70: Chapter 70 Divine Grace is Boundless! The Veteran is Immortal.

"Leader Yan Er, please stay your steps."

Just as the fervent competition by the Dragon Transformation Pool was in full swing, the cold and ethereal voice of High Priest Xi softly sounded beside Leader Yan Er's ear.

Leader Yan Er, who had just been about to turn and leave to arrange the outer defenses of the tribe, paused slightly and stopped in his tracks.

He turned his head and looked at the young priest before him, who radiated a sacred aura and had already stepped into the Tier 2 realm, a trace of awe flashing through his eyes.

Within the Calamity Divine Kingdom, apart from the supreme Creator, High Priest Xi was the sole spokesperson for the divine will.

"High Priest, are you looking for me?" A trace of doubt laced Leader Yan Er's gruff voice.

Xi nodded slightly, his clear eyes, which seemed capable of piercing through all illusions in the world, quietly gazing at this old man who had exhausted his entire life's dedication for the tribe.

Without any superfluous words, Xi slowly raised his right hand.

"Hum!!!"

Accompanied by a flash of soft, milky-white divine light, a singular fruit—only the size of a fist, entirely azure-green, and covered on its surface with fine dragon-scale patterns—appeared out of thin air in the palm of his hand.

The moment this fruit appeared, the surrounding air seemed to freeze.

A boundless vitality, impossible to describe in words, swept outward like a storm accompanied by faint, ancient dragon roars!

Merely by smelling the exotic fragrance emanating from it, Leader Yan Er felt that the dried-up and exhausted fundamental vitality within his body faintly began to stir!

"This is?" Leader Yan Er's tiger-like eyes instantly widened into rounds, staring fixedly at that fruit, his breathing even growing hurried.

"This is the azure dragon fruit."

Xi's voice was not loud, yet it exuded an unquestionable solemnity, "It is the great Creator who specially commanded me to save it exclusively for you."

"What?!"

Leader Yan Er trembled violently all over, as if struck by lightning, and his entire body stiffened in place.

Watching his shocked expression, a trace of complex emotion flashed through Xi's eyes, containing both admiration and heartfelt joy for this old clan leader.

He explained patiently, "Leader, do you know how precious this azure dragon fruit is?"

"The azure dragon vine at the back of the Calamity Divine Kingdom converges the creation of heaven and earth and absorbs the fundamental aura of the Dragon Transformation Pool. Throughout the entire year, it can only bear a mere few complete fruits."

"The body-tempering medicinal liquid drunk by those thousands of elite warriors just now was, in total, merely a diluted product brewed using a single azure dragon fruit mixed with a large amount of ordinary liquid."

Xi slowly passed the fruit in his hand before Leader Yan Er, his tone carrying deep shock.

"And this one is a complete, pristine spiritual fruit of creation!"

"The Creator said that you have shed blood and fought hard for this divine kingdom. The divine kingdom will never abandon any meritorious official!"

Boom!

Hearing these words, Leader Yan Er only felt a roar in his mind, as if a thunderbolt had split open the hazy veil of despair in his heart.

His rough, calloused hands—hands that had once torn apart countless wild beasts—were now trembling violently at this moment.

"The Creator, the great Creator, actually still remembers this old bone of mine!!!"

Two lines of turbid, elderly tears could no longer be controlled, rolling down Leader Yan Er's scar-filled cheeks.

He had originally thought that his potential was exhausted and that in this lifetime he could only use his decrepit body to pave the way for the younger generation. Perhaps one day dying in battle on the battlefield or perishing for the human race was his best destiny!

He had already calmly accepted the fate of being discarded by time.

Yet he never expected that the high and aloof deity would not only see his contributions, but even bestow such a heaven-defying object of creation upon him alone!

"Thud!"

Leader Yan Er's knees softened, and he heavily collapsed onto the hard rock ground, smashing two deep pits into the earth.

Raising his hands high above his head respectfully, he cautiously took that weighty azure dragon fruit from Xi's hands.

"Leader Yan Er kowtows to thank my Lord for His heavenly grace!"

Raising his head to look at the ubiquitous divine will above the firmament, he let out a hoarse roar, his voice filled with absolute fanaticism and a mortal resolve!

"I, Leader Yan Er, swear to the heavens that in this life and this world, this life belongs to the Creator! Through mountains of blades and seas of fire, I will not refuse even if it means dying ten thousand deaths!"

This roar echoed above the Dragon Transformation Pool, causing countless Azure Dragon Guards warriors who were enduring torment to flush red in the eyes, the fires of faith burning even more fiercely in their hearts!

Carrying supreme gratitude, Leader Yan Er carefully tucked the azure dragon fruit close to his body, turned around, and strode toward his own secluded stone house deep within the tribe.

He could not fail the Creator's bestowal!

He wanted to reshape his origin, return to his peak, and continue to be the battle axe in the Creator's hands that cleaves through all obstacles!

Returning to the stone house,

Leader Yan Er sat cross-legged on the cold stone bed without any hesitation, swallowing the azure dragon fruit—which exuded an alluring, exotic fragrance—into his stomach in one gulp.

"Rumble!!!"

The fruit melted the moment it entered his mouth, transforming into a scalding torrent that rushed straight down his throat into his internal organs!

Leader Yan Er's eyes bulged abruptly, and blue veins bulged all over his forehead like twisting little snakes.

It was too overbearing!

This power was a thousand times more violent than the essential blood of any wild beast in the wasteland he had ever consumed in his life!

If the previous body-tempering medicinal liquid was a rushing stream, then the complete power of the azure dragon fruit erupting within him at this moment was a vast ocean capable of overturning heaven and earth!

"Roar!"

A low dragon roar directly emanated from within Leader Yan Er's body!

That ultimate, pure aura of the ancient dragon veins, like an unstoppable wild dragon, forcibly blasted open the meridians within his body that had been blocked and shriveled due to age and hidden injuries.

Pain! An excruciating pain that pierced straight into the bone marrow!

Leader Yan Er even could clearly hear the bones throughout his body emitting unbearable cracking sounds. Yet the very next second after fracturing, that boundless vitality would instantly repair them, making them thicker and tougher than before!

Without destruction, there is no construction; only through destruction can one be rebuilt!

At this moment, if using Lin Yunfei's previous metaphor, Leader Yan Er's life potential was like a dilapidated wooden barrel with a fixed capacity.

Then right now, this complete azure dragon fruit not only refilled the dried-up water in the barrel, but directly changed the material of the barrel itself!

The decayed wood was excised, replaced with indestructible divine iron!

"Crack, crack..."

Accompanied by teeth-grating sounds of metamorphosis, Leader Yan Er's originally grayish-white hair began to turn black from the roots at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The deep, gully-like wrinkles on his face were smoothed out bit by bit under the nourishment of the brimming blood qi.

His shriveled muscles bulged high again like an inflated rubber ball, even shimmering with a metallic luster akin to bronze. On the surface of his skin, phantom images of lifelike azure scales continuously flickered, emanating a terrifying coercion.

Life energy was recovering crazily!

The incomplete origin was thoroughly replenished!

The aura on Leader Yan Er began to soar in a straight line without any scruples, resembling a dormant volcano about to erupt!

In front of the complete azure dragon fruit, the barrier of the late Tier 1 peak was as fragile as a thin sheet of paper.

Only half an hour passed.

Leader Yan Er suddenly opened his eyes, and two terrifying, substantial brilliance burst forth from the depths of his eyes, actually piercing two deep holes into the stone wall before him!

The blood-qi power within his body had grown thick to an unimaginable degree, forming a faint layer of blood-red protective qi outside his body.

"Is this the threshold of Tier 2?"

Leader Yan Er muttered to himself, feeling that terrifying power within his body that felt capable of shattering a mountain with a single punch.

Right now, he was only lacking the final thin membrane from the true Tier 2; with just a gentle poke, he could step into that brand-new realm!

However, at this most critical moment, Leader Yan Er discovered that although the power within his body was formidable, it seemed to have lost a point of leverage.

The power of the azure dragon fruit was far too gentle; its main role was to elevate the physical origin and repair hidden injuries. In terms of violent impact, it ultimately still lacked one final spark.

"Relying solely on the power of the spiritual fruit is not enough; my body still requires the ultimate pressure of the outside world to complete this final tempering!"

Leader Yan Er's gaze pierced through the stone house, looking toward the Dragon Transformation Pool in the distance churning with terrifying waves, a flash of frantic resolution crossing his eyes.

"The Dragon Transformation Pool! As long as I enter there and utilize that destructive power of calamity, I will definitely break the shackles and achieve a Tier 2 physical body!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Leader Yan Er abruptly stood up, his bones emitting a series of explosive sounds, and he strode out of the stone house, running wildly toward the direction of the Dragon Transformation Pool!

High above the heavens,

Lin Yunfei sat enthroned on the clouds, the Creator's field of vision taking in all of Leader Yan Er's changes with absolute clarity.

Watching Leader Yan Er, who had regained his vitality and even faintly showed signs of breaking through to Tier 2, a satisfied smile curled the corners of his mouth.

"It is easy to gather a thousand troops, but hard to find a single general. With an old veteran like Leader Yan Er who is absolutely loyal and unafraid of death charging into battle, the Azure Dragon Guards can truly be said to possess a soul."

The flood-taming army already had its destination, and the trial of the Dragon Transformation Pool was proceeding in an orderly fashion.

High Priest Xi was stabilizing his realm.

Yushi was suppressing the water veins.

Under the blessing of tenfold time acceleration, the entire Calamity Divine Kingdom presented a terrifying, explosive momentum akin to roaring fires cooking oil and blooming brocades.

Whether it was top-tier combat strength or foundational heritage, they had long since far surpassed the other newborn Creators of the same batch.

"Everything is proceeding according to the most perfect plan."

Lin Yunfei let out a long breath, just preparing to withdraw the Creator's field of vision and close his eyes to rest his mind.

However,

just as he elevated his line of sight from the tribe to overlook the entire territory of the divine kingdom,

his gaze suddenly fixed dead-set on a wasteland at the edge of the divine kingdom.

"Wait..."

The smile on Lin Yunfei's lips instantly froze, his pupils contracting violently.

"Damn it! In my preoccupation with boosting combat strength and cranking out troops, how could I have overlooked such a serious problem!"

Lin Yunfei abruptly stood up, his expression turning exceptionally ugly.

On the vast wasteland at the edge of the divine kingdom, those low-tier wild beasts that could occasionally be seen before, along with those drought-resistant plants that could barely be used to fill one's stomach...

at this moment, had actually all vanished without a trace!

Not even a single grass root or a single mutated mouse was left behind!

Replacing them were patches upon patches of desolate, dead lands that had been over-exploited and gnawed completely clean!

A terrifying phrase instantly leaped into Lin Yunfei's mind: ecological collapse, resource faulting!

Because the divine kingdom had previously absorbed a massive amount of xuanming heavy water and blood demon power, the environment had grown increasingly harsh, making it fundamentally impossible for the vast majority of ordinary creatures to survive.

And what was even more fatal was that the tenfold time flow rate, combined with the all-people physical transition brought by the azure dragon fruit and the light rain of laws, caused the food consumption of all dependents to skyrocket by more than tenfold!

Tens of thousands of mouths, coupled with those Azure Dragon Guards warriors undergoing high-intensity body tempering in the Dragon Transformation Pool who urgently needed to replenish massive amounts of energy,

meant the meat and resources they consumed every day were an astronomical figure capable of making one's scalp tingle!

"Combat strength has been raised, but now, the problem of food has come again!!!"