Douluo Dalu (Soul Land): Shadow Monarch

"Is it not working anymore?" Cheng Xiao frowned slightly. He could feel the remaining energy of the two dragon souls rapidly dissipating.

"Let's give it a try." Cheng Xiao sighed lightly, raising his hand slightly. A vast amount of death energy swiftly enveloped the two dragon souls and their shattered bones.

"Huff, huff, huff."

As the death energy was released, the bones of the two dragon souls let out a constant wailing sound. Immediately after, the two dragon souls merged into the dragon corpses. In the next moment, dense black smoke rose from the bones, and two enormous dragons, one ice-blue and one crimson-red, appeared before Cheng Xiao.

"Did it work?" Looking at the scene in front of him, a trace of joy appeared on Cheng Xiao's face. He slowly stepped forward, gently touching the two dragons crouching before him with his finger.

Crack!

As Cheng Xiao touched them, the two dragons trembled slightly, then disintegrated into wisps of black smoke and dissipated in front of him, reverting back to skeletal remains.

Afterward, a message suddenly appeared in Cheng Xiao's mind: "Shadow extraction failed."

"So, it failed." Cheng Xiao chuckled bitterly, and the joy in his heart vanished without a trace. But it made sense—after all, the evil dragon Kamish had been dead for more than a decade, and even Sung Jin Woo hadn't successfully turned it into a shadow soldier. Time truly wears down and erases everything.

With a sigh, Cheng Xiao's gaze turned to the giant dragon he had just killed. His eyes flashed with a purple hue, and with a wave of his hand, the power of death's shadow instantly enveloped it. As the wailing of tormented souls echoed, a massive shadow slowly crawled out of the dragon's skeleton.

At this moment, the icy blue and crimson-red streams of light, which had previously failed to extract from the dragon corpses, shot rapidly into the shadow energy released by Cheng Xiao. With the continued extraction by the death energy, the remnants of the two dragon kings' souls also fused into the extracted shadow dragon.

The merging of the ice and fire dragon souls caused the extraction to consume an enormous amount of shadow energy. Cheng Xiao stared at the scene in disbelief, but the energy of the shadow power he was releasing grew even more immense.

After about five minutes, Cheng Xiao waved his hand, and the dragon skeletons enveloped by the shadow energy began to transform. To his amazement, what emerged was a massive dragon with three horns.

The three horns each bore a distinct color—one was crimson-red, one was ice-blue, and the last resembled molten lava with a golden sheen. Clearly, this was a dragon possessing three attributes.

"Wow!" Cheng Xiao instinctively blurted out in awe, his eyes fixed on the enormous dragon before him, which was as massive as a volcano. The energy fluctuations emanating from this dragon were far beyond any of his shadow soldiers. If it weren't for Cheng Xiao's own strength not being sufficient, this dragon, once turned into a shadow soldier, would possess the strength of a legion commander.

This overwhelming power was something none of his current shadow soldiers could match. Even the strongest of them, the Three-Eyed Demon Ape, was only at the elite level.

A destructive aura began to seep from the dragon's mouth. The dragon then lowered its head, drawing closer to Cheng Xiao. Its voice was filled with resolute loyalty as it spoke, "Nash, Commander of the Light Dragon Legion, pledges loyalty to you, my king."

Perhaps due to the fusion of the two dragon souls, this dragon named Nash had eyes of two colors—ice-blue and crimson-red. Owing to their location deep at the bottom of the spring, it did not flap its massive wings. However, despite its colossal size, Cheng Xiao couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement.

"Nash, that's your name?" Cheng Xiao asked, calming the excitement in his heart.

Nash nodded slightly, replying, "Yes, my king."

"Then I will continue to call you Nash from now on." Cheng Xiao smiled.

"My king, this place is about to collapse. Let me take you out of here." Nash suggested, his enormous dragon eyes sweeping over their surroundings. Hearing this, Cheng Xiao wasted no time. With a light step, his figure transformed into a shadow and landed steadily atop Nash's head.

In the next moment, Nash let out a roar, and to Cheng Xiao's amazement, the dragon's massive wings, large enough to blot out the sky, unfurled. Despite the dragon's seemingly cumbersome size, it was surprisingly agile. In an instant, Nash had carried Cheng Xiao out of the Yin-Yang Spring.

Splash!

The seething surface of the Yin-Yang Spring was torn apart, followed by the sound of water breaking. A gigantic dragon body, large enough to split the spring, shot out of the red and blue waters, finally hovering in mid-air, looking down on the entire Yin-Yang Spring below.

Crimson and ice-blue water splashed in all directions, releasing both scorching heat and chilling cold.

Looking out, the first light of dawn was breaking on the horizon. In the distance, a faint sliver of white appeared in the eastern sky.

"Nash, your body is too big. Can you shrink it a little?" Standing atop the dragon's head, Cheng Xiao focused his thoughts and asked.

"No problem, my king." As shadow soldiers could communicate telepathically with their king, Nash could sense Cheng Xiao's thoughts even without him speaking.

With a swift movement of its body, Nash's massive form began to shrink rapidly. By the time they landed on the ground, Nash had transformed into a man with flowing long hair, alternating between ice-blue and crimson-red.

"You can transform into human form, like the Dragon King?" Back on the ground, Cheng Xiao looked at the cold-faced Nash and asked.

"Yes, my king," Nash nodded. "Legion commanders have the ability to transform into human form using their power, but we rarely do so as we typically remain in our true forms."

"Oh, and my king, during my transformation, I fused with the remnants of the two dragon souls, gaining some of their abilities. These powers are now permanently mine. This is my Runestone, which holds my three unique abilities."

As Nash finished speaking, he stretched out his hand, and with a flash of light, a palm-sized stone engraved with molten patterns appeared in his palm.

Without hesitation, Cheng Xiao accepted the runestone Nash handed him. With a thought, the runestone was instantly absorbed.

The next second, the skill information from the runestone imprinted itself in Cheng Xiao's mind.

1. Light Dragon's Breath: "Unleashes devastating energy from the mouth, with terrifying power capable of incinerating enemies entirely. Even if not killed by the dragon's breath, contact with it renders them impossible to heal." (The stronger the user, the stronger the effect.)

2. Dragon Fear: "The most terrifying skill of dragons, this wicked power causes everyone—friend or foe—to lose their strength, plunging them into the despair of soul-crushing screams."

3. Dragon Transformation: "Allows any part of the body to transform into that of a dragon. Not only does the appearance change, but internal organs also shift. After transforming, all physical attributes receive a significant boost."