Chapter 1065: Expanding Core
Of course, Nightingale's speedy transformation could have been due to another factor – celestial energy.
It was the only thing Leon wasn't familiar with, having yet to reach the Celestial Realm for himself.
Nevertheless, after Rainshine saw Nightingale's transformation, her eyes started to beam with excitement and anticipation.
"Master, can I also transform like Nightingale?" Rainshine inquired.
"If you become a Divine Beast and practice the Divine Beast Transformation Art like Nightingale, probably," Leon casually replied before casting a curious glance at her. "Why are you so excited?"
"Eh? Uh… It looks like a lot of fun," Rainshine said evasively.
Nevertheless, Leon's return quickly drew the attention of Cindertail and the other Golden Suannis in the area.
"Welcome back, my Lord," Dawnchaser greeted before reporting with an expectant gaze, "We've finished destroying all the mutant plant hives in the abyss while you were gone."
"All of them, huh?" Leon muttered thoughtfully. He could understand what Dawnchaser desired from his gaze.
"Yes, my Lord. All 829 caves containing the mutant plant hives have been cleared," Dawnchaser eagerly answered.
"That many?" Leon uttered with a bit of surprise before he quickly recovered. "Alright, how do you want to be rewarded for your service?"
Dawnchaser had been waiting for that question.
However, contrary to Leon's expectation, Dawnchaser did not seek a reward for himself. Instead, he hoped Leon could raise more Divine Beasts in the Golden Suanni Clan.
"I hope you can perform more blood refinements for the other Peak Paragons in our clan and give them a chance to ascend to the Divine Beast Realm, my Lord," Dawnchaser earnestly hoped.
"Oh? Not for yourself?" Leon shifted his gaze to Goldenstride and the other Divine Beast-level Golden Suannis and asked, "Do you all have the same wish too?"
"Yes, my Lord," Goldenstride and the other Divine Beast-level Golden Suannis answered.
"Very well, I will perform blood refinement for everyone at the Paragon level," Leon agreed. But then, he shortly added, "However, it will have to wait. It wasn't long since the last time everyone received blood refinement. The following blood refinement will not be as effective."
It hasn't been a whole day since he left and returned. The Golden Suanni Clan needed a bigger buffer time for the Suanni Lion Origin Blood from their last blood refinement to permeate their body and grow.
"I understand, my Lord. When would be a good time," Dawnchaser asked.
Leon pondered for a moment before saying, "I plan to cultivate in the sky for some time. When I return, we can start the blood refinement then."
"Understood, my Lord."
Shortly after, Leon dismissed everyone before returning his attention to Nightingale.
"Since you've mastered the Divine Beast Transformation Art and achieved human form, you'll need to adapt some human etiquette. It's inappropriate to be walking around naked all the time," Leon stated.
He took out a spare Tier-5 Interspatial Ring with some spare sets of clothes before handing them over to Nightingale.
"Use this for the time being. Once I finish my cultivation session, you will follow me to learn the ways of humans and, of course, get some new clothes."
"Understood, my Lord. Then, I shall wait for you to finish your cultivation."
Nightingale accepted the Tier-5 Interspatial Ring and wore it on her index finger.
After dropping Rainshine off his shoulder, Leon flew out of the abyss and soared into the sky. Within moments, he disappeared into the thick black clouds.
The suppressive force from the sky quickly increased by the moment. But after he summoned the Nihility Barrier, the suppressive force vanished.
Leon continued his ascent, and before long, he reached the top of the black clouds and exposed himself to the intense sunlight.
However, the Nihility Barrier protected his body from all harm coming from the intense sunlight, which could even melt through steel.
The concentration of Wrathful Demon Energy in the atmosphere was staggering. It was practically a sea—no, it was an ocean of Wrathful Demon Energy.
'With this much Wrath Demon Energy, it might be possible to collect enough dark energy to breakthrough to Truth Manifestation Realm,' Leon mused.
He couldn't guess how much dark energy he needed for the breakthrough, but he felt like he could gather an endless source of dark energy from the Wrathful Demon Energy in his present location.
Generally, the energy from the stars should have been full of pure yang; there shouldn't have been a single ounce of dark energy like the current sun at all.
This was only possible because the sun had been refined by a demonic cultivator with one of Empyrean Allheaven Wrath's awakened soul fragments.
After Leon made a hole in the black clouds, all the Wrathful Demon Energy in the area rushed towards the hole like a sink full of water that had just been unplugged.
Leon partially released his Nihility Barrier, only protecting his head from the downpour of energy as he devoured the Wrathful Demon Energy from all other directions.
Everything was swallowed inside his Black Vortex Space and broken down into their separate components of solar energy, dark energy, and comprehension fragments of the Wrath Law.
As they filled Leon's Black Vortex Space, he only collected the dark energy and practiced the Devil Emperor's Tome of Eternal Darkness.
The refined dark energy was quickly added to his dark energy core.
But as the dark energy core received large volumes of dark energy, it steadily grew in size, causing Leon to frown.
He had reached the peak stage of Heaven Ascension Realm, and yet his dark energy core was still growing. The dark energy core should have reached its size limit already.
However, no matter how much Leon tried to compress the dark energy inside his dark energy core, it wouldn't stop the core's growth.
If he wanted to advance to the Truth Manifestation Realm, his dark energy core had to be compressed until it sprouts like a plant seed.
But looking at his current situation, it might not be possible if his dark energy core doesn't stop expanding. He didn't understand why it was still expanding at the Peak-stage of Heaven Ascension Realm.
'Could it be that my dark energy core hasn't reached its growth limit yet?' Leon pondered.