Chapter 584: The Dragon Blood River

"The dragon blood kept in the river has been refined by formations, the main part of it is dangerous for most Awakened, even if they have gone through more evolutions."

Lian nodded, this was not surprising.

The blood of a Demon-rank creature, even after centuries had passed, should not be something an ordinary human could endure without problems.

Even for the Awakened, something like this could be dangerous, especially when it came from a creature that carried the nature of the End.

Seris continued.

"The formations control the energy in the blood, when you enter the training area, that energy will enter your body and soul."

"And refine them."

He added.

"Yeah."

"Which parts?"

"Bones, muscles, organs, mana channels, and the soul too, if you can endure the pressure."

The young Vorhelm narrowed his eyes slightly, this was exactly what interested him.

He had now reached the stat limit of the First Evolution. Increasing his stats directly was no longer possible, but refining his body and soul was not limited by his stat cap.

Two creatures could have the same physical strength stats, but the different quality of their bodies could allow one to perform much better than the other.

And Lian had wanted to strengthen the structure of his monstrous body even further for a long time.

"So, the more we can endure, the better the results?"

Seris nodded.

"To a certain extent, but if your body can’t endure the energy, you’ll get injured."

He thought for a moment, dragon blood, an Ancestral Mark, and the End Core, all three were connected to the same creature.

The Demon of End.

He did not know what would happen when these three things were brought together, but he intended to proceed carefully.

Especially since he now understood better than ever how dangerous it was to play with the power of a living Demon.

A few hours later, the two of them reached their destination, a massive gate made of black stone stood before them.

Complex golden lines were carved across its surface, and even from a few meters away, they could feel the flow of power between them.

When Seris approached, the gate’s formation reacted, several golden rings inside the stone began to rotate, and a deep sound came from behind the gate.

The gate slowly opened.

And what lay behind it left even Lian silent for a moment, a huge underground hall spread out before them.

The ceiling was so high that parts of it were hidden in darkness, and dozens of thick pillars extended upward along both sides of the river.

But the most important part was the river itself, a wide and deep stream of dark red liquid flowed through the middle of the hall.

Its color did not resemble fresh blood, it was darker and denser, and almost black lines could be seen beneath its surface in some places.

Unlike ordinary water, the river moved very slowly, and with every small wave, a heavy mana pressure spread through the surrounding air.

A thin layer of red mist floated above the blood, and the golden formations carved into the walls absorbed parts of it.

Lian took a few steps forward, he had not entered the river yet, but he could already feel the energy pressing against his skin.

"Well."

He looked at the red current.

"Now I understand why using this is so valuable."

Seris stood beside him.

"The upper section has been refined."

The young Vorhelm followed her gaze.

In the distance, where the river passed between two stone walls, several massive golden rings were placed above the flow of blood.

Before the dense energy reached the training area, it passed through those same formations.

Parts of its unstable pressure were separated and stored in special containers.

Therefore, what flowed before him was still the blood of a dragon with enormous power, but it was no longer in its raw and uncontrolled state, even in this refined form, it was still unbearable for most Awakened.

Lian could feel this clearly.

The two of them went to separate training areas along the river.

They were several dozen meters apart, but they could still see each other through the main river.

He first put his right hand into the blood, it was a strange feeling.

The liquid was warm, but not like hot water, and a dense pressure settled over his skin from the moment he touched it.

A few seconds later, the first stream of energy entered his body, and the muscles in his forearm tightened on their own, then the pressure reached his bones.

Lian curled his fingers.

This energy really is heavy.

He slowly entered the river, and when the blood reached his chest, the pressure increased several times, as if something from outside was trying to pass through his skin and muscles and reach the deepest parts of his body.

He slowly breathed out.

His body already had the structure of a Fallen Monster, but even a body like his could not accept all the blood’s energy without resistance.

A dull pain began to form deep inside his bones.

However, he did not stop the flow, he closed his eyes and allowed a controlled amount of the blood’s energy to enter his body.

No more than he could endure.

In another part of the river, Seris had also entered the blood, she sat down on a stone platform beneath the river’s surface and closed her eyes.

The refinement had begun.

A few minutes later, Lian noticed another change.

Inside his body, the End Core was slowly reacting, responding to the nature of the power entering his body from the river.

The blood of the Demon of End, and a core formed from a part of that same Demon’s nature.

It was natural for there to be some kind of compatibility between them, and if his guess was correct, this blood contained some Essence of the End.

And there should be enough of it to strengthen his core, exactly as he had done with the Eclipse Core.

He kept the incoming flow at a level that allowed his body to use it for refinement.

But strengthening the End Core was not his only goal, his body and soul also needed to become stronger.

Hours passed.

The initial pain did not decrease.

On the contrary, the more energy entered the deeper parts of his body, the greater the pressure on his bones and muscles became.

Lian had to reduce his energy absorption several times to give his body time to adapt.

Even so, he did not leave the river.

He had one month, and he had no intention of wasting even a single day.

At last, his breathing became calmer.

Mana flowed through his body at a steady rhythm, and the energy in the blood slowly entered the deepest parts of his physical structure, drop by drop.

Farther away, Seris was also sitting motionless.

Both of them trained in silence, while outside this secret hall, the world continued to move forward.

One month passed.

While the two of them were refining their bodies and souls deep inside the Pendragon Palace, the events in Verendal had consequences far greater than most people could imagine.

In the first few days after the ceremony, the Federation, together with representatives of the Six Great Families and the Twelve Ancient Guilds, released an official report about the crisis.

According to this report, a series of planned attacks had taken place during the Pendragon ceremony, and their source had been traced to an infiltrating structure belonging to the natives of the Heavenly Realm.

The authorities announced that the threat had been identified and neutralized, and that the investigation into all related parties was still ongoing.

But this was only part of the truth, and they tried to completely hide how the intruder had entered their world.

Of course, hiding everything that had happened that day was impossible.

Thousands of people had seen the defensive dome of Verendal shaking under the pressure of a battle between two Celestials, and some of them had even recorded images of the city’s sky.

However, in the official reports, those clashes were described as a security dispute during the investigation, a dispute that had ended after new evidence was discovered, without widespread casualties or the start of a war between the major powers.

For ordinary people, the incident was something like a major security crisis that had been brought under control before it could turn into a disaster.

But among those at the highest levels of power, there was a much deeper concern.

One of the natives of the Heavenly Realm had managed to operate on Earth for an unknown period of time, without the humans’ most powerful security systems noticing their presence.

And this was not something that could be easily ignored.