Reaching the pinnacle from Doupo

Chapter 544 Obtaining the Goods, Returning to Dragon Island

"There are still about forty people left, scattered throughout Zhongzhou... Tsk, this will take quite a while!"

Looking at the list divided into three levels and the route map that covered almost every region of Zhongzhou, even Lin Yuan couldn't help but feel a toothache.

The Space Trade Fair is truly a grand gathering of powerful figures from all realms.

Following the planned route, it would take a whole month just to visit all these places.

This was all under the condition that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, Lin Yuan was able to complete the long journey by using his full speed, traversing the void with the power of the ancient dragon, and accelerating with the wings of the Heavenly Phoenix, traveling at a speed comparable to that of a Dou Sheng.

Lin Yuan put away the list and map, let out a heavy breath, tapped his forehead with his fingertips for a moment, and then a resolute look flashed in his eyes.

"The nine-colored raw stones are important, but we can't devote unlimited energy to them!"

"There are still five months until the Four Directions Pavilion Conference. Before that, I need to meet with Elder Yao to discuss the matter of the proxy."

"In that case, this operation will be limited to four months..."

"If there is still no news about the Nine-Colored Origin Stone after four months, then it is fate. We should suspend our actions and wait for the Space Trade Fair six years later!"

With his mind made up, Lin Yuan no longer hesitated. After erasing all traces of his presence, he vanished from Baojian Mountain.

Several hours after he left, the old man from Baoshan gradually regained consciousness.

"Old man, what happened just now?!"

Faced with Lin Yuan's bizarre methods, this powerful figure, who had just stepped into the realm of half-saint, couldn't even detect Lin Yuan's presence, let alone resist...

Lin Yuan, on the other hand, was heading towards the Earth Path Sect and the Void Profound Sect... Intelligence needs to be cross-checked!
-
A few months later.

In the southern region of Zhongzhou, at the Wanxiang Gate, behind the mountain.

"Jiejiejie——"

Seeing the ninth line silently appear on the smooth surface of the stone, Lin Yuan couldn't help but let out a strange laugh, his eyes filled with barely suppressed excitement.

"It took me two and a half months, and I've traveled all over most of Zhongzhou... Finally, I've found it!"

At this moment, hovering not far in front of him was a smooth stone about half the size of a fist, with seven colors all over it, and eight very clear colored lines engraved on its surface.

As for the ninth line, although it was extremely faint and tiny, it did indeed exist on the stone.

Although there is only a one-color difference between eight-color and nine-color, the energy they contain is worlds apart.

Taking a deep breath, Lin Yuan calmed his excited emotions, gently rubbed the nine-colored raw stone, examined it carefully, and then put it into his storage ring.

Having obtained what he needed, he smiled slightly, his gaze shifting slightly to the gaunt old man standing motionless not far away.

This man, named Wan Gui, is the Third Elder of the reclusive sect, Wanxiang Sect. His strength has reached the Eight-Star Dou Zun level, which is in no way inferior to the Valley Masters of the Three Valleys in Zhongzhou. Wanxiang Sect is also a powerful reclusive sect, with a mid-level Half-Saint presiding over it.

Of course, with this level of strength, Lin Yuan was completely powerless to resist, and he was subdued without anyone noticing.

"Eight-star Dou Zun cultivation... Let me think about it, I'll give you this one!"

In high spirits, Lin Yuan was quite generous. With a flick of his finger, a jade bottle flew out of his storage ring and landed in Wan Gui's hand.

Without further ado, Lin Yuan tore open a spatial rift leading to Dragon Island and easily stepped inside.

Now that we've got the stuff, it's time to head to Dragon Island!
The moment the spatial rift closed, the soul barrier that had enveloped this place also vanished.

"I just... this is a high-grade pill!" After a long while, the withered old man's gaze gradually focused, and he came back to his senses. He then felt the object in his hand, and after examining it briefly, his eyes immediately flashed with wild joy.

This was the first time in Wan Gui's life that he had ever seen a pill with such powerful energy and spirituality.

In an instant, he made a decision, flipped his hand, and put the jade bottle into his storage ring. Then he carefully looked around...

"These pills belong to me; I must not let anyone else discover them!"
-
Several days later, on Gulong Island.

After months of busy work, Lin Yuan strolled leisurely through the beautiful mountains and rivers of Long Island.

Qinglin, dressed in an elegant emerald green dress, her bright eyes filled with joy, gently took Lin Yuan's arm and strolled together, enjoying this rare moment of leisure.

The girl would occasionally look up at Lin Yuan, her delicate face full of subtle expressions that seemed to say, "Praise me!"

Lin Yuan would not ignore such an interesting little scheme.

"It seems you haven't neglected your cultivation during this time, Qing'er, and have already advanced to the advanced half-saint level... At your current speed, you'll soon be able to advance to the Dou Sheng level, right?!" He smiled gently and praised her without reservation.

Upon hearing this, Qinglin smiled, her beautiful eyes brimming with joy.

"Yes, I am indeed not far from becoming a Dou Sheng."

"But all of this is thanks to you, young master—if it weren't for the followers you helped me subdue, I wouldn't have progressed so quickly!"

As she spoke, she waved her hand, and two figures appeared out of thin air not far away. Instantly, two energy fluctuations belonging to the Dou Sheng level rippled lightly around them.

These two were none other than Yao Xiaotian and Yao Qing, the two great Dou Sheng of the Nine Netherworld Python Clan.

Although both still possessed their powerful aura and intact consciousness, whenever they looked at Qinglin, a submissive look would involuntarily appear in their eyes, clearly indicating that they were being controlled.

After Qing Lin's cultivation broke through to the Half-Saint level and his soul broke through to the mid-stage of the Heavenly Realm, controlling a Dou Sheng-level snake clan expert was no longer a problem.

In the second month of Lin Yuan's seclusion, she successfully broke through to the Half-Saint level while secluded in the Little Pill Tower.

After emerging from seclusion, she saw that Lin Yuan was in seclusion in the star field breaking through to a higher realm, so she did not disturb him. Instead, she opened a spatial passage and returned to Dragon Island to retrieve Yao Xiaotian and Yao Qing, who had been imprisoned there.

With the support of two snake-clan Battle Saints, Qing Lin's cultivation advanced rapidly, and in just over half a year, he successfully broke through to the advanced half-saint level.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, she should be able to break through again within six months and become a true Battle Saint.

"Put them away!" Lin Yuan sensed them briefly and instructed, "Qing'er, when you absorb battle qi later, be careful to control the proportion."

"Don't excessively absorb the battle qi of either Yao Xiaotian or Yao Qing, to avoid their cultivation levels dropping below the Dou Sheng level—once their cultivation levels drop directly from the Dou Sheng realm, it will be much more difficult to repair them with pills."

He paused, then added, "But there's no need to be too restrained. Your primary task should be to break through your own cultivation level!"

Qinglin nodded obediently, "Mmm!"

Immediately, she waved her hand, putting away the two Dou Sheng figures. She then took out a strangely shaped jade bottle exuding a fierce aura and handed it to Lin Yuan. "Young Master, this is the soul of the Nine-Headed Heavenly Serpent… I no longer need it; you can take it and study it!"

The jade bottle contains the soul of the Nine-Headed Heavenly Serpent.

The once ferocious and arrogant soul of the nine-headed celestial serpent is now casually sealed in a jade bottle by Qinglin, utterly powerless to resist.

This is only natural, as the Azure Scale, at the level of a semi-saint, is far beyond its ability to resist.

The mutated nine-headed celestial serpent possesses extremely strong bloodline power, almost comparable to that of the ancient celestial serpent royal family, and has the potential to become a high-level Dou Sheng (Battle Saint).

However, when this nine-headed celestial serpent 'died,' it was far from reaching its peak, and its strength was only at an average level. When it had both body and soul, it was only at the level of a half-saint. Now, in its soul form, it only had the strength of a seven-star Dou Zun.

For Qinglin now, this level of strength is completely insignificant. If the Nine-Headed Heavenly Serpent cannot recover its physical body, it will be nothing more than a chicken rib that is tasteless to eat and a pity to throw away!

Fortunately, Lin Yuan did have a plan to bring the ancient Heavenly Serpent clan back to the world.

For him, whether it is creating life or bringing back powerful beings from the past, it is a form of cultivation that can greatly benefit him, not to mention the need to cultivate the Heavenly Overlord Body.

With the living soul of the Nine-Headed Celestial Serpent and its complete remains in hand, the difficulty this time is significantly lower than that of bringing back the Ancient Celestial Phoenix.

He had a general idea of ​​the specific plan, which was just waiting to be further refined.

As he pondered, the space behind him trembled slightly, rippling outwards. Then, an old man with a familiar appearance slowly emerged from the ripples.

"Elder Qingshan, have you retrieved what I asked for?" Lin Yuan asked with a smile as he looked at the visitor.

"Haha, of course!"

Elder Qingshan smiled and waved his hand, sending a dozen or so Heavenly Thunderbolts flying to Lin Yuan's front. Each one had a few arcs of dark electricity surging on it.

Lin Yuan nodded slightly and waved his hand to collect the Heavenly Thunder Seeds.

Seeing this, Elder Qingshan hesitated for a moment before confirming, "Elder Danshi, do you really want to try refining a ninth-grade pill?"

"As far as I know, alchemy is an extremely mentally taxing process. Every ninth-grade Grandmaster on the continent is at the Battle Saint realm. Now that Your Majesty the Dragon Emperor is deep in the void, if anything were to happen to you on Dragon Island, I truly could not bear the responsibility!"

It has happened more than once in the Dou Qi Continent that someone has died from exhaustion while refining pills, especially when refining pills beyond their level, the probability is much higher than usual.

Even the grandmaster who created the Pill Tower died from heart failure.

Lin Yuan waved his hand confidently and said calmly, "Elder Qingshan, rest assured, I know what I'm doing... Refining medicine is simply part of my cultivation!"

After a moment's thought, as if he had thought of something, he stared at Elder Qingshan for a moment, a hint of a smile flashing in his eyes.

"If this pill can be successfully refined, I will give it to you!"

"Throughout these long millennia, you have ruled Donglong Island, always remaining loyal to the legitimate lineage of the Dragon Emperor. In the years since we met, you have also helped me many times... This time, let me express my gratitude a little!"

"If you can refine a ninth-grade treasure pill, the Thunder Tribulation Pill should help you break through to the three-star Dou Sheng level."

For the sake of the unity of the Taixu Ancient Dragon Clan, past grievances can be forgiven, but the Donglong Island lineage, which is most loyal to Ziyan, should still be rewarded.

Since Ziyan was not very comfortable with this, he took over the task.

In addition, as a prince of the Ancient Dragon Clan, he needs to rely not only on Zi Yan's prestige but also on his own abilities to establish his authority on Dragon Island.

For a human to become the consort of the Ancient Dragon King is not such a simple matter.

Although Zi Yan never said it, the fact that her partner was a human was certainly not unopposed by the ancient dragon clan—being able to pass down a pure ancient bloodline to this day, the 'exclusionary' nature of the Taixu Ancient Dragon Clan was no less than that of the Tianyao Phoenix Clan.

Only because Zi Yan was strong enough and her achievements were outstanding enough, was she able to suppress all dissenting voices.

Of course, Zi Yan's strength was largely due to her own fortuitous circumstances and Lin Yuan's help, rather than solely relying on the ancient dragon clan.

Benefit from it, bear the responsibility for it... This principle applies in any world!

This is also one of the reasons why Lin Yuan tried his best to avoid borrowing the power of the ancient dragon clan when he was trying to obtain the Dragon-Phoenix Origin Fruit.

Zi Yan ate her own Dragon-Phoenix Origin Fruit, and Zi Yan ate the Dragon-Phoenix Origin Fruit of the Ancient Dragon Clan. The results of the two seem to be similar, but there is a very fundamental difference—the first method gave Zi Yan the greatest possible freedom.

Even so, dissent within the Ancient Dragon Clan is currently being suppressed, but it's not that there is no dissent; it's just that it's slowly accumulating in the shadows.

Lin Yuan did not intend to let this risk fester; nor did he intend to let Zi Yan face this pressure alone.

Therefore, he decided that he needed to demonstrate his power to firmly suppress the various dissents within the Ancient Dragon Clan before the overall situation was settled.

Refining ninth-grade pills would be a very good solution.

Even disregarding his close relationship with Zi Yan, a ninth-rank Grandmaster is enough to command the attention of the entire Ancient Dragon Clan.

Moreover, before upgrading one's natal blood pill and natal soul pill, it's definitely a good idea to refine some ninth-grade pills.

The reason he chose the Thunder Tribulation Pill was because it was the ninth-grade pill that Lin Yuan was most confident in making. Over the past few years, he had refined dozens of eighth-grade nine-colored Thunder Tribulation Pills. Although the treasure-level Thunder Tribulation Pill was more difficult to make, it also had a considerable number of commonalities.

On the other side, when Elder Qingshan heard Lin Yuan's words, an incredulous look of surprise flashed in his eyes. His lips moved, but he couldn't utter any words of refusal.

Now that the ancient dragon clan has been unified again, increasing his strength is what he wants to pursue most.

A single grade nine pill could break through his bottleneck that he had been struggling with for many years.

Taking a deep breath, Elder Qingshan cupped his hands and said in a deep voice, "Whether this matter succeeds or not, I thank you in advance, but you must prioritize your own safety! With your talent, reaching the ninth rank is only a matter of time, there is no need to be too hasty."

Lin Yuan smiled and raised his hand, indicating that Elder Qingshan did not need to be so polite: "Elder Qingshan, rest assured, I have a plan. Please prepare a place with abundant energy for me to refine pills!"

Elder Qingshan nodded, and his figure vanished from the spot in an instant, leaving only a ripple in space...
-
Three days later, early in the morning.

As the first ray of sunlight tore through the thick clouds and shone on the summit of a high mountain on Dragon Island, the space at the top of the mountain suddenly distorted. Then, Lin Yuan's handsome figure emerged from the distortion and landed lightly on the blue stone platform at the top of the mountain.

At the same time, a dozen or so curious or scrutinizing gazes descended from the depths of the void in the sky and landed on the young man on the stone platform.

Powerful auras at the Dou Sheng level intertwined and permeated the void.

Clearly, Lin Yuan's refining of a ninth-grade pill has attracted the attention of almost the entire high-ranking officials of Dragon Island...

　I'm going to my girlfriend's follow-up appointment tomorrow. There will probably be a lot of tests to do, which will take a lot of time, so I'll ask for leave in advance.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)