The phenomenon on the hill grew even more terrifying. Clearly, the nether flame enveloping the Azure Dragon’s blood was gradually being diminished by Lin Yun’s sword intent. As more aura was released from the Azure Dragon’s blood, the phenomenon grew even more powerful.

When the seal around the Azure Dragon’s blood was completely removed, the phenomenon in its entirety was unleashed. Lin Yun frowned because he never expected that the Azure Dragon’s blood would be so powerful.

The wind and lightning was so powerful that Lin Yun struggled to keep his eyes open. He looked so tiny under the immense aura as if he would be blown away at any moment.

For a second, Lin Yun contemplated if he should give up for now and try again when he was stronger. But that thought only lasted for a second before he smashed it apart.

His cultivation had undergone a huge boost in the Withernorth Sea since it reached the greater Yang stage. This kind of improvement was unimaginable for anyone else. Lin Yun only managed to do it because his luck was too heaven-defying.

But when he thought about it, his improvement was too quick. Making a breakthrough so quickly wasn’t exactly good as it would affect his foundation if his cultivation wasn’t properly stabilized. However, it was possible that he would have more good luck and make unimaginable improvements. When Lin Yun thought about it, he made a decision that he should temper himself well rather than making a breakthrough recklessly even if the opportunity was present.

The way things were, it looked like he had to temper his cultivation for a long time to stabilize his foundation. This meant that he wouldn’t be making a breakthrough anytime soon. So if he gave up the opportunity to refine the blood now, he had no idea when he would be able to refine it. This meant that even if the risk was great, he had to refine the Azure Dragon’s blood essence.

“Still persevering?” The old man muttered with a grave expression. “The Azure Dragon’s blood is the foundation to cultivate the Azure Dragon Enneaform. Without the Azure Dragon’s blood essence, it will be practically impossible to cultivate. But a genuine Azure Dragon’s blood essence isn’t that easy to cultivate.”

The old man’s eyes flashed as he looked at the disappearing nether flames that enveloped the blood essence. In the next second, thunder rumbled as a bolt of lightning streaked across the horizon.

Under the flashing bolt of lightning, the blood essence shot into Lin Yun’s chest. In the next second, the blood essence branched out into countless lines as they wriggled and spread on the surface of Lin Yun’s body.

Lin Yun let out a pained howl that showed how much he was suffering. However, he endured and gnashed his teeth.

“It’s dragon’s blood, so it’s naturally not something humans can merge with. It won’t be easy trying to gain its acknowledgement. If he can’t persevere, then his outcome won’t simply be failure…” The old man had no changes to his face as he had expected this.

What was an Azure Dragon? An Azure Dragon was an existence that wandered in the sky controlling wind and lightning with a physique comparable to a divine artifact. Its blood naturally contained part of its soul, so one must have a powerful physique comparable to an Azure Dragon in order to bear its might.

Fortunately for Lin Yun, it was only a droplet of the Azure Dragon’s blood. Otherwise, he would surely be dead. But even so, it wasn’t easy for Lin Yun since he had just reached the Yang stage. In the old man’s eyes, he was an ant and refining the Azure Dragon’s blood was reckless.

The old man looked at Lin Yun’s struggle and became hot-blooded as a violent aura began to emit from his body.

Lin Yun also couldn’t remain seated as he kept throwing out punches, which unleashed his terrifying origin energy in the manner similar to a storm. His actions caused the entire hill to start shaking. This made him feel better as the roar coming from inside his body began to soften. He was trying to get used to this feeling in order to perfectly merge with the blood.

“Did this brat have a similar experience in the past?” The old man frowned his brows as he managed to see a thing or two from Lin Yun’s actions. If this was Lin Yun’s first time bearing such pain, he would be yelling out in pain, not gnashing his teeth while waiting for the violent collision to subside.

Clearly, he was experienced in receiving pain, so this wasn’t too bad. Right at this moment, the old man seemed to realize something. He finally knew why Lin Yun could have such achievements in just three months. After all, he was a dragon. Now that he was exposed to the sea, he would naturally grow even more ferociously.

Lin Yun gradually calmed on the hill as he sat down and circulated the sword energy to refine the blood essence. But it didn’t take long for the thunderclouds to roll even more ferociously as a crimson storm shot down at Lin Yun.

I knew that it wouldn’t be this easy! Lin Yun cursed inwardly as he had this premonition when the phenomenon first appeared. He could feel that the natural law wouldn’t allow him to refine the blood essence so easily. A tribulation was unavoidable. He didn’t know the exact reason why, but his premonition was spot on.

“It’s the crucial moment now.” The old man stroked his beard with a smile as he looked at the crimson storm.

The crimson storm soon enveloped Lin Yun and there was nothing he could do about it. He could only cover himself with his origin energy to ensure that he wouldn’t be killed. He had reached the eleventh stage in the Iris Sword Sutra, which had enough power to protect him for now. Although his improvements were quick, his foundation was stable. The sword sutra was powerful and would occasionally cause a chill to surge within his body, which gave him relief.

Lin Yun’s origin energy was constantly being drained under the stalemate. Fifteen minutes later, he had already exhausted one-third of his origin energy. Even his battle with the Yin-Yang stage elders didn’t exhaust his origin energy so quickly.

Just when Lin Yun was contemplating if he should use his physique to bear the tribulation, the Flower Burial Sword began to buzz within the sword box. The sword barged its way out of the sword box before turning into a sword ray that shot into the sky and pierced through the thunderclouds.

Shortly after, more holes began to appear in the sky as the thunderclouds were being torn apart. It didn’t take long for the thunderclouds to disappear and for sunlight to shine once again. Simultaneously, the storm enveloping Lin Yun had weakened without the phenomenon supporting it.

“Great!” Lin Yun rejoiced when he saw this situation. He released all his origin energy to form an Iris Flower beneath him that devoured the storm. While he was at it, he used this opportunity to try and make a breakthrough in the Azure Dragon Enneaform.

“This sword…!” The old man’s face finally changed for once when he saw the sword. A long time later, he turned to look at Lin Yun and muttered, “This brat is pretty lucky.”

As he muttered to himself, a crimson light began to shine from Lin Yun along with a dragon roar that originated from Yun’s body. At this moment, the old man knew that Lin Yun had succeeded.

Suddenly, Lin Yun looked down, which surprised the old man. But the old man smiled shortly after, “You discovered me? You still aren't qualified to meet me. But if you can maintain that perseverance of yours and continue down your path, we will meet in the future. I look forward to meeting you.”

The old man disappeared shortly after, erasing his aura that left traces of his existence with a wave of his hand. At the same time, the traces left behind by the Nethercloud Ghost had also disappeared.

Shortly after he left, Lin Yun descended to where the old man previously stood and started looking around.