Thanks to Julongs venture into the Alpha-Origin Heaven, the number of Genesis Qi Stars in his Qi Dwelling had reached over 1000! Reaching the milestone of 1034. Thanks to this, he was already three-quarters of the way to his breakthrough into the Third-Layer of the Alpha-Origin Realm. Such progress even astounded him.
Shen Taiyuan was incredibly happy when Julong had awoken since he had broken the all-time record of breaths on his first try with the Spirit enhancements. Julong was also rather impressed by himself for doing so, which had put him in a very good mood, a good enough mood that he even decided he would try Cultivating the Ancient Dragon Body Technique, something he was willing to put off for at least a few days.
He was currently seated in one of the many gazebos in the Pavilion that sat on the edge of the mountain, providing a stunning view of the rest of the Cangxuan Sect's Peaks. It was the perfect place to keep peace of mind while practising.
While the Ancient Dragon Body Technique wasn't exactly expensive to begin Cultivating, it was indeed difficult to reach each of the stages of progression, including even reaching the beginning of the first stage.
Just like many other External Cultivation Techniques, a certain level of prior Cultivation was required, then a vitality source was required so that one could continually Cultivate and not be forced to stop after a small amount of time. Generally, these vitality sources could be just about anything, but for the Ancient Dragon Body and Ancestral Tianyuan Body, a specific source was required. And that was not the end of it either. Specific conditions of the Genesis Master would need to be met to even begin learning the source of vitality required for the Technique.
Yes, such a Technique, even as a revised lead-in to another Technique, would be extremely strenuous.
Luckily, however, Julong after reviewing the Technique met all the requirements for it. These requirements were as follows; being at least in the equivalent of the Heavens Gate Stage in External Cultivation - which he had achieved thanks to the Minor Mythic Saint Body - and having a Dragon-Type Blessing to begin learning the source of vitality required. Obviously, the second condition would be no trouble for him, especially because of the being his supposed Blessing was.
Dragon-Type Blessings were already exceedingly rare, which narrowed down the possible candidates. There was also the fact that many people also had never practised External Cultivation before the Middle Layers of the Alpha-Origin Realm. So while many people had thought he was stupid for accepting the terms of his duel, he had in fact come far better off than whatever else that Pan Song could have offered up. However, this also brought up the question: Just how much more difficult would the Tianyuan Body Technique be to begin? As a lead-in Technique, he was hoping it would prepare him accordingly, but that had never stopped other Geniuses from failing in mastering the real Technique.
In accordance with the Technique, before he could begin using the Technique to begin tempering his body, he would require the vitality source. This vitality source was known as the Heaven Devouring Vitality Mark, which was a rune that had the ability to passively, slowly drain the surroundings of their vitality if one so decided. As such, it was incredibly powerful. Just like all other Vitality Marks or Runes, it would need to be formed from absorbing a certain type of Genesis Qi that only came from beings that had recently been killed. It was known as Life Solarity Qi. This pretty much meant that Julong would have to go around and kill Genesis Beasts or other creatures to harvest the Qi required to create a full Vitality Rune. This undoubtedly would take a very long time and was the hardest requirement to begin the Technique.
To get started he took out a pill. The particular pill was full of throbbing vitality that was beating like a heart. It was something that Zi Xiao had provided him with for when he wanted to practice External Cultivation, he could use it to refill his reserves and continue. This one was different though, it was the fruits of combining over a dozen pills of vitality together. In the same way that he is able to fuse multiple pills into each other, he would be able to substitute the vitality pills for Life Solarity Qi to begin the base of his Heaven Devouring Vitality Rune by fusing the vitality of the pill into his body.
He removed the pill from its holding, allowing it to idly float in front of him.
Closing his eyes, he began using his Spirit to pinpoint its location and begin drawing the vitality toward his body. As he did so, he could feel something beginning to surface on his back, covering most of his upper and lower body. The vitality from the pill was so potent with such a high purity Life Solarity Qi exuding from it, he was almost immediately able to construct a full base for the Rune.
He sat there for nearly two nears hours taking in the vitality from the pill in front of him. After that time, the pill was eventually completely absorbed. Opening his eyes, he looked around with a stretch. He could feel the Rune on his back. It was enormous, made of almost 2000 strokes, hence its size. It was to be expected, such an ancient and powerful rune would no doubt be very complex.
Activating his Spirit once more, he removed himself from his physical body, hovering behind it, looking at the unlit Rune that laid on his back. Only one small stroke was lit up with brilliant gold. This represented the progress of the rune. As he absorbed more and more Life Solarity Qi, the Rune would undoubtedly light up in the stunning gold that was lighting up the small stroke that had already come from absorbing the vitality pill. In essence, it was just like the Ancestral Dragon his head, only it would be much easier to do.
Returning his Spirit to his physical body, he stood up. Creating such a rune had taken a lot out of him. He had heard of a Genesis Reservoir where a great Sect Event took place, it was known as the Genesis Marrow Baptism. Generally, only a Chosen would be able to enter the reservoir outside of the event, as they would be given their own territories inside of the reservoir. The entries to these territories were linked to a spatial passage in the pavilion of a Chosen. Since Julong was also situated in a Chosen Dwelling, naturally he would also have access to the reservoir. As such, he had decided he would go check out the territory linked to his own Pavilion.
I have heard the reservoir is a nice place for a soak, with the ability to sull aching bodies. Perhaps I should invite Yao Yao?