Refining the True from the False: Becoming a God Starting with Devouring a True Dragon

Zhang Yuan walked to the gate of the courtyard, looked around, then closed the gate and led Wang Qi to the backyard.

A well, four free-range chickens, and a purplish-black solid wood plank with many knife marks on it.

The whole area is a narrow space, about five or six meters long and two meters wide.

Zhang Yuan went into the coal briquette room and soon came out with a small jar.

He then took a long sword and walked to Wang Qi's side.

With a single cut, the seal on the jar was pierced, revealing the blood inside.

"This jar contains the blood of the fire serpent."

Zhang Yuan said, "The color is no different from normal blood, but if you put your hand close to its surface, you can feel a distinct heat."

"Give it a try."

Wang Qi squatted by the altar and reached his hand close to the blood inside.

Just as the fine hairs on his hands were about to come into contact with his blood, Wang Qi felt a thin layer of heat.

"There is definitely something wrong."

"This fire snake blood will stay hot no matter how long it's left out."

"If you encounter an unfamiliar snake demon, kill it and drain a bowl of its blood. Then use this method to test whether it is a fire-element snake demon."

After saying this, Zhang Yuan held his long knife and struck a pose as if a snake were raising its head.

"This Fire Serpent Technique is an extension of the Serpent Style, and there's not much to practice in terms of the moves themselves. The main thing to do to use this forbidden technique is to add a forbidden incantation and some other elements."

"When performing the spell, one should silently recite 'Please, Venerable Fire Dragon, open your eyes to save future generations,' which is the meaning, but the pronunciation is different from human speech."

As he spoke, Zhang Yuan's tone became solemn.

A buzzing sound came from his mouth.

Like sacred Sanskrit, even though he couldn't understand it, it still filled Wang Qi with awe.

Only after the voice fell did Wang Qi dare to ask a question.

"What language is this?"

"Some say it's Dragon's Word, but I'm not sure... just use it as is." Zhang Yuan didn't elaborate.

Instead, he went on to explain the essentials of the Fire Serpent Technique.

"The first is the forbidden technique, and the second is smearing blood."

Zhang Yuan suddenly darted forward and grabbed a rooster.

A flash of light, and blood gushed out like a fountain.

The rooster didn't even manage to crow once before it went limp in Zhang Yuan's hands.

Zhang Yuan wiped the blood with two fingers and applied it to the blade.

They even wrote and drew on the blade, all details.

Finally, Zhang Yuan slowly added two extra dots on symmetrical spots on both sides of the blade, as if adding the finishing touch.

Then,

Zhang Yuan pretended to cut his wrist.

"At this point, we simply cut our wrists, letting the Fire Serpent Blade, now with its eyes open, drink our blood, and then apply the same steps to the blade."

"Finally, silently recite the incantation, and the forbidden technique will be complete."

"I won't demonstrate wrist-cutting, of course... you don't necessarily have to cut your wrists to drink blood, it's just that it's more convenient this way."

"Did you understand?"

Wang Qi nodded; the process of this forbidden technique wasn't as complicated as he had imagined.

"I didn't quite understand the forbidden technique just now, so I might need Master to teach me a few more times. The rest isn't too difficult."

"This forbidden technique...it's somewhat like a ritual to invoke a deity?"

He raised his doubts.

"More or less," Zhang Yuan nodded.

"Practice this process a lot yourself... You must practice it until you know it by heart, as naturally and quickly as eating and drinking."

"After all, when fighting for your life, opportunities are fleeting. And your opponent is rarely foolish enough to let you slowly execute your plan, waiting for you to unleash your ultimate move..."

Wang Qi nodded, listening attentively.

He then used the blood of the dead rooster and, under Zhang Yuan's guidance, practiced repeatedly until late at night until he was basically familiar with it.

However, to use it seamlessly in actual combat, it requires a period of training.

"Would it be more effective to use higher-quality fire snake blood?"

Wang Qi pressed for an answer.

"That's natural."

Zhang Yuan explained with a smile, "It's like asking someone for a favor; naturally, the more valuable the gift you give, the more effort they'll put in."

"Oh~"

Wang Qi suddenly realized.

But Zhang Yuan immediately added, "But it's not necessarily true that the more advanced the better."

"After all, neither of us has dragon blood. The higher the quality of your offering, the more severe the backlash will be... and the longer you will need to recover. If things go wrong, your life may be in danger."

"Of course, it would be even better if we had the ability to prepare some fire-elemental blood from pythons and boa constrictors. In this world, the more top-tier tricks you have up your sleeve, the better..."

"Oh, right, so does this cultivation."

"The higher the bloodline of a demon's flesh, the stronger its demonic energy, making it more difficult for you to refine. A slight mistake can lead to a backlash. At best, it will cause a loss of qi and blood; at worst, it will damage your internal organs."

"The cultivation of inner strength is about cultivating one's vital energy."

"During daily practice, one should use more visualization and pay more attention to gathering energy."

Wang Qi quickly pressed on, "How much bull demon and snake demon meat do I need to consume to cultivate my inner strength?"

Zhang Yuan laughed and said, "For an ordinary person, it would be a thousand catties of bull demon meat or two hundred catties of snake demon meat."

It's ten times more effective than external training!

The difficulty of this process, from the outside in, is truly astonishing.

If you eat three pounds of rice a day, it would take more than a year to finish all of this!

Wang Qi clicked his tongue in amazement.

If we're talking about the price, based on the normal market price of 100 coins per pound of snake demon meat, 1,200 pounds of meat would roughly cost 120 taels.

One hundred and twenty taels!

To cultivate a strong internal martial artist, one must first break into a house on Zhengyu Street.

This doesn't even include details like foundation, the five elements, and suppressing demonic energy.

of course,

Some geniuses, however, have excellent absorption and eat a lot...

Breaking through realms extremely quickly.

So, am I...?

"With your qualifications, it's best to take a more cautious approach."

Zhang Yuan's voice rang out, pouring cold water on his enthusiasm.

"Now that you're cultivating, you must be able to sense the evil of demonic energy... Your talent wasn't even mediocre in that old courtyard where you were a candidate for a minor official, so don't even think about reaching the top in one step now that you're focusing on internal strength."

"Take it easy and do it step by step."

Ugh……

Martial arts are truly difficult.

Zhang Yuan and Wang Qi talked about many more details until late at night.

He escorted Wang Qi all the way to the door, and even gave him a small jar of fire snake blood as a gift.

According to Zhang Yuan,

This jar can be used three times.

Wang Qi spoke up, "I only gave Master a snake and a fish, and kowtowed a few times, and yet I was able to obtain such a forbidden technique... I am truly ashamed."

Zhang Yuan waved his hand and smiled, "Don't get your hopes up too high. This forbidden technique won't be passed on to you for nothing."

"If I die someday, you'll escort Baozi to the county town to study."

"Then Master should go and deliver it himself while he's still alive. I've never done this kind of work before."

Wang Qi smiled and shook his head, then dragged a string of snake corpses and disappeared into the night.

In winter,

Snake meat can be easily sold as long as it is dragged to the front of the various police stations.

Even in the dead of night,

Wang Qi sold out of snake meat in just half an hour.

"Each snake weighs an average of two ounces. We also dug out a fire-element snake to give to the master. Seven snakes totaled nine ounces and eight ounces?!"

Wang Qi sat on the bed, grinning foolishly as he counted his money.

He was indeed naive and had never seen the world before. Loose pieces of silver were spread on the bed, as big as two of his faces.

Even the gods would laugh at this scene.

"Nine ounces and eight ounces, that's enough to buy two hundred and fifty pounds of meat from Fatty at the meat market!"

If you eat three pounds of food a day, you won't have to worry about food for your spiritual practice for more than two months.

After being happy,

Wang Qi immediately began to silently recite the "Dragon's Words" of the forbidden Fire Serpent Technique in his mind.

……

Downstream Alley.

Little Black carefully crawled along the ditch, its jet-black skin blending perfectly with the bricks and stones. Unless you went closer to take a look, you would never know that it was a large snake weighing several tens of kilograms.

I don't know how long I climbed.

A dangerous hissing sound came from in front of me.

Its scarlet eyes pierced through the darkness, and it slowly raised its head, revealing its blue skin as it looked down at Little Black.

It utters a language that only snakes can understand.

"What are you doing here?"

Little Black gave a human-like smile and said timidly, "You've become a great demon who has grown into a python!"

"The snake demons around you all obey your commands, so I think you must be a remnant of 'Rain Marquis'... a remnant waiting for rebirth."

Xiao Hei sensed the dangerous aura before him and almost blurted out something disastrous.

"You've been lingering here, refusing to leave... you must be loyal and want to avenge Marquis Yu."

"Indeed, the human race murdered my king; I will never let this go!"

"The green python said angrily."

Xiao Hei continued, "But I heard that Yu Hou was actually beaten up by other powerful demons in the mountains and had no choice but to flee to Heihe County... which is why he died."

"The real culprits are actually those powerful demons in the mountains!"

"Shouldn't we take revenge on those great demons and join me in doing something great?"

The green python's tone suddenly changed, "You possess the aura of a human!"

"good!"

Xiao Hei suddenly became defiant, "I am fluent in human language and have already subdued a pair of adulterous humans in Heihe County!"

"We can use them to strengthen ourselves and launch a counterattack against the mountains."

The blue python fell silent...

Xiao Hei froze in place.

The world seemed to slowly fall silent with the darkness of night, as if countless years had passed.

The green python finally spoke, "Alright... but I want to see what you're capable of first."

"Bring those two humans to me."

That suits me perfectly!

Little Black's eyes lit up.