261: Others dilute it a hundredfold, while you're drinking top-grade dragon blood straight from the bottle?

"Armed to the teeth?"

Lu Sheng raised an eyebrow, withdrawing his gaze from that oppressive map of the Abyss and letting it fall onto Li Xiaoyao.

The Old Man's expression had returned to its usual solemnity, even carrying a hint of pained gravity. He reached into his robe with careful movements, as if what he held was not an inanimate object, but a miniature nuclear bomb that could explode at any moment.

Buzz—!

As his hand withdrew, the spiritual mist that had been flowing calmly atop Daozi Peak seemed to be violently churned by an invisible giant hand.

A visible distortion appeared in the space itself.

A palm-sized jade bottle, entirely simple and dark green in color, floated quietly in Li Xiaoyao's palm.

Three different-colored sealing Talismans were stuck to the bottle, each emitting a heart-palpitating Spiritual Pressure.

Even so, a violent, bloodthirsty aura—as if from the prehistoric primordial era—still seeped out in thin wisps through the gaps in the stopper.

"Good stuff."

Every cell in Lu Sheng's body tensed instantly; it was the instinctive reaction of a predator smelling top-tier prey.

He could feel the dormant Dragon God Sequence within him letting out a greedy low growl:

Eat it! I must eat it!

"Of course it's good stuff."

Li Xiaoyao looked at Lu Sheng's instantly glowing vertical pupils and snorted proudly, before his expression turned extremely serious.

"This item is called—'dragon blood body tempering fluid'."

"Three thousand years ago, an ancestor of my Dengxian Island accidentally obtained a Sub-dragon carcass in an ancient ruin. Combined with ninety-nine types of thousand-year-old spiritual plants, it was refined in the Earth Fire Eye for a full forty-nine years to produce this one small bottle."

Li Xiaoyao pointed at the jade bottle, his tone heavy: "Inside this, there is a trace of True Dragon prestige and the violent Law of fire elements."

"Lu Sheng, your current Foundation is indeed ridiculously good. Level 9 spirit source Great Perfection—this kind of accumulation, if placed outside, would be enough for an ordinary mediocre talent to Breakthrough to Level 10 three times over."

The Old Man changed the subject, his gaze scanning Lu Sheng's body like a torch.

"But you must understand, before Level 10, one is called a Spirit Source User because from this step onwards, a cultivator must draw the world's spirit source into the body to reshape the Physical Body and transform the Mortal frame into an 'Elemental Body'."

"Though your Physical Body is powerful, even able to withstand the pressure of the Ascension Road, in my view..."

Li Xiaoyao shook his head, hitting the nail on the head: "It is still not perfect enough."

"Your body is like an iron barrel filled with gunpowder. Though hard, it lacks resilience. Once you trigger the backflow of world elements, it is highly likely that because you cannot withstand that violent energy—Bang! You'll explode into a pile of shredded meat."

Lu Sheng looked down at his palm, lost in thought.

It was true.

Although he had stacked his attributes to a perverted level thanks to the System's point allocation, that feeling was more like 'piling up'—it lacked a sense of harmonious unity.

"Therefore, this bottle of dragon blood body tempering fluid is to complete the final piece of the puzzle of your Foundation."

Li Xiaoyao solemnly handed the jade bottle over.

It was heavy in his hand, as hot as a branding iron.

"The medicinal power of this fluid is domineering and peerless. Even that ancestor back then only dared to give it to descendants after diluting it a hundredfold."

Li Xiaoyao held up a finger, like an old pedant in a private school, and began to nag and instruct:

"Remember! This stuff isn't sugar water; it's a poison as much as it is a holy medicine!"

"Though you possess the True Dragon Bloodline and your resistance is stronger than average, you must never be careless."

"You must prepare a large tub of Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Spring Water. Each time, take only one drop... no, half a drop! Drip it into the water to dilute it, then soak in the bath and absorb it slowly through your pores."

"Once a day, do not be greedy."

"If you feel a stinging pain in your Meridians, stop immediately! Otherwise, that violent dragon blood energy will instantly tear apart your..."

Pop.

A crisp sound of a stopper being pulled out abruptly interrupted Li Xiaoyao's earnest teaching.

The air froze instantly.

A bloody scent so thick it was nauseating, yet carrying a strange exotic fragrance, filled the entire Daozi Peak like a materialized red mist.

Li Xiaoyao's words stuck in his throat, his eyes widening bit by bit.

He saw Lu Sheng—who in his eyes was still a 'cultivation newbie'—holding that jade bottle, which was enough to level a mountain peak, and sniffing it under his nose.

Then, he frowned with a look of disdain.

"This is dragon blood? Why does it smell like rust?"

Lu Sheng muttered.

The next second.

Under Li Xiaoyao's horrified gaze, Lu Sheng tilted his head back, just like drinking a two-yuan bottle of low-quality beer at a food stall, and put it to his lips... Gulp.

Gulp.

Several large mouthfuls!

A full two-thirds of the dark red liquid poured directly down his throat!

"ARE YOU CRAZY?!!"

An eardrum-piercing scream erupted from the mouth of Li Xiaoyao, the Grand Elder who usually remained calm even if Mount Tai collapsed before him.

His voice cracked from sheer terror.

Li Xiaoyao felt his scalp go numb and the blood in his entire body flow backward.

That was dragon blood body tempering fluid!

Even the bathwater diluted a hundred times could scald a slightly weaker Level 9 expert until their flesh split open.

This kid... he drank it directly?!

And he fucking chugged it straight from the bottle?!

"Spit it out!!"

Without thinking, Li Xiaoyao's Spiritual Pressure surged, and his figure turned into an afterimage as he rushed toward Lu Sheng.

He had to knock this kid out immediately and use spiritual power to force the contents of his stomach out. Otherwise, within three breaths, this sole seedling of the Human Race would become a human bomb and blow Daozi Peak to the sky!

However.

Just as his palm was about to touch Lu Sheng's shoulder.

A hand steadily blocked him.

"Don't shake me... Old Man, don't shake me."

Lu Sheng maintained his head-tilted posture, holding the jade bottle with more than half gone in his left hand and blocking Li Xiaoyao with his right, a truly bizarre expression on his face.

His skin was turning red at a visible speed.

It wasn't a healthy flush, but like a cooked shrimp, even faintly emitting a golden-red glow. Even the blood vessels under his skin were clearly visible, like countless burning earthworms writhing frantically.

Ssssss—

White steam gushed from the top of Lu Sheng's head and his pores, and the surrounding air was instantly heated to over a hundred degrees.

"You... you..."

Li Xiaoyao's hand froze in mid-air. Looking at Lu Sheng, who was like a steam engine, his lips trembled: "You're not dead yet?"

According to his experience, Lu Sheng should have exploded by now.

"Dead? Not quite."

Lu Sheng let out a loud burp, exhaling a breath of hot air filled with sparks.

"Burp—"

"It's just a bit bloating... the kick is quite strong, like drinking a crate of expired Erguotou."

Lu Sheng felt as if what he had swallowed wasn't liquid, but a living, crazed fire dragon.

The moment that energy slid down his esophagus, it turned into rolling magma, frantically battering his six viscera, attempting to burn this Mortal body that dared to devour it into ashes.

Did it hurt?

It did hurt a bit.

It was like someone was scrubbing his stomach lining with a steel wool ball.

But beneath this intense pain, Lu Sheng felt a kind of... pleasure originating from the depths of his Soul.

It was the [Dragon God Sequence] cheering as it fed.

"System, stop playing dead."

Lu Sheng cursed in his mind, "If you don't start working, I'm really going to be cooked through."

[Ding! High-purity dragon blood energy source detected!]

[Warning: Energy reaction is extremely violent! Exceeds the host's current Physical Body load limit by 300%!]

[Dragon God Sequence... Fully activated!]

[Commencing violent suppression!]

Boom—!

Inside Lu Sheng's body, a dragon roar from ancient times seemed to resound.

The violent red torrent that was rampaging through his body and preparing to tear his Meridians apart froze instantly the moment that dragon roar sounded, like a mouse meeting a cat.

That was absolute suppression of Bloodlines.

Sub-dragon blood meeting a True Dragon Soul.

The next second.

Lu Sheng's dark gold vertical pupils suddenly contracted into pinpricks, and a domineering suction erupted from the depths of every cell.

Devour!

Decompose!

Transform!

The energy that originally wanted to destroy him was forcibly broken and crushed, turning into the purest and most docile nutrients, frantically filling his bones, muscles, and viscera.

Li Xiaoyao stood to the side, completely dumbfounded.

He watched helplessly as the red light on Lu Sheng's body, instead of losing control and exploding, began to pulse rhythmically.

With every pulse, Lu Sheng's aura surged by a notch.

That feeling was like watching a prehistoric Vicious Beast breaking out of its cocoon.