Chapter 577: Mark
Chapter 577 -359: Mark
“Qi Ning and the others all cultivated the Azure Dragon Dominating Body?”
Xu Yang was both surprised and unsurprised. These Spirit Bone Celestial Prides were all proud and arrogant; it was highly unlikely they would be satisfied with just a single Spirit Bone Technique. He knew that to become the strongest in the same Realm, one couldn’t have any shortcomings in any aspect. These Spirit Bone Celestial Prides weren’t fools, so naturally, they understood this too.
“So if I don’t cultivate the Azure Dragon Dominating Body, I’ll fall even further behind them,” Xu Yang said.
The old man nodded. “Fair enough. Your physical body is strong enough to cultivate the Azure Dragon Dominating Body. If you truly want to compete with those Spirit Bone Celestial Prides, you really can’t go without it. Come with me.”
The old man stood up from his futon and led Xu Yang all the way up to the sixth floor. He pushed open the door to a secret chamber—this was exactly the room engraved with the Heart Method for the Azure Dragon Dominating Body.
“Senior, are there no Cultivation Techniques on the seventh floor?” Xu Yang asked curiously.
Having visited the Hidden Skills Hall a few times, he knew that the higher the floor, the more precious the Cultivation Techniques stored there. The Dragon Symbols Heart Scripture he obtained earlier was on the fifth floor, and now this top-tier Body Refining Technique, the Azure Dragon Dominating Body, was only on the sixth floor. Could the seventh floor of the Hidden Skills Hall really be empty?
The old man glared at him. “Stop asking so many questions. The things on the seventh floor are not something you can come into contact with right now. When it’s time for you to know, someone will naturally notify you.”
So the seventh floor of the Hidden Skills Hall did hold even more powerful Cultivation Techniques. Were they techniques Above Celestial Essence, or simply more profound than the Azure Dragon Dominating Body and the Dragon Symbols Heart Scripture?
“The usual rules: you have three days. Don’t wander around,” the old man said, quickly heading downstairs.
Xu Yang reined in his wandering thoughts and walked into the secret chamber. No matter what was on the seventh floor, he currently had no right to touch it.
Sitting down on the futon, he looked up at the opposite wall. On this wall, forged from some unknown material, was a painting of a lifelike Azure Dragon. The Azure Dragon possessed extraordinary dominance. Its indifferent gaze seemed to look down upon all living beings, exuding a primordial, ancient aura as if it might break free from the wall at any moment.
Observe its form, comprehend its spirit.
These large words were inscribed beneath the Azure Dragon. Enduring the majestic, oppressive might, Xu Yang focused his gaze. Only then did he realize this was no simple painting; faint energy flowed between the Azure Dragon’s scales.
“The Azure Dragon, the overlord of the ancient heaven and earth, possesses an unrivaled physical body… The sages of the human race observed its form and created the Azure Dragon Dominating Body.”
Xu Yang held his breath and concentrated, allowing his Heart Spirit to follow the flow of these energies. A grand voice echoed in his mind. Initially, it introduced the origins of the Azure Dragon, but it soon shifted to imparting a Heart Method.
An unknown amount of time passed. By the time he regained his senses, an incredibly profound Cultivation Technique had appeared in his mind. The lifelike Azure Dragon now felt as though it had taken root in his brain. Xu Yang felt his Heart Spirit was utterly exhausted. It was as if he hadn’t slept for days; his eyelids fought to stay open, and he felt he might pass out at any second.
He knew these were the aftereffects of overexerting his Heart Spirit. Ever since he broke through to the Celestial Essence Realm, this situation rarely occurred—only when he first started cultivating the Blood Prison Heart Blade Scripture had it been like this.
Resisting the fatigue, he looked at his panel. The notification had already appeared.
[Azure Dragon Dominating Body – Pre-Entry Level (0/2000)]
“I got it!” he thought.
Seeing this, Xu Yang no longer tried to hold on. Ignoring the cold floor beside him, he simply collapsed and fell asleep.
When he woke up again, he felt thoroughly refreshed, his Qi-Blood even more vigorous. All his fatigue had been swept away, and his strength had even increased slightly.
“The Dragon Symbols Heart Scripture is indeed profound,” he thought.
He knew that while he slept, the recently converted power of the Dragon Symbols Heart Scripture had been nourishing his body, which was why he woke up feeling slightly stronger.
[Obtained Azure Dragon Dominating Body, Points +500]
[Martial Arts Longevity Points: 2957]
Looking at the panel, the point reward for obtaining the Azure Dragon Dominating Body had already been credited. It was a full five hundred points, just as much as when he obtained the Dragon Symbols Heart Scripture.
“I’m almost at enough points,” he murmured.
Casually adding a point to himself, he immediately stood up and walked out of the secret chamber. Based on the points on the panel, he knew two days had already passed.
Going down to the second floor, he expected the old man to ignore him as usual. To his surprise, the old man’s eyes were open, and he was looking at him with a beaming smile.
“Not bad, kid. You actually obtained the Azure Dragon Mark.” The old man looked Xu Yang up and down, growing increasingly satisfied.
Xu Yang was stunned.
The Azure Dragon Mark? Could it be that lingering Azure Dragon in his mind?
“Senior, what is the Azure Dragon Mark?” Xu Yang asked respectfully, cupping his hands.
He hadn’t noticed anything unusual before, but upon waking up, he found that the lifelike Azure Dragon was actually still inside his mind.
“The Azure Dragon Mark is a wisp of Azure Dragon Qi left behind by predecessors within the Cultivation Technique. Seeing that you were pleasing to the eye, this aura entered your body. In the future, it can help you condense your Heart Spirit and better comprehend the true essence of the Azure Dragon Dominating Body. In short, this is a good thing for you. Cultivating the Azure Dragon Dominating Body will be easier for you than for others,” the old man explained.
“Thank you for clearing up my confusion, Senior. If there is nothing else, this student will take his leave.”
Now that he knew what the Azure Dragon Mark was, Xu Yang planned to head back.
“Go on.”
The old man waved his hand, and Xu Yang quickly exited the Hidden Skills Hall. Having not eaten for a few days, his stomach was growling with hunger, so he headed straight to the dining hall.
Since it wasn’t mealtime, the dining hall was quite empty, with only a few dozen people scattered about. Xu Yang got a portion of food and found a random table to sit at. Just as he sat down, he saw Zhang Jun and Liu Rumei walk in.
Zhang Jun remained expressionless, as if he hadn’t seen Xu Yang at all. Liu Rumei gave a slight nod. After getting their food, neither of them sat with him. In fact, ever since Xu Yang refused to plead with Gu Qingfeng on their behalf, the two had barely spoken to him. The same went for Sun Tao, as Sun Tao had also refused them.
Liu Rumei was somewhat polite; even if she didn’t speak, she would still nod in greeting. Zhang Jun, however, clearly wore his hostility on his face. Xu Yang didn’t mind. They had never been particularly close to begin with. Since Zhang Jun couldn’t be bothered to keep up appearances, he couldn’t be bothered either.
“To think Tu Gang actually lost.”
“How could the number one person beneath the Spirit Bone Celestial Prides have an unearned reputation?”
“If the Celestial Strategy Academy’s rankings were so easily broken, what authority would they have left?”
“Situations like that might happen for those ranked lower, but it’s very rare for the top few to have any discrepancies.”
…
As Xu Yang ate, he paid attention to the conversations in the dining hall and quickly heard about the clash between Lu Wei and Tu Gang. He hadn’t expected that during the few days he spent comprehending the Azure Dragon Dominating Body, Tu Gang’s challenge against Lu Wei would already conclude. Tu Gang had failed to challenge the authority of the Lingyun List and was defeated by Lu Wei.
Xu Yang felt it was a pity to have missed this great battle and the chance to witness the true strength of these geniuses.
“This Quiet Chamber really is quite nice,” he thought upon returning to his courtyard.
Pushing open the door to the Quiet Chamber, Xu Yang found that a considerable amount of Spiritual Qi had been stored inside. Although he had been delayed in the Hidden Skills Hall for two days, his Cultivation progress wasn’t significantly affected, as the Quiet Chamber had continuously gathered Spiritual Qi for him.
Sitting down on the futon, Xu Yang began to truly cultivate the Dragon Symbols Heart Scripture for the first time.
A majestic aura spread from his body, as if a Fierce Dragon was awakening within him. A terrifying suction force emerged, and the Spiritual Qi in the Quiet Chamber madly swarmed into his body.
“Compared to the Li Fire Technique, the Dragon Symbols Heart Scripture absorbs Spiritual Qi several times faster,” he noted.
Xu Yang felt a heat in his bones; the vast majority of this Spiritual Qi was Refined directly into his bones. With this much Spiritual Qi, the Li Fire Technique would have taken him at least an hour or two to Refine. But the overbearing Dragon Symbols Heart Scripture finished Refining all the Spiritual Qi in merely fifteen minutes.
For him, this meant he would have much more time in the future to comprehend Martial Techniques. And this was while he only had a Mortal Bone. Once he upgraded to a Spirit Bone, his Spiritual Qi Refinement speed would become even faster.
This was also one of the areas where the Spirit Bone Celestial Prides excelled. Because their Spiritual Qi Refinement speed was so fast, they had more time to dedicate to cultivating Martial Techniques. Geniuses with Mortal Bones had to spend six to eight hours every day Refining Spiritual Qi. However, Spirit Bone Celestial Prides needed at most an hour, or even less, to complete the Cultivation tasks that would take a Mortal Bone genius six to eight hours.
[Dragon Symbols Heart Scripture Second Layer (19/10000)]
Glancing at the progress of the Dragon Symbols Heart Scripture, Xu Yang couldn’t help but furrow his brows.
Overbearing as the Dragon Symbols Heart Scripture was, its Spiritual Qi consumption was equally terrifying. Calculating based on his current progress, bringing the Dragon Symbols Heart Scripture’s Second Layer to Perfection would take nearly four years.
Of course, this progress was based on the premise that he wouldn’t consume any Spirit Medicines or Elixirs and relied purely on absorbing Spiritual Qi from the air. How could he possibly go three or four years without any Spirit Medicines or Elixirs? After keeping a low profile for a while longer, he planned to seek out resources, either by taking on tasks or venturing outside the Celestial Strategy Academy.
Reining in his thoughts, Xu Yang began to comprehend the Azure Dragon Dominating Body.
Just as the old man in the Library Hall had said, when he began to comprehend the Azure Dragon Dominating Body, the Azure Dragon Mark in his mind lit up. His entire body was enveloped in a profound aura, greatly aiding his comprehension of the technique.
Three days later, Xu Yang finished his comprehension of the Azure Dragon Dominating Body and prepared to begin cultivating it.
He was somewhat cautious. The Azure Dragon Dominating Body was too overbearing. Even a genius like Lu Wei, who was hailed as the number one person beneath the Spirit Bone Celestial Prides, didn’t dare to cultivate this overbearing technique for fear of injuring himself.
“If I can’t handle it, I’ll stop and wait until my Spirit Bone emerges before cultivating it,” Xu Yang decided.
With that thought in mind, he slowly circulated the Azure Dragon Dominating Body.
In an instant, he felt a tearing force surge from every part of his body. It felt as if his body was being ripped into thousands of pieces, and intense pain radiated from everywhere.
“Even after being nourished by the Dragon Symbols Heart Scripture for so many days, my body actually still struggles to endure the power of the Azure Dragon Dominating Body,” Xu Yang thought in astonishment.
But this astonishment quickly turned to joy. Experiencing such a reaction meant the Azure Dragon Dominating Body was genuinely robust, and its Body Refining effects surpassed even the Dragon Symbols Heart Scripture.
Although this tearing force was overbearing, his body was not fragile enough to collapse at the first blow; he hadn’t sustained any actual injuries.
He continued to slowly circulate the Azure Dragon Dominating Body. He felt as though tens of thousands of hammers were relentlessly pounding and forging his body from the inside. An overbearing force, carrying a primordial and ancient aura, mobilized the Qi-Blood throughout his body, penetrating every inch of his flesh and bones to nourish and strengthen his physical form.
Wherever the force passed, his bones and flesh glowed, becoming solid and vigorous, as if they had been Refined and cleansed.