Chapter 11: Thousand-Year Dragon-Head Ginseng Traded for the Appearance of a Near-Jiao

"Forget it, let them scheme as they please; I shall walk my own path through the wilderness. Once my strength rises, it will be more useful than anything else." Fang Longye set aside the calculations in his heart and began to ponder his subsequent cultivation.

His Golden Core was currently nearing perfection, and he would soon be able to condense his Yin Spirit and step into the Primordial Spirit Realm.

"I must evolve my Bloodline once more before that." To prevent himself from being affected by his crocodile body and remaining an ugly monster after taking human form, Fang Longye felt he needed to make one more effort.

What's more, the method Qingshe promised to compensate for the final flaws in his cultivation was to help him evolve into a jiao-dragon, using the power of creation brought about by the Bloodline advancement to make up for the defects in his origin.

There had been talk before about the influence of the Enlightenment Art; in essence, the Enlightenment Art is nothing but pulling up seedlings to help them grow. Not to mention Qingshe, a demon immortal who had only just stepped into the Immortal Realm, even if a great power were to cast it, it would still cause defects in the one being enlightened.

However, when a great power enlightens a living being, it only affects their spiritual intelligence, leading to a lack of wisdom and flaws in comprehension. But the enlightenment Qingshe Niangniang performed on his original body, due to her low realm and the "pulling up seedlings" effect, caused three points of damage to his original body.

The first was the common ignorance of spiritual intelligence in enlightened bodies, a lack of wisdom that affects comprehension. This had already been compensated for after Fang Longye transmigrated and his soul merged.

Furthermore, through his cultivation of focusing his spirit, his soul had been refined and purified, completely eliminating the influence; in fact, due to the soul fusion, his comprehension had greatly increased.

The second was a weak demon body with various defects in its physical structure. This, too, had been completely compensated for under Fang Longye's cultivation of the "Water Origin Blood Refining Scripture" and after experiencing one Bloodline evolution.

The third was the defect in his cultivation aptitude; this was damage to his origin, and it was the area that was still difficult to fully compensate for.

Because of this, although his spiritual intelligence was clear and his physical body was strong, he was affected by his origin to the point that he feared he might not even achieve the Immortal Dao.

This was also the reason Qingshe was willing to risk being suppressed by his Bloodline to help him evolve into the species of a jiao-dragon. Because if he did not enter the Immortal Dao, where would he find the strength to help her deal with two True Immortals?

Of course, Fang Longye also guessed that Qingshe had the intention of using his Bloodline to suppress Jinshe.

"Sigh! I don't know who created this Enlightenment Art, why it had to be spread so widely. Just this single item of damaging one's origin—who knows how much one has to pay to make up for it."

In fact, Fang Longye did not realize that compared to other enlightened beings, he had the easiest time compensating for his defects.

Because among these three, the defect in spiritual intelligence is the hardest to compensate for and also the most important.

With insufficient wisdom, one cannot comprehend anything when trying to cultivate, let alone anything else.

But once spiritual intelligence is flawless, as long as one can contemplate cultivation matters, the rest is easy to handle, and nothing is worth worrying about.

Just like Fang Longye; at the beginning, his original body couldn't even manage to advance to a Golden Core, but after he transmigrated, his spiritual intelligence was supplemented, and he was no longer as ignorant and foolish as the original body.

With his cultivation, his physical body grew continuously toward perfection, his Bloodline advanced step by step under the tempering of his cultivation methods, his damaged origin was compensated for, and his cultivation aptitude was also improved.

Now, advancing to the Primordial Spirit Realm was as easy as pie.

As long as he transformed into a jiao-dragon, relying on that power of creation during the Bloodline advancement, he could completely cast off the enlightened body. If those boys enlightened by great powers knew this, they would absolutely be envious to death.

They only had one path to cast off their enlightened bodies, and that was through reincarnation to repair the defects in their spiritual intelligence.

Compared to Fang Longye, how arduous was that? Of course, Fang Longye might even envy them for their profound cultivation and deep backgrounds!

He took stock of the spiritual objects collected in the "Longgong" of the Jinsha River and finished dealing with the matters that required his attention.

He then left the palace and broke through the water to emerge.

The old routine! Black Water Wild Marsh~

In an instant, having arrived on the wind, he reached his destination.

He paced into the underground karst cave, the place where he had spent the most time since he transmigrated.

He brought out the Mitian Banner, sat cross-legged on the huge stone bed, closed his eyes, and looked at the "Equivalent Balance" in his mind.

Over these years, as he continuously used his Golden Finger to trade, he had gradually grasped the function of the balance, no longer using it rigidly according to the information instilled by the balance as he had before.

The subtlety of its application lies in the heart.

For example, he discovered that low-grade items of the same type could be put together to exchange for a high-grade item of the same type, to a certain extent achieving quantity over quality.

Of course, this was only to a certain extent; as for the wonderful dream of exchanging massive amounts of Dharma Treasures for Innate Spiritual Treasures or Innate Supreme Treasures, there was no need to think about that.

Fang Longye was now seeking a further step in his Bloodline; what he could exchange and trade for now was undoubtedly in the category of spiritual medicines like heavenly materials and earthly treasures.

As he continuously placed the spiritual medicines he possessed onto one end of the balance, his heart began to bleed. Half of his spiritual medicines were placed down, yet the other end still had not produced a heavenly material or earthly treasure that could act upon his Bloodline advancement.

Sixty percent, seventy percent, eighty percent... He gritted his teeth and placed in a thousand-year-old blood ginseng and an eight-hundred-year-old blood lingzhi gifted by Qingshe. Finally, the result he wanted appeared.

He let out a breath; fortunately, his quantity of spiritual medicines held up.

He confirmed the trade, and eighty percent of the various spiritual medicines in Fang Longye's Storage Bag vanished completely.

Fortunately, the heavenly materials and earthly treasures traded for were one hundred percent compatible with the world's laws, and their functions had not changed.

Thousand-Year Dragon-Head Ginseng: Born from dragon blood, formed by absorbing the essence of heaven and earth for a thousand years; consuming it allows for evolution toward the Dragon Clan.

"A pity, it is only born from dragon blood. If this were born from the essence blood of a True Dragon, I reckon I would have transformed directly into a jiao-dragon after consuming it."

"But if it were really born from True Dragon essence blood, it would not be something I could afford to trade for right now." Fang Longye sighed inwardly; equivalent trade, you get what you pay for.

He did not immediately take out the ginseng he had traded for, but instead left it in the trading space that came with the Equivalent Balance, and began to circulate his Qi and regulate his breath, calming his mind.

This was also a discovery he had made over these years of trading physical objects. The physical objects obtained from trading did not have to appear directly in reality; they could also be stored in a space, to be taken out whenever needed. However, once taken out, it was impossible to put them back into the trading space.

Before long, having restored his state, he first took out a jade gourd, a jade knife, and a jade plate from his Storage Bag.

They were not really Dharma Treasures; except for the jade gourd, which was a Dharma Artifact with nine Earthly Fiend Restrictions specifically used for storing and nourishing the essence of some spiritual medicines, the rest were just ordinary jade ware. He placed the jade plate to his front left and set the jade gourd and jade knife on it for later use.

Immediately, with a thought, the Dragon-Head Blood Ginseng, traded for at the cost of eighty percent of his spiritual medicines, appeared before him.

Fang Longye's gaze focused. He saw that the blood ginseng was the thickness of an adult's forearm and about a foot long, with four long whiskers—the two on top slightly shorter, the two below slightly longer, like human limbs. The facial features on the head were clear, though it looked like a dragon's head; the blood color was deep, red to the point of turning purple.

Apart from the condensed medicinal power that could trigger the agitation of his own Bloodline just by sensing it with his divine sense, it was not particularly eye-catching, nor did it have any Divine Light or auspicious aura. Perhaps this was what is called a divine object concealing its own brilliance.

He grasped the blood ginseng, took the jade knife, and lightly sliced the top of the Dragon-Head Ginseng, then picked up the jade gourd and aimed the cut at the mouth of the gourd.

As soon as the skin of the Dragon-Head Ginseng was broken, a drop of ginseng liquid as fresh as blood immediately seeped out, the liquid carrying strands of golden thread, like flames.

A fragrant scent assailed his nostrils.

He suppressed the increasingly agitated Bloodline in his body, squeezed out all the ginseng liquid, and closed the gourd. He first swallowed the Dragon-Head Ginseng, which was now just a skin, into his mouth; it could not be wasted.

There was not much vital energy, but it still nourished his physical body, and his primordial essence was slightly strengthened.

Without hesitation, he swallowed all the ginseng liquid essence in the jade gourd, then transformed into his original form and coiled on the huge stone bed.

As the ginseng liquid entered his belly, before he could even use the 'Ingestion' divine ability to refine it, it immediately turned into a large mass of highly energetic medicinal power.

Inside Fang Longye's body, it was like a churning river; the medicinal power of the ginseng liquid set off a frenzy, transforming into a very scorching and violent essence that began to roam throughout his body.

Within this essence, strands of fine golden threads continuously gathered, forming a mass of golden liquid that roamed his entire body. Finally, it wrapped around his heart, and in just a moment, it permeated into the interior of the heart.

Then it suddenly burst open, merging into the blood in the heart chambers, and with a single beat of his heart, it spread throughout his entire body.

In an instant, it was as if sparks had ignited his blood. Crimson-colored blood surged with blood-colored flames, scorching his entire body.

Scales, fur, muscles, tendons, bones, and internal organs were all enveloped in blood-fire, and the entire crocodile body transformed into a fire crocodile, with blue smoke rising.

However, during this process, Fang Longye, as a water-attribute monster, felt not a hint of discomfort; on the contrary, he felt as if he were immersed in a pool of hot spring water, feeling exceptionally comfortable.

Under the calcination of that blood-fire, many impurities within his body were refined and expelled.

His scales continuously shrank, becoming rounded and fine, until finally, with a 'bang', they exploded and flew off. The crocodile skin underneath also seemed to have its moisture baked dry by the blood-fire, sticking to his body in a withered state before cracking open. Once licked by the blood-fire, it turned into fly ash.

The single horn on his forehead became increasingly sharp, emitting a lustrous divine light; his muscles became tighter, tougher than steel; his tendons became more supple, with increased elasticity; and his bones became increasingly pearly white, with golden threads entwined upon them.

His blood began to decrease continuously, and its color changed, shifting from crimson with flecks of gold toward a golden-red.

The viscosity of the blood rose continuously, heavy like lead and mercury, making a 'swish-swish' sound.

After a long while, some pale blue mucus seeped out from his sturdy muscles, covering his entire body and forming a layer of soft, delicate, yet extremely tough skin.

This was not the end; when the skin covered his flesh again, tiny specks of light appeared on it, and in the blink of an eye, they turned into crystalline, rounded, pale blue scales.

The scales were covered in golden patterns, spread across his entire body.

The crocodile head completely transformed into the appearance of a flood dragon. The crocodile tail also transformed into the posture of a fish tail.

As the remaining medicinal power of the ginseng liquid continuously merged with his flesh, Fang Longye's body size began to grow again.

The single horn on his forehead was five feet long, shining brilliantly. His body length gradually increased to about thirty zhang, becoming increasingly close to the slender body of a flood dragon or snake.

The four limbs, no longer short and thick like crocodile legs, also lengthened, becoming indistinguishable from those of a flood dragon.

In half a day's time, the transformation ended.

Fang Longye, now having layers of concealment, no longer feared the attention of Qingshe, so he left the karst cave and soared in mid-air over the marsh.

One could see his flood dragon head held high, whiskers swaying beside his mouth, his forehead protruding, a silver-bright single horn standing upright, his whole body covered in blue scales with golden patterns, the end of his long tail being a fish tail similar to that of a flood dragon, his four limbs strong, and the four toes of his claws knotted and vigorous like eagle talons.

Except for the lack of a reverse scale under his throat, and a neck that was thin while his belly was overly bloated—as if he were a flood dragon with a big belly from eating too much—he was indistinguishable from a normal flood dragon.

He unleashed the innate divine ability he had finally awakened during this bloodline transformation, 'Cloud-Walking and Rain-Making'; as he breathed, he exhaled clouds, and his whole body was wrapped in mist, concealing the bloated waist and belly that looked somewhat discordant with his body.

One could see the spines on his scaled back, his body appearing and disappearing in the mist, no different from the appearance of the flood dragon in myths and legends.

"So, what species am I exactly now?" Fang Longye soared in the mid-air of the marsh for a long time, then transformed into a human-standing form and sat cross-legged on a small island, burying his head in thought.

A flood dragon? He did not count as one yet.

Feeling that his origin had been compensated during this transformation to the point where only a tiny, negligible defect remained; plus, with the awakening of his innate divine ability and some inherited knowledge emerging from his Bloodline, he was certain he did not yet count as a flood dragon.

It could only be said that he had obtained a near-flood dragon body, just as a flood dragon's near-dragon appearance is to a True Dragon.

This must be the different paths one must take to become a dragon depending on the species, and the forms transformed into along the way must also differ! The *Guangya* records: "Those with scales are called flood dragons, those with wings are called Yinglong, those with horns are called Qiu dragons, and those without horns are called Chi dragons."

In his previous life, there was also the saying: "A snake becomes a python in five hundred years, a python becomes a boa in five hundred years, a boa becomes a flood dragon in five hundred years, a flood dragon becomes a Chi dragon in five hundred years, a Chi dragon becomes a Qiu dragon in five hundred years, and a Qiu dragon becomes an Yinglong in five hundred years."

There is also the *Shuyiji*, which mentions the evolutionary route of dragons and mentions another type of species, the 'Hui': "A water serpent becomes a flood dragon in five hundred years, a flood dragon becomes a dragon in a thousand years, a dragon becomes a horned dragon in five hundred years, and an Yinglong in a thousand years."

They are all different, with no fixed pattern. Even the dragon's nine sons are each different!

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(End of this chapter)