostly at the seventh or eighth level of the Great Dao Realm. With your strength, you can handle them. Even if you encounter a rare tenth-level Great Dao Realm dragon, you should be able to escape. Given how vast the Dragon Hunting Sea is, you are unlikely to run into much true danger." "The complication is that many core disciples of Sword Gate are present in the Dragon Hunting Sea, including tenth-level Great Dao Realm core disciples like Xuanyuan Ling and Xiahou You. They also frequent the Dragon Hunting Sea because, after all, few cultivate Buddhist cultivation methods; hence, dragon-based and immortal-based methods are the most popular." "Once dragon-based cultivation methods reach the seventh level of the Dao Path Realm, cultivators must seize True Dragon Souls to advance. But it is common for general cultivation methods not to have established a firm foundation even at the tenth level of the Great Dao Realm." "Therefore, you are highly likely to encounter competitors at the tenth level of the Great Dao Realm," Taishi Kong stated.

Lu Yuan stood suspended in the air on his sword. Before him stretched an enormous ocean, an almost endless expanse of water. The blue sky reflected upon the azure sea, where rhythmic waves crashed against the rocks on the shore, rising and falling unpredictably. Suddenly, the tide surged! The turbulent waters, wave pushing wave, a line of foamy white surf rushed forward, their roar like thunder, their momentum like a thousand charging steeds. The sea instantly transformed into an endless battlefield. The sea breeze shrieked like a sharp 'horn'; the waves seemed like thousands of valiant soldiers fiercely assaulting the coast.

Within the surging tide, a green True Dragon swam freely through the water, its body twisting and turning, stirring up wind and cloud.

The True Dragon danced! The waves grew larger! The tide swelled! The currents moved with the dragon’s dance!

Lu Yuan smiled faintly and instantly appeared beside the True Dragon. He pressed one palm down, immediately grasping the dragon firmly in his hand. He activated the incantation for extracting the True Dragon Soul and seized the soul in his hand—a green True Dragon Soul, emerald green, exactly like the one he obtained from Fu Chongtian’s dragon carving. Right, he had acquired sixteen green True Dragon Souls from his battle with Fu Chong. If he acquired one more now, the Wood element True Dragon Souls would only lack thirty-three.

Of course, after extracting the True Dragon Soul, he immediately took out a pill and administered it. This was a Substitute Soul Pill, rumored to be very popular in the Central Heavenly Dynasty. Dragons possess one spirit and one soul; taking a soul results in death. Since the Central Heavenly Dynasty required numerous dragons for cultivation, indiscriminate slaughter was unsustainable. Thus, the Substitute Soul Pill was invented. After extracting the True Dragon Soul, if the pill is consumed, the dragon will not die. A dragon that has taken the Substitute Soul Pill can recover that missing soul in about a hundred years, returning to its original state. Of course, if it is captured again, it’s simply bad luck running out.

The first True Dragon Soul was obtained surprisingly smoothly?

Lu Yuan continued his search for other True Dragon Souls. The Dragon Hunting Sea was practically boundless, and the dragons within were numerous; finding a dragon wasn't difficult. Lu Yuan rapidly collected various True Dragon Souls. However, while gathering these souls, he noticed he hardly encountered any Gold Dragons!

Dragons of the other six elements were common, so why were there no Gold Dragon Souls?

By now, he had gathered over a hundred True Dragon Souls. Combined with his original one hundred and twenty-five, he now possessed over two hundred True Dragon Souls, not too far from the three hundred required. To cultivate the Formless Dragon required three hundred and forty-three in total. The gap wasn't significant.

But why hadn't he encountered a single Gold Dragon? His collection for the other six elements was nearly complete, yet not a single Gold Dragon Soul. This was frustrating, as cultivating the Formless Dragon demanded forty-nine Gold Dragon Souls.

One day, the sky was brilliantly blue. Lu Yuan stretched his shoulders, realizing he had been lingering in the Dragon Hunting Sea for quite some time.

At this moment, Lu Yuan was reclining on the back of a Dragon Whale, drinking wine and basking in the sun. The Dragon Hunting Sea was nothing but endless water, without a single island. Life in the Dragon Hunting Sea was somewhat tedious, but having wine company made the boredom bearable. As he took another swig of wine, he noticed a streak of sword light passing ahead. Huh, isn’t that Senior Brother Zhou Nuchi?

"Huh, Junior Brother." Zhou Nuchi saw Lu Yuan and lowered his sword light, landing on the sea surface to greet him.

"Senior Brother Zhou also came here to hunt dragons?" Lu Yuan asked with a smile.

Zhou Nuchi replied, "Yes. I cultivate the Ancient Divine Dragon Art taught by my master. The foundation establishment for the Ancient Divine Dragon Art requires one hundred and fifteen True Dragon Souls." This highlighted the difficulty of Lu Yuan’s chosen technique; the Ancient Divine Dragon Art only needed one hundred and fifteen True Dragon Souls, whereas Lu Yuan’s Formless Devouring Art required three hundred and forty-three. However, the ultimate power difference between the two arts was vast.

Lu Yuan couldn't help but pause: "Senior Brother Zhou, you are now at the ninth level of the Great Dao Realm. Since reaching the seventh level, you must have had at least a few decades, right? You haven't even collected one hundred and fifteen True Dragon Souls yet?" Lu Yuan was genuinely curious. With decades of time, he should have been able to gather any type of True Dragon Soul.

Zhou Nuchi let out a wry laugh, "Junior Brother, the foundation establishment of my Ancient Divine Dragon Art requires eighteen Gold Dragon Souls."

"Oh, speaking of which, why are Gold Dragon Souls so scarce? I haven't encountered a single Gold Dragon yet," Lu Yuan voiced his long-held query.

Zhou Nuchi explained, "In this Dragon Hunting Sea, the True Dragons of the other six elements are completely available, but Gold Dragons are exceedingly rare. In fact, it’s not just the Dragon Hunting Sea; throughout the entire Central Heavenly Dynasty, Gold Dragons are incredibly rare. The Gold Dragon is the most noble of all dragons. It is said the Gold Dragon represents supreme majesty; the Gold Dragon represents the Emperor, the Sovereign, the Heavens." "So, Gold Dragons are few to the point of scarcity."

"And what everyone fights for in the Dragon Hunting Sea is truly the Gold Dragons. Currently, among the eight eighth-level Great Dao Realm figures in Sword Gate, the ones universally considered stronger than you are Xuanyuan Ling, Ye Jifa, and Du Guhao, disciples under Supreme Venerable Xuanyuan. Then there are Baili Bing under Supreme Venerable Baili, Shangguan Sha under Supreme Venerable Shangguan, Gongyang Hao under Supreme Venerable Gongyang, Dongye Liang under Supreme Venerable Dongye, and Xiahou You under Supreme Venerable Xiahou. These eight are all hunting Gold Dragons here. Some of them don't cultivate dragon-based methods, but they come to hunt Gold Dragons on behalf of their fellow disciples, as everyone needs True Dragon Souls for their foundational cultivation. Even if they don't need them, a captured Gold Dragon Soul can be sold for a high price." "Gold Dragons are naturally few, and once one appears, with these eight present, there are no other Gold Dragon Souls to be found," Zhou Nuchi said with a bitter smile. "I've only been lucky enough to encounter a few before those eight arrived and managed to subdue them, acquiring several Gold Dragon Souls. The rest are extremely hard to hunt."

"Anyway, I'm currently saving resources to buy some in the commercial cities while hoping for better luck to hunt a few Gold Dragon Souls here in the Dragon Hunting Sea," Zhou Nuchi finished with a wry smile.

So that was the situation. Lu Yuan finally understood.

Six days later, Lu Yuan relaxed his shoulders. Now, the remaining two hundred and ninety-four True Dragon Souls of other elements were completely collected. Only the Gold Dragon Souls remained—the truly fierce competition was about to begin.