THE DRAGON SCALE

Long Tao had experienced that with the opening of each new meridian, the efficiency of absorbing Qi, as well as the overall amount of Qi storage had increased by a lot.

It helped him in tempering and filling of the acupoint much easier. One could even say that the various parts were interconnected and linked with each other.

Each opening gave a qualitative change to Long Tao's body. He didn't bother about the benefits he might have got; neither did he tried to experiment.

Time was the essence at the moment, and he had to utilize every bit of it to the fullest.

The liquidized energy that he has got his hands on can help him enhance his body's potential. It cut on a lot of training time and resources.

He needed to pick the pace up, and as a tinge of luck to his actions, every new opening gave him a boost in the speed.

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The Crimson Lord realm-

Long Tao's avatars were training continuously while the artifact continued to absorb the energy. Soon enough, there was a change in the atmosphere of the realm.

It was not prominent at first. But soon enough Long Tao felt different while training in this realm.

He opened his eyes, looked around the place, and tried to verify the area for any noticeable change, but he couldn't find any. Something has changed about the realm for sure.

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"You seem to have noticed the changed boy. Took longer than I expected.". The Keeper's voice sounded.

"You should calm yourself before analyzing the situation and giving an ample viewpoint as to what had changed."

Long Tao calmed down and started to feel the atmosphere around him, occasionally taking in some amount of Qi and circulating, while trying to reach a particular conclusion.

" The time seems to have slowed down. It is as if it was flowing faster before this compared to the real world, and it is flowing slower now."

"The artifact was able to restore a minute amount of damage. The time ratio has changed from 1:2 to 1:3 now."

"Also, the Qi within the Artifact now contains the traces of ancient Qi, which seem to boost up your cultivation speed."

It was great news for Long Tao. He insisted on the artifact to continue the absorption. If the ratio could further be decreased, he would gain even more advantage in his training speed.

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20 days into the training:

Long Tao was currently sitting cross-legged amid the liquidized pool. A massive amount of the liquidized Qi had already vanished from the place. It had half the amount of Qi since the start of the process.

" I didn't expect the boy, even with seven avatars to be able to consume half of the Qi pond in such a short time. It seems like his improvements are going to be immense."

Long Tao was able to open five acupoints and seven secondary meridians in his body by consuming half the pool until now. Every successive opening required a much more considerable amount of energy than before.

When he looked around the pool and saw the Qi to have halved; it was getting scarier with every opening.

He continued his practice. It was a race to push his limits.

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Long Mengchen was currently residing and building her Qi sea. After another day, finally, a vast gush of energy was sucked into her body.

The suction was significant enough to empty the surrounding, making it devoid of any qi. Long Mengchen took a small breath. Inside her body, a massive Qi sea was currently being filled to its limit.

After some time, no more Qi could be inserted in, and the surface of the Qi sea was completely calm. A massive disturbance occurred, and a tremendous amount of qi gushed out of the body of Long Mengchen, breaking and puncturing the walls of her cultivation cave.

Finally, she had achieved the realm of Qi master.

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28th day in the secret space:

Long Tao finally stopped his practice because the Qi pool was now empty, with not even a tinge of liquidized Qi remaining anymore. 

Long Tao opened his eyes and started stretching his bodies out. Eight acupoints and ten secondary meridians.

Thinking about his future cultivation plans made his head reel around and hurt. "

So how many did you manage to uncover boy. ". The voice asked with interest.

Long Tao reported his advancement to the will, and even though it was prepared for the answer, it was still shocked by the amount.

" Only managing to open eight acupoints and ten secondary meridians. It is too little. Your body is still a little on the weak side of talent."

Long Tao was smirking inside. It was not that his body was unable to open more meridians, or his talent is less. The artifact absorbed half of the liquidized Qi while mending itself.

Long Tao was happy that the voice didn't manage to find out about the artifact. Long Tao preferred to keep some cards hidden. Only then will he be able to have a trump card at a crucial time.

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The artifact was able to go through another upgrade and the time ratio increased from 1:3 to 1:4. It was a massive blessing for Long Tao. 

Also, the Qi concentration and quality inside the crimson lord world seem to have increased too. The elemental Qi of the crimson lord world was now a combination of elemental and ancient Qi.

Long Tao was ecstatic. Although the instant benefit was not much, in the long term, this was going to help Long Tao more. Hence, he believed that he made the right choice.

"You have managed to pass my test. You are as a result of this given a choice to accept my inheritance. Are you willing to accept it?"

Long Tao respectfully bowed "I accept senior."

" Good. Now that you have accepted it, you will call me master."

Long Tao kowtowed "Disciple greets master."

" Good child. Although your master is not able to provide you with much guidance, he will still provide you with some gifts."

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A ring appeared infront of Long Tao. When he tried to probe inside, his will was bounced back.

" It is sealed. You will need to reach a certain amount of power before you can access the resources within it. I assure you will be satisfied with the contents."

Long Tao communicated with the Keeper regarding the opening but was denied. He was to open it by himself.

"The next set of things is true inheritance." A huge casket and another ring came into Long Tao's view.

" This is the two-piece of inheritance which I left for you. The casket contains, vials of a compound blood mixture that I created, which will help in strengthening your body."

"It was created by me with the accumulation, combining and purifying the blood of multiple beats of varied stages."

There was an unusual pause " the main thing I will leave for you is in the other ring."

Long Tao tried to probe this time and summon the contents out. The contents were a set of books, a strange sword-scabbard set, a manual, and a massive piece of black that look like the scale of an animal.

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In the crimson lord world-

The Keeper was looking at the contents with wide eyes. "How can this be. How does it have something so heaven-defying?"

" What is it?" The voice didn't even bother to look towards Long Tao.

"The first set of books is a collection of the best arts I had practiced in my lifetime. All of these arts can be practiced once you step into the Qi general realm."

"The sword is my partner in the whole life. It was damaged in my last fight, and I hope you manage to repair it. It is an emperor level weapon."

The last set of things is my most prized possession. The black mass is what is called the reverse scale of an actual dragon." Long Tao was shocked on hearing it.

"You don't need to know what it is now and will get to know about it as you grow stronger. But in short, it contains the blood essence of a true dragon. The manual beside it is a skill that can only be practiced after you successfully manage to absorb a singular drop of blood essence."

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" These two resources are linked with what is called as the body cultivation. The instruction as well as order for you is to practice continuously with the vials present in the casket to modify and strengthen your blood."

"A warning for you. It is just the pre-requisite for the training in the blood essence of the dragon. I managed to absorb a singular drop of blood essence even at my peak of body cultivation."

"Even at my peak, I was about to burst and die just from the injection of a single drop. But for you, I can't point the realm you need to reach, due to your cultivation of the avatar art. Hence my only advice is don't hurry." Long Tao was shocked by the history, and the value of the black piece of scale seem to hold.

" May I ask senior, what was your peak Qi cultivation realm before you died?"

The will laughed with interest, but a chill suddenly permeated the whole environment." The peak of the Qi Emperor realm." Long Tao was scared shitless.

The peak of the Qi Emperor. What sort of existence was that?