The game starts with escaping from the famine and flipping the table

The third day after the siren tide subsided.

Seeing that his teammates had recovered from their injuries and their cultivation had returned to their peak state, he then gathered the team members to discuss reinforcing the restrictions.

The original restrictions outside the cave were mostly destroyed during the tribulation of lightning and the battle with demons. If we want to resist even stronger covetous people, we must use the "Mysterious Iron Crystal" and "Water Soul Stone" unique to the depths of the East Sea to reforge the array base.

Ugh!

This artifact doesn't recognize its owner, and they can't take it away.

We can't just leave it here unattended.

Ugh!

Aside from repairing the defensive restrictions, there is currently no other solution.

However, there are two materials that only exist in the reef layers near the Millennium Sea Eye, a place that is constantly shrouded in strong winds and undercurrents, and is also inhabited by ninth-order sea monsters, making it extremely dangerous.

"I will go with Qingyao and Longshi. Yunran will stay behind to guard the cave and consolidate her sixth-level cultivation." Long Yunmang drew an arc on the sea chart with his fingertip, and the blue dragon energy outlined the location of the sea eye on the chart. "This trip will last at most seven days. If we do not return by then, we will immediately notify Brother Yu."

Although Long Yunran was somewhat unwilling, she knew that her cultivation was still shallow, so she could only nod in agreement.

The next morning, the three changed into black armor inlaid with water-repelling pearls and transformed into three streams of light, rushing into the East Sea.

Yu Shuheng stood at the highest point of the island, gazing in the direction where they had disappeared. He condensed a wisp of golden life energy at his fingertips and quietly attached it to the gap in the Xuanjia armor of the Dragon Cloud Python. This wisp of life energy would automatically erupt to form a protective shield if it encountered fatal danger, thus providing an extra layer of protection.

After traveling a hundred miles into the sea, the color of the seawater gradually changed from azure to inky black, and the water pressure became stronger and stronger. Even the silver scales of the dragon stone shimmered with a faint blue light to resist the pressure.

Long Qingyao's water-controlling mirror floated in front of her, its body shimmering with blue light, smoothing the surrounding seawater into a gentle current and avoiding several undercurrents that could shred fine iron.

"The Thousand-Year Sea Eye is just ahead." Long Qingyao suddenly stopped. The water control mirror reflected a swirling black vortex in front of her. The rocks at the edge of the vortex shimmered with silver light, which was the luster of the Xuan Tie Crystal.

Before the three could get close, a huge black shadow suddenly burst out of the vortex, accompanied by a deafening roar.

It was a black octopus demon, its size comparable to a small mountain. Its eight tentacles were covered with barbs, each capable of easily shredding a warship. The single eye on its head gleamed with a scarlet light—it was actually a "Black-Eyed Octopus" at the early stage of the ninth rank.

"You three little mudskippers, how dare you come to my territory to steal things?" The voice of the black-eyed octopus was like the turning of a millstone, and its tentacles slammed down on the dragon stone.

Long Shi roared, and the black iron hammer condensed silver-white dragon energy. The moment it collided with the tentacles, it was shaken back repeatedly, and its tiger's mouth split open and bled.

Seeing this, Long Yunmang thrust his azure dragon spear straight at the octopus's single eye. The spear tip carried the oppressive aura of a coiled dragon, forcing the black-eyed octopus to retract its tentacles in defense.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Long Qingyao manipulated the water control mirror, shooting out dozens of ice shards that accurately embedded themselves in the joints of the octopus's tentacles.

However, the physical body of a ninth-tier demon is extremely strong; the ice shards shattered after only penetrating half an inch. "This can't go on; its tentacles can regenerate continuously!" Long Qingyao said urgently, as the blue light of the water-controlling mirror began to flicker, clearly indicating that its spiritual energy was being consumed at an extreme rate.

A resolute glint flashed in Long Yunmang's eyes. His azure dragon aura surged, and a phantom of a dragon coiled above his head, showing faint signs of solidifying.

"Qingyao, use the water mirror to distract it, I'll attack its core!" As soon as he finished speaking, he transformed into a streak of green light and circled behind the black-eyed octopus.

The black-eyed octopus sensed something was wrong and swept its eight tentacles backward at the same time, but they were blocked by the water curtain created by Long Qingyao using the water control mirror.

Just as Long Yunmang's dragon spear was about to pierce the octopus's carapace, the reef beneath their feet suddenly trembled violently, and a golden beam of light shot into the sky from the crack in the reef, enveloping the three of them and the black-eyed octopus.

An ancient dragon's might emanated from the pillar of light. The black-eyed octopus let out a terrified roar, and its body began to shrink rapidly, eventually turning into a pool of black water and dissipating—this was the pressure of the ancient dragon race, enough to make low-level demons scatter in terror.

After the pillar of light dissipated, the original reef layer disappeared, replaced by a huge stone gate. The gate was carved with intricate dragon patterns, and at the top was a pair of outstretched wings. Below the wings were two ancient seal characters: "Yinglong".

"This is... the ruins of the ancient dragon race?" Long Shi's eyes widened as he reached out to touch the stone door. Warm dragon energy emanated from his fingertips, faintly resonating with the bloodline within him.

Long Qingyao's water-controlling mirror suddenly trembled violently, reflecting the scene behind the stone gate.

A long passageway, with glowing luminous pearls embedded in the stone walls on both sides, leads to a huge altar. In the center of the altar floats a blue scale with a faint golden light flowing across it, which is Yinglong's reverse scale.

"Those scales seem to contain information about the evolution of the Yinglong!" Long Qingyao said excitedly. The light of the water control mirror grew brighter and brighter, and it automatically guided the three of them to push open the stone door.

The dragon energy inside the passageway was extremely dense, even purer than the top-grade spiritual veins in the cave.

The three walked along the passageway, and the dragon patterns on the stone walls gradually became clearer, recording the secrets of the Yinglong's evolution:

After breaking through to the ninth rank, the dragon needs to soak in the "Dragon Breath Pool" for forty-nine days to absorb the "Primordial Purple Qi" between heaven and earth, and then fuse its own dragon blood with the Yinglong's Reverse Scale before it can open its wings and evolve into the Yinglong.

This ruin was built by the ancient dragon clan to cultivate Yinglong. The reverse scale in the center of the altar is the last Yinglong reverse scale left in the world.

“Primordial Purple Qi… Dragon Breath Pool…” Long Yunmang stroked the words on the stone wall, his eyes filled with longing.

He had never imagined that the evolution of Yinglong would require such stringent conditions.

Just then, the altar suddenly lit up with golden light, and the Yinglong Reverse Scale in the center slowly floated up and flew towards the Dragon Cloud Python. "It...it seems to be recognizing its master?" Long Shi said in surprise.

Long Yunmang stretched out his hand, and the reverse scale landed in his palm. A warm power instantly spread throughout his body, and the dragon energy within his body began to circulate automatically, showing faint signs of breaking through to the eighth level.

"This reverse scale contains the primordial power of the Yinglong!" Long Qingyao said excitedly, looking at the scene in the water control mirror. "With it, your chances of evolving into a Yinglong have increased by at least 30%!"

Just as the three were basking in the joy of their discovery, footsteps suddenly came from the entrance of the passageway.

Long Yunmang suddenly turned around, his dragon spear gathering dragon energy, only to see Yu Shuheng's figure appear at the door.

"Brother Yu? What brings you here?" Long Yunmang asked in surprise.

Yu Shuheng smiled slightly and pointed to the reverse scale on the palm of the Dragon Cloud Python: "I sensed that the life energy in your body resonated with the ancient dragon energy, and I was worried that you would be in danger, so I followed you. I didn't expect to find such an important relic."

He walked to the altar, his gaze falling on the Reverse Scale, a complex look flashing in his eyes: "The power contained in this Reverse Scale is extremely vast. Your current cultivation level is not yet sufficient to fully control it. You need to refine it as soon as possible to avoid attracting even stronger covetous individuals."

Long Yunmang nodded, immediately sat cross-legged on the altar, and began to refine Yinglong's Reverse Scale.

Yu Shuheng stood at the entrance of the passageway, releasing pale golden life energy that enveloped the entire ruins—he knew that once the secret of these ruins was revealed, it would attract powerful figures from all corners of the world, and the Dragon Cloud Python needed enough time to grow.

The moment Yinglong's Reverse Scale touched the palm of the Dragon Cloud Python, it transformed into a stream of azure light and entered his body.

In an instant, the dragon energy surrounding the altar surged toward him like a tide, and the ancient dragon patterns on the stone wall lit up with golden light, enveloping him in a giant cocoon.

Long Yunmang felt as if a surging dragon had entered his body. The pure primordial power surged through his meridians, bringing both tearing pain and constantly reshaping his dragon body—his scales began to show golden patterns, tiny bone spurs condensed on his dragon horns, and even his breath carried the might of an ancient dragon.

“The refining process will take at least three days. We will guard the entrance.” Long Qingyao suspended the water control mirror in the center of the passage. The mirror’s blue light surged, forming a water curtain barrier at the entrance.

Long Shi gripped the heavy iron hammer tightly, his silver scales standing on end, and he stared warily into the depths of the dark tunnel.

Yu Shuheng stood beside the altar, his fingertips swirling with pale golden life energy, ready to stabilize Long Yunmang's aura at any moment.

Just then, a strange hissing sound suddenly came from outside the passageway. The sound was not like that of a siren, but rather carried a decaying death aura, causing the temperature of the entire ruins to drop sharply.

“It’s…ancient corpse demons!” Long Qingyao’s water-controlling mirror trembled violently, reflecting the scene outside the passageway—dozens of monsters covered in black cloth were slowly walking towards them. They were hunched over, holding rusty bone blades in their hands, and green ghost fires flickering in their eye sockets.

The foremost corpse demon was exceptionally large, with patterns similar to the dragon patterns of the ruins engraved on its bone blades, and its aura had reached the mid-stage of the ninth rank.

"These are the remnants of the ancient demon race, corrupted by death energy and turned into corpse demons, who specifically guard places where dragon treasures are located."

Yu Shuheng's expression was solemn. He had seen records in ancient books that these kinds of corpse demons were not afraid of ordinary attacks and could only be completely destroyed by power containing life force.

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the corpse demon at the forefront swung its bone blade and slashed at the water curtain barrier.

"Clang!" The moment the bone blade collided with the water curtain, blue light splashed everywhere, and a crack was cleaved in the water curtain.

Long Qingyao groaned, blood spilling from the corner of her mouth—the power of the ninth-tier corpse demon far exceeded her expectations.

Seeing this, Long Shi roared and charged forward, his black iron hammer, imbued with silvery dragon energy, smashing towards the corpse demon's head.

But as soon as the hammer touched the corpse demon's black cloth, it was enveloped by a deathly aura, and most of the dragon energy dissipated instantly, causing the heavy hammer to be bounced away.

"Use your life force to break its death aura!" Yu Shuheng raised his hand and waved, sending dozens of golden threads shooting towards the corpse demon. The threads pierced through the black cloth and entered the corpse demon's body.

The green will-o'-the-wisps flickered violently, and the corpse demon let out a shrill roar as its body began to decay rapidly.

Seeing this, Long Qingyao and Long Shi immediately followed suit, fusing their dragon energy with a small amount of life essence.

This creature had been nourished by Yu Shuheng before, and still retained a little vitality within it. Now, it merged with the dragon energy and transformed into an attack, shooting towards the other corpse demons.

However, there were simply too many corpse demons; as soon as one fell, another would take its place.

Seeing its companion killed, the ninth-tier corpse demon at the forefront blazed with ghostly fire in its eyes, and dense death energy condensed on its bone blade, which it then hurled towards the altar.

"Not good!" Yu Shuheng's expression changed drastically. If the bone blade hits the Dragon Cloud Python's refining cocoon, not only will the refining fail, but the Dragon Cloud Python may also be devoured by the death energy.

Without hesitation, he stood in front of the altar, unleashing his golden life force, which transformed into a massive shield of light.

"Boom!" The bone blade collided with the light shield, and death energy and life force clashed violently. The golden light shield was instantly covered with cracks. Yu Shuheng groaned and felt a sharp pain in his chest—this was the first time he had been injured since breaking through to the Mahayana stage.

Just as the light shield was about to shatter, the refining cocoon on the altar suddenly glowed with a blue light.

"Roar!" A deafening dragon roar came from the cocoon, and the blue dragon energy broke through the cocoon shell, and the figure of the Dragon Cloud Python slowly emerged.

He had lost most of his dragon features; his scales had turned bluish-gold, the bone spikes on his horns gleamed coldly, and a pale golden reverse scale mark had appeared between his brows.

"I've broken through!" Long Shi shouted excitedly.

Long Yunmang opened his eyes, a sharp glint in them. He reached out and clenched his fist, and the azure dragon spear condensed once more, its tip wreathed with the power of Yinglong's origin.

"Dare to disturb my refining, you're courting death!" He transformed into a streak of azure light and instantly rushed in front of the ninth-tier corpse demon, his dragon spear piercing straight into its heart.

The corpse demon tried to dodge, but Yu Shuheng used his life force to bind its limbs, rendering it unable to move.

"Pfft!" The dragon spear pierced through the corpse demon's chest, and the azure dragon energy erupted instantly, dispelling all the death energy within the corpse demon's body.

The ninth-tier corpse demon let out a unwilling roar, its body turning into a pool of black water and completely dissipating.

Seeing their leader killed, the remaining corpse demons fell into chaos. Long Qingyao and Long Shi seized the opportunity to launch an attack and wiped them all out.

After the battle, Long Yunmang walked up to Yu Shuheng and bowed, saying, "Thank you so much, Brother Yu, for protecting me with your life. I have no way to repay you."

Yu Shuheng waved his hand, his gaze falling on the Reverse Scale mark between his eyebrows: "The Reverse Scale has been initially refined, and your foundation has become more solid. However, the secret of this ruin has probably been discovered by other forces, and we need to leave as soon as possible."

The four dared not delay. Long Yunmang absorbed the remaining dragon energy on the altar into the dragon pearl, while Long Qingyao took down several luminous pearls from the stone wall—these could also be used as materials for the array's core.

Afterwards, the group hurriedly left the ruins.

When they returned to the nameless island, Long Yunran was anxiously waiting outside the cave. Seeing that the four of them had returned safely, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

That night, the Dragon Pattern Spirit Gathering Array inside the cave lit up again. Long Yunmang sat cross-legged at the array's core, beginning to consolidate his cultivation. The reverse scale mark between his brows shimmered faintly, indicating that he was one step closer to Yinglong's goal.

It should be noted that even a dragon has nine minor realms.

The Grand Elder, Long Aokui, had only cultivated to the eighth level, always lacking the opportunity to break through to the ninth level.

As for Long Yunmang, in a short period of time, he broke through from Chilong to the fifth level of Qiulong, and then directly broke through from the fifth level of Qiulong to Yinglong—although he only transformed half of the Yinglong bloodline, it was still an enormous opportunity.

Yu Shuheng stood at the highest point of the island, gazing into the depths of the East China Sea. He knew that as the Dragon Cloud Python grew, more and more challenges lay ahead.