With that Zane left to another room which had protective formations around it with Aurora in his arms.
She laid down next to him coiling around him with her tail when he sat down.
This room was made for isolated cultivation so it had everything one might need, food, water, enhanced spiritual energy, etc.
This room was specifically for the royals of this branch of the hell shock wyvern clan to use.
He pet Aurora moving his hand from her head to her back and back to her head repeatedly for a few moments causing her to calm down before falling asleep. The reverse scale had exhausted 90% of her energy, it was only because of her bloodline that she was able to maintain consciousness.
Seeing she fell asleep Zane smiled.
He got back to cultivating, he wanted to finish the 1st blood transformation by the end of today.
Converting 3/4ths of his blood to blue is easy, but the last 1/4th of blood refinement will take time as this last 4th of the blood is actually blood essence, if you lose too much of your blood essence you die. So he had to be careful in transforming it as efficiently as possible.
He made a few mistakes early on that made blood run down his nose but he fixed them and continued.
Lunchtime came and he stopped to have lunch.
Elaine made it herself, it was pork soup mixed with various delicious things.
He salivated seeing the food on the table and sat down to begin eating.
"Ah! Wait. Don't eat just yet, I want to say something." Elaine said seeing him reaching for the food.
He promptly retracted his hand like a child getting caught. She chuckled seeing this.
"Zane, we have a surprise for you." Elaine said with a smile.
Zane was curious "What is it?"
She smiled, soon a wyvern came in pushing a large cart in her human form.
On top of the cart was something covered by a cloth. When the cloth was removed Zane smiled.
He had seen this in the clans' treasury, it was a sword made out of spiritual gold, it was as sturdy as tungsten, yet had a property of normal aluminum. This property was that metal wouldn't slide coming against it. Aluminum was common in mortal armors since when a blade came against it, the blade wouldn't slide possibly hitting an exposed spot.
The blade would 'stick' to the armor. Thus similar metals were often searched for by spiritualists.
Spiritual gold was one such metal and it was named after its gold-like color and texture.
Moving on, this sword was a gift to the hell shock wyvern clan by the saint dragon clan many years ago.
'That reminds me… I should go back to the saint dragon clan and see if any of the treasure's in their treasury survived.' Zane thought.
Zane smiled "It seems a lot of belongings of the saint dragon clan are making their way back to me…"
Elaine sighed "You are one of the 4 known saint dragons alive. Besides your 2 wandering ancestors, you and Aurora are the last saint dragons known to be alive."
These words made his sisters' hearts tighten... Their worst fears were confirmed. They looked sympathetically at Zane.
Zane nodded, ignoring the sympathetic looks. The moment he looked at the sword, it resonated brilliantly and the runes on the surface of the blade lit up.
It was a 8th earth profound rank artifact.
There were several methods to create an artifact. This results in differences in power, etc.
There are mortal artifacts that are just objects shaped and forged into a weapon, shield, or whatever they need. Then there are martial artifacts which are similar to mortal artifacts, except they have profound runes engraved in them enhancing the object. Profound artifacts are also similar but they have profound arrays which are essentially multiple profound runes linked up to create a much more powerful effect.
After that are exalted artifacts that use profound formations which are multiple profound arrays linked up together. However, some exalted artifacts are inscribed with exalted runes which are a combination of several profound runes into a rune, although it sounds similar to profound arrays, their not.
Arrays are clearly separated into multiple runes linked together, while exalted runes are profound runes perfectly fused to shape the exalted rune itself.
Emperor Vladi's reverse scale is one such object made with exalted runes.
Then theirs monarch artifacts, which use exalted arrays. Then overlord artifacts using exalted formations or in some very rare cases, warrior runes.
All of these types of artifacts are further ranked as follows: Earth, Sky, Heavenly, Divine, and Saint, which are further divided with a prefix of 1 through 9. For example a 9th saint exalted artifact.
This means among exalted artifacts, the reverse scale is among the peak.
As for the sword, it was nearly at the peak among profound artifacts and could enhance the energy in his attacks by 25%. The only reason it didn't become a 9th earth profound artifact was that the spiritual gold had an impurity in it that was missed when being forged. This also restrained the profound arrays since this impurity impeded spiritual energy flow in the sword.
"The golden earth sword. Not a bad sword." Zane said with a smile.
The sword vibrated as if happy with the praise.
"Come." He commanded.
The sword flew over.
"Protect Aurora when I'm not using you, alright?" Zane asked it.
It hummed in acknowledgment, flying over to Aurora after pricking his finger on its own and absorbing the blood. This completed the contract between them.
Anne pouted.
"When will I get protected by one of your artifacts…"
"You're a 3rd sky realm, why are you complaining? Or are you perhaps… No… Anne, you couldn't have fallen for me, right?" He teased.
Elaine chuckled while Anne blushed.
Everyone was laughing for a bit.
They dug into the food, Aurora joined the festivities which lasted for an hour.
"Unfortunately, I must go back to cultivating… I want to finish refining my blood before the end of today."
Elaine looked worriedly at him.
"You don't have to work so hard…"
Zane shook his head "Yes, I do actually. Although I've been able to help all of you for now… What if the opponents stop playing by the rules? I almost lost Aurora this morning, I don't want that to happen again."
Everyone sighed, they felt bad for him…
"Keep working hard kid." The king's voice sounded.
"With your talent, it's not impossible for you to reach the 9th heavenly realm within 15 years allowing you to begin comprehending barriers. If you spend enough time comprehending barriers and fusing them into your first domain… You will without a doubt become a terrifying figure. Just try to keep a low profile until then."
Zane nodded taking a deep breath.
15 years was a long time, but that was just a time frame. If he had a good enough fortuitous encounter he could reach it sooner.
He went back to cultivating and before dinner, he managed to finally fully convert his blood to blue blood, finishing the blue stage.
He was now a 2nd mortal realm spiritualist as well.
"The golden dragon ruins are opening sooner this time." Elaine said while they were having dinner.
Zane was surprised.
"Why?"
"Someone found the golden dragon stone, it accelerates the awakening of the secret realm's gateway. It should be opening next month."
"It's also worth noting that using the stone sets a limit on who can enter, only those a maximum of 1 realm higher than the individual using it will be able to enter."
Zane was surprised even more… if that was the case it might work to his advantage depending on who opened it.
"Who opened it this time, and what's their foundation?" Zane asked.
"A 2nd martial realm used it, many are displeased over this since it means only 3rd martial realms and below can enter."
Zane practically laughed.
"That works out perfectly, I should be capable of fighting 3rd martial realms by then."
Elaine nodded "Be careful, if you push someone in there far enough they might use their martial spirit. That's something that those at the martial realms and above unlock. It's usually a spiritualist's last resort since they are a manifestation of a part of one's soul."
Zane nodded, he knew to be careful.
He just hoped he could find some dragon blood essence. He wanted it to assist in the process of converting his blood since it takes time for him to recover blood essence when he makes a mistake.
Anne suddenly spoke "Can I send a clone with him? I remember a legend about an item in the golden dragon realm, I'm hoping to obtain it."
Elaine took in a breath before nodding. "If he agrees, sure. Just be careful, I'll have the clan prepare the materials to make a clone and transfer your soul."
Amelia who had stayed silent until now clicked her tongue "It seems sister is trying to win over brother's heart, what do you intend to do while alone with him?"
Anne with flushed cheeks retorted "It's not like that, Amelia, and you know it!"
Zane looked at Amelia and said "Lewd-minded girl… I approve."
Everyone laughed hearing that.
"In all seriousness though, you can come with me, Anne. But if it's too dangerous we will have to forget your plan, alright?"
She nodded.
Meanwhile, Amelia teased "Oh my… You even intend to do that with her. Such a naughty boy, brother."
Zane blushed realizing his words could indeed be taken that way.
"I take back what I said…" He muttered. "I don't approve."
A/N: Although we are ahead of number 6 again in WPC#300, we aren't the only ones improving. Right now there is only a 3 power stone gap between us (As of writing this). So thanks to Ben_Dover69, Nihility_Dragon, and Dao_Balance for contributing power stones today. However, they can't be the only ones pulling weight.
Power stones are highly appreciated, everyone. If we get to 100 power stones total (Currently at 70), I'll add another chapter on top of the promised 2nd one tomorrow, so that's 3 chapters! I know some of you may have reservations thinking it's impossible to get 30 power stones in a day, but that's only if you don't contribute. If everyone chips in, it's totally possible to even get 50 in a single day, I'm sure of it.
As for any reservations you have about the book, the plot will ramp up since we're now getting to the golden dragon ruins.