Above, the Dragon Clan was locked in a fierce battle, while a million zhang deeper down, Yang Kai hungrily devoured the Dragon Pool's power to temper his own dragon veins.
His growth had been tremendous.
When he had first entered the Dragon Pool, his body was only three thousand five hundred zhang long. Now, in just half a year, he was approaching the limit of the giant dragon stage.
He was a single step away from the Ancient Dragon's five-thousand-zhang threshold.
Half a year, and his dragon body had grown by fifteen hundred zhang! That worked out to three hundred zhang per month, ten zhang per day.
Of course, the larger he grew, the slower the improvement. In the beginning, Yang Kai had been able to add dozens or even a hundred zhang per day, but by now the growth had essentially stalled.
Crossing the threshold to Ancient Dragon was proving difficult. Yang Kai hadn't seen any improvement in over ten days.
He had hit a bottleneck.
When Yang Kai had advanced from Wyrm to Giant Dragon, the transition had been smooth and natural—he hadn't felt any bottleneck at all. Now, advancing from Giant Dragon to Ancient Dragon, he was encountering one for the first time.
In truth, the advancement to Ancient Dragon was a major hurdle for the Dragon Clan. There were usually specialized secret techniques that accompanied the process—techniques not inherited through bloodline but rather developed by the Dragon Clan through their own research.
For pure-blooded dragons on the verge of this breakthrough, the Dragon Clan elders would naturally provide instruction. Old Third Ji, for instance, had been taught the method of breakthrough by the Ji family's Ancient Dragons before entering the Dragon Pool this time.
But Yang Kai was different. No one had told him about any of this. He had been at the Pass of No Return for so many days, and aside from the Phoenix Clan paying him any attention, the Dragon Clan had completely ignored him. Where was he supposed to find a breakthrough technique?
After more than ten days of no progress, Yang Kai realized there was a problem. He was still devouring the Dragon Pool's power, but it was no longer doing him much good—unlike before, when every wisp of Dragon Pool energy had been able to refine and purify his bloodline, making him stronger.
This couldn't go on. He didn't know how long the Dragon Pool would remain open, but it certainly wouldn't be for long. If time ran out before he had advanced to Ancient Dragon, he would have let down Ancestor Xiaoxiao and the others.
This was his first time encountering such a problem, and he had no solution for it.
He looked around, gritted his teeth, and lunged deeper with a flash of his dragon body.
Half a year ago, the position where he had stayed had been the limit of his bloodline. But after half a year of growth—his dragon body having increased by fifteen hundred zhang and his dragon veins having advanced greatly—that limit was no longer a limit.
Now, he was qualified to go deeper.
His thinking was simple: if he had hit a bottleneck in his dragon veins, then he would use a massive quantity of energy to blast through it. As long as there was enough energy, it would eventually crack open!
He descended another several hundred thousand zhang and faintly felt that he had reached his limit once more.
But this time he didn't stop. He kept going.
Since he had decided to let quantitative change accumulate into a qualitative leap, the denser the Dragon Pool energy, the better.
Only at a million zhang did he finally stop.
That was about right.
At this depth, he could feel immense pressure emanating from his dragon veins. Any deeper and he wouldn't be searching for a breakthrough—he would be seeking his own death.
The surrounding Dragon Pool energy was so dense it was practically solid. Compared to his previous position, it had increased tenfold or more.
If he couldn't break through to Ancient Dragon under these conditions, there would be no justice in the world.
He steadied his mind, activated the Sun Mark and Moon Mark on his two dragon claws, and in an instant, the dense power of the pool surged into his body.
Yang Kai's dragon eyes went wide. He was instantly struck by a sensation of overeating, his entire being feeling wretched.
But he didn't stop. He let the Sun Mark and Moon Mark continue devouring.
As before, stimulated by that enormous power, the dormant force within him belonging to Burning Brilliance and Dark Moon stirred to life. Yin and Yang powers merged, forming an invisible millstone that ground down the incoming Dragon Pool energy, rendering it gentler and easier to absorb.
Previously, with the aid of this power, Yang Kai had been able to refine the Dragon Pool's energy with ease, feeling very little pressure.
But now that was no longer the case. Even with Burning Brilliance and Dark Moon grinding away at it, the massive influx of Dragon Pool power accumulated within his body, setting his dragon veins into turbulent surges and his dragon blood into a frenzy.
Heart-rending pain erupted from every part of his body. The area where Yang Kai was submerged instantly turned a brilliant gold—the result of his dragon blood coloring the pool water.
Yang Kai could even distinctly feel the sensation of his own skin cracking open.
The accumulated power inside him was too vast. In the short term, he couldn't refine or absorb it all, and instead it was injuring him.
Yang Kai clenched his jaw and endured. Dragon blood sprayed from his body, and under the excruciating pain, every scale on him had practically stood on end, each one trembling.
Yet at this very moment, his dragon body had become like a funnel. No matter how much Dragon Pool energy was devoured or refined, not a single wisp could be absorbed by his dragon veins.
If his dragon veins couldn't absorb it, that meant no advancement. And without advancement, there was no way to advance to Ancient Dragon!
Yang Kai paid no mind. He firmly believed that if he persisted, this situation would eventually change.
And just as Yang Kai activated the Sun and Moon Marks, frantically devouring the Dragon Pool's power, a million zhang even deeper below, a pair of enormous eyes slowly opened, gazing upward.