The Grand Princess Returned. Rumble—
Thunder rolled through her Dantian.
As the Ten Thousand Demon Heaven-Swallowing Technique spun wildly, that flash of green swallowed every last trace of the Nine Dragons' energy.
With each portion it devoured,
the tender shoot grew another inch.
The nine dragon shadows that had been rampaging through her cried out in anguish.
At last, they became streams of pure golden light and flowed into the Green Lotus.
In a daze,
an impossibly profound incantation passed through her mind.
Shatter the core, sink into the Deep Abyss, and turn to Ash of Calamity; a spark of spirit light nurtures emerald peaks.
Yesterday, the ink pool sent up clouds and mist; today, the lotus blooms and transforms into jade marrow.
Hum—!!!
As the final word fell,
the Green Lotus in her Dantian's sea of energy finally stopped growing.
Rooted in the void, it spread its stem and leaves. Every part of it was crystal clear, as though carved from the finest jade.
And at the tip of its stem,
a bud quietly emerged.
Though its petals were still tightly closed, the aura it gave off was many times more terrifying than that of her Ten Patterns Golden Core!
Drip.
A soft sound echoed through the vast emptiness of her Dantian.
A drop of golden dew had gathered on the Green Lotus bud.
Then it slid free
and fell into the dried-up sea of energy below.
True Qi had liquefied!
Understanding dawned on Jiang Yuechu.
In the Ink-Dotting Realm, the True Qi within her had been like fog and smoke.
Vast though it was, it had still lacked substance.
In the Lotus-Planting Realm, the Dao Lotus refined and compressed that gaseous True Qi into liquid True Essence.
One drop of True Essence held as much energy as a