There was a large open space in the back of the Xuantian Tower. This had originally been the core plaza of the Xuantian Dao Sect, but after it had declined, this region had simply wasted away.

However, it had been reopened recently. This region was given to the Dragonblood Legion to use.

Now, all the Dragonblood warriors were gathered. There were also the people close to the Dragonblood Legion: Hua Shiyu, Wang Zhen, Zhao Ziyan, Mu Qingxuan, Su Mo, and the others.

Tang Wan-er had brought up whether Long Chen wanted to bring them into the Dragonblood Legion, but he hadn’t done so. The Dragonblood Legion was going to fight through countless bloody battles with him. As his path was filled with towering mountains and plummeting pitfalls, he didn’t even know how far he could go.

The Xuantian Dao Sect had its own destiny, and he needed to leave behind a few powerful protectors for it. As for Hua Shiyu and the others, they would be the future pillars of the Xuantian Dao Sect.

“Boss, can we really eat this?” Gu Yang was at the front of the Dragonblood Legion. He was holding a giant pill in his hands, and he felt a chill when he sensed the fluctuations coming from it.

This pill seemed to possess its own life. It was like a volcano that might erupt at any moment. This was something that could be used as a killer weapon, but he wanted them to consume it.

“If you can absorb it through your nose, you don’t have to eat it,” said Long Chen.

Gu Yang was speechless. His nose wasn’t small, but it wasn’t so big that he could use it as a mouth.

“Gu Yang, are you even a man? A big man like you is afraid of a tiny thing like that? Hurry up and show everyone what to do. You’re a captain of the Dragonblood Legion,” said Guo Ran disdainfully.

Right now, everyone was holding a Dragon Tiger Body Tempering Pill in their hands. However, they were just holding ordinary top grade pills, while Gu Yang was holding a giant pill.

“Guo Ran, you shameless bastard, how about we switch pills? I guarantee I won’t even bat an eye when I eat it!” raged Gu Yang.

“Tch, your pill is bigger than five of ours. Boss is giving you special treatment, so you should be grateful. Shouldn’t you be crying tears of gratitude? Are you suspecting boss would harm you?” Guo Ran had an evil smile.

“Alright, little brat, I’ll remember this.” Gu Yang nodded. He knew this fellow’s ability at stirring up trouble far surpassed his. He hardened his heart and swallowed his giant pill.

BOOM!

In less than a breath’s time, Gu Yang’s entire body looked like a frog being boiled. His body turned red, and explosive sounds came from it. The bricks inlaid in the ground cracked.

Blood began to flow from his pores. Blood also came from his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth.

Everyone was shocked. The blood pouring out of Gu Yang contained a huge amount of spiritual yuan. That was his core spiritual yuan.

“Don’t fight it. The Dragon Tiger Body Tempering Pill contains a powerful essence blood that can replace your Spirit Blood. This is a chance for you to substitute your blood, and at the same time, your body will be tempered by it, making it even stronger,” said Long Chen.

Gu Yang wasn’t listening. He couldn’t even hear what Long Chen was saying. He was in too much pain.

He let out a heaven-shaking roar that made everyone else jump in shock. Gu Yang’s position in the Dragonblood Legion was extremely high. Other than Long Chen and Wilde, he was known as the manliest man.

With his willpower and toughness, he still had to scream in order to release the sensation of pain.

Gu Yang quickly became dyed in blood. Just looking at him gave others chills.

“Alright, you should all be prepared now. You can consume your pills.” Long Chen saw that Gu Yang didn’t need any help from him and was able to forcibly withstand the power of the medicinal pill. He nodded with praise and had everyone else follow Gu Yang’s lead.

Guo Ran, who had previously said such big words, immediately turned green. He hadn’t expected the Dragon Tiger Body Tempering Pill to be so terrifying. If even Gu Yang was acting like this, wouldn’t he die from the pain?

However, everyone else had already popped their pills into their mouths. Even Meng Qi and Tang Wan-er were no exception. They trusted that Long Chen wouldn’t harm them.

“Brother Guo Ran, are you afraid?” probed one of the wood cultivators.

“Are you joking? When have I, Guo Ran, ever been afraid? I just feel a bit unwilling to eat something that boss personally refined. Thinking of how boss has worked so hard to raise the Dragonblood Legion, spending so much blood, sweat, and tears, I just feel-”

“Just eat it!” Li Qi stuffed the pill into Guo Ran’s mouth just as he was trying to drum up sympathy. He then clapped Guo Ran on the back of his neck, causing the pill to go down his throat.

“AH!” As soon as he swallowed it, Guo Ran let out a miserable shriek. He sounded like a pig being slaughtered.

“Shut up! The medicinal effect hasn’t even activated, so what are you shouting for?!” Long Chen wanted to slap this bastard. Other than showing off, could he not properly cultivate?

“I-” Guo Ran had just opened his mouth when he turned as pale as paper. Then he turned scarlet as the medicinal effect activated.

Once the medicinal effect activated, Guo Ran couldn’t scream. He was focusing all his energy on resisting the pain, so much so that he didn’t even have the energy to shout.

The only things ringing out now were heavy breathing and pained groans. Blood began to leak out of everyone.

Meng Qi, Tang Wan-er, Hua Shiyu, Zhao Ziyan, Mu Qingxuan, and the other women were also covered in blood, but they still clenched their teeth and persevered.

“Don’t use your wood energy to resist it, or you won't be able to completely switch out your Spirit Blood. If your wood energy automatically tries to protect you, you should temporarily seal it,” shouted Long Chen suddenly.

Under this immense pain, the wood cultivators’ spiritual energy was automatically activating to block the essence blood.

The Dragon Tiger Body Tempering Pills he had refined for Meng Qi, Mu Qingxuan, and the other wood cultivators had had their medicinal energy cut in half. Furthermore, he had added other medicinal ingredients to soften the violent medicinal energy. That way, its effect would erupt slower and give them more time to adjust.

After all, their physical bodies were too weak, and they couldn’t endure such berserk medicinal energy. As a result, the pills he had refined for them only caused a tenth of the pain the others were feeling.

In actuality, the pain level that Meng Qi and the others were enduring was the normal one for the Dragon Tiger Body Tempering Pill. The ones the Dragonblood warriors were consuming had been modified by Long Chen.

Not only had he made the medicinal effect ruthless, but he had also increased the pain level by ten times. What he wanted wasn’t just to temper their bodies, but also temper their wills.

Although everything was in his control, seeing Meng Qi and Tang Wan-er covered in blood still made Long Chen feel like needles were stabbing his heart. He wished he could take their place.

If the Dragon Tiger Body Tempering Pill was effective on him, he’d eat ten giant pills and go through this pain with everyone.

Right now, each bit of pain they were enduring was increasing their chances of survival in future battles. The pain of the body and the pain of the mind could not compare to the pain of the heart. Back in the Jiuli secret realm, the scene of Lu Fang-er and Ye Zhiqiu dying in front of him had been heart-rendingly painful. There was simply no way to describe it.

Right now, each of them was going through a hellish torment. The pain felt like it would never end. It didn’t give them any hope.

Although it had just been an incense stick’s worth of time so far, it felt longer than ten years for them. They felt like they were on the edge of breaking down.

As for Guo Ran, he had only endured for a few breaths before lying on the ground and fainting.

That brat’s willpower was far too weak, and he couldn’t bear this pain. As a result, he triggered his mind’s natural defense and fell unconscious.

Even after falling unconscious, Guo Ran’s body continued to undergo the effects of the Dragon Tiger Body Tempering Pill. It was strengthening his body; however, it was now unable to temper his will.

After an incense stick’s worth of time, the wood cultivators were unable to endure any longer and fainted. They had surpassed their limits by staying conscious this long, which made Long Chen give them a thumbs-up inside.

Because women were innately more emotional than men, the pain of the mind was even worse for them. An hour later, Meng Qi and Mu Qingxuan also couldn’t hold on. Then Hua Shiyu, Zhao Ziyan, and the others also began to fall unconscious.

After six hours, the first Dragonblood warrior collapsed. These six hours had felt like thirty years within that endless torment. Unable to see any hope, they had struggled for what had felt like thirty years. That willpower was shocking enough.

The first Dragonblood warriors to fall were more accurately the Dragonmark warriors that had joined them in the Central Plains. They were the weakest among them, but after going through so much with them, their willpower had grown much stronger.

After eight hours, only a thousand warriors of the Dragonblood Legion were still standing, tottering on the verge of collapse.

The people that had come from the Eastern Wasteland were all present amongst these thousand people. That even included five women like Qing Yu. They were still persevering.

Gu Yang suddenly opened his eyes. The Dragon Tiger Body Tempering Pill’s effect had finally come to an end. The pain faded.

The others also sighed with relief as their hellish torment came to an end.

“Don’t relax too early. You’ve only gone through half of it. Following this, it’s time for you to temper your bodies with lightning,” said Long Chen slightly apologetically.