by Translator: Pokka; Author: 我本纯洁 (I Am Pure); Licensed From: Migu
"Sin dragon vines!" Xiang Shaoyun was pleased.
These vines could only grow under the nourishment of a large amount of sin dragon energy. Consuming the vines would help one form sin dragon energy within one's body, and it would greatly tempter one's bones, meridians, and inner organs. Apart from that, the vines could also help one form their soul foundation. They were basically sovereign-grade herbs.
Chapter 653: Lucky Escape
To form a soul foundation, one needed to merge one's soul power, draconic aura, and astral energy into one, creating a foundation that guarded one's soul. The foundation would strengthen the soul, turn one's soul into a martial soul, allow one to form a connection with the natural world, and increase one's combat prowess to a brand new level.
The energy contained within the sin dragon vine was capable of strengthening one's soul and increasing the durability of one's soul foundation. The sight of a sovereign medicine like the sin dragon vines accelerated Xiang Shaoyun's heartbeat.
There were a considerable number of sin dragon vines growing at the pond's shore, and from their lengths, they were all of sufficient age as well. He had to suppress the urge in his heart as he thought, Let's first enter the Sin Dragon Pond.
He went over and plucked a tiny piece of leaf from a random sin dragon vine and placed it in his mouth. A tiny action like that was still not enough to attract the attention of the sin dragons in the area.
After the leaf entered his mouth, bitterness assaulted Xiang Shaoyun as if he had eaten a gallbladder, giving him an urge to spit it out. However, he suppressed the urge.
Although the leaf of a sin dragon vine did not possess much medical potency, it was capable of suppressing the sin dragon energy around the pond, reducing the harm Xiang Shaoyun would suffer. He slowly entered the pond, not daring to create any sort of sound.
Layer upon layer of sin dragon energy wrapped around him, causing him great discomfort with its corrosive power. His skin felt like it was going to rot away, and he had the urge to scratch the itch on his body. It was an extremely uncomfortable sensation.
At this time, the sin dragon vine leaf finally showed its worth. Strands of faint medicinal power nourished Xiang Shaoyun's flesh, slowly alleviating his discomfort. He heaved a long breath of relief and started circulating his cultivation method, absorbing the sin dragon energy around him.
The sin dragon energy was not classified as a type of astral energy. Instead, it was a type of unique natural energy. The energy contained the negative emotions and the corrosiveness of a sin dragon, and if a regular person absorbed it, they would be driven mad while their body rotted away.
Initially, Xiang Shaoyun could sense the consciousness of a sin dragon slowly reaching for his soul. It was filled with negative emotions, causing his eyes to turn red in madness. If the negative emotions managed to invade his soul, his filthless soul would become filthy and degrade.
He would turn mad, no longer capable of controlling himself, and start his path of self-destruction. Fortunately, his Nether Dragon Soul Headband blocked the negative emotions' invasion, protecting his soul from all harm. Slowly, his emotions stabilized.
As for the energy's corrosive attribute, it was a type of dark power that started coursing along Xiang Shaoyun's body, trying to corrode his organs. After regaining his clarity of mind, he quickly channeled the dark power into his dark star.
The dark star absorbed the dark power, and it started growing again, slowly reaching the peak he could reach at his cultivation realm. After dealing with the two powers, what remained were strands of thin draconic aura.
The strands of draconic aura sensed the draconic aura within Xiang Shaoyun's body. A resonance formed between them, and the external draconic aura started merging with his own draconic aura.
Although the two draconic auras were not exactly the same, they were similar enough to easily merge together. Originally, Xiang Shaoyun's draconic aura solidification had reached 19 percent. He was only a tiny bit away from reaching 20 percent.
The new draconic aura merged with his existing draconic aura, slowly pushing him to 20 percent. With the enhancement of his draconic aura, his nine stars also benefited, making breakthroughs much easier when he attempted them.
Such a change gave Xiang Shaoyun an urge to immediately make a breakthrough. Because of that, he failed to keep his presence concealed.
"Roar!"
Instantly, a sin dragon head shot out of the pond and roared loudly. It had smelled the scent of a human, and that human was actually within their pond. It was not something it would allow.
The roar shocked Xiang Shaoyun, messing up his energy circulation, nearly causing him to receive a backlash from energy disorder. Fortunately, he was able to suppress his presence in time before he was fully exposed.
Even after he managed to conceal his presence once again, the sin dragons did not give up searching for him. They started flailing about in the pond, sending about shockwaves. The shockwaves blasted Xiang Shaoyun toward the shore, and the impact even passed through his heavy armor, causing him to spit up a mouthful of blood.
Sphhlt!
A tinge of red appeared in the pond as a different smell spread amid the sin dragon energy in the area. The slight change was noticed by the sin dragon in the pond. It raised its head and spewed a clump of terrifying sin dragon energy in Xiang Shaoyun's direction.
It was a sin dragon energy powered by a sin dragon. The moment Xiang Shaoyun was hit, he would die even if he had nine lives. Without any hesitation, he summoned the nether prison devil puppet, and it immediately blocked in front of him.
Bang!
The block was successful, and the puppet was sent flying toward the shore, revealing the gap between the sin dragon and the nether prison devil puppet. Xiang Shaoyun did not dare to attempt anything else, and he quickly submerged into the pond. The sin dragon was rather simple-minded. It was completely distracted by the puppet, and it charged forth to battle it.
As for Xiang Shaoyun, he absorbed even more sin dragon energy into his body before rushing toward the sin dragon vines without even bothering to refine the newly absorbed energy. After plucking three random vines, he quickly stowed them away.
Because the battle between the sin dragon and the nether prison devil puppet had caused a great commotion, his actions went unnoticed this time. He then escaped. He did not have much time left in his invisibility. If he couldn't escape before his time was up, things would turn very troublesome.
During the final moments, Xiang Shaoyun found that his energy was becoming more and more disorderly, and he almost failed to suppress his breakthrough.
Suppress! Xiang Shaoyun clenched his teeth and compressed his draconic aura, preventing himself from breaking through. The sin dragons near him sensed his action, and they started roaring and sniffing about repeatedly, trying to smell the intruder.
They had indeed smelled something different, but they couldn't see anyone and were thus confused. And just like that, Xiang Shaoyun managed to escape in an extremely lucky fashion. The exact moment he escaped, his invisibility ended.
Chapter 654: Devouring Phosphorus Poison
The moment Xiang Shaoyun's invisibility ended, he dove into a bush. A demonic beast abruptly charged out from a concealed position and pounced on him. The beast wasn't weak, and its timing was exceptional as well. Xiang Shaoyun's energy circulation was in complete disorder, and he had no way of resisting.
During the crucial moment, with the tiny bit of clarity he still had, he released Money. The moment Money appeared, it reduced in size before charging into the beast's mouth. The beast didn't even notice Money, and it only felt some foreign object suddenly appear in its mouth. Without any hesitation, it snapped its mouth shut.
However, a burst of silver lightning energy suddenly erupted, blasting its mouth apart. At the same time, Money enlarged his body and swallowed the beast. Without anything else to worry about, Xiang Shaoyun quickly focused and started refining the sin dragon energy
within him.
As he refined the sin dragon energy, his draconic aura solidified to 20 percent, and his stars began to grow as well. His nine stars, along with his acupoints, shone brightly as his energy coursed through his meridians. His internal body seemed to transform into an extraordinary, divine river of stars.
A dragon projection hovered out from his body, and with that, his cultivation level reached the second stage. The compressed energy he had gained from the Purple Lightning Pool and Vicious Steel Mist also erupted, helping him perfect the consolidation of his new cultivation level as an early Dragon Ascension Realm cultivator, pushing him one step closer to the mid stage.
Sphhlt!
Suddenly, Xiang Shaoyun spat out a mouthful of blood. His entire person seemed to have waned, making him not look like someone who had freshly broken through at all. Even the energy within his body dimmed as a certain portion of his energy stirred, putting the energy circulation in his meridians in disorder. The backlash from the energy disorder impacted his internal organs, causing him to spit blood.
As for the reason for the backlash, it was because he had forcefully suppressed his breakthrough when it was the most optimal timing to do so. Coupled with the damage the sin dragon dealt to him, his body had suffered some damage.
Fortunately, the backlash wasn't too serious. His foundations were still safe, and he had only suffered some hidden damage. He only needed to remove the hidden damage, and he would be fine. Using a drop of lightning liquid, he started healing his injuries.
After a good while, he finally heaved a long breath and muttered, "That was close. If I was a tiny bit slower, I would have died."
A joyful smile then formed on his face as he continued, "Fortunately, I have still reaped some great harvest."
One ought to know that the sin dragon vine he had harvested was something even Sovereigns would covet. He no longer dared to spend more time near the Sin Dragon Pond and quickly left with Money. Along the way, he sighed inwardly, Too bad I have also paid a great price. The nether prison devil puppet is totally lost.
He could no longer sense the puppet. Without a doubt, the sin dragon had to have destroyed the puppet. One ought to remember that the puppet was at the sovereign grade and worth more than the sin dragon vine. It was understandable that he would feel the loss.
Of course, the loss was still worth it since he had advanced one step further in his cultivation. If he hadn't taken this risk, it would take him quite a while before he could reach the second stage.
While Xiang Shaoyun was heading back to the Dragon Phoenix Academy, several uninvited guests arrived at the Dragon Phoenix Mountain Range. They had disguised themselves as a hunting group, but they were in fact Ziling Sect members.
There were about 50 of them, with most of them being Emperors. A few were Sovereigns. The leader of the group was Di Lin's eighth brother, Di Shang. The group quietly arrived at the place with thick poisonous miasma.
The location was quite far from the academy, and even a Sovereign would take some time to reach it from the academy. However, the place was also filled with numerous powerful poisonous life forms. Because of that, people generally lacked the courage to approach anyway. This was the very location the map Di Lin had gotten from his father was pointing to.
"Eighth young master, are you sure this is the place?" asked the group's strongest Sovereign.
The Sovereign looked middle-aged, yet he had the strength of the eighth-stage Soul Foundation Realm, making him much stronger than Winter Frost and Summer Flame. His name was Ren Zhijiu, a new expert Di Batian had recruited in recent years.
Di Shang nodded. "Yes, this is the place."
"Only a Heaven Battling Realm Saint will have the courage to enter a place like this," said Ren Zhijiu with a sigh.
"That bad? Are you guys not enough?" Di Shang asked, somewhat speechless by what he heard.
"Eighth young master, you can't look down on the poisonous miasma here. The miasma is composed of the powerful devouring phosphorus poison. Even with my strength, I will barely last an hour in there. And even that is with the premise that I'm not disturbed or attacked by any poisonous life forms during that period of time. Otherwise, I will die," said Ren Zhijiu solemnly.
Only then did a look of fear appear on Di Shang's face. He had not imagined that the poison was actually that big of a deal.
"If the divine site is really underneath this poisonous miasma, it is no wonder that the Dragon Phoenix Academy has not done anything yet. This is not a place a regular person can discover, and it is perfect for hiding a secret. The sect master had given me a saint-grade armor for this mission. I can finally put it to use. I'll decide what to do after going into the miasma," said Ren Zhijiu as he put on a thin armor.
The armor gleamed with a fascinating luster, and one could tell it was an extraordinary treasure at a glance. It was a saint-grade armor, and it definitely had dreadful defensive prowess. This armor would let Ren Zhijiu enter the miasma safely.
The devouring phosphorus poison was a terrifying poison formed through the corrosion of some evil objects over a period of thousands, or even tens of thousands, of years. If one observed the miasma, one would notice that it seemed to be filled with scale-like particles.
Anything the poison touched would quickly corrode away. The devouring phosphorus bugs were a type of life form capable of surviving in this environment, an insect that was much scarier than the corpse poison worm. They were considered royalty among bugs.
Not long after Ren Zhijiu entered the miasma, he ran out in a sorry state. Black scales were all over his body, and several bugs the size of a head were chasing after him. The bugs looked incredibly dreadful, with sharp fangs capable of ripping a head off a human easily.
After rushing out of the miasma, Ren Zhijiu swung his blade repeatedly, killing the bugs chasing him.
At the same time, he shouted, "Withdraw! There are a lot of devouring phosphorus bugs here!"
The moment he said that, the others panicked and quickly retreated from the area.
Chapter 655: Seeking Defeat
Dragon Phoenix Academy.
The Overlord Legion grew in a low-profile manner. During its founding, it only had about 20 members. But now, they had about 40 members. A small portion had joined due to Xiang Shaoyun's reputation, while the majority had only joined because of Yan Gang and Zhong Xia.
Yan Gang and Zhong Xia were respectively a crafter and an alchemist. Thus, they had a unique status in the academy, and that only improved after they entered the Dragon Ascension Realm and greatly expanded the list of items they could make.
Even with that many members, the Overlord Legion was still considered one of the weakest factions in the Dragon Phoenix Academy. Of course, with the likes of Li Haonan and Ma Qihao, who were Jiao Luan List experts, among their ranks made them a force not to be underestimated.
The Overlord Legion seemed to be growing fine, but due to the Di Alliance's sudden suppression, they seemed to be having a hard time. Li Haonan and Ma Qihao were the ones who had caused the suppression to happen.
In order to earn more glory for the Overlord Legion, they had challenged the Di Alliance members. Of course, they had done so due to their confidence in their strength.
Initially, the two had been able to obtain victory in their duels, causing their confidence to swell further. As a result, they continued challenging more Di Alliance members. Eventually, the Di Alliance deployed a person called Xia Qiuhua. He alone seriously injured Li Haonan and Ma Qihao.
Xia Qiuhua wasn't particularly famous in the academy. In fact, his previous rank was at the bottom of the Serpent Fowl List. And yet, he had displayed such remarkable combat prowess that made it entirely possible for him to enter the Dragon Phoenix List if he so wished.
Thus, his single brilliant feat spread his name far and wide within the academy and completely crushed the little momentum the Overlord Legion had gained since its establishment.
At that point, the Overlord Legion
's butler, Zhuge Zhantian, no longer maintained a low profile. He challenged Xia Qiuhua and declared that he would regain the Overlord Legion's glory.
Zhuge Zhantian was quite an imposing name, with Zhantian meaning "Battling Heaven," but his appearance was that of a merchant's. Thus, when his actual person stood on the ring, he looked much less impressive than his name sounded.
On the other hand, Xia Qiuhua looked incredibly capable. His hair was straight, his face was steadfast, his martial attire was crude, and even the sword in his hand was makeshift. Everything about him looked crude and ordinary, yet he exuded an extraordinary temperament.
Many disciples were waiting around the ring, waiting to see if Zhuge Zhantian could really win glory for the Overlord Legion.
"You're not my match. Why, then, are you challenging me?" Xia Qiuhua asked expressionlessly.
Zhuge Zhantian smiled. "Since our overlord is not around, though I'm but a useless butler, I still can't allow our Overlord Legion to lose in spirit. Even when I'm not a match, I still don't fear any opponent. I believe our overlord will repay all our losses once he's back."
"Hehe, overlord, that is quite an imposing title. Unfortunately, his underlings really aren't anything special," said Xia Qiuhua with a contemptuous smile. He stepped forward, walking slowly even as a powerful pressure surrounded Zhuge Zhantian.
He was displaying the strength of a third-stage Emperor. As for Zhuge Zhantian, he was barely a second-stage Emperor. The gap between them was only one cultivation stage, yet the gap between their strengths was incredibly wide.
Zhuge Zhantian, with his intelligence, decided to attack before Xia Qiuhua could build up his momentum. Wielding a green feather fan, he channeled his energy into the fan and caused it to shine brightly. A green crane projection floated out of the fan, one that exuded an extraordinary presence.