The Terror of the Red Dragon Pool and Twenty Thousand Taels of Silver

"Red Dragon Pool!"

"Martial Emperor's Legacy Treasure!"

Upon hearing the four words "Martial Emperor's Legacy Treasure," even though Lin Yi had long known that Dongshan Martial Academy possessed treasures left behind by the Martial Emperor, he was still profoundly shaken.

The Martial Emperor was a legend throughout the entire Jiuzhou World!

In the legends, the Martial Emperor was a heaven-shocking genius, unprecedented throughout all ages!

Not only had he created martial arts from nothing, suppressed the world with his own strength, but Pill Dao, Artifact Dao, Formation Dao, and even Puppet Dao had all been founded by the Martial Emperor.

More than six thousand years had passed since Jiuzhou entered the Martial Arts Era, and countless gifted prodigies had emerged throughout history.

Yet not a single one of their achievements could compare to even one percent—or even one thousandth—of the Martial Emperor's.

Whether it was martial arts, Pill Dao, Artifact Dao, or any other Dao, none of them could!

It could be said that the Martial Emperor was the legend of all Jiuzhou—an unprecedented existence, like a god!

As thoughts raced through his mind and he recalled the Martial Emperor's many legends, Lin Yi's heart could not help but surge with excitement.

Only after taking several deep breaths in succession did he finally calm his agitated emotions somewhat. He then asked Zhao Hai Hong again:

"Dean, what exactly does this Red Dragon Pool do?"

"The Red Dragon Pool's function is simple! It raises cultivation! It helps martial artists rapidly increase their cultivation!"

As he spoke, Zhao Hai Hong's expression turned solemn as he continued his introduction:

"The Red Dragon Pool is an incredibly miraculous exotic treasure. No one knows what material it was made from, nor how it was refined."

"It is roughly one zhang in diameter, golden-yellow as a whole, with four golden divine dragons carved upon its eastern, southern, western, and northern sides."

"During the day, these four golden divine dragons keep their eyes closed. At night, they open their dragon eyes and use them to absorb the essence of the moon, then transform it into the purest natural essence and infuse it into the Red Dragon Pool's water."

"Afterward, as long as martial artists soak in the pool water and circulate their Breathing Technique, they can rapidly increase their cultivation by absorbing this natural essence."

"You must know that this natural essence is the purest energy in the world. Absorbing it places no burden whatsoever on the body."

"Once this energy enters the body, it can basically be converted immediately into the martial artist's own qi and blood power, directly skipping the refinement and digestion steps and saving vast amounts of time."

"And beyond that, the Red Dragon Pool has another effect: it can greatly increase the upper limit of how much energy a martial artist can absorb each day."

"For example, before entering the Red Dragon Pool, a martial artist of a certain aptitude might only be able to absorb one portion of energy per day. But after cultivating within the Red Dragon Pool, he could absorb five portions, ten portions, or even more each day!"

"With that, combined with the effect of pure energy being easy to absorb, one's cultivation speed would naturally soar by leaps and bounds—advancing a thousand miles in a single day!"

"What! It's that powerful?"

After hearing the Red Dragon Pool's detailed information, Lin Yi was utterly shocked.

As expected of a legacy treasure left behind by the Martial Emperor—it was truly powerful beyond imagination!

It could refine the essence of the moon and increase the upper limit of energy a martial artist could absorb each day.

With that combination, a martial artist's cultivation speed could be increased by more than tenfold!

In that case, even an ordinary person could become a cultivation genius outright.

And those who were already geniuses could directly evolve into monsters!

As for an unparalleled monster like himself, one possessing a "Martial Saint Body," Lin Yi did not even dare imagine how fast his cultivation speed would become!

At that thought, boundless desire immediately rose in Lin Yi's heart. He promptly asked Zhao Hai Hong again:

"Dean, this Red Dragon Pool truly is miraculous. So what exactly must I do to enter it?"

"Very simple! You only need to place in the top three in Dongshan Martial Academy's Martial Academy Grand Competition, held at the end of every month."

With that, Zhao Hai Hong smiled faintly:

"If you can't find the book by searching its title, try searching for the author instead. It may simply have been renamed!"

"After all, even within Dongshan Martial Academy, Red Dragon Pools are extremely scarce. The entire academy has only two of them."

"And one of those two Red Dragon Pools must be reserved for disciples who have just entered the academy and those who have been in the academy for one year. Only the other is fully available to disciples like you who are nearing graduation."

"Furthermore, a Red Dragon Pool can only be used for six to seven hours at most each day, so only a very small number of academy disciples are destined to use this treasure."

"As for how small that number is, it is generally decided personally by the Chief Dean. Sometimes it is five people, sometimes three, and sometimes only two. Everything depends on the circumstances."

"For your cohort, the Chief Dean has set the number at three."

"Furthermore, the length of time these three disciples may use the Red Dragon Pool is arranged according to their rankings."

"First place may use it for half the time, which is three to three and a half hours. Second place may use two-thirds of the remaining time, which is two to a little over two hours."

"As for third place, the time allotted is much less—generally only one hour, or a little over an hour."

"But even if one can only use it for a single hour each day, over the course of a month, their rate of improvement will still be at least three times greater than usual."

"So within Dongshan Martial Academy, those disciples capable of competing for the top three—those who can consistently place in the top five in every month-end competition—generally have cultivation a notch above the other disciples. Most are already at Late Sixth Rank or above."

"As for their Power Exertion Realm, Martial Skill realm, and so on, they are no weaker than you. Most are even somewhat stronger."

"They're that strong?"

Hearing Zhao Hai Hong's words, Lin Yi could not help but feel some pressure.

Late Sixth Rank, with his Extreme Strength Realm and Martial Skill Realm on par with his own—this was indeed formidable strength.

Even with the Martial Saint Body and his many talents, Lin Yi estimated that surpassing them would take him at least several months, perhaps even half a year.

And for Lin Yi, who had risen to prominence in just a few months, that was truly a rather long time.

"Still, things have come to this. For now, I have no other choice."

Lin Yi sighed inwardly.

"After all, my Extreme Strength Realm and Martial Skill Realm only broke through not long ago. There's simply no way I can achieve another breakthrough in such a short time."

"As for Martial Cultivation, with the Martial Saint Body, breaking through is easy enough for me."

"But no matter how easy it is, it can't improve out of thin air. I still need resources, pills to assist me."

"But where am I supposed to get the money to buy pills and resources now?"

Thinking of this, Lin Yi felt rather helpless.

During the past month and a half of cultivation, he had already spent every last bit of the silver he had earned before.

Now, he only had a few dozen taels of silver left for pocket money—he could not even afford a single Tiger Tendon Leopard Blood Pill, much less any rarer pills. He was truly broke! Broke beyond broke!

Shaking his head slightly, Lin Yi gently adjusted his breathing, steadied his emotions, and then smiled at Zhao Hai Hong once more.

"Thank you, Dean. I've troubled you to clear up my doubts this time. I now understand everything about the Dongshan Two Treasures."

"Since I'm not strong enough to enter the Red Dragon Pool yet, then please take me to the Essay Pavilion first, Dean!"

"After all, the Essay Pavilion gathers the essence of the martial arts of powerful figures from generations of Dongshan Martial Academy. I'd also like to see just how miraculous it truly is."

"Who knows? Maybe I'll find some notes in the Essay Pavilion that happen to suit me perfectly, achieve enlightenment in a flash, and break my martial arts through to Fourth Rank completion! Then I'll have the strength to compete for a spot in the top three, hahaha!"

"Hehe! You little fellow, you do have a fine mindset."

Hearing this, Zhao Hai Hong smiled as well.

"I originally thought you'd be upset for a while over not being able to enter the Red Dragon Pool. I didn't expect you to adjust so quickly."

"With this temperament, you're far stronger than those few little fellows in the top five of Dongshan Martial Academy. No wonder my clansman values you so highly. Before leaving today, he even specifically borrowed twenty thousand taels of silver from me, telling me to send it to you once I'd gathered it."

"What!"

"The Dean left me silver before he went? Twenty thousand taels, at that!"

At these words, Lin Yi's heart jolted, followed immediately by wild delight.