Mountain-River Zone, Crimson Flame Sect Mountain Gate.
Cao Ren sat bare-chested and cross-legged. A peculiar scale, resembling both snake and jiao-dragon, was embedded deep into the flesh and blood of his chest, surrounded by a dense circle of finer scales.
Four months ago, aided by the mystical power of the Dragon Transformation Spell, he had formed a strange core—half Golden Core, half Demon Core. Its quality was impossible to determine, yet his True Yuan was no weaker than that of Chen Mengze, who possessed a perfect Golden Core.
After stepping into the Golden Core Realm, Cao Ren was granted the status of a Purple-Robe Elder by the Red Flame Sect, equivalent to a Peak Master, and became eligible to open a cave mansion in the Vacuous Zone. However, he preferred the Mountain-River Zone over the Vacuous Zone and thus continued to reside within the sect's core grounds.
