Inside the large cave, the sect leader, Tian Zhu, along with Elder Snake, silently watched the almost magical scene unfolding before their eyes.

Elder Dan stood there with his eyes closed while various herbs floated and danced around him, guided by an unseen force.

The ingredients circled around him as they began to be chopped, ground, or peeled.

Some of those materials were as small as flowers, others as large as trees. But as soon as they were prepared and tossed into the small alchemy cauldron, they shrank and fit inside it with ease.

It was as if what existed there was not a simple metal container, but a world of its own. Yet that world was filled with flames, and as soon as the herbs fell inside, they were immediately swallowed and refined into the purest medicinal material by those scorching tongues.

As the materials were refined, they fused into a great pill that began to be condensed and compressed, while various energy patterns were traced around it by the elder.

Spiritual energy began to flow from perfect spiritual stones previously embedded in the grooves of the cauldron. This energy was quickly extracted and directed toward the patterns surrounding the pill, nourishing them, which in turn fed it, awakening an even more intense spirituality within it.

The process was neither fast nor slow, and the elder remained focused the entire time on controlling the cauldron.

About an hour after the alchemy began, Dan Hong suddenly opened his eyes with a flash of light passing through them.

Suddenly his hand moved, and with a slap to the side of the cauldron, the lid was sent flying upward, and at the same instant a streak of blue light shot out from within at astonishing speed.

Elder Snake’s eyes widened when he saw the scene, and he shot forward with all his strength, reaching the luminous streak with even greater speed, fiercely capturing it in his hands and pulling it forcefully toward himself.

“Ugh! What a fierce little thing!”

He snorted as his body was dragged from side to side by whatever he was holding.

“Wow!”

Suddenly, he was even lifted off the ground, arms raised, still struggling to hold onto it.

At that point, Aotian was already stunned by the strength a pill could possess.

Yes, that was the newly refined pill. With its primary spirituality, although it had no intelligence, it was born with the instinct to escape and flee to avoid being consumed.

It was not the first time Aotian had performed alchemy and created a Void-Tier pill, but on previous occasions he had used Formation-Tier materials and relied on the bonuses from the inner elders of the alchemy pavilion, in addition to synthesized inheritances, to make the pills reach that realm.

This time, however, he had applied those same advantages directly with Void-Tier materials, creating a pill far more powerful and spiritual than all his previous attempts.

If that pill had consciousness and could truly fight, it would probably even be capable of beating up Young Master Chun. Such was its extraordinary nature.

‘If I had synthesized a Void-Tier alchemy inheritance, perhaps this little guy would have reached the strength of a Transcendent-Tier pill, and then it would be my avatar, Elder Snake, who would be running instead of chasing,’ Aotian couldn’t help but think, amused.

Putting aside the joke, he controlled Elder Snake to begin suppressing the pill with his spiritual energy, slowly eroding its will and weakening its resistance. Gradually and steadily, the pill calmed down, and the elder’s body stopped being dragged around by it.

Half an hour later, with his feet firmly back on the ground, the elder slowly opened his hand, revealing a blue pill whose surface seemed covered in small scales. It exuded an intense spiritual aroma that revitalized the entire body and made one’s cells vibrate.

The pill also emitted a faint sound. When brought close to the ears, one could hear something similar to the crashing of ocean waves and the soft roars of dragons.

Although it appeared small, it had been forcibly compressed to that size, just as beasts could reduce their forms. Its true size was far greater than it seemed.

After admiring it for a few more moments, as if contemplating a work of art, Snake finally tossed it into his mouth with some reluctance to destroy such a precious and beautiful item—but it had to be done.

As soon as it landed on his tongue, without hesitation he swallowed it in one gulp. He then sat down cross-legged on the ground and closed his eyes in meditation.

As the pill traveled down his throat, it was quickly enveloped by the elder’s spiritual energy and dissolved into a potent medicinal force, which spread through every cell of his body and his blood, strengthening and refining them.

Then that energy advanced, reaching his soul, which at that moment was neither completely dragon nor fully human, but an unstable amalgamation that shifted form incessantly.

As soon as the pill’s energy enveloped it, it began strengthening the dragon form of the soul, slowly suppressing the human part.

The result was an increase in the soul’s stability, and with the purple markings scattered across it, a powerful aura in constant ascent began to emanate from Elder Snake.

Uncontrollably, his form began to transform. Scales grew all over his skin, his limbs fused into his torso, his mouth elongated, and his body grew larger and larger.

A majestic and tyrannical aura began to radiate from his serpentine form, no longer able to be contained.

Tian Zhu, the sect leader, watched everything with an indifferent expression. At that moment, however, he waved his hand, and his energy enveloped the entire cave, preventing that aura from leaking out and ensuring it would not frighten or disturb the other inhabitants of the sect.

Soon, Elder Snake completed his transformation, returning to his true form.

The ancestor Zhen Yinghua, popularly known as Big Sister in the Beasts Pavilion, also arrived at that moment, silently entering the cave.

Her long white hair fell like waterfalls over her shoulders, and her sharp blue eyes fixed on the snake-dragon beast before her as she viewed Elder Snake’s panel one last time before the transformation.

[Beast: Hornless Dragon

Cultivation: Peak Fifth-Level Beast

Age: —

Bloodline: Dragon (Diluted) – Human (Diluted)

Qualifications: Peak Fifth-Level Beast]

As the evolution progressed, the panel began to change slowly.

When Aotian saw Elder Snake’s soul completely stabilize in dragon form, he immediately pulled up the panel again.

[Beast: Hornless Dragon

Cultivation: Peak Fifth-Level Beast

Age: —

Bloodline: Dragon (Diluted)

Qualifications: Peak Fifth-Level Beast]

[Illustrative Image]

His eyes shone upon seeing that. Without the defect of being neither human nor dragon, which caused instability in the soul and prevented Elder Snake from progressing in the cultivation of soul realms, he could finally advance once more.

But it was not over yet.

The powerful energy of the pill continued sublimating Elder Snake’s body. His form grew larger and larger, and even while coiled, he was already beginning to grow too big to fit inside the cave.

When he saw that the cave was about to be unable to contain such an immense body, Aotian quickly allocated a few minds to control the avatar’s body size and prevent the surroundings from being destroyed.

Of course, this control would not affect Elder Snake’s real growth, only temporarily maintain his current size using the natural ability of beasts to reduce their own bodies.

The sublimation process continued and, guided by instinct deep within his bloodline, a deafening roar echoed from the dragon’s mouth, causing the entire cave to tremble and even slightly affecting the souls of the other avatars.

That was the dragon’s roar, an innate ability of that bloodline.

The beast shook its head, baring its large fangs. At the same moment, the protrusions behind its nape expanded, and a pair of long, antler-like horns emerged.

Along with that, two other larger protrusions appeared on the upper part of its serpentine body, and with a crack, two draconic arms fiercely emerged from the beast’s torso, each bearing three sharp claws.

The color of the entire creature also changed, deepening into an intense blue. The snake-like traits diminished, replaced by more majestic and ancient characteristics.

ROAAAAARRRRR!!

Accompanied by the deep and powerful roar, the transformation finally came to an end. In place of the majestic serpent from before, there was now a gigantic blue beast.

That was, without question, the king among spiritual beasts… a dragon!

[Illustrative Images]

[The first images are mainly to show the body shape. The last one is what it looks more like.]

Filled with the power and nobility of his bloodline, his aura alone was enough to make most living beings prostrate themselves in fear.

Of all things, the only feature Elder Snake truly retained after his transformation were his distinct golden eyes, which moved to stare intensely at the sect leader.

[“Thank you, Sect Leader, Elder Dan, Big Sister, and of course, the young master and the others, for this opportunity.”]

The dragon’s powerful voice echoed in everyone’s minds with gratitude, and they nodded calmly without saying more.

This time, they did not put on a grand act, because as the avatars’ power grew, the chances of someone spying on them without being noticed decreased more and more. And although Aotian had decided to keep up the pretense at all times just in case, he ended up becoming a little lazy when the avatars were alone.

But in any case, with so many minds, a bit of acting did not require much effort from him.

Controlling ancestor Zhen Yinghua, Aotian then pulled up Elder Snake’s new status.

[Beast: Flood Dragon

Cultivation: Initial Stage Sixth-Level Beast

Age: —

Bloodline: Flood Dragon

Qualifications: Peak Seventh-Level Beast]

Nodding in satisfaction to himself upon seeing the changes, he also activated the ancestor’s Observable Evolution ability with curiosity, eager to see what would appear next.

This time, however, he had to observe for quite a while before a result appeared. And what emerged surprised him.

Option 1:

[Bloodline: Three-Clawed True Dragon

Qualifications: One-Star Beast]

[Requirements:

Required Cultivation: Immortal Beast

Pill: Immortal-Tier Bloodline Purification Pill — Recipe: …]

Aotian blinked, stunned, when he saw that there was only one option available.

‘It seems the dragon race no longer branches out, at least not at this stage of evolution…’

‘But… what happened? Why isn’t there a bloodline in the Mahayana realm? Why did it jump straight to immortality? And what is a one-star beast qualification?’

He frowned deeply, with countless thoughts and doubts swirling in his mind.

Even after reflecting for some time, aside from a few theories, he reached nothing conclusive. There was still too much missing information to be certain of anything.

Setting that aside for now, Aotian sighed and began planning his next steps.

‘I still have a lot to do, but the matters of the Mahayana mansion are already partially underway. I just need to steal a few Void-Tier spells to increase Elder Snake’s safety and combat capability, and then I can send him to the mansion, taking advantage of the passage opened for his race there.’

‘With that, the authority issue will be quickly resolved.’

‘There are also many other things I need to focus on: the battlefield of the Shadow Domain; stealing from Void Refining sects; establishing missions for the disciples on this continent and inside the Mahayana mansion; expanding and improving the Infinite Dao Empire… and many more…’

‘Ugh! I get a headache just thinking about it.’

Sighing deeply, he dispersed the avatars and began to get busy.

His pile of tasks had to start somewhere.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep