Dusk washed over the back mountain. The last rays of sunset faded away, and night slowly descended.
Inside the Bamboo Building, Lu Xiao opened his eyes in the medicinal bath.
He slowly rose to his feet, warm medicinal broth streaming down his toned back and dripping from his waistline onto the floor.
The soreness and exhaustion accumulated in his body over many days were more than half dissolved by the medicinal power in the pool.
Lu Xiao raised his arms and stretched, arching his back slightly. A dense series of crisp crackles suddenly erupted from his bones and muscles.
He let out a long breath of stale air, casually threw on a coarse cloth robe, tied his belt, and slowly entered the Cultivation Room.
Lu Xiao sat steadily in the lotus position, his mind quickly settling as he cast aside distracting thoughts and circulated the Body Sect's Innate Secret Technique through his body.
The medicinal power that had originally been scattered throughout his limbs and bones now rapidly gathered along the secret technique's circulation route, slowly spiraling upward from his dantian.
A layer of warm, heavy Bronze light slowly spread across the surface of his skin, flowing through his meridians and steadily solidifying.
As the faint light circulated, his flesh, blood, muscles, and bones were repeatedly tempered and refined under the nourishment of the medicinal power.
His originally loose Soul Power was compressed and purified by the Innate Secret Technique, becoming increasingly pure and solid, while his physical strength steadily rose alongside the refinement of the medicinal power!
The energy of heaven and earth gathered toward the Cultivation Room, entering his body through his pores and helping him digest the remaining medicinal power.
After an unknown amount of time, the final trace of medicinal potency within his body completely merged with his Soul Power and physical body, and the Bronze radiance on his skin slowly receded.
Lu Xiao's eyes suddenly opened, his aura restrained and steady.
He remained seated, completely emptying his mind as his consciousness sank directly into his Consciousness Sea.
Buzz—
A faint tremor of the soul quietly sounded in the depths of his mind.
His originally gray Consciousness Sea, containing only a thin curtain of Soul Power, was suddenly illuminated by a dazzling golden light!
Winds and clouds churned throughout his Consciousness Sea, unfolding into a clear and boundless realm of the soul.
[Would you like to open the "Soul Master" Gift Pack?]
The familiar mechanical voice rang out.
Lu Xiao's consciousness floated at the center of his Consciousness Sea. Looking at the translucent golden screen that had suddenly appeared before him, a calm delight flashed through his eyes.
"Open it immediately!"
With a thought, Lu Xiao issued the command without the slightest hesitation.
[Rewarding host: ten Golden Dragon Blood Essence Pills, Nine Golden Dragon Styles, Shennong Hundred Herbs Pill Record]
As the words fell, the golden screen violently trembled.
Two utterly different dazzling radiances surged from the screen!
One was tyrannical and blazing, like an ancient true dragon soaring into the sky, its golden light scorching bright!
The other was gentle and verdant, like an eternal field of medicinal herbs spreading open, overflowing with life!
The roar shook the entire Consciousness Sea, and the clear realm of the soul was instantly filled with golden and green divine light.
Winds surged and clouds rolled as Dao patterns flowed!
The first thing to descend was the Nine Golden Dragon Styles!
An ancient Dao tome, gilded all over, slowly condensed from the golden screen!
This supreme art had originated from the future Dragon Emperor Douluo, Tang Wulin.
After learning Zhuo Shi's self-created Nine Red Dragon Styles, he had evolved them into a supreme art uniquely his own. It could be said to be the finest method for wielding the Golden Dragon King's Bloodline Power!
After being adapted and improved by the system, it had become a personal combat technique best suited to Lu Xiao!
The Dao tome spun in midair. As its pages fluttered, endless golden Dao essence poured into him like an overturned river, flowing directly through the origin of his soul and into the depths of his mind!
Boom!
A vast amount of martial comprehension, true dragon mysteries, and killing techniques surged into Lu Xiao's consciousness like divine enlightenment, without the slightest obstruction.
In an instant, countless scenes flashed rapidly through his soul.
The nine dragon-form combat techniques were all fierce and lethal, each move tyrannical beyond compare, encompassing every essential aspect of close-quarters combat, physical tempering, movement techniques, instant movement, battlefield suppression, and enemy defense.
Lu Xiao remained seated, his mind immersed within them, only to feel the blood in his entire body resonating on its own.
The strength of his physical body, originally steady and heavy, suddenly gained an overbearing dragon's might that looked down upon all living things!
Once the Nine Golden Dragon Styles had been branded deep into Lu Xiao's soul, the verdant radiance floating nearby suddenly blossomed, bursting with immense vitality.
A pill record filled with lush greenery, ancient and weighty, slowly unfurled. It was the Shennong Hundred Herbs Pill Record!
The surface of the pill record seemed to bear eternal green mountains and thousand-year medicinal marshes.
Rich pill fragrance spread through his Consciousness Sea, calming his mind, stabilizing his soul, and nourishing his spirit.
Patterns slowly flowed across the pill record, giving rise to endless true meaning of the medicinal path.
The next instant, the pill record suddenly spread open and transformed into countless emerald points of light. Fine and gentle as rain, they all merged into the origin of Lu Xiao's soul.
In that instant, vast and boundless knowledge of medicine and the essence of alchemy flooded wildly into his mind.
At the moment the two great inheritances completely merged into his body, Lu Xiao's eyelashes trembled, and his tightly shut eyes slowly opened!
Within his Consciousness Sea, ten round, plump Golden Dragon Blood Essence Pills floated quietly, shimmering with flowing light.
The pills were crimson and gilded, wrapped in dragon patterns, their blood energy pure and tyrannical!
[Golden Dragon Blood Essence Pill: Refined by the system through forcibly extracting a portion of the Golden Dragon King's divine origin power from the Divine Realm. It can strengthen the host's blood energy and reconstruct the origin of the host's bloodline!]
Seeing the system's description, monstrous waves rose in Lu Xiao's heart, and his steady state of mind nearly crumbled.
Compared to these ten divine pills, even the Nine Golden Dragon Styles and the Shennong Hundred Herbs Pill Record were slightly inferior.
The system was still Silver Wing!!!
After sorting through the vast amount of new knowledge in his mind and calming his emotions, Lu Xiao slowly rose to his feet. His steps were light and soundless; even when he stepped on the bamboo floor, he made no noise at all.
What disappointed him somewhat was that his current body still could not withstand the medicinal power of the Golden Dragon Blood Essence Pill, so he was unable to consume one for cultivation!
Pushing open the bamboo door of the Cultivation Room, the warmth of the back mountain's bonfire and the rich aroma of roasted meat rushed toward him.
In the clearing below, Du Busi was leisurely turning a gigantic beast leg over the fire. Grease sizzled as it dripped into the flames, filling the air with fragrance.
Xiao Wu squatted nearby, propping up her cheeks as she stared at the roasted meat, occasionally raising a hand to fan away the heat drifting toward her.
Du Busi glanced at Lu Xiao and nodded with satisfaction. "At this rate, you'll soon be able to undergo another body awakening!"
Lu Xiao smiled faintly and sat directly beside Du Busi, waiting for the meal.
Notting Academy's principal's office.
Ning Fengzhi was discussing something with the principal of Notting Academy, while Gu Rong sat quietly at the side.
Only the young Ning Rongrong could not endure the boredom of sitting still. Taking advantage of the two elders' distraction, she quietly lifted the tent curtain and, in her little boots, ran toward the back mountain in a flash.
The closer she came to the back mountain, the richer and more tempting the scent of roasted meat became.
She had already been starving, and now her craving could no longer be suppressed.
Ning Rongrong's little nose kept twitching. Her soft, adorable face was filled with longing as her feet carried her uncontrollably toward the source of the aroma. Fine grass and leaves in the forest dirtied her exquisite dress, but she did not care in the least.
Before long, the tiny figure clung to the low bushes at the edge of the back mountain's bamboo grove, poking out half of her fluffy little head.
Her glass-like eyes stared fixedly at the sizzling, greasy roasted meat by the bonfire, and drool nearly trickled from the corner of her mouth.
Yet she did not act rashly. Looking timidly at the imposing Du Busi, she did not dare approach carelessly and merely hid behind the tree to peek, her gaze unconsciously falling on Lu Xiao again.
Little did she know that Du Busi had already noticed her the moment she stepped onto the back mountain.
Du Busi jerked his chin toward Ning Rongrong.
Lu Xiao understood at once. Catching sight of the patch of snowy white dress among the bushes from the corner of his eye, he immediately recognized the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's little princess, Ning Rongrong, and could not help but chuckle.
The current Ning Rongrong was nothing more than a deeply pampered child.
Lu Xiao raised a hand and tipped his chin toward the bushes. "What are you hiding for? If you want roasted meat, come over. Be careful not to get sucked dry by mosquitoes squatting in the grass."
With her hiding place exposed on the spot, Ning Rongrong's cheeks reddened. Clutching her skirt, she slowly emerged from behind the tree and shuffled toward the outer edge of the bonfire.
"Se-senior, I... I followed the smell over here. Could you spare me a small piece of meat?"
Du Busi glanced at the little girl with the greedy mouth.
Seeing her pitiful expression, he did not put on the airs of a sect master. He casually sliced off a piece of roasted meat, charred and tender, and handed it to her on a clean bamboo skewer.
"Take it and eat. Chew slowly, and don't burn your tongue."
"Thank you, Senior!"
Ning Rongrong properly performed a noble's salute, accepted the warm roasted meat with both hands, and took a bite. The juices burst in her mouth, and happiness instantly filled her little face.
As she chewed in small bites, she secretly observed Lu Xiao.
Ever since she had first laid eyes on Lu Xiao, she had been able to smell an exceptionally pleasant scent from him.
It was like a breeze after rain in an empty mountain—warm yet cool, somehow making her feel at ease.
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