Chapter 321: Chapter 185: Yinjiao Sheds His Scales

After defeating Dong Shangjing, no one else dared to ascend the Magic Battle Platform to challenge him. Only now did these Dong Family disciples realize that the rumors about Yang Jing fighting the True Disciples of the Four Demon Sects in the Northern Domain without a single loss were all true, without any exaggeration.

He wasn’t just someone propped up by the Northern Army Governor’s Mansion’s hype.

In fact, he was much stronger than the rumors suggested.

Among them, the sons of Noble Families, a culture of boastful exaggeration was rampant. Through mutual praise, a sliver of power could be blown up tenfold. Judging others by their own standards, they assumed Yang Jing was the same, only to find they had smashed headfirst into an iron plate.

Yang Jing had secured the right to use the Dragon Transformation Pool for another ten days.

Yinjiao had already spent a full ten days in the Dragon Transformation Pool, remaining submerged deep within its waters the entire time.

"Master, Senior Brother Yinjiao has been in the pool this whole time. Won’t he starve?"

Chi Yu flew above the Dragon Transformation Pool and circled around, but she couldn’t find any trace of her Senior Brother Yinjiao. A flicker of worry crossed her face as she grew concerned for him.

Yinjiao had not yet reached Foundation Establishment and couldn’t practice Fasting. Although Flood Dragons could go without food for long periods by hibernating, he was currently cultivating in the Dragon Transformation Pool.

"No need to worry. Your Senior Brother Yinjiao is in excellent condition right now. Don’t disturb him,"

Yang Jing said, rubbing her little round head.

"The pool is planted with Dragon Blood Lotuses. You don’t need to worry about your senior brother going hungry at all."

As one of the Ancient Techniques, the Supreme Nine Transformations of the Dragon Scripture was not purely a Qi Cultivation Technique. It was a single technique for both Qi Refining and Body Refining, so it naturally required the replenishment of Blood Qi during cultivation.

The Dong Family’s Spirit Plant Cultivators had planted a large number of Dragon Blood Lotuses in the Dragon Transformation Pool.

The original name of this lotus was Blood-Born Lotus. It thrived in swamps filled with corpses, absorbing their Blood Qi to grow. Although it had a somewhat sinister aura, it was a first-rate Spirit Plant for Body Refining Cultivators.

After the Dong Family’s Spirit Plant Cultivators obtained a Tier Three Blood-Born Lotus, they cultivated it over generations, breeding the Dragon Blood Lotus, a Spiritual Lotus that grew by absorbing Dragon Qi.

The Body Refinement efficacy of the Dragon Blood Lotus surpassed even that of the Blood-Born Lotus, but it could only grow in a Dragon Blood Pool.

All the various lotuses they had seen on the great lake in Divine Dragon City were failed specimens from the Spirit Plant Cultivators’ past breeding attempts.

After hearing her master’s explanation, Chi Yu was no longer worried about her senior brother going hungry. Instead, she became a little curious about the taste of the Dragon Blood Lotus.

After defeating Dong Shangjing, Yang Jing figured that the students of the White Dragon Academy wouldn’t dare try any more tricks. Thus, he stopped standing guard by the Dragon Transformation Pool every day and, when the mood struck, would take to wandering around the White Dragon Academy.

The White Dragon Academy had a history spanning tens of thousands of years, making it only a little less than ten thousand years younger than the Five Elements True Spirit Sect. It was far older than the Northern Army Governor’s Mansion.

From some of the buildings and stone inscriptions, one could catch a glimpse of the pioneering spirit of the cultivators from tens of thousands of years ago, who blazed a trail to open up the Western Continent.

One day, Yang Jing found himself sitting before Dean Dong Yunyou.

Dong Yunyou looked at Yang Jing, his expression extremely complicated. He resented Yang Jing for crushing the current generation of Dong disciples, yet he was also somewhat pleased that Yang Jing had caused the Pan City Dong Family to lose face.

The True Spirit Lineage and the Pan City Dong Family were practically one and the same. In fact, because the Great Cave Spirit Scripture allowed for such rapid advancement, many disciples from the other two Dong lineages also cultivated it. They formed cliques within the White Dragon Academy, making them the most difficult group to manage and a major headache for Dean Dong Yunyou.

"Dean Dong, I would like to borrow and read some books from the White Dragon Academy’s collection,"

Yang Jing said.

Dong Yunyou’s eyes widened. He had never imagined there could be such a shameless person in the world. First, he had thrashed the students of the White Dragon Academy and monopolized their Dragon Transformation Pool. Now, he was here to borrow books from their library.

’Does this man have no sense of shame?’

When Dong Yunyou remained silent, Yang Jing pressed him:

"I’m not asking to see the Dong Family’s inherited Magic techniques. I just want to borrow some general books to pass the time."

Dong Yunyou could only give a listless nod.

"Very well. But you must get my approval for every book you wish to borrow."

After that, every few days, Yang Jing would select a few books from the White Dragon Academy’s collection to borrow. To Dong Yunyou’s surprise, he truly never attempted to borrow any books related to cultivation or raising Dragon Beasts. Most of what he borrowed were travelogues from Dong Family ancestors and privately recorded histories of the family.

This made Dong Yunyou start to believe that Yang Jing was telling the truth; he really was just borrowing books to pass the time.

Of course, Yang Jing wasn’t just borrowing books for fun. He had never forgotten about that Nascent Soul Cultivator who had appeared and disappeared so mysteriously.

This person was likely the culprit behind the abnormality in Sima Peng’s Divine Soul.

’When he attacked me, he probably wanted to plant some kind of technique in my Divine Soul, too.’

If an ordinary Cultivator knew that a Nascent Soul Cultivator was watching them covetously, they would immediately be like an ant on a hot pan, unable to live a single day in peace.

Naturally, Yang Jing was also afraid, but he knew even better that fear couldn’t solve any problems.

According to True Monarch Dong Yiming, that mysterious Nascent Soul Cultivator had enslaved an Evil God. To completely prevent the return of those powerful worldly gods, the Six Great Sects had long ago either sealed or destroyed many records concerning Fur Gods and Evil Gods.

He thought, ’Ancestor Master Dong was one of the leaders of the campaign to purge the mountains and demolish the temples back then. Perhaps he left behind some records about those Divine Beings.’

’The Dong Family isn’t one of the Six Sects. Maybe their efforts to confiscate and destroy the forbidden texts weren’t as thorough. A few fragments might have survived in their archives.’

Unfortunately, though he leafed through several travelogues and autobiographies from that era, they were either vague about the events of the time or filled with simple platitudes and praises, offering limited information.

Yang Jing wasn’t in a hurry. He just went through them one by one.

His days in the White Dragon Academy passed quite leisurely. He spent his time reading books and cultivating, occasionally giving some pointers to his two disciples and reading the Tokens that Iron Head sent.

Dong Xiji would occasionally come to find him for drinks and tea. Yang Jing never refused, using these opportunities to befriend many other Noble Sons.

By the time of the third Dragon Transformation Pool competition, no one dared to challenge him anymore. After all, the Taixiao True Thunder that had heavily injured Dong Shangjing in a single strike that day was simply too terrifying.

All the White Dragon Academy students were prepared to just hold their noses and let him occupy the Dragon Transformation Pool for two months.

However, some White Dragon Academy students, seeing that Yang Jing was quite approachable when not engaged in Magical Combat, worked up the courage to ask him some questions about cultivation.

Yang Jing turned no one away. With the exception of the few Dong Family disciples who had offended him, he gave earnest guidance even to disciples from the Pan City lineage.

After all, he was here to borrow the Dragon Transformation Pool, not to make an irreconcilable enemy of the new generation of the Dong Family.

This actually improved Yang Jing’s reputation within the Dong Family considerably. Some students even claimed that it was Dong Jianyang and his companion who had offended Yang Jing, which was why Yang Jing occupied the Dragon Transformation Pool for two months as a form of punishment.

Yang Jing just laughed it off when he heard this.

After nearly fifty days at the White Dragon Academy, even Yang Jing had completely accumulated one hundred and eight drops of Magical Power and naturally broke through to the Fourth Layer of Foundation Establishment. But with Yinjiao still showing no signs of movement in the Dragon Transformation Pool, Yang Jing began to grow anxious.

After all, the Dragon Transformation Order was only valid for two months. When the time was up, if Yinjiao still hadn’t completed his transformation, he would have to leave the Dragon Transformation Pool regardless.

The reason the Dong Family’s Golden Core Cultivators turned a blind eye to Yang Jing monopolizing the Dragon Transformation Pool for two months was simply because he was in the right. It was their own juniors who were in the wrong.

But if the time on the Dragon Transformation Order ran out and Yang Jing tried to forcefully remain in the Dragon Transformation Pool, he would immediately lose this justification. At that point, the Dong Family’s Golden Core Cultivators would surely take action and "invite" him out.

Yang Jing hesitated. He concluded that his only option would be to shamelessly ask Dong Xiji to borrow the Yicheng Dong Family’s Dragon Transformation Pool. But a favor from a Noble Son like him was not one to be taken lightly. When the time came to repay it, it would cost an arm and a leg.

He pushed the thought to the back of his mind.

Fortunately, on the fifty-third day, Yinjiao’s status panel suddenly began to change, especially the Talent page.

In the Dragon Transformation Pool, Yinjiao was lying at the bottom, the surrounding Dragon Blood Lotuses all devoured.

He was currently writhing in pain at the bottom of the pool.

The new scales had already grown in, but the old ones had yet to fall off, wracking his entire body with a tearing agony.

Because Yinjiao had consumed a large number of Spirit Pills from the Nine Infant Pill Scripture, his physique was exceptionally strong, which in turn caused the pain of shedding his scales to be exceptionally intense.

For most Flood Dragons, when they shed their scales, the old scales loosen, and they only need to rub against rocks to naturally scrape them off. But his old scales remained extremely tough, making the shedding difficult.

After a moment of hesitation, Yinjiao activated his Canglang Sword and began prying at the old scales on his body.

Because the scales were so tough, he even had to channel Sword Gang into the blade just to dislodge them.

The tip of the sword pierced the gap between the scales, the blade bending to its limit. After a long time, a single silver scale was pried off and sent flying.

With every old scale he pried off, Yinjiao felt a piercing pain, but the thirty-six Acupoints he had already opened would immediately surge with an incomparably pure Dragon Qi, soothing the agony and nourishing the newborn scales.

At first, the old scales were neat and tightly interlocked, making them very difficult to pry off. As he removed more and more of them, it became easier and easier.

The newborn scales, not yet having been nourished by Magical Power for long, were still thin and fragile. In some places where the old scales had just been shed, the new skin was even a bit wrinkled. This was the most vulnerable time for a Flood Dragon.

Nourished by his own Dragon Qi and the waters of the Dragon Transformation Pool, these Flood Dragon Scales quickly became exceptionally tough.

Yinjiao spent a total of three days shedding all of his old scales. He suppressed the urge to roar at the sky and naturally comprehended a brand new Talent.

Without time to savor this new Talent, Yinjiao gathered up all the old scales scattered on the ground, not missing a single one. He gave an emotional glance at the Canglang Sword, which was now covered in nicks, and carefully put the Flying Sword away.

This Tier One Flying Sword had been severely damaged while prying off the scales. If Yinjiao hadn’t protected the blade with his Magical Power, it would have shattered completely.