Chapter 22: Dragon Blood Body Refinement

Chapter 22: Chapter 22: Dragon Blood Body Refinement

Before stepping into the pool, Chen Shang went over the Body Refinement method in his mind once again.

"A long, long time ago, Wizard Body Refinement followed a logic of fusion.

"For example, integrating Dragon Blood into the Bloodline to transform the Constitution, becoming a Dragon Vein Wizard or a Dragon Blood Warlock.

"Dragon Blood would grant a powerful Physique, Dragon Language Magic, Magic Resistance, and even Dragon’s Might. If lucky, one could even awaken the inherited memories within the Bloodline...

"But later, Wizards realized something was wrong. Those Dragon Blood Warlocks were undoubtedly strong, but they would eventually hit a bottleneck. Their upper limits were completely locked.

"The Bloodline bestowed Power, but it also imposed a shackle.

"Thus, Wizards spent a long time developing an opposing logic of resistance.

"Instead of letting Dragon Blood enter the body, they used its stimulating and invasive nature to force their own antibodies to evolve, while simultaneously constructing Body Refining Runes within themselves..."

Chen Shang stood before the Tier Three Dragon Blood Pool, looking at the pool of dark red liquid. The giant boulders along its edge were densely carved with Runes that faintly flickered in the steam, emitting a faint Blue light.

He took a deep breath and stepped inside.

The Dragon Blood submerged his ankles. A burning sensation washed over him—a scalding heat that seeped deep into his bones, as if Flames were burrowing into his blood vessels and meridians, scorching every inch of muscle and every single nerve.

Chen Shang gritted his teeth and waded deeper. Wherever the Dragon Blood touched, his cells felt as if they were being incinerated, teetering on the brink of death. Yet, just as they were about to die completely, a berserk Life Force from the Dragon Blood surged in.

The cycle of life, death, and Reincarnation continued endlessly!

Chen Shang closed his eyes, diverting his attention from the agonizing pain to focus on constructing Runes.

The core of the Body Refining Array was an activation Rune, surrounded by eight auxiliary Runes: oscillation, stripping, filtration, guidance, stabilization, restoration, enhancement, and circulation.

His Spiritual Power condensed into the form of an Engraving Knife, carving stroke by stroke within his body. With every Rune engraved, the violent Dragon Blood was tamed by a fraction.

His body was continuously destroyed, then repaired over and over...

An unknown amount of time passed. By the time the entire Body Refining Array was completed, the excruciating pain within his body began to transform into a strange, burning heat. It shifted from passively enduring the stimulation of the Dragon Blood to actively devouring its Energy like a whale!

Chen Shang could feel that through the process of necrosis and regeneration, his body was becoming much stronger than before. His cells were restructuring, his muscles were being realigned, and his overall form was adjusting into a far more optimized state.

The Body Refining Runes acted like a hammer, the Dragon Blood served as the Flame, and his body was a piece of raw iron—repeatedly hammered, quenched, and hammered again...

Resistive Body Refinement was a drawn-out process. It could take as little as a few weeks or as long as several years.

Soaking in the pool, Chen Shang’s body slowly underwent its tempering. Meanwhile, his mind wasn’t idle; he began memorizing the material required for the First Level Apprentice assessment.

A few days later, the violent Dragon Blood had mellowed into a comfortable hot spring. Thus, he called Number Three down and began perfecting the remaining Ben Bo’Erba phrasing for it.

Two months later, as Chen Shang carved the final stroke of the Rune, he was trembling with excitement.

On Number Three’s grayish-blue skin, the faint Gold Rune engravings had spread from the initial few strokes across its entire body, resembling a dense, intricate web.

The moment Chen Shang finished his last stroke, all the Runes lit up simultaneously. From its head to its Tail, the Runes linked together to form a complete Circuit. Energy flowed and circulated within, connecting end to end in an endless cycle.

"How does it feel?"

Number Three stood by the edge of the pool. Its form had undergone a massive Transformation.

Previously, it had possessed the standard body of a Creation Species. Standing among its peers, it would have been impossible to tell it apart from the rest.

But things were different now. Its head had grown slightly wider, with prominent cheekbones and deep-set eye sockets. Where its ears used to be, small fins had grown—gossamer-thin, with their edges gleaming with a faint Gold light.

Its back hunched slightly, and its muscles bulged along its spine in two smooth arcs that extended all the way down to its tailbone. Its limbs had become thicker and sturdier, yet their proportions were much more harmonious.

Over its grayish-blue skin now lay a layer of dark red scales. Originally, Ben Bo’Erba shouldn’t have possessed such scales, but because Chen Shang had engraved the Rune Array for it inside the Dragon Blood Pool, Number Three was inevitably influenced by the Dragon Blood.

"It feels magical. Even though they are four completely unrelated Rune Arrays, now that they’re connected, it feels as if the whole has become something entirely different." Number Three sensed its own body and reported to Chen Shang, "I feel a much closer affinity with the Water Element, and my Power is much stronger than before.

"I can sense Water—Water that is very far and very deep. On this island, I can sense the water currents up to three hundred meters below sea level."

Chen Shang smiled. He summarized two major gains.

First, the Power of a Mythical phrasing was not immutable. The better the foundation of the host, the stronger the Power of the Mythical Characters they could inherit.

Second, it confirmed that the Power of the Mythical phrasing could be replicated. Today, he had obtained a catfish spirit infused with Dragon Blood. In the future, he had the hope of creating even more, and even stronger, Mythical Species!

Chen Shang climbed out of the pool. After soaking for two months, he had also undergone a massive Transformation. His bone density, neural reaction speed, muscle density... they were overall five or six times stronger than his previous Great Knight Physique.

Within his body, the nine-Rune Array was still slowly revolving like an engine that would never stop, silently tempering him.

He threw a few barehanded punches, producing a string of loud sonic booms.

Hearing the commotion, the Golden Dragon outside let out a massive yawn. He stood up and appraised Chen Shang.

"Finished your Body Refinement? You’ve lost quite a bit of weight."

Chen Shang nodded. "Yes, all the Energy was used for evolution, and a lot of fat was burned away." He was indeed quite scrawny and skeletal at the moment.

The Golden Dragon turned and walked outward. "Follow me. Let’s find a place to eat and replenish yourself."

"Huh?" Chen Shang was stunned.

"We’re going to Dragon City to get you some nutrition."

Chen Shang followed him. As he walked out of the Dragon Blood Hall, the bright light outside made him squint.

"Going to Dragon City to eat? But I don’t have any money!"

The Golden Dragon froze. He turned his head, looking back at Chen Shang. He seemed to grind his teeth for a moment before finally letting out a sigh. "Fine, my treat!"

"Then I’ll have to trouble you!" Chen Shang cleanly and efficiently climbed onto his back, bringing Number Three along. Only later would he realize what an incredible feat he had accomplished today—getting a greedy Giant Dragon to pay for his meal.

The Golden Dragon tore through the air, flying rapidly into the distance. This time, the fierce winds did not place nearly as much pressure on Chen Shang as before.

Not long after, a massive island appeared in Chen Shang’s line of sight. In the center of the island stood a mountain peak that pierced the clouds.

Though it was called an island, it could also be considered a continent. It was covered in a vast expanse of buildings that stretched all the way from the coastline to the foot of the mountain, densely packed and overlapping in layers.

"Are you dragons always this friendly to Wizards?" Chen Shang asked at the top of his lungs, lying flat against the Giant Dragon’s back.

"It depends on the person. We tend to value those who research Biological Runes," the Giant Dragon replied in a muffled, booming voice, before coming to a sudden halt and landing on the ground.