In the darkness, Duan Rong reached into the inner pocket of his garment and took out a small porcelain bottle. He gently opened the stopper and poured a round, slippery thing into his palm.
Duan Rong hesitated slightly before placing the slippery object into his mouth.
The method recorded in the ancient texts for using the Green Pupil was to swallow it directly.
Thankfully, it was in the dark, where nothing could be seen; otherwise, to swallow an eye directly would have been quite a mental hurdle for Duan Rong.
The Green Pupil entered his mouth, and a peculiar taste spread across his tongue.
Duan Rong swallowed hard; the sound ’gulp’ echoed loudly in the silent darkness.
"What’s wrong?" Xiao Yu stirred on the stone bed.
Duan Rong swallowed his saliva and said, "Nothing. Go back to sleep."
"Mm-hmm."
Xiao Yu murmured in agreement, lying on the stone bed, silently gazing at the spot in the darkness where Duan Rong’s voice had come from.
Though she could see nothing in the pitch-black depths of the cave, she knew Duan Rong was there.
After watching for a while, sleepiness gradually came over Xiao Yu, and her eyes, tired from trying to stay open, slowly closed as she drifted off to sleep...
Meanwhile, Duan Rong had already entered the Sea of Consciousness.
The thin mist that once filled the entire space had now settled on the surface of the black earth.
Duan Rong sat cross-legged in a layer of milky white mist up to his neck, forming seals with his hands while mumbling spells, swift as falling rain.
As Duan Rong formed the seals and chanted, the phantom of four divine statues gradually appeared in the surrounding sky and earth.
The shadows of the divine statues stood towering, reaching towards the heavens, and upon their appearance, Duan Rong felt an immense Divine Soul pressure.
After completing the spell, Duan Rong stood up from the layer of milky fog and gazed at the towering divine shadows in his Consciousness Sea.
The size of these four divine shadows bore no difference to when he built the mandala using portraits.
But, this time, the projection that entered the Sea of Consciousness was more meticulous and realistic.
Though still phantoms, they seemed noticeably more substantial and solid.
Duan Rong stood there, looking towards the sky, where three shining stars and a swirling blood-red nebula stood in opposition.
His eyes flashed as he lowered his head, glancing towards the southwest of the black earth without thinking, and in a blink, disappeared from the spot, reappearing at the edge of the eerie, green-glowing Tree Spirit Light Sea.
This was Duan Rong’s new discovery in the Sea of Consciousness: his ability to appear anywhere within it with just a thought, regardless of distance.
He looked at the vast green Light Sea before him, filled with Tier Four Tree Spirits he had devoured.
The Changling Mountain was abundant with Ancient Wood, and Duan Rong frequently devoured some during his cultivation and strolls.
Even if he wasn’t cultivating the Fetal Concealment Scripture, his Sea of Consciousness was still absorbing Tree Spirits, slowly increasing his Spiritual Power.
He looked at the vast, dazzling green light of the Tree Spirit Light Sea.
He estimated these Tree Spirits were enough to achieve the Fourth Layer of the Fetal Concealment Scripture; after all, these were Tier Four Tree Spirits.
With a thought, Duan Rong’s form vanished again. Suddenly, he appeared in the center of the sky, suspended between the three shining stars and the swirling blood light cloud.
There was no telepathic connection between the swirling blood light and Duan Rong.
Yet, he could distinctly feel a faint but real connection with the three shining stars.
Duan Rong glanced at the swirling blood light, a touch of complexity crossing his eyes.
This blood light was the source of the Filthy Blood Divine Skill, which seemed beyond his control, unlike the star bodies formed by the Fetal Concealment Scripture, which connected with him telepathically.
Yet it was this very blood light that saved him twice.
It killed Fan Yuanhai once and destroyed the Insect Gu placed on him by Shang Xiangyu another time.
Duan Rong shifted his gaze from the swirling blood light, concentrating as he sat cross-legged in the void.
He began forming seals and entering the state to cultivate the Fourth Layer of the Fetal Concealment Scripture.
With his seals, a muffled thunder echoed above, and lightning shot from the eyes of the four divine shadows...
Several hours later, more than half of the original Tree Spirit Light Sea was gone, leaving only a dozen or so Tree Spirits glowing faintly blue-green in the corner...
Sitting cross-legged in the void, Duan Rong appeared weary.
A star hovered nearby him, radiating a soft, pale blue light, and at the star’s center, a ghostly eye flickered with vitality...
Suddenly, Duan Rong snapped open his eyes in the void; after hours of arduous cultivation, he had successfully formed the fourth star.
Duan Rong looked at the four brilliant, interreflected stars floating before him, a faint joy swelling in his heart.
The four stars once again occupied the center of the sky, while the swirling blood light nebula retreated to a secluded corner of the sky.
"It seems after achieving the Fourth Layer, the Fetal Concealment Scripture once again outshined the Filthy Blood Divine Skill." Duan Rong pondered with a glint in his eyes.
This outcome gave Duan Rong some solace. Though the Filthy Blood Divine Skill had saved him twice, he always regarded it with hesitation, sensing it as a latent threat.