Chapter 452: Great Completion of Marrow Refinement, the Undying Mirage Dragon

With root-bone alteration long familiar, Li Yuan had long since made light work of it.

Skillfully switching his palm control, Xu Tui drove the Dragon Tiger Great Stance, and in concert with the medicinal power of the Long Hu Longhu Dadan, it was not long before thick mist rose within the small courtyard.

The grinding sound of sinew and bone was like a faint tiger's roar and dragon's cry, piercing through the body.

"The progress of marrow refinement is very fast…"

Pushing the stance work, Li Yuan's mind was like a bright mirror, reflecting every organ, sensing the subtle changes of the root-bone alteration.

Over these past months, Li Yuan's focus had been on altering his root-bone, but the progress of marrow refinement was also genuinely not slow; in his perception, his skeleton had already taken on a jade hue, and with a light grinding, the sound of metal and stone rang out.

Much like the "Immortal Flesh, Jade Bone" mentioned in the Daoist classics of his previous life — this meant marrow refinement had already borne fruit.

"The Mirage Dragon, a strange beast from beyond the stars, possesses the characteristics of a hundred spirit beasts…"

Compared to the Crimson Blood Rest, the alteration of the Mirage Dragon Body was far more complex — this was a strange beast from beyond the stars, and the hundred spirit forms it possessed were vastly different from those he had altered before.

Moreover, this Mirage Dragon did not seem to be an ordinary one.

The Mirage Dragon is no serpent; it hides its divinity within its slough, and through the transformation of life and death, it can become a Heaven Dragon or a Star Dragon.

Sensing the Mirage Dragon's belt within the Soldier Register, Li Yuan felt a subtle stirring in his heart — this Mirage Dragon should be in the midst of its transformation.

Since obtaining the Mirage Dragon's belt, Li Yuan had faced it daily in breathing exercises, nourishing and tempering it with blood and true qi; though he had not yet reached the realm of unity between man and weapon, their compatibility was already very high.

He could be certain — this Mirage Dragon was still alive.

"Perhaps not a hundred forms."

As this thought turned in his mind, Li Yuan's movements shifted from slow to fast, and the grinding sound of sinew and bone transmitted from within grew increasingly dense and violent.

"Crash—"

Within his body, qi, blood, and the Shan Xuan Jing true qi surged and flowed, scouring the various organs and sinews.

Over these months, Yang Jian Tian Yi had broken through once more, reaching the fifth refinement level; the true qi within his body, whether in purity or total amount, had already reached an extremely high level.

"Perhaps, with the aid of this root-nature alteration, I can achieve Great Completion of marrow refinement in one stroke!"

As this thought turned in his mind, Li Yuan flipped his wrist and took the one and only "Long Hu Dan" — this was the best auxiliary spirit pill for marrow refinement, bar none.

Dragon Sinew, Tiger Bone, and the Dragon and Tiger Pills were among the most widely circulated pills in the jianghu among the kings of spirit pills; their fame was immense.

"Roar!"

The instant the great pill entered his belly, Li Yuan seemed to hear a tiger's roar, as if a spirit-awakened fierce tiger had been swallowed into his stomach.

"This pill truly is fierce…"

Li Yuan only felt his belly churning like rivers and seas overturned; the medicinal power of this Long Hu Dan was as wild and fierce as a tiger, but it was quickly suppressed by him.

With his degree of control over his fleshly body, even if a true spirit tiger were within his belly, he could strangle it to death.

Suppressing the Long Hu Dan, squeezing out its medicinal power, he transmitted it bit by bit through true qi to his entire body.

This Long Hu Dan had a clear, targeted effect — it rushed straight at the bones throughout his body.

"Crack, crack, crack—"

Li Yuan's movements did not change, but the grinding sound of sinew and bone grew several times louder, and he felt bursts of stabbing pain coming from his entire skeleton.

This medicinal power was wild and fierce, as if it intended to crush all the bones in his body and reshape them.

"Fine pill!"

Li Yuan's eyes brightened slightly; the moment he loosened his suppression of this Long Hu Dan, the pain surged tenfold, and despite being well prepared, he could not help but let out a muffled grunt.

Fortunately, Daoist Li was one who could endure hardship; after a little patience and weathering the intense pain, came a sense of exhilaration beyond words.

It was as if flesh and blood were peeled away in an instant, and the skeleton was exposed directly to the heavy snow of deep winter — utterly transparent.

"Ao—!"

A violent dragon's cry rang out in response; Li Yuan's body trembled, and an intense tingling numbness spread from his joints and exploded outward.

With a "thud," Li Yuan dropped to the ground in a sitting position, pressing his lower abdomen to stimulate his organs, squeezing out the medicinal power of those two great pills.

The tingling numbness spread throughout his entire body, the grinding of his joints grew ever denser; soon, Li Yuan let out a muffled grunt, the pores all over his body dilated, and streams of sweat-vapor rose like steam, making a "whooo" sound, as if even his blood had been boiled.

"Success!"

Li Yuan sat cross-legged; the dilated pores closed once more, heat steamed within his body, and his skin rapidly flushed crimson.

But beneath this crimson, a faint jade-colored radiance could be seen.

Li Yuan closed his eyes, feeling as if the bones within his body were glowing; his inner vision became incomparably clear, and the light of his bones illuminated his organs.

"Great Completion of marrow refinement!"

Li Yuan's spirit trembled slightly.

With the support of the Long Hu Longhu Dadan and Long Hu Dan's medicinal power, he had completed the slow-grinding path of marrow refinement in just over two months.

Though due to excessive intensity it lacked a measure of perfect harmony, it had already reached the realm where blood replacement could be undertaken!

He lightly stretched his sinews and bones, feeling his joints were utterly transparent; every subtle movement could unleash extremely fierce and powerful force.

The skeleton supported his body; with Great Completion of bone refinement, his physical strength naturally surged greatly, and along with it, the multiple horizontal-training Wu Gong he practiced in tandem also received tremendous amplification.

Especially that art, the Ten Thousand Blades Fire Dragon.

Horizontal-training ultimate arts naturally grew along with the growth of one's own physique; Li Yuan could clearly perceive that his own physical resilience had greatly increased.

"The skeleton should be able to withstand the strikes of upper-grade, or even supreme-grade famous weapons."

Li Yuan only had a vague estimate, after all — he could not slice away his flesh and blood to have his skeleton take the strikes of upper-grade or supreme-grade famous weapons head-on.

But the benefits of marrow refinement were truly immense; though he had not yet replaced his blood, he already felt his qi and blood changing, with no small improvement in both quality and quantity.

Additionally, he discovered that the fifteen acupoint orifices within his body also seemed to have grown, able to hold more true qi.

After digesting for a while, Li Yuan's mind stirred slightly.

In the place of spiritual light, the Thunder Dragon collapsed and scattered; in a single turn, it transformed into a strange form — like a dragon without claws, like a serpent with horns.

This was the Mirage Dragon.

Holding the visualization in mind, changes arose naturally within his body.

A single refinement altered over a hundred spirit forms, and even though Li Yuan already bore three hundred and fifty-three forms, he could still feel the intense change.

Just as he had expected, the various spirit beast forms altered by this Mirage Dragon body were utterly different from the spirit forms of the present age, though they did not affect the root bone refinement.

"This Mirage Dragon should bear a hundred and thirty forms?"

Thirty forms more than expected — Li Yuan was well pleased. At this point, he had walked nearly half the Thousand Forms path.

"Before Blood Replacement reaches Great Completion, a thousand forms pose no problem, but ten thousand forms…"

Li Yuan felt it was a bit dicey; even if the Hundred Forms Pill were refined, it would likely still be far from enough.

Once Blood Replacement reached Great Completion, the root bone would be completely fixed. To refine the root bone again, one would have to sever one's own cultivation and start over — that was hardly a worthwhile bargain.

"Activating the Nourishing Life Furnace can dissolve the realm…"

The thought merely crossed Li Yuan's mind; he had no intention of doing so.

All along this path, how many pills had he spent, how much hardship had he endured — uh, quite a bit of hardship.

"A move made is never regretted… I wonder if that Dragon Demon Heart Scripture has a method to continue refining the root bone after Blood Replacement reaches Great Completion."

Li Daoyu valued root bone refinement greatly, but he had also been longing to enter the Dao for a long time.

Thousand-Li Soul Lock, True Qi Transformation, Sword Flight… as well as several divine arts — all required entering the Dao as a prerequisite.

"The trade-off is too hard; best to have both."

Li Yuan stood up. The night was deep, four round moons hung high in the night sky, quite bright, making the stars seem dim.

The breakthrough in realm eased the oppression in his heart somewhat.

"All fear comes from insufficient martial power. If this Daoyu could merge the three essences right now, whatever Law Lord or Martial Suppression King — I'd have them all in hand!"

Letting out a long breath of turbid air, Li Yuan loosened his muscles and bones, feeling the changes after Marrow Refinement Great Completion and root bone refinement.

The enhancement and transformation of his physique was immediate. He tried briefly, simultaneously activating the two great Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing.

"Crack!"

Li Yuan's foot stamped down hard; the floor tiles of the entire courtyard cracked in one stomp. The surging great force made his control plummet.

He let out a muffled grunt, filth-colored blood trickled from his nostrils, but his eyes lit up brightly.

"Star Moving Force, with the Star Dragon and Tiger simultaneously bestowed, can also be briefly maintained… mm, at least one minute is no problem."

The medicinal power of the Long Hu Longhu Dadan flowed through his whole body, the pain fading. Li Yuan felt somewhat relieved. Relying on the bestowal of the two great Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing, could he cross fists with a Grandmaster for a moment? After a while, he washed up casually and went back to his room.

On the bed, Li Yuan sat cross-legged, feeling the changes within himself and sorting through the many thoughts in his mind.

"Within the bestowal of the Star Dragon and Tiger, there is a portion of 'Star-Rated Dragon and Tiger.' Bestowed for long, it can also refine the root bone — it's just that this bestowal puts too much pressure on the body, very hard to maintain…"

Li Yuan murmured to himself.

Regarding ten thousand forms, he still had ideas in mind, but he had to consider whether, if a great battle were to come, he could still quietly practice his arts.

"Hoo!"

After a long while, Li Yuan suppressed the distracting thoughts in his heart, took off the Mirage Dragon Belt and the Crimson Blood Patterned Dragon Armor, preparing to sacrifice-refine and nurture them.

"Roar!"

Almost the instant he took out the Mirage Dragon Belt, Li Yuan heard a dragon's cry — not exploding in his mind, but right before his eyes.

"Mm!"

Li Yuan's eyelid twitched; he reacted swiftly and pressed down hard on this Mirage Dragon Belt that was on the verge of swelling.

"Crack!"

Great force erupted; in just one moment, the bed collapsed.

Li Yuan darted out of the room in one step, barely avoiding collapsing the house. He exerted force with both hands, pressing down hard on this violently struggling divine weapon.

At this moment, the Mirage Dragon Belt seemed to have become a true dragon; under its struggling, he was nearly sent flying.

Li Yuan urgently activated the Long Kun Jun-tian Hammer, Thunder Dragon Jun-tian Hammer — even with the bestowal of four divine hammers, he could not suppress it.

"This Mirage Dragon is truly alive."

Li Yuan was surprised yet delighted, and simultaneously activated the Sea-Splitting Mysterious Whale Hammer: "Star Moving Force!"

With a muffled "puff," the Mirage Dragon Belt's struggling vanished instantly, like a venomous snake pinched at its seven-inch mark, going limp in an instant.

"Roar!"

Li Yuan relaxed inwardly, lowered his head. Red light flickered; the Mirage Dragon Belt trembled lightly, the dragon-head end lifted up, its small eyes full of unwillingness and bewilderment.

"This spirituality is truly abundant!"

Seeing this little fellow no longer struggling, Li Yuan returned to his room. In the corner, the little mouse was also full of bewilderment, as if just startled awake.

"Sleep your fill."

Li Yuan flicked a pill over; the little mouse grabbed it in one embrace. Today's Li Daoyu was rolling in wealth, and his pills were of excellent quality.

"Can you understand?"

Li Yuan fiddled with the Mirage Dragon Belt, even using the Sea-Splitting Divine Language, but got no response. He pondered for a while, then channeled true qi.