East Sea.
As the largest body of water in the entire primordial world, the East Sea was vast and boundless.
Countless aquatic races lived within the East Sea, some strong, some weak.
Of course, at least for now, the Dragon Clan was the apparent overlord and ruler of the East Sea.
Crystal Palace.
Ao Run, the Dragon King of the East Sea, was pacing back and forth in panic, muttering as he walked:
"All the spiritual energy above the East Sea is converging upon Jin'ao Island, the dojo of Saint Tongtian. What exactly is going on? Great Emperor Haotian ordered the Dragon Clan to guard the waters of the East Sea. Such a major event should be reported."
"But reporting it will surely offend Saint Tongtian and the Interception Sect. The Interception Sect is immensely powerful now, with ten thousand immortals paying homage to it. What should I do?"
It had to be said that, as a descendant of Ancestral Dragon, Dragon King Ao Run had utterly disgraced the Dragon Clan. He was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, with not the slightest trace of the Dragon Clan's majesty left.
If even the Dragon King was like this, how much better could the dragon princes and descendants below him be?
If Ancestral Dragon were still alive, he would surely be so enraged that he would personally slaughter this entire group of unfilial descendants.
At least they would no longer be an eyesore!
"R-Report... Dragon... Dragon King! Someone from the Interception Sect seeks an audience outside the hall!" At that moment, the Sea Patrol Yaksha rushed in, looking utterly panicked.
Hearing the Sea Patrol Yaksha's words, Ao Run, who had been pacing, forced himself to remain calm and spoke with feigned dignity:
"Why are you panicking? Have you no decorum?"
"Who seeks an audience with me?"
"Dragon King, it is Saintess Jinling of the Interception Sect!"
"What?"
"Saintess Jinling?"
Hearing the Sea Patrol Yaksha's words, Ao Run was shocked. His eyes widened as he seemingly could not believe it, and he asked to confirm:
"She said she is Saintess Jinling?"
"Yes, Dragon King!"
"Fool! Why are you not following me to welcome her at once? Saintess Jinling is a disciple of a Saint and the senior sister of the Interception Sect. If we offend her, our entire East Sea will suffer!"
With that, Ao Run did not even care whether his robes were properly arranged as he hurriedly ran outside the hall.
"Immortal, Immortal..."
When he arrived before her, Ao Run hurriedly bowed to Jinling.
"Ao Run did not know that you would honor us with your presence, Immortal. Forgive me for failing to welcome you properly!" As he spoke, Ao Run lowered his head deeply, terrified of angering Jinling.
Seeing Ao Run's obsequious manner, Jinling said nothing, though she was displeased within. She merely said flatly:
"Master has issued an order. He is currently comprehending an array formation. No one may approach Jin'ao Island!"
"A Saint's command is naturally one Ao Run must obey. Please enter the hall, Immortal. I have prepared a humble feast to welcome you," Ao Run said sincerely to Jinling, making no effort to conceal the fawning look in his eyes.
"No need!"
Leaving behind those words, Jinling rose directly into the air and flew away.
"Farewell, Immortal! Farewell, Immortal!"
Hearing Ao Run call after her, Jinling could not help but shake her head. The Dragon Clan was declining with every generation!
Meanwhile, on Qin Hong's side.
Pangu's Heart Blood had already entered Qin Hong's mouth.
The instant it entered, an explosive force erupted from Qin Hong's mouth and surged through his limbs and bones. Everywhere it passed, Qin Hong's meridians were shattered into a complete mess.
Pfft!
Under the intensified impact, Qin Hong lost his footing and spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Damn, I was careless!"
"This feels fucking awful!"
At that moment, Qin Hong could clearly feel the pain radiating from every part of his body as his meridians were repeatedly torn apart and reconstructed.
Even though he was already a Grand Unity Golden Immortal, and even though he had long prepared himself mentally, he still could not resist the urge to scream.
"Heart Blood, you fucking have no martial virtue! This hurts so much, ah!"
Fusing with Heart Blood was originally an extremely long and painful process.
After all, this was a transformation, a transformation from the inside out. During this period, the pain Qin Hong had to endure was no less than forcibly withstanding heavenly tribulation or being tempered by divine fire.
Fresh blood continuously flowed from the surface of Qin Hong's body, while chunks of flesh continuously fell away.
At the same time, beneath the clotted blood and fallen flesh was even stronger flesh that emitted a faint glow.
Then it fell away again, repaired itself again, fell away again, and repaired itself again!
Until Qin Hong's flesh reached its limit.
Every transformation was a rebirth, and every rebirth was agony that pierced to the bone marrow!
Within the secret chamber, Qin Hong continuously endured the immense pain brought by Pangu's Heart Blood, quietly awaiting the moment when he would emerge from his cocoon as a butterfly and return in glory.
Time flowed away like sand slipping through one's fingers.
By then, Qin Hong had already used two Laws of Time.
A full million years was only a brief instant to the outside world.
Yet for Qin Hong, it was a true million years of bone-deep suffering.
If Qin Hong, when he first began refining Pangu's Heart Blood, had been like a frenzied madman, then Qin Hong now was extraordinarily quiet.
He sat quietly upon the meditation cushion, neither roaring nor screaming.
Only the faint tremors of his body and the sweat constantly seeping from his forehead told the outside world that Qin Hong was enduring extraordinary pain.
"Heh, a million years already. Time really passes quickly!"
Compared to the lengthy passage of time, Qin Hong's refinement of Pangu's Heart Blood had made little progress.
After an entire million years of tempering, he had fused with less than one-tenth of it.
"Since there isn't enough time, then I'll continue!"
"System, use another Law of Time!"
With that, Qin Hong sat cross-legged on the meditation cushion and continued refining Pangu's Heart Blood.
As for the pain during refinement, it was not worth mentioning at all.
After all, no pain could still frighten someone after being repeated for a million years!
Under Qin Hong's frenzied refinement, he spent a total of fourteen Laws of Time—seven million years altogether—before refining roughly one-third of Pangu's Heart Blood.
After refining one-third of it, no matter what Qin Hong did, he could no longer continue refining it.
For now, he could only bear this much Pangu's Heart Blood.
The remaining unrefined Pangu's Heart Blood quietly lay dormant throughout Qin Hong's body, slowly being refined as his strength continued to grow!
"Whew... This really hurts!"
Having stopped the refinement, Qin Hong opened his eyes, and a sharp gaze shot forth.
Though Qin Hong had grown accustomed to the pain later on, that did not mean it no longer hurt!
Crack! Crack! Crack!
When Qin Hong rose from the meditation cushion, crisp cracking sounds rang out from his body.
Along with those sounds came a powerful sensation of strength. Qin Hong felt that he could casually punch a Golden Immortal to death.
Boom!
With an utterly ordinary punch, the space before Qin Hong shattered instantly like a glass mirror.
"Damn, this strong?"
Seeing the power of his casual strike, Qin Hong had long since cast aside the pain of refining Pangu's Heart Blood.
Though he had refined less than one-third of it, Qin Hong's physical body had already undergone a complete rebirth, becoming incomparably powerful!
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