Martial Ascent to Divinity-Chapter 501 - 484: Trial by Fire

Originally, I planned to comprehend the Ancient King Array first, then train at the Innate Mountain before heading to the Great Battlefield.

"No choice."

"Then... what about the comprehension quota?" Zhou Leng asked.

Molten Hammer replied, "Borrow an artifact and comprehend it on the way. Once you’re done, return it. You’re a Dwarf Duke; you’re qualified for that."

"Alright, I’ll pick one first."

Zhou Leng glanced at the three treasures.

The three-eyed crystal was too bizarre and would cause trouble if carried around.

The broken knife emitted a murderous aura, making it inconvenient to carry.

Only the shield was suitable for carrying and its shape resembled the Battlefield Shield Order; perhaps it was related to the Great Battlefield.

Thus, Zhou Leng chose to borrow the shield fossil.

After handling the paperwork, the two had just exited the Ancient King Array’s gate when the Jade Wings swooped down at low altitude, grabbed each of them, and flew forward.

The red dragon had already left.

"In such a hurry?" Zhou Leng held onto Jade Wings’ dragon claw.

Jade Wings said, "I don’t mind, but if the queen gets angry, she’ll lash my butt."

"Why did you grab me?" Molten Hammer asked.

"I thought you liked chatting with me, so I grabbed you along. Shall I let you go now?"

Molten Hammer looked down, quickly raised his head, and clung tightly to the dragon claw, saying, "No, no, no, this is fine. I’m used to being carried like this."

Zhou Leng inquired about some matters, while thinking about the shield fossil.

Molten Hammer chatted fervently with Jade Wings, like a chatterbox.

Jade Wings’ flying speed far exceeded that of ordinary dragons, enhancing spells along the way, leaving the Dwarf World, entering the Dragon World, and traveling tens of thousands of kilometers to land in front of the Red Dragon Nest.

Zhou Leng looked up and saw a mountain over a thousand meters high, with a gigantic cave carved into its belly.

Inside the cave, spell flames burned everywhere.

Shelves were carved into the mountain walls, filled with various treasures, though at first glance they seemed to be merely shiny trinkets.

At the deepest part of the cave stood an obsidian high platform, upon which lay a red dragon over twenty meters in size, exuding elegance.

The bright red dragon scales glowed faintly, and its huge eyes gazed over, intimidating without anger.

A dragon and two people entered.

"Her Majesty the Queen, I’ve brought Zhou Leng. The other dwarf is his friend, so you can ignore him."

"???" Molten Hammer turned to look at Jade Wings.

The Queen of Red Eyes didn’t look at Molten Hammer, focusing only on Zhou Leng.

"Greetings, esteemed Queen of Red Eyes. Even beyond the four seas of Blue Star, atop the peaks of mountains, your beauty and power are celebrated."

"Oh? Even the people of Blue Star know of me?" The Queen of Red Eyes flicked her dragon tail, then stopped immediately.

"Of course, it is widely acknowledged among the Blue Star People that the Red Queen is the most beautiful giant dragon in the Ten Realms, without comparison."

The Queen of Red Eyes snorted softly, saying, "You Blue Star People have good taste, but I don’t care for flattery. Let’s get to business; if the Great Battlefield suddenly opens, that would be troublesome."

"Here is the contract, three versions in Dragon Language, Demon Spirit Language, and Dragon Country Language. Look them over, and if you agree, sign them."

Three contracts floated over.

The contract content was very simple. The Queen of Red Eyes regarded Zhou Leng as an ally and could not harm him under any circumstances. Likewise, Zhou Leng could not harm the Queen of Red Eyes under any circumstances.

Other than that, there were various transactions and explanations.

Zhou Leng carefully read through them. The three language versions were consistent, with no traps and no special Mana traces.

It seemed the Queen of Red Eyes was sincerely cooperating.

Consistent with what Jade Wings had said, she wanted to connect with the Pale Queen and desired the treasures of the Great Battlefield.

After signing the agreement, both sides secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

The Queen of Red Eyes waved a dragon claw, and two items flew to Zhou Leng.

One was the Battlefield Shield Order, the other was a bone vial containing surging power.

"The Battlefield Shield Order needs no explanation. Inside this vial is the essence of dragon blood."

"Your kind has a minimal chance of acquiring the Blood Marvelous Body when entering the Dragon Trial."

"However, drinking the essence of dragon blood will gradually alter your blood, granting you an aura akin to a dragon’s bloodline."

"This significantly increases your chances of acquiring the Blood Marvelous Body."

"The Dragon Trial isn’t worth much, but the essence of dragon blood is different. It’s refined from one drop of demigod dragon blood and some Grandmaster dragon blood. It’s extremely rare; I have only five... this one vial."

Zhou Leng thought, well, Jade Wings pretends to be weak, and the Queen of Red Eyes pretends to be poor. These two really match each other.

The Queen of Red Eyes continued, "I’ve given you the items, now let’s talk about the cooperation."

"Your Majesty, as we agreed before, it’s two portions of Giant Dragon Blood Marvelous Body. I can accept just one Battlefield Shield Order, but the essence of dragon blood cannot be less."

"Oh, I forgot." The Queen of Red Eyes looked innocent and threw out another vial of dragon blood essence.

Molten Hammer watched and thought to himself how wealthy these people seemed, casually giving away such treasures like dragon blood essence, giving two at a time?

"What do you want me to do for you?" Zhou Leng asked.

The Queen of Red Eyes said, "Each entry to the Great Battlefield is unpredictable, and you may not be able to help me."

"However, since the Giant Dragon Race has entered multiple times, there are relatively complete maps, which are never published publicly. They may be useful to you."

"In addition to the map, I’ll also give you a valuable notebook."

"My request is simple. If you encounter ’Dragon God’s Marked Path,’ ’Blood Rainforest,’ or ’Hundred-Eyed Demon Mountain’ as marked on the map, you must enter. Whatever you obtain, you must share half with me. Of course, I won’t take for free; I will reward you with treasures from the Giant Dragon Race."

"If what you obtain includes rare items such as ’Dragon God’s Blood,’ ’Dragon God’s Marrow Crystal,’ ’Immortal Grass,’ or ’Heavenly Fang’ as recorded in the notebook, I will reward you with a large amount of wealth. You can even enter my treasury and choose any Martial Arts Traces you desire, any trace."

The Queen of Red Eyes spoke passionately, recounting her experiences on the Great Battlefield.

Zhou Leng muttered in his heart. She mentioned all these treasures, but he had never even heard of them before. Perhaps only a few people throughout the history of the Ten Realms had obtained them, so there was no need to care.

After speaking, the Queen of Red Eyes paused and said, "If you ingest the refined Dragon Blood now, I might lend you a small hand to complete the preliminary stage of the Blood Marvelous Body."

"Thank you, Your Majesty the Queen of Red Eyes,"

Zhou Leng said, taking out a bottle of refined Dragon Blood and drinking it on the spot.

Jade Wings was about to stop him but was halted by a glance from the Queen of Red Eyes.

Whew...

As the Dragon Blood entered, Zhou Leng’s entire body ignited, bursting into crimson flames as high as three meters.

Molten Hammer was so frightened that he kept retreating.

Zhou Leng sat cross-legged on the ground, his expression unchanged, closing his eyes and manipulating his Qi.

The Dragon Blood seeped through his stomach into his bloodstream, flowing through his blood vessels and spreading to every part of his body. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Star Gazing True Qi circulated, entering the vessels together.

Inside the body, the Dragon Blood and Qi Blood flowed continuously.

Zhou Leng was ignited from the inside out by the flames of the Dragon Blood.

Yet, his hair did not burn, and his skin did not char.

"Good!" the Queen of Red Eyes whispered in praise.

Jade Wings and the giant dragon guards in the palace curiously watched this human.

The power of the refined Dragon Blood was extraordinary; even Innate Giant Dragons could be injured by consuming it.

Yet this human did not mind it at all.

Seeing it was just flames, Molten Hammer no longer worried about Zhou Leng.

Zhou Leng could dive into the Divine Blood Lava of twenty thousand meters deep, and this level of flames certainly would not harm him.

While absorbing the refined Dragon Blood, the Martial Arts traced every part of his body.

True Qi traveled through the meridians, while blood flowed through the vessels.

In introspection, mysterious changes occurred in the body.

Flame shadows floated on the surface of all the meridians,

after being tempered by Divine Blood Lava and with the help of the Divine Fruit, the absorbed Earth Divine Blood fully entered the meridians.

Ultimately, forming an innate Divine Technique.

Magma Meridians.

At this moment, the entire meridian system was infused with mystical power, flowing like magma.

Human blood vessels were far more resilient than meridians.

If the meridians weren’t strong enough, less True Qi would be transported, resulting in less Qi Blood and ultimately less destructive force.

Especially at the Grandmaster level, when Qi transforms the whole body and the meridian positions change, the strength of the meridians becomes more important.

With the Magma Meridians, the total amount of True Qi circulated increased dramatically.

A large amount of True Qi entered the bloodstream from the meridians.

At this moment, the blood was filled with the power of refined Dragon Blood.

It roiled in the blood vessels.

If it were an ordinary Bone Forging Stage martial artist, they would be instantly blown apart.

However, the immense True Qi and past tempering allowed the blood to firmly withstand the power of the refined Dragon Blood.

And then, slowly absorb it.

Most of the refined Dragon Blood entered the bone marrow with its blood-producing capability, leaving only a small amount in the bloodstream, which continuously strengthened the blood’s power through circulation.

"Not bad!"

After speaking, the Queen of Red Eyes opened her mouth, releasing a pure red Dragon Breath that enveloped Zhou Leng.

The Dragon Breath flames fused with the refined Dragon Blood flames, forming a high temperature comparable to Divine Blood Lava.

Zhou Leng stood motionless amidst the blazing fire.

His body slowly absorbed the power of the scarlet Dragon Breath.

The Queen of Red Eyes had undergone the trials of higher Giant Dragons, nearing the Starry Sky Bloodline.

Her Dragon Breath coupled with the refined Dragon Blood equated to a Demigod Giant Dragon assisting in tempering.

Dragon Power surged into Zhou Leng’s blood, racing through.

Part of it flowed toward the bone marrow, gradually strengthening the new blood, while another part integrated into the current blood, simultaneously reinforcing the inner walls of the blood vessels.

The new blood would originally damage the blood vessels due to its strength, but the increased True Qi protected the vessels, allowing them to withstand this level of power.

Gradually, the aura of the blood intensified.

After a long time, the Queen of Red Eyes retracted her Dragon Breath, languidly saying, "Now it’s all up to you."

After six full hours, Zhou Leng opened his eyes.

Inside him, his Qi Blood was as heavy as lead mercury, rushing like magma.

Bright red like fire.

If he circulated Qi Blood at night, the faint glow of blood vessels could be seen through his skin.

The giant dragons in the hall watched Zhou Leng, clearly sensing the aura of the Giant Dragon Race emanating from his body.

Although it was mixed with a slight unpleasant Giant aura, it didn’t matter.

The Queen of Red Eyes said, "At least for a year, your bloodline power will be the same as an ordinary giant dragon. But remember to continually participate in the Giant Dragon trials, compete for the blessings of the Dragon God, and consolidate this power. Once you receive the Dragon God’s blessing a dozen or so times, and the power solidifies, you’ll attain a complete Giant Dragon Blood Marvelous Body. By then, your Qi Blood will be dragon-like, with destructive power comparable to our giant dragons."

"Coupled with your Giant body, your upper limit nearly approaches the Blood of Tyranny, though still lacking significantly compared to me."

"It’s a pity that you are not fated with the Fierce Beast Power Marvelous Body and the high-level Qi Marvelous Body, and your achievements will never match those of mine in this palace."

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