Despite all of his efforts, Tianlong's will wasn't able to contend with the lotus bud.
Each of the petals of the flower had a will of its own and retaliated with spiritual attacks that left him helpless.
Just as he was refining the lotus, it was also refining him.
Tianlong had even considered giving up due to all the pain. Yet as he remembered the sickly face of his mother and vision of her turning into a corpse, he seemed to forget all the pain!
He had to destroy its will! He had to refine the lotus! Only by possessing it would he be able to secure a future for himself and his family!
Tianlong trembled, there was madness in his face. He was so close to attaining his goal. No matter what he couldn't give up!
As if feeling his incredible determination, the three drops of sacred blood started to boil in a frenzy releasing all the energy they had accumulated till now!
Finally what seemed like an eternity to him, he …succeeded!
Roar!!
Raising his head towards the sky, he let out a roar. It was a roar of victory!
As the taste of victory subsided, all the accumulated pain and exhaustion washed over him like a tide. His blood-drenched body trembled and he fell unconscious.
Ever since the first time the lotus had shifted in his body, it had remained dormant. It would just continue to absorb his Qi and blood energy but never respond.
Despite having no consciousness, no one could make it submit to them. Not because it didn't approve, but because it was a far higher existence than them!
Had it not been weakened, Tianlong's will would have never been able to subdue it.
If his discovering energy patterns and herbs that could weaken it played one part in his success, the other part went to the formation which made the dying will of 108 beasts fuse with him!
It was akin to a moth throwing itself at a flame. Even if it would die, the last brilliance of its life would snuff out the flame!
His fusing with the lotus caused it to move for the first time. Two of the petals which looked like small leaves slowly opened.
One of them was of ash grey while the other one was silver.
While fusing, the former had given him a sensation of constriction. It was as if all the air in his body was being sucked away and he couldn't breathe. As for the latter, it made him feel as if he was being struck by divine lightning.
As the two petals moved away from the bud, they slowly started to take the shape of leaves. For a lotus to grow on a vine, it looked quite odd.
The moment the leaves completely opened, a sizzling sound ran across Tianlong's body. His entire being suddenly turned grey and smoke started to come out of him. At first glance, he looked like a burning corpse!
Starting from his legs, his skin started to disintegrate. Just as the red and white of his flesh became visible, he regained his consciousness.
If there was someone else in his place, they would get flustered and scream in terror. However, he remained calm and collected. His intuition was telling him that this was not a danger but an extremely rare fortune for him!
Moreover, he also felt that if he stopped the process, all of his previous hard work would be for nought!
He knew that his previous knowledge would be useless in this situation. The only thing he could trust was his instinct. With a serious expression, he continued to observe his body dissipating.
First, the lower body disintegrated. After that, the chest vanished. Next, the arms collapsed. Finally, the decay reached his head…
Just as his body completely turned into gas, he roared in his mind and willed it to condense again. He knew that if he didn't act immediately, his physical body would dissipate forever!
As his will raged, he felt as if a bolt of thunder had gone inside his mind! A low rumbling filled his sea of consciousness and it suddenly turned a shade of silver!
Crackle!
The mass of grey smoke that flashed with lightning looked just like a thundering cloud.
The thundering caused the smoke to contract by a small percentage. At the same time that the lightning crackled in the physical body, a bolt of lightning flashed through his sea of consciousness. It caused him to go blank for a moment.
The moment he regained his consciousness, he again tried to condense it.
The cycle repeated itself, Tianlong turned into a grey cloud that throbbed with a clap of rumbling thunder.
Time passed by.
From its initial grey colour, the cloud started to lose more and more of its dark hue and slowly became transparent. The pulsating spark was more visible now.
His sea of consciousness which was formless before turned completely silver. Flashes of lightning would appear in it and move like silver snakes. The formless sea was turning into a sea of lightning!
Gradually, the cloud of gas slowly took the outline of a human. If it didn't flash with a silver brilliance every few seconds, it would be impossible to see it with naked eyes!
Meanwhile, the spirit pond in which he was half-submerged started to lose its glow. Its spiritual energy was being rapidly extracted.
As the cycle continued, he lost track of time and completely focused on the thunder.
The lightning which would make him feel numb and painful before now seemed extremely comfortable…
…
"What's with the weather today?"
"A few hours ago the sky was completely clear …then out of nowhere it was covered in clouds."
Crackle!
A man grumbled while running inside the mountain crevice.
He quickly made his way through the crowd and ran towards the base of the Qin Mountain bandits.
Inside their establishment, he saw that only a few people were present there. Even the evil-looking young man in the reception was absent.
"Where is everyone?"
Suspicious, he went towards the inner chambers.
There he saw that a huge crowd gathered in front of a chamber. A short demon with a powerful aura around him was standing before them.
When he recognised the demon's identity, he was inwardly shocked.
"Isn't that Elder Hei Diao? What's he doing here?" Grabbing someone in the crowd, he asked.
The man proceeded to explain to him the entire matter regarding old Zhan and Han Mu.
Hei Diao didn't need to gather the crowd there himself. They naturally gathered there because of his status and the actions he was going to take.
"Give me the pass." He said.
The one who was going to open the chamber stopped in his tracks.
He respectfully cupped his hands and passed it to him.
Hei Diao planned to deal with old Zhan while the other was still inside the spirit chamber. Due to the arrays surrounding the pool, no one would discern what happened inside. Then he'll just lock him here as a form of punishment.
"Of course, the stay here won't be free. He'll not receive any allowance for an entire month." He inwardly chuckled while opening the door.
Whoo~
Just as the door to the cave opened, a gust of wind carrying a thick rolling mist came out of the chamber and filled the passage.
"What's happening?"
"Don't know… I can't see anything." Someone among the crowd said.
Hei Diao constricted the pupils at the sudden phenomenon. "This old Zhan, what's he doing?"
Taking a step forward, he entered the chamber and closed the door behind him.
The chamber was filled with even more mist. There was practically zero visibility.
"Zhan Damian, I'm Hei Diao the vice commander. I have come here to – "
While talking, Hei Diao swished his sleeves. It caused the mist in the room to scatter, revealing what was inside. The scene that unfolded itself, caused his next words to get stuck in his throat.
There was a crimson formation that covered the room. Blood traces and bones lay its corners. The spirit pond lay at its centre.
A white-haired man was half-submerged in it. His upper body was bare which revealed his toned muscular physique. Despite the full beard on his face, it was evident that the man was pretty handsome. There was something about him that made him look both young and old at the same time.
A faint silver mist surrounded him. His chest and arms were covered in bright azure scales. It reflected the light coming from the spirit pond and created a fantastic sight.
The impact of the scene left him stunned for a moment.
However, being a Yin Yang Cleansing bandit cultivator, he had experienced many things in his life, he soon got a hold of himself.
"This person's looks are top-notch!" He inwardly exclaimed. Even as a demon whose beauty standards were different from humans, he couldn't deny that the person in front of him was a fine male specimen.
"If we sell him as a male furnace, there will be countless females who would pay any price to get their hands on him!" His eyes shined as he thought about the potential number of spirit stones he could acquire.
However, he soon got hold of himself. He found the entire matter suspicious.
"That's not right! This room should have been taken by Zhan Damian …what is he doing here?" He furrowed his brows.
"Who are you? And what's your relationship with Zhan Damian?" His cold voice echoed throughout the cave.
"…"
His question was met with silence.
It caused his frown to deepen. He was a Yin Yang Cleansing expert, no one would dare to ignore him …unless, unless the person was stronger than him!
But why would someone like that come to this place? Even among the Qi condensation stage, only those from the first four stages came here.
Moreover, he found that the person in front of him was exceptionally still. The way he looked, he felt as if the man wasn't breathing at all!
"Tch! Deliberately trying to be mysterious!"
Although he was sure in his heart that the other person was just deliberately trying to be mysterious, he felt a dangerous feeling in his heart. Thus, he couldn't let go of the possibility that the other person was far stronger than him.
After all, he couldn't sense the cultivation level of the other person at all…
With a cold snort, he moved away from the figure step by step.
Just as he was a few steps away from the door, a cold voice sounded from behind him.
"Since you are already here, there's no need to leave…"