Inside the secret chamber, Lu Chen opened his eyes.
The Dragon Marrow Spirit Crystal in his palm had already turned to gray-white powder. Its final wisp of essence had been refined into his limbs and bones, and his dragon bones gave off a faint, clear chime like jade striking jade.
Three hours.
He had refined another Dragon Marrow Spirit Crystal.
The barrier at the peak of the Supernatural Power realm remained firm, showing no sign of breaking anytime soon.
But Lu Chen was in no hurry.
He slowly withdrew his cultivation. In his eyes was reflected the faint spiritual glow of the formations flowing across the stone walls of the chamber, while his mind sank into his sea of consciousness.
There, the Dragon Soul Mirror mark had become completely still.
It no longer trembled violently and shone brilliantly as it had when it first fused with the Dragon Vein Soul Essence. Instead, like an ancient, unadorned command token weathered by ten thousand years, it quietly floated beside the Soul-Nourishing Jade Essence.
Its blue-gold halo had drawn inward, with only faint amber patterns flowing around its edges, so subtle they were almost imperceptible.
That was the imprint left behind after the Dragon Vein Soul Essence had completely fused.
At a stir of Lu Chen's thoughts, the mark gave a light tremble, and a mysterious insight rippled through his soul like spreading rings on water—
Not words, not images, but an almost instinctive "understanding."
He "saw" the paths along which spiritual energy flowed through his body, like streams, like rivers, all ultimately converging into the violet-gold vortex in his dantian.
He "sensed" the intricate network of dragon veins crisscrossing deep beneath his feet like the meridians of a human body, as well as the deep, ancient power pulsing within them.
He even