In those three months, Yan Xiaolong had gotten relatively close to the old monsters and had trusted the pot-bellied child with the blood essence of the Eight Extremities Daoist. Although the latter was confused on why Yan Xiaolong wanted to fuse with low-level monster bloodline, he did not care too much. He had stored the blood essence inside his belly until the time was right. 

 

When the blue drop of blood essence floated to Yan Xiaolong's newly formed body and Golden Core, the remnant will inside that blood was obliterated and forcefully absorbed with the breakthrough.

 

A large phantom appeared, looking part-man, part-bull, and part-octopus. Red sky and black earth materialized, summoning thousands upon thousands of ember that paraded around like souls of the underworld; it was as if the Ancient Flame Hell Dungeon had descended.

 

Berserk-type spiritual qi grew inside of him, expanding his meridians and Golden Core and transforming them into an enormous reservoir of power. The Sword of Wrath and Dragon Soul Chain emerged and glowed with crimson might as they improved dramatically. His other martial skills and immortal techniques were improving as well while new secrets of the Immovable King's Scripture were unlocking at an unprecedented rate.  

 

This Golden Core experienced the greatest change. It was not just gold in color, but had red streaks and lines that formed something like the silhouette of a bull. At the same time, it burned so brightly that it almost looked like the a miniature sun. 

 

The thousands of embers flew toward him, pulsing immense power through his body and reconnected his bones, flesh, organs, meridians, and Golden Core together. Intense rumbling rolled out as Yan Xiaolong's body was remolded for the final time and his cultivation stabilized to the early-stage of Golden Core. 

 

At long last, he had succeeded! 

 

Yan Xiaolong slowly drifting to the ground and landed gently on his feet. After his breakthrough, Yan Xiaolong's image was completely different. His hair was medium-long and black, but no longer straight; rather, it was wild in appearance and moved around like flames. He almost looked just like Tie Wuqing. 

 

His body was leaner and larger than before, with black tattoos and markings all over his body like his Golden Core. The tattoo of the black deity behind his back had also disappear and was replaced with the image of a bull inside a sun. 

 

Just when the old monsters were admiring his new form, like a group of artists admiring their collaborated work, Yan Xiaolong opened his eyes, revealing a pair of fiery red-golden eyes. The old monsters' faces flickered and could sense that as those eyes swept across them, their souls were actually heating up.  

 

Astonishingly, those eyes contained a divine ability, one that resembled the same technique that Ancient Flame Taurus used to burn away the consciousnesses of the Ninth Legion's members! 

 

They all subconsciously took a step back and unleashed a tempest of power that shielded them. They all knew the history of Hell Champions. It was often the case that Hell Champions were corrupted by the Great Demons they formed contracts with. There was a high possibility that Ancient Flame Taurus' will could influence Yan Xiaolong to such a degree that the latter would become the former's second incarnation. 

 

"Kuhahahaha!" Yan Xiaolong threw his head back and laughed. "What are you seniors doing? It's me, Junior General Yan Xiaolong!" 

 

The light in Yan Xiaolong’s eyes died out and the room returned to its normal stone state. As the old monsters scanned him with their divine sense, they could tell that his soul had drastically grew stronger. The soul of Ancient Flame Taurus did not disappear, but instead merged with Yan Xiaolong’s soul. The complex issue was whose will was in control. 

 

Was it actually Yan Xiaolong or Ancient Flame Taurus? 

 

Sigh...

 

The pot-bellied retracted his spiritual sense and threw his head back to laugh as well. “Congratulations on your breakthrough, Junior General. And welcome to the Ninth Legion!” 

 

“Welcome to the Ninth Legion, Junior General Yan Xiaolong!” The others chimed in. 

 

Whether it was Yan Xiaolong’s will or Ancient Flame Taurus’ will, as long as the person was ultimately alive, they upheld their duty. Truth to be told, they simply just have to power him up to the best of their abilities. Yan Xiaolong was both alive and much, much stronger so it was a mission accomplished to them. 

 

“Now that you reached Golden Core, it’s only natural that we present you some treasures.” Several beams of light shot toward Yan Xiaolong. The first beam became a long, red cloth that wrapped around his body. It transformed into a luxurious red robe, something that looked similar to robes core disciples wore but was made from divine materials. 

 

“This is a heroic shroud, a very special cloth worn by great heroes and divine champions,” One of the old monsters in the form of a blue-furred, monocle-wearing goat explained. “It natural changes style depending on the wearer. This particular heroic shroud is called the Shroud of Crimson Glory and contains fire and light attributes. It can protect you and amplify your strength.”  

 

The next item was a golden bangle that attached itself to his left arm. “This is the Bangle of One Hundred Kings which can summon a hundred Monarch-level spiritual sense to defend yourself. It’s a huge drain on your energy so don’t use it too often or else you’ll be sucked dry.” 

 

The next beam of light entered his robes. “That’s the Necklace of Seven Stars and it will protect you warn you of dangers.” 

 

“Here’s the Bracelet of Celestial Jade. You can store an entire immortal medicinal garden in there.” 

 

“Here’s the Invincible Warrior Underwear. Keeps your junk feeling comfortable while in battle.” 

 

“Here’s the God-Smacking Sandals. It can increase your speed and smack the shit out of anyone.” 

 

“Here’s the Holy Sunglasses of the Divine Lord. It looks cool.” 

 

“Here’s the Divine Hand-Grenade. No, it’s not an accessory. Just a suicide weapon.” 

 

One item after another was hurled at Yan Xiaolong. In a short amount of time, he had such a collection of treasures that he could easily buy Moon Flower Continent, assuming anyone outside could even purchase these items. 

 

“...” Yan Xiaolong stared at the bamboo sandals under his feet and the sunglasses in his hands. “Are these really necessary?” 

 

“Of course,” the goat said. “It has great stats and looks awesome. To be a badass, you need to look the part.” 

 

“But-” 

 

“It is illegal to be unfashionable in the Ninth Legion. Do you see anyone here that look under-dressed to you?” 

 

“Senior, you’re naked.” 

 

“Wrong. I have a monocle.” The goat adjusted his eyepiece to make a point. 

 

“Good. Now, we need to give him an appropriate weapon.” The pot-bellied child reached his hand down into his throat. Then, he took a tiny silver box. “The Sword of Wrath and Dragon Soul Chains are great weapons, however, as the Junior General you need to be better equipped. It would take you too long to cultivate those, and even then, you’ll never reach the same mastery as me.” 

 

The silver box expanded until it resembled what appeared to be... a gacha machine. 

 

Gasp! 

 

“Oh Heaven, it’s that thing!” 

 

“Wait, wait, wait! We’re going to take one from there? Can’t we just give something that we already have?” 

 

“Not unless... Right Commander wants to pull a specific item?” 

 

Yan Xiaolong stared at the gacha machine with curiosity. 

 

"This is the Holy Supreme Gacha Machine. The treasury of the Ninth Legion is locked up, but with this, I can access the treasury and pull out the right treasure. Well, assuming I have enough." 

 

"Hold on a minute!" The golden-eyed entity floated over and whispered in the pot-bellied child's ear. "Oi, old boy! Is it really necessary to go this far for this kid? You're not being biased because he cultivates your cultivation art, right? Stop and think about it for a moment. This is a huge, huge risk." 

 

"Peh! You really think I'm doing this because he's essentially my successor? Well, you're only half right, old freak." He glanced back at Yan Xiaolong before looking away. "This kid has the Princess' favor. The only reason we can even meet right now is because of this kid. He's going to be real important to us one day!" 

 

"But he made a deal with the Ancient Flame. Knowing that bastard, he probably warned the kid who's now wary about our schemes. I mean, you even outright admitted that he was schemed!" 

 

"Look, I'm just following Honglian's plan, okay? He was the only smart enough to escape so lets just shut up, follow his plan, and go all in!"

 

"What are you even planning to get for him?"

 

"One of the Seven Lights, the Light of Doom."

 

"You're out of your goddamned mind."

 

The Immovable King slapped his belly and spat out a million spirit stones. It entered the gacha machine and a black capsule came out. It popped open, revealing blue disc. 

 

"Nope." He spat out a million spirit stones and rolled again. This time, it was a black spear. 

 

"Damn it." It was a red flower. 

 

"Another!" The pot-bellied child kept rolling. 

 

Millions upon millions of spirit stones were burned away on most junk items. Yan Xiaolong leaned over and asked the blue goat, "What is Senior Immovable King doing?" 

 

"He's rolling. You see the Holy Supreme Gacha Machine allows you to obtain for items from the Ninth Legion's treasury. Items in our treasury are ranked from E, D, C, B, A, S, SR, and SSR. He's currently trying to roll for an SSR item for you, a truly foolish attempt." 

 

"Why is that so?" 

 

"The rates are too damn low. Do you know what the rate is for an A-ranked item? It's one percent!" The blue goat exclaimed. "It gets even worst when the difficulty increases. An SR item has a one-tenth percent chance of appearing while an SSR item has a one-hundredth percent chance of appearing. Moreover, there are billions of items in our treasury. So getting any SSR item is already hard. Pulling out one of the Seven Lights? Ugh. He could at least wait 17000 years or so when the Seven Lights Banner comes out." 

 

"This doesn't seem like a very good way to access our own treasury." 

 

"It was the Princess' idea." 

 

While the blue goat, golden-eyed entity, and Yan Xiaolong were chilling on the sidelines, the other old monsters were howling with excitement. They danced around as if exercising some kind of ritual. 

 

"Lets go! C'mon, Right Commander!" 

 

"Roll! Roll! Roll! Roll! Roll! Roll! Roll!" 

 

"Gacha! Gacha! Gacha!" 

 

Their eyes were bloodshot like drug addicts and they maniacally moved their body with so much power that the room itself was shaking. They seemed to be putting in more effort cheering for the pot-bellied child than when they were blessing Yan Xiaolong. 

 

An hour passed. So far, the pot-bellied spent 700 million spirit stones on the gacha machine. However, the highest rarity pull was an SR-ranked treasure in the form of a bow. The others were mainly E-, D-, C-, and B-ranked with only a handful of A-ranked treasures. 

 

Another hour passed. There were two more SR-ranked treasures, but they were support-type items. He had 1.5 billion spirit stones on the gacha machine.

 

Another hour passed. An SSR-ranked appear, but it not one of the Seven Lights. He had spent 2.8 billion spirit stones. 

 

By now, the hype was dying down and the others were trying to convince the pot-bellied to stop. 

 

"Hey, Right Commander. Maybe you should relax. It's useless." 

 

"Yeah, you already used over three billion spirit stones." 

 

"It's time to quit." 

 

However, he would not relent. "No! I refuse! I believe my luck!" 

 

So he rolled again. This time, a red light flashed out of the gacha machine.

 

"Oh?" Everyone thought. 

 

A black capsule rolled out, filled with great power. 

 

"Yes!" The pot-bellied exclaimed. 

 

It popped open. 

 

"Yes!!" The old monsters shouted. 

 

A brilliant light flashed out. 

 

"YES!!!" Everyone cheered. As the light dispersed...

 

Quack! 

 

A rubber ducky appeared. 

 

"..." The pot-bellied child went over and picked it up. A label was seen with the item. 

 

"SSR-ranked support-type item: Rubber Ducky. Abilities: Rapidly multiply to create a defensive wall. However, most commonly used to have fun in water with. Please enjoy." 

 

"FUCK!!!!!"