When the gap in strength between two people was enormous, yet the stronger party still patiently explained everything with a warm attitude—without putting on airs or acting superior—it meant they were giving you tremendous face.
More often than not, they were deliberately doing you a favor.
And that kind of favor wasn't something just anyone was qualified to receive.
Of course, if both sides were equals, then it wasn't a favor anymore—it was simply a matter of avoiding unnecessary offense.
You're giving me such a useless trinket and expecting gratitude?
If it weren't for your powerful backing, I'd have flipped the table already.
Fortunately, Chen Beiyuan belonged to the first category.
After sincerely thanking Principal Jiang once again for his guidance, he activated the rusty token in his hand.
Rip!
A ripple spread through space.
Holding the Blood Dragon Token, Chen Beiyuan was instantly teleported into the Blood Dragon Secret Realm.
As he opened his eyes, a blood-red world came into view.
It was an ancient forest shrouded in crimson mist, dark and deathly silent.
Every so often, strange icy winds swept through the trees, carrying with them an eerie chill.
The blood-colored sky above was riddled with faint cracks that slowly continued to spread, as though the entire world might collapse at any moment.
The air reeked of blood.
It carried the metallic scent of rust mixed with the stench of decay.
Behind Chen Beiyuan lay a vast lake of crimson blood.
It was none other than the Dragon Blood Pool, repeatedly mentioned before—a pool formed from a drop of the Natal Dragon Blood of the Eighth-Rank Ferocious Beast, the Blood Calamity Dragon Emperor.
"So this is a Secret Realm..."
"It practically feels like an entirely separate world."
Instead of paying attention to the Dragon Blood Pool behind him, Chen Beiyuan curiously observed his surroundings.
The origins of Secret Realms had long since become impossible to verify.
Perhaps they had existed for centuries.
Perhaps millennia.
Perhaps even tens of thousands of years.
No one knew.
The only confirmed fact was this:
Before the Secret Realms appeared...
This world had contained no ferocious beasts.
No foreign races.
No cultivation system.
Then, one day...
Secret Realms descended upon the world.
Along with countless powerful ferocious beasts and alien races...
They also brought humanity's cultivation path.
Even today, no one had uncovered the truth behind the Secret Realms or the secrets they concealed.
However...
Because nearly every Secret Realm contained abundant resources and hidden opportunities...
Humanity's greatest powers regarded them as walking treasure vaults.
To ordinary people, Secret Realms were places of certain death.
To true experts...
They were merely nourishment for strengthening their foundations.
Which top-tier force didn't possess a Secret Realm of its own?
Naturally...
The Donghua Chen Family had one as well.
Yet Chen Beiyuan had never entered it.
Most of his life had been spent in secluded cultivation, comprehending the Prison-Suppressing Demon Scripture.
Even during the time he had been pursuing Leng Ruobing, he had never neglected his training.
Otherwise...
There was no way he could have reached the Fifth-Rank Battle Marshal at only eighteen years old.
Just as Chen Beiyuan continued examining his surroundings with interest...
The previously tranquil blood lake behind him suddenly began to ripple.
Such a subtle disturbance naturally didn't escape his notice.
Turning around...
He saw the enormous pool of crimson blood undergoing an astonishing transformation.
The originally scarlet water began emitting strands of brilliant golden light.
The golden radiance rapidly spread throughout the lake.
It looked as though the blood itself had come alive.
Even the foul stench filling the air began to change.
The smell of blood and decay gradually transformed into a strangely intoxicating fragrance.
His own blood instinctively began to stir.
At the same time...
An overwhelming dragon's aura erupted from the now-golden Dragon Blood Pool.
Its pressure instantly swept across the entire Secret Realm.
For a fleeting moment...
Chen Beiyuan seemed to hear an ancient dragon's roar echoing through heaven and earth.
The Dragon Blood Pool...
...had awakened.
"According to what Jiang Baiyi said, the Dragon Blood Pool can only strengthen one's physical body and make breaking through to the Sixth-Rank Battle King somewhat easier."
"But in the original novel..."
"Lin Xiao obtained tremendous benefits here."
"He even comprehended an incredibly powerful Ferocious Beast Divine Ability."
"That means this Dragon Blood Pool is definitely hiding secrets that no one knows about."
"And those secrets are very likely to appear now..."
"...during the final opening of this Secret Realm."
"I don't know whether Jiang Baiyi possesses any special means of observing what's happening inside."
"Just to be safe..."
"I'd better conceal everything with my Battle Soul."
Chen Beiyuan slowly raised his eyes toward the crimson sky.
Deep within his pupils...
An indescribable existence began to awaken.
Something that could neither be understood...
Nor gazed upon directly.
Something incomparably terrifying.
It slowly descended.
The next instant—
The blood-red sky was gradually swallowed by absolute darkness.
A gigantic distorted rift tore open across the heavens.
It resembled...
A colossal eye opening ever so slightly.
The scene was eerily similar to the heavenly phenomenon that had appeared on the day Chen Beiyuan was born.
At the same time...
This was also the supreme Battle Soul that even the Fate-Rewriting System had failed to detect.
The Battle Soul belonging solely to Chen Beiyuan...
The Heaven's Chosen Great Villain.
Abyss.
For eighteen years...
This was the very first time Chen Beiyuan had ever manifested his mysterious Battle Soul.
But for the sake of the hidden opportunities that might lie ahead...
He had no choice.
The entire Secret Realm...
Was enveloped by the Abyss.
The very instant the Secret Realm disappeared beneath the Abyss...
Inside the Principal's Office of Donghua Academy—
Jiang Baiyi suddenly raised his head.
He clearly sensed that the sliver of spiritual awareness he had left inside the Secret Realm...
Had been severed.
A look of surprise flashed across his face.
Followed by curiosity.
A mere Fifth-Rank Battle Marshal...
Actually possesses such an ability?
After pondering for a moment...
Jiang Baiyi slowly shook his head.
He abandoned the thought entirely.
With his cultivation, he could forcibly tear apart whatever was covering the Secret Realm and investigate personally.
But doing so would undoubtedly alarm Chen Beiyuan while he was bathing in the Dragon Blood Pool.
That would be no different from openly making an enemy of him.
He had only just extended a favor.
Immediately becoming enemies afterward...
Simply wasn't worth it.
Chen Beiyuan himself wasn't someone Jiang Baiyi feared.
But the Donghua Chen Family standing behind him...
Was another matter entirely.
Especially considering...
The Chen Family was notorious for fiercely protecting its own.
"Forget it."
Inside the Secret Realm...
Having finished all his preparations...
Chen Beiyuan removed his clothes.
His powerful, fair-skinned body was revealed beneath the crimson sky.
Step by step...
He walked into the golden Dragon Blood Pool.
At the same time, he circulated the Prison-Suppressing Demon Scripture, forcefully absorbing the tremendous energy contained within the dragon blood to temper his physique.
Instantly—
An excruciating pain erupted throughout his body.
It felt as though countless blades were slicing him apart.
Bathed in the overwhelming dragon blood, tiny cracks began spreading across his skin.
This...
Was the true effect of dragon blood tempering.
Chen Beiyuan could also clearly sense that the energy within the Dragon Blood Pool was mysteriously leaking away.
Just as Jiang Baiyi had warned.
Without hesitation...
He pushed the Prison-Suppressing Demon Scripture to its absolute limit.
Violent demonic qi surged wildly as it greedily devoured the berserk energy flooding the pool.
At the same time...
He retrieved the Dragon Blood Dao Fruit from his system storage.
Without the slightest hesitation, he stuffed the entire fruit into his mouth.
Even the pit was swallowed whole.
The moment it entered his stomach...
It felt as though he had swallowed a mass of molten lava.
Blazing heat exploded through his body.
His internal organs felt as though they were melting alive.
Instinctively, he almost let out a scream.
But his will, forged like steel...
Forcefully suppressed it.
Very soon...
Empowered by the Dragon Blood Dao Fruit, Chen Beiyuan felt his absorption speed increase by well over a hundredfold.
His physical body began growing stronger at an almost unreasonable pace.
His entire consciousness entered a mysterious state.
At that very moment...
His speed of absorbing the dragon blood actually surpassed the rate at which the Dragon Blood Pool's energy was mysteriously disappearing.
However...
What Chen Beiyuan didn't know...
Was that the instant he took out the Dragon Blood Dao Fruit...
Deep beneath the Dragon Blood Pool...
Within the blood-soaked earth...
Something suddenly stirred.
It was as though something buried there had finally awakened.
Something...
Round.
It looked...
Like an egg.
-------------------
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