Divine Blood! Bloodline Essence!

Thud!

Step by step, Taishu Jing advanced toward the Dragon Elephant Skeleton. His robes stirred without wind, his gaze imperious, like an arrow that could pierce the netherworld.

"Could the will of a mere dead thing possibly stop me!"

With a soft shout, Taishu Jing shattered the Dragon Elephant's momentum and crossed that final ten-foot distance in one step, arriving before the Dragon Elephant Skeleton.

Buzz!

The golden Dragon Elephant Skeleton trembled slightly. The last wisp of lingering will attached to it was shattered, and that oppressive pressure vanished in an instant, receding like the tide until it was gone.

The instant the pressure disappeared, the Dragon Tiger Beast and Zhong Yu opened their eyes simultaneously, still unaware of what had happened.

Zhong Yu swept her gaze around and discovered that Zhong Li and the other two had already entered cultivation. Then she saw Taishu Jing standing before the golden Dragon Elephant Skeleton.

In that instant, she understood.

"I wonder why this Ancient Dragon Elephant fell here." Zhong Yu came to Taishu Jing's side, her tone filled with reverence. That heavy pressure had left lingering fear in her heart.

Roar!

The Dragon Tiger Beast walked over and stopped at Taishu Jing's side.

Seeing how clearly different the Dragon Tiger Beast was from before, surprise flashed through Zhong Yu's eyes. Other than its tiger body, this Dragon Tiger Beast was already incomparably close to a True Dragon.

"Such is the time! Such is fate!"

Taishu Jing felt something stir within him. From their clash of wills just now, he had sensed the grief, fury, and unwillingness of this Ancient Dragon Elephant. Perhaps there was some hidden truth behind the death of this primeval Dragon Elephant.

Otherwise, judging by the will this primeval Dragon Elephant had left behind, it had at least been a Fifth-order Fierce Beast comparable to the Inscription Realm. It might even have reached the sixth order, on the verge of becoming a seventh-order Beast King.

Yet such an existence, one that might have advanced into a Beast King, had fallen in a valley on the outskirts of the Cloud Dream Mountain Range. It could not have been so simple.

It was also possible that a struggle between Beast Kings had turned this Dragon Elephant into a sacrifice.

"This place is excellent. Miss Zhong can use the Dragon Elephant Fruit to break through her bottleneck."

Taishu Jing looked at the three Spirit Trees. Twenty-seven Dragon Elephant Fruits hung upon them, crystal-clear and fragrant.

If they had not followed us here, these two would have been mine too. It was all because I talked too much. Taishu Jing felt somewhat reluctant.

Forget it. At the very least, I cannot let her waste it. Waste is shameful. With the dense spiritual energy here, her body can absorb the medicinal power to the greatest extent.

It seemed he would have to be a little more careful in the future. Taishu Jing pondered to himself. One could not be too kind. This was not his original world; he had to change his worldview.

"I would be disrespectful to refuse."

Zhong Yu nodded. Carefully, she plucked two Dragon Elephant Fruits from the Spirit Tree, put one away, then swallowed the other. She sat down cross-legged and began circulating her cultivation technique, absorbing the medicinal power of the Dragon Elephant Fruit.

The surrounding spiritual energy and vital essence gathered toward her, condensing into a vortex of spiritual energy.

Looking at these golden Dragon Elephant Fruits, what interested Taishu Jing was whether these Golden Dragon Elephant Fruits could help temper his physique. His Divine Body had already undergone the cleansing of Thunder Tribulation and far surpassed the Spirit Vein Realm. In his view, even the Soul Palace Realm was inferior to him; he was comparable to the Dao Foundation Realm.

Roar!

The Dragon Tiger Beast paced circles around the three Dragon Elephant Fruit Spirit Trees, visibly excited, as though it wished it could swallow them all in one bite.

"One tree is yours," Taishu Jing said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, the Dragon Tiger Beast happily guarded one of the Dragon Elephant Fruit Spirit Trees. It seemed to be considering when to eat the nine Dragon Elephant Fruits. If it absorbed those Dragon Elephant Fruits, perhaps it could transform its tiger body into a dragon body and become a genuine True Dragon.

Watching the Dragon Tiger Beast's excited appearance, Taishu Jing pondered.

After a moment, he raised his head and looked at the Dragon Elephant Skeleton, more than a hundred feet tall. Golden light flickered over it like gold and stone. The final essence of this Ancient Dragon Elephant lay within this skeleton; perhaps it could help the Dragon Tiger Beast complete its final transformation.

Swallow Moon!

Pressing one hand against the Dragon Elephant Skeleton, Taishu Jing used the Innate Divine Technique of the Sky Swallowing Howl, stripping all the essence from within the Dragon Elephant Skeleton.

Very quickly, the golden Dragon Elephant Skeleton began to fade. Its golden radiance vanished bit by bit until it became completely grayish-white, no different from ordinary beast bones.

When he withdrew his palm, a golden orb the size of a fist appeared within it. A Dragon Elephant phantom seemed to rise and sink inside. This was the bloodline essence of the Ancient Dragon Elephant, extracted by Taishu Jing and condensed into a golden orb.

The moment this golden orb appeared, the Dragon Tiger Beast sensed it.

It raised its head to look at Taishu Jing and discovered that the object making its heart tremble was the golden orb in Taishu Jing's hand. It dashed over to Taishu Jing's side, its gaze fixed on the golden orb, its eyes filled with longing.

"You truly are smart, haha!"

Taishu Jing laughed.

"Very well. Today, I will help you become a True Dragon. Go pluck those nine Dragon Elephant Fruits."

The Dragon Tiger Beast ran over and plucked the Dragon Elephant Fruits, holding them all in its mouth. It returned to Taishu Jing's side, waiting for him to give it the bloodline essence.

"Let's go farther in. If you successfully transform into a dragon, it will surely draw Heavenly Tribulation."

The Dragon Tiger Beast followed Taishu Jing deeper into the valley for some distance.

"This is far enough."

Taishu Jing looked toward Zhong Yu in the distance. Hidden behind a thin mist, only her silhouette could be seen.

Turning back to the Dragon Tiger Beast, Taishu Jing had an idea. He raised two fingers on his right hand, and a sharp edge bloomed from between them. He swept them across his left palm, and platinum-white Divine Blood surged from the wound.

The Dragon Tiger Beast looked at Taishu Jing in confusion, unable to understand why he had cut himself. Yet as it looked at the platinum-white Divine Blood, it sensed a sacred aura.

Immediately afterward, a trace of longing arose from the depths of its bloodline, even stronger than its longing for the Dragon Elephant bloodline essence.

Taishu Jing stopped the flow of Divine Blood, and the wound quickly healed on its own without leaving the slightest trace.

Taishu Jing condensed the spilled Divine Blood into a platinum-white Blood Bead and sent it, together with the bloodline essence, into the Dragon Tiger Beast's mouth. "Swallow them together with the Dragon Elephant Fruits. After that, it will depend on you."

Gulp!

The two Blood Beads and nine Dragon Elephant Fruits were all swallowed by the Dragon Tiger Beast. Instantly, an immense energy beyond measure exploded within its body and swept through its entire being.

Roar!

The Dragon Tiger Beast suddenly howled in agony and began rolling across the ground to ease the pain in its body. Wounds split open across its body, fresh blood spilling out. As it rolled, the ground was stained crimson.

Taishu Jing watched everything from the side, simply watching in silence.

Although the Dragon Tiger Beast was in tremendous pain, since it had already begun, it could not stop. It understood this clearly itself. If it could not cross this hurdle, there would be only one ending: returning to heaven and earth.

Endless spiritual energy and vital essence gathered over, nearly turning liquid. Golden light blossomed from the Dragon Tiger Beast's body, absorbing all the spiritual energy and vital essence as a massive golden cocoon gradually formed around it.

"Looks like it is going fairly smoothly."

Taishu Jing also breathed a sigh of relief. If it truly could not cross this hurdle, that would be far too regrettable.

Now, all that remained was to wait for it to break free from the cocoon and be reborn, transforming into a dragon in a single leap.

Taishu Jing walked over to the three Spirit Trees, plucked a Dragon Elephant Fruit from the middle tree, and tossed it into his mouth, eating it like an ordinary fruit.

"The taste is average."

Taishu Jing smacked his lips. It was not sweet at all, possessing only a fragrant scent and rather abundant juice. Other than that, there was nothing special about it.

The medicinal power of the Dragon Elephant Fruit spread through his body and penetrated deep into his flesh and blood. Taishu Jing only felt as though countless ants were crawling inside him, leaving him numb and tingling. After a while, the sensation finally disappeared.

Sensing the changes in his body, his physique had indeed grown a little stronger. Although the improvement was not great, it was still not bad. The energy contained within the Dragon Elephant Fruit had also helped him open two Spirit Veins.

By now, Taishu Jing had opened forty Spirit Veins and reached Lesser Accomplishment in the Spirit Vein Realm. In other words, aside from the twenty-four Spirit Veins he had opened from the start, he had only opened sixteen more over the past two months.

It might seem rather slow, but that was because during this time, Taishu Jing had not opened his Spirit Veins by absorbing great quantities of precious herbs and Precious Blood. Instead, he had cultivated independently bit by bit. Opening his Spirit Veins had come as naturally as water flowing into a channel. Precisely because of this, his realm was extremely stable and lacked none of the instability of an overinflated foundation.

After entering the Spirit Vein Realm, Taishu Jing discovered that his Spirit Veins were exceptionally mystical and unlike any others. Perhaps because of his Divine Body, they were a noble platinum-white. Every Spirit Vein was also incomparably broad, like a miniature galaxy, with platinum-white spiritual power flowing within.

Calling such Spirit Veins divine veins would not be an exaggeration.

Taishu Jing stored all the remaining golden Dragon Elephant Fruits in his Dantian. He did not continue by taking a second one, because a second Dragon Elephant Fruit would have a far weaker effect on tempering his physique, so faint it was almost negligible. Only the first could achieve the best body-tempering effect.

He planned to let Taishu Yun consume one of the remaining Dragon Elephant Fruits, while his father and mother would each consume one. The rest would be left for the family, so the younger children could establish a solid foundation.

At this time, Zhong Yu awoke from her cultivation.

"How was it?"

Taishu Jing sensed that Zhong Yu's aura had grown somewhat stronger. It seemed this Dragon Elephant Fruit was most suitable for the Blood Bone Realm.

"Seventy-six thousand jin."

Zhong Yu was somewhat delighted. She had originally possessed fifty-eight thousand jin of strength. A single golden Dragon Elephant Fruit had directly increased her strength by eighteen thousand jin. With fifty thousand jin as the dividing line, advancement became increasingly difficult. Otherwise, so many geniuses would not have entered the Spirit Vein Realm directly after reaching seventy or eighty thousand jin of immense strength in the Blood Bone Realm.