Chapter 1174: Advancing to the Finals!

Lan Xuanyu discovered that his Dragon Force Tempering had restarted. That was right, it had restarted from the beginning. All the previous tempering progress seemed to have vanished entirely, and everything was starting over. Far from being alarmed by this change, Lan Xuanyu was instead overjoyed, because it meant that the initial tempering had already been completed after this round of Dragon Force Tempering. The ability to undergo a second tempering signified that his current Dragon Force was sufficiently strong. This laid the foundation for his future advancement! Focusing his mind on the tempering process, he soon entered a state of complete oblivion to self and surroundings.

Bai Xiuxiu sat beside Lan Xuanyu and noticed with surprise that a faint, pleasant fragrance emanated from him. Multicolored light swirled around his body, appearing and disappearing intermittently. Just by sitting next to him, Bai Xiuxiu could clearly feel her own bloodline stirring with excitement, causing her entire body to grow warm. She quickly concentrated her mind, drawing upon her bloodline power and quietly cultivating.

She had actually gained considerable benefits today as well. After her hard-fought victory in the match, she had been waiting for Lan Xuanyu to come out. The other competitors had all left after their matches ended, but she had every right to stay behind. After all, four dragon knights were present! Moreover, these four dragon knights, fearing that Lan Xuanyu might lack sufficient energy during his evolution, had been continuously releasing their dragon energy outward. Lan Xuanyu naturally reaped the benefits, and Bai Xiuxiu also absorbed that dragon energy, accumulating a great deal. Now, as she cultivated beside Lan Xuanyu, influenced by his Dragon God bloodline, the dragon energy surged and her cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds.

By the sixth round of the round-robin tournament, the qualification prospects had become largely clear, especially the top spot in each group, with no further uncertainty. By the end of the round-robin, the most talked-about match remained that earth-shattering, brutal showdown. The Golden Dragon Princess versus Xu Yanmo, relying on unyielding willpower, ultimately defeated Xu Yanmo—this was even more shocking than if “she” had won through absolute strength. In this Rising Dragon Competition, the Golden Dragon Princess had unquestionably become the most dazzling star. With the deliberate promotion by the Celestial Dragon Alliance, “she” had already become an idol of the new generation—not just an idol of the dragon race, but an idol of the entire Celestial Dragon Planet, enjoying unprecedented popularity.

In two of the final three round-robin matches, Lan Xuanyu’s opponents were far weaker than Xu Yanmo, and combined with his previous dominant performances, he won relatively easily. Bai Xiuxiu also demonstrated more of her own strength, and her continuous improvement secured her a place in the third battle zone as well. Although she lost one more match later on, Lan Xuanyu held back and conceded defeat in the final match, giving her a record of seven wins and two losses, second only to Lan Xuanyu and Xu Yanmo, who both had eight wins and one loss. Based on their records, Lan Xuanyu advanced as the top qualifier from the third battle zone, Xu Yanmo came second, and Bai Xiuxiu third. The three of them advanced together into the finals. In the other groups, the strongest competitors also advanced, and the most outstanding dragon clan members below god rank would enter the finals after a five-day rest period.

During these days, Lan Xuanyu had been cultivating diligently. Aside from the matches, he spent almost all his time on Dragon Force Tempering. He finally experienced the benefits of having an abundant supply of Dragon Force. These days, he no longer had to worry about finding Dragon Force. The consumption of the multicolored Dragon Force liquid within his body was slow, yet the progress of his tempering accelerated significantly. This was truly the cultivation energy that belonged to him. After the battle with Xu Yanmo, Lan Xuanyu’s Divine Dragon Armor and dragon spear had been severely damaged. He had initially planned to repair them with his own power, but the Darkfiend Dragon Knight Luo Lan had Huang Daoqi deliver a new set of Divine Dragon Armor and a brand-new dragon spear. This set of Divine Dragon Armor was still a strength-type armor made from Mountain Dragon King bones, but with a difference—the bone parts used came from more essential regions of the Mountain Dragon King’s skeleton. In particular, the dragon-head chest plate at the center of the chest was crafted from the Mountain Dragon King’s skull, carrying some special effects. The dragon spear had reached the level of a true divine weapon, forged from the Mountain Dragon King’s ribs.

Of course, calling it a divine weapon meant it had only just crossed the threshold into that category—it was still far from Lan Xuanyu’s Golden Dragon Spear. Luo Lan had Huang Daoqi relay a message to Lan Xuanyu: fight with all his strength and strive for the championship. Defeating Xu Yanmo had not made the dragon knights place much more importance on Lan Xuanyu, but drawing upon the energy within the Rising Dragon Platform had caused considerable ripples among the upper echelons of the Celestial Dragon Alliance, even drawing the attention of the Head of the Celestial Dragon Planet. After deliberations, once the Rising Dragon Competition concluded, the dragon knights would conduct similar experiments. This was something Lan Xuanyu did not know.

After the round-robin, the competitors rested for another five days. During this period, Lan Xuanyu underwent a near-transformation. The second round of Dragon Force Tempering proceeded even faster than the first. With ample Dragon God energy as his foundation, Lan Xuanyu did not need to worry about repairs, and his tempering progress was extremely rapid, with his cultivation soaring in tandem. He vaguely sensed that he was approaching a critical threshold—the peak of the six-ring realm. His seventh ring was completely different from that of ordinary soul masters. The closer he got to this threshold, the more he felt the need for greater accumulation. After experiencing Dragon Force Tempering and gaining benefits from the Rising Dragon Platform, he understood that if he could break through on the Rising Dragon Platform itself, with sufficient energy support and without falling into deviation, he would have a great chance of advancing to god rank. That would be his opportunity to soar to the heavens in one step. But he also understood that it would be the process of the golden-patterned Blue Silver Grass and silver-patterned Blue Silver Grass merging completely. Previous breakthroughs had already faced the danger of collapse, and the difficulty and danger of this breakthrough would likely surpass the combined challenges of the previous six breakthroughs. Without sufficient accumulation, he would never attempt it lightly—otherwise, it would be courting death. Therefore, even though he was approaching the critical point, he was in no hurry at all, striving to build a solid foundation before releasing his power.

The heavy window swung inward, and looking out into the distance, the rising sun gradually appeared on the horizon. There were no tall buildings within Rising Dragon City, so for Lan Xuanyu and Bai Xiuxiu, cultivating the Purple Extreme Demon Eye required no more than opening the window—they could do it entirely from inside the room. The multicolored glow around Lan Xuanyu’s body had just retracted into him. After these seven consecutive days of cultivation, he had finally absorbed and digested nearly all the energy he had drawn from the Rising Dragon Platform. He felt as though he had been completely reborn. He was fully aware that if he were to face Xu Yanmo again, he would never be as battered as he had been that day.

His previous breakthrough had taken place within Eternal Sky City, where he had absorbed a vast amount of essence from the Eternal Tree and, with Tang Wulin’s help, completed his six-ring breakthrough. That breakthrough had actually been rather hasty, with insufficient accumulation. He had relied on the massive essence from the Eternal Tree, supplemented by Tang Wulin’s assistance, to force the breakthrough through. Lan Xuanyu had known at the time that for his next breakthrough, he would likely need a long period of accumulation—perhaps three to five years, or even longer, depending on how many cultivation resources he could obtain. It was with that hope that he and his companions had come to the Celestial Dragon Planet, and everything had turned out even better than he had anticipated.

Here, he had gained not just Heavenly and Earthly Treasures, but cultivation resources he had never dared to imagine before. The method of Dragon Force Tempering had completely transformed his cultivation approach, and with the aid of Nirvanic Divine Lightning in tempering his body, his cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds. Not only had he solidified his six-ring realm, but in just a few short months, he had reached its peak, poised to step into the seven-ring realm at any moment. This was something he would never have dared to dream of before.