Chapter 268: The Newly Promoted True Monarch_2
Han Chao couldn't help but lament.
"My master is open and upright, yet I'm inferior!"
...
At the same time.
Xianjing.
Beneath the imperial palace.
The Alliance's first laboratory is located here, which can be considered the source of almost all the top technologies and elixirs of the human race.
Today.
It was time for the Dragon Blood Elixir test, and the first batch of elixirs had been fully produced.
With the great calamity approaching, time was pressing.
The cabinet had signed a special decree, allowing the Dragon Blood Elixir to be tested directly on humans without prior experiments.
One hundred test subjects from the army's veteran soldiers were chosen, each of whom had withstood battles against fierce beasts and wars of expansion, their wills tempered on the battlefield as strong as steel.
Even so, they had to remain in the safety room in case of demonic transformation.
The Dragon Blood Elixir was distributed, and without any hesitation, the test subjects swallowed the crystalline, ruby-like liquid.
The elixir flowed through their organs and channels, hot as fire, as if it ignited their blood.
Roar!
The test subjects let out pained cries, their strong wills kept their consciousness intact as they circulated their Qi-Blood to refine and assimilate the elixir.
"The fusion process is still painful, but their martial arts talents are ordinary, and their internal Qi-Blood is just a bit higher than that of normal people. Taking other elixirs would directly result in bloodline backlash and physical collapse!"
Zhou Yi presided over the laboratory, his Divine Sense swept over all subjects, but he did not intervene to help.
Only when someone could not endure the elixir's impact and began to lose consciousness, their bodies starting to morph into demon-like forms, did he wave his hand and bring down a Spiritual Light.
His tremendous Mana sealed the elixir's fusion, forcibly interrupting the bloodline metamorphosis, and pulled them back from the brink of death.
"Subject number nine, failure."
"Subject number thirteen, failure."
"Subject number forty-three..."
Zhou Yi relayed the information to the laboratory, where experts then took away the unconscious subjects. Even the failed bloodline transformations held immense research value.
Perhaps someday in the future, someone would discover the reason for the failed fusions and improve the elixir to achieve a hundred percent success rate.
Only then would it truly be a flourishing age of new arts!
Several hours later.
The elixir finally finished fusing; in total, eleven people failed, and thirty-nine succeeded.
This was already an exceptionally high success rate, considering that these subjects were not martial arts experts. If they had tried to break through by taking fierce beast elixirs directly, the success rate would not even be one in a hundred.
The scarcity of bloodline warriors despite a hundred years of history was exactly because of this! Enjoy new chapters from empire
"Legend has it the Dragon Emperor has nine sons, each different. Could it be deduced from this that Dragon Blood could adapt to myriad spirits, thus being easier to assimilate compared to other fierce beast bloodlines?"
Zhou Yi speculated in his mind, and as he waited for the newly advanced Dragon Blood warriors to recover their strength, he issued further commands.
"Record their talents, test the data!"
Following the order, the subjects reported their talents one by one; most of them possessed dragon scale or dragon claw talents, which meant that when they activated their bloodline, dragon scales would appear on their skin or their limbs would turn into sharp claws.
A few had dragon heart or dragon horn talents, and there was only one instance of a dragon tail talent.
Based on past experience with bloodline elixirs, the greater the change in talent, the stronger the growth in strength.
After testing the data, indeed, the person with the dragon tail talent showed far superior strength, speed, and attack power. The mutated dragon scale tail swept through and snapped steel pillars in two.
"Such a bloodline transformation is very similar to the true Dragon's Nine Transformations..."
As Zhou Yi looked at the thirty or so little dragon men, he pondered whether to take the Dragon Blood Elixir himself and continued issuing commands.
"Conduct one-on-one combat trials against martial artists of the same rank, with the victor facing more opponents, until they fail!"
His gaze fell on subject number eight.
Eight was already well-built, and after taking the elixir, his stature had swelled to twelve feet tall; his clothes were already torn, revealing scars all over his body, and a dragon tail about a yard long swished back and forth behind him.
His opponent was a warrior with a bull bloodline, and since the bull blood elixir was the most stable, it was in the greatest abundance.
"Brother, please be gentle."
The bull blood warrior had been fused with his bloodline for two years, and should have been far stronger than number eight, but standing before him, he faintly felt the pressure from a higher tier bloodline.
Number eight, whose mind was clear, saluted with his fist and said, "Please, senior!"
Moo!
With a bellow, the warrior's stature ballooned; two blue bull horns sprouted from his forehead, his arms became as thick as columns, and with a leap, he charged fiercely.
Eight neither dodged nor evaded, but crossed his arms to meet his opponent's onslaught head-on, matching his strength. His nimble dragon tail, like a third arm, lashed out from behind to sweep the bull-headed man into the air.
One round, and he'd defeated an opponent of the same rank.
A moment later.
Facing three Martial Artists of the same rank, Number Eight didn't fall behind at all.
The other Dragon Blood Martial Artists, already defeated by the three attackers, cheered for Number Eight through the laboratory's glass window.
Roar!
Number Eight's eyes turned blood red, letting out a dragon's roar. His bloodline was stimulated to the extreme; blood-red demonic patterns appeared on his skin, and his dragon tail extended more than thirty feet.
Withstanding the onslaught of bull horns and tiger claws, his dragon tail coiled around one of them and threw him dozens of feet away.
The remaining two had a grave expression, thinking they were about to lose, but then they saw Number Eight collapse weakly to the ground, his dragon tail retracting into his body and disappearing.
Zhou Yi led the applause, praising, "Very good, Dragon Blood Martial Artists, three times stronger than those of the same rank! Continue tinkering with the Dragon Blood Elixir, for the next batch of subjects, expand it to five hundred!"
The other researchers and Martial Artists hurriedly followed suit, their eyes flashing with envy towards the Dragon Blood Martial Artists.
The power of the Divine Beast Bloodline was far superior to that of other Fierce Beasts, and those who had taken the Elixir before were somewhat regretful.
Zhou Yi took out a dragon-scaled Spirit Fruit from his sleeve and handed it to a researcher, saying, "Give this Spirit Fruit to Number Eight. It's enough to eliminate the side effects of the bloodline's explosion and further refine his bloodline!"
The researcher bowed deeply to accept it, "Thank you, True Master."
Zhou Yi suddenly asked curiously, "What's Number Eight's name?"
The researcher quickly flipped through the list of experimental subjects and answered.
"Lin Lei!"
…
In the year 208 of the Alliance.
Han Chao succeeded in his tribulation and became the third Golden Core of the Human Alliance.
The same year.
The Dragon Blood Elixir was successfully developed. Its potent effects shocked the higher-ups of the Alliance, and they quickly reached a cooperation agreement with Ao Qin, requiring the Dragon Blood Martial Artists to turn in a strand of Azure Dragon Blood each month.
Since then, the number of Dragon Blood Martial Artists grew rapidly.
According to the newly established laws of the Alliance, newly promoted Dragon Blood Martial Artists had to turn in two strands of their essence blood each month, one for the Dragon Emperor and the other for the concoction of new Dragon Blood Elixirs.
In the year 209 of the Alliance, in December.
According to the official statistics of the Alliance, the number of Dragon Blood Martial Artists surpassed a hundred thousand.
…
At the Northern Border.
Cold winds swept across the land, and the grass withered.
During the coldest month of the year, the sky was overcast with clouds, and scattered snowflakes fell.
"This damned weather is much colder than in previous years!"
General Xu stood on the city wall, dressed only in a thin military uniform, yet not feeling the slightest chill. His forehead was inlaid with verdant scales, as if they had grown out from his flesh.
He had taken the Elixir and successfully transformed into a Dragon Blood Martial Artist.
The Alliance, to maintain internal stability, prioritized the military for the dissemination of the Dragon Blood Elixir, followed by martial arts experts and ordinary citizens.
"This wind isn't normal; it contains Yin Sha essence."
Gu Chen reached out his hand and drew in hundreds of snowflakes. His Mana circulated, evaporating the water vapor and leaving behind only a wisp of gray Yin Sha essence.
The black-robed person standing beside him said coldly, "The northern part of Cloud Continent has already been occupied by Corpse Demons, and the Yin Sha essence is becoming increasingly dense. With the northern wind carrying it, it will get colder and colder in the future!"
"This is the real struggle between life and death. Once defeated, there won't even be a chance for a comeback!"
General Xu swore under his breath. He had seen the messages from the scouts to the north: the Corpse Demon army, whether intentionally or not, transformed everywhere they went into Yin Sha Forbidden Land.
Such lands were devoid of life!
The black-robed person said, "Knowing this, why do the two races still not join forces?"
"Wolf King, don't be impatient. That's a matter for the officials above to consider. They surely have various considerations. Our duty is to defend against the Corpse Demons."
General Xu's eyes shone brightly; with his innate dragon vision, he saw the gathering Yin Sha demonic mist in the distance, rising like billowing smoke into the sky. He then gave orders through the communicator.
"You whelps, it's time to get to work!"
A moment later.
An endless horde of Corpse Demons reappeared, numbering over a hundred thousand, belonging to a small Corpse Demon unit.
The Northern Border soldiers had grown accustomed to this. Corpse Demons often aimlessly, instinctively moved towards areas where living creatures gathered, so every few days, they would assault the Great Wall.
Wuuu wuuu!
The Corpse Demons, with their hoarse voices, dragged their mangled, rotting bodies, fearlessly charging into battle.
Boom boom boom…
They were met with countless rocket blasts, which after exploding, left large areas of Spiritual Fire on the ground. The Corpse Demons stepping on them would ignite and burn to ashes.
In this war, neither side would leave a Corpse behind!