It was night. Tang Wulin found a high-end hotel and, after paying a hefty room rate, successfully checked in.
The room was spacious. More importantly, it came with a cultivation room, and the surroundings were excellent.
Tang Wulin locked the door and took out the three spiritual items he had bought at a high price that day.
"Teacher, what should I do next?"
[Leave it to me.]
"Okay."
Tang Wulin's vision went black. When he opened his eyes again, his gaze had changed, becoming sharper and more imposing.
Long Yuan had taken the wheel again.
He took a sealable container from the side, tossed in the Ice Crystal Fruit and Red Flame Fruit, then poured in the blood of a dragon-type Soul Beast.
The moment the faintly fishy, dark purple blood touched the Red Flame Fruit, it crackled explosively. Red juice splattered, immediately landing on the Ice Crystal Fruit and spreading a faint frost across it.
Half the container turned bright red, while the other half froze over. Fortunately, the container was made of sturdy material, so there was no risk of it breaking anytime soon.
Faint dragon roars could be heard as well.
Long Yuan rubbed his chin. He seemed to understand the principle behind this folk remedy.
Since ancient times, there had been a saying on Douluo Continent: tempering the body with ice and fire. The most iconic example was the combination of the Infernal Delicate Apricot and Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, a staple that had ranked near the top of every "protagonist's" must-eat list.
The opposing forces of ice and fire could awaken the bloodline power within dragon blood. Drinking the mixture could not only improve one's physical constitution but also grant a certain resistance to dragon blood, albeit a very slight one.
Still, something was better than nothing.
Long Yuan could already think of the ultimate upgrade to this method: taking the Infernal Delicate Apricot, Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, and his own essence blood together.
"Damn, looking at it this way, could Tang San have gone through the same thing at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well?"
After all, the bones of the Ice Dragon King and Fire Dragon King lay beneath the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, containing some of their power.
"Tsk, tsk..."
Enough time had passed, and the violent reaction inside the container had settled.
Long Yuan opened it. A strange, faintly bloody smell immediately filled the air. The liquid was a deep purple, with bubbles constantly rising from it. It looked a bit like muddy water from a swamp.
He lifted the cup and drained it expressionlessly.
This was where Long Yuan taking the wheel came in handy. Tang Wulin didn't have to suffer like he had in the original story.
"But isn't this a little unfair? This is a great chance to train his willpower."
No. I have to take responsibility for my disciple's future.
With that thought, Long Yuan decisively used his divine sense to transmit the pain he was feeling to Tang Wulin.
As for himself, please. How could a mere mortal pain shake his divine sense?
He silently watched the changes in his body.
Faint golden, web-like patterns slowly appeared on his forehead, then spread across his entire body. The diamond-shaped golden markings gradually grew clearer, emerging from their initial hazy state.
Two completely opposing sensations coexisted within his body in a bizarre way: blood that seemed ready to boil and a body that felt as if it were about to freeze solid.
Then came an itch, as though countless ants were crawling over him.
When those sensations gradually faded, three kinds of pain surged from deep within his body like water bursting through a dam.
"Ah—"
A scream came from the Sea of Consciousness. It was Tang Wulin. Unable to withstand the sudden pain, he had fainted.
That made sense. Pure spiritual bodies were often more sensitive to outside stimuli. The fact that he had lasted this long had already exceeded Long Yuan's expectations.
Now, then...
Long Yuan looked inward at himself, toward the eighteen seals.
At that moment, the golden ring representing the first seal was gradually cracking, fissures slowly spreading across it.
The Golden Dragon King essence, carrying the power of the Golden Dragon King, gushed through the tiny opening in the seal. It instinctively tried to spread, but Long Yuan moved his divine sense and seized control of the energy at once.
Then he divided the essence into two portions. One percent flowed into Tang Wulin's body and gradually traveled toward his right hand with the movement of his blood.
His right hand gradually gave off a golden glow, then transformed into a dragon claw. A faint Dragon Might curled around it, and he could sense the power within that represented Shatter.
"Good. I've successfully gotten this body to absorb some of the bloodline power. Now, it's time to begin my plan."
He looked at the golden orb in his hand. He could sense the power inside it; it was almost equal to all the Soul Power of a sixty-level Soul Emperor.
Recalling Na'er's true nature, Long Yuan used his divine sense to mold the body he would inhabit in the future, bit by bit.
He wasn't some master modeler, so he simply used part of the Golden Dragon King's former appearance as a reference. In the end, a golden-haired young man appeared before him.
He looked about eighteen, with a tall, imposing build.
"Good. It's only natural that I'd turn out this well."
Next, Long Yuan's divine sense slowly peeled away from Tang Wulin's body and entered the body he had sculpted, leaving behind only a tiny fragment inside Tang Wulin to serve as his voice.
Tang Wulin's now-uncontrolled body collapsed to the floor. He was still unconscious.
By Long Yuan's calculations, it would take Tang Wulin at least five days to wake up. He needed time for his soul to recover and to adjust to his body.
Fortunately, Tang Wulin had paid for half a month's stay. Otherwise, things would have been troublesome.
After taking some time to get used to his body, Long Yuan took out that mass of spiritual power essence.
Then he opened his mouth and swallowed it whole.
Vast spiritual power poured forth, washing over every cell in his body. Silver light flowed across him, gradually swallowed up by his body.
He felt his field of vision rising higher and higher. The surrounding scenery receded bit by bit, becoming increasingly unreal.
At last, he crossed through the clouds and arrived in the vast starry sky.
"This is..."
This was his first time viewing Douluo Continent—or rather, Douluo Planet—from this perspective.
What he saw now was not the planet he remembered, but a fantastical, surreal world.
If the universe was pitch-black, then Douluo Planet was a world formed from endless green light.
"This is... the aura of life..."
The brighter the green light, the more creatures lived there, and the higher their life levels.
Three places shone brighter than the rest. Long Yuan silently memorized their locations.
Two of them were close together: the Golden Ancient Tree in Shrek City, and, nearer to him, the Lake of Life in the Star Dou Forest.
The other place hung alone far out in the northern seas. It was an island.
"Could this be Devil Island from the original story?"
Even he could sense the Star Dou Forest's powerful life force in his current state. Would Tang Hao, the Plane Master, and Ah Yin, the Golden Ancient Tree, really not know about it?
"It seems there are still stories here that I don't know about."
Suddenly, a shadowy gaze caught his attention!
But very soon, that gaze vanished.
Long Yuan looked in its direction, but saw nothing except the profound starry sky.