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**
Three days later, Yao Lao emerged from seclusion.
In the spacious hall, Yao Lao sat in the place of honor. His eyes were half-closed, vast soul power rippling around him, causing the surrounding space to appear slightly distorted.
Although Yao Lao's soul power was not much stronger than his peak days, the rippling soul power gave off a sense of vigorous vitality. Compared with before, his soul power seemed to possess more liveliness.
Wei Yang, entering the hall, let out a sigh at a glance: "Yao Lao has come this far. He's only half a step away from the Heaven Realm; he's at a stage where a breakthrough could happen at any moment."
"Master, has your Essence Spiritual Qi been restored?" Xiao Yan, standing to the side and looking at Yao Lao seated at the head, naturally sensed the change in Yao Lao's soul state and asked excitedly.
"Mm." Yao Lao slowly opened his eyes, looked at the two who had entered the hall, and nodded with a smile, "The medicinal effect of the Gold-Grade Soul Baby Fruit was unexpectedly strong. The lost Essence Spiritual Qi has been fully replenished."
He felt better than he had in a very long time.
"That's great. Then the forging of the body should be able to begin, right?" Xiao Yan asked impatiently.
"It can indeed. From here on out, I'll be relying on you two." Yao Lao smiled and nodded.
"You flatter us, Master. This is our duty." Xiao Yan said, throwing an arm around Wei Yang's shoulder and smiling, "Rest assured, Master. With Brother Wei and I handling this, we'll forge you a perfect body."
"Haha, good, then I'll wait for you to surprise me." Yao Lao laughed heartily, his eyes full of gratified emotion.
"Let's not waste time. We'll start today." Wei Yang said.
"All right."
Expectation shone in Yao Lao's eyes. After enduring so many years, the day had finally come.
In a spacious secret chamber.
Wei Yang, Yao Lao, and Xiao Yan sat cross-legged inside.
"Master, the body-forging is about to begin. Prepare yourself." Xiao Yan flipped his hand and produced a jade vial.
Inside the jade vial, a dark-red pill the size of a longan spun slowly. A rich pill fragrance faintly wafted out, invigorating the spirit.
"This is a Tier 8 pill that has undergone Five-Colored Pill Lightning." Yao Lao nodded slowly and immediately identified the pill's Pill Lightning colors. He looked at Xiao Yan with satisfaction and asked, "This is the championship pill you refined at the Pill Gathering, right?"
"Mm, it's the Bone Growing Blood Fusing Pill. I was lucky to refine it into Five-Colored; luck played a big part. If I had to do it again now, I couldn't guarantee success." Xiao Yan laughed. Then he produced another transparent jade vial, which contained a few drops of bluish-red blood.
"What a coincidence. This is the blood essence of the Heaven Demon Phoenix. Although it's only Rank 7 and not much in quantity, it will be extremely useful!" Xiao Yan said to Wei Yang with admiration.
Wei Yang nodded, a look of emotion on his face.
Those few drops of Heaven Demon Phoenix blood essence were just right. Ancient Heavenly Phoenix bone marrow paired with this Heaven Demon Phoenix blood essence could hardly be more suitable.
"Oh?" Yao Lao looked puzzled.
He sensed the blood essence; though it emitted a powerful pure energy, it was clearly only Rank 7 blood essence. Given Wei Yang and Xiao Yan's abilities, they shouldn't have had trouble finding Rank 8 blood essence, logically speaking.
But Yao Lao said nothing and merely smiled. He knew there must be a reason the two chose to use Rank 7 Heaven Demon Phoenix blood essence.
The Bone Growing Blood Fusing Pill was ready. The Heavenly Demon Phoenix blood essence was ready. Next, only one thing remained: the body.
Yao Lao looked at Wei Yang and smiled, "If I'm not mistaken, the body you prepared for me should be the corpse of that Old Ghost Zhai Xing, right?"
"Come to think of it, I and that old ghost are somewhat… 'Old acquaintances.' Back when I was in the Hall of Souls, I received quite a bit of his 'attention'." Yao Lao stroked his beard and spoke evenly.
Inwardly he felt a secret delight.
That grudge had finally been paid back.
Old Ghost Zhai Xing, you were flashy before? In the end, didn't you still end up as material for my revival?
"No." Wei Yang and Xiao Yan exchanged a smile and shook their heads.
Xiao Yan said, "Master, we did prepare that Old Ghost Zhai Xing's corpse before, but not anymore. We found something better for you!"
Xiao Yan emphasized the words "something better."
"Oh? Better?" Yao Lao was surprised and immediately asked, "From your looks, did you two secretly kill a Nine-Star Dou Zun and obtain his intact corpse?"
Body materials are, of course, better the stronger they are. If they truly had a Nine-Star Dou Zun's corpse, Yao Lao naturally wouldn't consider the Old Ghost Zhai Xing.
"No." The two smiled and shook their heads.
"You two brats, stop teasing and bring it out already." Yao Lao coughed, then lightly commanded.
"Hahaha, Brother Wei, time to reveal the answer," Xiao Yan laughed heartily, turning to look at Wei Yang.
Yao Lao's eyes were also filled with curiosity.
Wei Yang smiled, waving his hand lightly. With a flicker of light, a jade-white skeleton appeared in midair, slowly hovering before the three of them.
Hum—
The moment the bones emerged, an ancient, desolate aura—along with an overwhelming pressure—spread through the entire sealed chamber.
"This is—!" Yao Lao's smile froze as his eyes widened.
Even his soul trembled faintly as he gazed upon the skeleton. This kind of aura…
It was… Dou Sheng! Good heavens—this was actually a Dou Sheng Skeleton!
Even Yao Lao, usually so composed, was left slack-jawed, staring dumbfounded at Wei Yang and Xiao Yan. He could hardly believe it. These two brats actually…
"You two…"
"Hahaha, Master, surprised?" Xiao Yan grinned broadly.
Wei Yang was all smiles as well.
For a long moment, Yao Lao could only take a deep breath before nodding heavily. "Surprised? Far more than that—this is too surprising!"
Not only surprised, but shocked. Rubbing his hands together in excitement, he asked eagerly, "This skeleton… don't tell me it's the one from the Ancient Ruins? You actually brought it back?"
"That's right—exactly that one," Wei Yang nodded.
Xiao Yan chuckled. It was rare to see Yao Lao like this.
"As I thought," Yao Lao murmured.
Then he fell silent. For a moment, he truly didn't know what to say. They'd actually managed to retrieve a Dou Sheng Skeleton—and an intact one at that. What more could he possibly ask for?
At this moment, his heart was wrapped in warmth.
A deep, quiet satisfaction welled up within him. Even if he were to die right now, he would have no regrets. After a long while, Yao Lao finally calmed his emotions.
"With these three materials, each of them top-tier in quality, the body refined from them should be enough to let me fully recover my strength from back in my prime."
Wei Yang pondered for a moment before adding, "But… whether it can help you take that final step into the Dou Sheng realm—that's hard to say."
Hearing that, Yao Lao's expression turned serious. He was silent for a while, deep in thought. Though he knew this was an extraordinary opportunity, he still couldn't help but feel uncertain. Finally, Yao Lao shook his head slightly, furrowing his brows with a sigh.
"I'm afraid that's impossible. To reach Dou Sheng—it's not that simple. The sheer amount of energy required to step into the Dou Sheng realm isn't something that can be replaced by a single skeleton, no matter how powerful."
"However…" His tone shifted, and a small smile appeared. "It should at least allow me to take half a step forward. With this foundation, I won't be far from Dou Sheng. Given time, I'll reach that level sooner or later."
His voice carried unshakable confidence.
Take half a step first—become a Ban Sheng.
With a complete Dou Sheng Skeleton as his foundation, the path to becoming a true Dou Sheng would already be clear before him. Thus, it was only a matter of when, not if.
"Master, there's no need to worry about energy," Xiao Yan said with a faint smile.
Wei Yang also smiled, lifting his hand once more.
A jade jar appeared in his palm, within which shone five hundred milky-white, jelly-like Dou Sheng Skeleton Pellets. "These were refined from the bones of an Ancient Heavenly Phoenix, a genuine Dou Sheng-level creature. We extracted them from the entire skeleton—five hundred in total. With such immense energy, I believe it'll be more than enough."
"Moreover," Xiao Yan added cheerfully, "Since Master is using a few drops of Heaven Demon Phoenix blood essence as one of the revival materials, it'll perfectly complement this Dou Sheng Skeleton energy—letting you draw out the Phoenix marrow's full potential."
"…"
Yao Lao was completely speechless.
A Dou Sheng-level Ancient Sky Phoenix skeleton? Good heavens…
For a moment, even Yao Lao couldn't help but let out a faint groan, half in disbelief, and half in awe almost wondering if he had misheard.
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