CHAPTER 89: CHAPTER 89: BREAKTHROUGH OF THE BLOODY DRAGON-SHAPED BODY_1

"Eat more, you’ve been a great help these last few days."

Shen Mo watched the already plump Spirit Storage Rat with a warm smile and generously pulled out a large chunk of dried meat for it to munch on.

After settling the Spirit Storage Rat’s late-night snack, Shen Mo sat cross-legged and opened his Destiny Panel to view his skill and attribute pages.

[Destinied Lord: Shen Mo]

[Cultivation Method: ’Purple Mansion Heart Scripture’ Primary (574/1,000)]

[’Heavenly Origin Technique’ Senior (3,874/4,000)]

[Martial Arts: ’Supreme Clarity Sword Technique’ Master (3,842/16,000)]

[Lightness Magic: ’Thunderclap Rapid Step’ Junior (654/5,000)]

[External Magic: ’Dragon Elephant Blood Fiend Body’ Elephant Body (97/100)]

[Soul Magic: ’Divine Soul Contemplation Scripture’ (yet to be condensed)]

After the past few days, the experience bars of all cultivation methods and magic had seen some growth.

But the most rapid increase was in ’Dragon Elephant Blood Fiend Body’.

When I first acquired it, it was only at 85, but now it’s already at 97. It is just one step away from reaching Perfection. This rapid advancement in such a short period is all thanks to my well-stocked pouch.

Shen Mo had overeaten various types of spiritual medicine that boosted his Qi and blood essence in the past few days. The spiritual medicines, which he would normally not dare to consume so carelessly, were basically being eaten like snacks. With nearly endless medicinal power to replenish his Qi and blood essence, Shen Mo could confidently use his own Qi and blood essence to cultivate the ’Dragon Elephant Blood Fiend Body’.

I should be able to break through tonight!

Suppressing his slightly excited emotions, he began to enter a state of cultivation.

CRUNCH!

Shen Mo took a Blood Jade Ginseng and boldly took a few bites; then the medicinal power began to surge within his body.

[You swallowed a Blood Jade Ginseng; the medicinal power gradually seeped into your limbs and bones.]

[You continuously operate your cultivation method; your organs, muscles, and tendons are all greedily drawing in the pure medicinal power. As the absorption of the medicinal power continues, the strength of your Qi and blood increases.]

[You have started to operate ’Dragon Elephant Blood Fiend Body’, transforming the vibrant and surging Qi and blood into fuel for your physical body, allowing yourself to be enhanced.]

[After two hours of cultivation, the level of your ’Dragon Elephant Blood Fiend Body’ has improved, Dragon Elephant Blood Fiend Body experience +1.]

....

Lines of text continued to refresh on the panel.

Like this, Shen Mo went through his cycles of cultivation until the third watch of the night.

Finally, when his last round of absorbing Qi and blood ended, Shen Mo had accumulated enough experience.

[External Magic: ’Dragon Elephant Blood Fiend Body’ Elephant Body (100/100)]

"Break for me! Dragon Body, condense!"

Seeing the experience bar for this external magic completely filled, Shen Mo let out a low growl.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

A series of dull thuds echoed from within his body, and Shen Mo only felt a sense of ultimate relaxation.

Every bone, every meridian, every cell was undergoing transformation.

[You’ve succeeded in pushing the ’Dragon Elephant Blood Fiend Body’ to a breakthrough, progressing to the Dragon Body stage.]

Now that he had broken through the previous barrier of the cultivation method, the strength of Shen Mo’s vitality suddenly doubled!

The biggest increase isn’t in strength, but in the toughness of my body!

He opened his eyes, directly took out the Dragon Sparrow Sword, and made a cut on his own arm.

SHINK!

As the tip of the sword scraped along his arm, a metallic sound rang out as if two hard substances were colliding.

Yet Shen Mo’s arm remained unscathed; not even a white mark was left.

As expected!

Seeing this effect, a hint of a smile appeared on Shen Mo’s face.

This ’Dragon Elephant Blood Fiend Body’ was indeed worth all the resources he had invested and the efforts he had put into cultivation.

After progressing from the Elephant Body stage to the Dragon Body stage, Shen Mo’s physical vitality was on par with that of a demonic beast of the same level renowned for its physical prowess, and even surpassed it in some ways.

It must be known that, unlike human cultivators, the lion’s share of a demonic beast’s power comes from its physical strength and intensity. The source of power for human cultivators depends on cultivating Qi and nourishing the soul. Therefore, no matter how hard they cultivate, they would still find it challenging to match the physical strength of demonic beasts at the same realm.

Previously, when Shen Mo had struck the Vajra Ape with a punch, it mainly relied on the enhanced effects coordinated by the Mana inside his body. His physical strength alone wasn’t enough to contend with it.

However, Shen Mo, who had cultivated to the Dragon Body stage, had reached a level of physical vitality unimaginable to ordinary people!

In my current state, if I’d participated in the newcomer competition a month ago, I am confident that I could have defeated Lu Ming without using the Soul Refining Flag.

A month ago, Shen Mo fought a battle with Lu Ming in front of Yuxu Altar. Without the use of the Soul Refining Flag, he had virtually no hope of winning. At that time, Lu Ming, holding the Five Thunder Magic in one hand and the Heavenly Thunder Flag in the other, literally took the upper hand.

Undeniably, the oppressive feeling brought about by someone of Lu Ming’s caliber, a Thunder Body genius, made even Shen Mo feel somewhat suffocated, let alone other disciples.

But now... he had indeed acquired that strength.

The boost in combat power that Shen Mo received from reaching the Dragon Body stage was significant.

However, as quickly as my battle power is increasing, others will not stand still and wait for me. Especially the geniuses; the talents and resources they possess are unimaginable to ordinary disciples.

Shen Mo’s mind flickered, thinking about Lu Ming, who had been accepted as a disciple by the Peak Master of Stars Peak. When they met previously, Shen Mo had an inkling that Lu Ming’s strength had increased a lot.

His gap with a genius like Lu Ming may not have narrowed; it may have even widened.

That’s why he didn’t dare to be complacent.

The path of cultivation is long and winding. Tonight’s progress is just a small step.

....

In the next two days, Shen Mo and Cao Ren formed a team to hunt for treasures, marching south.

All along the way, they didn’t encounter any other cultivators, so Shen Mo, who had just broken through, could only practice on the demonic beasts within the Mountain River Realm.

When Cao Ren saw Shen Mo kill a Class II Golden Horn Blue Rhino with one punch, he was shocked for an entire day.

Thinking back to the time when they were outer disciples, and the words they once spoke to each other—"if we rise to wealth and rank, let’s not forget each other"—he couldn’t help but feel a bit embarrassed and ashamed.

Back then, I had planned on protecting him... We agreed to grow old together, but he secretly made a huge advance.

Even up until now, Cao Ren still couldn’t figure out how Shen Mo had suddenly become so strong.

"To the southwest, five miles from here, there is a treasure... the aura is very strong."

"Very strong?"

"Like I’ve never sensed before."

Shen Mo glanced at the Spirit Storage Rat on his shoulder, communicating with it via his Divine Sense to ensure its accuracy before saying to Cao Ren, "This little fella has sniffed out the scent of a treasure again."

"Southwestward, within five miles, it should be something good. Follow me and let’s check it out."

Having said that, he directly rode his sword at high speed to go there.

And Cao Ren, quickly reacting, followed suit controlling his artifact.

One in front and one behind, they arrived at the location indicated by the Spirit Storage Rat.

A mountain.

In front of them was a gigantic green mountain.

This was the first terrain Shen Mo and Cao Ren had encountered in the Mountain River Realm that was not desert or loess since entering five days prior.

"Where’s the treasure?"

Shen Mo stood in front of this majestic green mountain, using his Divine Sense to search around but couldn’t find any traces of exotic treasure.

"In the mountain."

The Spirit Storage Rat sniffed for a while, then quickly provided the answer.

In the... mountain?