The purple bamboo swayed slightly, and that chubby doll, who looked like the one holding a golden carp in a New Year painting, stood nervously by Zhang Daoyuan's side.
He watched as monstrous waves of energy surged around Zhang Daoyuan, golden tides rising into the sky, turning the entire small world into a golden expanse.
And in the South Sea Purple Bamboo Forest, the small pond that had accumulated for who knows how many ten thousand years saw its water level drop slightly.
To an ordinary person, it might just be a small pond, but the closer one gets to the Immortal Dao Realm, and the closer one gets to the peak of the Human Dao Realm, the more one can feel the uniqueness of that small pond.
It was no mere small pond; it was practically a small world, like a river of stars hanging above the firmament.
The water in that pond was not ordinary water, but rather gathered from endless Vital Energy.
Even for a Supreme Being, consuming so much Vital Energy would be an incredibly difficult task.
Yet, as Zhang Daoyuan stood there and began his cultivation, he truly caused ripples to stir in this pond.
In just this short period, the entire small pond had dropped by a significant margin.
The ancestor of the purple bamboo forest, which had become sentient in the South Sea Purple Bamboo Forest, was an Immortal Medicine.
The reason it only made babbling sounds and did not speak was not because it lacked intelligence or could not speak.
It was not that its wisdom was insufficient, nor that it did not know how to speak.
Having become an Immortal Medicine level spirit medicine, its wisdom was very high; it could even understand scriptures of True Immortal or even Immortal King level.
Its babbling was merely the emission of Mental Fluctuation.
As long as it wanted someone to understand, it could be understood with ease.
Now, as she babbled, her words carried surprise and confusion.
This was because, although she was not a True Immortal, she already possessed some characteristics of a True Immortal.
In the South Sea Purple Bamboo Forest, she had lived for who knows how many epochs and had seen who knows how many Heavenly Prodigies.
But she was seeing a person like Zhang Daoyuan for the first time.
Or rather, it had to be divided into two stages.
During the stage of the gathering held in the South Sea Purple Bamboo Forest, Zhang Daoyuan was the most outstanding genius of the Immortal Ancient epoch, but he could only be considered one of them.
It had seen early Immortal King level figures, and they possessed such a level of ability.
Achieving Supreme Being within five hundred years was very strong, but this only represented having the Immortal King Bearing.
If one did not show anything special in the later stages, one would likely only be able to achieve True Immortal.
And even with such a performance, a long growth period would still be required subsequently.
But suddenly, this gathering was ruined, Heaven and Earth suffered destruction, and an Immortal King fell.
Zhang Daoyuan, on the contrary, displayed something different.
In an extremely short period, he was able to continue breaking through on top of his existing foundation, even gradually reaching the absolute peak of the Human Dao Realm.
This was very extraordinary.
It was rare throughout history; even Immortal King level figures were only at this level.
This surprised it, and was mixed with shock.
Meanwhile, Zhang Daoyuan's expression remained unchanged.
He was re-cultivating the four Secret Realms within his body, or more accurately, the three Secret Realms.
Because there was no corresponding Great Emperor level scripture for the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm, although Zhang Daoyuan had roughly created a scripture while in the purple bamboo forest, it was not perfect.
He compared it with the other three Secret Realms and concluded that the scripture he had created in a short time still had a certain gap compared to scriptures tempered by Great Emperors over thousands of years.
Therefore, he did not re-cultivate the fourth Secret Realm, the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm, and set it aside for the time being.
He only re-cultivated the three Secret Realms: Wheel Sea, Dao Palace, and Four Extremities.
The consumption of resources during this process was almost massive.
Because if the five Secret Realms of the Sacred Body were not re-cultivated, one would likely just be an ordinary Quasi-Emperor of the Ninth Heaven.
Although still considered formidable within the entire Great Universe, one could not be called invincible.
But after re-cultivation, his Vitality was as vast as the sea, and his Magic Power and Divine Power were endless.
His Physical Body was firmly very strong in this realm; in terms of the Physical Body alone, he could be called peak.
The resources he had accumulated, which were originally intended for Zhang Daoyuan to undergo Secluded Cultivation for countless years until his own cultivation realm and strength could reach a higher level before going out, were mostly used up.
During this process, seven or eight tenths of them were consumed.
Zhang Daoyuan's gaze was bright; his cultivation realm had reached a higher level.
His self-assessment was that he had entered deep into the Great Emperor Realm and had completely mastered the power of this level.
He had mastered the Dou Character Secret, Jie Character Secret, and Xing Zi Mi, and had transformed them into his own power.
Even the pond in front of him, which had accumulated who knows how many years of time and years in the South Sea Purple Bamboo Forest, was left with only a shallow layer.
It could barely accommodate those few golden-red goldfish.
In the South Sea Purple Bamboo Forest, ordinary bamboo withered and flourished time and time again.
Zhang Daoyuan assessed that about ten years had passed.
Under normal circumstances, these bamboos remained emerald green all year round and would not age or die.
But now it was not normal; the Heaven and Earth Rules were changing repeatedly and rioting violently.
In Zhang Daoyuan's self-induction, the rules had rioted at least three times in these years, and all were in the area of the Border Pass.
He possessed the Eternal Exile left behind by an Immortal King level figure.
Being able to feel the Heaven and Earth Rules rioting even in this area meant that at least three Immortal King level existences had died forever.
And they should be Immortal King level existences from the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands side.
Of course, it is very difficult for Immortal King level existences to truly die; they will eventually leave countless traces between Heaven and Earth and then return one day.
In the original work, even after the Desolate Heaven Emperor achieved Immortal King, it was incredibly difficult to kill an Immortal King.
However, now under the pressure of the Foreign Territory, it would be extremely difficult to revive after dying.
This kind of life was very hard to endure, but Zhang Daoyuan could only wait agonizingly; he knew that time was not far off.
Because the rules of the small world formed by this Eternal Exile of his were originally extremely thick, preventing him from seeing the situation in the outside world.
But in recent days, they had been opening up bit by bit.
He was gradually able to see the scenes of the outside world again.
The battles of normal Immortal King level figures might span countless years, but this time, due to the disparity in strength and the situation of many attacking one, the relevant battles would soon come to an end.
This was why, when the situation outside could be seen clearly, Zhang Daoyuan saw a True Dragon falling from the sky.
That True Dragon had deer antlers, dragon whiskers, and as its body twisted, it developed the mystery of the snake form to its peak, while the scales on its body had the beauty of fish...
It was as if the most beautiful parts of all species between Heaven and Earth had been integrated into its body.
Every movement was natural and in harmony with Heaven and Earth.
Just by seeing that True Dragon fall from the firmament and drop out of the River of Time, endless Comprehension arose in Zhang Daoyuan's heart.
He had been comprehending the Cultivation Method of the fourth Secret Realm, the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm, in this Heaven and Earth for so many years, and he had already found a clue and successfully sorted it out.
But all those years of Comprehension could not compare to the perfection and shock of seeing that True Dragon at this moment.
His spinal column adjusted naturally during this process, completely imprinting the beauty of the dragon form into his body.
And that True Dragon was initially very small in his eyes, like a shadow on the horizon.
But as it fell, it became increasingly vast, looking almost like a Great Universe falling from the horizon, filling the entire sky.
The True Dragon roared and charged into the sky, reaching into the River of Time with one claw to pull out a heart flowing with golden blood, and crushed it with one grab.
But its body also shattered inch by inch during this process, turning into blood and mud bit by bit.
Vaguely, one could see two Immortal King level figures standing in that River of Time.
Those were two Immortal Kings from the Foreign Territory, covered in blood and also having suffered heavy injuries.
Zhang Daoyuan's heart felt heavy.
And the Heavenly Emperor Life System popped up again at this moment.
"Broke into the tomb of the Undying Heavenly Emperor and the Great Emperor, watched the Great Dao Imprint left by the Great Emperor, and attained the beauty of the dragon form."
"Reward: 《Great Emperor Scripture - Dragon Transformation Chapter》!"
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