Chapter 4: Opening Gates With Dragons
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
There were many medicinal herbs within the Pill Refining Chamber. If one or two went missing, Elder Yin would most likely not have noticed unless he did a thorough investigation.
If he looked into it and found out that any were missing, chaos would ensue as Elder Yin bore a burning hatred of thieves.
“Ye Mo, you little rascal, go and start the fire!” A thundering voice sounded as Elder Yin, with his stark white hair, bustled in.
“Yes, sir!”
Ye Mo knew Elder Yin rather well and knew that as long as he did what he was told, the old man would be placated.
Ye Mo kindled the flames on the stove in preparation for Elder Yin, who added ingredients into a large cauldron, slowly imbuing the concoction with his own Yuanli.
Ye Mo continued to fan the flames and blow at them. After an hour, an explosion sounded from the cauldron, indicating the completion of a batch of Pei Yuan pills.
One batch of Rank One Priming Pills yielded about 50 pills and were used to enhance training.
One day’s work yielded 100 pills. In the remaining time, Elder Yin would conduct research on Rank Two Fortifying Pills.
Ye Mo’s task was to fan the fires. After a few hours of hard work, Elder Yin asked Ye Mo to tidy up the room. After Ye Mo finished, he locked up and headed home.
Once he got back, he immediately sat down, cross-legged, ready to train once more. The Yuan Chi of Heaven and Earth he absorbed was colorless and as it travelled towards his Energy Center, it remained the same as when it was converted to Yuanli.
Only after mastering the Mental Technique would the Yuanli bear a color.
For instance, the h.e.l.lfire Technique Ye Qing specialized in was a fire-based Mental Technique. The Yuanli, as a result, glowed red. His attacks also carried a blazing fury, mimicking flames.
The Rising Dragon Pillar lapped up the Yuan Chi provided by Ye Mo, causing a single black dragon to shoot towards the Gate of Ye Mo’s right hand.
The veins of Ye Mo’s right arm began to surface, throbbing with great intensity as if it was bitten by a dragon.
Ye Mo clenched his teeth in pain and repeated the process. Another dragon was unleashed and darted towards the Gate.
“If only I could awaken two dragons simultaneously, I would greatly speed up the process of opening my Gates!”
Ye Mo realized that, despite the numerous dragons on the pillar, he could only awaken the dragon at the very bottom and he could only utilize its powers. If he could awake two simultaneously, he could halve the time he spent opening Gates. As for awakening more than two dragons at the same time? Ye Mo did not even dare to think about it yet.
“Let me try a Priming Pill.”
From the corner of the room, Ye Mo brought out a small pouch filled with Priming Pills. These were the pills he received during all his years of working at the Pill Refining Chamber. Elder Yin would reward him with several pills whenever he was in a good mood. After five years, Ye Mo had quite a decent collection.
Ye Mo swallowed a handful of Priming Pills. The energy from the pills slid smoothly down his throat and travelled directly to his Energy Center. The energy from the pills fused with his Yuan Chi, forming a condensed ma.s.s.
A single giant obsidian Yuanli dragon emerged from the very bottom of the pillar. Much to Ye Mo’s delight, it was quickly followed by the dragon that rested above it, which let out a great roar. The dragons shot towards Ye Mo’s Energy Center in tandem.
Ye Mo internally leapt for joy. These obsidian Yuanli dragons were essentially pure Yuanli, but in the form of a dragon.
“I shall name you dragon power!”
With two dragons under his control, Ye Mo directed both of them towards the Gate of his right hand.
Crack!
The sound of breaking bone was heard, and Ye Mo could feel the seal covering the Gate yielding to his attempts. He was certain that in just a few days’ time, he could break through the Gate on his right limb based on the power of the two dragons.
Ye Mo’s schedule over the next few days were mostly training in the morning, helping out at Elder Yin’s in the afternoon, and more training at night.
Crack crack!
The sound of bone cracking sounded once more, and with that, the two dragons dashed through the Gate of his right hand.
“I opened the Gate!”
Ye Mo opened his eyes, wiped off the sweat on his brow and had a good long look at his right arm. It did not look any different on the outside, but he could feel the power coursing through his veins.
He could no longer hold in his excitement. In only ten days, he had already opened the Gate in his right hand, something not even the prodigies of Limestone City could ever dream of achieving.
Ye Mo once more enlisted two dragons, one of which was entirely engulfed by the Gate in his right hand. Clenching his fist, he landed a punch on a nearby wall.
Bam!
The wall cracked under the immense pressure. Long hair-like tendrils snaked down the length of the wall.
“Ha! This sort of attack should yield at least two stones of strength.”
The dragon power in Ye Mo’s right hand did not vanish after he had used it a moment ago. In fact, the two dragons had a.s.similated into the Gate. He threw another powerful punch, this time towards the floor. An ear-shattering noise sounded as if the fury of the dragons were unleashed.
BAM!
Upon impact, the entire house began to tremble as Ye Mo made an indentation the size of a small crater on the ground.
“Young master, what happened?” Uncle Fu said as he rushed to the scene, noticing the crater on the ground.
“Uncle, I am no longer the ‘garbage’ everyone thinks I am. No one will ever dare to mess with us again,” Ye Mo said with a wide grin, rubbing his arm.
“Young master, was that you who made all that commotion?” Uncle Fu asked incredulously.
“Don’t tell anyone,” Ye Mo warned.
“Young master has inherited Master Ye’s talents!”
Uncle Fu sighed with awe and delight. Even those who have reached Spirit Cultivating First Realm would not be able to land a punch as powerful as Ye Mo’s punch.
Once a martial artist successfully opened all five Gates and reached First Realm, their strength could reach up to two stones. Once they reached Second Realm, their Yuanli would be more concentrated and their strength could reach up to four stones. Once they reached Ninth Realm, they could produce 18 stones of strength.
However, those numbers were only an estimate. Some were born with more strength than others, and, naturally, would have a mightier attack.
Once Ye Mo absorbed the power of one dragon, his right fist would yield two stones of strength. But with two dragons, he could reach four stones. In terms of attack power alone, he had already reached the Spirit Cultivating Second Realm.
After Ye Mo finished his lunch, he started to make his way to the Pill Refining Chamber.
In these 20 or so days of intense training, Ye Mo had almost depleted his collection of Priming Pills. If it weren’t for the pills, with his skill alone at the moment, he still struggled to extract the power of two dragons simultaneously.
As Ye Mo arrived at the Pill Refining Chamber, he was shocked to see that the lock had been tampered with. He bristled with anger as he thought about how the thieves escalated from entering through the windows to tampering with the locks, displaying a complete lack of shame.
The door swung open, and Ye Mo was greeted by the sight of Ye Xiaotian carrying a bagful of Priming Pills. As Ye Xiaotian knew that Elder Yin had a cla.s.s at the Alchemist Guild and would not be at the chamber today, he didn’t bother to climb through the window and took the easy way in.
“Ye Xiaotian, how dare you steal the Priming Pills!” Ye Mo said angrily.
Ye Xiaotian took one look at Ye Mo and threw a small piece of silver at him and giggled. “Ye Mo, Elder Yin won’t be coming in today, so you can just change the locks in the afternoon. He won’t find out.”
Ye Mo could avert his eyes if Ye Xiaotian and Ye Ming were only stealing medicinal herbs. After all, Elder Yin seldom inspected his stores. However, the audacity of Ye Xiaotian was simply appalling, as Elder Yin would be furious if any of the Priming Pills went missing.
Back in the day, when Ye Mo did not have any powers, he could put up with the bullying. But now that he had opened one of his Gates, in addition to possessing the power of dragons, he no longer bent to Ye Ming’s will—who only opened two Gates himself.
As Ye Mo utilized the strength of one dragon, he threw the piece of silver back at Ye Xiaotian, a silver glint flas.h.i.+ng along its trajectory.
“Save this piece of silver for your dental appointment!”