“Senior White, although my talent for cultivation is average, it definitely can’t be this bad, right? Isn’t it too exaggerated for my talent not to even be worth a single dragon pattern?” Song Shuhang rubbed his temples.

He thought that he would at least be able to get the ‘one dragon pattern’, which was supposed to be a guarantee.

Unexpectedly, he couldn’t even get that as his talent wasn’t even worth a single dragon pattern…

Senior White Two said, “Are you disappointed?”

Song Shuhang smiled bitterly. “Is my talent for cultivation really that bad?”

Could it be because he’d been ascending so fast, and the heavens got jealous?

Senior White Two said, “It might be because your golden core is a mutation, making it such that the difficulty of condensing a ‘dragon pattern’ in your case is over twice the normal?” Since the Sage Seal and the light of virtue only gave Song Shuhang a single dragon pattern, the difficulty should indeed be about twice the usual.

Song Shuhang raised his head and looked at the sky. “Assuming that it really is at least twice as difficult for me to condense a dragon pattern, if I look at things in reverse… my talent should have been worth two dragon patterns or higher to condense a single dragon pattern.”

I don’t want to think about this anymore. My heart feels so stifled.

“Don’t worry about it. After all, I’m going to give you nine patterns. In addition… we two can empathize with each other. Back then, I didn’t have any dragon pattern, either.” Senior White Two comforted Song Shuhang.

Song Shuhang: “?”

Did Senior White not have any dragon pattern back then?

Impossible!

Can a person who doesn’t have a single dragon pattern become the Wielder of the Will?

From the dialogue between Senior White Two and the liquid metal ball, on top of the pieces of information he had gathered in the past, Song Shuhang was able to confirm the relationship between the ruler of the Netherworld and the Wielder of the Will.

The Wielder of the Will [Striped Dragon] was related to the ruler of the Netherworld [Striped Dragon Two].

Senior White Two was a former ruler of the Netherworld.

The incumbent ruler of the Netherworld, the liquid metal ball, was the evil counterpart of the current Wielder of the Will.

So… Senior White Two’s counterpart was the Wielder of the Will that got bored and suddenly disappeared!

I did always get the feeling that this style was in line with Senior White’s character.

Song Shuhang said, “Senior White, you don’t need to comfort me.”

Senior White Two said, “Who’s comforting you? When I condensed my golden core, I was on the edge for a long time. From what I can remember, I had not even dared to meet people at the time for fear that they would ask me about the number of dragon patterns on my golden core. At that time, all my friends had at least seven or eight dragon patterns, while I had a smooth golden core with no patterns.”

Song Shuhang asked, “Then Senior White, what fortuitous encounters did you have after?”

“Fortuitous encounters? None. Since my golden core did not have any dragon patterns, I was very embarrassed. And so, I closed up for more than 50 years. Doing so, I had directly become a Sixth Stage True Monarch. After I became a True Monarch, no one asked me about how many dragon patterns my golden core had.” Senior White Two shrugged.

Song Shuhang’s eyes shone. “Then, could it be that if one doesn’t have any dragon patterns, they’re actually very powerful?”

“Who knows? Anyway, time is limited. I still need to give you nine dragon patterns.” After saying that, Senior White took out a pen and grabbed Song Shuhang’s fat whale golden core with one hand.

Song Shuhang curiously asked, “How are you going to add them?”

After hearing that Senior White was also someone with ‘no dragon patterns’ back then, the disappointment in Song Shuhang’s heart disappeared. He turned his attention to his fat whale golden core.

“I’m going to draw them,” Senior White Two said as if it were an obvious matter.

Song Shuhang responded, “Is that possible? Are they not going to fade?”

Senior White Two said, “Fade? I’m the Heaven’s Will here, can’t you understand that?” He then grabbed the pen and made a big stroke on Song Shuhang’s fat whale golden core.

Song Shuhang suggested, “Senior White, can you draw a cool dragon pattern?”

Senior White Two said, “It’s already good enough that you’re getting a dragon pattern… Do you seriously want me to draw fairy maidens or something on your golden core?”

Song Shuhang said, “No, I meant that since you’re at it, could you make the patterns a bit overbearing?”

Senior White Two said, “Don’t make too many requests, my painting skills are average. If you aren’t satisfied, you can draw them up yourself!”

Song Shuhang asked, “Will that work?”

Senior White Two rhetorically asked, “Are you the Heaven’s Will?”

Song Shuhang: “…”

“First is the fourth dragon pattern. Alright, it’s done.” Senior White Two made the pen flow gracefully and quickly finished the fourth dragon pattern.

Song Shuhang said, “Hm… Senior White. Is this dragon pattern a sword?”

Senior White Two nodded, and said, “Yes, it’s a sword, my favorite weapon. That’s why the Thirty-Three Divine Beasts’ Combined Magical Treasure that you forged for me made me very satisfied.”

Sword-shaped dragon pattern: formed.

If one looked closely, they would be able to discover that this sword-shaped dragon pattern resembled the Holy Sword of the End a fair bit.

The moment the fourth core pattern formed, Song Shuhang could feel that the spiritual power in his body was cleansed. He felt very comfortable.

However, it was quite heart-rending.

Now, whenever he saw this sword-shaped dragon pattern on his ‘whale core’, he would remember the fact that he had no talent in sword techniques, and his heart would ache.

“Next, the fifth dragon pattern. Since there’s already a sword, let’s add a saber.” Senior White Two picked up the pen and waved it around on Song Shuhang’s fat whale golden core.

The fifth dragon pattern was formed. This dragon pattern looked like an illusory saber.

On this saber, there was the faint shadow of a phoenix.

“The Nine Virtues Phoenix Saber?” Song Shuhang recognized the saber at a glance.

Senior White Two said, “Yes, it’s that saber. The creation of the third Wielder of the Will is a good collection item. When I found it previously, I studied it carefully. However, it turned out to be incomplete, which lowered its value quite a bit, so I released it. In the future, if there’s a chance for it to become complete, it won’t be too late to collect it.”

The Nine Virtues Phoenix Saber should be fortunate that it was not complete; otherwise, it would have become a part of Senior White Two’s treasury.

Similarly to the previous one, when the fifth dragon pattern took shape, his body felt like it had been cleansed inside and outside.

“Next is the sixth dragon pattern… What should I draw?” Senior White Two pinched his chin and fell into thought.

He was planning to draw something unique for each dragon pattern so that it would be interesting.

Song Shuhang suggested, “In fact, Senior White, simply painting a majestic golden dragon would look very cool.”

“Too tasteless.” Senior White Two refused Song Shuhang’s request.

After thinking for a moment, his eyes suddenly lit up. “Right, I could draw this.”

He lifted the pen and waved it on Song Shuhang’s fat whale golden core. After a few strokes, the sixth dragon pattern was formed. A huge eye was hidden inside this dragon pattern.

This eye was piercing, and Song Shuhang felt that this eye was staring right at him no matter where he stood.

Song Shuhang asked, “What is this? Is this the second Wielder of the Will’s work, the big-eyed planet?”

“How did you end up thinking of that thing? Also, that thing is a planet, the eyes were just attached onto it,” Senior White Two said. “I drew the Scholarly Sage’s eye.”

Song Shuhang suddenly felt a faint swelling and pain in his lower abdomen, giving him the illusion of childbirth.

Being stared at by this eye was stressful.

From now on, every time he looked inside and checked his fat whale golden core, would he have to come into contact with the Scholarly Sage’s eye dragon pattern and be stared at?

Can this day get any worse?

Fortunately, my whale core has armor, so I can cover it up.

For the first time, Song Shuhang felt that it was fortunate of him that his nine immortal bones became a set of armor.

No matter what it was, it had a use. If you found it useless, you just didn’t know of its importance yet~

After the sixth dragon pattern was formed, the quality of the spiritual power in Song Shuhang’s body improved slightly.

“What do you want for the seventh dragon pattern?” Senior White Two stopped drawing and looked at Song Shuhang.

Song Shuhang quickly replied, “A golden dragon!”

Senior White Two said, “Think a bit more, can’t you think of anything other than a golden dragon?”

“A lotus?” Song Shuhang thought of his Inner World.

Senior White Two said, “That’s a bit more interesting.”

Thus, the seventh dragon pattern was formed.

This dragon pattern was hovering on a lotus.

It was more beautiful than what Song Shuhang had imagined.

Similarly, with the appearance of this dragon pattern, Song Shuhang’s spiritual power condensed a bit more.

Senior White Two urged, “Time is running out. What do you want for the eighth and ninth dragon patterns?”

Song Shuhang said, “Why not another fat whale? My golden core’s a fat whale, so having a fat whale pattern on it would be quite interesting.”

“Interesting, alright.” Senior White Two waved his pen and drew on Song Shuhang’s ‘fat whale golden core’ at the fastest speed he could.

The eighth dragon pattern was formed.

Song Shuhang pinched his chin and thought about the last dragon pattern.

What should he ask for?

There was the Impregnable Holy City, the Holy Sword of the End, the Nine Virtues Phoenix Saber, the virtuous lamia + Sage Seal, the Ancient Holy Apes + the Scholarly Scriptures, the Scholarly Sage’s eye, the Inner World Lotus, and the fat whale formed by the fusion of the thirty-three divine beasts…

If one looked closely, all the pictures on his golden core had something to do with him.

The ninth dragon pattern definitely should not ruin the theme.

Song Shuhang suddenly thought of something, and said, “Senior White, could you draw me?”

Senior White Two responded, “Huh?”

Song Shuhang said, “I’ve been thinking that since the first eight dragon patterns are more or less related to me. For the last dragon pattern, I could simply have myself there to close the circle.”

Senior White Two remarked, “Shuhang, I didn’t expect you to be such a narcissistic person.”

Song Shuhang said, “I can’t come up with anything better to close the circle.”

Senior White Two disdainfully said, “Why would your picture be the best one to close the circle? It’s better if I close the circle myself.”

After saying that, Senior White Two waved his pen and drew on Song Shuhang’s golden core.

Song Shuhang asked, “Huh?”

Hold on, Senior White… If you draw yourself on my golden core, I feel like something unexpected is going to happen…

“Done.” Senior White Two put down the pen with satisfaction, and said, “This ninth dragon pattern is the work I’m the most satisfied with. Sure enough, it was best for me to close the circle.”

Song Shuhang looked at the ninth dragon pattern.

Then, he discovered that the image contained in the ninth dragon pattern was clearly ‘Song Shuhang’.

Song Shuhang said, “Isn’t that me?”

“The ninth dragon pattern is [oneself].” The corners of Senior White Two’s mouth rose up, and he said, “Everyone sees [oneself].”