Chapter 1817: A Breakthrough
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
“Yes!”
Seeing that there was still some dragon blood remaining, the Dragonbone Divine Spear trembled in agitation. It swiftly warped back into a skeletal dragon and swallowed the remaining dragon blood.
As soon as the dragon blood surged into its body, the ma.s.sive body of the Dragonbone Divine Spear began quivering in agitation. It looked as if there were countless streaks of lightning flowing on its surface, and its aura swiftly grew stronger. It was only a matter of time before it broke free of its seal to recover its strength as a true Ancient Sage artifact.
Knowing that it would take some time for the dragon blood to be fully a.s.similated, Zhang Xuan turned his attention back to the gourd with a doubtful frown.
He had known that this Dongxu Gourd was exceptional for possessing sentience and being able to speak human speech, but to think that it would even be able to s.n.a.t.c.h the dragon blood from Sovereign Chen Ling’s grasp…
There was no doubt that it was an extraordinary being!
Could it be a Great Sage artifact… or perhaps even an Ancient Sage artifact?
Unable to stand the suspense any longer, Zhang Xuan asked, “What in the world are you?”
Given that the other party possessed sentience, there was a chance that it knew of its true ident.i.ty.
“I am a gourd!” the Dongxu Gourd replied with a shake of its bottom.
Black lines streaked across Zhang Xuan’s face. Somehow, whenever he spoke with the Dongxu Gourd, he felt like pummeling the latter!
It took a moment of deep breathing to keep his impulse to draw his saber under control before he continued his questioning. “What I’m asking is, what tier of artifact are you?”
The Dongxu Gourd paused for a moment after hearing those words. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“I have barely gained sentience, such that my self-awareness is at the level of a child… I need to eat a lot of things in order to recover. Un, that’s right. As long as you give me sufficient food, I’ll know what tier I am as soon as I recover!” The Dongxu Gourd shook its bottom as saliva seemed to drip from its cork.
“…” Zhang Xuan.
Where’s my saber?
I should just slice this darned fool in two and spare myself the trouble!
That fellow had eaten two things so far, the meteorite and the dragon blood. Given that it was unaware of the tier of the meteorite, there was no reason to talk about it. However, the dragon blood was something that could potentially allow the Dragonbone Divine Spear to reach Ancient Sage 4-dan Dimension Shatterer realm, such that even the severely wounded Sovereign Chen Ling would have been pushed to his limits in order to protect himself.
Yet, swallowing such a valuable treasure isn’t even enough for you to recover your strength?
Really, I should just toss you away and forget all about you!
However, as Zhang Xuan’s rage subsided, curiosity began to get the better of him.
Based on what the Dongxu Gourd had said, it seemed like only things on the tier of the dragon blood could catch its interest. If so, just what kind of formidable artifact could the other party be?
He had not thought much about it before, but thinking back, it was indeed weird that someone as powerful as Ancient Sage Qiu Wu would set up a folded s.p.a.ce and use the spiritual energy of the world to nourish a mere Dongxu Gourd for tens of thousands of years.
From the looks of it, nothing was as simple as it seemed.
Perhaps the Dongxu Gourd was even an artifact on the level of the Nine Hearts Lotus!
Zhang Xuan stretched his hand out to touch the Dongxu Gourd, hoping to compile a book on it in the Library of Heaven’s Path. But contrary to his expectations, nothing appeared at all.
Perhaps, it might have been because the Dongxu Gourd was considered a living being that the Library of Heaven’s Path was unable to a.n.a.lyze its information. Unless the Dongxu Gourd executed a battle technique or had its consciousness destroyed, it would be impossible to compile a book on it.
In the end, Zhang Xuan had no choice but to shake his head.
Regardless of what tier the Dongxu Gourd was, it was relieving to hear that it might still be of some use in the future, even though it still was not reliable.
“Alright. You should take a rest for now…” Seeing that it was impossible to get anything out of the Dongxu Gourd, Zhang Xuan could not be bothered to waste his breath. He stowed the other party into his storage ring before taking out the remaining Otherworldly Demon Ancient Sage corpses.
The two corpses that he had used as a s.h.i.+eld against the two Ancient Sages earlier were already filled with cracks, so they could not be used anymore. However, there were still a couple that were completely undamaged. This was a good time to start forging them.
Zhang Xuan drew out his soul and dived right into one of the Great Philosopher realm consummation corpses.
In less than an hour, he had successfully forged it.
After that, he moved on to the next one…
In four hours, he had already managed to turn all of the Otherworldly Demon Ancient Sage corpses into Soulless Metal Humanoids.
The strongest of the four corpses was at Ancient Sage 2-dan consummation whereas the weakest was at Ancient Sage 1-dan consummation. With them, he would not have to panic as much if he encountered the same situation as before.
After forging the last corpse, he heaved a sigh of relief. Looking at the sky, he noticed that dark storm clouds had gathered in the area. The surrounding s.p.a.ce had begun warping, and it felt like a storm was going to descend upon the world very soon.
“This is the Ancient Sage Ordeal! The Dragonbone Divine Spear is going to achieve a breakthrough…” Ancient Sage Mo Ling also halted his cultivation and stood up.
Looking over, Zhang Xuan noted that flesh and blood had grown on the skeletal dragon, and pitch-black scales were starting to form on its body. Looking at those scales was like staring into the abyss, and it felt like one would sink into it.
“Even releasing its seal brings a heavenly tribulation?” Zhang Xuan was perplexed.
The Dragonbone Divine Spear was already an Ancient Sage artifact, just that its strength had been sealed by Ancient Sage Ran Qiu. Why would there be an Ancient Sage Ordeal when it was just returning to its true strength?
“Under normal circ.u.mstances, the seal should only have been released when you achieved a breakthrough to Ancient Sage. However, the fact that flesh and blood are growing out of its skeleton means that it is not its seal that had been undone but that it had managed to achieve a real breakthrough!” Ancient Sage Mo Ling said.
“It achieved a real breakthrough?” Zhang Xuan was stunned.
That made sense as well.
Even in its sealed state, the Dragonbone Divine Spear was already stronger than the Infernal Blacksaber before its breakthrough to Ancient Sage. With the nourishment of such formidable dragon blood, even if its seal was not undone, it was perfectly normal that it would achieve a breakthrough to Ancient Sage!
As for Aeon of Ancient Sage… in the first place, the Dragonbone Divine Spear was an Ancient Sage artifact. Even though its strength was sealed, there was bound to be some Aeon of Ancient Sage harnessed within it. As such, it did not require Zhang Xuan’s help to break through.
While the two of them were chatting with one another, the heavenly tribulation descended upon the world. It was a devastating force consisting of a mixture of heavenly flames and lightning bolts.
In the face of such power, the skeletal dragon—perhaps it should be called a black dragon now—roared furiously and charged toward the heavenly tribulation. Its ma.s.sive body swam freely amid the destructive forces, allowing the lightning bolts and heavenly flames to temper its body. Gradually, its scales grew more and more radiant.
“As expected of a weapon created by Ancient Sage Ran Qiu! Despite having just achieved a breakthrough to Ancient Sage, it is able to push for a breakthrough to the Blood Reincarnation realm just from its sheer acc.u.mulation, reaching a level even higher than me!” Ancient Sage Mo Ling also recognized the Dragonbone Divine Spear, and he could not help commenting.
Ancient Sage Ran Qiu was known as the strongest individual under Kong s.h.i.+’s lineage, and the Dragonbone Divine Spear was also famed to be the number one spear in history. Naturally, there was bound to be something extraordinary about it.
If Zhang Xuan could release its seal, it could very well achieve a breakthrough to the level that all cultivators dreamt of, the Dimension Shatterer realm!
A thought suddenly surfaced in Zhang Xuan’s mind. Could this be the real reason that Ancient Sage Ran Qiu sealed the Dragonbone Divine Spear’s cultivation?
If he achieved a breakthrough to Ancient Sage right now and helped the Dragonbone Divine Spear undo its seal, the latter might just be able to push for a breakthrough to higher realms.
Perhaps this was what Ancient Sage Ran Qiu had intended from the start!
“They said that there’s value in not rus.h.i.+ng for a breakthrough to Ancient Sage. Only with sufficient acc.u.mulation will one be able to reach greater heights. It seems like that’s indeed the case!”
There were benefits to be earned from each time one challenged the Ancient Sage Ordeal. The more times one challenged it, the higher one would be able to climb in the future.
It was through challenging the Ancient Sage Ordeal multiple times that Kong s.h.i.+ had managed to obtain unparalleled strength.
The Dragonbone Divine Spear had challenged the Ancient Sage Ordeal once in the past. Right now, with its cultivation sealed, it had gained the opportunity to push for a breakthrough once more. If it put the strength that it had gained from the two breakthroughs together, its fighting prowess would surely surge to a whole new height.
Watching as the Ancient Sage Ordeal was gradually worn down against the resilience of the Dragonbone Divine Spear, Zhang Xuan’s eyes lit up with excitement.
“Even though I am unable to decipher its seal and allow it to reach Ancient Sage 4-dan, its current might is already enough for me!”
At that moment, the Dragonbone Divine Spear had already gained strength comparable to Blood Reincarnation realm consummation cultivators. In terms of fighting prowess, it did not lose out in comparison to the current Vicious. As long as he had the Dragonbone Divine Spear in hand, there would be no need for him to fear anyone!
Even if he encountered Sovereign Chen Ling once more, he would be able to defeat the latter with ease!
Hula!
As the lightning clouds dissipated, the black dragon in the sky warped its body back into the form of a spear before flying back in Zhang Xuan’s direction. It lowered itself before Zhang Xuan respectfully.
“Master!”