Yuan Yu!
"What is this?!"
Seeing the few lines of text appear before him, Li Yan realized he'd definitely struck treasure!
[Yuan Yu: An extremely rare material found only inside the bodies of the Four Evils, Yuan Xu.] [Description: Yuan Xu is like the ancient Taotie. It cruelly swallows its enemies whole and sends them into its stomach to be refined. This substance, called Yuan Yu, is a rare metal that has accumulated in Yuan Xu's stomach after years upon years of swallowing. It may contain the concentrated essence of many heavenly treasures, such as immortal bone dust and extraterrestrial meteorites. (Note: Yuan Xu dwells in the dark depths of the sea and devours nothing but dragon crystals, phoenix marrow, and other heavenly treasures. The substance refined in its belly over countless years is far beyond ordinary stones formed from dust).]
Li Yan understood. It was basically a gallstone!
Like the "pig treasure" and "cow treasure" the older generation often talked about, it was actually a stone formed inside livestock.
But Yuan Xu ate well. Large amounts of metal had remained in its stomach, accumulating over tens or even hundreds of thousands of years until this treasure had formed.
In other words, there wasn't another piece of Yuan Yu to be found in the entire cultivation world!
Li Yan rubbed his claws together excitedly and checked its side effect.
[Side effect: Yuan Yu can be refined into a sharp metal weapon. Anyone cut by it will bleed nonstop, and their wound will keep festering, making it extremely difficult to heal!]
"The side effect makes wounds bleed nonstop?"
"Then if I turn the side effect into a benefit, wouldn't that mean...!"
At that moment, Li Yan had a bold idea.
He looked at Ao Jiao, who was covered in wounds. She would need a long time to sleep and recover from her internal injuries.
What if!
What if he forged this piece of Yuan Yu into a Magic Artifact, then turned its side effect into a benefit? Wouldn't it become a Divine Artifact that healed the wounded and saved the dying?
Someone gravely wounded and collapsed? Just stick them with a needle! One poke and they'd be cured—he'd become the greatest doctor of his age!
Li Yan was a man of action. Once he had an idea, he got right to it.
Perfect! He could use the molten rock inside Yuan Xu's stomach to refine the Yuan Yu.
"Twenty-Four Mountains Yin Fire, rise!"
Black yin fire surged up inside Yuan Xu's stomach.
The entire stomach became a giant forge, its flames scorching the Yuan Yu.
No matter how the black yin fire burned, it could only slowly heat the black metal until it glowed red.
"Hmm... This Yuan Yu iron seems to be highly resistant to yin fire."
"Then let's try Six Ding Divine Fire!"
Li Yan returned to human form and formed hand seals, refining the entire enormous piece of Yuan Yu iron inside Yuan Xu's belly.
Although Li Yan had only mastered the rudiments of Six Ding Divine Fire, the moment he unleashed it, the Yuan Yu iron reacted!
"Oh? It's starting to soften. It can be shaped!"
"Ordinary Magic Artifacts need to be hammered thousands upon thousands of times to drive out the impurities inside."
"But this Yuan Yu iron has soaked in stomach acid for ages. The impurities inside were already melted away by the heat."
"All it needs is a little shaping. Once it cools, it'll be ready!"
Li Yan thought it over, then decided to forge the Yuan Yu iron into a willow-leaf saber. Controlling it with his mind, he slowly shaped the entire enormous piece of metal.
Looking at the scene before him, Li Yan felt thoroughly satisfied.
Yuan Xu, one of the Four Evils, had become his immortal abode. It had a turtle shell, and he could use it to make pills and forge artifacts.
He'd never had a proper place to forge before, so he'd never tried making an artifact himself.
Now he had a mobile immortal abode like this. What a delight!
"Done!"
He let out a long breath and gazed contentedly at the enormous willow-leaf saber before him, nine zhang and nine chi long.
It really was a blade more than thirty meters long. It only looked so tiny beside a creature of such colossal size.
"Using this Yuan Yu Willow Leaf Saber to stab Ao Jiao should speed up her recovery."
Li Yan really wanted to see what would happen. The Yuan Yu saber was deadly poisonous; stab someone with it, and the poison would kill them.
But what would happen after he turned its side effect into a benefit?
At the thought, Li Yan couldn't wait. He transformed into his Dragon Soul Golden Body again, gripped the nine-zhang-nine-chi Yuan Yu saber in his claw, and flew outside the turtle shell.
Ao Jiao was resting as her wounds healed. Her silvery-white dragon scales stood in stark contrast to the crimson gashes.
Sensing Li Yan approach, she slowly opened her eyes.
"What is it?"
"Have the Four Evils noticed what's happening here? Are they waiting outside the entrance to ambush us?"
Li Yan shook his head repeatedly. "No."
"I came because there's something I want to ask you."
Ao Jiao raised her head proudly. "What is it? If it's something big sister can do, I'll help you."
"Ao Jiao, would you let me stab you?"
At Li Yan's words, the great female dragon's body shuddered. Disbelief filled her eyes, and she swallowed a big gulp of saliva.
"Y-you said what?"
In his Dragon Soul Golden Body, Li Yan raised an eyebrow. "Would you let me stab you once?"
Ao Jiao's voice began to tremble. Could it be... had Little Bean Sprout finally come of age?
No, he was just a Young Dragon. How could he make such a shameless request?
Ancient Dragon Ao Jiao fell silent for a moment, imagining the scene.
Her enormous dragon body stretched for a thousand li, while Little Bean Sprout was so small.
Would that even work?
Just as the great female dragon's mind ran wild, Li Yan held up the Yuan Yu saber in his hand.
"I mean this. Let me stab you with this saber once, all right?"
Huh?!
Huh!!!
Ao Jiao went from shocked to even more shocked. Her thoughts leapt from one plane to another.
So when Li Yan had said "stab," he meant stabbing her with a blade?
Ancient Dragon Ao Jiao swished her tail restlessly, utterly disappointed.
"Wait, disappointment isn't the point. Why do you want to stab me with a blade?"
"Have I, Ao Jiao, wronged you?"
"I fought with all my might for you, and now you want to stab me while I'm weak?"
Seeing how furious the Ancient Dragon was, Li Yan once again soothed her in his gentle voice.
"This isn't an ordinary object. It's a Magic Treasure I found inside Yuan Xu."
"Anyone struck by this blade will bleed nonstop."
"But if it cuts one of our own, it'll speed up their recovery."
After hearing Li Yan's explanation, Ao Jiao remained skeptical.
"Really? You can heal my wounds by sticking that little knife into me?"
Anyone would think it sounded far-fetched!
Who had ever heard of cutting someone with a knife to save the wounded and heal the dying?
Well, actually, someone had! Li Yan had come from the modern era, where a modern scalpel really could save the wounded and heal the dying.
A scalpel could heal people or hurt them. It all depended on whose hands it was in.
Anyone else would definitely refuse.
After all, she was gravely wounded right now, and Li Yan still wanted to stab her. No normal person would agree.
But Ao Jiao wasn't human. She was an Ancient Dragon.
Looking into Li Yan's "sincere" eyes, she fell silent for a moment.
"Go ahead. Try stabbing me once."
"I trust you."
She was extremely weak right now. If Li Yan had wanted to kill her, he might well have succeeded.
Li Yan gripped the Yuan Yu saber in his dragon claw and slowly drove it into Ao Jiao's wound.
The next moment, Ao Jiao's enormous body suddenly convulsed. A mournful cry escaped her mouth, and she spat out a great mouthful of blood, as if she were in tremendous pain.
Seeing Ao Jiao spit blood, Li Yan clearly panicked.
"Ao Jiao!"
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