Dragon Blood Stone was stone steeped in dragon blood.
Dragon blood was precious. Even stone merely steeped in it had been tainted by exceedingly scarce dragon blood, so thinly diluted that its value still rivaled a Minor Marrow Cleansing Pill and required Ninth Grade Merit to obtain.
Yet among items exchanged for Ninth Grade Merit, it was relatively obscure. Few people exchanged for it; most chose Minor Marrow Cleansing Pills.
"My lord, since His Majesty has issued the decree, it will be very soon. Probably within the next couple of days," Gao Lingfeng said with a smile.
As the two spoke, a minor clerk came to report that someone from the Audit Department was outside looking for the Assistant Director.
The Audit Department had sent a young minor clerk with fine features and clear eyes.
He delivered a Ninth-grade Merit tooth plaque to Chu Zhiyuan.
At noon, brilliant sunlight shone into Listening to Waves Courtyard, making the flowers in the beds three parts more exquisite.
Green Bamboo rustled while a gentle breeze drifted through.
Carrying faint floral fragrance and crisp air, the breeze entered through the open lattice windows and brushed over Chu Zhiyuan, who sat upon the couch.
He sat cross-legged in a loose moon-white robe, his hair hanging loose.
A crimson stone rested in his left palm as he examined it closely.
This Dragon Blood Stone was the size of a fist, crimson as blood.
It had already taken on a jade-like texture, warm and smooth to the touch. A faint sheen flowed within it, making it look remarkably like red jade.
Yet its color was deeper than red jade's. Staring at it for a moment, one seemed to see flames churning within, ready to ignite at any time.
The Dragon Transformation Technique surged through him at roughly three times its usual speed.
It was slower than the Flying Dragon Pearl's effect. Either the dragon blood was too diluted, or the dragon blood upon this stone was of too low a grade, inferior to Flying Dragon's.
What astonished him was that as the Dragon Transformation Technique circulated, it was drawing power from the stone.
The mercury-and-silver-like aura within the Flying Dragon Pearl transformed into True Qi after being drawn out, but the aura extracted from this Dragon Blood Stone was not True Qi.
It was an aura that could directly merge into the Dragon Transformation Technique. It was neither True Qi nor absorbed by the Meridians, making it exceedingly strange.
After Super Sensation observed it through more than a dozen cycles, inspiration suddenly flashed through him, and he began circulating the second-layer mental method of the Dragon Transformation Technique.
The second layer was aperture cultivation.
So-called aperture cultivation meant opening apertures, carving out apertures.
These apertures were strange existences, seemingly acupoints yet not acupoints, seemingly illusory yet also tangible.
They resembled acupoints upon the Meridians, yet were not acupoints. They were formed by the Dragon Transformation Technique at the intersections of the Meridians.
Neither other animals nor humans possessed such apertures. They were unique to dragon bodies, similar to the acupoints on a dragon's body.
Human acupoints were nodes in the Meridians and gathering places for qi and blood, like the confluence of rivers.
But the apertures opened by the Dragon Transformation Technique resembled whirlpools, places that accelerated the movement of aura and qi. With every aperture opened, the circulation of aura and qi-blood became faster by a measure.
To bring the Dragon Transformation Technique's second layer to completion required opening Twenty Acupoints.
One aperture had to be opened in each of the Twelve Meridians and Eight Extraordinary Meridians.
Once the apertures were opened, True Qi circulated faster, strength and explosive force would greatly increase, and the might of one's martial arts naturally rose as well.
As the second-layer mental method of the Dragon Transformation Technique circulated, the aura extracted from the Dragon Blood Stone rapidly gathered at his dantian. Rather than entering it, it revolved around it.
This aura left the Meridians and traveled directly through flesh and blood, flowing freely until it gathered at the dantian. It circled and spiraled around the dantian, gradually forming a golden vortex above it.
Like a Gray Eagle circling a rabbit on the grasslands from the sky.
The mental method drove onward as the aura within the Dragon Blood Stone continuously merged into the Dragon Transformation Technique's aura, condensing within the golden vortex above the dantian.
His inner vision was crystal clear; he saw every detail.
The golden aura had initially been thin, but as time passed it slowly thickened and grew stronger, becoming ever denser and purer.
In the end, it became a glittering mass of golden light, like a school of golden fish dancing in the sea, a magnificent sight.
The Dragon Blood Stone's aura seemed inexhaustible, yet it eventually came to an end. After an hour, the Dragon Blood Stone had turned into a piece of white jade.
There was no aura left within it, only pure white jade.
After thinking for a moment, Chu Zhiyuan opened the Cold Jade Box.
At once, the circulating second layer of the Dragon Transformation Technique accelerated sharply. The golden vortex began to spin faster and faster, then suddenly contracted inward and collapsed.
At last, it violently compressed into a dazzling golden bead, shaped like a Flying Dragon Pearl.
"Bang!" The golden bead exploded without warning.
He immediately felt as if the earth shook and mountains swayed, thunder roaring without end.
His head spun, his vision blurred, and his five senses fell into chaos. Even Super Sensation was useless at this moment; both body and mind sank into utter confusion.
His body shook violently and trembled without cease. Waves of golden light flashed before his eyes, obscuring everything else. It was exactly like being struck by lightning.
When it finally subsided, his five senses recovered and Super Sensation once again saw all as clearly as the gods. He discovered that his dantian had become a vortex.
The Misty Purple Qi of the Greater Violet Sun Technique had transformed into an enormous vortex, rotating like a purple nebula. It seemed slow, yet contained astonishing momentum.
As he observed it, facing that nebula-like vortex of purple qi, he actually felt his heart pound in terror, as though earth-shattering power might erupt from it at any moment.
So this was an opened aperture?
The first aperture had opened in the dantian.
The vortex revolved slowly, yet when his mind drove the Greater Violet Sun Technique, it provided tremendous assistance, making the technique easier and freer to circulate, reducing consumption and increasing its speed.
He tested it. The speed had doubled, while mental expenditure had been cut in half.
For someone with the Heavenly Yuan Art, mental expenditure was inconsequential. For others, however, it was entirely different; it meant they could maintain their cultivation for twice as long.
Twice the speed and twice the cultivation time compounded together meant that each day's cultivation efficiency was four times what it had been before, perhaps even more.
One year could equal four years for another, ten years equal forty. How utterly outrageous!
As he tirelessly circulated the Greater Violet Sun Technique, he repeatedly marveled. He had never imagined the Dragon Transformation Technique could be so astonishing.
The first layer's Meridian cultivation had been far from enough to reveal the Dragon Transformation Technique's true might.
When he pulled himself free from that wondrous state, he raised his head and looked out the window at the sky.
The sun had slanted roughly thirty degrees westward. He estimated it was around two in the afternoon and prepared to head to the other residence.
Looking at the faded Dragon Blood Stone, he shook his head.
The Dragon Blood Stone was good, but it was far too quickly exhausted.
Unfortunately, the Flying Dragon Pearl contained no such strange power and could not help him open the remaining apertures.
If he could obtain more Dragon Blood Stones, he could quickly open new apertures. If not, he could only painstakingly cultivate the second-layer mental method himself.
By circulating the second-layer mental method of the Dragon Transformation Technique, True Qi would undergo a strange change upon being purified to a certain degree, similar to the aura he had just extracted from the Dragon Blood Stone.
This cultivation speed was far inferior to having the Dragon Blood Stone's assistance.
Could His Majesty grant him more?
He tossed the white jade aside, rose from the couch, and said, "Mo Yi."
Mo Yi's graceful figure appeared, her colorful robes fluttering and a faint fragrance wafting through the air. The room suddenly became enchanting.
"It's yours," Chu Zhiyuan said, tossing the white jade to Mo Yi.
This piece of white jade was precious, yet to him it was not worth mentioning. Too lazy to spend any thought on it, he simply rewarded it to Mo Yi and the others.
"Thank you, Young Master." Mo Yi took it and examined it before passing it to the other three women.
The four women covered their mouths and giggled sweetly, their smiles blooming like flowers.
Their radiance made the room even brighter.
Chu Zhiyuan said, "Help me change. I'm going out."
--
The residence beside Earthly Soil Hall at Bright Moon Tower was suitable for extreme cultivation.
The Imperial Heaven Earthly Soil Scripture continuously restored his Meridian injuries, allowing him to boldly push himself to the limit. Whether he was attacking the Jade Tower or cultivating other Martial Skills, he dared to train fiercely and without restraint.
After changing clothes, he left Prince Qing's Estate, quickly departed Prince Qing Street, merged into the bustling crowd, and headed toward that residence.
The Flying Dragon Pearl lay quietly in the small cloth pouch against his chest, positioned over his heart.
The Dragon Transformation Technique was circulating madly without needing his urging, like a fine steed galloping on its own without a rider.
He merely needed to shift his thoughts slightly to guide it into circulating either the first or second layer.
By the time he left Prince Qing's Mansion Street, the first layer of the Dragon Transformation Technique had finally reached completion.
Unfortunately, this completion was not something proven once and forever, but merely completion within each cultivation realm.
He was now at the Eighth Layer. Once he broke through into the Ninth Layer, the Dragon Transformation Technique's first layer would no longer be complete, and he would need to cultivate it anew.
His body began circulating the second layer of the Dragon Transformation Technique on its own.
As he entered the teeming crowd, the number of martial arts experts passing by steadily increased. The proportion of martial arts experts in the crowd had risen sharply. If the Town Martial Division still could not produce effective measures, trouble would surely break out.
Chu Zhiyuan surveyed the various shops and stalls lining both sides of the street. His sword-like brows suddenly lifted, and his lips moved.
Guo Chi and Zou Fang simultaneously heard his voice beside their ears: "Three grandmasters are following us. Their intentions are hostile. Be careful not to fall behind or let them lure you away!"
The two gave no outward sign, though Guo Chi moved a little closer to him.
"Let's go sit in a restaurant," Chu Zhiyuan suddenly said.
Guo Chi and Zou Fang immediately understood his meaning. They stopped with him, while the four estate guards also halted and remained below the restaurant.
The three of them entered this Qiyun Tower.
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