Drunken Sword looked at his arm gloomily. If he had not sacrificed his hand to block the sword, it would have been his head that was cut off and not his hand. The worst thing was that whenever he tried to direct his Qi to accelerate the growth of his hand again, he could feel a strange power preventing him from doing that.
He looked around to find Mi Ling and Bai Shun surrounding him. He laughed loudly, "To think I, Drunken Sword, would someday be injured by some juniors." His eyes flashed with madness, the aura around him began to change, and many massive sword rays appeared beside him.
Mi Ling's expression changed when she saw that. "Fellow Daoist Bai, be careful. He's burning his blood essence to increase his power."
Bai Shun's eyes narrowed, and he glanced at Drunken Sword with contempt. "To think that a renowned swordsman like you would be so desperate to live."
Bai Shun began to form many hand seals with his hands and shouted, "Nine Nether Asura." Nine black beads emerged from his spirit ring. They began to glow with a dark light, and with a booming sound, three black gates appeared out of nowhere, and a figure emerged from each gate. They looked humanoid but with skin as dark as midnight and eyes that gleamed a bright red. They were clad in armours made of twisted black metal and held wicked-looking spears in their hands. As they stepped forward, the ground shook beneath them, and a chill spread through the air.
The Three Asuras raised their spears, trying to block the sword rays that were heading towards them. But with no avail, the sword rays pierced their bodies and obliterated them.
Bai Shun's expression turned ugly. Every one of the three Asuras had a power that was close to the middle stage of the Dao Integration Realm. For these sword rays to obliterate them so fast, it meant that Drunken Sword had burnt a lot of blood essence to conjure up this attack.
Mi Ling stepped forward and took out a small black shield from her spirit ring. She lifted it in the air and pointed with her finger. The shield started to enlarge until it became three meters in height. She then formed many hand seals with her hand and began to chant in a low voice. The shield began to glow with a dark green light, and many Dao Runes appeared around it.
She slammed with her hand, and the shield moved and collided with the sword rays. And a massive explosion happened. Drunken Sword looked at the shield, and his expression dropped. The mist dissipated, revealing the black shield intact with no scratch, but the sword rays disappeared completely.
Looking at the shield, surprise flashed across Bai Shun's eyes. He looked at Mi Ling with amusement. "Miss Mi, it seems like this shield's grade already exceeded the Dao weapons "
After cultivators' breakthroughs to the Dao Integration Realm, they could choose an object to nourish with their Dao source. These weapons are called Dao weapons.
Drunken Sword's eyes flashed but he didn't look at the shield. He raised his sword high, and a massive amount of Qi began to surround him. Soon, it condensed on the sword tip. He raised his sword and slashed in the air.
The slash was so powerful that the space around them began to crack. Bai Shun and Mi Ling looked at the slash in confusion. It wasn't aimed towards them at all.
The sound of collision could be heard and, out of nowhere, a bloody figure appeared. Soon it fell to the ground. Drunken Sword looked at the bloodied figure with a smile - it was none other than Li Wei. "Humph, I finally got you," he said. With lightning speed, Drunken Sword appeared in front of Li Wei and slashed with his sword, cleaving Li Wei in two.
Meanwhile, Liang was surrounded by a massive amount of poison Qi around him. Inside his body, finally, a black core appeared. His aura surged, breaking through to the Void Core realm, which is equal to the Core Formation realm.
He formed a hand seal, and the black core inside his body began to revolve at a terrifying speed. The poison Qi began to enter his body heading for his Void Core. Once the poison Qi approached the core, it was pulled inside before disappearing by a strong suction force.
The more the Void Core absorbed, the faster it revolved, and the more its pulling force increased. If anyone was here, they would be shocked by the massive amount of poison Qi that was being pulled into Liang's body.
His cultivation began to rise again, breaking through the Core Strengthening Realm. As the core was strengthening more and more, Liang's cultivation continued to rise until it broke through to the Core Completion Realm.
Liang opened his eyes. If it was any other Core Formation realm, they wouldn't be able to absorb the poison Qi and use it to raise their cultivation. But the Void Core simply has the ability to absorb any kind of Qi, and absorbing the poison Qi isn't that hard for him.
Now came the most important part - Body Refining.
A technique appeared in his mind - the Dragon Body Refining Art.
The moment he assimilated with Azura Dragon Soul essence, he acquired this technique. It's what Ling Tian used to cultivate his dragon body, but he didn't have a True Dragon blood essence. Even though he managed to reach the Dragon Transformation Stage, his power wasn't that great at all.
He closed his eyes, and inside his body, a black serpent appeared. Its eyes glowed with a crimson dark light. It moved through his blood until it reached the Dantian. The serpent looked at the massive black core in front of him, and a smile appeared on its mouth. It approached the core and closed its eyes.
Liang opened his eyes again and smiled. "Although this would be somewhat different from the Dragon Body Refining Art, I only changed the Qi type instead of spiritual Qi. I will use poison Qi. I think if the dragon who invented this technique had a Void Core, he would understand me."
"Now, I should transform back into my serpent form. That will increase the speed and efficiency of the Void Core." With that, his body began to glow with a crimson light. Soon, his body began to transform. Black scales emerged on his skin, his eyes turned into slits, and his teeth became sharper. He transformed into a black serpent that was twenty meters long.
The black serpent's eyes shone with a fierce light. Its body began to glow with crimson dark light, and the poison Qi around him began to enter his scales, heading for the Void Core at a speed that was even faster than before.
The serpent inside his body moved closer to the core, opened its mouth, and began to absorb the poison Qi directly from it. The core was no longer absorbing the Qi, but it was now acting as a storage for Liang Yifei.
The serpent coiled around the core and absorbed the poison Qi at an alarming rate. The poison Qi seemed to not affect the serpent's body, and it was quickly becoming stronger and stronger.
Outside, Liang's serpent body began to change. His scales' colour changed from black to crimson, and many crimson spikes began to grow on his back.
His body began to enlarge at a terrifying rate until it reached thirty meters, and his scales' colour began to change again. A golden lustre began to appear, and as the poison Qi began to surround him from all directions, he felt something was calling him.
Liang's vertical eyes flashed, and the void around his massive body began to distort. It began to merge with the Void until it disappeared.
Above the Black Lotus Mountain, the void began to distort, and a giant crimson serpent appeared in the sky. He looked at the towering Black Lotus on the mountain peak, and his eyes flashed with confusion.
Without much thought, he approached the towering Black Lotus. If any other Dao Integration realm cultivators did that, their Nascent Divinity would have already been corroded near the mountain peak, let alone approaching the Black Lotus.
A hesitant look appeared in his eyes. Although his body was tempered with the Poison Qi that came from the towering Black Lotus, he wasn't sure if it was safe to approach it. Soon, his eyes flashed with determination as he continued forward, his massive body slithering through the air towards the lotus.
As he approached, he could feel a strange power emanating from the lotus. It was a power that he had never felt before, and it made him feel both excited and nervous at the same time.
Liang's serpent body landed on top of the Black Lotus. He could see that the lotus was covered in a strange substance, almost like black blood. As he touched it with his scales, he could feel his body absorbing the substance, and his cultivation began to rise again.
He closed his eyes and continued to absorb the substance. Time seemed to pass slowly, and he could feel his body becoming stronger with each passing moment.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he opened his eyes. He could see that his serpent body had transformed once again. His scales were now a deep golden colour, and his body was covered in numerous spikes that glowed with a crimson light.
He closed his eyes and could feel that his cultivation had broken through again to the Nascent Void Realm.
Finally, he looked at the centre of the flower, and his eyes flashed with surprise. A small golden lotus was there - its roots seemed to be embedded deep within the Black Lotus. Without any hesitation, he slithered closer and gently touched the golden lotus with his tongue.
Suddenly, his body shook violently, and he could feel an immense amount of power surging through him. The power was overwhelming, and he could barely contain it within his serpent form. His body began to glow with shimmering golden light, and his scales seemed to pulse with energy.
He could feel his cultivation soaring again.
Liang couldn't help let out a heartly laugh.
But as his laughter echoed through the valley, a strange voice interrupted him.
" Move Your stinky mouth away! It's not something a worm like you should touch."