Chapter 123 – Refining Jiao Dragon Essence Blood: Dragon Transformation

Mu Lin also agreed with one point: everything is illusory, only cultivation level and mana are real.

Because of this, he valued the improvement of his mana cultivation more than anyone else.

Even if the North Star Purple Tenuity Array had nothing else to offer, the mere fact that it allowed him to form an array with the Substitute Paper Figure and enhance his efficiency in refining mana made Mu Lin place immense importance on it.

“The North Star Purple Tenuity Array, I remember it’s an Earth Grade Supreme array… It can be exchanged, but I need to inform Headmaster about it.”

“Then I’ll trouble you, teacher.”

At Mu Lin’s request, Dongfang Ya went to see the Headmaster again.

As for Mu Lin, after displaying his formidable strength, he received an invitation from Qi Qiu, earned the admiration of his classmates, and even the teachers in the Dao Palace began treating him with kindness. This confirmed one thing for Mu Lin—in this world where power resides within oneself, as long as one’s own strength is sufficient, everything in the world appears beautiful.

This further solidified Mu Lin’s determination to continue cultivating.

“Fist is authority—this holds true no matter where you are.”

After sighing with emotion, Mu Lin resumed his cultivation.

Now that he had the Jiao Dragon Essence Blood, Mu Lin incorporated the Blackwater Profound Serpent Mortal Shedding Art into his cultivation regimen, even making it his primary focus.

The Spirit Elixir diluted with Jiao Dragon Essence Blood was not particularly precious. That very afternoon, Yan Yunyu purchased a large bottle for Mu Lin.

After consuming the Spirit Elixir infused with Jiao Dragon Essence Blood, Mu Lin immediately experienced a different sensation.

“Roar!”

As the Spirit Elixir entered his stomach and the Jiao Dragon’s aura permeated his body, a tremendous roar echoed in Mu Lin’s Sea of Consciousness.

Then, he discovered a majestic and domineering ink-black Jiao Dragon had appeared out of thin air in his Mindscape, which was also his Sea of Consciousness.

“Splash, splash…”

Accompanying the Jiao Dragon’s appearance was a torrential downpour pouring from the sky.

The rain filled the heavens, instantly causing a flood in Mu Lin’s Mindscape.

At the same time, once the Jiao Dragon appeared, it fixed its gaze intently on Mu Lin’s Divine Soul.

Faced with this scene, Mu Lin remained unflustered.

The formula Dongfang Ya had given him clearly stated that refining Demon Beast Essence Blood was not merely about ingestion and fusion. One also had to subdue its intent and crush its will to fully integrate the power of the essence blood into oneself.

It was precisely because powerful Demon Beast Essence Blood would resist that she forbade Mu Lin from swallowing the essence blood directly, allowing him only to consume the Spirit Elixir diluted and infused with the Jiao Dragon’s aura.

The advantage of this was that the Demon Beast’s resistance would not be too strong.

Just like now, although the Jiao Dragon in Mu Lin’s Mindscape appeared overwhelmingly powerful, a closer look would reveal that its form was actually extremely illusory.

“Hmph, if you were a real Jiao Dragon, I might fear you. But now, as just a wisp of aura, how can you possibly resist me? Come down!”

“Hum!”

With Mu Lin’s will, the City God Domain was immediately unfurled within his Mindscape.

Once the Dharma Domain was deployed, Mu Lin’s City God could unleash its full power.

However, as the Dharma Domain expanded, Mu Lin’s words seemed to provoke the Jiao Dragon, causing an overwhelming aura to emanate from it and press down upon Mu Lin.

“Insignificant insect, submit to me!”

“Zzz…”

That aura felt like a massive mountain bearing down on Mu Lin. Under its pressure, Mu Lin’s Divine Soul in the Mindscape even felt as if it were struggling to breathe.

Simultaneously, a sense of dread akin to facing a natural predator arose in Mu Lin’s heart.

This was dragon might.

Dragons possess dragon might. As nearly perfect beings, dragon might exerts an intense, intimidating pressure on most demon beasts and humans alike.

Ordinary people, and even Qi Refiners of the same rank, would feel as if confronting a natural predator when standing before a Jiao Dragon or a True Dragon.

Moreover, dragon might is the first major challenge when facing dragon-type monsters. By sheer presence alone, a True Dragon can deter many foes.

However, while dragon might is formidable, gods possess their own majesty as well.

Facing the oppressive aura of the Jiao Dragon, Mu Lin focused his mind and activated the first trait of the City God—Divine Might Like a Prison!

“Boom!!”

As divine might was unleashed, a terrifying majesty spread outward from Mu Lin’s Divine Soul, extending throughout his Mindscape.

Under this majesty, ordinary people would tremble in fear, their hearts filled with dread, while those who had committed crimes would be affected even more severely.

“Sizzle…”

Now, this imposing force was directed by Mu Lin toward the Jiao Dragon.

“Rumble!”

Dragon might and divine might, two immense auras, occupied opposite sides of the Mindscape, clashing fiercely. The intense confrontation even affected the physical realm, causing cracks to appear in some of the structures within Mu Lin’s Mindscape.

Some of the weaker visitors in the Mindscape even began to fade, becoming illusory.

“Rumble…”

“Sizzle…”

In the initial clash, Mu Lin and the Jiao Dragon were evenly matched.

But soon, the Jiao Dragon began to falter—the phantom of the Jiao Dragon projected into Mu Lin’s Mindscape was, after all, merely a wisp of its aura, not its Main Body. As such, its staying power was insufficient.

“Rumble…”

As the Jiao Dragon’s might weakened, Mu Lin’s divine might surged forward, completely shattering the Jiao Dragon’s phantom.

“Bang!”

The shattered phantom dissolved into countless fragments, merging into Mu Lin’s soul.

Then, insights about the Jiao Dragon flooded into Mu Lin’s consciousness, granting him extensive knowledge of the Jiao Dragon race.

“…So this is how wind and rain are summoned…”

“…Hmm, it turns out Jiao Dragons can use dragon blood to transform followers…”

The Jiao Dragon is a higher evolution of the Blackwater Profound Serpent. By fusing with the Jiao Dragon’s Divine Soul and absorbing its vast information, Mu Lin’s understanding of the Blackwater Profound Serpent Mortal Shedding Art naturally deepened.

Reflected on his Attribute Panel, this manifested as progress in his Cultivation Method: +7, +9, +13…

In a short time, Mu Lin’s Cultivation Method progress increased by 39 points.

After digesting the Jiao Dragon’s Divine Soul, Mu Lin opened his eyes. He then realized that consuming the Spirit Elixir tainted with the Jiao Dragon’s aura had not only stirred turmoil in his Mindscape but had also fully activated his physical body due to the Jiao Dragon’s energy.

It was clearly visible that Mu Lin’s body, stimulated by the energy, had involuntarily activated the trait Serpent Transformation.

At the same time, raging energy also surged within him, giving him a feeling of being filled to the brim.

Not daring to delay, Mu Lin immediately closed his eyes and began circulating the Blackwater Profound Serpent Mortal Shedding Art with all his might, striving to refine the energy within his body.

Before doing so, he had thought it would be somewhat difficult to control the raging power within him.

But soon, he realized he was wrong—very wrong.

Having crushed and fused with the Jiao Dragon’s Divine Soul, Mu Lin’s soul now carried a trace of the Jiao Dragon’s aura.

By using the Jiao Dragon’s soul to control its energy, Mu Lin effortlessly made the violent power within his body his own.

A few breaths later, Mu Lin opened his eyes, his expression somewhat peculiar.

“At my current rate of refinement, I can completely refine the Jiao Dragon Essence Blood in five to seven days. This doesn’t seem as difficult as Teacher Dongfang Ya said…”

“…That makes sense. She only knows my Divine Soul quality is good, but she doesn’t know I possess the City God Status, which makes me completely unafraid of the Jiao Dragon’s might. Moreover, due to my elevated status, I can easily refine the Jiao Dragon’s soul without fearing backlash.”

“Not anticipating this, her judgment of me naturally had some deviation.”

Since this was a good thing, Mu Lin didn’t dwell on it too much. Soon, he adjusted his refinement speed according to his own situation.

“Roar!”

“Boom!”

Time and again, Mu Lin consumed diluted Spirit Elixir and repeatedly shattered the Jiao Dragon’s divine consciousness.

Subsequently, tainted with the Jiao Dragon’s aura, refining the energy within the Jiao Dragon Essence Blood became twice as effective with half the effort.

In an extremely short time, he refined a small wisp of the Jiao Dragon’s aura.

As he refined more and more of the dragon’s soul and blood, Mu Lin’s Serpent Transformation gradually began to carry some of the Jiao Dragon’s presence.

His pupils grew more authoritative, his scales became harder, and even his forehead developed small protrusions.

At the same time, through the continuous refinement of the dragon’s blood, Mu Lin’s physical strength grew increasingly robust, and his Qi and Blood became more abundant.

Mu Lin was already showing signs of transforming into a dragon.

According to Mu Lin’s original plan, he intended to seclude himself for five to seven days to completely refine the Jiao Dragon Essence Blood.

However, both Yan Yunyu and Dongfang Ya were decisive individuals.

That evening, the Ten-Thousand-Year Paper Mu Lin had requested was delivered by Yan Yunyu.

“Brother Mu Lin, this is what you… Hiss…”

When she opened the door and first saw Mu Lin, Yan Yunyu was filled with joy. However, her emotions soon shifted.

As she looked directly at Mu Lin, she felt an overwhelming aura emanating from him—a presence that made her feel like an insignificant insect gazing up at a mountain-like beast, or a mouse standing before a great cat.

This sense of dread caused Yan Yunyu to involuntarily take two steps back.

Seeing this, Mu Lin couldn’t help but frown.

“What’s wrong with you…”

Before he could finish, Mu Lin saw his own reflection in Yan Yunyu’s eyes.

Clad in scales, with horns beginning to emerge—realizing he was showing signs of draconic transformation and that his overall appearance exuded immense authority—Mu Lin understood the reason for Yan Yunyu’s retreat.

“Intimidated by the Jiao Dragon’s aura, perhaps…”

Thinking this, Mu Lin closed his eyes and activated his Transcendence Trait.

“Hum…”

As this trait activated, the impression Mu Lin gave off instantly changed.

If before he had been a perfectly ferocious beast, now he seemed like a transcendent immortal, detached from worldly concerns.

Within a few breaths, the anomalies caused by refining the Jiao Dragon Essence Blood were completely dispelled by the Transcendence Trait.

Having returned to his original state, Mu Lin looked at Yan Yunyu again and offered an apology.

“Sorry, I was training just now and didn’t control my aura properly.”

“It’s fine, I don’t mind.”

Not only did she not mind, but seeing Mu Lin’s strength increase once again brought her some joy and happiness—and also a hint of worry.

‘Mu Lin’s talent is too great, and his strength is increasing too quickly. If this continues, I might very well be left far behind by him.’

Especially when she thought about how she had schemed against Mu Lin multiple times before, and their relationship wasn’t very good, mostly based on interests, it made Yan Yunyu even more worried.

‘This morning, I brought up the matter of my scheming against him, and he said he didn’t mind… But not minding has another implication—he doesn’t see me as someone close, but rather as a stranger…’

Yan Yunyu’s guess was correct.

In Mu Lin’s view, if someone close schemed against him, he would feel anger, grievance, and distress.

When cooperating with strangers, scheming is the norm. In such cases, if he made a misstep and suffered a minor loss, he would only reflect on his own lack of skill.

Resentment? That would be a sign of being a sore loser.

‘No one is born to treat you well. If you suffer a loss, remember the lesson and win it back next time.’

Holding such thoughts, Mu Lin said he didn’t resent Yan Yunyu.

However, the latter would rather Mu Lin be angry or upset, as that would mean his feelings for her were different.

‘No, I must find a way to tie Mu Lin closer…’

Though her mind was filled with thoughts and worries, Yan Yunyu showed none of it on the surface. Instead, she smiled and stated her purpose for coming.

“Brother Mu, I’ve found the ten-thousand-year-old Year-End Paper you wanted.”

“Besides its age, the aura of the relic used to make this Year-End Paper was collected from the tomb of a prince or marquis from ten thousand years ago.”

Hearing this, Mu Lin’s eyes lit up.

“Princes and marquises… the fortune of dynasties…”

(End of Chapter)