54: Chapter 54 Dragon Blood Furnace

Yanhuang Military Region, Northern Theater, First Highest Authority Medical Center.

This is the most top-tier life science research and medical institution in the entire Northern Theater, and even in all of Great Xia.

Those who can be sent here are without exception high-ranking officers at the general level, or national-level powerhouses who have made immortal contributions to the country.

At this moment, in the deepest part of the medical center, inside a special intensive care unit completely encased by white alloy walls and inscribed with countless energy circuits.

Li Zhengyang is lying quietly in a silvery-white life-support pod.

He is completely naked, his body covered in various colored tubes connected to dozens of humming precision instruments surrounding him.

Inside the life-support pod, a pale green, high-concentration life nutrient solution is slowly and continuously soaking his charred body.

Outside the intensive care unit, separated by a thick one-way observation window.

Commander Han Tieshan paces back and forth anxiously, his weathered face filled with worry.

Beside him, Lei Qianjue stands with his hands behind his back, his expression calm, his gaze piercing through the observation window and landing on Li Zhengyang inside the life-support pod.

In his deep eyes, there is a hint of inquiry.

"Venerable Lei, how is the situation?"

Commander Han Tieshan finally cannot help himself, stops his pacing, and asks with a hoarse voice.

It has been exactly twenty-four hours since Li Zhengyang was brought back by Lei Qianjue.

In these twenty-four hours, the medical center's top expert team has used every available piece of equipment to conduct round after round of examinations on Li Zhengyang.

However, the conclusion reached has left everyone helpless.

An elderly man with graying hair, holding a thick report, walks up to the two and shakes his head.

"Commander Han, Venerable Lei."

The old man is the director of this medical center and the most authoritative expert in life morphology in Yanhuang, Professor Wang Zongren.

"The situation is very grim."

Professor Wang Zongren pulls up a page of a 3D stereogram from the report and projects it into the air.

It is a dynamic diagram of a human model representing Li Zhengyang's physical condition.

Inside the model, the red lines representing Li Zhengyang's own life energy are extremely weak, like a candle in the wind.

Meanwhile, another golden, incredibly domineering energy, like an awakening giant dragon, is coiled in every corner of his body, constantly assaulting and tearing at his fragile tissues.

"His body has been completely destroyed."

Professor Wang Zongren's voice is extremely heavy, "His internal organs, meridians, and bones are all under the assault of the Dragon Emperor's source energy. From any medical perspective, he is already a dead man."

Commander Han Tieshan sways, his face instantly turning deathly pale.

"But..." Professor Wang Zongren shifts his tone, pointing at the golden energy in the 3D model, "What is bizarre is that while this destructive Dragon Essence is destroying his body, it is also attempting to reshape it in a way we cannot comprehend."

He zooms in on a detail.

Everyone can clearly see that around a fractured bone, the golden Dragon Essence is simulating the structure of bone cells, attempting to construct a brand-new bone infused with the power of the dragon.

But Li Zhengyang's own weak life force cannot control or absorb this reshaping at all.

A terrifying tug-of-war has formed between the two.

For every bit the Dragon Essence reshapes, ten parts of his own life source are consumed.

"This is an unsolvable vicious cycle," Professor Wang Zongren sighs, "His body has become a furnace. The Dragon Essence is the fuel, and his own life is the cost. At the current rate of consumption, in at most forty-eight hours, his flame of life will be completely burned out by this overly massive energy."

"We have tried injecting life energy, and we have tried using neutralizing agents to suppress the Dragon Essence, but all have failed."

"Any intervention of external force will immediately break this fragile balance, causing him to suffer energy overload on the spot and self-detonate."

Professor Wang Zongren's conclusion is a death sentence for him.

Cannot save him; saving him is killing him.

Not saving him is just waiting for death.

"Is there really no other way?" Commander Han Tieshan clenches his fists, his eyes turning red.

That is Li Zhengyang!

The madman who dared to charge at a Royal-level demonic beast in a desperate situation!

The hero who used his own life to win precious time for Fortress No. 7 and the entire Northern defensive line!

He cannot just die like this!

Professor Wang Zongren falls silent, his face full of helplessness and regret.

As a doctor, the most painful thing is watching a life slip away before one's eyes while being powerless to stop it.

The entire corridor falls into a deathly silence.

"There might be one way."

Lei Qianjue, who had been silent all along, suddenly speaks up.

Commander Han Tieshan and Professor Wang Zongren look up abruptly, gazing at him intensely as if grasping at the last straw.

"Venerable Lei, you have a way?"

Lei Qianjue's gaze remains locked on Li Zhengyang inside the life-support pod.

"His problem is not his body, but his will."

"The Dragon Essence is domineering and contains the Dragon Emperor's life imprint. Although this little guy swallowed it with a streak of madness, his life level is too low."

"A snake swallowing an elephant—how could it not die?"

Lei Qianjue says slowly, "Right now, the Dragon Essence inside him is rampaging. And his own will has fallen into a deep sleep due to the soul shock and the collapse of his body."

"There is only one way to survive."

"Let him wake up himself, to master and subdue this power. To turn this evil dragon into his own mount."

Commander Han Tieshan is stunned, then smiles bitterly, "Venerable Lei, he is in a deep coma now, with weak vital signs; how could he possibly wake up?"

"Therefore, an external force is needed to stimulate him, and an environment is needed to help him complete this process," Lei Qianjue says calmly.

"What environment?" Professor Wang Zongren asks eagerly.

Lei Qianjue utters four words.

"The Marrow Cleansing Pool."

As soon as these four words are spoken, Professor Wang Zongren's face changes instantly, and he exclaims, "The No. 1 Marrow Cleansing Pool of the military region?"

Commander Han Tieshan also shudders.

As a high-ranking official in the military region, he naturally knows what the No. 1 Marrow Cleansing Pool signifies.

It is a strategic-level cultivation holy land built by the Yanhuang military after spending countless rare treasures and gathering hundreds of formation masters over decades!

The "Marrow Cleansing Divine Fluid" in the pool can cleanse the marrow and cut the tendons, shed one's mortal body and exchange one's bones, and even has a certain chance to help a peak Martial King glimpse a trace of the mysteries of the Royal level!

It is the foundation of the military and the cradle for cultivating the next generation of national-level powerhouses!

Its usage qualifications are infinitely stricter than those for being awarded a general's rank!

"No!" Professor Wang Zongren instinctively retorts, "Absolutely not! How pure and massive is the energy of the Marrow Cleansing Pool? Given his current condition, entering the Marrow Cleansing Pool is like dropping a drop of water into a boiling wok of oil! The collision of two extreme energies will cause him to explode instantly!"

"No," Lei Qianjue shakes his head, a flash of wisdom in his eyes.

"You only see the collision, but you do not see the possibility of fusion."

"The energy of the Marrow Cleansing Pool is extremely pure and clean; it is the best reconciling agent. It will not suppress the Dragon Essence, but will act like a large net to wrap, comb, and purify that violent Dragon Essence."

"This process will produce unimaginable pain, no different from being sliced by a thousand knives or having one's soul slow-sliced. But at the same time, this extreme pain is the only stimulus that can forcibly wake him from his deep coma."

"Whether he is a dragon or a worm depends on whether he can survive this ordeal."

Lei Qianjue's plan is crazy and bold, yet it contains a glimmer of hope.

To find life in the jaws of death.

Using the most extreme pain to awaken the will to survive.

Commander Han Tieshan listens with heart-pounding fear. He looks at the quiet young man in the life-support pod, as if he can already imagine the terrifying torture he is about to endure.

"I will go apply for it immediately!"

Commander Han Tieshan grits his teeth and makes the decision.

No matter how slim the hope is, he must try!

Lei Qianjue glances at him and says calmly, "No need to apply. When I came, I already consulted with the military's highest command."

"They have agreed."

"Prepare to send him to the Marrow Cleansing Pool."