89: Refining success

Yang Kai looked inward at himself. His body was pitch black inside, with only a segment of passage emitting faint light, illuminating a specific area.

Within this newly opened passage, there was a special aperture. Although it was dim and lusterless, it appeared larger than the other apertures, intercepting the two ends of the passage and preventing them from connecting.

Yang Kai had been Cultivating the Ninefold Mixed Origin Body Refining Art for a long time, plus Zhao Hongyu's previous guidance, he naturally understood that this aperture was the key to the Breakthrough to the second level. As long as he refined this aperture, the path ahead would be smooth until he Cultivated to the Peak of the second level, where a new Bottleneck would appear.

Yang Kai ended his internal inspection, looked up at the drop of essence blood in his hand that resembled magma, his heart incredibly resolute. He gently crushed the layer of amber coating its surface, and a violent yet powerful aura instantly dispersed. A faint pressure was released from within the essence blood, and the round drop of essence blood instantly twisted into the miniature shape of a Divine Phoenix fledgling, as if it were about to come alive.

Yang Kai raised his hand and slapped the drop of essence blood into his mouth. The essence blood slid down his throat and into his body, instantly searing his mouth and throat completely, but Yang Kai endured the intense pain, carefully controlling the internal magical power to guide the drop of essence blood into the circulation of his internal Meridians.

To protect his Meridians from being destroyed by this violent power, Yang Kai used his magical power to isolate it from the Meridians, preventing it from touching the fragile Meridians. As a result, his magical power consumption was extremely rapid. Yang Kai quickly took out Spirit Stones and began absorbing them to quickly recover his magical power. However, the expenditure still exceeded the income. Helpless, Yang Kai had no choice but to consume Medicinal Pills like the Yellow Dragon Pill, which contained pure Spiritual Qi. The sea of magical power within Yang Kai's Dantian ebbed and flowed like ocean waves, barely maintaining a fragile dynamic balance.

This tug-of-war finally ended as the essence blood was pushed into Yang Kai's Dantian. Everyone's Dantian forms its own space, isolated from the outside. Without the support of external Spiritual Qi, the gradually reviving essence blood reluctantly fell silent. Yang Kai knew that he had managed to forcefully overcome the first difficult hurdle in refining this drop of essence blood.

"That was close. Fortunately, Zhao Hongyu had thoroughly explained the various incidents that might occur before and after refining this essence blood, allowing me to suppress it in the Dantian so easily. But the main event is still to come."

Yang Kai opened his mouth, panting heavily, his voice hoarse. Clearly, his previously seared throat was badly injured.

Yang Kai was not in a hurry to refine the essence blood. Instead, he first restored his magical power to its Peak, and only after his mind was calm and undisturbed did he begin the refinement process.

Trapped within Yang Kai's Dantian, the essence blood could not absorb Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to recover itself, but it still continuously drew upon Yang Kai's magical power to slowly grow stronger. If he did not refine it soon, once the essence blood recovered to a certain state, it would still rebel and attempt to kill its master, throwing Yang Kai's Dantian into chaos.

Yang Kai's magical power moved inward to refine the essence blood, instantly provoking a backlash. The essence blood, which had been silent, stirred again, transforming once more into the shape of a Divine Phoenix, tearing open a terrifying rift in Yang Kai's sea of magical power. Where the sea surface had fractured, small flames were burning, as if it had been ignited.

Yang Kai let out a cold snort, mobilizing his entire sea of magical power to suppress the essence blood. If he were fighting externally, it would be difficult for Yang Kai to unleash all his magical power at once, but the battlefield was currently within his Dantian, and Yang Kai was the Dominator of this place. With a single thought, the sea of magical power surged, pressing down upon the essence blood that had transformed into the Divine Phoenix.

The fierce battle within Yang Kai's Dantian was also extremely taxing on his magical power. Yang Kai focused on two tasks at once: while refining the essence blood, he did not forget to use Spirit Stones to restore his magical power. Beside him, many Spirit Stones that had exhausted their Spiritual Qi had already turned into dust.

"Refining essence blood through ordinary means yields very little result. Only by using your own will to defeat the residual will of the Divine Beast within the essence blood can you succeed in one stroke and complete the refinement. However, this action is also very dangerous. If your will is unable to match the residual will of the Divine Beast and is instead defeated, you will be severely injured at best, and at worst, you might lose your life or even be controlled by the Divine Beast's will and become a Puppet. You must be extremely cautious." Zhao Hongyu's words echoed in Yang Kai's mind. If he continued this slow refinement, it would likely take several years. Yang Kai did not have that kind of time right now; he prepared to give it his all!

Thinking this, the Sea of Consciousness within Yang Kai's Sea of Consciousness space also surged. The rising sun hanging above the Sea of Consciousness emitted a dazzling light, and then appeared within Yang Kai's Dantian, crashing heavily onto the Divine Phoenix body formed by the essence blood like a falling meteor!

A mournful shriek echoed in Yang Kai's mind, making his teeth ache. Not only that, he could feel a maniacal and murderous will collide with his own will, causing his brain to feel dizzy.

Yang Kai gave a cold snort. He had undergone a trial of will before when refining the Qian Gang Bodhi Fruit. His will was unshakable, like a towering, cloud-piercing mountain Peak. Although the quality of the Divine Beast's will contained in this drop of essence blood was high, its attack lacked structure and stamina. After the "three-axe" style offensive ended, its aura instantly weakened, and it could not even maintain the Divine Phoenix form.

Right at this moment, Yang Kai's mind moved. Inside his Dantian, magical power and Divine Sense joined forces, fully concentrating on crushing the residual will within the essence blood. Sensing that defeat was certain, this will mustered its last strength and violently exploded. Not only did it evaporate over ninety percent of Yang Kai's sea of magical power, but it also severely shook Yang Kai's Divine Sense and will, causing the rising sun to dim, requiring some time for careful nurturing to recover.

Feeling the drop of essence blood in his Dantian, which no longer contained any will but only pure energy, Yang Kai's lips couldn't help but curl up slightly. Now that the most difficult hurdle was passed, the remaining refinement would proceed naturally.

"Boom!!!"

A roar echoed within Yang Kai's body. As the power of the essence blood was continuously refined, that aperture was finally refined by Yang Kai. Yang Kai felt the changes in his body almost instantly: not only were all his previous injuries completely healed, but his physical strength also violently increased again, and even the surface of his body was being strengthened. Yang Kai couldn't help but let out a comfortable groan; he was intoxicated by this feeling of rapid power enhancement.

The drop of essence blood still contained a large amount of pure energy. As the essence blood was gradually refined by Yang Kai, aperture after aperture was also refined. Although the increase was not as great as when the very first aperture was refined, the accumulated effect was substantial. As the power of the essence blood gradually depleted again, a special kind of power was also refined by Yang Kai and became a part of him.