The servants Luo Qingluan brought worked with remarkable efficiency.
Before long, they had put a secluded, elegant waterside residence near the Cold Pool in order. Its overall style was simple and antique, and its interior was fully furnished and spotless.
Luo Yue refused Luo Qingluan's offer to bathe her little niece. She really was not used to bathing with someone else, even if that person was now her own aunt.
The little juvenile flood dragon around her wrist became especially lively when she entered the water. After swimming a few laps through the warm water, it began gulping it down, apparently enjoying itself.
"Does bathwater really taste that good?"
Luo Yue irritably patted its little head. If she did not stop it, it would drink all the spirit spring water in her bath in one go.
Could soaking my Divine King Body in water actually give it some miraculous effect? Luo Yue wondered idly.
After a comfortable hot bath amid the rising steam, washing away her exhaustion and the traces of battle, Luo Yue changed into soft sleepwear and felt alive again.
The little flood dragon slid of its own accord onto the jade stand by the window, coiled into a ring, and quietly began absorbing moonlight and starlight. Faint golden patterns flowed across its dark scales; clearly, it too was recovering and cultivating.
During the day, Luo Yue had suppressed it with the Solar Hengyu Diagram and the Taiyin Guanghan Diagram and given it a thorough beating. Then it had drunk the Earth-Milk Spirit Liquid she gave it. Now, rebuilding after being broken down, it was the perfect time to cultivate and temper its sinews, bones, and Dao Foundation.
Luo Yue lay on the soft bed, but did not fall asleep immediately.
First, she examined herself inwardly, checking the Life Spring within her Bitter Sea. Though her divine power was exhausted, her essence remained unharmed. After being squeezed to her limits in the earlier battle, she even vaguely sensed signs of improvement.
That put Luo Yue somewhat at ease.
Next, she sank her awareness into the depths of her Life Spring.
The Heaven-Mending Stone fragment floated quietly there, radiating five-colored rosy light as the resonance of the Dao flowed around it.
When Luo Yue had obtained the second Heaven-Mending Stone fragment earlier, she had only roughly sensed them and suppressed their fluctuations. Now, she finally had time to examine them closely.
Strange. Why can't I draw the second Heaven-Mending Stone inside? Luo Yue wondered.
She looked at the second Heaven-Mending Stone in her hand. Nothing she tried worked, so, a little bored, she weighed it in her palm and tossed it toward the ceiling a few times.
She had obtained this broken stone near the Ancient Mine beside the Luo River. It had fallen right in front of her, seemingly by pure chance-and then there was that fleeting glance the Primordial Goddess emerging from the Divine Source had cast her way.
Luo Yue did not believe the two were unrelated.
As for why that Primordial Goddess had tossed her such a precious treasure, whether it was coincidence or deliberate, none of that mattered to Luo Yue.
After all, this was someone who was at least a Saint. Even if she really did harbor some scheme or intention toward a seven-year-old human child, what could Luo Yue do about her? The gap between their strength was simply too great; they were not even on the same level.
Since that was the case, she might as well be straightforward!
If someone dared to give it, she dared to take it.
One to nourish my Life Spring and feed my Divine Body, and one to fight enemies with. That works out perfectly, Luo Yue could not help thinking.
Whatever else it could do, it should be excellent for smashing people-one hit, and they would not make another peep!
Early the next morning.
Jiang Wei came to Cangming Divine Island again and led Luo Yue to a divine island brimming with dragon energy.
"This is Jade Marrow Dragon Island."
"It was originally a divine mountain. Back then, an Ancient Sage of our Jiang Family used immense magic power to move it here from a dragon vein in the Central Plains, hundreds of millions of li away."
"There is a Dragon Marrow Heavenly Pool on the island. Across the entire Eastern Wasteland, there are fewer than ten spirit pools like it. Its foundation-building effects are second only to the Dragon Transformation Pool in Divine City," Jiang Wei said.
That Dragon Pool connected the dragon veins of the Jiang Family's many divine islands and had formed from the condensation of countless streams of dragon energy. It could only be opened once every ten years, and places were limited: only ten people were eligible to enter.
Only a year had passed since the Dragon Pool was last opened. Normally, they should have had to wait another nine years before opening it again.
However,
This time, the Jiang Family had clearly made a special exception for Luo Yue alone!
It was all because her performance yesterday had been far too astonishing. Crossing an entire major cultivation realm, she had forcibly suppressed the juvenile king of the Nether Flood Dragon Lineage.
Moreover, after cultivating for less than a month, she had already built a Divine Bridge across her Bitter Sea and was only a step away from reaching the Other Shore.
Such a terrifying cultivation speed and monstrous battle record placed her among the foremost Divine Kings in the Jiang Family's history!
As for why Luo Yue had not broken the record,
It was only because the conditions of the age had changed. In this post-Desolate Antiquity era, when even Severing the Dao was difficult, cultivators progressed far more slowly than before...
That only made Luo Yue's heaven-defying talent all the more apparent. To cultivate at such a terrifying speed despite the harsh conditions-even among the prodigies of ancient times, few could have advanced so swiftly.
"Your cultivation has progressed too quickly. At first, the elders thought this might leave your Dao Foundation unstable, but judging by yesterday, that clearly isn't the case," Jiang Wei said with a smile.
The Jiang Family now attached great importance to its young Divine King. To help her temper her foundation, they had even made an exception and opened the Dragon Pool for her alone.
Of course, they did not know that every cultivation session Luo Yue undertook had been precisely calculated by the Yellow River Chart and Lo Shu.
Divine Source, ice soul jade marrow, all kinds of variant source-with vast quantities of resources poured into her, her buffs were maxed out!
An unstable Dao Foundation? Not a chance!
Her Dao Foundation was terrifyingly solid now!
Add the Divine King Scripture, the Dao Scripture Fragment, the Hengyu Scripture, the sliver of true meaning concerning Taiyin and the Sun deduced from the fragment, and even the Heaven-Mending Stone nourishing her Divine King Body-if her Dao Foundation could still be unstable after all that, Luo Yue might as well dash her head against a wall and die.
"Use the Dragon Pool together with that pool of Earth-Milk Spirit Liquid you have. The effects will be even better for cleansing your sinews and tempering your bones."
Jiang Wei did not forget to remind her.
Luo Yue nodded, then stepped into the Dragon Pool.
Once she entered, Jiang Wei flew off Dragon Island and sealed the entire divine island. Then he sat high in the sky, closing his eyes to rest his mind.
Dragon energy wreathed Jade Marrow Dragon Island.
Luo Yue stepped into the Dragon Pool renowned throughout the Eastern Wasteland.
The moment she touched the water, an indescribably immense force surged thunderously into every limb and bone!
It was not simply cold or scorching heat, but a heavy, domineering vital essence originating deep within the earth's dragon veins.
It carried fragments of the world's Dao Principles condensed to their utmost limit. Like hundreds of millions of fine, fire-tempered needles, they instantly pierced the skin, flesh, bones, and meridians of her Divine King Body.
"Ngh!"
Even-
Though Luo Yue had prepared herself, she still could not help letting out a muffled groan, her little face turning deathly pale in an instant.
The pool water was no ordinary liquid. Dragon-shaped streams of vital essence like golden threads appeared upon its surface. Every drop weighed as much as a thousand jun, containing unimaginable pressure and nourishing power.
"Awoo~"
The little black-jade chain around her wrist woke up as well.
The little flood dragon returned to its original form, then swam back and forth through the Dragon Pool like a swamp puppy let loose to romp, looking thoroughly delighted.
It had clearly sensed the vast, surging vital essence and Dao resonance within the Dragon Pool. For a creature with flood dragon blood, the allure was irresistible.
Thanks to Luo Yue, the little flood dragon had also gained this rare and precious opportunity.
Luo Yue left it alone, since it did not affect anything anyway. Besides, the fact that it could enter meant the Jiang Family's higher-ups had probably tacitly approved. After all, herding one sheep was still herding, and so was herding two...