Void Evolution System

Three years before the heir wars began was seven years into August's life.

But that wasn't the key that unlocked his ancestral memories.

Instead, it was his power level.

In the years following his first few sessions of training with Damien, August improved rapidly. The Azure Dragon Manual was an exponential growth method, and it truly showed its worth once August started really comprehending it.

Damien would take him out to fight in the wild at least once a month, increasing the strength of his enemies to scale with his growing strength. Other than that, Damien would spar August once a week to help him develop his battle sense and learn how to fight against enemies who were capable of complex thought.

The rest was mostly up to him.

Damien was able to guide him when he needed it. When August had questions, he could always trust that they could be answered. Still, with his inquisitive mind and those hints from his father providing him with a clear path, he was able to make rapid progress through intense studying and practice.

Within a few weeks of killing for the first time, August had achieved his second class. Within another year, he reached 3rd class. And as time passed, he got closer and closer to the definitive bottleneck that was his Universe Baptism.

That was the key. As that moment approached, the gateway to those memories slowly opened, letting them stream into his mind.

That first night was terrifying.

Since the Azure Dragon Godbeast lineage started with Qinglong, August's ancestral memories were exclusively about his life.

It started in his youth, when he was a young dragon in the Heavenly World. Back then, Arulion didn't exist. For millions of years, the dragons truly lived openly in the Western Region, and without too many Godbeast lineages to their name, they all followed the path of the Dragon Emperor who ruled them.

Qinglong did the same at first, but it didn't take long for him to face disappointment. Contrary to the majority of his race, he did not have a neutral element. He was born with an affinity for water, and when he tried to practice techniques unrelated to it, he was stumped and unable to move forward.

Qinglong had a wild dream. He didn't just want to be a great dragon. He wanted to be like the Dragon Emperor, forging his own path amidst the darkness.

But…it was difficult. There was simply no basis for him to follow, even if he tried to interpolate existing techniques.

Qinglong was only ten years old when he went out into the world to explore and learn on his own.

And for August, who was seeing these memories when he was around the same age, it felt like he was watching an alternate version of himself.

Except, it wasn't like that at all.

Soon enough, August's privilege was revealed to him.

Qinglong was immediately struck with misfortune. He was young and ambitious, but he didn't have the necessary power to walk the cruel world on his own. Within a year of his adventure, he'd been captured by poachers and sold into slavery.

He was abused and tormented. His scales were torn off to sell to those who wanted them, and anything else that could be stripped without killing him was stripped away. By the time Qinglong was eventually sold, he was no more than a sack of skin and bones, nothing like the True Dragon he was a year prior.

The person who bought him wanted him as a pet. He was given a lot of healing elixirs at the start and brought back to his original form, but that was the end of his new master's grace.

He was trained as a mount. He was whipped and beaten whenever he refused to listen, and he was forced to carry an air of subservience wherever he went.

It was because he was a dragon.

Humans had always been terrified of their species, as dragons did sometimes terrorize humans for amusement or other unexplainable reasons. It wasn't as if dragons didn't earn hatred from weaker races, but it had nothing to do with Qinglong. He was just a child, completely uninvolved with those matters.

Still, he was singled out and tormented because he was on his own.

Perhaps it was at that time, when none of his fellows came to his aid despite some of them knowing about his situation, that Qinglong realized how ugly the real world was.

He only had himself.

If he wanted to escape the hell he was subjected to, he needed the power to stand above those who persecuted him.

To find the path of water…how was he meant to do it when he was in captivity?

Qinglong's beginnings were truly humble.

He didn't earn his connection with water through calm meditation in a flowing river like August and many others in the current day. He had to make do with his circumstances.

Faucets, puddles, rain…

Anything he could use, he used. The process was grueling and arduous, taking several years to finish, however, Qinglong eventually gained his starting point.

The water he always felt connected to responded to his emotions.

It was a symbiotic relationship in every way.

And the instant that relationship was established, Qinglong felt the power brewing within him.

He hid it away. He let others think he'd been broken.

But as someone seeing his memories, August could feel his emotions.

No, it was just a singular emotion.

A rage beyond anything August knew was possible.

That malevolence, that bloodlust, was the start of Qinglong's journey.

With it, he went to confront his "master" and those who'd forced him into his pitiful circumstances.

And it wasn't hard to imagine what he did.

It was brutality on a level August didn't think was possible.

Naturally, it struck great fear into his heart.

The disconnection he felt confused him immensely as well. When he woke up that morning in his own body, he almost couldn't recognize himself.

He immediately went to Damien, unable to stop the tears that welled up in his eyes.

But, for the first time, there was nothing Damien could do.

This was something August had to witness not only for his ancestor's sake, but for his own good.

This was how he'd see the world he was going to enter, and this was a test that would show whether or not he could maintain his beliefs in that icy environment.

Damien did his best. He comforted August to the best of his capabilities and even eased up his training regimen so he wouldn't be overwhelmed by it all.

Yet, when August went to sleep that night, he returned to that place, right where he left off.

The torture of the nighttime, the memories of his ancestor…

It started now, but it wouldn't end any time soon.

August was forced to struggle for the first time in his life.

Qinglong's experiences tried to shatter his mind, but at the same time, they tried to teach him.

It was up to August to find the teachings hidden within the suffering.

And that…

For someone who had lived such a coddled life, it was incredibly, incredibly hard.