Biochemical Martial Arts: Supreme Heavenly Venerate

Just as Lin Rui entered the Divine Dragon Hall, a group of girls clad in white by the side of the dragon guards looked eagerly in the direction of the Divine Dragon Hall.

"It seems there's a new Spy Commander now, receiving the dragon seal."

"He should come to select dragon guards, I wonder whose turn it will be this time?"

"I inquired yesterday, it's someone called Lin Twelve, a disciple of the third Divine Envoy."

"Although following the Spy Commander isn't the orthodox path, our cultivation of secret techniques, although beneficial for rapid progress, needs external aid. And if we don't transform into dragons by the age of twenty, there's no hope for life. Until the Divine Envoy and the sovereign select dragon guards again, who knows how long we will have to wait."

"Even if the Divine Envoy and the sovereign hold the selection now, we probably wouldn't be chosen. To be able to choose to follow a Commandery Prince, or someone important in the imperial city's administration, would already be quite good."

"Look at all the sisters, I probably have no hope. I guess this official won't take a liking to me. In a couple of months, I will resign and return home."

Shangguan Tianyi, a dragon guard substitute, heard the news only a half moment later and hurriedly came to the great hall of the dragon guards, holding her sword.

She stood behind the other girls, stretching her slender neck and also looking in the direction of the Divine Dragon Hall, her eyes revealing a hint of anticipation.

However, the arrival of Shangguan Tianyi incited hostility among the other girls in white.

They all looked at Shangguan Tianyi with guarded apprehension.

"Isn't that Shangguan Tianyi? Isn't she acclaimed as the most outstanding Sword Dao genius of the dragon guards in centuries, yet she's also competing with us for this chance to transform into a dragon?"

"It seems this girl has practiced some incorrect cultivation technique and has been eliminated several times during selections."

"I know, it seems her Sword Intent has also gone awry, creating a very thorny situation. Not only does this prevent her from mobilizing all her True Yuan for combat, but the transformation into a dragon will also pose a significant risk. So, rest assured, no one will choose her, even if the Commanding Officer is unaware, the authorities will remind him."

"Not just that, her faulty cultivation also involves her bloodline. Apparently, if she continues to cultivate further, she's very likely to undergo a demonic transformation or something similar. It's said that the official responsible for teaching her got reprimanded by the higher-ups two years ago, saying he was inept for letting someone like her slip in."

"She's quite remarkable to have concealed it until now. It's said she could pass all the tests using just twenty percent of her strength, but the authorities have decided, if her situation doesn't improve, to expel her from the dragon guards this month."

Shangguan Tianyi heard these girls talking.

She pretended not to care, yet her face slightly paled, and her slender, graceful hands clutched tightly at the sword in her embrace.

Shangguan Tianyi's eyes looked with great anticipation toward the Divine Dragon Hall.

She knew her chances of being chosen were slim, but even if there was only a one in a billion chance, she was determined to try.

Shangguan Tianyi was not willing to just leave the dragon guards and sever her path in martial arts; she was resolved to strive earnestly for this opportunity.

※※※※

Lin Rui was momentarily lost in thought inside the Divine Dragon Hall.

The prompt he received from his Battle Spirit Ring was: "Deep Abyss Core detected, do you want to spend 10,000 soul power points to refine the 'Deep Abyss Core'?"

This isn't the Deep Abyss Substance, but the Deep Abyss Core?

Lin Rui pondered what this thing was? Should he refine it and see?

He was somewhat reluctant to spend 10,000 soul power points, also worried about issues with the national dragon seal, but after a moment of contemplation, Lin Rui fiercely decided to refine it.

Are 10,000 soul power points a lot? Not really, it's just a matter of slaying a few more demons.

As for the national dragon seal, Lin Rui had already advanced his high-tier rune arrays to Great Grandmaster level; he concentrated and sensed that the dragon seal structure on his forehead was still very stable.

The thing reacting to Lin Rui's Deep Abyss Substance was a component from the blood and soul essence of the national combat dragon, not the dragon seal itself.

—So even missing that part wouldn't affect the overall structure of the national dragon seal.

In just 5 minutes, Lin Rui sensed something in his forehead that was linked to his blood and resonating with his soul.

It was a tiny crystal, somewhat similar to a Golden Core, continuously generating an extremely pure Yuan energy, along with deep abyss aura and essence.

"Is this what they call the Deep Abyss Core?"

Lin Rui concentrated and pondered whether this thing was somewhat like the external elixir described in Daoist texts.

Just as this thought appeared in his mind, he noticed the 'Holy Thunder Fire' on his chest undergoing a transformation.

This imprint came fully to life, turning into strands of silver fire, traveling through Lin Rui's blood vessels to the 'Deep Abyss Core' at his forehead.

After sensing this, Lin Rui's mind went wild, wondering what the 'Holy Thunder Fire' wanted to do by infiltrating another's nest?

He tried very hard to stop the interference, but since the 'Holy Thunder Fire' couldn't circulate internally, it simply emitted through the pores all over Lin Rui's body and directly entered through the external pathways into his forehead.

Simultaneously, the three national combat dragons seemed stimulated, continuously bleeding from their foreheads, with the blood merging into the blood imprint on Lin Rui's forehead.

As this blood merged into Lin Rui's forehead, Lin Rui's Golden Core Dragon Armor also reacted similarly, permeating with the Deep Abyss essence.

At this moment, Lin Rui received another series of prompts from the Battle Spirit Ring, this time three in a row.

Alert: An unclaimed 'Abyssal Concept' has merged with your 'Abyssal Core.' Do you wish to consume 100,000 points of Soul Power to integrate and refine it?

Alert: A new 'Abyssal Core' has been detected. Do you wish to consume 10,000 points of Soul Power to refine the 'Abyssal Core'?

Alert: A newly formed 'Abyssal Core' has conflicted with your existing 'Abyssal Core' and an unclaimed 'Abyssal Concept.' Please refine it as soon as possible; otherwise, the consequences are unpredictable.

Upon receiving the alerts, Lin Rui's face darkened slightly as he wondered why he now had to expend 110,000 points of Soul Power?

The problem was, Lin Rui no longer had a choice.

What could be the unpredictable consequences that even the ring spirit couldn't foresee? Lin Rui dared not take the risk.

Recently, Lin Rui found that the spirit of the Battle Spirit Ring didn't seem like an Artifact Spirit at all, but rather a super AI with a vast database.

If even the Battle Spirit Ring couldn't predict the outcome, then it was indeed a stroke of fortune or disaster.

Lin Rui could only choose to refine; and once he started, he continued into the evening.

Lin Rui felt as though he and the three guardian battle dragons were stuck in an endless loop.

Each time he refined a newly formed 'Abyssal Core,' the guardian battle dragons would eject more essence blood from their brow chakras, which infused into the 'Guardian Dragon Mark' on his forehead.

These three battle dragons seemed insistent on imprinting their essence, soul, and blood into Lin Rui's Guardian Dragon Mark, relentlessly so.

Stimulated by this, Lin Rui's dragon armor and Golden Core also produced more 'pseudo-Abyssal Essence,' which flowed into his brow chakra.

When this 'pseudo-Abyssal Essence' merged with the essence, soul, and blood of the guardian battle dragons, it generated a brand new 'Abyssal Core.'

Lin Rui then had to spend Soul Power to refine it, and refining it stimulated the guardian battle dragons to supply more essence blood, in a seemingly endless cycle.

This vicious cycle continued until deep into the night, breaking only because Lin Rui's dragon armor and Golden Core could no longer keep up, having been thoroughly depleted, unable to provide any more pseudo-Abyssal Essence.

The three guardian battle dragons used their essence blood one last time to fill Lin Rui's Guardian Dragon Mark to satisfaction before contentedly closing the wound on his forehead.

When Lin Rui walked out of the Divine Dragon Hall, his face was stern—he had spent a staggering 330,000 points of Soul Power to maintain this cycle.

Although there was now something in his brow chakra that resembled an 'external elixir' and had expanded to the size of a pigeon's egg, embedded in the center of his brow bone, he still had no idea what it was used for.

At present, all he knew was that this object could absorb the ether from heaven and earth, continuously generating True Qi and True Yuan, both in quality and quantity, far surpassing his own Golden Core.

Not only did it exceed by 230% in quantity but also greatly surpassed the quality of his own Golden Core.

The issue was, this object had cost him a whopping 330,000 points of Soul Power.

Lin Rui and the seventh-realm imperial flame battle dragon were almost within reach, but now he felt as though he saw the imperial flame battle dragon waving goodbye to him.

As Lin Rui stepped out of the Divine Dragon Hall, Ji Xueying, who had been sitting on the steps, immediately showed a glimmer of joy in her eyes, while Meng Weiyun looked at Lin Rui with both surprise and helplessness.

What on Earth was Lin Rui doing inside?

Meng Weiyun had just sensed clearly the surging, tumultuous presence of the three guardian battle dragons, which indicated that Lin Rui was neither idly doing nothing nor resting.

The question was, why did the 'Guardian Dragon Mark' take so long?

Other commanders of spying missions usually took about an hour, so why was her junior brother so different?

"Sister—" Lin Rui gave a sheepish smile, starting to gather his words to explain, but Meng Weiyun swiftly waved her hand.

"No need to explain to me. Whatever happens inside the Divine Dragon Hall, I am not privileged to know."

Meng Weiyun shook her head slightly: "I originally wanted to take you to the spying mission, introduce you to colleagues, but now—"

She looked up at the sky, realizing it was almost the third watch of the night, and the deputy commanders of the spying mission had already dispersed.

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, Meng Weiyun's heart trembled as she looked upward, noticing that today's celestial patterns seemed a bit unusual.

After carefully discerning for a while, Meng Weiyun's brows slightly furrowed: "Strange, today's celestial patterns are a bit off."

Initially, Lin Rui didn't take it seriously and casually asked, "Celestial patterns? Sister, can you also observe the stars? What is happening up there?"

"I have a basic understanding of the Stargazing Technique," Meng Weiyun pointed doubtfully into the sky: "Previously, the power of the eight Abysses dominated the sky, interweaving above. But now, I feel like there's been a slight change in the celestial patterns."

Lin Rui was startled and also looked up into the sky.

As far as he knew, there were eight great Abysses in the sky, five external and three internal.

The outer world had five, and the one called Hell in the inner world of the Earth's core also had three.

The one in the central state was different; it was actually a husband and wife team. Separately, they were slightly weaker than the Abyss, but once they joined forces, they were the most powerful among the eight Abysses.

He then heard Meng Weiyun chuckle: "This change is very subtle, perhaps I am mistaken. It couldn't possibly be the emergence of a new Abyss."