After setting up the array, Ling Xiao entered the cave.
The cave wasn’t deep, filled with stalactites, clearly natural, not a beast’s lair.
“Perfect place to cultivate,” he decided.
After checking for dangers and finding none, he relaxed.
The cave, long uninhabited, was a bit dirty.
He tidied it up, then retrieved the ice bed.
The bed bore inscriptions from the ancient warrior, which he intended to study.
More importantly, cultivating on it boosted his speed by thirty to forty percent, another reason he took it.
The cave was dim, so Ling Xiao set up a simple light-absorbing array, ensuring it stayed bright for all twelve hours of the day.
It absorbed sunlight by day, moonlight and starlight by night, offering no attack or defence but great utility.
One of his trip’s gains.
Satisfied with the setup, he sat on the ice bed.
A piercing chill hit, making him shiver.
His prior ice-cold true essence training helped him adapt, unlike others who’d leap off, unable to cultivate.
Cross-legged, he began merging the bed’s chill into his body.
Though potent, his Nine Veins Spirit Body, granted by his Mountains and Rivers Martial Soul, could handle any spiritual energy, even this icy chill.
True essence cycled through his meridians, weakening the chill with each loop, as if devouring it.
After forty-nine cycles, he felt the bed’s chill fully integrated into his true essence.
Another breakthrough!
Ling Xiao opened his eyes, beaming.
Peak Mortal Realm Third Layer!
It came so naturally!
Closing his eyes again, he used soul force to inspect his body, clearly seeing the true essence in his nine martial veins.
All his true essence stemmed from these veins, making them vital.
Now, their total essence had surged, and its density had increased, shifting from gaseous to slightly viscous.
In quantity, his essence rivalled a Mortal Realm Seventh Layer warrior.
In quality, it was likely on par with a Sixth Layer’s.
His only weakness was cultivation level.
Low cultivation meant his true essence couldn’t unleash its full effect, making him no match for a Sixth Layer warrior.
But against early Fifth Layer warriors, he could hold his own.
Below peak Third Layer, no one could harm him, let alone challenge him.
Even among Fourth Layer warriors, most, except prodigies, weren’t his match.
This was his base form’s combat power.
In Human Dragon form, he’d be unmatched below peak Fourth Layer and could handle most Fifth Layer warriors.
In Primordial Golden Dragon form, no one below peak Fifth Layer could defeat him.
At that stage, even against Sixth Layer warriors, he’d remain unbeaten.
Opening his eyes again, Ling Xiao felt this trip’s rewards were immense. The gruelling training, though tough, yielded satisfying results.
He sensed that even without the Century Nine Dragon Quenching Pill, persisting like this would soon break him through to Fourth Layer, likely in days, not a month.
However, low-grade true essence pills were now useless for recovery, so he’d switched to mid-grade ones.
Fortunately, he had ample mid- and high-grade pills, enough for a couple of months.
“Just broke through, better not rush further. Time to consolidate,” he decided, postponing the pill’s refinement until his peak Third Layer was solid.
He was eager to cultivate the secret technique.
Flight would give him a massive edge below Cave Heaven Realm, greatly boosting his survival odds.
With that, he retrieved the bamboo slips from his Mountains and Rivers World.
In the ancient warrior’s cave, he’d only glanced at the introduction. Now, undisturbed, he could study properly.
Flight wasn’t just for escape.
The human dream of soaring the skies was profound.
As a child, seeing birds fly thrilled him, sparking dreams of flight.
He’d pursued lightness techniques for this.
But even Cloud Dragon Divine Walk only allowed long-distance gliding, not true flight.
In the Mysterious Realm, only Cave Heaven Realm warriors truly mastered flight.
Even flight-based martial souls were less practical than a flight technique.
Reaching Cave Heaven Realm was far off, as he hadn’t even hit Celestial Realm.
But this flight technique was an exception.
Rare even tens of thousands of years ago, it was now exceedingly so in the Mysterious Realm, a treasure beyond seeking.
Taking a deep breath to calm his excitement, Ling Xiao opened the slips.
As he did, an unyielding soul force surged, flooding his mind with a stunning vision.
A flying dragon.
A massive flying dragon!
Said to be a sub-dragon, a cross between a divine dragon and a crocodile, less potent than a true dragon but, with dragon blood, far fiercer than common beasts.
Its enormous body unfurled, wings spanning dozens of metres, casting a vast shadow as it flew.
Beneath that shadow, humans seemed puny, like ants, struggling to breathe under its oppressive presence.
