Chapter 42: The Human Dan Begins to Take Shape (Part 2)

  A strange feeling spread throughout the dragon's body in an instant, as if everything had become illusory. His entire body shook violently, and the golden cloud under his feet suddenly disappeared. The dragon's body fell towards the ground like a meteorite, and he clearly felt that he had lost control of his body, which scared him out of his wits. Falling from such a height would be fatal even with magical protection, let alone now when he couldn't use any magic at all. His body pierced through the clouds, and the dragon plummeted downwards like lightning, the Dragon Soaring Jade in his hand emitting a faint purple glow. The dragon-shaped energy inside was also turning purple. The dragon silently cursed himself for being careless. If this were on land, even if he had walked into madness, it wouldn't be fatal at least for a while. But now that he had fallen halfway down the mountain, if he died like this, it would be too unjust. He kept calling out to the divine power within him, but at this moment, he couldn't even sense his own inner energy, and couldn't feel the existence of the golden elixir.

  The ground was getting bigger and bigger in Hailong's eyes, the cold wind in the air had already penetrated his collar, a strong sense of crisis and fear was constantly invading his body, Hailong felt as if he was about to explode. Finally, the ground was right in front of him, it was a forest, in such a rapid situation, Hailong only felt a purple light flashing before his eyes, his whole body shook violently, and he fainted.

  After an unknown period of time, the Sea Dragon felt his whole body ache as if it was being torn apart. He groaned and slowly came to, surrounded by darkness. The Sea Dragon was shocked and thought to himself: "Could I have entered hell? That's not right! Even if my physical body was crushed into dust, I still had my divine spirit, so why wouldn't heaven allow me to be reborn?" With great effort, he moved his body again, and another wave of piercing pain shot through him. The Sea Dragon's heart stirred as he thought: "If I'm already dead, then I shouldn't feel any pain." Could it be that falling from such a high place didn't kill him? Was he really that resilient? As he thought this, he tentatively looked inward to search for the divine energy within his body. The vast network of meridians gradually appeared before his eyes, but they were empty and devoid of any spiritual power. Fortunately, the golden elixir in his spiritual platform was still there, although it had dimmed and lost its luster. However, it did exist. With an intense desire to survive stimulating his brain, he took a deep breath and endured the intense pain throughout his body. The Sea Dragon focused his mind and began to stimulate the energy within the golden elixir.

  Finally, after Hai Long's repeated efforts, a faint divine power was generated around the golden elixir, and with this original power, the condensation of divine power gradually accelerated. As the elixir energy became sufficient, Hai Long knew that his body had finally regained hope for recovery. He didn't dare to cultivate too much, but instead used the elixir energy to repair his internal meridians and injured muscles, allowing his body to recover. In this darkness, Hai Long couldn't tell whether it was day or night, only feeling that after a considerable amount of time, his body had finally returned to normal. Without hesitation, once his body was fully recovered, Hai Long began to circulate the elixir energy to restore his divine power. His internal meridians gradually brightened, and golden rivers were once again filled with vitality. Just as he was about to succeed, Hai Long suddenly felt that his right hand's meridian seemed to have an outlet, and the divine power that had just been gathered surged out wildly, causing his body to feel empty once more. However, this time was slightly better, as he could still use his internal vision. The divine power in his body disappeared rapidly, and after a short while, his meridians dimmed again, even the elixir energy in the golden elixir was sucked out. Except for the fact that his body no longer hurt, he had returned to the state he was in when he first woke up.

  Hailong's entire body was immobile, and he thought dejectedly, "Have I become a living dead man?" He couldn't move at all. Just when his cultivation had recovered, it disappeared again. What was going on? Ah! He understood now - that piece of Longxiang Jade must be haunting him. It was really puzzling what kind of thing it was, actually absorbing his divine power. Was it a magical artifact itself? If so, how much divine power would it need to absorb before stopping? Hmph, even if it were an immortal artifact, the absorbed divine power would still have a limit. Never mind, he had plenty of time anyway. He didn't believe that it could keep absorbing forever. Thinking this way, Hailong regained his spirit and once again used his intention to stimulate the Golden Elixir's gestation of Dan Qi. The previous process repeated itself. Hailong also wanted to stop halfway to see if he could regain control over his body, but everything was ineffective. No matter how much divine power had recovered in his body, it was impossible for him to move. Helpless, he could only continue on. That Longxiang Jade was indeed mysterious - every time, it would wait until Hailong's divine power had fully recovered and then absorb it all at once. This back-and-forth process had already happened seven times, plus the time in mid-air when it absorbed his divine power, making a total of eight absorptions by the Longxiang Jade. What Hailong didn't know was that this repeated circulation of Dan Qi was the best exercise for the Golden Elixir at his spiritual platform. Normally, even if he wanted to completely release the Dan Qi, it would be impossible. But now, the Longxiang Jade had helped him achieve this - from nothing to something, and then back to nothing again. The Golden Elixir had undergone one baptism after another, gradually changing from its original golden color to white. A white Golden Elixir represented the realm of the Human Dan in the Great Way of the Golden Elixir. Under the influence of fate, Hailong was already close to stepping into the threshold of the Unfalling Realm.

  "This is the eighth time, and it's been a full eight times already. This Dragon Xuan Yu is too abnormal! Judging by the time, I've probably been stuck in this dark place for at least a year. Is it really a bottomless pit?!"

  One failure after another, even with Hai Long's strong will, he couldn't help but feel a bit discouraged. However, his desire to survive was stronger than anyone else's, and after comforting himself, he began to cultivate again.

  Hai Long clearly felt that after the Golden Elixir turned into White Elixir, it was much easier to summon the elixir energy, and his control over the elixir energy seemed to have improved as well. Compared to the first time, now that his divine power had fully recovered, he could do it in almost half the time.

  The White Elixir gradually emitted a layer of energy like mist under Hai Long's mental stimulation. Under its stimulation, the divine power within Hai Long's body gradually recovered. Due to repeated experiences, Hai Long was already familiar with the process and kept his mind focused on the White Elixir without wavering, allowing the divine power to recover at an incredible speed.

  The golden river flow gradually filled up, forming a cycle that started and ended with the Lingtai Golden Elixir. As soon as the divine power began to circulate, it meant that Hai Long's magical powers had recovered once again. He knew this was also the moment when Dragon Xuan Yu should start absorbing.

  Indeed, the exhaust port reappeared on his right hand, and the divine power surged towards it in large quantities. Hai Long was already accustomed to everything and let it absorb automatically. The meridians dimmed, and the divine power was absorbed, while the elixir energy within the White Elixir flowed towards his right hand through the meridians.

  As soon as this elixir energy was released, Hai Long's entire body suddenly shook violently. A massive amount of energy from his right hand actually flowed back in reverse, causing a loud explosion. Hai Long felt like his body had exploded, and his vision turned white before he lost consciousness.

  In the vast emptiness, a majestic voice muttered to itself: "Eh? My Dragon Soar actually appeared in the mortal world, I really didn't expect it! To think that human power could actually awaken it."

  Another gentle female voice said, "This is also fate, even if we don't want to go against heaven's will. Long Xiang itself is a master of destiny, only those with kind hearts and extremely firm willpower can grasp it. You don't have to think too much about it either, just let things happen naturally."

  A majestic voice sighed and said: "It can only be like this. Unfortunately, Long Xiang has left me, and I'm afraid he will no longer belong to me from now on."

  "Thud, thud, thud..." The strong and powerful heartbeat woke up Hailong, who opened his eyes to find that the surroundings were no longer pitch black. Instead, he was surrounded by mud, and although he could only see dark shadows, it was much better than not being able to see anything at all. Tentatively moving his body, he was shocked to discover that everything had returned to normal. The divine energy within him was even more abundant than before, with a feeling of wanting to burst out of his body. The white light halo on his forehead flowed and changed, completely turning white and emitting a soft, gentle glow like a night pearl. Finally, he had made it through alive! Hailong's heart was filled with the urge to shout out loud. As he thought back on everything that had happened, he subconsciously looked at the Dragon Soaring Jade on his hand. When he saw his right hand, he was shocked - the Dragon Soaring Jade had disappeared, and his entire right arm had changed completely. A thin layer of mist swirled around his right arm and hand, with a purple dragon seemingly coiling around it. On his palm, a small white hexagonal frame appeared clearly in the center, and as Hailong opened his hand, the soft white light illuminated everything around him, making even the smallest details visible.

  Hailong's heart was filled with joy, knowing that Longxiang Yu had merged with him. Although he didn't know what kind of treasure it was, from the fact that it had absorbed his nine divine powers, he could tell that it was at least a powerful artifact of the immortal level. Satisfied with his hand, which looked like jade, Hailong raised his head and looked up. He found himself in a narrow and long tunnel, which extended upwards in a bucket-like shape, seemingly stretching far away. The end was dark and unclear, and he didn't know what kind of place it was. With his divine power restored and increased, Hailong regained his confidence. He let out a mouthful of turbid air, stirring up the surging divine power within him, and flew upwards with a whoosh, rushing towards the top. The tunnel seemed shorter than he had imagined, and after flying tens of meters, he reached the end. A flash of golden light appeared in Hailong's eyes, and the small iron rod instantly transformed into a thousand-pound staff. Under Hailong's full force, the surging divine power suddenly burst forth.

  In the forest, a silence reigned, it was early morning, when all things revived, insects chirped and birds sang gradually, bringing a few points of vitality to the forest. Dew drops rolled on the leaves, shining like pearls under the sun's rays. "Boom!" A loud noise broke the peace in the forest, countless mud splashed up in the center of the forest. A bright golden light flew out. This sudden change instantly made the forest chaotic, birds were frightened, and for a while, the forest was filled with the sound of leaves and wings.

  As the golden light dissipated, the dragon's body fell to the ground, deeply inhaling the fresh air filled with the scent of mud in the forest. The feeling of being reborn as a human filled his heart with emotion. He muttered to himself: "It seems that when I first fell from the sky, I directly crashed into the ground. I didn't die because the dragon's jade scattered some kind of strange energy to protect my body. Never mind, it's good that I'm alive." The divine power in his body flowed and circulated, causing the dragon to involuntarily let out a long sigh. His voice was clear and loud, without any hint of worldly smoke or fire. Suddenly, as the dragon's sigh echoed through the air, the white dan in his mind shook slightly, releasing a faint circle of white energy that moved with the sound of his sigh. The originally clear sky suddenly darkened, and large clouds gathered in an instant. Strong winds blew by, causing the trees to rustle loudly. A bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, followed by a loud clap of thunder that shook the earth. Large raindrops fell from the sky, and it started pouring heavily. In the midst of this chaos, all other sounds in the forest disappeared, and the dragon was shocked to discover that the trees around him were growing at an incredible speed visible to the naked eye. Even he couldn't disturb their growth rhythm. The dragon stood there, stunned, not using his powers to protect himself as the cold rainwater penetrated his tattered robes. As the coolness seeped into his skin, he suddenly realized something: "This is what that old woman meant by 'dan energy filling up, one breath moves, wind and thunder clouds gather, all living things grow.' I...I have finally entered the gates of thunder law? The dan energy released by the white dan should be the pure primordial energy. One energy transforms into three clarity...haha, I've finally become a true master of the cultivation world!" As he thought this, his body began to glow with a yellow light mixed with some green, and he felt an intense tremor run through his entire being. In his mind's eye, he saw the scene from over a thousand years ago when his eleventh master taught him the art of divination.

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