Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
“They are raising the tier of the dragon blood?” Zhang Xuan asked with a frown.
“There is a strict hierarchy within the Dragon Tribe, so there’s a difference in the purity of a dragon’s blood,” the Dragonbone Divine Spear replied.
Zhang Xuan nodded.
Based on what he had seen thus far, it seemed like the Dragon Tribe worked in a manner similar to the Sage Clans on the Master Teacher Continent. The purer a dragon’s bloodline was, the more talented and powerful it would be.
With the Netherworld Azure Dragon Beast, for example, even though there was the word ‘dragon’ in its name, the truth was that the purity of its dragon blood was extremely low. To put it in terms of Sage Clans, it would be like a member of the side family, hardly worth a mention at all. It was due to this that it had swiftly succumbed to the Eight Notes of Heavenly Dragon and submitted to him.
The puddle of dragon blood before him was likely to be the same one that Ancient Sage Hao Xun had told him about, the one that belonged to an Ancient Sage black dragon. As expected, it was much purer than the bloodline of the Netherworld Azure Dragon Beast.
“Raising the tier of dragon blood is usually impossible. However, they have added the blood essence of many Ancient Sages and cultivators into the dragon blood while using the cleanest water to remove impurities and catalyze the fusion. It’s hard to tell right now, but I feel like they might just be able to pull it off,” the Dragonbone Divine Spear said in agitation.
Just as the Dragonbone Divine Spear had said, it was usually impossible to raise the tier of any bloodline. What the group was doing was effectively dumping everything nourishing in the dragon blood, hoping to force an upgrade. That, as well, would usually be an impractical course of action, but with two Ancient Sages and many Great Sage cultivators devoting their lives to this upgrade, they might just succeed.
Hong long!
All of a sudden, a resounding roar echoed in the air. After fusing Zhang Xuan and the elder’s blood into the mixture, the aura of the dragon blood grew stronger and stronger, such that it was starting to show signs of running amok.
“It’s working!” The eyes of the elder lit up in agitation. He hurriedly stood up and looked at Zhang Xuan. “Lan Ya, we are on the verge of success. Hurry up and make the offering!”
“Make the offering?” Zhang Xuan scanned the surroundings, but there was no offering to be seen.
He had no idea what he was supposed to do right now, and that left him with a splitting headache.
He had witnessed one of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe’s rituals before back at the Temple of Confucius, but he had never hosted one before. There was no way that he would know what the typical steps of their rituals consisted of. At that rate, he was really going to be exposed!
After all, no matter how convincing his disguise was, he was not a real Otherworldly Demon. If he was really able to conduct the ritual to summon the Spirit God by himself, he would not have followed Sovereign Chen Yong over to the otherworldly battlefield.
His previous action of tossing the gourd to the elder had already incurred the latter’s suspicion. If he continued delaying the ritual, the elder might just make a move on him.
Thus, Zhang Xuan stiffened his body up and directed his blood up his throat, causing his cheeks to redden.
“Pu!”
Fresh blood spurted out of his mouth, and his entire body wobbled weakly for a moment before collapsing to the ground.
“You…” Not expecting Ancient Sage Lan Ya to give in at a crucial moment like that, the elder’s face puffed red in fury. “I’ll surely report this matter to Sovereign Chen Ling afterward. Just wait to be punished!”
Following which, he turned his gaze away from Zhang Xuan and raised his hand up.
Hula!
In the blink of an eye, countless surges of sword qi appeared above him. Following which, he abruptly brought his hand down.
Puhe! Puhe! Puhe!
The sword qi whizzed through the air, slaughtering the hundred Great Sage cultivators seated around the altar.
Along with the decapitation of hundred heads, a stream of fresh blood flowed steadily into the altar.
Seeing that, Zhang Xuan’s eyebrows shot up.
To slaughter a hundred Great Sage cultivators just like that… No wonder he had been unable to find any offerings earlier—the offerings were actually the lives of those Great Sage cultivators!
This was truly an abominable ritual!
Weng weng weng!
As the blood filled the uniquely patterned groove on the altar, a thunderous howl echoed in the air. Countless fragments of light descended from the sky and gathered around the elder.
“O noble god, I humbly offer these lives to you. All I wish for is to purify this dragon blood…” The elder’s voice echoed resoundingly in the air.
He spoke in the primordial language of the Spirit Tribe, which carried a sinister vibe that seemed to permeate one’s body.
A voice spoke slowly from amid the congregation of light. “I shall grant your wish!”
Zhang Xuan quickly traced the light up into the sky, wanting to see if the person was Luo Ruoxin. Yet, the blinding radiance of the light rendered him unable to see any silhouette at all. At the same time, the voice sounded exceptionally rich, making it difficult to discern whether it belonged to a male or a female.
Boom!
Right after the voice had given its answer, the light abruptly intensified. A surge of unique energy descended from the sky and fused into the dragon blood, causing it to billow furiously.
As if having devoured some kind of nourishment, the size of the dragon avatar in the dragon blood expanded in an instant. At the same time, the aura that the dragon avatar emanated seemed to grow significantly denser and more powerful.
While it might have been impossible for ordinary cultivators to raise the tier of dragon blood, such a feat was not beyond the means of the gods!
To think that the other party had gathered so much energy together and sacrificed so many lives all to summon the gods!
Gugugugu!
As the avatar of the dragon bulked up, the puddle of blood diminished in volume. Despite being around the size of a fist initially, it was only roughly the size of a fingernail at that very moment.
While its volume had reduced considerably, the energy that it harnessed had become much denser and more powerful, and it emanated an imposing pressure in its surroundings. It felt as if its power was on the verge of exceeding the limits of the world, and it would depart to a higher world very soon.
He had felt such a sensation from Luo Ruoxin once before.
Back in the Temple of Confucius, as her strength had far exceeded what the Master Teacher Continent could endure, she had been left with no choice but to turn around and leave.
Clearly, the dragon blood before him had also surpassed the bottleneck of the Blood Reincarnation realm to reach a higher level!
“Master, if I can devour that dragon blood, not only will I be able to undo my seal, I’ll even be able to advance a step further and push for a breakthrough to Ancient Sage 4-dan!” the Dragonbone Divine Spear exclaimed in agitation.
Zhang Xuan’s face also reddened in agitation, but he took a deep breath to calm himself before instructing the Dragonbone Divine Spear, “Hold on for a moment. We’ll make a move after the power from the gods dissipates!”
He had thought that it would be a great blessing if he could unseal the Dragonbone Divine Spear, but who would have thought that he would happen upon the other party’s ritual of enhancing the tier of the dragon blood?
If the Dragonbone Divine Spear was able to devour the assimilated dragon blood, it would surely undergo major transformative changes and ascend to a greater level!
In that case, as long as he had the Dragonbone Divine Spear in hand, Sovereign Chen Ling would be no threat even if he returned to his peak!
Even the strongest experts would be destroyed by a jab of his spear!
However, if he wanted to devour the enhanced dragon blood, he would have to wait for the power from the gods to recede first. Otherwise, if the gods flew into a rage over his impatience and punished him, the consequence was not something that he could bear.
“Un!” The Dragonbone Divine Spear agreed, and it trembled uncontrollably around Zhang Xuan’s waist. It was hardly able to curb its excitement.
It had never chanced upon such an opportunity before even back in those days when it was pursuing Ancient Sage Ran Qiu.
With such dragon blood along with his superior fighting prowess, even if he was still unable to match the almighty Kong shi, he would at least be able to put up a fight against Vicious.
Hong long!
While the two of them were communicating with one another, the aura of the gods retreated from the atmosphere. Following which, the glow on the altar was beginning to dissipate as well.
Amid the blazing flame, there was only a single droplet of the dragon blood left. With a scarlet color reminiscent of fire, this single droplet of blood harnessed so much power that it felt as though it had become a sentient being. Out of instinct, it attempted to charge out of the altar and leap into the endless sky.
However, with a powerful formation swiftly closing in on it, there was no way that it would be able to escape.
The eyes of the elder reddened as he cried in agitation, “We’ve succeeded!”
After nearly an entire month of hard work, their efforts had finally come to fruition. The elder suddenly felt exhaustion assaulting his entire body, threatening to pull him down to the ground.
“Invite Sovereign Chen Ling over!” the elder bellowed loudly with tightly clenched fists.
“Now! We need to snatch the dragon blood right now!”
Upon hearing the elder’s words, Zhang Xuan’s face immediately warped in horror. Once Sovereign Chen Ling appeared, it would be impossible for him to lay his hands on the dragon blood anymore.
With a slap of his hand, the Dragonbone Divine Spear immediately darted forth from his waist.
It seemed to know the urgency of the current situation as well, so it warped into a black skeletal dragon without any hesitation and bolted right for the altar.
Seeing the black skeletal dragon and recalling the bizarre actions of the other party throughout the ritual, the elder widened his eyes as he exclaimed in disbelief, “Y-you… You aren’t Ancient Sage Lan Ya? Who the hell are you?”
He immediately raised his arm to stop the black skeletal dragon from reaching the altar.
Huala!
The power of an Ancient Sage poured forth. It swiftly gathered in midair to form a barrier so as to block the black skeletal dragon from reaching the altar.
