Chapter 56: The Mystery of Aptitude (Bonus Chapter, Please Vote!)

Standing in this pure white space, Shao Heng could feel that she was still able to remain here.

Without delay, she immediately pressed the gold-inlaid jade scroll against her forehead to read its contents.

【Mid-grade Immortal Art: Great Derivation Spirit-Refining Formula】

[Keep all connections unmoved; maintain a single intent in the center. Expand the sea of consciousness beyond the Niwan Palace, using the sea of consciousness as a millstone to temper the cultivator's divine sense. It is divided into three stages. The first stage allows intent to follow the heart, weaving threads of divine sense to manipulate all things like puppets. The second stage allows divine sense to transform into weaponry, killing enemies invisibly. The third stage allows for shifting forms and shadows, altering heaven and earth; wherever the thought reaches, there is no place unreachable.]

"It's actually a mid-grade immortal art!"

Shao Heng was exceptionally delighted. The true intent of the immortal art stored within the scroll dissipated quickly, yet it was not extinguished or destroyed; once only a tiny wisp remained, the scroll spontaneously detached from her hand and floated back to its original position.

"It's almost like leeks? As long as the roots aren't pulled out, they can grow back even after being cut."

Shao Heng now understood why this immortal art had survived despite the Xuan Yue Secret Realm being opened hundreds of times and countless geniuses passing through.

The remaining true intents of the immortal arts should be able to receive nourishment within this space, allowing them to persist indefinitely.

She did not rush to leave the space. Instead, she lifted her sleeve, pulled out the little white dragon, pried its mouth open, and fished out the three Shattered Moons.

"Hmph!" Ao Chuan was highly dissatisfied with her crude behavior.

But Shao Heng was faster; she flipped its tongue and found the one it had tried to hide for itself.

"You dare to hoard it?"

She cast the Dust-Cleansing Technique to wash the four Shattered Moons and her own hands clean, then slapped the dragon's face.

"You'd better be sensible. If you actually dared to swallow one of my Shattered Moons, I'd peel a layer of skin off you."

The little dragon was thick-skinned and resilient, arguing back: "If it weren't for me, how could you have snatched four Shattered Moons right under their noses? I want one too!"

"If it weren't for me, Yin Liu would have probably uprooted you back then. Your life was spared because of me. What's yours is mine, and what's mine is still mine—not to mention that everything you've eaten and drunk during this time has been mine!"

Shao Heng gave it a sidelong glance until Ao Chuan felt guilty and transformed back into a dragon pattern, coiling around her right arm.

Only then did she examine the four Shattered Moons.

They were silver-gray crystals of various shapes and sizes. Their texture was not transparent, yet they possessed an indescribable profundity, looking like tiny comets surrounded by stardust.

Shao Heng reached out and touched one of the Shattered Moons. Mana surged from her fingertips, wrapping around it like silk threads, guiding the power within into her body.

A cold yet heavy force entered her physical body. Her Niwan Palace flashed faintly as a portion of the lunar essence was stripped away. It was incredibly pure, bringing unprecedented clarity to her spiritual platform. Shao Heng closed her eyes.

The lunar essence contained in this single piece was greater than two months of her nocturnal cultivation; it would take some time and effort to refine.

What remained was the power of the stars, which appeared as a cloud of purple light mist during her internal inspection.

Simultaneously, Shao Heng felt something within her body being rapidly stirred—or rather, awakened.

The circulation of mana within her body was more violent than ever before, causing the blood in her physical body to surge and turn a burning red. Ao Chuan automatically detached himself, staring at Shao Heng with slit pupils, watching her cautiously for fear that something might go wrong.

*Damn it!*

Ao Chuan roared in his heart.

That cursed blood contract set by that damn Yin Liu—as a subordinate, if the master Shao Heng lost her life, the backlash would immediately take him down with her.

Shao Heng's body, which had undergone dragon-blood tempering, even began to show cracks as if it were on the verge of shattering. But every time a crack appeared, a green luster would flash across it, healing it completely. The vigorous vitality brought by the [Azure Emperor] pulled her back from the brink of danger just in time.

Ao Chuan cursed aloud, "Are you playing a 'flash-and-retreat' game with the Book of Life and Death?!"

His heart was thumping wildly.

Shao Heng remained in this state for about fifteen minutes before she suddenly snapped her eyes open, her right palm facing upward.

Lunar essence, solar radiance, and stellar mist.

Three distinct powers rotated around each other, forming a vortex that was constantly condensing.

Instead of the expected violent collision, the three forces actually intertwined, merging perfectly until they birthed a beam of light as brilliant as crystal.

"That's not right! In my bloodline inheritance, how could the powers of the Moon, the Sun, and the Stars possibly merge? There isn't even a record of this in ancient times; only the Three-Light Divine Water exhibits similar changes."

Ao Chuan watched, extremely astonished.

As for the Three-Light Divine Water he mentioned: when separated, the Solar, Lunar, and Stellar Divine Waters were all peerless poisons that could even slaughter great cultivators of the late three realms. When combined, however, they became the supreme holy medicine, capable of neutralizing all poisons and healing all wounds.

But what Ao Chuan perceived from the brilliant beam in Shao Heng's palm was an extremely pure sense of power, bearing no resemblance to the characteristics of the Three-Light Divine Water.

When Shao Heng pointed the beam toward Ao Chuan, he felt an excruciating pain all over his body. Every scale trembled, and he quickly followed his heart, saying, "Big Sister Shao Heng, the little dragon will follow your every command. Don't point that thing at me!"

Shao Heng nodded with satisfaction, unable to stop the corners of her mouth from curling upward wildly.

"This is my power," she murmured to herself.

"The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars can all be used by me, achieving perfect balance within my body. This is my strongest means of slaughter!"

She raised her hand and blasted the brilliant beam into the pure white space. A massive crater formed on the wall. As the wall writhed, it clearly attempted to self-repair, but it was prevented by that force and could not succeed.

In the next instant, Shao Heng and the dragon were thrown out together.

Caught completely off guard, Shao Heng landed face-down. Feeling a discomfort beneath her, she reached back and felt that the little dragon had been squashed somewhat flat, its eyes looking at her accusingly.

"It's all your fault. You're hurting me."

Ao Chuan watched this woman play the victim and gnashed his teeth inwardly.

But then he thought of that terrifyingly brilliant beam just now; his bloodline instinct had been screaming at him not to touch it.

He immediately comforted himself: as a noble True Dragon, arguing or explaining at this moment was meaningless. He chose to follow his heart once again.

"I was wrong."

Caught between feeling humiliated and angry, Ao Chuan chose to embrace the humiliation, slinking back onto her arm and transforming into a dragon pattern.

Shao Heng gave a faint smile.

Death Qi could torment Ao Chuan, but the lineage of a pure-blooded True Dragon was indeed powerful; the death qi she could catalyze at her current cultivation level was not enough to truly claim his life. Furthermore, the blood contract had been forcibly signed by Yin Liu, and Ao Chuan had accepted it purely passively, his heart filled with resentment.

Now that Shao Heng truly possessed the power to suppress and execute him, Ao Chuan's attitude had naturally shifted.

What "arrogant heavenly demon"? If she was strong enough, then one day, even the entire True Dragon clan would feel honored and proud that "Shao Heng is the master of Ao Chuan"!

"At this stage, I can absorb the stellar power from the Shattered Moons, but in the long run, I must obtain the method for swallowing starlight as soon as possible."

Shao Heng stood up, her eyes bright as she gazed into the distance.

"In the secret realm, I can only absorb lunar essence. Solar radiance relies on my previous cultivation, and stellar power relies on the Shattered Moons; I must use them sparingly. But once I fuse the three powers—judging by the power of that single strike just now—it should be enough to threaten someone at the Great Perfection of the First Realm, like Zhao Qingtu."

"Then I finally have the capital to compete for opportunities in this secret realm with dignity!"