The moment Evan Chu stepped into the Dragonblood Crucible, he felt as if he’d been swallowed by a swamp. The bloodwater in the Crucible looked ordinary, but in reality it was thick as paste—and the stench was so sharp it made him want to retch.
Evan wasn’t surprised at all. If the bloodwater was like paste, it meant the Crucible’s energy was extremely concentrated. As for the awful smell, that was thanks to all the spirit herbs mixed in, plus the corpses left behind by Golden Dragons who’d exploded during their bloodline baptisms.
Evan slowly cleared his mind and stood quietly in the Crucible’s bloodwater. The pool wasn’t deep—just enough to keep his head above the surface—but he could feel streams of energy seeping into his body through every pore.
He remembered that the Golden Dragon Shrine Master said half an hour of soaking would saturate a dragon’s body and trigger bloodline awakening. But judging by how slowly the energy was entering him, even an hour might not be enough. What worried him was, if too much energy built up, would his body explode?
“Evan, your physique is different from everyone else’s. Just absorb as much as you want. If your body really does explode, don’t worry—it’ll just mean you’re breaking through to the Eighth Layer of your Starforge Body. But it might make you wish you were dead, and it could delay you from helping me reconstruct my body.” Luna said.
“So basically, you’re saying nothing at all. I think I’ll just stick to half an hour—if I accidentally trigger a breakthrough to the Eighth Layer of my Starforge Body, that’s a huge problem. This is the worst time for anything to go wrong.” Evan said.
“Heh, I’m just messing with you. Do you really think breaking through the Eighth Layer of the Starforge Body is that easy? Without Immortal-tier strength, it’s impossible. So stop overthinking it—your body can handle soaking in here for a long time.” Luna replied.
Soon, half an hour passed. Evan noticed the Crucible’s energy was pouring into him faster and faster. No wonder the Shrine Master said ordinary dragons had to leave after half an hour—there was a reason for it.
Evan willed the Crucible’s energy to circulate in his dantian. The moment he did, he nearly jumped in shock—his Chaos Dragon Force instantly fused with the Crucible energy, filling his core in a flash.
“Don’t panic—keep absorbing the Crucible’s energy. You haven’t broken through in realm yet, let alone awakened your bloodline. Looks like your path to awakening the Primordial Dragon Bloodline is going to be painful—true Primordial Dragon blood isn’t born so easily.” Luna said.
The Crucible’s energy kept pouring into Evan’s body. Not only was his dantian saturated, but his meridians, muscles, and bones were slowly filling up too. In no time, the once-handsome youth was swollen into a total fatty.
Evan felt his whole body swelling painfully, like he might really explode and die. Still, he grit his teeth and endured—he trusted Luna wouldn’t lie to him, and he needed to break through to Ninth-Layer Saint Martial Realm. This was a rare opportunity.
Time crawled by. Evan estimated he’d been soaking here for at least three hours. If the Golden Dragon Grand Elder and the others knew, they’d be speechless—three hours in the Crucible would have killed anyone else, but Evan was still hanging on by sheer willpower.
His muscles finally couldn’t take the pressure and began to split open, leaking pale-gold blood. But the energy inside him didn’t dissipate at all. After a while, his meridians snapped, then his bones broke. Evan felt his body failing and started to sink beneath the Crucible’s surface.
Just then, Luna said, “It’s time to get out. Circulate your dragonforce in the dantian and purge all the impurities in your blood—then go back into the Crucible for another round.”
Evan didn’t have time to think. He willed himself out of the Crucible and collapsed on the shore. With all his meridians and bones shattered, he couldn’t even sit up—the pain was so intense he was almost numb. Still, he slowly circulated Chaos Dragon Force in his dantian.
His Chaos Dragon Force, which had seemed fully saturated, could still circulate—slowly, but it leaked out bit by bit through his ruptured meridians. Evan couldn’t help feeling speechless at wasting such precious energy.
Meanwhile, his wood-element power was rapidly repairing his broken meridians, shattered bones, and ruined muscles—his whole body was a mess. As time passed, the swelling faded and his body gradually recovered.
“Do you see the impurities in your blood? Force them out, and once your Chaos Dragon Force and absorbed energy are nearly depleted, re-enter the Crucible to absorb more. Then come out and purge the impurities again—repeat this cycle until you break through to Ninth-Layer Saint Martial Realm.” Luna instructed.
Evan was dumbfounded—he had to repeat this torture several times? One round was already unforgettable. He felt like crying but had no tears.
But even if he was frustrated, Evan had no choice but to do it. Sure enough, he saw a clump of black sludge in his blood—the so-called impurities. Only by purging these completely could he obtain the purest bloodline, making it much easier to awaken its power.
When Evan forced the impurities out, he felt totally exhausted—his sweat wasn’t even sweat anymore. His Chaos Dragon Force was completely drained, and the expelled sludge was pitch-black, greasy, and foul-smelling.
“Use Fireshift to burn away those bloodline impurities. If an evil cultivator got their hands on them, the consequences would be unimaginable.” Luna reminded him.
After destroying the impurities, Evan jumped back into the Crucible. Instantly, a wave of comfort washed over him—the Crucible’s energy surged into his body even faster, more than fifty percent quicker than before. He hurried to fuse it with his Chaos Dragon Force.
And so, Evan kept absorbing Crucible energy and purging bloodline impurities, repeating the cycle three times before stopping. When he forced out the third batch of impurities, he heard a crisp sound from within his body—at that moment, the bloodline impurities in his blood suddenly froze in place…