With a firm and serious expression on his face, Huo Yuhao started the process.
To begin with, he started by harvesting every blood remaining in the Water Dragon King's corpse.
Naturally, most of its blood and other bodily fluids had long since spilled out and became the half part of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.
However, it was still once a God King Divine Beast. After millions of years, it hasn't decayed much and retained a terrifying amount of blood essence within its remains.
The blood essence from it was equivalent to an immortal herb, a heaven and earth treasure! A single drop of it could change life of most mortals, especially those soul masters with a dragon-type martial soul.
Thin strands of azure-gold light began to seep out from the colossal skeleton as Huo Yuhao extended his spiritual power into it.
A violent surge of draconic might erupted.
"Noisy," Huo Yuhao snapped his fingers and his spiritual power quickly crushed its Dragon Might.
It would've overwhelmed anyone else with a trace of dragon blood in them, unfortunately, he was human with half-step into Divine Consciousness.
Sort of? Honestly, Huo Yuhao doesn't know if he was even human at this point since he was "awakened" by his self-proclaimed ancestor.
"Alright, there shouldn't be anymore surprises." He muttered as he observed, the Water Dragon King's corpse settling down and thin azure-gold blood threads began to flow out more obediently, no longer resisting his extraction.
They gathered in front of Huo Yuhao, swirling slowly into a huge sludge of azure-gold blood the size of a basin.
As the last drop of blood left the corpse, Huo Yuhao began refining it.
Each thread of azure-gold blood was compressed further and further, condensing it until it became a blood pill.
"Good, now its corpse."
"Etānaruekō - Amaterasu!"
His upper eyes flashed red, revealing his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan.
Dense black flames enveloped the dragon's corpse, radiating intense heat that rivals the sun.
But as expected of a corpse from a Divine Beasts, it didn't melt immediately.
The pitch-black flames of Amaterasu continued to burn the colossal remains like a curse, clinging to every inch of its surface. The heat was already terrifying, enough to incinerate even high-grade metals into nothingness within moments.
Huo Yuhao didn't show any surprise.
"As expected."
His gaze sharpened slightly.
Amaterasu alone wasn't insufficient as is, it was simply not optimized for this kind of refinement. It was destruction-oriented, absolute in nature, but not inherently efficient when it came to processing something of this level.
So he adjusted.
His first soul ring shone a brilliant golden light as he activated one of its soul skills—Fire Control!
The surrounding black flames shifted, the black flames burned darker. Its terrifying heat sharply rose, to the point that the icy waters started boiling.
"Its needs more intensity."
Huo Yuhao didn't want to lose the momentum. He had to attack this refinement process forcibly and quick!
He closed his eyes.
Suddenly the surrounding space stilled.
Huo Yuhao's breathing slowed.
Deep.
Measured.
From around his six eyes, dark-blue markings started appearing.
An invisible tide began to gather.
From the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.
From the surrounding heaven and earth.
From every strand of natural energy within range.
All energies surged toward him like a vortex.
His body became a center.
All six of his eyes snapped open, revealing them all in their base form but with an extra vertical-line in the middle like a snake's pupil.
From within his dantian and spiritual sea, nature energy seamlessly integrated with his chakra (combination of Soul Power and Spiritual Power), fusing without conflict or resistance.
Sage Mode!
Huo Yuhao raised his hand.
"Senjutsu - Amaterasu."
The black flames responded instantly.
The intensity spiked dramatically, and with terrifying precision. Starting from the blue scales, under the terrifying, senjutsu-enhanced Amaterasu, they gradually softened, then broke down, their structure collapsing in a controlled manner as they were stripped away.
"This should be a useful material," Huo Yuhao quickly stored it away and continued.
The black flames adjusted once more, now taking on the form of a nine-headed black dragon as it pierces into flesh.
The nine draconic heads plunged into the exposed flesh, their black flames burrowing inward. Wherever they passed, the remaining dense tissue of the Water Dragon King cooked, broke apart into little pieces, and was immediately pulled out of its skeleton.
Huo Yuhao curled his finger, bringing the well-cooked dragon meat to him and tried a piece.
"Hmm. A bit raw. Needs more seasoning as well," With practiced ease, he brought out a small assortment of seasonings from his storage tool.
'Salt. A bit of spice powder. And...' He licked his lips as he started cooking the dragon meat properly.
Ice Empress appeared by his side, dumbfounded.
"You're cooking it?"
"Yup. It's pretty much a waste not to, right?"
"What about refining the skeleton? Advancing your martial soul?!"
"I can easily split my attention into two things at once. See, look," he pointed at the melting skeleton of the Water Dragon King. "It'll be over soon."
"Besides, eating this dragon meat also helps in increasing the odds of the evolution process."
Ice Empress's brow twitched.
"...That's from a decayed corpse. Which is millions of years old. And has been buried in dirt and other things."
"So?" Huo Yuhao chewed thoughtfully before swallowing, his gaze still fixed on the ongoing refinement.
Ice Empress was speechless.
Are you really human or a soul beast?!
Huo Yuhao shrugged, he didn't really have much repulsion of eating unsavory origins because of his childhood and his past lifetimes.
As a kid, when his mother was too sick to work and the income they received was cut in half that could only feed one of them, he didn't have any choice but to eat dirt and worms to get by the hunger.
In some of his lives, before Madara, he was Shinobis that grew up with extreme child-soldier training. And some of those lives, due to the environment and other factors, they were psychopaths that even indulged in cannibalism.
So eating dragon meat like this didn't even register as unusual to him.
"Spare me a piece," Ice Empress said, slightly red. As a Great Beast, she also wasn't repulsed by eating this millions of years old dragon meat. Heck, back in her early years, she had even consumed the corpses of her own clansmen out of desperation to keep humans from stealing them.
Plus, these were cooked by Huo Yuhao! The guy who could conquer most of the Top Ten Great Beasts with just smoked fish.
She was simply surprised that Huo Yuhao was nonchalantly eating it.
"Don't be so polite with me, here, take the first batch."
"Thank you."
A minute passed.
Huo Yuhao swallowed the last bite without a change in expression, the faint chill spreading through his body as the residual essence of the dragon meat was quickly absorbed into his body without any issues.
"Oh? I'm detecting faint traces of Water Dragon bloodline in my body," he activated his second martial soul and an extra magnificent red soul ring appeared around his body. He activated one of its soul skills.
Ice Empress' Pincers!
"Hooo~ It now has dragon scales." Huo Yuhao flexed his arms slightly, observing the change with clear interest.
The originally jade-like crystalline pincers were now layered with faint azure-gold dragon scales, giving them a sharper, more imposing appearance. Even the aura they emitted had changed, no longer purely extreme ice, but carrying a deep, boundless water.
He clenched them once.
A low, heavy sound echoed.
"Not bad."
Huo Yuhao smirked.
Ice Empress stared.
"That was fast."
Huo Yuhao nodded lightly, his gaze still on the transformed pincer.
"The bloodline resonance is minor, but it's enough to influence the manifestation of my soul skills."
He released the pincers, letting them dissipate.
The red soul ring slowly faded as well.
"This is just the beginning."
Huo Yuhao looked towards the jade-blue liquid that was the result of the melted dragon king skeleton. But that wasn't all, a bright blue light shone besides it.
It was a right-arm divine soul bone radiating a deep azure glow. Its structure was elegant and powerful, shaped like the arm bone of a dragon yet condensed into a form compatible with a human body.
Even without touching it, the immense energy contained within it was obvious.
"There it is." His lips curled up into a huge smile as he pulled the Water Dragon King's bone liquid essence and divine soul bone around him.
He then lifted the crystalized condensed soul energy and the dragon king blood essence pill.
Suddenly, the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well shook violently.
The Ice Spring churned.
The Fire Spring roared.
Waves of extreme cold and blazing heat surged outward, colliding midair and creating violent shockwaves that rippled through the valley.
Huo Yuhao narrowed his eyes. He looked up to see the surface of the spring rippling
"They've broken through the barrier."
He gritted his teeth and pulled the purified bone liquid essence into his mouth.
The immortal herb garden, half an hour ago.
"W-What are we going to do? That's the former forest beast king of the Great Star Dou Forest, Titan Giant Ape, Er Ming! Wasn't he supposed to be suppressed by Beast God?!" Skydream pressed his hands on the sides of his head, clear panic on his face.
The burly man activated his domain; a lush green forest filled with abundant life energy materializes behind him alongside a phantom Titan Giant Ape, and with a roar, the entire great forest seemed to have awakened by his loud roar as countless growling sounds were heard echoing out from the forest in a deafening manner as numerous soul beasts of all kinds surged towards the Yin-Yang Seven Elements Concealment Barrier.
However, due to the millennium of devastation over Sunset Forest, most of these soul beasts were either powerful Ten Thousand years old or have mutated.
Yet, despite the clear danger caused by Er Ming, Skydream's eyes was on the handsome, blue-haired man beside the Titan Giant Ape.
Because if Skydream's suspicions was true, that man would be more dangerous than the former Forest Beast King of the Great Star Dou Forest.
Jianxin nervously nodded. "Di Tian gave his word that he would keep him and Da Ming from going after us. And considering how he takes his word seriously, that means something serious has happened on his side."
"Shit. Well we can't fight back openly with them, their target is Yuhao. We need to stall them!"
"The barrier isn't going to last long if that man attacks." Jianxin spread her hands apart, undulations of Ultimate Yin and Ultimate Yang energy surged outward from her palms, and from the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well behind her, tendrils of deep blue and red attached themselves to her back, reinforcing the Yin-Yang Seven Elements Concealment Barrier.
Layers of black and white light intertwined, forming a constantly shifting membrane that absorbed and redirected the incoming pressure.
"Bwahahahaha! Yin-Yang Saint Crane, it's been a long time. It's quite a surprise to see you alive and stronger than before," Er Ming's booming voice echoed across the valley, carrying both amusement and a hint of battle intent.
Jianxin's expression didn't change, though the pressure on her shoulders increased as more tendrils of Yin and Yang energy surged into her back.
The barrier worked well but Er Ming seemed to have a limitless strength and energy as he kept on using his domain.
"Er Ming, even after all these years, you're still the same old stupid monkey that relies on brute strength." Her voice was cold.
"Bwahahaha!" Er Ming grinned widely, unfazed by the jab. "I'm simply testing the waters! This formation of yours is interesting. Using the natural energy of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well to regenerate the barrier almost instantaneously when cracked, and construct highly convincing illusions to the point of distorting Time and Space."
"Magnificent! It's one of the best formation I've ever seen in my life, even some of the formations in Divine Realm pales in comparison."
Jianxin looked surprised.
"Huh. You got smarter."
"Bwahahahaha! I, Er Ming, am smart! Smart, is I!"
"...." Jianxin made a face and shook her head. "Nevermind."
The blue haired man beside Er Ming finally spoke up.
"Er Ming. Stop playing around."
Er Ming's laughter stopped almost instantly.
The carefree grin on his face disappeared, replaced by a more serious expression.
"Alright. I'll get serious."
His posture shifted.
The previously overwhelming yet somewhat playful pressure condensed into something far more focused and dangerous.
Behind him, the phantom Titan Giant Ape solidified further, its outline becoming clearer and more imposing. Around his body, magnificent set of soul rings appeared: 7 black and 2 red.
Suddenly, an Ultimate aura mixed with a overwhelming heavenly power emanated from his body. Such power converged around his right fist, as he pulled back his arm.
The sky darkened above him, rumbling with deep, rolling thunder.
The very air grew heavy and dense.
As if the heavens themselves were being dragged down by the sheer force gathering in that single fist.
Cracks spread beneath Er Ming's feet, space cracked like mirror around him as the Ten Thousand Beast Domain surged violently, pouring all of its power into him.
"Throughout myriad of paths and styles."
"My technique is without rival!"
"One fist to shatter the heavens and asunder the earth!"
"Ultimate Strength - Titan Divine Fist!"
Jianxin's eyes widened.
"That power! The formation won't be able to—"
At that moment, a cool and cold voice resounded through the valley.
"You proclaimed your technique to be unrivaled? Hmph. Such ignorance."
The temperature plummeted.
Frost spread across the air itself, crystallizing moisture into shimmering snowflakes that slowly rained down.
The roaring of the Ten Thousand Beast Domain seemed to dull as a roaring blizzard manifested in the sky.
"Oh?" The mysterious man beside Er Ming raised an eyebrow.
"A soul beast on the cusp of becoming a million years old."
A figure rose from the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.
Her long, snow-white hair flowed gently, her icy blue eyes calm and indifferent as she looked towards Er Ming and the mysterious blue haired man.
Snow Empress enters the battlefield.
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AN: Questions? I can give out context but not spoilers!