"Gurgle, gurgle,"
The Black Dragon, Niraseck, though wishing to prevent it, was too severely injured to stop Ye Han, who had appeared ghost-like at its heart and was rapidly swallowing its blood.
"Roar!"
Niraseck roared unwillingly, indignant that it hadn't been subdued by Autrus but was now having its blood greedily taken by a lowly human who hadn't even reached the saintly order.
"Ah!"
The golden dragon blood flowed onto Ye Han's body, scalding him as if boiling water had been poured over him, causing his skin to slough off. But this pain was secondary. After transforming into a zombie-like body, Ye Han hadn't felt pain even under the bombardment of eighth-order magic. However, upon drinking the dragon blood, the scorching temperature within caused Ye Han to convulse and tremble.
As the dragon blood entered his stomach, a mist-like grey cloud around Ye Han's heart began to rotate, refining the dragon blood. Moments later, a drop of dark purple blood seeped out, quickly coursing through his body. Witnessing this, Ye Han was overjoyed.
This was the refined blood, composed entirely of the purified blood energy he had absorbed. This was the essence of a zombie's blood.
As more dragon blood was refined, the amount of dark purple essence blood in his body grew. However, Ye Han felt a powerful force pressing down on him and immediately stopped drinking the dragon blood. Activating his escape technique, he vanished just as a massive black dragon claw smashed down where he had been standing, sinking a meter deep into the ground and creating countless fissures spreading like a spider's web.
Ye Han reappeared twenty zhang away from the Black Dragon. Sitting down, he accelerated the rotation of the grey cloud with the Fan Shi Jue technique to refine the dragon blood faster.
As the dragon blood continued to be refined, the dark purple essence blood in Ye Han's body increased until, after an hour, when all the dragon blood had been refined, every blood vessel in Ye Han's body was filled with dark purple essence blood.
Ye Han then stopped the Fan Shi Jue technique, and at that moment, he felt a cold energy surge from his soul, quickly spreading throughout his body, wrapping around all the essence blood in his veins.
"Success!"
The situation inside his body was exactly like the bloodline awakening described in the memories of the Yan Yu. Now, Ye Han was calm, quietly observing the changes within. The bloodline awakening process was autonomous, driven by the bloodline hidden inside his body.
The dark purple essence blood, wrapped in the cold energy, slowly began to change color, moving towards the color of normal human blood. Ye Han knew this was the energy absorbing the essence blood's power, providing energy for the bloodline awakening.
As the dark purple essence blood returned to a red color, Ye Han suddenly opened his eyes and let out a bestial roar towards the sky.
"Roar!"
The beastly roar shattered the silence of the forest. Distant magical beasts roared in response, echoing across the sky. The Black Dragon was drawn by the roar, looking coldly at the once lowly and weak human.
What happened next thoroughly shocked the Black Dragon Niraseck.
As Ye Han roared, intense pain erupted from deep within his soul, causing his body to tremble violently. Ye Han roared again, and bizarrely, sharp purple scales began to emerge on his tattered skin, piercing through his tattered mage robe.
Purple scales also began to appear all over Ye Han's body, his veins bulging and his expression ferocious. The pain he must be enduring was immense.
Ye Han's eyes also began to change, the normal whites and pupils disappearing, replaced by a spreading grey color and emanating grey light.
Ye Han's body convulsed, and his spine vibrated. Two bulges on his shoulder blades slowly rose, and two white fangs extended from his open mouth, instantly revealing themselves beyond his lips. Saliva dripping onto the ground fizzed and quickly created two fist-sized pits.
Seeing all this, even Niraseck, a saintly tier magical beast, could not hide its astonishment. "What is this lowly human doing? Why has consuming my blood caused such a transformation?"
With his strong willpower, Ye Han struggled not to pass out. He knew he was undergoing the transformation into a zombie. The longer he endured, the more benefits he would receive, and the stronger his supernatural abilities would become, which would greatly aid his progression.
Two purple fleshy wings grew from the bulges on his shoulder blades, extending out until they were almost a zhang long.
"Ah!"
With another roar from Ye Han, the purple fleshy wings behind him suddenly burst open, spanning two zhang wide, flapping in the air and lifting the soil from the ground with
powerful gusts. Purple flames also appeared on the wings, spreading rapidly towards Ye Han's body, which slowly rose two zhang into the air.
The pain in his soul faded, and the clear-headed Ye Han looked at his body now wrapped in purple scales and flames, exulting loudly to the sky.
"I have awakened. I have finally awakened. No one can insult me anymore."
Feeling the powerful strength in his body, a surge of pride emerged from his soul.
Ye Han felt that his body's strength and flexibility were incomparable to before. His body could now withstand a full-force attack from a fifth-order swordsman without sustaining a scratch.
Running the Fan Shi Jue technique, Ye Han felt its speed had greatly increased, and his meridians could endure more energy, bearing the pressure of the high-speed rotation of the technique.
As Ye Han examined his body, the grey cloud released a more purified Yin energy that spread throughout his body, with each muscle, bone, and meridian rapidly absorbing this pure energy, his physical attributes soaring once again.
Looking at the still mist-like grey cloud, Ye Han pondered.
"Now that my bloodline has awakened, reaching the level of a fourth-level zombie, why haven't I formed a Corpse Pill?"
Without forming a Corpse Pill, the gathering point of his energy, he couldn't increase his energy, nor could he hope to advance his level. Suddenly, a thought struck Ye Han. "Energy, right, it's because my body lacks energy, so the Corpse Pill cannot form."
Just as Ye Han prepared to start absorbing the energy of heaven and earth, he noticed the Black Dragon Niraseck staring at him in shock.
Beings above the saintly tier have strong regenerative abilities. The time taken for Ye Han's awakening and transformation had been significant, and within a few more hours, the Black Dragon would likely recover its ability to move. However, Ye Han was uncertain how long it would take to gather the energy needed to form a Corpse Pill. If the Black Dragon attacked him then, he would undoubtedly die.
After a moment's thought, a sly smile crossed Ye Han's face, and he flew towards the Black Dragon with his wings flapping behind him.
"Big lizard, are you shocked by my transformation?" Ye Han floated five zhang in front of the Black Dragon, speaking mockingly.
"Hmph, I have seen much as a dragon, and I am not shocked by such transformations, lowly human. You insult the knowledge of a noble dragon race. As soon as I can move again, the first life I will take is yours, to cleanse the insult you have dealt me with your blood," the Black Dragon said angrily. Though it claimed not to be shocked, its large eyes clearly betrayed its thoughts.
"Do you think I will give you that chance?" Ye Han's expression turned cold. His figure in the air began to fade, and in less than a blink, he appeared at the Black Dragon's heart.
Finally, he had awakened. It had exhausted him to create this opportunity for the protagonist. It had taken days to come up with the idea. Now the protagonist was finally starting to become truly powerful. But was the Qing Ming continent really that weak?