External Alchemy Pill, Internal Alchemy Method

Like a cycle, the Azure Sky Jade Dragon's exploded body nourished the earth. Its overwhelming poison and Life Force transformed the once-barren land into a canyon capable of sustaining poison-attributed soul beasts.

The Dragon Pill fused with Essence of Life Gold fell deep beneath the earth. Who knew how long it remained there before a group of people discovered it? After hammering and chipping at it to no avail, they put it in a box and sent it to a treasure vault filled with valuables.

One Soul Douluo after another came to examine the Dragon Pill, which was no different from a stone. In the end, they could only shake their heads, unable to do anything.

Once, a Titled Douluo attempted to uncover the Dragon Pill's secrets. Yet until he died of old age, he never fulfilled his wish, and ultimately passed away with resentment.

After the Titled Douluo died of old age, the Dragon Pill was returned to its casket and locked away deep within the treasure vault once more.

Who knew how many years later, the dust-covered box in the vault was opened again...

The world returned to normal, and Chen Ming abruptly opened his eyes, his forehead drenched in sweat.

The Azure Sky Jade Dragon had died thoroughly. Let alone a Dragon Soul, even the slightest trace of baleful aura had been worn away. If its Dragon Pill had not been purified after devouring one of its own kind, then fused with Essence of Life Gold in that desperate situation, it could never have remained behind.

The reason Chen Ming was drenched in sweat was entirely due to the pressure on his mind. Although what he saw through Spirit Vision was merely a replay of the past, that immense aura and terrifying pressure had still been firmly imprinted in his mind.

What was rather amusing was that in this memory centered around the Sky Blue Jade Dragon, the Sky Blue Jade Dragon itself had exerted the least pressure on Chen Ming.

Even at its peak, its power was far inferior to Di Tian's aura. Compared to that god-rank lightning, it was even less worth mentioning.

Chen Ming wiped the sweat from his forehead. When he realized his heart still could not settle quickly, he hurriedly took out a piece of jerky from his Storage Soul Tool, stuffed it into his mouth, and mechanically chewed.

The unbearable flavor flooded Chen Ming's mind, forcing him to snap out of the shock of those memories. He quickly took out a huge cup of fruit juice from his Storage Soul Tool and gulped it all down.

Only then did Chen Ming turn his attention to the stone-like Dragon Pill in his hand.

"This thing may have an impressive origin, but it seems unusable. Essence of Life Gold and the Azure Dragon's Dragon Pill are both treasures rarely seen in the world, but under the pressure of Heavenly Thunder, the two melted together and became something that may never have appeared on the continent before."

"And most importantly, most of the Life Force within the Essence of Life Gold was worn away by the lightning. What fused into the Dragon Pill was less Life Force than some incomplete characteristic of Essence of Life Gold. Because of that characteristic, this Dragon Pill can't be used through ordinary methods either."

Chen Ming muttered to himself, but he was not too disappointed.

He understood as well. If this thing were truly so easy to use, Qian Renxue could not possibly have given it directly to a mere Soul Grandmaster like him as a gift.

If it had not been used up by someone centuries ago, then it should at least have been given to Dugu Bo, the Poison Douluo, in exchange for a favor. It should have had absolutely nothing to do with a Soul Grandmaster like him.

Still, as Chen Ming looked at the Dragon Pill, his heart itched.

Even if Heavenly Thunder had washed away its attributes, leaving only one-tenth or even one-hundredth of its former effects, this Dragon Pill was still an invaluable treasure to a Soul Grandmaster like him.

As long as he could make use of it, even in the most insignificant way, he could gain no small benefit from it.

But how was he supposed to use it?

Chen Ming tapped the Dragon Pill, which no longer even looked round, his thoughts churning.

"Refining it into my body is probably impossible. Forget whether I have the technique for it—my Soul Power isn't enough. If this thing really entered my body, it might only need to breathe in and out a little before I died. To a Titled Douluo, it might be just a wisp of Soul Power, but it could drain a Soul Grandmaster like me to death seven or eight times over without being strange at all."

"If I truly want to try that, I'll have to wait until I'm at least a Soul King or Soul Emperor."

"As for using it to refine medicine..."

At that thought, Chen Ming awkwardly twitched the corner of his mouth.

The fact that this Dragon Pill had survived a god-rank Heavenly Tribulation already proved its hardness. In the centuries Chen Ming saw through Spirit Vision, whether Soul Douluo or Titled Douluo, none could cut off even a fingernail-sized piece from the Dragon Pill despite exhausting every means available.

To use this thing for medicine refinement, he would at least need to contact those Super Douluo of the Assault System who specialized in explosive power. Perhaps even Qian Daoliu would need to wield the Angel God Sword to cut it open.

Medicine refinement, pass.

What should he do?

As Chen Ming habitually injected Soul Power into it, an idea suddenly came to him.

"External Alchemy Pill! Internal Alchemy Method!"

Ancient Daoism alchemy had the concept of External Pills. Though later developments gradually denounced External Pills as heterodox methods, external practices that cultivated nature but not life, no one could deny that External Pills were indeed an excellent transitional method.

"Since taking it into my body won't work, then I'll use it as an External Pill! I'll find a way to make it absorb the Soul Power between heaven and earth, then absorb the Soul Power inside it myself, won't I?!"

"Let me think. If I want to establish a connection with something like this..."

Chen Ming took out a small knife from his Storage Soul Tool. After thinking for a moment, he also took out all his blood-replenishing medicinal herbs and bandages.

Chen Ming first placed the Dragon Pill in an iron basin, then sterilized the knife over a flame. Finally, he carefully cut a small opening in his arm and let his blood flow onto the stone.

Yet Chen Ming's actions produced no reaction. It was as if he had merely dripped a puddle of water onto it; the Dragon Pill showed no sign of absorbing the blood.

Chen Ming's thoughts shifted, and he summoned his Martial Soul. While letting blood drip, he controlled his Soul Power and Spiritual Power to merge.

As the Soul Power fused with Spiritual Power entered it, the stone-like Dragon Pill gradually began absorbing Chen Ming's blood. Yet no connection formed between them.

Seeing this, Chen Ming gritted his teeth and stomped his foot. He grabbed several pills from the side and stuffed them into his mouth, maintaining the fusion of Soul Power and Spiritual Power while attempting to inject his own spirituality into the Dragon Pill.

After consuming more than half a day's effort, when Chen Ming's entire body was nearly trembling, an almost imperceptible connection finally formed between him and the Dragon Pill.

The blood in the basin was instantly sucked dry by the Dragon Pill, and when Chen Ming poured Soul Power into it, he could feel a response.

Seeing this, the greatly exhausted Chen Ming hurriedly stopped. He quickly staunched the bleeding, applied medicine, and wrapped bandages around his arm, lest he lose too much blood at once.

After casually swallowing another handful of medicine, Chen Ming carefully hugged the Dragon Pill from the basin against his chest, sat on the ground, and entered a meditative state.