Chapter 157: Chapter 131: Dragon Elephant 3

Even when fighting an enemy, while the Hundred Rivers Operation was active, breath would roar out from the blood vessels, providing an instantaneous and invisible strengthening effect.

It was like normal breathing—something that could happen anytime, anywhere.

Clearly, the awakened Dragon Elephant Power could also be wielded as freely as that strengthening effect.

Unfortunately.

After three days, Chu Lingguang still hadn’t received any response from his bloodline.

For now, he had only grasped a rudimentary method of nourishing his bloodline with Qi Power. He was still a long way from achieving the resonance between breath and bloodline that would provide a constant strengthening effect.

「Another three days passed in the blink of an eye.」

It had been about half a month since Chu Lingguang and the other candidates had begun their intensive training at the academy.

The number of people in the Inner Courtyard had grown from nine to fifteen.

In those few short days, aside from Yan Chengdu who had already connected all his blood vessels, five others had also succeeded one after another, earning the opportunity to train in the Inner Courtyard.

On the afternoon of the fifth day, Lin Longde finally made it into the Inner Courtyard.

“AWOOO!”

「On the seventh day of training in the Inner Courtyard.」

A unique, barely perceptible sound emanated from within Emperor Yue Xuan’s body.

Li Dayao was startled.

He rushed to Emperor Yue Xuan’s side, carefully sensing the trajectory of his circulating breath.

「Afternoon of the seventh day.」

“Hah!”

Emperor Yue Xuan successfully lifted an eight-hundred-pound Stone Lock over his head, stunning Chu Lingguang and the others.

After days and nights of arduous training, Emperor Yue Xuan, relying on his outstanding talent, had finally awakened a line of Bloodline Power on the afternoon of the seventh day, obtaining the Dragon Elephant Power. Li Dayao had once said that activating a single bloodline would grant a thousand pounds of Qi Power. Emperor Yue Xuan could currently only lift the eight-hundred-pound Stone Lock, which was clearly just the beginning. Once he could wield that Dragon Elephant Power freely, his Qi Power would exceed one thousand pounds.

Then, with any weapon in hand, a single fierce swing would carry immense Attack Power. An opponent with far less Qi Power wouldn’t be able to resist it, even if they used the third level of Skillful Force.

This was a perfect example of brute force overcoming all skill.

It was also why the Court placed such importance on a person’s Qi Blood Power.

Tremendous Qi Power gave one an overwhelming advantage at all times.

Emperor Yue Xuan’s breakthrough put pressure on Chu Lingguang, Chen Jin, and the others. Having connected all the blood vessels in his body, Chu Lingguang had been the center of attention. Though Li Dayao and Liu Wan never said it aloud, they had both privately believed Chu Lingguang would be the first to awaken his Bloodline Power. To their surprise, Emperor Yue Xuan had been the one to awaken a bloodline first and master the Dragon Elephant Power.

「That night.」

Chu Lingguang sat on the large platform bed with his eyes closed, circulating his energy. Lin Longde and Yan Chengdu formed a triangle with him, sitting together on the platform and practicing the Day and Night Breathing Technique.

The three had long since formed an alliance.

They supported one another.

Thanks to Chu Lingguang, Yan Chengdu and Lin Longde were able to train on the platform bed. The candidates who entered the Inner Courtyard later had to sit on the floor.

In those seven days, Chu Lingguang had approached Li Dayao several times, trying to understand how to get a response from his bloodline. He had obviously connected all his blood vessels and activated the Day and Night Breathing Technique, and he knew how to use it to train. ’With a score over eight hundred,’ he thought, ’even if I couldn’t be the first to awaken my bloodline and gain the Dragon Elephant Power, after so many days, I should have at least heard the faintest response from my bloodline by now.’

But his blood vessels remained utterly silent, without even the slightest tremor.

Chu Lingguang started to worry.

’Could I be one of those people Li Dayao mentioned? The kind with no Dragon Elephant Power in their bloodline?’

Fortunately, his Heart Guarding Skill was superb. Since only seven days had passed, he didn’t lose his composure. He quickly adjusted his mentality and stopped psyching himself out.

“WHUMMM.”

Suddenly, a low humming sound filled the room.

Chen Jin’s Qi Blood was churning; the humming sound was coming from inside him. Time was short. It wasn’t just Chu Lingguang; Chen Jin, Yan Chengdu, Qi Shiwei, and the others were also dedicating every waking moment outside of eating and sleeping to their training.

As a fellow prodigy, Chen Jin refused to be outshone.

Emperor Yue Xuan’s breakthrough had both pressured and inspired him.

On the night of the seventh day, approaching midnight, he finally received a response from one of his bloodlines. He heard a strange humming, which was at first nearly imperceptible. As he circulated his Qi Power, the sound grew louder and louder, until the responding bloodline seemed to roar like a great dragon.

Eventually, the humming sound filled the entire room.

Everyone stared at Chen Jin, their own energy circulation disrupted by the noise. Even Chu Lingguang, despite his superb Heart Guarding Skill, was jolted out of his meditative state. He looked at Chen Jin with open envy.

Chen Jin opened his eyes.

His gaze swept past Chu Lingguang before finally landing on Emperor Yue Xuan. As the two prodigies’ eyes met, a wave of fighting spirit surged from them both.

Chu Lingguang realized something.

’Even though I’ve connected all my blood vessels, because I haven’t awakened the Dragon Elephant Power, in the eyes of Chen Jin and Emperor Yue Xuan, I’m no longer considered a worthy rival.’

That was why Chen Jin had merely glanced past him, while Emperor Yue Xuan’s gaze was fixed solely on Chen Jin. The two squared off, completely ignoring him.

In the room, they were like two colliding stars. Everyone else held their breath, not daring to disturb the powerful auras clashing between them.

“In three days, the Academy Master will test our Dragon Elephant Power. We can settle who’s stronger then,” Emperor Yue Xuan said.

Chen Jin had always been an opponent he took seriously.

Chu Lingguang had just been an unexpected anomaly.

“Fine.”

Chen Jin was just as ambitious.

Emperor Yue Xuan had placed first in every stage of the Martial Arts Examination in North City, crushing Hu Yanlin so thoroughly that he had lost all hope. Rumor had it that Emperor Yue Xuan was a second Yan Zhen. Chen Jin, however, was unconvinced. As the top-ranked candidate from Jin City, he was itching for a chance to prove himself.

Neither prodigy acted rashly. They quickly put each other out of their minds and re-entered a meditative state. While the others were still trying to get a response from their bloodlines, these two were already figuring out how to wield their Dragon Elephant Power with complete freedom and push their Qi Power past the thousand-pound threshold.

Chu Lingguang also closed his eyes and resumed his meditative state.

Li Dayao had said that bloodlines could respond in many different ways. The method to elicit a response was always the same, however: use the Day and Night Breathing Technique to control the Qi Power flowing through the blood vessels, letting it move freely until one discovered how their own bloodline would respond.

’Now that Emperor Yue Xuan and Chen Jin have received responses from their bloodlines, they both produce a unique sound. When my bloodline responds, it should probably make a special sound, too.’

The others thought the same.

As they circulated their energy, they all listened intently for a response from their own bloodlines.

Morning light fell on Chu Lingguang’s face.

He had circulated his energy all night, completing countless Great Cycles, but the special sound never came. Being under so much scrutiny, Chu Lingguang felt immense pressure.

He was somewhat worried that he would be unable to awaken the Dragon Elephant Power.

With the help of the Day and Night Breathing Technique, his Qi Power was increasing daily. But no matter how fast it grew, it couldn’t compare to that of Emperor Yue Xuan and Chen Jin, who had now grasped the Dragon Elephant Power.

Chu Lingguang sighed to himself.

’I need to accept this and stop putting so much pressure on myself.’

Slowly, he stopped actively circulating the energy in his blood vessels. As if liberated, the energy began to course through them on its own. His blood vessels, which had been under constant strain from the forced circulation and pressure, finally began to relax.

Faintly, Chu Lingguang heard a cheer rising from every single blood vessel in his body. It was as if he could see them—tense and strained just a moment ago—now behaving like exhausted workers, sinking into reclining chairs and slowly stretching their weary limbs.

From the inside out.

Throughout his entire body.

From the major and minor meridians…

…to the primary and secondary vessels, everything seemed to be responding to him.

The dejected look in Chu Lingguang’s eyes, like that of a deflated balloon, vanished. In its place, a brilliant light erupted.

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep