Chapter 85: (2): Long Ziyan
Upon hearing this, the tenth clan elders finally calmed down, but still unwillingly couldn't help but ask, "Then why did nothing happen to the young man with the Ten Absolute Body after he cultivated it?"
The Fifth Elder replied, "According to Long Ao, that young man seems to have altered the text. He modified the technique to the point where it’s unrecognizable, coincidentally solving part of the problem with it."
"Remember, it only solved part of the problem. It may be stable in the early stages, but later on, who knows? Long Ao doesn't believe he can solve an issue that even Empress Yaoguang couldn't."
"I assume you don't have the guts to learn a technique recklessly altered by a mere boy, do you?"
The Fifth Elder glanced at him and continued, "He's special in our clan, so we can grant him the privilege to learn forbidden techniques. Even if, in the end, he's replaced by his own clone, it won't matter."
"Because the clone’s memory, personality, and habits are exactly the same as the original, it doesn’t make a difference if they swap places. We have no need to monitor him."
"Having him participate in a martial arts tournament is a guaranteed win."
Patriarch Long Wanli nodded and said, "Indeed, his match is secure, but his current cultivation level is still too low. To maximize benefits, let him grow for a while first."
"In the initial conflicts, let Long Qilin and Long Ziyan handle it. They are our clan's most talented prodigies, and at least for the first two rounds, they have a high chance of winning."
All the elders nodded in agreement. The Sixth Elder smiled and said, "I have full confidence in Long Ziyan. She’s a nine-grade bloodline genius, a rarity in a millennium. Once she unleashes her Divine Dragon form, those little ones from the Feng Clan will be utterly defeated! If they knew we had both a nine-grade bloodline and a Ten Absolute Bodies, they would surely regret accepting the challenge.""Hahaha..." The conference room echoed with the hearty laughter of the elders.
"By the way! I heard that Long Ao has become a third-grade alchemist. Is this true? If so, it would be a great fortune for our clan, pushing our clan’s destiny to the next level."
The Sixth Elder looked excited, his voice trembling with enthusiasm.
Long Wanli smiled and nodded, equally excited, "It's true. Our clan has indeed produced a third-grade alchemist, and he’s the only one in the Far West. It’s truly something to celebrate."
"Our clan possesses the treasured third-grade Black Dragon Pill recipe. Once he successfully refines it, every one of you here will have the opportunity to break through to the level of a Gu King!"
As soon as he said this, all the elders' eyes turned red with excitement, losing their previous composure as their breathing quickened.
The Tenth elder who was late to the meeting just learned about this. Because he was not mentally prepared, he was extremely excited. He slammed the table three times and shouted loudly: "That's fantastic! Truly, heaven favors our clan!"
"Now he is our clan's most precious asset. We must protect him well. Who knows what crazy things that red-eyed Feng Qingyang might do once he finds out about this."
"I suggest we immediately seal this information and order the entire clan not to disclose it. Anyone who violates this rule will be executed!" The Tenth elder revealed a ruthless expression.
Long Wanli showed a troubled expression, sighed, and said helplessly, "It's too late! Don’t you know his personality? That big mouth of his blabs about everything. As soon as he broke through to a third-grade alchemist, he bragged about it everywhere. Now, the whole world knows..."
The conference room suddenly fell into a deep silence, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop...
...
At this time, outside the conference hall.
"You’re saying only those with a Long Clan bloodline of fifth-grade or higher can condense an dharma image, and your bloodline purity, as the second genius of your clan, is only sixth-grade? Yet that Long Ziyan actually reached ninth-grade? You, the second best, have been completely outclassed by the first?"
Long Xuan stared wide-eyed at Long Qilin, looking shocked.
After coming down from Elder Long’s little peak, he started searching everywhere for medicinal plants and accidentally ran into Long Qilin, so he immediately ran over to strike up a conversation.
The “Inverse Dragon Art” is the highest secret of the Long Clan, so he didn’t dare to probe Elder Long about it, lest he reveal that he had already learned it.
But Long Qilin was different—he was very naive, and it was easy to extract secrets from him.
Long Xuan feigned curiosity and easily coaxed the method for condensing an external dharma out of him.
Long Qilin proudly claimed to be a descendant of dragons, with dragon blood running through his veins. The higher the purity of the bloodline, the stronger the combat power. When the bloodline reaches a certain level, it gains some dragon-like characteristics, allowing one to condense a Divine Dragon Form.
If the bloodline purity is too low, the body won’t resemble a dragon at all, making it impossible to condense a Divine Dragon Form.
And the more times the long bloodline is mixed with mortal blood, the lower its purity. Long Xuan’s bloodline had been mixed with mortal blood countless times; if his bloodline could even reach the first grade, it would be impressive. If he could condense a Divine Dragon Form, it would be nothing short of miraculous.
Long Xuan suddenly understood. No wonder the technique always emphasized "blood, blood, blood." It turns out this "blood" refers to essence blood from a fifth-grade or higher bloodline, not ordinary blood. He had misunderstood.
Long Xuan’s eyes lit up as everything became clear in his mind.
Now that he had identified the root of the problem, solving it became much easier. Since the inability to condense an dharma was due to insufficient bloodline purity, he would modify the text to allow the use of essence blood from outsiders to achieve the same result. The problem would then be resolved.
Long Xuan immediately eyed Long Qilin with a predatory gaze but quickly shook his head. No, this person’s bloodline purity is far too low; why would he want such trash? He showed a look of disdain.
Of course, the higher the bloodline purity, the better the dharma’s power—this was beyond doubt. Otherwise, why would Long Qilin be overshadowed by Long Ziyan, a female Gu cultivator who could easily defeat him?
Since Long Qilin’s essence blood was worthless, Long Xuan could only set his sights on that genius named Long Ziyan.
Long Xuan’s eyes darted around, and he casually asked, "Wouldn’t it be great if this dharma image could be formed using someone else’s essence blood? You could trade some treasure for Long Ziyan’s essence blood, and then your Divine Dragon form wouldn’t be any weaker than hers."
It seemed as if Long Xuan was giving Long Qilin a suggestion, but in reality, he was asking for himself.
He wanted to know if essence blood could be traded, and if so, at what price, so he could plan accordingly.
Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, Long Qilin was startled and hurriedly waved his hand, exclaiming, "What are you thinking! How could essence blood be traded? If you dared to ask her for essence blood, she would beat you to death!"
"Do you even know what essence blood is? Essence blood isn’t ordinary blood; it’s the essence of a person’s body and extremely rare. Only heart blood and virgin yin blood contain a small amount of essence blood."
"Losing heart blood would severely weaken a person, while losing virgin yin blood is less critical but would slow down the cultivation speed for certain techniques."
"But neither type of blood can be traded. If you dared to ask her for it, believe me, you’d die a miserable death!"
Hearing this, Long Xuan’s neck shrank in fear, and cold sweat broke out. He felt a wave of relief. Luckily, he had asked that extra question; otherwise, if he had gone to Long Ziyan to trade for essence blood, it would have been disastrous. The consequences would have been unimaginable.
So, it seems this woman must be avoided at all costs; the matter of condensing an dharma image will have to be reconsidered.
Long Qilin suddenly put his arm around Long Xuan’s shoulder, leaned in, and said with a smile, "Let’s not talk about this anymore. It’s your first time at the Long Clan, so you must be unfamiliar with many places, right? Come on, I’ll be your guide and show you around so you can experience the customs of the Long Clan."
With that, Long Qilin enthusiastically pulled Long Xuan along, leaving him no choice.
Although Long Xuan had initially intended to gather secrets and then leave, he couldn’t resist Long Qilin’s enthusiasm and was forced to follow him.
Over the next few hours, Long Qilin led Long Xuan on a tour of the various areas of the clan. With Long Qilin as his guide, Long Xuan had unrestricted access to every place, even secret locations.
Long Xuan first visited the Hall of Teachings, where clan members study techniques and skills under the guidance of instructors, helping them avoid many pitfalls.
Long Xuan couldn’t help but feel envious. As a rogue cultivator, he had no one to guide him and often had to figure things out on his own. He might not even realize when he took a wrong turn, and a single mistake could cost him a lifetime of regret.
After the Hall of Teachings, Long Xuan was taken to the Library Tower. Upon arriving there, Long Xuan was overjoyed, his eyes gleaming. However, Long Qilin found it boring, so after a brief stay, he forcibly dragged Long Xuan away.
Next, they visited the Martial Arts Hall, where many people were sparring, with a large crowd watching. It was very noisy.
After the Martial Arts Hall came the Gu Battle Arena, where a group of people were engaging in Gu battles. In these battles, the Gu cultivators themselves do not participate; instead, they send their external Gu to duel.
There were one-on-one duels as well as group battles. The show-offs even took on groups single-handedly. It was a lively place, with people shouting and cheering.
Long Xuan was then taken to the Long family’s school, where a group of young children, both girls and boys, were being taught reading and writing, as well as the basic knowledge of this world.
Long Xuan grew even more envious. Who knows what would have happened to him if he hadn’t developed a clone; he wouldn’t understand even the most basic knowledge, like his geographic location in this world. Let alone the seemingly unimportant but crucial historical details.
Soon after, Long Xuan was taken to the Hall of Missions, where the family posts various tasks. Individuals could also offer rewards and post tasks here. The task that Elder Long took in guarding Great Stone Village was issued from here.
In the Long family, only those who contribute significantly to the family can receive various resources; otherwise, it would be pointless to raise so many idle people. No one can enjoy a free meal in the Long family.
Long Xuan continued to follow Long Qilin, visiting numerous places that broadened his horizons. After half a day, they finally stopped at the last destination.
This final stop was at the very center of the Long family's grounds. There was a Treasure Pavilion here, where most of the Long family's treasures were stored. Upon reaching this place, Long Xuan's eyes gleamed even brighter.
He quickly rushed inside and began inspecting the treasures at the fastest speed, hoping to find something he needed.
For the convenience of the Long family members, all the treasures were listed on inventory sheets posted on the walls inside the pavilion, making them easy to see. At this moment, the walls were crowded with people gathered around each treasure list.
Everyone had an excited look, with greed in their eyes, pointing at the various treasures on the walls and quietly discussing them with their companions.
As a large and powerful family, the Long clan indeed had a wealth of good things. There were too many things that Long Xuan needed, like the seeds of rare fourth-grade spiritual herbs, which were not easy to collect.
Upon entering, Long Xuan found it impossible to move his feet. His greedy eyes darted around, eventually stopping on one particular treasure list. When he saw what was written there, he couldn’t take his eyes off it.
The list read: "Blood of the Golden Crow, obtained from the Ancient Yaoguang Tomb, 50 million contribution points."
Seeing these words, Long Xuan's breathing became rapid. He needed this more than anything—the Blood of the Golden Crow was perfect for condensing a Golden Crow Dharma Image!
Since obtaining Long Ziyan's blood was too difficult, this Golden Crow blood was absolutely the next best option for him.
This was blood directly from a divine beast, and its effectiveness in condensing an external Dharma body could not possibly be inferior to the ninth-grade human blood.
It’s important to note that the powers of his "Purgatory True Demonic Technique" differ from the "Inverse Dragon Art." The "Inverse Dragon Art" can only condense a dragon's Dharma Image based on the purity of the bloodline.
However, his "Purgatory True Demonic Technique" allows him to condense an external Dharma image for each level he cultivates. The more levels he masters, the more Dharma image he can create.
Now that he knows that condensing a Dharma image is related to the blood of powerful creatures, the blood of various divine beasts is something he must obtain, even if it means paying a high price.
It’s important to remember that divine beasts in this world have been extinct for countless millennia. The remaining divine beast blood is finite—each use depletes the supply permanently, and now it's almost nonexistent.
This bottle of Golden Crow blood could very well be the only one left in this world. He had to get it at any cost, even if it meant taking some risks. Long Xuan clenched his fists.
Noticing that all the treasures here could only be exchanged with the Long family's unique contribution points, he immediately turned to Long Qilin and impatiently asked, "How can I earn contribution points?"
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