The Martial Emperor with Dragon Blood Chapter 4: Opening Gates With Dragons

Numerous medicinal herbs were kept inside the Pill Refining Chamber. Unless Elder Yin performed a meticulous audit, he would likely remain oblivious if a few went missing. However, if he ever discovered that items were being stolen, absolute chaos would erupt because the man harbored a deep-seated loathing for thieves.

“Ye Mo, you little scoundrel, get over here and stoke the fire!” Elder Yin, sporting a head of stark white hair, stormed into the room with a booming voice.

“Right away, sir!”

Having grown accustomed to Elder Yin’s temper, Ye Mo knew that as long as he obeyed orders promptly, the old man’s irritation would dissipate.

Ye Mo lit the stove in preparation while Elder Yin began tossing ingredients into a cavernous cauldron, methodically infusing the mixture with his personal Yuanli. Ye Mo stayed busy fanning the flames and blowing into the vents. An hour later, a muffled pop emanated from the bronze container—a clear sign that a fresh batch of Priming Pills was complete.

A single round of these Rank One Priming Pills produced roughly 50 tablets, all intended to boost training efficiency. Spending a full day at the task usually yielded around 100 pills, leaving the remainder of Elder Yin’s time to focus on researching Rank Two Fortifying Pills.

Ye Mo’s responsibilities were strictly limited to managing the flames. Once the long hours of work were behind them, he was tasked with tidies up the workspace. After locking the chamber securely, he made his way home.

Upon returning to his room, he immediately settled into a cross-legged position, ready for another training session. The Yuan Chi of Heaven and Earth he absorbed remained colorless, and once converted into Yuanli, it continued to appear perfectly transparent as it traveled toward his Energy Center.

Only after mastering a sophisticated Mental Technique would that Yuanli begin to radiate a distinct hue. For example, the Hellfire Technique utilized by Ye Qing was a fire-attributed method, which caused his Yuanli to glow like molten red light and imbued his strikes with a searing intensity.

The Rising Dragon Pillar greedily devoured the Yuan Chi supplied by Ye Mo, triggering a single black dragon to surge toward the Gate located in his right hand. The veins in his right arm began to bulge, surging with such raw intensity that it felt as if his very flesh were being claimed by the dragon’s essence.

Clenching his teeth against the searing agony, Ye Mo repeated the sequence. A second dragon was soon unleashed, racing toward the Gate.

“If only I could coax two dragons into action simultaneously, the process of opening my Gates would surely accelerate!”

Ye Mo understood that despite the legion of dragons etched onto the pillar, he was currently limited to only the one at the base. Awakening two at once would effectively cut his training time in half—though he dared not yet dream of reaching for any more.

“Let’s test out a Priming Pill.”

He reached into a hidden corner of his room and produced a small pouch filled with the tablets. These were the modest rewards Elder Yin had handed him whenever he was in a good mood over the past five years. Following his lengthy tenure, Ye Mo had managed to stockpile a decent amount.

He downed a handful of the pills, feeling the energy flow smoothly down his throat as it surged toward his Energy Center. There, the medicinal essence merged with his Yuan Chi, coalescing into a dense, potent mass.

A massive obsidian Yuanli dragon erupted from the base of the pillar. To Ye Mo’s immense excitement, a second dragon sitting just above it roared to life, following the first in perfect synchronization. Both entities rocketed toward his Energy Center.

Ye Mo cheered internally. These dark, shimmering dragons were essentially pure, condensed Yuanli.

“I shall dub you dragon power!”

With two dragons now fully under his command, he directed their combined might straight at the Gate in his right hand.

Crack!

The unmistakable sound of bone shifting filled the room. Ye Mo felt the stubborn seal covering his Gate finally buckling. He knew that with the combined might of these two dragons, he would break through the barrier in his right limb within just a few days.

His routine remained rigid: training until dawn, assisting in the Pill Refining Chamber throughout the afternoon, and pressing his cultivation deep into the night.

Crack, crack!

The sound of snapping bone echoed once more as the twin dragons smashed through the final barrier of his right hand.

“I’ve opened the Gate!”

Ye Mo snapped his eyes open, wiping the beads of sweat from his forehead while inspecting his right limb. While it appeared unchanged from the outside, he could feel a surge of raw, explosive strength coursing through his veins.

He could barely contain his delight. In a mere ten days, he had conquered the Gate in his right hand—a feat that the so-called prodigies of Limestone City would find unfathomable.

He summoned two dragons again, feeding one into the newly opened Gate. He clenched his fist and slammed it into the nearby wall.

Bam!

The masonry fractured under the sheer force, with spiderweb-like cracks spreading across the surface of the bricks.

“Ha! That strike must have packed at least two stones of strength.”

The dragon power did not vanish; rather, the entities had essentially assimilated into the Gate. He threw another strike, this time aiming for the floor. A sound like a thunderous explosion erupted as the force of the dragons was unleashed.

BAM!

The entire house shuddered, and a crater formed where he had struck the ground.

“Young Master, what in the world is happening?” Uncle Fu rushed into the room, gasping at the sight of the ruined floor.

“Uncle, I am no longer the ‘trash’ everyone labels me as. No one will ever dare look down on us again,” Ye Mo replied with a radiant grin, rubbing his aching arm.

“Young Master, did you cause all this commotion?” Uncle Fu asked, his voice trembling with disbelief.

“Don’t let a word of this slip out,” Ye Mo cautioned.

“The Young Master has inherited the late Master Ye’s heaven-defying talent!” Uncle Fu sighed, overwhelmed by both shock and joy. Even a warrior who had reached the Spirit Cultivating First Realm would struggle to deliver a blow with such devastating impact.

Typically, once a martial artist opened all five Gates and stabilized their First Realm, they possessed around two stones of strength. By the Second Realm, their Yuanli would grow more refined, bumping that force to four stones, eventually reaching up to 18 stones by the Ninth Realm.

These figures were only rough estimates, however, as individual constitution played a pivotal role in combat potency. After absorbing the power of one dragon, Ye Mo’s right fist already hit with two stones of force; with two dragons combined, he reached four. In terms of brute power alone, he had already caught up to a Spirit Cultivating Second Realm practitioner.

After finishing a quick lunch, Ye Mo made his way back to the Pill Refining Chamber.

The recent twenty days of intensive training had nearly exhausted his entire stock of Priming Pills. Without that supplemental energy, he knew his current skill level would be insufficient to draw out the power of two dragons at once.

Upon arriving, he was stunned to see that the lock on the chamber door had been toyed with. Anger flared in his chest—it seemed the thieves had graduated from slipping through windows to outright tampering, showing an utter lack of shame.

The door creaked open, and he immediately spotted Ye Xiaotian stuffing a bag with Priming Pills. Knowing that Elder Yin was away at a lecture in the Alchemist Guild, Ye Xiaotian decided to take the easy way in rather than climbing.

“Ye Xiaotian, have you no shame, stealing these pills?” Ye Mo demanded, his tone icy.

Ye Xiaotian simply glanced at him, tossed a small piece of silver at his feet, and giggled. “Relax, Ye Mo. Elder Yin isn’t coming today, so just change the locks later this afternoon. He won’t notice a thing.”

Ye Mo might have turned a blind eye if they were only stealing minor herbs, as Elder Yin rarely audited those stocks. But the audacity of stealing the Priming Pills was too much; the old man would be absolutely livid if he found them missing.

In the past, when he lacked any power, Ye Mo had been forced to endure their constant bullying. But now, with a Gate shattered open and the strength of the dragons at his command, he no longer intended to bow to Ye Ming’s whims—especially since Ye Ming had only opened two Gates himself.

Harnessing the strength of one dragon, Ye Mo kicked the silver piece, sending it whistling back toward Ye Xiaotian with blinding speed.

“Save that silver for your dental surgery!”