Inside a secluded chamber in the Sun God Palace.
Ten full drops of Pangu Blood Essence, crystalline as blood diamonds, formed a circle around Daochen.
Around those ten drops, the Heaven Measuring Ruler, the God-Slaying Spear, and the World-Destroying Black Lotus hovered silently, casting down faint streams of azure light to suppress the Pangu Blood Essence.
To prevent the aura of the Pangu Blood Essence from leaking out, Daochen had even brought out the Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner and the Earth-Leaving Flame Light Banner, turning them into two unfathomably profound formations that sealed off the surrounding space.
Only then did he feel at ease.
After all, the Pangu Blood Essence was a matter of immense consequence. If the outside world learned of it, never mind anyone else—the Twelve Ancestral Witches and the Three Pure Ones alone would probably go mad.
Both groups regarded themselves as Pangu's descendants. Now that the Pangu Blood Essence had appeared, they would likely risk their very lives to seize it.
Daochen was not afraid of them, but he had no desire to invite trouble.
"Let's begin!"
Daochen steadied his aura, opened his mouth, and swallowed all ten drops of Pangu Blood Essence.
With his experience refining Pangu Jade Marrow, he had thought refining Pangu Blood Essence this time would flow as naturally as water finding its channel.
Yet the moment he swallowed it, Daochen felt a terrifying force of utter tyranny erupt within him.
That force relentlessly ravaged his flesh and internal organs, even spreading into his sea of consciousness where his primordial spirit resided. It did not spare even the tenth-grade great Luo Dao fruit within his dantian.
"Hiss!"
Caught off guard by the sudden eruption of agony, Daochen felt as though millions of ants were gnawing at his heart, the torment consuming his entire body.
Pain!
Daochen did not fear it. As long as he could refine and absorb these ten drops of Pangu Blood Essence, everything would be worthwhile. If it could cause such agony even to someone with a Chaos Golden Crow's innate constitution, that only meant the benefits after refining it would be all the greater!
The problem was that Daochen could not fuse these ten drops of Pangu Blood Essence into his flesh at all.
Pangu had stood at the very pinnacle of the three thousand Great Dao Gods and Devils. For Daochen to refine the Pangu Blood Essence and merge it into his body, he first had to break open the essence of the Law of Strength hidden within it.
Thus, he not only had to expend effort transforming the Pangu Blood Essence, but also comprehend the profound mysteries of the Law of Strength within it.
With those two demands combined, the difficulty of refining and absorbing it had increased far more than tenfold!
Refining Pangu Jade Marrow before had also been difficult, but the system had stripped away the profound mysteries of the Law of Strength, leaving only its purest essence. It had not done the same with the Pangu Blood Essence this time.
To cultivate the Nine Revolutions Mystic Art, he had to comprehend the profound mysteries of the Law of Strength. Otherwise, all his efforts would be in vain!
Daochen now felt as though he were trying to merge one Ancestral Witch after another into his own body. If not for his great Luo Dao fruit that had blossomed at the tenth grade, together with his sufficiently powerful Chaos Golden Crow constitution, which allowed him to continuously absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and convert it into magical power to suppress the blood essence-
His body would probably have already been shattered outright by the Pangu Blood Essence.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
After coughing several times and spitting out a few drops of blood, Daochen also extracted the Pangu Blood Essence from his body.
It was good to give everything he had and fight for a future, but he also had to consider whether his present circumstances could support him in achieving his goal.
Blindly battering away at something hopeless would only leave him with a split head and flowing blood.
Through his examination, Daochen had now understood the crux of the problem!
Ultimately, he had been too reckless, too eager for success, and had failed to make even the most basic preparations.
If his body was not strong enough and his recovery could not keep pace with the onslaught of the Pangu Blood Essence, everything was futile.
Thus, to refine the Pangu Blood Essence, Daochen needed to do just one thing!
Strengthen his body!
Knowing what to do was one matter, however; how to do it was another entirely.
Which of the things I have can improve my body's ability to recover?
Daochen frowned as he looked at the ten drops of Pangu Blood Essence.
Under the present circumstances, going out to seek opportunities was clearly impossible.
Before the time came for them to emerge, even turning the entire Primordial World upside down would achieve nothing. He could only use the resources already in his possession and unlock new potential in them!
The God-Slaying Spear?
The Heaven Measuring Ruler?
Daochen ruled them out without a second thought.
Those two were offensive spiritual treasures. Using them to strengthen his body would truly be like carrying a lantern into a privy-looking for death!
The World-Destroying Black Lotus?
The Karmic Fire Red Lotus?
These two Supreme Xiantian Spiritual Treasures had formed from a Creation Green Lotus Seed. Unfortunately, both were treasures of slaughter and offered no help whatsoever in restoring his body.
If he obtained the World-Cleansing White Lotus, it might be of some use!
But the World-Cleansing White Lotus had yet to appear!
As for the Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner and the Earth-Leaving Flame Light Banner, they were equally unsuitable.
This truly gave Daochen a headache!
But when Daochen's gaze swept over the Moonlight Divine Water beneath the Xiantian Gourd Vine in the courtyard, a thunderous realization rang through his mind.
How could I have forgotten the Moonlight Divine Water?
It's a supreme sacred substance comparable to the Three Lights Divine Water!
After returning from Mount Buzhou, he had planted the Xiantian Gourd Vine in the Breath Soil in his courtyard and nurtured it with Moonlight Divine Water, without giving the matter much further thought.
Now, however, it seemed he had overlooked the supreme wonders of the Moonlight Divine Water.
It worked marvels in nurturing spiritual roots, but its more important role was as a supreme sacred medicine that could revive the dead and restore flesh to bare bones: Moonlight Divine Water!
Even adding a single drop while refining pills could greatly improve their quality!
"It seems I've been squandering a heavenly treasure!"
Daochen gave a bitter laugh, then took some Moonlight Divine Water from his portable space and placed it before him.
Back then, to thank Daochen for dealing with Luo Hou's remnant soul, Changxi and Xihe had brought out nearly all the Moonlight Divine Water stored on the Lunar Star.
Daochen had felt it was of little use to him and put it in his portable space. When he obtained the Xiantian Gourd Vine, he had taken some out to nurture it.
Looking at the Moonlight Divine Water in his hands now, he inwardly rejoiced that he had not squandered the whole lot in one go.
Although the profound mysteries of the Law of Strength within Pangu Blood Essence are incredibly violent, Moonlight Divine Water can continuously awaken my body's potential... In that case, this should be much easier to handle!
Daochen pondered it further and became increasingly convinced that this idea was sound.
The fundamental principle was simply to break down and then rebuild!
As long as he struck a balance between destruction and recovery, the efficiency of merging Pangu Blood Essence into his body would surely increase tenfold, or even a hundredfold!
Having thought it through, Daochen wasted no words and swallowed Pangu Blood Essence once more.
Boom!
As the violent mysteries of the Law of Strength within Pangu Blood Essence erupted, Daochen spat out another mouthful of blood, and boundless agony exploded within him again.
Yet this time, not even his expression changed. He remained utterly impassive as he endured the destruction wrought by the profound mysteries of the Law of Strength.
At the same time, he frantically circulated his magical power, drawing out Moonlight Divine Water and pouring it over his body to restore his flesh.
Had Laozi been there to see Daochen use Moonlight Divine Water this way, he would probably have spat out a mouthful of blood on the spot!
Squandering a heavenly treasure!
Utterly squandering a heavenly treasure!
In Laozi's hands, combined with other spiritual medicines, roughly one-tenth of the Moonlight Divine Water Daochen consumed would probably have been enough to restore his body.
But Daochen did not care!
He had plenty anyway. Once he used it up, he could simply get more!
There was still an entire pool of it in his space!
Before you continue