In the territory of the Demon Race, a giant black python perched atop an immense mountain peak, gazing down below.
"What's the status on the human, Li Yang?" the giant black python asked, its voice heavy.
After Li Yang passed the fortieth step of the Path of Deities and became the Eternal Ancestor's disciple, he became their number one target—the genius they most wanted to assassinate.
He had been watching Li Yang for the past few years, silently waiting for the right moment.
"Lord Wilderness."
From below, a demon beast hurriedly reported, "The human, Li Yang, returned to Earth for a time before disappearing. Based on our calculations, he must be heading to the Slaughter Battlefield. We estimate he should arrive within the next month or two."
"The Slaughter Battlefield?"
Hearing the report, Wilderness said gravely, "In that case, pay close attention to everyone who enters the Slaughter Battlefield. Prioritize anyone whose strength is between a Single-System Deity and a Dual Pantheon! Also, keep an eye on any new experts who are stronger than a Dual Pantheon! The human Li Yang has displayed such incredible Talent that the Human Race must value him greatly. They've likely given him treasures to increase his strength—treasures that could very well elevate him to the level of a Dual Pantheon!"
Wilderness was no fool. He knew certain treasures could grant a massive boost to a Deity's power.
'Of course, Li Yang had only just reached the point of killing an ordinary Deity. Even with treasures, a tenfold power increase would put him at the level of a Dual Pantheon at best. That would be his absolute limit. It's impossible for him to have grown strong enough to reach the level of the Tri-System Deities.'
'Mastering an additional law multiplies one's strength by ten.'
'The power gap between an ordinary Deity and one of the Tri-System Deities is a hundredfold!'
'What treasure could possibly increase Li Yang's strength a hundredfold? It's simply impossible.'
'So, his targets would be Single-System Deities and members of the Dual Pantheon…'
'Any unfamiliar face could be the human Li Yang in disguise.'
"Also, don't just focus on the human Li Yang. We must watch the human Mixed Void, too! He must also die!!"
Wilderness growled, his face contorted with murderous intent.
After Li Yang passed the fortieth step of the Path of Deities, the human Mixed Void actually managed to pass it as well!
Although Mixed Void's Talent is somewhat inferior to Li Yang's, he will still become an Emperor with ease in the future.
If these two human geniuses aren't killed, the Human Race will have two more Emperors in the future.
"Yes."
The demon beast below replied respectfully and quickly departed to make the arrangements.
...
Li Yang was oblivious to the Demon Race's movements.
Inside his aircraft, Li Yang sat cross-legged in silence. In his hand rested a single drop of blood: the Primordial Dragon Essence Blood.
However, the drop of essence blood had now shrunk to half its original size!
Li Yang had been silently refining and absorbing it, and at a certain point, he finally stopped.
'Have I reached my absorption limit?' Li Yang sensed his state.
No matter how he tried, he couldn't refine even another trace of the Primordial Dragon's blood.
'Looks like I've hit my limit.'
'You can't just absorb any treasure indefinitely. There's always a limit!'
'The Primordial Dragon's blood continuously improves one's strength. If someone could truly absorb a treasure like this without end, what level would their power reach?'
Despite this, Li Yang's eyes were filled with immense joy!
A single vial of Primordial Dragon Essence Blood contained only three drops, and he had just absorbed half a single drop! What did that even mean?
As he clenched his right fist, Li Yang instantly felt a terrifying surge of power!
Before, when Li Yang refined ten Dragon Scale Insects, his foundational strength had increased by more than threefold!
But now, he could feel that the increase in his strength far surpassed what he'd gained from the Dragon Scale Insects!
'Before, I could match a Dual Pantheon by using all my trump cards. But now, after refining just half a drop of the Primordial Dragon Essence Blood, my foundational strength has increased another tenfold!' Li Yang was overjoyed.
'That's right—a tenfold increase. And that was a tenfold increase on top of the power I had when using the Divine Crystal Stone to match a Dual Pantheon!'
This was the progress he had made in just two and a half years!
'The power of the Tri-System Deities is exactly ten times that of the Dual Pantheon. I could already fight a member of the Dual Pantheon before, and now the Primordial Dragon Essence Blood has increased my strength tenfold again… My foundational strength has definitely reached the level of the Tri-System Deities!' Li Yang's face was alight with joy.
Without relying on his top-tier Divine Artifacts, fighting with equivalent weapons, Li Yang's current strength had actually reached the level of the Tri-System Deities!
One could only imagine what a tremendous leap in progress this was.
'How long had it been since he'd first killed an ordinary Deity?'
In just four or five years, he had leaped from the level of an ordinary Deity to that of the Tri-System Deities! His power had increased a hundredfold!
If he were to use his top-tier Divine Artifacts, more than half of the Tri-System Deities would likely be no match for him!
At this point, Li Yang could be called a truly powerful Deity!
Among all Deities, the vast majority were either ordinary Deities or part of the Dual Pantheon; these two groups made up over eighty percent of the total. Li Yang's current strength was now firmly in the upper-middle echelon of all Deities!
'Primordial Dragon Essence Blood is truly something else!' Li Yang thought with amazement as he looked at the blood in his hand.
'A treasure like the Divine Crystal Stone only increased my strength fivefold, but the effect of just half a drop of Primordial Dragon Essence Blood far surpasses it!'
This was why so many powerful experts desperately coveted the Primordial Dragon Essence Blood!
Normally, increasing one's strength was an arduous task. But with the Primordial Dragon Essence Blood, one's power just shot up. The feeling was simply incredible.
As Li Yang was reveling in his joy, the ethereal figure of Soul Ink drifted out. He looked at Li Yang, a peculiar light in his eyes.
"Li Yang, how did you manage that? You actually refined half a drop of Primordial Dragon Essence Blood?"
Soul Ink asked in astonishment, "Even an Emperor might not be able to do that, could they?"
Only a few Emperors can refine Primordial Dragon Essence Blood. Among them, the very best might refine a dozen drops, increasing their strength two- or threefold before they hit their limit. The rest refine far less; there are plenty who can't even manage half a drop.
And that's a process that takes them an incredibly long time to accomplish.
But Li Yang, a mere World Realm cultivator, managed to refine half a drop in just two and a half years? And his overall strength increased tenfold!
To have the foundational strength to match one of the Tri-System Deities while only at the World Realm! That's just completely heaven-defying!
Before, the fact that Li Yang could kill an ordinary Deity after only a few decades of cultivation shook the entire Cosmos. If news got out that he could now match one of the Tri-System Deities, it would cause an even greater uproar.
"Just lucky, I guess," Li Yang said with a small smile, hearing Soul Ink's words.
'He would never mention the mysterious small sword.'
Soul Ink pursed his lips at Li Yang's answer. 'Clearly, he was just changing the subject again.'
'His ability to refine half a drop of Primordial Dragon Essence Blood had to be related to one of his secrets.'
'But he also knew how monumental Li Yang's secrets were. If he were in Li Yang's shoes, he probably wouldn't choose to reveal them either.'