Chapter 36: The Dragon’s Essence Blood to Temper the Entire Body

At this moment, Rod appeared to be in a state of obsession, with red light flashing continuously across his body. Every inch of his skin began to wriggle from within, and a faint white smoke gradually emerged from the top of his head—looking truly terrifying and eerie.
Gritting his teeth and suffering in silence, Rod realized that the dragon’s essence blood was indeed the essence condensed over thousands of years by dragons. The energy contained within was immense, far beyond what Rod could easily master or control. The powerful force seeping into his body caused violent collisions, each one making him feel as though his internal organs were shifting and his soul was being damaged. His already severely injured body became even more fragile; a trickle of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth, quickly evaporating into gas, leaving only some solid residue there.
Every inch of his skin and every cell was under intense pressure. The spirit of the Xuanyuan Sword also lost its vitality and disappeared somewhere. Seeking help was out of the question. Rod could only endure on his own.
He must not relax at all. If he slackened even slightly, failed to control his meridians, or failed to use his mental strength and consciousness to restrain that force, it could erupt violently, causing catastrophic consequences. The fierce force might instantly sever his meridians, damage his internal organs, and even kill him if his body couldn’t bear the strain.
At this point, Rod was like an arrow nocked on a bow—forced to act, in an extremely dangerous situation. Regret was useless; he could only keep controlling and consuming that energy.
Time passed, sweat sliding down like rain and evaporating instantly. His face turned pale, his body trembling continuously, and he kept grinding his teeth, emitting grating sounds from time to time.
As time went by, thanks to Rod’s efforts, some of the energy was consumed, and his body reached a new level of strength through its tempering. But how could the energy condensed over thousands of years by a dragon be so limited? It was merely a drop in the ocean—useless. Most of the remaining energy continued to bombard his body, seemingly searching for an outlet to erupt.
His body was in excruciating pain and itching. If it erupted, he would surely die. Panicked, he knew his body had reached a critical point. He couldn’t expect immediate improvement. Rod was desperate—this situation meant certain death. With the Xuanyuan Sword gone, he could only rely on himself.

After some contemplation, with no other options left, he resolved to concentrate all those energies in one place and then channel his entire combat energy toward them. At this point, there was no other way; his body could no longer bear the strain, having reached its limit. He understood the principle that extremes lead to reversals. Perhaps the only method available was the one he had seen in the “Dragon Soul Heart Method” — using combat energy to temporarily seal these energies within his dantian for storage. Though doing so was like planting a bomb inside his body, one that could explode at any moment and pose a huge threat, it was still far better than dying immediately. It gave him a chance to survive, and the rest could be dealt with later. Although it was extremely difficult, he had to take the risk; after all, there was still a 50% chance of success.

He never expected his momentary greed to lead to such consequences. Thinking of this, Rod could only sigh bitterly.

He decided to act immediately. His combat energy quickly surged around the gathered energies, encircling them. Slowly, it moved closer to those energies. Suddenly, as if sensing the threat, they seemed to gain consciousness and began to rampage wildly, using Rod’s body as a battlefield to break free.

Of course, Rod wouldn’t let them succeed. He quickly channeled all his combat energy to his chest, tightly surrounding those energies, then began the sealing process according to the “Dragon Soul Heart Method.”

The strength of those energies far exceeded Rod’s expectations. Even with all his combat energy focused on them, he still felt powerless. Crises arose repeatedly, and despite several attempts at sealing them, none succeeded — they always managed to escape cunningly.

“Damn it!” Spitting out blood from another shock, Rod cursed inwardly. The energies were too powerful; his combat energy seemed insufficient to contain them. A moment of distraction nearly allowed those energies to break free again. Sweating profusely from fear, he quickly steadied his mind and cautiously resumed the process.

This time, with the mindset of taking a risky gamble, Rod began to utilize external elements for help. While absorbing these external elements, he used the internal fighting energy to seal them away. Rod was well aware of the immense danger involved—using both methods might yield quick results, but a single mistake could lead to irreversible consequences. An excessive influx of elements could even cause his meridians to burst, leading to death. Yet, with the situation already critical, Rod had no time to worry about such things. Failure meant certain death, while trying might still offer a glimmer of hope—so it was better to give it a shot.

By using both methods simultaneously, dense fire elements from the outside rushed into Rod’s body like they had found an entrance, pouring in wildly. They surged forward relentlessly, like an unstoppable torrent. Instantly, Rod’s meridians began to bear the impact of these elements. In just a short while, they reached saturation, and his already abundant fighting energy caused intense pain and tearing in his meridians.

Enduring the severe pain, with sweat streaming down his face and even feeling signs of dehydration that blurred his consciousness, Rod managed, relying on his fighting energy and the powerful external elements, to temporarily calm down this surge of energy, preventing it from continuing to assault his body. Then, he hurriedly began preparing to seal it away.

Outside, fierce winds blew as Rod absorbed elements without restraint, causing gusts to rage around him. The fire elements kept flowing in, turning the room into chaos. The loud noises attracted the attention of everyone in the vicinity. For a moment, all eyes were fixed on this place, filled with confusion. The soldiers guarding Rod’s door and Curly could sense it clearly.

Looking back at the room, they were filled with shock. Though they didn’t know what was happening inside, the intensity of the impact and the concentration of elements left them uneasy. They could even vaguely guess what was going on, adding another layer of mystery around Rod. Such strength—perhaps even a Saint-level warrior couldn’t withstand it. Could he? How did he do it? Countless questions arose in everyone’s minds.

There was tremendous noise outside, but Rod didn’t have the mood to pay attention. His body was in terrible condition due to the impact of massive elemental energy, causing extreme pain as he neared collapse. Under the control of both the elemental energy and his own combat energy, the energy was finally brought under control. Then, the sealing process began swiftly—seal after seal was implanted into the energy, with combat energy and elements mixing together to rapidly encase it. Layer after layer, a total of 81 layers were added before the energy was completely subdued.

It wasn’t over yet; this was just the simplest step. Next, the seal needed to be compressed! Following his mental techniques, Rod gradually merged his consciousness into it, while external forces continued to pour in powerful elements to further encase it. At this point, Rod also began subconsciously controlling the incoming elements, reducing their intensity. Controlling these elements required immense effort from Rod, almost leaving him exhausted. These elements were extremely volatile; in just a short moment, they had left his body and meridians in terrible condition. He was secretly glad this didn’t last longer—had it continued, his meridians and body might have already been ruined.

Moreover, without his newly strengthened body, the intense shock might have caused him to explode long ago. He was also relieved that it was a close call. Although some problems had arisen, they were still within salvageable limits.

In fact, Rod didn’t realize just how dangerous the situation had been. An ordinary person who dared to do such a thing would have died either from the energy blast or the elements. Only because of his abnormal, demon-like physique, combined with his recent strengthening, could he withstand it—pure luck on his side.

As he compressed and enclosed the energy, he continued to reinforce the seal. Although it was sealed, the energy was still extremely powerful, and any carelessness could lead to another outbreak, with disastrous consequences.

After what seemed like an eternity, Rod finally felt the seal calm down. Looking at it again, the sealed energy was now the size of a quail egg. Under his control, it slowly sank into his dantian, floating there quietly.

Only after everything was done did he finally take a deep breath of relief. Suddenly, a feeling of exhaustion and weakness overwhelmed him; his body went limp, and he collapsed, his consciousness fading as he fell into sleep!
Time continued to pass, and Rod, lying in bed, surely never imagined that while he was asleep, the elements outside his body and his internal fighting energy seemed to be drawn by some force and began to function again.
This time, however, their movement was gentle and smooth—slow and light, like hot springs flowing and slowly nourishing his battered body.
Under the nourishment of this energy, his body gradually recovered from within; the injuries caused by the shock slowly healed, and his internal organs, like nourished by nectar, gradually became more vibrant.
It gradually spread outside the body as well, and the external wounds were also healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
It took an entire night before it finally slowed down. Upon looking again, his once-miserable appearance had vanished completely; his internal condition had returned to its original state, and his external wounds were mostly healed, with no serious issues left. At first glance, aside from his torn clothes, no one could imagine that this man had been on the verge of death just one night earlier! The speed of his recovery was astonishing, and surely no one would believe such a thing if they saw it.