40: Dragon blood tempering my body, I urge you all to die.

Deep in the canyon, the black astral winds gradually subsided.

In its place was a bloody aura so hot it was suffocating. The rock walls had turned dark red, as if soaked in blood for tens of millions of years; the occasional water droplets falling actually made a "sizzling" corrosive sound.

Lin Que pushed his long-battered wheelbarrow and stopped behind a massive rock sheltered from the wind.

"Hongyi, Protector."

"Yes."

The Red-Clothed Child Maiden obediently emerged, transforming into a faint red shadow, vigilantly watching the surroundings.

Lin Que sat cross-legged and took out the Storage Pouch he had just obtained from Liu Qingqing.

With a surge of Divine Sense, that weak Restriction shattered instantly.

Clatter.

A large pile of bottles, jars, and Spirit Stones poured out.

"As expected of a Pill Tower Inner Sect Disciple, filthy rich."

A sharp light flickered in Lin Que's eyes.

Five hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones, and there were even ten Mid-Grade Spirit Stones! This was a huge sum equivalent to a thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones!

Besides these, there were several bottles of second-grade Medicinal Pills labeled "Detoxification" and "Rejuvenation," as well as a scroll of a Pill Formula emitting a medicinal fragrance—"Marrow Cleansing Spiritual Liquid."

"Just right."

The corners of Lin Que's mouth curled slightly. He had now reached Perfection in the Iron Skin Technique, and his Physical Body was as hard as iron, but to go a step further and achieve the legendary "Bronze Skin and Iron Bones," merely getting beaten wasn't enough; he also needed medicinal bath tempering.

This "Marrow Cleansing Spiritual Liquid" Pill Formula came at just the right time.

In addition to these, Lin Que found a token in a corner of the Storage Pouch.

Neither metal nor jade, the front was carved with a nine-story high tower, and the back was carved with the character "Liu."

Pill Tower Inner Sect Token.

"Keep it; it might be useful in the future."

Lin Que swept everything into his own Storage Pouch and fed the Little Snow Ferret in his arms a "Spirit Feeding Pill" left by Liu Qingqing before standing up again.

"Now that I'm fed and watered, it's time to get down to business."

He glanced at the Incomplete Manual map in his hand.

The flashing red dot was less than a hundred feet ahead... the bottom of the Dragon Fall Pit.

This was a massive underground karst cave.

In the center of the cave, a pool of boiling crimson liquid gathered, bubbling with heat. That wasn't magma, but "Pseudo Dragon Blood" formed by tens of thousands of years of accumulated Dragon blood Evil Qi mixed with an underground dark river.

Although the Bloodline was thin, for cultivators, this was still a supreme treasure for tempering the Physical Body.

However, at this moment.

Beside this Dragon Blood Pool, a tragic slaughter was taking place.

"Block it! Quickly block it!!"

A sturdy man wearing Iron Sword Sect attire roared hoarsely, the heavy fine-iron shield in his hand already deformed from being struck.

Before him, a Dragon Blood Giant Lizard, three zhang tall and covered in crimson scales, was attacking these uninvited guests in a frenzy.

This group of about seven or eight people were all elite Iron Sword Sect Disciples, their cultivation levels uniformly at the Late Stage Kaiyuan Realm, with the leading sturdy man even reaching Kaiyuan Realm Perfection.

They were originally ordered to search for Elder Zhao Wuji, who had suffered Qi Deviation, but they had stumbled into this Dragon Blood Pool and disturbed the guardian beast.

"Senior Brother! We can't hold on! This beast's hide is too thick; even Magical Artifacts don't leave a mark when they hit it!"

A Disciple shouted in despair.

"Even if we can't hold on, we must! The Dragon Blood Pool is right before us. As long as we kill it and take the Dragon blood to offer to the Sect Leader, we will have the top merit!"

The sturdy man's eyes were full of greed and madness.

Just as the two sides were at a stalemate and the Iron Sword Sect Disciples were suffering heavy casualties.

Creak—creak—

That tooth-aching sound of a wheelbarrow rang out again at an inopportune time.

In this enclosed cave, the sound was exceptionally piercing.

Everyone subconsciously turned their heads.

In the dark corner, a Sick Ghost Old Man, emitting the stench of a corpse and with green spots all over his face, was pushing a broken wheelbarrow, walking out slowly.

His cloudy old eyes didn't even look at the ferocious giant lizard; instead, he stared straight at the corpses of the several Iron Sword Sect Disciples who had just been struck dead by the lizard.

"Cough, cough... Such fresh corpses..."

"A pity... the heads are crushed... won't fetch a good price..."

The old man coughed while talking to himself, as if in his eyes, this intense battlefield was just a vegetable market.

"Where did this crazy old man come from?!"

The sturdy man was furious: "Get lost! Can't you see we're killing a Yao Beast here?!"

Lin Que turned a deaf ear.

He stopped the wheelbarrow, tremblingly fumbled a large gourd from his robes, and then actually bypassed the battlefield with great swagger, walking straight toward that boiling Dragon Blood Pool.

"This old man... is just here to get some water to wash his hands... You carry on... carry on..."

"Courting death!"

The sturdy man laughed out of anger.

Facing a Peak second-grade Dragon Blood Giant Lizard, they were almost wiped out, yet this old thing actually wanted to wash his hands in the Dragon Blood Pool?

"Ignore him! Let him feed the lizard!"

Sure enough.

Seeing someone dare to approach the precious land it guarded, the Dragon Blood Giant Lizard immediately gave up on those hard-to-chew iron bones, turned its massive head, and let out an earth-shattering roar at Lin Que!

"Roar!!"

A foul wind rushed toward him, carrying acid poison strong enough to melt gold and iron.

Lin Que stood by the pool, his thin figure looking like an ant before the giant lizard.

But he didn't dodge.

He just slowly unscrewed the stopper of the gourd in his hand, and then... in front of the giant lizard and all the Iron Sword Sect Disciples, he didn't go to collect the Dragon blood.

Instead, he directly bent down and brought that face covered in green spots close to the top of the boiling Dragon Blood Pool.

He took a deep breath.

Hiss—!

The billowing crimson Evil Qi, along with the violent fire toxin contained in the Dragon blood, was sucked in by him, actually forming a visible red vortex that all entered his mouth and nose!

[High concentration of Dragon blood Evil Qi detected!]

[Composition: Thin Dragon blood, subterranean fire Evil Qi, flood dragon resentment.]

[Effects: Tempering the skin membrane, strengthening blood and Qi.]

[Outbreak of Drawbacks: Boiling blood, bursting blood vessels, mental madness!]

[Locking Targets: Dragon Blood Giant Lizard (50% Malice) and Iron Sword Sect Disciples (50% Malice).]

[Transfer initiated!]

Lin Que's skin instantly became as red as a shrimp, and the blood in his body rushed like a river, making a rumbling sound.

That was the sign of his body frantically devouring the essence of the Dragon blood and evolving toward a higher level!

And the side effects... "Roar?!"

The Dragon Blood Giant Lizard, which was about to swallow Lin Que in one bite, suddenly froze.

Its originally ferocious vertical pupils suddenly became bloodshot and protruded, and from the gaps in its hard scales, countless tiny arrows of blood actually sprayed out!

"Awoooo!!"

The giant lizard let out a shrill scream, its massive body like an over-inflated ball, rolling frantically on the ground. It felt as if the blood in its body had turned into scalding magma, frantically battering its blood vessels!

And on the other side.

"Ugh... Ah!!"

The group of Iron Sword Sect Disciples who were originally prepared to watch the show also suffered.

"Hot! So hot!!"

The sturdy man tore at his clothes in terror, only to see the skin all over his body writhing eerily, veins bulging one by one as if countless small snakes were scurrying under his skin!

"My blood... is going to explode!!"

"Bang!"

The blood vessels in the arm of a weaker Disciple directly burst, exploding into a cloud of blood mist!

Then the second, the third!

Pfft!

Pfft!

Pfft!

A bizarre scene occurred.

Lin Que stood by the Dragon Blood Pool, his face glowing, his aura rising steadily, the greenish-black on his skin gradually fading, replaced by a layer of faint bronze luster.

And behind him.

That Peak second-grade Vicious Beast and the elite group from the Iron Sword Sect were performing a collective feast of "bursting blood vessels"!

Blood stained the cave red.

In just the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea.

The giant lizard stopped moving; all its blood had drained out, and it had turned into a shriveled corpse.

The Iron Sword Sect Disciples also lay scattered on the ground, each dying a miserable death as if their blood had been drained.

Only the leading sturdy man, relying on his high cultivation, still had one breath left.

He lay in a pool of blood, bloody tears flowing from the corners of his eyes, staring fixedly at the hunched figure with his back to him.

"You... just what kind of... monster are you..."

Lin Que slowly straightened his back.

That hunched, old appearance vanished.

He turned around; that face originally covered in green spots had, under the baptism of the Dragon blood, unknowingly restored its original handsome and fair appearance (the disguise of the thousand changes multi-treasure pearl was forced open by the surging blood and Qi, but it didn't matter anymore, as there were no living people here).

His skin displayed a bronze color full of power; with a light squeeze of his fist, the air let out an explosive boom.

Iron Skin Technique advancement—Golden Body Initial Formation!

Lin Que walked up to the sturdy man and looked down at him.

"Monster?"

Lin Que smiled, revealing a row of forest-white teeth:

"This old man is just a... corpse collector."

He raised his foot.

Pfft!

He crushed the man's throat with one foot, giving him his final release.

"Hongyi."

"Mas... Master!" Hongyi emerged from the wheelbarrow, looking at the blood-stained ground, her ghost fires flickering with excitement.

"Clean up the battlefield."

Lin Que glanced at the Dragon Blood Pool, which had faded in color after being drained by him, then looked at the massive lizard corpse on the ground:

"This lizard skin is good material for making armor; skin it."

"As for these Iron Sword Sect people..."

A cold light flashed in Lin Que's eyes:

"Strip their clothes and make it look like they were bitten to death by Yao Beasts."

"After all, we are honest businessmen; we can't let anyone catch us red-handed."

"Yes!"

Hongyi happily pounced toward the pile of corpses.

Lin Que stood in place, feeling the powerful Physical Body strength within him like a bronze wall and iron bastion, and turned his gaze deeper into the cave.

The map showed that past this Dragon Blood Pool was the true "Dragon Fall Land."

There, not only was the nine nether black lotus.

It seemed... an even older, darker secret was hidden there.

"The Golden Body is complete; next..."

"It's time to meet that Iron Sword Sect Leader."