Blood essence was good stuff. Every once in a while, many treasures would be thrown into the blood pond to produce some blood essence for the Lu Family disciples to absorb.
Those who were not disciples of the immediate Lu Family and were not talented were not qualified to enter the blood pond.
It was also because the Blood Essence was created from countless heavenly materials and earthly treasures that ordinary people could not absorb too much of it.
The more talented and the more powerful the realm, the more blood essence could be absorbed.
If a warrior of a low realm or not talented tried to absorb the blood essence by force, he would explode and die because his body could not contain the blood essence. He would also pass out from the excruciating pain.
The patriarchs remembered clearly that when Lu Renhuang entered the blood pond for the first time, he only absorbed about half of the blood essence. Back then, Lu Renhuang was already at the Eternal Realm and he was very talented. He was regarded as the most talented genius of the Central Plains in the past 100,000 years.
Lu Li was only at the Soul Pond Realm but he had absorbed more than half of the blood essence. What was more, he did not pass out. Even though he seemed to be in pain and his muscles were trembling, he could bear it.
What did it mean for a warrior of the Soul Pond Realm to absorb so much blood essence?
It meant that Lu Li was talented, two or three times more talented than Lu Renhuang …
Everyone held their breaths, waiting for Lu Li to stop.
But the blood in the blood pond was still tumbling. Many strands of blood gathered around Lu Li's body and were absorbed.
As the blood in the blood pond became more and more transparent, everyone was speechless.
To produce a pond of blood essence, it would cost at least 200 billion Xuan Crystals worth of elixirs.
200 billion was nothing for the Lu Family. But many elixirs were priceless and hard to find.
This time, Lu Li absorbed the blood essence of hundreds of disciples of the Lu Clan in one go …
When the liquid in the blood pond became transparent, Lu Li finally stopped. He stopped trembling and his expressions returned to normal.
The group of Elders looked at each other with complicated expressions on their faces.
If it were an average disciple of the Lu Family, they would be overjoyed. The more blood essence was absorbed, the more talented the person was.
Lu Li was different. He was not sure if he was a disciple of the Lu Family yet.
At first, Lu Li didn't do anything when he entered the blood pond. After a while, he absorbed all the blood essence in the pond. This was so strange and abnormal!
"Something is not right —"
Lu Fenghuo used psychic power to check Lu Li's body and he noticed something was wrong.
Previously, the blood essence in the pool had prevented his Spiritual Force from probing inside. Now that the blood essence had been absorbed, his Spiritual Force could probe inside.
Lu Fenghuo's psychic power was strong. He could easily sense the glowing silver dragon mark on Lu Li's back.
They looked at Lu Fenghuo and checked with psychic power. Then, they noticed the dragon pattern on Lu Li's back.
The eyes of the group of people flickered, and their hearts were filled with bewilderment. This situation was too strange, and even they could not understand it.
After a while, Lu Li opened his eyes. The dragon pattern on his back was no longer glowing or moving.
There was no trace of pain on his face. Instead, he looked extremely satisfied.
Patriarch Eight shouted, "Lu Li, come out now."
Lu Li flew out from the water. Xuan Energy glowed and evaporated all the water in his body.
Before Lu Li had time to check his body, Lu Fenghuo shouted, "Lu Li, take off your shirt!"
"Take off my shirt?"
Lu Li frowned. He noticed that many patriarchs were looking at him coldly and judging him. Lu Liantian seemed to be filled with killing intent. It was as if … if Lu Li didn't cooperate, he would kill Lu Li in one move.
Patriarch Eight thought about it and said, "Lu Li, take it off."
Lu Li thought about it. He unbuttoned his robe in silence and took off his shirt. He was only wearing a pair of long johns.
The patriarchs went to his back at once and stared at the silver dragon pattern.
The patriarchs looked at it carefully and used their psychic power to check. Patriarch Four, Lu Dixian, said, "It is not an evil thing. It seems to be some kind of special mark …"
If the mark on Lu Li's back gave them a trace of evil energy, they would kill Lu Li at once.
When Lu Li was absorbing the blood essence, the dragon pattern would glow and move around.
Lu Fenghuo's nose twitched. He stared at Lu Li with his eagle-like eyes and asked, "Lu Li, what is the dragon pattern on your back?"
Lu Li already had a plan. He casually explained, "This is a martial art I am cultivating, the Dragon Soul Fighting Body. This cultivation method can strengthen my physical body."
"Oh?"
Lu Fenghuo and Lu Liantian clearly didn't believe him. Lu Liantian said, "Try it."
Without any hesitation, Lu Li released the Burning Blood Skill at once.
The dragon pattern on his back glowed and moved around. His body was getting stronger. Every piece of his muscle swelled up, giving him a sense of strength. His eyes glowed in a silver light as well. He had transformed into a human-shaped dragon.
The patriarchs were experienced and knowledgeable so they didn't mind. There were some strange methods of body refinement at the Central Plains. Lu Li's body did become stronger.
Lu Li's eyes glowed in a silver light and the dragon pattern moved around as well.
However, they didn't sense any evil energy, which meant that Lu Li was not possessed by an evil being.
That being said, nobody thought about Bloodline Skill because nobody in history had a Bloodline mark on their back.
Lu Li put his clothes back on, stopped the Burning Blood Skill and returned to normal.
The patriarchs gathered together and moved their lips. Clearly, they were discussing Lu Li's situation through secret means.
Lu Li looked calm but he was nervous inside. He waited quietly for the result of the discussion.
Lu Li could absorb the blood essence, which could prove that he was a disciple of the Lu Family.
The thing was … when Lu Li got into the blood pond, he didn't absorb the blood essence at first. Later on, he absorbed all the blood essence in the pond and there was a strange dragon pattern on his back.
This surprised the patriarchs. They couldn't tell if Lu Li was a disciple of the Lu Family or not.
Lu Li observed for a while. He couldn't hear what they were talking about but he could get some information from their expressions.
The nine patriarchs seemed to be divided into three groups.
Patriarch Eight, Patriarch Four and Patriarch Five were nice to Lu Li. Patriarch Two, Patriarch Three and Patriarch Ten were not.
The other three patriarchs seemed to be neutral. They were neither nice nor mean to Lu Li.
They would look at Lu Li every now and then as they discussed. Lu Li had to wait for the result of their discussion in silence.
After the time for two incense sticks to burn, the discussion finally came to an end. Patriarch Eight walked over and said, "Lu Li, something strange happened in the blood pond just now so we cannot tell your identity completely.
Now, we have reached a conclusion. We need to ask a Great Patriarch to come out from closed-door cultivation. That Great Patriarch specializes in soul cultivation. He will search your soul to determine your identity.
Don't worry. The search will not do any harm to your soul. "
"Search my soul?"
Lu Li's expressions changed. Wouldn't all his secrets be exposed once he searched his soul?
His Bloodline Skill, animal tooth pendant, Little White and the fact that Lu Renhuang was at the Ice Abyss were all exposed.
Lu Li was just about to refuse when Patriarch Eight suddenly said something meaningful, "Lu Li, don't worry. Great Patriarch is absolutely loyal to the Family and the Family Patriarch.
If you really are a disciple of the Lu Family, Great Patriarch will only help you and not harm you … "
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