Apotheosis – Ascension to Godhood

Chapter 463: The Primordial Energy

The cyan dragon's seventh brother was one of the nine dragons.

Back in the city of the Genuine Dragon World, the cyan dragon had been successful in swallowing the Owl Beast's evil spirit.

That evil spirit was divided into three parts. Those three parts, according to the cyan dragon, were extremely useful: one could be used to cure the cyan dragon itself, the other could be used to wake up his seventh brother, and the third could help Zen with the creation of the soul seed.

It was a long time before the cyan dragon came up with the decision to finally wake his seventh brother. Zen, however, was patient and waited respectfully for the cyan dragon.

Now, he sat cross-legged and immersed himself in the silence. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Zen slipped into a deep, meditative state. During this time, his mind relaxed and his soul was able to enter into the depths of his psyche.

Zen found the cyan dragon coil around the huge mysterious furnace. At first glance, the dragon looked fearsome and scary. However, his fierce look softened once he realized who the visitor was.

Uncoiling himself from the furnace, the cyan dragon approached Zen and opened his jaw wide. In his mouth was a huge, black bead.

“Is that…? That's the black bead from the Owl Beast's evil spirit, isn't it?” Zen asked.

The cyan dragon nodded. “Uh-huh,” he confirmed. “After absorbing the Owl Beast's evil spirit, my body became much stronger. Hopefully, I can also wake my brother up with this bead.”

Having said that, the cyan dragon spat out the bead. Both he and Zen watched as the black bead flew over their heads and towards the dragon-shaped sculptures on the surface of the mysterious furnace. It shot itself right into the gaping mouth of one of the dragons.

As soon as the bead touched the dragon's mouth, it transformed into some kind of viscous dark matter quite similar to the soul essence refined by the Dark Devil Phantom. However, it seemed much purer than the soul essence.

Once the dark matter was swallowed into the dragon's mouth, everything became quiet.

One of the reasons why Zen was willing to risk the destruction of his own soul to help the cyan dragon in capturing the Owl Beast's evil spirit was that the dragon's brother had the capacity to refine his body. However, they'd have to wake him up first.

Body refining skills were not very popular in the Central Region. All the sects and warriors preferred and practiced the refining techniques of the life vitality system. Only a few people refined their bodies, so there were very few body refining techniques.

If they succeeded in waking up the cyan dragon's brother, he could help Zen refine his body and considerably enhance his effectiveness in combat.

The dragon statue remained still while Zen and the cyan dragon patiently waited with rapt attention. Surely the Owl Beast's evil spirit was enough. They had risked so much to obtain it. It must be, no, it had to be enough.

Seconds passed.

The clock was ticking.

But nothing was changing from the ornament.

A period of thirty seconds passed.

The silence was deafening and it shattered whatever hope Zen and the cyan dragon had. After so much trouble and expectations, all of it only led to failure. Zen's and the cyan dragon's faces fell with disappointment.

The black bead from the Owl Beast's evil spirit hadn't been enough to awaken the dragon.

However, just as all hope had been eradicated in their hearts, the dragon statue suddenly began to shake.

“B-Brother….” the cyan dragon murmured, eyes shining with hope.

A wisp of red began to appear on the petrified dragon statue, staining the stone with the hope of awakening.

Crack.

As the red bled through the statue, multiple cracks began to appear. One by one, the pieces of debris fell away to reveal the grand beast underneath. The red dragon, one of the nine dragons, had finally awakened. 𐍂𝘈ＮỒΒΕ𝙨

The dragon raised his head in slight bewilderment, “Where am I?”

he asked in a rough, hoarse voice.

“Brother,” the cyan dragon greeted his newly awakened sibling. “It's me.”

The red dragon cautiously uncoiled from the mysterious furnace. “Little brother!” the red dragon called. Familiarity was written over his face as he slowly glided down the furnace towards the cyan dragon. “Are you the one who woke me up from my slumber?” he asked as he stopped in front of the cyan dragon. Slowly, the memories that had long been frozen in time were rapidly coming back to the red dragon. The red dragon could now remember perfectly. His memories were no longer in a haze.

The cyan dragon nodded in response. “Yes,” he replied. “My ability is very limited. There are things that are beyond my comprehension, so I opted to wake you up,” he added. The red dragon knotted his brows. “What do you mean?” he asked.

The cyan dragon started talking in a language that Zen had never heard before. It was the dragon's language.

Zen wasn't able to catch anything as the two dragon brothers began to converse in rapid dragon language. The syllables were too complex, but he had no doubt that the cyan dragon was now telling his brother all that he had missed while in slumber. As the two conversed, the red dragon began to look Zen up and down.

Despite being uneasy, Zen never showed it. Instead, he stared back at the dragon and coolly turned his head towards the fire that was lit on the furnace. The red dragon caught Zen's attention back when he laughed. “Human, did you really turn yourself into a spiritual weapon?” he asked with amusement dancing in his eyes.

“Yes,” Zen replied with eagerness and pride as an answer to the dragon's question. However, he was confused as to what the dragon found amusing.

“There are billions, heck, even trillions of creatures in this universe,” the red dragon said, “but nowhere will you be able to find such a unique and valuable body as yours. You actually used the primordial energy you produced during the refinement of your body to wash your belly? What were you thinking?” The red dragon shook his head at Zen, obviously disappointed but also slightly amused.

Zen's brows knitted. “The primordial energy?” he repeated, shooting a confused look at the red dragon.

The red dragon frowned, “Didn't my brother tell you? Your body is the rudiment of primordial energy!”

The red dragon's declaration echoed in his ears. “It's quite a pity you don't know how to use it at all. Truly a pity,” the dragon started. “After you stepped into the nature level, you had to practice the refinement techniques of the life vitality system, so you just wasted the primordial energy away...” the mighty dragon began in a low, cold voice. “You do not know how to use that energy, so you cleansed your body by using that energy!” the dragon said, heaving a sigh in disappointment. “I bet you have no actual idea how precious it truly is!” the dragon stated lastly.

“W-what?!” Zen was shocked with the sudden knowledge he had gained. He didn't know. And if he knew, he wouldn't have used it!

The dragons were the supreme beings of the universe. They had power and authority over anything. They could even be considered as gods of this world.

If the cyan dragon and the red dragon hadn't gotten into such a plight, the possibility of them destroying the universe with one wave of their claws was not far from reality. The world and the Central Region would be in utter devastation. But thankfully, they did not cause such a ruckus.

The mighty dragon valued the primordial energy, but at first, Zen used it to cleanse his body only. Moreover, after becoming a nature creature, he didn't practice body refining skills, so he used the primordial energy to wash the body, but unfortunately, the effect was not satisfactory.

Zen's mouth was agape, left speechless by the revelation. He couldn't fathom out what to say or what to do. He was dumbfounded and lost on what should be done next.

“However, I have heard from my brother that you woke me up at the cost of your life, and for that, I owe you. To pay my debt, I can teach you body refining skills. But let me warn you. I have never supported human body refining. But your body is unique! It will be a waste not to refine it. The only question left is, will you be able to do it?” the red dragon asked in an emotionless voice. The Genuine Dragon World had many humans in it, but most of them were Dragon Lineage Humans with dragon blood.

These humans who had dragon blood in their bodies were far stronger and superior than a normal human being when it came to body refining skills.

But normal human beings were naturally suitable for the practice of life vitality system, and that included the refinement of the body. A lot of them at first opted to refine their bodies. However, the most powerful people relied on the life vitality system since it could lengthen a life span.

Zen's eyes shone with determination as he held the dragon's gaze, “I won't give up, no matter how difficult it is.”

Giving up wasn't an option for Zen, especially since he still wanted to rescue his sister. He might have been strong. But it was not enough to protect Yan. She got taken away from his care in just an instant. Other than that, a part of him also wanted to pursue the consummate martial arts. He had to make himself stronger until he reached the absolute peak.

“Impressive,” the red dragon said. “That's a good start! You'll need your strongest conviction. Your determination and the strength of your body are needed for you to succeed with me. Let's start with refining your body,” the dragon added.

“Refine my body?” Zen asked curiously. “I have reached the nature level by refining my body.”

Before reaching the nature level, there was a need for warriors to practice body refining skills in order to remove the impurities in their bodies. They had to refine their skin, flesh, bones, organs, and marrows in the exact succession. Back in the day, Zen had used the precious primordial energy to force out the impurities within his body.

“After reaching the nature level, the primordial energy in your body does not work at all. Except for a small part that has now disappeared, the rest of it continues to flow and spread all throughout your body. You often wash the belly with it, so it is concentrated there. I will use it to refine your body first. Forget the body refining you knew before.” The red dragon was obviously against the body refining skills of the Eastern Region where Zen had practiced. 'I'm skeptical about it, since it is quite pathetic, ' the dragon wanted to add while talking to Zen, but he shoved the idea away since it was not worth to be commented on.

Zen knew that the red dragon viewed the Purple Light Fist he had learned before as complete trash, and he was perfectly okay with it. The warm currents he felt after he was beaten earlier were exactly his primordial energy, but he didn't use it well.

After he reached the nature level, the warm currents generated after he was beaten were the primordial energy he never used. Over time, he had built up a considerable amount of primordial energy. Now, the red dragon was fully intended on using it to refine his body.

“I am warning you once again. The refinement will be very painful and hard. I advise you to be prepared for it,” the dragon warned before Zen could quit his meditation. Zen's soul just nodded as an acknowledgement. He was prepared for whatever it was going to take.

As the brave warrior came back from his reverie, he squinted his eyes slowly and shook his head. He breathed once more to fully restore his consciousness. After that, he decided to step out and into the courtyard. The Martial Arts Contest was held nearby, so the rent of the courtyard he was in was very expensive. However, it was cheap for him since he had hundreds of supreme life vitality crystals to spend. He rented the whole courtyard that day, so no one could be seen aside from him wandering around that place.

Standing in the middle of the space, he heard the red dragon began to speak, “I shall now commence with refining your body using the primordial energy.” As soon as he finished his words, Zen felt his entire body become rigid.