Chapter 276: Chapter 252: Breaking the Shell Barrier, Golden Core Second Stage

It was none other than the Green Abyss Dragon Yilad.

But the Green Abyss Dragon’s corpse had already been devoured by the Sword Pill, so it naturally wouldn’t appear on the exchange list.

The quality of a dragon’s heart’s blood determined the quality of the final product. The higher the quality, the more powerful the resulting Magical Treasure.

Therefore, Anton prioritized the heart’s blood of senior Legendary Giant Dragons, followed by that of pillar Legends.

Fortunately, the allied forces had killed a considerable number of Giant Dragons over the years, and the inventory of heart’s blood was substantial.

In the end, the ninety-nine portions of heart’s blood he selected were, without exception, from senior Legendary and pillar Legend dragons.

After that, Anton took stock of the materials he had on hand and exchanged for many rare materials from the list that could be used to forge the Nine Dragon Divine Fire Shield.

By the time he was finished, he had already spent most of his Contribution Points.

Anton checked again and saw that his remaining Contribution Points were enough to exchange for one more Myriad Wood Source Heart, so he didn’t hesitate and immediately made the exchange.

He left the small remainder untouched, saving it to combine with more Contribution Points he would earn from destroying the next spatial node to exchange for other resources.

After finishing his exchanges, Anton went to the storage area at the back of the hall and presented his identity medallion.

Before long, someone brought him the resources.

After checking and confirming that everything was in order, Anton put his things away and left Ranfeng Hall without a moment’s delay.

Instead of making a grand display with the Cloud-Surging Flying Ship, Anton directly used Sword Escape to leave Darkness Fortress and head for Wulei Valley.

The Thundering River Basin was much closer to Darkness Fortress than the Eldron Plain.

With his current Sword Escape speed, traveling at full tilt, he reached Wulei Valley in less than two days.

As expected, after ten years of recovery, the thunder energy in Wulei Valley, which had been completely depleted, had returned to its peak.

Lead-gray clouds hung low like a curtain, shrouding the entire valley in perpetual gloom.

Dark violet flashes of lightning bloomed and flickered deep within the clouds, and the air was thick with a scorching, agitated aura.

With a flicker, Anton landed in the center of the valley.

He took out the Thunder Prison Pillars and the array blueprint, and began to set up the Array according to the blueprint’s markings.

With his experience setting up the Mountain Protection Array, a mere Thunder Cage was child’s play for him.

It only took him half a day to set up the Thunder Cage.

HUM!

The moment the Array activated, the seven Thunder Prison Pillars lit up simultaneously.

Violet-black light climbed up the inscriptions on the pillars’ bodies, like blood surging through veins, and finally converged on the Crystal Stones at the top.

The Crystal Stones flared, and seven violet-black beams of light shot into the sky, tearing through the clouds.

The lead-gray cloud mass began to rotate.

Slowly at first, then rapidly, it formed a massive vortex several li in diameter in the blink of an eye.

At the vortex’s edge, violet-black arcs of electricity slithered like a swarm of snakes, emitting a scalp-numbing CRACKLE.

In the very center of the vortex, a ball of deep purple lightning was coalescing.

The Thunder Cage was complete.

Anton nodded in satisfaction, withdrew his gaze, and sat down cross-legged.

Everything was ready.

RUMBLE!

The first bolt of thunder crashed down.

The violet-black pillar of lightning, like a sword of divine punishment, tore through the sky and struck Anton squarely.

In an instant, a savage energy flooded his entire body, rampaging through his meridians like molten iron surging through his blood vessels.

The familiar, excruciating pain washed over him like a tide.

Anton’s expression remained unchanged. He submerged his Divine Sense into his Dantian, guiding the destructive energy toward his Golden Core and slamming it into the outermost layer of Pill Poison.

The five-colored mist instantly began to tremble violently. Under the impact of the thunder’s power, it abruptly loosened, and a small portion of it dissipated into mist.

With practiced ease, Anton mobilized his Magical Power to swarm it, and in a flash, he refined that wisp of Pill Poison into new Magical Power.

Time passed amid thunder and agony.

Bolt after bolt of thunder crashed down, striking the stubborn Shell Barrier again and again.

Under the continuous assault, the Pill Poison was like a stubborn rock being repeatedly beaten by a sledgehammer. More and more cracks appeared, and the fragments that broke off grew larger.

Meanwhile, the Golden Core, like a thirsty sponge, greedily devoured every wisp of sloughed-off Pill Poison, continuously growing stronger.

Anton was immersed in the refinement process, completely unaware of the passage of time.

「Two days passed in the blink of an eye.」

Within his Dantian, only a final wisp of the five-colored mist shrouding his Golden Core remained.

It was as thin as a cicada’s wing, yet it stubbornly clung to the Golden Core’s surface like a final bastion, refusing to yield.

Anton took a deep breath, his Divine Sense condensing to a fine point. He guided the next bolt of thunder to smash violently against that last wisp of Pill Poison.

BOOM!

A formless roar exploded within his Dantian.

The last wisp of Pill Poison shattered like colored glass, turning into countless fine specks of light that scattered and fell, only to be instantly refined by his Magical Power and completely integrated.

With that, the Golden Core was finally unobscured.

The Shell Barrier was broken!

A dense, vaporous Qi steamed off the Golden Core, instantly coursing through the meridians and acupoints of his entire body.

Anton could clearly feel the Magical Power inside him surging at an incredible speed.

If his Qi Sea had been a mere stream before, it was now a torrential river.

When the surge of Magical Power finally subsided, Anton focused his senses inward. He found that the Golden Core’s size hadn’t changed. The five-colored mist that had once enveloped it like a hazy vapor was completely gone. In its place was an extremely faint, yet incredibly solid, vaporous halo, encircling the Pill Body like a crown.

The color of the Golden Core itself was also far clearer than before, exuding an ineffable spiritual vitality and life force.

Golden Core Second Stage, achieved!

Anton opened his eyes and slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air.

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