Within the Blood Sword Sect's Heavenly Army. Lu Yuan plunged his divine sense into the Jade Slip Token, immediately feeling on the verge of spitting blood. Upon entering, he found the token utterly choked with all manner of flora. Lu Yuan was deeply puzzled; perhaps his Martial Ancestor Zhou Ziheng was fond of horticulture? Even so, planting so much within a spatial artifact seemed excessive, hinting at something peculiar. Looking closer, he realized all the vegetation seemed to sprout from a single, central tree. This observation made Lu Yuan incredibly strange. He approached the tree and focused, sensing no life force whatsoever—it was utterly inert. Yet, inexplicably, it exuded a profound sense of vitality. All the surrounding plants were generated from this petrified, less-than-a-foot-tall dead wood.

How peculiar. Could this be the rare treasure Zhou Shishu Zu had mentioned, described in units of "stems," causing Lu Yuan to doubt slightly?

While perplexed, Lu Yuan discovered a row of panels beside the lifeless, yet vibrant-seeming, tree.

Inscribed upon these panels was a line of text.

"To escape Yuan Ling’s pursuit, I detonated all my spirit stones and exhausted every resource. The innate spiritual object was hidden within another spatial artifact, seized by the Blood Sword Ancestor. All that remains here is a single remnant branch of the Jianmu, along with the insights from my Seven-Change Venerable self."

Jianmu!

Lu Yuan couldn't help but rejoice internally. He desperately needed a Jianmu remnant branch right now. Indeed, remnants of Jianmu still existed in this world, and due to the unique properties of Jianmu Cloud, many places used it as a protective repository. When the Jianmu Cloud grew incredibly dense, it became impregnable, making it the perfect guardian for treasured secrets.

The reason this Jianmu, despite being utterly devoid of life force, radiated such intense vitality was clear: Jianmu had shattered in the primordial antiquity, hence its deathly stillness. This particular branch must have inherited some aspects of the original tree’s Azure Wood essence, naturally generating life energy in its immediate vicinity.

Lu Yuan was overjoyed. If he could master the Azure Emperor Sword Dao, he could naturally cure the Poison of Fragrant Blood Sea. However, cultivating the Azure Emperor Sword Dao was no easy feat. He had constantly worried about the Jianmu Cloud, never expecting to find this relic among the predecessor’s possessions within the Blood Sword Sect's heavenly prison.

The Blood Sword Sect’s greatest reliance was its unique toxin, Fragrant Blood Sea. Mastering the Azure Emperor Sword Dao would significantly increase his chances of escaping the heavenly prison.

He glanced back at the stone slab, noting that more techniques were inscribed there.

These techniques detailed methods for refining the Cloud Dragon Heart Sutra.

It turned out that the Seven-Change Venerable, Zhou Ziheng, was truly remarkable among the eighth generation of the Northern Peak. He was the first among them to elevate the Cloud Dragon Ten Transformations to the Seventh Change. This man possessed extraordinary talent in condensing spiritual power, earning him the moniker Seven-Change Venerable. At that time, Yuan Ling used a forbidden spell to siphon off Zhou Ziheng’s talent, thus ambushing him.

Originally, Yuan Ling’s attacks were always meticulously planned with an infallible seven-step deadly scheme, interlocking seven layers of calculation.

Yet, Zhou Ziheng proved to be an extraordinary figure; even at that critical juncture, he managed to flee ten thousand miles away.

He should have escaped with his life, but fate intervened when he encountered the Blood Sword Ancestor, who captured him and imprisoned him in the Blood Sword Sect’s heavenly prison. All his belongings were taken by the Blood Sword Ancestor, save for the Jade Slip Token—a spatial artifact integrated into his very body—which the Ancestor failed to seize.

What was recorded here was the method for condensing the Cloud Dragon Heart Sutra. Lu Yuan scanned the script and found several extraordinarily novel concepts within.

It could be said that Zhou Ziheng was a genius specifically in condensing the Cloud Dragon Ten Transformations. Moreover, having been confined in this prison, every thought and contemplation he had centered on these Ten Transformations. His mastery and understanding of the Cloud Dragon Ten Transformations were likely second only to the Second Generation Ancestor who created them.

Lu Yuan himself had mastered three of the Ten Transformations: the Chi Wen Change, the Qi Zhi Change, and the Pu Lao Change. These three changes allowed him to convert his spiritual power into water, earth, and wind affinities, respectively.

The methods recorded on the slab detailed the remaining four transformations of the Cloud Dragon Ten Changes: the Bi An Change, the Pa Fu Change, the Ya Zi Change, and the Suan Ni Change.

It wasn't that simply having these introductions allowed Lu Yuan to instantly master the four transformations; however, this documentation would simplify the process immensely, significantly increasing his probability of success.

The Bi An Change was the method to transform spiritual power into the lightning element. The Pa Fu Change was the technique for turning power into the wood element. The Ya Zi Change converted power into the metal element, and the Suan Ni Change transmuted it into the fire element. Each of these four methods operated uniquely.

Lu Yuan was ecstatic. If he could truly learn these four methods, it would be an incredible achievement.

The Cloud Dragon Ten Transformations became exponentially more powerful at higher levels.

In the later stages, one could condense a Cloud Dragon; unifying the first nine transformations would yield unparalleled might, making dominance in the Jin State far from difficult.

Never mind that for now; he must first cultivate the Azure Emperor Sword Dao and resolve the poison within himself. Lu Yuan retrieved the Jianmu branch, buried it beneath the earth, and began absorbing the emanating cloud essence bit by bit, completely consuming the Jianmu Cloud.

This method of practice could only be done secretly at night.

In the Blood Sword Sect's heavenly prison, the faint light during the day made practice difficult. Fortunately, cultivating the Azure Emperor Sword Dao did not require condensing the azure sword light directly above his head. While he usually did it overhead for convenience, now, hidden in an extremely careful location, he painstakingly refined the azure sword Dao, inching his way upward.

Time passed in this manner.

Fortunately, apart from the Blood Transformation Sword Immortal Si Nan and his son Si He, no one else troubled Lu Yuan.

After a period of this cultivation, Lu Yuan felt the azure sword light condense, becoming clearer and more translucent than before. This beam of light now possessed greater majesty, imbued with a sense of ancient cyclical reincarnation. A flash of enlightenment crossed Lu Yuan’s mind: the Azure Emperor Sword Dao was finally complete.

With the Azure Emperor Sword Dao achieved, Lu Yuan directed the azure light to sweep through his body. Instantly, he felt all the toxins purged. The consequence of the Blood Sea Fragrance poison—the inability to circulate and utilize his spiritual power—vanished without a trace.

The spiritual power, missing for so long, had finally returned. Rushing power flowed through him, soothing every inch of his body, bringing an incomparable sense of elation.

Lu Yuan desperately wanted to let out a long cry to the heavens to express the joy of regaining his power, but he knew better than to actually do so, lest he alert the guards.

In truth, Lu Yuan’s spiritual power had already reached the peak of the third level of Longevity. Considering his abundance of spirit beasts, including three Giant Whale-class Cloud Whales, the return of such potent spiritual energy was overwhelmingly satisfying. Next, he should practice the various techniques left by Martial Ancestor Zhou.

If cultivating these methods could push his spiritual power to the next echelon, reaching the fourth level of Longevity, that would be wonderful.

Because upon reaching the fourth level of Longevity, he could challenge the Blood Transformation Sword Immortal.

Lu Yuan was fairly certain that the Blood Transformation Sword Immortal Si Nan possessed the power equivalent to the sixth level of Longevity. If he reached the fourth level, he could naturally challenge Si Nan. He had long desired to destroy Si Nan, and Si Nan possessed numerous Blood Cloud Spirit Beasts that would then become his property.

Lu Yuan closed his eyes to contemplate. Condensing spiritual power now was simpler than practicing the Azure Emperor Sword Dao had been. During the Sword Dao practice, he feared discovery by the Blood Transformation Sword Immortal, but condensing his internal spiritual power was entirely self-contained; outsiders could not detect it, allowing him to practice with confidence.

He would start with the Bi An Change. Back in the Wusheng Legacy Palace, he had only managed to reach the halfway point of the Bi An Change, and progress had stalled since then. Now, following Zhou Shishu Zu's methods, he began meditating and cultivating the Bi An Change once more.

Faintly, he felt himself transforming again into a monstrous beast resembling a tiger.

Beside this tiger-like beast, infinite terror—representing the inexhaustible lightning of heaven and earth, the supreme majesty of the cosmos—swirled around it. It stood in the void like an endless Thunder God, with crackling bolts of lightning striking down from its feet, shattering peak after peak.

This was the Bi An of antiquity, the divine beast among the Nine Sons of the Dragon, possessing infinite majesty.

Lu Yuan opened his eyes. Bi An opened its eyes.

I am Jing? I am Bi An? No, I am Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan abruptly opened his eyes again, a sensation of being both himself and not himself washing over his heart. Lu Yuan knew he was not Bi An, yet the feeling of being the beast lingered in his awareness. He immediately resumed cultivation according to the method. After a moment, he felt his internal spiritual power begin a minute, almost imperceptible change. Then, with a sudden bang, the spiritual power within his body seemed to alter its nature, circulating within him like raging thunder and fierce electricity.

At this moment, Lu Yuan felt a surge of power trying to burst from his body, intending to condense into a tiger-shaped lightning monstrosity outside. Lu Yuan knew he absolutely could not allow this, so he forcefully suppressed the surging power, preventing it from escaping.

This suppression nearly made him retch blood from the effort.

Though the physical discomfort was immense, and his power threatened to reverse course, Lu Yuan felt boundless satisfaction. The fourth change of the Cloud Dragon Ten Transformations, the Bi An Change, was finally complete.

Concurrently, he felt his spiritual power advance another step, and he vaguely understood that if he managed to master just one more transformation, breaking through from the third level of Longevity to the fourth would not be difficult.

The Cloud Dragon Ten Transformations was a cultivation method for refining spiritual power; progress in the method naturally catalyzed advancements in the power level, which was entirely normal.