After leaving the Dragon God's remains, Xiao Yan immediately dove into the Heavenly Tomb. The battle had drained him considerably. Even setting aside everything else, merely forcing the Battle Spirit of the Dragonbone Guard into action had pushed his soul energy to the brink of exhaustion. Not to mention, he had suffered no small amount of injury during the confrontation. The fact that he hadn't collapsed on the spot was purely a testament to his unwavering willpower.
Because of that, he didn't even have time to count his spoils. Instead, he sat down cross-legged atop the lotus platform of the Nine Revolutions Green Lotus and began recuperating. This session of recovery lasted nearly a month before he gradually regained his vitality. When he finally reopened his eyes, the previous fatigue had vanished without a trace, replaced by his usual radiant vigor.
"Hu... this harvest was no small one," Xiao Yan grinned as he sensed the now even more abundant spiritual energy and soul energy within his body. These kinds of battles, ones that pushed him close to his limit, were certainly perilous, but they were also the fastest method of unlocking the potential hidden deep within his body.
Although most of the fight had relied on borrowed strength from the Battle Spirit, Xiao Yan had undoubtedly pushed his own abilities to their peak. Several times, he had skirted the very edge of life and death. This constant dance on the precipice was something Xiao Yan had long been familiar with—even in his previous life on the Dou Qi Continent, this had always been his path.
Of course, such a method only bore fruit if one survived. Whether on the Dou Qi Continent or in the Great Thousand World, many knew of this method's benefits, but few dared attempt it unless absolutely forced into a corner. After all, not everyone had Xiao Yan's knack for escaping the encirclement of tens of thousands.
By Xiao Yan's estimate, his current spiritual energy had already surpassed the typical peak of ninth-grade Sovereigns. However, there was still a noticeable gap between him and a true Earth Sovereign. That said, this journey had left him with several billion drops of Sovereign Spiritual Liquid. On top of that, his Spiritual Gathering Bowl was still steadily generating spiritual energy. The issue he'd worried about—running out of energy during his Earth Sovereign breakthrough—was now a non-concern.
Moreover, he still had the lotus seeds of the Nine Revolutions Green Lotus inside him. With those, he could rapidly break through to Earth Sovereign in a short span of time. Once he crossed that threshold, his soul energy would naturally rise as well. While it might not rival a true Heavenly Sovereign, it would at least reach the level of a half-step Heavenly Sovereign. At that point, sustaining the Battle Spirit of the Dragonbone Guard would no longer be so fleeting.
But for now, his priority wasn't breaking through. Once he had adjusted his condition back to peak form, Xiao Yan took out the corpse of Long Nixian from his storage artifact. He gently placed it on a stone platform and took a deep breath before summoning the long-unused Spirit Refining Tower.
The moment the Spirit Refining Tower took shape, it immediately enveloped Long Nixian's corpse. Xiao Yan knew full well that Long Nixian was a devious old monster—there was no telling what hidden schemes he might've left behind. Perhaps even a remnant soul was hiding within the body. Zong Yang had been taken over in this exact manner. Thus, it was only prudent to set up safeguards to avoid being caught off guard.
And his caution turned out to be well-founded. As soon as the Spirit Refining Flame began burning the corpse, a gray mist began to rise from it, accompanied by a sharp, wailing scream that sent chills down the spine.
Even if this wasn't a remnant of Long Nixian's soul, it was clearly a manifestation of his lingering resentment. If Xiao Yan had carelessly absorbed it without purification, it wouldn't have been long before his own mind was consumed by this toxic resentment, turning him into nothing more than a mindless beast.
Once purified by the Spirit Refining Flame, that lingering resentment transformed into extremely pure soul energy. Even a trace of soul energy from a Heavenly Sovereign was of immense benefit to him. Still, Xiao Yan took no risks—he purified it again using both the Fallen Heart Flame and the Demonic Lotus Purifying Flame, then filtered it through the Ancestral Stone. Only then did he dare to absorb it into his body.
After completely refining the soul energy, Xiao Yan also obtained fragments of Long Nixian's memories—among them were the secrets of the Dragon Roar Demon Subjugation Art. This peerless divine art was something Xiao Yan had long coveted. Although he wasn't yet strong enough to fully cultivate such a technique, it never hurt to be prepared. Once he reached the Earth Sovereign realm, he could at least begin to wield it in battle.
From Long Nixian's memories, Xiao Yan also learned why there had been no trace of the Dragon God's remains in the ruin. It turned out that the Dragon God had self-destructed before death, taking several of the Heavenly Demon Emperors with him in a final explosion. Even his peerless divine artifact had detonated in that blast. That was why the ruin contained almost nothing of the Dragon God's legacy—only that single divine art had been preserved, and even that had been stolen by Long Nixian.
"Sigh..." Xiao Yan couldn't help but sigh upon learning the truth. Of course, he didn't feel any particular emotional attachment to the Dragon God himself. What he regretted was that such a heroic figure had left behind so few treasures. The Dragon God, in his opinion, had exploded far too little loot.
"Forget it. Better focus on fusing this dragon bone." Shaking his head, Xiao Yan turned back to Long Nixian's corpse. The man had once possessed the strength of a Heavenly Sovereign of Immortal grade. While he wasn't among the Great Thousand World's absolute top echelon, he was probably among the strongest in the Dragon Clan. It wasn't as if Xiao Yan could just go and kill the Dragon Clan's patriarch, right?
As such, Xiao Yan was quite satisfied with the dragon bone in his possession. He activated the Azure Sky Dragon Transformation Art and began attempting to fuse it into his body. However, just as he began the process, a black glow suddenly flared up from within him and forcibly repelled the dragon bone. Frowning, Xiao Yan tried again—but the result was the same.
"What's going on? Ancestral Stone, didn't you say I could fuse dragon bones?" he demanded, summoning the Ancestral Stone Spirit and demonstrating the failure once more.
"That... I'm not sure either," the Ancestral Stone Spirit replied, visibly perplexed. "After all, the Azure Sky Dragon Transformation Art is a martial art from the lower realms. Whether it can fuse dragon bones from the Great Thousand World is still uncertain. Theoretically, it should work though..."
"As for the strength gap—well, I don't think that's the issue either. Back on the Tianxuan Continent, Lin Dong fused with a dragon bone that was leagues beyond his strength. In fact, you're supposed to have a large strength gap to begin with. Otherwise, what's the point of fusing a dragon bone?"
(End of Chapter)
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