Chapter 221: Dragon Marrow Essence?

The brick’s metallic sheen melted away into a translucence that pulsed like living flesh. Within its rectangular frame, rivers of molten gold surged like marrow flowing inside a bone. A dragon’s roar echoed faintly across the lake, not in sound but in the marrow of every cultivator’s being. The weaker ones coughed up blood on the spot, their bodies unable to withstand even a fragment of that majesty.

“It’s… It’s not a brick…” someone gasped hoarsely, kneeling from the pressure.

“Dragon… marrow essence… Ten thousand years…”

“That’s impossible! Those bones should have long vanished from the world!”

Panic and envy twisted across their faces. For centuries, cultivators had scoured ancient ruins for even a chipped scale or sliver of bone from the primordial dragons that once ruled heaven and earth. Yet it was now here in the form of a so-called “brick”, which was the condensed marrow of a dragon’s bone, something so precious it could propel an entire sect into supremacy if refined carefully.

And Bai Yunxian had already swallowed it whole.

Yun Shu blinked, her jaw slackening.

’Wait… so that’s why it didn’t respond to anyone else? Because they didn’t have the audacity to just call it what it was?’

She nearly laughed, then nearly cried. All those long-winded names, all the spiritual chants, and in the end, it was just a dragon’s bone marrow essence shaped like a brick. Her cute husband also happened to had eaten it like a snack.

The marrow dissolved into Bai Yunxian’s body like fire flowing through his veins. His qi surged uncontrollably, his meridians straining to contain the sudden flood of power. The lake boiled as a vortex of spiritual energy poured into him, every wave bowing to the authority of his presence.

Golden Core Stage One… Stage Two… Stage Three—

The cultivation advances snapped like chains breaking one after another. Gasps and screams rose with each leap. By the time Bai Yunxian reached late Golden Core, several sect masters could no longer hide their despair.

“No… this is absurd…”

“Years of effort, crushed in a night!”

“Now he’ll try to dominate us all!”

The guards of the Northern Palace pressed their weapons tighter to the earth, their killing intent spreading like a suffocating mist. Any thought of intervention died in the throats of the crowd.

And then it happened.

Bai Yunxian’s qi surged once more, piercing through the final barrier. His aura swelled beyond the Golden Core realm, touching the unfathomable edge of the Nascent Soul stage. Yet he did not quite cross. The marrow pushed him to the very bottleneck, but his foundation was too careful, too perfect to recklessly collapse under pressure.

Then slowly, he stopped.

The air fell silent except for the slow, even sound of his breathing.

When his eyes opened again, they glowed faintly with golden light, as though dragon fire still lingered in his pupils. Every cultivator within sight lowered their heads instinctively. Even those who hated him, even those who wanted to curse, found their bodies trembling with a primal fear. The marrow of a dragon was not merely power; it was authority, the lingering shadow of a creature once hailed as ruler of heaven itself.

Yun Shu was stunned. Not only had he leapt from the very beginning of Golden Core to the bottleneck of Nascent Soul, but his presence felt utterly unshakable, as if he had always belonged there.

’Only one stage away…’

she realized, her heart pounding. ’Just one stage away from stepping into the Nascent Soul realm itself.’

That was the difference between a peerless genius and an ordinary cultivator. Others might struggle for decades to climb a single stage. He devoured marrow once and nearly shattered the heavens.

Although it was nothing compared to Yun Shu’s own power, it was still a baby step tpwards better future in her eyes.

The crowd did not cheer. How could they? Their hopes, their ambitions, their very sense of superiority had been crushed beneath his effortless rise.

The Azure Sect disciples who had been watching from the side could only gape in disbelief. The younger ones trembled, while their elder senior brother whispered, “This… this is the kind of man who stands above other sects. We’re witnessing history itself.”

Yun Shu, however, wasn’t interested in history. She was more concerned with Bai Yunxian himself. He had closed his eyes again, breathing slowly as he stabilized the flood of qi threatening to tear his meridians apart. She sat by his side without hesitation, folding her legs neatly, resting her cheek on her palm, and watching him with narrowed eyes.

“You nearly exploded,” she muttered softly, low enough only he could hear. “Next time, let me prepare an ice bath before you swallow dragon marrow like candy.”

A flicker of amusement passed across his lips, though his eyes remained closed.

She grinned. ’He heard me.’

Hours passed. Midnight melted into dawn, the first blush of light painting the misty lake. By the time Bai Yunxian’s qi had completely stabilized, the lotus platform beneath them had already sunk back into the depths of the water, its purpose fulfilled.

Bai Yunxian rose to his feet. His aura had condensed, controlled perfectly so that it no longer spilled outward, but its weight remained. It was the weight of inevitability, of destiny pressing down on everyone present.

Without a word, he extended a hand toward Yun Shu.

She placed hers into it, letting him pull her up. Together, they stood on the shore, two figures radiating effortless victory.

The cultivators who had once whispered schemes and jealousies lowered their gazes, silent. None dared to block their path. None dared to even speak.

And so, under the envious eyes of thousands, Bai Yunxian and Yun Shu walked away.

The Azure Sect disciples watched their departing backs in stunned reverence. The senior brother clenched his fists and muttered, “That woman… Yun Shu… she’s not just some chatterbox. She’s walking beside him as if it’s natural. As if she belongs there.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep