Gazing at the flowing water patterns on the dragon bones, resembling auspicious clouds, Cheng Xiaofan's heart was filled with excitement, as if he had comprehended the true meaning of the dragon's path.
The so-called dragon's path was the way of a dragon's movement.
Ancient people referred to clouds as the dragon's path, and from the clouds, one could discern the cultivation level of a dragon.
Judging by the patterns on these dragon bones, this dragon must have been a formidable being in its lifetime, one that dominated the winds and commanded the rain.
Dragon bones were generally extremely hard, but in Cheng Xiaofan's hands, they became as soft as jelly, feeling incredibly familiar.
Due to the abundance of dragon bones, Cheng Xiaofan decided to enter his spatial realm and utilize its power to absorb them all into his body.
He was concerned that absorbing so many dragon bones outside the realm at once would be overwhelming.
"You two guard the cave entrance. I'm going into the spatial realm for a bit!" Cheng Xiaofan said, picking up the bag.
"Woof woof!"
"Chirp—"
The dog and the eagle responded, telling their master to go ahead, assuring him that they would prevent any animals or people from entering.
"Good, thank you for your hard work!"
With that, Cheng Xiaofan vanished into his spatial realm.
Taotiebao and Potian Ying instantly transformed into guardian masters, standing sentry on either side of the cave entrance.
"Whoa, isn't that the dog that's always with Cheng Xiaofan?"
"Yeah, and look, there's that eagle too!"
"Huh? Why are this dog and eagle showing up outside this cave?"
"Why else would they be here? Cheng Xiaofan must have arrived!"
Just then, a group of cultivators happened to be passing by the cave. Upon spotting Taotiebao and Potian Ying, they all exclaimed in surprise.
These cultivators had just arrived from Nan Shan Lake and had a particularly strong impression of Taotiebao and Potian Ying, who were always by Cheng Xiaofan's side.
"I can't believe that the appearance of dragon bones here has attracted Cheng Xiaofan, the village bully."
"Forget it, let's just stay far away. Cheng Xiaofan, his dog, and his eagle are not people we can afford to offend!"
"Right, right. Our purpose here is to find dragon bones. We must avoid any conflict with people like him!"
The group quickly moved past the cave entrance.
As soon as they were gone, the dog and eagle began to communicate.
Taotiebao: "Evil eagle, did you notice that among these people, three of them have dragon bones hidden in their backpacks?"
Potian Ying: "Licking dog, my sense of smell isn't as keen as yours, but I also detected those three dragon bones."
Taotiebao: "Since you've noticed, why don't you go and retrieve those three dragon bones? You can turn invisible, and no one will know who snatched their dragon bones."
Potian Ying: "Alright, to maintain our master's reputation, it's only fitting that I go and snatch those three dragon bones!"
Taotiebao: "Then hurry up! I, the great dog, will hold down the fort here!"
Potian Ying: "I'm off then!"
As soon as he spoke, Potian Ying cloaked himself and soared into the sky, chasing after the group.
In the blink of an eye, Potian Ying caught up with the cultivators. He swooped down from above and crashed into one of them.
"Ouch, who knocked into my waist?" The man stumbled forward, rolling on the ground. A bag he was carrying on his back slipped from his shoulder.
Potian Ying swiftly tore open the bag with his sharp claws and retrieved a dragon bone.
He then repeated the same tactic, knocking down two more people and snatching the other two dragon bones.
"Ah, where's my dragon bone?"
As one of the men was rearranging his backpack, he discovered that the dragon bone he had just picked up was missing.
The other two who had been knocked down cried out in unison: "My dragon bone is missing too!"
The three men were utterly bewildered. How could they have lost their dragon bones just by falling to the ground?
Having obtained the three dragon bones, Potian Ying flew into the air and looked down, noticing many people searching for dragon bones on the island.
He thought to himself, since the licking dog was guarding the cave, he might as well take this opportunity to scout among these people and see if he could find more dragon bones for their master.
With that thought, Potian Ying swooped down again.
...
Meanwhile, Cheng Xiaofan was already sitting cross-legged in his spatial realm. The dragon bones piled beside him floated off the ground and entered a constantly rotating vortex.
This rotating vortex clung to Cheng Xiaofan's body.
In the power of the spatial realm, the dragon bones transformed into a flowing liquid and poured into Cheng Xiaofan's body.
In Cheng Xiaofan's sea of consciousness, he saw that after the dragon bones were infused into his body, they began to integrate with his skeletal structure, starting from his head and spreading throughout his entire body.
With each part of his body that fused, a new power was generated.
After more than an hour, all the dragon bones had fused with the bones in Cheng Xiaofan's body.
Cheng Xiaofan examined himself. Except for six ribs in his chest that had not yet fused with dragon bones, his right lower leg bone, and the bone marrow of both hands, had not undergone the corresponding dragon bone fusion.
To Cheng Xiaofan's despair, when he stood up in the spatial realm, he found that his right lower leg bone felt weak and uncomfortable due to the lack of dragon bone fusion.
After taking a few steps, he felt mentally like an incomplete person.
Compared to the strength he felt throughout his body, Cheng Xiaofan also noticed that his hands were exceptionally soft and powerless.
It seemed that his next task was to find the dragon bones for the remaining six ribs in his chest, his hands, and his right lower leg bone.
If he couldn't find these dragon bones, he would truly become a cripple.
"Taotiebao, where is Potian Ying?" Cheng Xiaofan asked Taotiebao when he emerged from the spatial realm and noticed Potian Ying was absent.
"Woof woof, Master,"
Taotiebao immediately replied, "A group of cultivators passed by the cave. I noticed that three of them had dragon bones in their bags. Since Evil Eagle is skilled at invisibility, I sent him to snatch the dragon bones."
"Evil Eagle has been gone for over an hour. I suspect that after he succeeded, he went to other cultivators to snatch more dragon bones!"
Cheng Xiaofan nodded, smiling with satisfaction, "Haha, that's a good plan. Even though snatching dragon bones that others have found is a bit shameful, as long as we're happy, that's all that matters!"
Taotiebao said, "Evil Eagle's sense of smell is still not as good as this great dog's. Why don't I go with him this afternoon to snatch some more?"
"Alright, alright, this is what you do best!"
Upon hearing this, Cheng Xiaofan beamed with joy, "No matter what, we must find a way to retrieve all the dragon bones scattered on the island, not a single one missing, and prevent them from falling into anyone else's hands!"
Cheng Xiaofan suddenly realized that in this situation, instigating his dog to rob others was also a very enjoyable thing!
Just before noon, Potian Ying returned, having snatched a total of seven dragon bones from the cultivators.
These seven dragon bones varied in size and were all somewhat incomplete. Nevertheless, to Cheng Xiaofan, they were all true treasures!