Chapter 318: Chapter 293: True Body Seventh Refinement is Not the Limit_1
Lu Yan and Shen Yinuo met, and the two ran towards the east.
On the road, Lu Yan immersed part of his consciousness into his sea of knowledge, observing the surroundings.
During the three days of waiting for Wenxing, Lu Yan wasn’t idle; he swallowed up the Immortal Bone, elevating the nine supreme physical martial arts to the level of Unity of Man and Martial Arts.
Coupling the nine, they amalgamated into a supreme body refining martial arts technique.
Hence, Lu Yan, with his eight body refining martial arts techniques, achieved the Unity of Man and Martial Arts.
"Still no sign of unification?"
Lu Yan’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.
The combination of hand-to-hand martial arts with body refining martial arts had already been proven feasible.
Lu Yan currently mastered the Cold Magic Palm, Flame Dragon Palm, and Void Steps. The number of unity martial arts had reached nine when he had six supreme physical martial arts.
Yet at that time, there was no trace of unification.
When body refinement martial arts reached seven, nothing happened either.
And now, with eight martial arts techniques refined combined with hand-to-hand combat, there are a total of eleven. But still, no signs of unification can be observed.
"Is it because divine-level martial arts are special, and that regular martial arts and body refining martial arts cannot fuse? Or is it that nine top martial arts techniques aren’t enough, perhaps even eleven aren’t sufficient? Could it require more?"
"Or is fusion into divine-level martial arts simply impossible?"
Lu Yan pondered various possibilities.
Regardless of which possibility, none of them were good news for him.
Eight thousand miles isn’t too far for the two of them. Even in complex environments like Shiwan Mountain, nothing could stop them.
Whenever they encountered any demons or odd creatures, they were swiftly dealt with.
The two of them dashed like the wind, and in less than half a day, they reached their destination, where they faintly smelled the scent of the sea breeze.
This place wasn’t far from the seaside.
Yunzhou was located by the sea, and since the extreme east was adjacent to Yunzhou, naturally it was by the sea as well.
The two of them soared into the sky to search for the volcano.
Looking towards the east, they saw an expanse of azure blue. About a few dozen miles away, there was the boundless ocean.
Situated a few dozen miles away, they could still hear the howling sea wind.
The oceans of this world are extremely perilous, with convoluted environments. Even high-level martial cultivators are hesitant about venturing into the open sea, as getting lost there is a high probability event.
"Over there."
Lu Yan’s eyes lit up as he saw a cluster of volcanoes about a few dozen miles to the south. There were roughly a dozen of them, with some emitting dense smoke.
The two of them stepped into the air and arrived at the volcanic group.
Most of them were dead volcanoes, with shrubs and weeds growing around them, existing a few active ones in the middle that spewed dense smoke, and could erupt at any moment.
"If the Fire Jiaolong were to hide, it’d most likely be in these active volcanoes. Let’s look for it."
Shen Yinuo flew towards the active volcanoes.
After a careful search, they could not determine which volcano the Fire Jiaolong was hiding beneath.
"Then let’s force it out."
Lu Yan picked up a gigantic stone weighing tens of thousands of pounds, flew to the largest volcano in the middle, and forcefully threw the rock into the volcano.
From beneath the volcano, a faint red light spread out; its depths were invisible.
A good while later, they heard a loud rumbling sound.
They waited and when there was still no movement, they picked up two larger rocks and threw them into the volcano.
Roar!
Suddenly, an angry roar emerged from beneath the volcano. It sounded like a dragon’s chant, piercing the heavens.
"It’s here."
The two of them rapidly retreated to create distance.
The next moment, a colossal creature broke out of the volcano’s mouth.
This massive creature, shaped like a long snake, was over fifty meters long. Its body was covered in scales, its head bore horns, and its stomach possessed claws. It was fiery red and emitted waves of scorching breath.
"A Jiaolong, it really is a Jiaolong."
Lu Yan was somewhat excited.
It was strikingly similar to the dragons of legends in his past life.
He never thought that he could see creatures from past legends in this world.
Of course, the origins of the Jiaolong in this world was significantly different from that of past legends.
It was an alien beast in this world.
It initially lived on the Blood Land Vein, but later, the Jiaolong awakened the method of cultivation from its own bloodline, which allowed it to absorb energy from the world and practice independently, without relying on the Energy of Earth Blood. It then left the Blood Land Vein and hid in the deep mountains and old forests.
The Fire Jiaolong’s enormous eyes stared at Lu Yan and Shen Yinuo. Its body twisted, and it pounced towards the two.
"Yinuo, I’ll attack first."
Lu Yan displayed a strong desire to fight, executing a combination of the eight ultimate body-refining martial arts techniques. His feet stomped heavily in mid-air, and his True Vigor exploded, providing an enormous thrust that propelled him towards the Fire Jiaolong.
Whoosh, whoosh...
The Fire Jiaolong reached out its claw towards Lu Yan, causing intense wind and forming whipping gales that rolled towards Lu Yan.
"Cold Magic Palm."
Lu Yan pushed out his palms, his power surging, forming frosty currents to counter the gale created by the Jiaolong.
The fierce clash between the ice and fire led to loud sizzling sounds, creating a misty fog.
From within the clouds, a colossal Jiaolong’s claw reached out, clawing towards Lu Yan.
Lu Yan slapped his palm down, hitting one of the dragon’s claws.
Boom!
An intense blast echoed out. Lu Yan felt a surge of massive power, his body involuntarily retreated backward, his hand felt numb and a stabbing pain spread throughout.
"Such terrifying power, this Fire Jiaolong, it’s only in the True Body realm, but its strength is unimaginably strong," remarked Lu Yan, taken aback.
The Flood Dragon clan is innately mighty, and their gifts are unparalleled.
Upon reaching adulthood, they reach the True Body stage. The most formidable aspect is their physical bodies which can be paralleled with the King’s True Body of a human martial cultivator.
However, Lu Yan’s current strength is exceptional. With top physical martial arts and a fifth level True Body refinement cultivation, his power had reached horrific levels.
If he were to confront Fang Xuansha who was two stages higher than him now, Lu Yan would not be the slightest bit afraid; he could even send the latter flying.
Yet a moment ago, a single swipe from the Fire Jiaolong had swept him away, resulting in an agonizing pain in his hand.
The power of the Fire Jiaolong was evidently stronger than his.
Seeing that his attack had failed, the Fire Jiaolong was somewhat surprised. It raised its body towards the sky and twisted, swooping towards Lu Yan unrelentingly.
Lu Yan intently watched every move of the Fire Jiaolong, the way to cultivate the True Dragon Nine Strikes and the Divine Intent diagram sprung up in his mind, juxtaposing with the current situation.
At the same time, he let his body fall to the ground landing solidly on it.
Members of the Flood Dragon clan are innately prodigious at soaring through the sky, but after all, he was just in the True Body realm. Long-time mid-air manipulation consumed an enormous amount of True Vigor and as such, unleashing all his combat power could only be done while being grounded.
The Fire Jiaolong twirled its body and pounced again at Lu Yan, its claws reaching out like a small mountain range.
Boom!
Lu Yan gathered all his strength and sent out another palm strike.
This time, he used the more powerful Flame Dragon Palm.
A resonating boom later, Lu Yan’s body violently retreated, creating deep furrows in the ground as he passed.
"Such strength, though it hasn’t reached the Primordial Spirit Realm, the power is far beyond ordinary True Body Seventh Refinement, and it’s even stronger than that of a King’s True Body Seventh Refinement," Lu Yan thought to himself.
"Could it be that this Fire Jiaolong’s physical form greatly surpasses the King’s True Body?" He wondered.
Without giving Lu Yan any opportunity for respite, the Fire Jiaolong attacked again.
Suddenly, a Great Sun Melting Furnace fell down from the sky, pressing down on the Fire Jiaolong.
It was Shen Yinuo who had sprung into action.
The Fire Jiaolong continued its assault on Lu Yan, simply swatting its tail against the Great Sun Melting Furnace. The furnace was fiercely shaken by the strike, and was flung far away.
Lu Yan applied the Void Steps, flashing past the Fire Jiaolong’s attack.
However, the Fire Jiaolong lashed out with its four dragon claws, to which Lu Yan evasively responded.
Boom, boom, boom...
The ground was marred by large pits as a result of the Fire Jiaolong’s attacks, with fragments of rocks scattering in all directions.
After several failed attacks, the Fire Jiaolong became irate and opened its mouth to expel a pillar of fire that swept towards Lu Yan.
Lu Yan rapidly retreated, running the Cold Magic Palm, as he continuously launched attacks.
In the meantime, Shen Yinuo hurried over standing on the Great Sun Melting Furnace and aiming towards the head of the Fire Jiaolong again.
The dragon could only change its course and swat the furnace, which sent it flying again.
Shen Yinuo, however, immediately maneuvered the Great Sun Melting Furnace back for another attack.
Distracted by Shen Yinuo, Lu Yan quickly retreated, pulled out the Starfall Bow, and shot continuously at the Fire Jiaolong.
The Fire Jiaolong roared with fury, smacking away the arrows with a quick swing of its claws.
"Yinuo, avoid head-on clashes, just hold it off," Lu Yan transmitted the instruction.
Dong!
Yinuo had another exchange with the Fire Jiaolong before retreating. She threw out two flying knives aiming at the eyes of the Fire Jiaolong.
The Fire Jiaolong slightly tilted its head, avoiding the knives, then quickly lunged back at Lu Yan.
Lu Yan refused to engage in a direct physical confrontation with the Fire Jiaolong. Instead, he glided around deftly, occasionally drawing his bow for an attack.
The purpose of their journey after all was not to hunt down the Fire Jiaolong, but to harness its presence to practice the True Dragon Nine Strikes.
All that was needed was to observe the Jiaolong’s attacking techniques and corroborate them with the secrets and the Divine Intent Diagram.
At failing to land continuous attacks, the Fire Jiaolong appeared frustrated. It soared into the sky, heading for the mouth of the volcano, indicating its readiness to withdraw.
"I’m not done yet."
Lu Yan chased after it, channeling his True Vigor into an arrow, manifested in the form of a Nine Ring Arrow aimed at the soft section of the Fire Jiaolong’s abdomen.
The whistling arrow forced the Fire Jiaolong to be on guard, and it responded by striking the arrow with its claw.
With a clang, the arrow exploded. The scales on the Jiaolong’s claw were pierced, and blood seeped out.
This infuriated the Fire Jiaolong. It twirled, lunging again at Lu Yan, spewing forth a pillar of fire from its mouth.
Lu Yan deftly dodged, but the Fire Jiaolong didn’t cease to eject fire. Lu Yan’s speed, however, was faster, as he constantly flickered, evading all its attacks.
After unleashing for a while, the Fire Jiaolong seemed a bit tired. Once again, it turned to fly towards the mouth of the volcano.
This time, regardless of Lu Yan’s provocations, the Fire Jiaolong only defended against the arrows and refrained from launching a counterattack. After a few body twitches, it vanished into the volcano.
"Lu Yan, this Fire Jiaolong might have reached True Body Eighth Refinements," said Shen Yinuo, approaching Lu Yan.
"True Body Eighth Refinements?"
Lu Yan was extremely surprised, retorting, "The True Body realm only has seven refinements as the peak, doesn’t it? How then could there be an eighth refinement?"
"For common martial cultivators, indeed, seven refinements indicate the peak of the True Body, and they can start aiming at the Primordial Spirit Realm. But for a few extraordinarily gifted individuals, the seventh stage isn’t the peak. Their True Bodies can undergo further transformations, reaching the eighth or even the ninth stage of refinement," explained Shen Yinuo.
"Nine signifies the extreme limit. Throughout history, a few specially gifted talents believed that only at the ninth True Body refinement stage could one become genuinely perfect and thus were not satisfied at the seventh stage. They pursued the ninth stage of True Body refinement."
"Has anyone reached the ninth stage of True Body refinement?"
Lu Yan asked.
