The spiritual energy was restored, and he became a mortal immortal in two days.

Dead silence.

The Luoxia Mountains were deathly silent.

Shen Luoxia knelt at the edge of the ruins, her pupils unfocused, her lips slightly parted, but she could not utter a sound.

The scene he saw was a hundred-zhang-long black dragon being pressed to the ground, its head touching the ground and its body twisted, unable to move even a little.

That's the Dragon King.

Their Luoxia Sect has worshipped a guardian beast for a hundred years. It is a half-step Nascent Soul cultivator with true dragon blood flowing through its veins, and its tail can shatter mountains with a single blow.

But now...

"No...it's impossible..."

An elder muttered to himself, his voice hoarse as if it had been sanded.

He rubbed his eyes hard, then opened them again, but the scene remained unchanged.

The Dragon King was still pinned to the ground.

The white-clad youth squatted in front of the dragon's head, calmly gazing at those molten gold vertical pupils.

"A hallucination...it must be a hallucination..."

Another elder slumped to the ground, trembling all over.

He preferred to believe it was an illusion rather than to believe that what he was seeing was real.

Shen Luoxia finally came to her senses.

She suddenly turned her head to look at the surviving disciples behind her.

Everyone had the same expression: shock, bewilderment, and disbelief.

Some of the younger disciples had even begun to sob quietly, a sign of their faith crumbling.

It has been worshipped for a century.

A century of pilgrimage.

Every year, generations of the Luoxia Sect hold a grand ceremony to offer the most precious sacrifices to this sleeping dragon.

They believed that as long as the Dragon Lord was there, the Luoxia Sect would stand firm and secure a place in this era of great strife.

But now...

Their god was casually pressed to the ground by a boy.

"puff!"

Shen Luoxia suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood, not from injury, but from a sudden attack of anger.

He stared intently at Chen Xuan's retreating figure, his eyes filled with resentment, but even more so with a deep-seated fear.

"you......"

The Dragon Lord's voice was forced from the depths of his throat, each word carrying intense killing intent and humiliation, "You... dare... make me... kneel down..."

It has never been so humiliated.

Never!

"I... want you dead!!!"

My last shred of reason finally crumbled.

The Dragon King's body trembled violently, not from struggling, but because the demon core within its body, which had been cultivated for a hundred years, began to spin wildly.

The demon core left the body.

That was the monster's last resort, a killing move that would lead to mutual destruction.

Once the demon core is unleashed, it means abandoning all escape routes.

Either the enemy dies, or I perish.

But the Dragon King couldn't care less about that anymore.

It wants the human who humiliated it to die!

Even at any cost!

"Buzz!!"

A deep humming sound emanated from the Dragon Lord's body.

The sound wasn't loud, but it caused the spiritual energy of the entire Luoxia Mountain Range to become disordered.

In the sky, dark clouds gathered again, but this time it was not because of the dragon's might, but because the demon core that was about to be born had triggered strange phenomena in the heavens and earth.

Shen Luoxia's eyes widened.

She saw it.

On the Dragon Lord's chest, a point of dark golden light was slowly illuminating.

The light grew brighter and brighter, until finally, even the dark clouds in the sky were tinged with an eerie gold.

"Lord Dragon Lord... is about to unleash his demon core..."

Shen Luoxia murmured, a glimmer of hope rekindling in her eyes.

The demon core emerged from the body; that was the full-force attack of a half-step Nascent Soul demon beast.

No matter how strong this boy is, it's impossible for him to take the hit unscathed!

At this moment, Chen Xuan was still squatting in front of the dragon head.

He didn't even look up, but calmly stared at those molten gold vertical pupils that had gone completely mad.

"A demon core?"

Chen Xuan's eyes brightened slightly as he said, "For now, it's considered a good item, so I'll keep it for you."

The moment the words fell.

"boom!!!"

A blinding burst of light exploded from the Dragon Lord's chest.

That wasn't an explosion; it was the unusual phenomenon of a demon core leaving its body.

A fist-sized, dark gold bead slowly rose from the Dragon Lord's chest.

The surface of the bead is covered with dragon patterns, and golden liquid slowly rotates inside.

That was the bloodline of a true dragon, refined to its ultimate form, just one step away from transforming into a true dragon core.

The moment the demon core left its body, the spiritual energy of the entire world began to surge violently.

Dark clouds rolled in, and thunder roared.

All living beings within a hundred miles felt that terrifying pressure.

That was a life-burning attack from a half-Nascent Soul demon beast, enough to change the color of mountains and rivers and make the heavens and earth tremble.

"Go to hell!!!"

The Dragon King let out his final roar.

That dark golden demon core transformed into a stream of light, tearing through the air and carrying an aura of destruction, shooting straight at Chen Xuan's brow!

This strike was incredibly fast.

It was so fast that Shen Luoxia only saw a flash of golden light, so fast that Wang Baole didn't even have time to exclaim, so fast that all the Luoxia Sect cultivators thought the battle was about to end.

But Chen Xuan simply raised his right hand.

It's not a block, it's not a defense.

Instead, he reached out to grab it.

It's like picking a wildflower by the roadside or scooping up a pebble from a stream.

His movements were so slow that everyone could see his every subtle movement.

Spread your fingers, palm facing upwards, and then gently clench your fist in front of the incoming golden light.

"Smack."

A crisp sound.

It felt like crushing an egg, or like holding a glass bead.

The dark golden light, powerful enough to destroy half a mountain range, abruptly stopped three inches from Chen Xuan's brow.

Then, everyone saw it clearly.

Chen Xuan grasped the demon core in his right hand.

It's not about catching it or blocking it, but about holding it firmly in your hand.

That fist-sized, dark gold demon core with dragon patterns flowing on its surface and golden liquid swirling inside.

It was in his palm at that moment, as quiet as if it had never unleashed any power.

Chen Xuan played with the demon core, quite satisfied.

"This...this is impossible..."

Shen Luoxia was completely dumbfounded.

What did he see?

Catching a demon core with bare hands?

That was a life-burning attack from a half-Nascent Soul demon beast!

Even a true Nascent Soul cultivator wouldn't dare to take such a direct hit!

But this boy...

Not only did they accept it.

And he caught it so easily, so casually, as if he were catching a pebble that someone had thrown at him.

At this moment, the Dragon Lord, who was pinned to the ground, was finally filled with fear in his molten gold vertical pupils.

It sensed it.

The connection between himself and the demon core was severed.

It wasn't cut off, it wasn't blocked, it was... completely disappeared.

The demon core that it had cultivated for eight hundred years now lay quietly in the young man's palm like an ordinary stone, no longer heeding its call.

"What...what did you do...?"

The Dragon King's voice trembled.

Chen Xuan did not answer.

He simply held the demon core in his hand, examined it closely.

Then, he tossed it gently.

The dark golden demon core bounced up and down in his palm, making a crisp clinking sound, much like a child playing with glass marbles.

"It's just a little bit short."

Chen Xuan said softly, his tone carrying a hint of evaluation.

"The true dragon bloodline is well condensed, but the demonic power is too mixed, and the pill patterns are not pure enough."

"If you were given another three hundred years, you might really be able to transform into a dragon pill."

He paused, looking at the Dragon Lord's vertical pupils, which had become completely unfocused.

"pity."

"You've lost your chance."

This demon core would be perfect as a luminous pearl if placed in the main hall of the Taoist temple.