Chapter 271: Withered Tree Meets Spring

Lu Bai sat cross-legged in his tent, his mind immersed in the Ancient Mirror, lost in thought.

Innate Martial Artists relied on Demon Beast Inner Cores to achieve breakthroughs, primarily by drawing upon the vast Blood Qi they contained. Some Martial Artists even needed several Inner Cores to succeed.

But there was one important prerequisite.

The Demon Qi within the Demon Beast Inner Core had to be refined away.

Otherwise, if one devoured and refined the entire Demon Beast Inner Core, the Demon Qi would enter the body, and it would be very easy to turn into a monster that was neither human nor demon.

Demon Qi was incompatible with the Blood Qi of the Human Race, which could easily cause one’s body to explode and lead to death.

The heart of a Demon Beast also contained a large amount of essence blood.

However, once the heart of a Demon Beast left its body, its blood essence would rapidly decay.

It was unknown how many years this True Dragon Heart had existed, yet it was preserved to this day and still contained an incredibly terrifying power. It was truly an anomaly.

Before Bai Chuchu fell into her slumber, she had warned him that the power of the True Dragon Heart was too immense for his physical body to withstand.

Moreover, the True Dragon Heart also contained a vast amount of Demon Qi.

With Lu Bai’s current Cultivation, he had no way of refining it.

He had escaped death, and with Bai Chuchu in a deep slumber, he had obtained a treasure rarely seen in this world. But he couldn’t use it. It was incredibly frustrating.

Looking at the True Dragon Heart floating near the Immortal Vine, an idea sparked in Lu Bai’s mind.

‘My body can’t withstand it, but the Immortal Vine should be able to!’

The Immortal Vine had previously tried to devour his Blood Qi on several occasions, nearly sucking him dry.

This Immortal Vine steadily occupied the very center of the Ancient Mirror and was clearly capable of suppressing the True Dragon Heart.

‘What would happen if I fed the True Dragon Heart to the Immortal Vine?’

‘Could such a vast amount of essence blood bring this withered Immortal Vine back to life?’

‘If the Immortal Vine did revive, what other changes would that bring?’

Everything was unknown. There were too many variables.

Lu Bai fell silent, pondering. He was not in a rush.

After long deliberation, Lu Bai decided to try.

The power contained within the True Dragon Heart was simply too immense. Forget him at the mere Innate Realm—he likely wouldn’t be able to withstand it even if he entered the Golden Core Realm or cultivated to the Nascent Soul Realm.

‘Since I can’t use it, I might as well feed it to the Immortal Vine and see what happens.’

‘As long as I can revive this treasure, it will have been put to good use.’

With this thought, Lu Bai began to control the Immortal Vine, moving it toward the True Dragon Heart.

He manipulated one end of the Immortal Vine and viciously stabbed it into the True Dragon Heart!

SQUELCH!

The instant the Immortal Vine pierced the True Dragon Heart, the Ancient Mirror trembled, and an earth-shattering dragon’s roar erupted from the enormous heart.

However, the sound did not escape the Ancient Mirror; only Lu Bai could hear it.

Lu Bai’s entire body shook as if struck by lightning, and the dragon’s roar nearly knocked him unconscious.

Endless streams of fresh blood sprayed out from the True Dragon Heart.

Lu Bai bit the tip of his tongue, struggling to remain conscious.

A massive burst of crimson light erupted from the depths of the Ancient Mirror, dyeing its entire surface red as Demon Qi permeated the space.

The dense, boundless Demon Qi surged within the Ancient Mirror, transforming into a Divine Dragon with magnificent horns, a crimson body, and wreathed in blazing flames.

The temperature of the Ancient Mirror began to rise rapidly.

The Ancient Mirror was embedded in Lu Bai’s sternum, and at that moment, his chest turned fiery red. His clothes instantly incinerated, turning to ash.

Lu Bai looked down. The Ancient Mirror in his chest had turned a solid, bloody red.

He felt as though his chest was about to explode. A searing pain shot through him, and his consciousness began to blur.

But soon, a massive vortex emerged from the depths of the Ancient Mirror, generating a powerful suction.

The flame-wreathed Divine Dragon struggled relentlessly but couldn’t resist the vortex’s pull. Soon, it was devoured by the vortex, vanishing without a trace.

Lu Bai regained some of his clarity, and his mind returned to the Ancient Mirror.

As the Divine Dragon was swallowed by the vortex, the immense Demon Qi that had burst from the True Dragon Heart also vanished without a trace, as if it too had been devoured by the Ancient Mirror.

Lu Bai was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed.

‘There were two reasons I couldn’t use the True Dragon Heart.’

‘First, the True Dragon Heart’s Blood Qi was too powerful.’

‘Second, I couldn’t handle the Demon Qi within it.’

‘But now, the Demon Qi from the True Dragon Heart has been purified by the Ancient Mirror, leaving behind only the purest bloodline power!’

‘I can try to absorb a bit of True Dragon Blood to help me form a Blood Qi Golden Core and step into the Alchemy Dao!’

At the same time, Lu Bai noticed that the Immortal Vine was, as he’d expected, frantically absorbing the essence blood from the True Dragon Heart.

Moreover, a tiny new branch, glinting with a trace of golden light, had sprouted from the Immortal Vine’s surface.

The Immortal Vine had originally been crooked, a deathly still shade of gray-black.

But now, near that tiny branch, the gray-black surface was flaking away, revealing a hint of tender green beneath.

Lu Bai’s eyes lit up.

‘It’s working!’

‘The Immortal Vine is already showing signs of reviving!’

That golden-glowing branch was still growing. One end pierced into the True Dragon Heart as well, accelerating the devouring of its essence blood.

Seeing this, Lu Bai hesitated no longer.

‘I have to get my share before the Immortal Vine devours all the True Dragon’s essence blood.’

Lu Bai circulated the Eight Desolates Returning Essence Scripture, and a steady stream of Innate True Qi gathered within his body.

The human body has three major Dantians: Upper, Middle, and Lower.

On the path of Cultivation, one refines Spiritual Qi, and Magical Power coalesces in the Lower Dantian.

On the path of the Martial Dao, however, one cultivates Innate True Qi, which gathers in the Middle Dantian in the chest, connected to the heart and its blood vessels.

Innate True Qi circulated endlessly through his Twelve Meridians, and a pair of golden wings soon materialized behind Lu Bai.

With the appearance of two Hidden Veins, his Blood Qi now surged through fourteen Meridians—a vast, rushing torrent that thundered like the tide, a deafening roar!

The True Dragon Heart had been pierced, and its Blood Qi permeated the Ancient Mirror, spreading to every corner.

Lu Bai attempted to absorb a trace of True Dragon Blood and integrate it into his own bloodline.

BOOM!

Lu Bai knew well how tyrannical the True Dragon Blood was, so he didn’t dare to be greedy.

Yet the power contained within just this single wisp of True Dragon Blood nearly surpassed the upper limit of what his physical body could endure!

As the True Dragon Blood merged with his bloodline, it was like a True Dragon rampaging through his Meridians, wreaking havoc and turning everything upside down.

Lu Bai’s fourteen Meridians couldn’t withstand it. Cracks instantly appeared, and they began to shatter.

SPURT! SPURT! SPURT!

Lu Bai’s skin began to crack, oozing large patches of blood until he was completely enveloped in a bloody mist.

‘This power is too strong!’

If Lu Bai hadn’t cultivated multiple Ultimate Skills and laid a solid foundation in the Root Bone Stage, Inner Strength Realm, and Innate Realm, he would have likely exploded and died by now.

Lu Bai endured the excruciating pain, silently recited a Heart Method Mantra, and activated the Secret Technique, “Bone Regeneration.”

“Visualize the hundred bones as a jade tree, illuminate the void of the marrow sea, and plant a green lotus!”

This was an Ultimate Skill that came with the Ancient Mirror, the second Secret Technique from the Bone Supreme Profound Scripture.

When cultivated to its peak, it could bring the dead to life and grow flesh on bare bones. It would be difficult to die even if one wanted to!

As Lu Bai circulated “Bone Regeneration,” vitality surged through his body. His ruptured wounds began to heal, and his shattered Meridians started to reform.

Normally, Lu Bai’s own Blood Qi would be nowhere near enough to repair such severe injuries.

But this Secret Technique specifically consumed Blood Qi to function.

While circulating “Bone Regeneration,” he was naturally consuming the trace of True Dragon Blood that had merged into his Meridians.

It was precisely this wisp of True Dragon Blood that allowed him to push the “Bone Regeneration” Secret Technique to its absolute limit.

The True Dragon Blood was incredibly fierce and tyrannical, continuously ravaging Lu Bai’s Meridians and physical body.

At the same time, “Bone Regeneration” was using that very same True Dragon Blood to repair his body and reconstruct his Meridians.

And so, a strange equilibrium formed within Lu Bai’s body!