He placed the bone fragment in his palm and examined it.
He could not help sighing inwardly. Even this tiny fragment still held rich currents of yin and yang energy.
Whoosh-
A sweep of divine power passed over it, and the finger bone crumbled into ash that scattered through the air.
He shook his head and gave it no further thought. For now, he needed to hurry with the flesh-and-blood seed Dao and break through to the Cave Heaven Realm.
As for whatever lay inside the Yin-Yang Pool, he would have to go down and investigate later.
With that thought, he stripped off his robes and looked at the furnace full of radiant golden medicinal liquid.
Without further hesitation, he jumped straight in.
The instant he entered, dense divine essence surged toward him like a tide.
Hum, hum, hum-
In a single instant, rays of divine light spread across his body. The blood-red divine furnace within him swiftly refined the energy pouring inside.
It refined that energy into pure divine power, continuously channeling it into the golden seed within him.
The seed, previously dim and little more than an outline, gradually grew clear and solid under the endless supply of energy.
Wondrous runes faintly emerged across its surface.
Those Dao patterns were naturally perfect. The moment they appeared, the vital essence outside began to seethe.
It formed a vortex of vital essence above the divine furnace, pouring ceaselessly into his body.
"Ngh!"
Li Dao's body trembled involuntarily, and crimson beads of blood seeped from his pores.
Even with his current physique, enduring that oceanlike torrent of energy was a struggle.
Yet Li Dao did not slow down. Divine power continually repaired his damaged flesh.
A strange balance formed between the ceaseless destruction and restoration.
And once again, Li Dao sank into a profound, mysterious state.
The thoughts he had pondered in the cave rose in his mind once more.
Plant the Dao in flesh and blood, connect heaven and earth, and devour the myriad Daos to nourish the flesh.
Heaven and earth are without compassion; they treat all things as straw dogs.
The Dao of flesh and blood-even if heaven collapses and earth perishes, with a "root" to rely upon, it remains undestroyed and undying.
Exist within heaven and earth, transcend heaven and earth!
As those thoughts settled, the seed in his mind merged with the one absorbing energy within his body.
The next moment, the radiant golden seed emerged from his body, covered in intricate Dao patterns and radiating an unfathomably profound aura.
It settled above his head, greedily absorbing energy from the divine furnace and from heaven and earth.
Its light grew ever brighter, and within it, the silhouette of a giant standing tall between heaven and earth flickered faintly.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh-
It swallowed energy like a whale, turning it into nourishment. Before long, the precious liquid in the divine furnace had been drained completely.
Li Dao noticed none of this, utterly immersed in an inscrutable state.
The next moment, the yin and yang energy emanating from the Yin-Yang Pool began to be drawn in continuously.
The Yin-Yang Pool became its new source of energy.
But the moment the seed appeared outside his body, the blue sky and white clouds beyond the formation changed.
Thunderclouds began to gather, and deep within that sea of lightning, purple lightning dragons writhed.
The energy in the Yin-Yang Pool dwindled, and its formerly black-and-white waters gradually grew clear.
The radiant golden seed had become far more solid, and the aura it released was sacred and vast.
The Dao patterns branded upon it were rapidly nearing completion. But just as the final pattern was about to link together-
Boom-crack!
A bolt of purple divine lightning struck straight down, breaking through the formation and hurtling toward Li Dao.
The thick pillar of lightning engulfed both Li Dao and the Yin-Yang Pool.
At the very moment the divine lightning struck, the many ferocious beasts still waiting quietly outside the secret realm reacted as though they, too, had been struck.
Sensing the terrifying heavenly might spilling from the vortex gate, every beast's fur stood on end.
A terrifying sense of death enveloped them completely.
Even the two Spirit Transformation Realm Beast Kings stared at the vortex gate in alarm and uncertainty.
Even they felt the crushing pressure of facing a formidable enemy beneath that might.
Many Blood Moving Realm beasts were pinned flat against the ground, their eyes filled with terror, as though they had encountered some horrifying natural predator.
Beside the Yin-Yang Pool, Li Dao abruptly opened his eyes and saw the radiant golden seed above his head bathing in a curtain of purple lightning.
As the purple lightning washed over it relentlessly, the Dao patterns on the seed began to flicker.
Did this summon a lightning tribulation?
The thought arose, but he did not hesitate. Seeing the seed on the verge of collapse, he knew that if the tribulation erased its Dao patterns, all his efforts would come to nothing!
Determination flashed in his eyes, and he took the Five-Colored Divine Lotus from his bosom.
Without another thought, he swallowed it.
Then he leaped up, landing beside the seed, and formed hand seals to draw it into his body.
-Hum
The instant the seed touched him, it merged into his body.
Within his abdomen, beside the blood-red furnace, the Five-Colored Divine Lotus unfurled once more. The five-colored divine light it released flowed into his limbs and bones.
Bathed in that five-colored divine light, the Dao patterns on the radiant golden seed linked together instantly.
A wondrous ripple washed through every part of his body. Then the seed slowly merged with his flesh.
Rumble-
While Li Dao was still merging with the seed, bolts of purple divine lightning continued to fall from the heavens above and strike his body.
In an instant, flesh and blood flew. The lightning tore his skin open, leaving him a mangled, bloody mess.
Yet Li Dao seemed utterly oblivious. His eyes remained closed, and a smile touched his lips.
He felt a sense of contentment rising from the depths of his soul, like a drowning man clutching a lifesaving straw.
With the Dao planted in his flesh and blood, his powerful physique, once as rootless as duckweed, finally had a "root" of its own!
His body shuddered slightly, and strange currents of power enveloped him. Wherever the lightning struck, his flesh swiftly recovered.
His flesh regenerated, and the bloody wounds were restored to their original perfection.
But this seemed to enrage the lightning tribulation. The purple divine lightning began to take on a faint golden hue.
It crashed down with the might to destroy everything, its power making the void
tremble slightly.
Yet just as the tribulation lightning descended, the Five-Colored Divine Lotus within Li Dao blazed with light.
His flesh blossomed. A five-colored lotus bloomed from within his body and enveloped him completely.
Radiant golden Dao patterns emerged across his flesh, identical to those on the golden seed.
As the golden Dao patterns slowly appeared across his skin, his imposing aura steadily rose.
An unfathomably profound might emanated from him.
Suppress the myriad Daos and arts with the flesh-this is my path.
His consciousness sank into the lake of his mind. Within the universe inside his body, a six-sided prismatic stone stele slowly emerged.
One face bore the faintly branded character "Suppress," while the corresponding inner face bore the character "Arts."
"All arts are void!"
Before you continue