As he got closer to the central castle, Darian noticed dozens of figures gathered around the area. Pretty much the entire royal family lived in that massive castle. Some were covered in scales, others had wings, and a few showed horns. Each of them had a trait inherited from their draconic bloodline. In other words, they were identical to the Mannaz from the other universe. When Niara arrived at this place, she must’ve felt completely at home. Being accepted as the daughter of the Spiritual Sovereign must have been a huge achievement for her. Darian felt relieved and happy for her. Niara had been horribly mistreated and used by the Mannaz in her universe. She spent a hundred years being tortured and then a long time running and trying to survive alone. But here, according to the rumors, she had been treated as an equal. And with her own merit, she reached the position she had now. Darian felt he had matured a lot after everything he’d been through in that other world. But she hadn’t fallen behind — she had walked her own path. No one stopped Darian, so he walked through the castle’s open gates. Inside, everything was empty except for a single man waiting for him. He had nine rings and gave off a powerful presence. His tall, muscular body stood over two meters. He wore scaled armor, and two long golden horns rose from his head. He measured Darian coldly for a few seconds before speaking in a dry tone, "I’m the Emperor of this planet." In that instant, the man’s eyes widened. The small human in front of him suddenly seemed to undergo a metamorphosis. His body and appearance hadn’t changed at all, but... it was as if a primordial beast that had been sleeping deeply had just opened its eyes. His mind and soul trembled instantly. His breathing grew rough. But he quickly circulated his bloodline and managed to steady himself. When he looked at Darian again, he saw those crimson eyes glowing like bloody stars, calmly fixed on him. "I’m Darian," he said softly. The man took a deep breath. His heart was racing, his mind spinning fast. He’d recently heard a strange and seemingly absurd rumor: Two Spiritual Sovereigns were making major changes in their territories and races, all to follow the orders of a new commander who now led them. Who could possibly command two Spiritual Sovereigns? It sounded ridiculous, but at the same time, there were whispers that Darian had been taken somewhere secret, explaining his long disappearance. Now, facing this human and feeling what he felt... the Emperor didn’t know what to think or believe anymore. "I’m Morion. The First Princess told me a lot about you," the Emperor said, trying to calm himself down. Darian sighed and gave a faint smile. "Can I change and get ready before meeting my mother-in-law? I’m a bit underdressed for a first meeting." Morion smiled sarcastically. He’d already made an ’excellent’ first impression just moments ago. "The Matriarch is in the meeting hall, but... you better not go there now. The others are speaking with her first. That’s why I came to receive you." Hearing that, Darian understood. Beleth had told him a bit about that Spiritual Sovereign. She was the youngest of the seven, and her temperament was... complicated. Emperor Morion calmly guided him through the castle. Soon, they arrived at an underground area guarded by several armed and alert guards. It was an extremely well-protected space. Morion opened the doors and, contrary to expectations, the room looked more like someone’s personal quarters, with furniture and even a large mirror on one wall. The only unusual thing was its exaggerated size. At the far end stood a huge bed. As they entered, a long, heavy breath echoed through the room. Lying on the bed was a scaly, beastly figure, apparently in a deep sleep. Darian approached Niara and sighed. After ten years, the body she used no longer looked like that of an adorable baby dragon. Now it was over three meters long, resembling a majestic western dragon. But... her life force was incredibly weak, as if she were one step away from dying of old age. Noticing the melancholy in Darian’s eyes, Morion began to explain: "Her initial illness was never really the problem. When I brought her to this planet, she didn’t accept me as her master and said she wanted to train alone, but needed a place with a strong Yang presence. I recommended the Country of Infernal Fire, a region inhabited by beasts specialized in Yang." Darian nodded. That body of hers had that incurable problem — it had no Yin at all. That’s why she needed to be nourished by Yang constantly. Before, Niara used to drink his blood, and that was enough. "A few years passed, and you probably heard about the chaos she caused in the capital," Morion continued seriously. "So, right after she was accepted as a princess, we found out she had fought, killed, and devoured every powerful Yang beast in that country. She did it to stabilize her body and, at the same time, keep herself under pressure. When we examined her and found her illness, we gave her a lot of high-grade Yang materials, and her body, which had been a bit unstable, completely normalized." "But after a few years, something different happened... she entered a hibernation state. Her soul started to weaken, and her life force was consumed very quickly. The Matriarch panicked and hired the best experts in the universe to examine her. But no one could figure out what she had." "In the end, one of them suggested nurturing her soul, since he felt her soul was strangely incompatible with her body. That should’ve been impossible... but when we did that, she actually woke up." Darian nodded. Indeed, when someone was reincarnated through the world’s laws, every living being became completely compatible with their new body. It was impossible for a normal person to have that kind of problem — but no one knew that Niara wasn’t in her true body. Thɪs chapter is updated by 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡•𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚•𝙣𝙚𝙩 Morion went on after a long sigh: "When she woke up, she just said she was fine. No one believed her, since we could feel her life force was fragile. But surprisingly, her combat power multiplied compared to before. She started defeating six-ring fighters like they were nothing, and even some mid-level sevens. Against eight-ring ones, she could fight for a while without losing right away. The whole royal family was shocked by her... but..." "...two months ago, she fell asleep and hasn’t woken up since. We repeated the process and nourished her soul with everything we had, but now her life force seems almost completely gone. And there’s no sign she’ll ever wake up." Darian nodded and stepped closer to her. The moment his hand reached out and touched her scales, Niara’s breathing changed. Her body and eyes trembled, as if she was forcing herself to wake up. "If you’re sleepy, keep sleeping. I’m here." Darian murmured softly. Morion watched everything in shock. She went still again, her deep breathing returning. Her aura and expression completely shifted, as if she were suddenly more relaxed, at peace. Darian examined her condition from within. Her physical body was relatively fine, but her life energy was hanging by a thread. And it was useless to try and nourish it, since the real problem was in her soul. He knew exactly where to look. Ordinary people couldn’t easily examine someone else’s soul — they could only guess certain things through spiritual fluctuations. But Darian, having a complete connection with hers, could see everything clearly. At the center of Niara’s soul’s forehead, there was a pulsing rune. That rune had been granted to her by the will of the Divine Dragon — the Primordial Dragon that had once existed in that universe. (Chapter 270) Back then, the Divine Dragon had only said he’d use part of his power to help her strengthen the Bloodline rune created through the cloning technique. But it hadn’t taken long for Niara to realize that entity had done way more than he’d said — she just didn’t know what exactly. Now, Darian carefully analyzed it. Within minutes, he was sure: that rune was definitely the reason Niara’s life energy and soul power were so weak. It was draining everything to strengthen itself. It was like a metamorphosis process — the rune evolved and nourished Niara with greater power, and the consumed life energy and soul power would eventually be restored automatically thanks to her draconic Bloodline. But since there was an incompatibility between her body and her soul, the life energy from her dragon Bloodline wasn’t being properly absorbed, weakening her even further until depletion. If she had been in her true body, this wouldn’t have happened. Niara had said she was fine because she knew this wasn’t her real body — and she understood that was the problem. She had pushed herself to the limit, not caring about the consequences. When she reached her absolute limit, she willingly entered hibernation. That drastically reduced her life energy consumption and allowed her to stay alive for a long time, until Darian returned. That’s why she almost woke up when she sensed him nearby. She could wake up anytime, but she would only live for a short while before her life energy vanished and the body died. ’Keeping herself in this hibernation state is actually good for her. The rune’s getting stronger over time... its form is cracked, like it’s really close to evolving again.’ He thought for a moment and examined the rune more carefully. Soon, he felt that inside it, there was a space filled with pure Bloodline power. ’This rune... it’s like a power core now, similar to the Spiritual Guardians’ rings. So that’s it — it replaced the power of the ring with primordial Bloodline power. Combining that with her spiritual root, she gained enough strength to fight equally with everyone... maybe she even developed some kind of blessing too?’ Darian was surprised and excited. The Divine Dragon had probably understood what she truly needed and had given it to her silently, as a test. Niara had to discover it on her own and force her evolution to make use of that power. ’Unfortunately, this body of hers can’t handle it anymore. Now that almost all her life energy is consumed, even if I recover it, this new core will burn everything again really fast. Still, it’s been very useful and helped her a lot during all this time.’ ’If I take her out of the body and keep her with me, her primordial core will stop evolving. She’s really close to breaking through to a new level... judging by her current state, it should take just a few months. Better to wait — when it’s ready, it’ll be time to go back to her universe.’ Darian stepped back a little, and then Morion saw Niara’s face twitch. "Sleep. I’m not leaving here without you. When you’re ready, we’ll go back home." Darian murmured softly, moving his hand to gently stroke her violet scales. Morion saw the look in his eyes and felt relieved. It was clear he saw her as the most important person in his life — and the changes in Niara as he approached showed she felt the same. After a few minutes, Darian turned to Morion, standing up and stepping back. "She’ll be fine, don’t worry." He only said that for reassurance, since no one knew that wasn’t Niara’s real body. To them, she was just a half-dragon beast that had been brought from another universe as an egg and born there. Unfortunately, that body would soon be abandoned and die. But Darian had a few ideas he intended to test later with her real body — so he still held on to hope that it wouldn’t become a problem. Morion nodded, "The Matriarch is waiting for you." "Good. I’ll change and go see her." Darian replied calmly, though inside he was holding back his nervousness. Through Niara, he could feel that she truly liked the Matriarch — and for that reason, he had to make sure he did things the right way.