Despite achieving 5-million jin inner defense in his previous viscera consolidation, the Purple Coatl Dragon Origin Blood burned his inner organs during the infusion, nonetheless.
Even so, the pain was certainly a few notches lower than the initial point, which was akin to suffering in the fires of purgatory.
Anything less than that was like a form of pleasure for Leon.
And because of that, he wondered if he was becoming a masochist.
Nevertheless, the pain gradually increased beyond his comfort zone as his inner organs sustained damage from the dragon origin blood infusion.
Reaching that point, Leon finally channeled strands of True Grandmist Energy in to repair and remold his viscera, slowly changing them to that of dragon viscera.
Although the viscera of a Purple Coatl Dragon was not what Leon desired, it was still one step closer to achieving the viscera of the Dragon God.
Any step that brings him closer to that goal is necessary.
Furthermore, the viscera of Purple Coatl Dragon might be inferior among all the dragon races, but it was still far better than the viscera of a human.
That being said, his inner organs weren't taking the true form of the Purple Coatl Dragons' viscera, only their properties.
Time ticked slowly during the grueling process of consolidating the viscera, but Leon's gains were equally rewarding as much as he suffered from it.
Five hundred wisps of True Grandmist Energy were expended, absorbed by his viscera alongside the Purple Coatl Dragon Origin Blood infusion before his inner defense rose to a staggering 10-million jin in strength.
Leon reached the peak of Rank 1 Body Transformation in the viscera consolidation phase, but he did not stop there.
No, he was just getting started.
The origin blood lake was barely touched, and the hundred thousand wisps of True Grandmist Energy he accumulated in Leon's Black Vortex Space was far from depletion.
He had a long way to go.
As Leon became engrossed in his viscera consolidation, he lost track of time; the blood level in the origin blood lake lowered, and his True Grandmist energy reserve also decreased.
Pain became insignificant, and time moved faster—or rather, his perception of it did.
All that mattered was his ever-growing strength.
Prior to his secluded cultivation, Leon only used 1000 wisps of True Grandmist Energy to reach 10-million jin inner defense in his viscera.
However, 1200 wisps of True Grandmist Energy was expended to reach 20-million jin, 1500 wisps of True Grandmist Energy for 30-million jin, 2000 wisps of True Grandmist Energy for 40-million jin, and so on.
The demand for Purple Coatl Dragon Origin Blood and True Grandmist Energy increased exponentially as he progressed further and further in his viscera consolidation.
By the time Leon reached the peak of Rank 9 Body Transformation in the viscera consolidation phase, the demand for True Grandmist Energy per 10-million jin progress had increased by a dozen fold.
In total, he expended 40,500 wisps of True Grandmist Energy and all his Purple Coatl Dragon Origin Blood to reach Peak Rank 9 Body Transformation in the viscera consolidation phase.
The expenditure was way beyond his expectation.
He figured he had enough True Grandmist Energy to practice all five phases of Body Transformation, but he nearly expended half of his reserve to reach Peak Rank 9 Body Transformation.
'And here I thought the Purple Coatl Dragon Origin Blood was enough for me to reach the very peak of Rank 10 Body Transformation in one go… A lot of time must have passed, which lead to a decrease in the Purple Coatl Dragon Origin Blood's quality along with its efficiency.'
Leon silently thought with a sigh as he was forced to end his viscera consolidation.
'Seems like I will need to rely on the Dark Wyrm Clan's True Dragon Origin Blood to complete the viscera consolidation phase after all…'
'But before that, I'll refine the Black Turtle God Beast's blood essence and flesh my flesh,' Leon decided.
Fortunately, the Black Turtle God Beast's blood essence was brimming with vitality and did not degrade in quality despite the flow of time.
Even so, it still took Leon several hours to completely refine the sample into origin blood and use it to temper his flesh in the Black Turtle Heavenly Guard.
Another 1000 wisps of True Grandmist Energy was depleted, but Leon successfully raised his fleshly defense to 10-million jin, the peak of Rank 1 Body Transformation in the flesh tempering phase.
"I guess you really can't fight quality with quantity, huh?" Leon muttered.
"A few drops of origin blood from a Half-step God Beast is all it takes to advance in the same breath as a few ten thousand drops of origin blood from Purple Coatl Dragon below the level of Divine Beast. I can't imagine what the effects would be like with the blood of a genuine God Beast…"
Nevertheless, Leon did not doubt that the effect would be incredible.
"My viscera has reached 90-million jin, and my flesh has reached 10-million jin. Safe to say, my body's defense has advanced by leaps and bound and entered the realms of Paragons, except for my physical strength…"
"In other words, my body cultivation has become extremely unbalanced… My inner defense is extreme, but my strength is severely lacking in comparison… I need to find resources to help with my bone forging phase next."
Leon analyzed the pros and cons of his present state before deciding what he needed to focus on for his body cultivation.
Suddenly, his nose twitched a few times due to the foul smell within the darkness of the cultivation chamber.
Evidently, the impurities he shed and bad body odor were the cause of it.
"It seems I need a good bath," Leon muttered wryly.
He had been in secluded cultivation long enough.
It was time to go out.
After leaving his earthen mound for a cultivation chamber, Leon noticed there weren't many dark faes and dark wyrms present.
But the ones are were immediately excited to see him.
"My Lord! You have finally exited your retreat!"
Saresha's joyous cry almost moved the dark faes and dark wyrms to tears as they quickly lined up to greet him with heartfelt emotions.
"We welcome you back, my Lord!"
"How long did I spend in secluded cultivation?"
Leon asked with a frown of uneasiness as their reactions gave him a bad feeling.