After taking another nine steps, Leo was mentally prepared. As he expected, the fluctuations occurred again, and a denser purple aura reappeared.
Nine is the ultimate number. On this golden path leading to the high platform and the dragon throne, every nine steps would generate purple aura, which would automatically enter the body. This was an immense benefit.
Leo was overjoyed because this was an opportunity for him, a chance to break through to the lower Spirit Venerable Realm.
He fully controlled his Spiritual Power, integrating the purple aura entering his body into his meridians and dantian.
At this moment, Leo was confident that once he left this place, with the help of the purple aura in his body, he could break through to the lower Spirit Venerable Realm within a month.
Looking at the dragon throne on the high platform ahead, it was about fifty steps away from his current position.
It was unimaginable how much purple aura would erupt when he reached the dragon throne.
All of this was thanks to Sophia. If she hadn’t wanted to visit the Imperial Palace, he would have missed this great opportunity.
Thinking of this, Leo couldn’t help but turn to look at Sophia beside him.
What he saw shocked him.
Sophia’s face was full of pain, blood was flowing from her nose and mouth, and she was on the verge of collapsing.
Leo’s heart ached. He quickly held her in his arms. “Sophia, what’s wrong? Don’t scare me.”
Sophia weakly gasped, “I… I feel terrible. My body… my body feels like it’s going to explode…”
Sophia could barely speak. Her body was severely overheated, her forehead covered in sweat, her body trembling, and her breathing becoming rapid. Blood continued to flow from her nose.
In a panic, Leo quickly used his Divine Awareness to probe her body and soon found the cause of her condition.
“I’m such an idiot!”
Knowing the reason, Leo couldn’t help but curse himself.
The reason was simple: Sophia was just an ordinary person and couldn’t withstand such a large amount of purple aura entering her body.
Leo became flustered. He quickly sat down with Sophia in his arms and tried to slowly release a small amount of Spiritual Power into her body, using it to guide the overflowing and chaotic purple aura into his own body.
Fortunately, his Spiritual Power could barely control the purple aura in her body.
Next, Leo used his Spiritual Power as a medium to transfer the purple aura from Sophia’s body into his own.
After about ten minutes, Leo had absorbed about seventy to eighty percent of the purple aura from Sophia’s body. He then used an auxiliary healing Talisman to heal her before retracting his Spiritual Power.
The remaining twenty to thirty percent of the purple aura in Sophia’s body would be beneficial to her.
Sophia had been overwhelmed because her body couldn’t handle so much purple aura.
It was like a basketball that only needed a proper amount of air to function normally. If too much air was pumped in, it would eventually burst.
Leo had been puzzled why they hadn’t encountered any danger along the way. Now that Sophia was injured from too much purple aura, he realized that the danger had been there all along.
After only twenty-seven steps, such a large amount of purple aura had appeared. The closer they got to the dragon throne, the purer the purple aura became.
It was imaginable how much purple aura would erupt if they reached the dragon throne.
In a way, Sophia had saved him.
If Sophia hadn’t been injured, he might have rushed forward recklessly. At that point, he wouldn’t have been able to handle so much purple aura and might have died from his body exploding.
Thinking of this, Leo couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat. He wiped his forehead with his hand.
He took out a tissue to wipe away the blood from Sophia’s mouth and nose, feeling somewhat relieved.
Sophia’s earlier appearance had scared him greatly.
Seeing Sophia’s face gradually return to normal, Leo gently asked, “How are you feeling? Any better?”
“Much better. What exactly happened? Why did it feel so good at first but then became so painful?” Sophia lay in Leo’s arms, puzzled by what had happened to her body.
Leo explained, “The purple aura that appeared earlier is called Purple Qi. It’s a very magical gaseous energy. This gaseous energy is like a powerful tonic. If you absorb too much of it and your body can’t contain or digest it, it will harm you.”
With Leo’s explanation, Sophia began to understand.
“It seems that every nine steps we take towards the high platform, that purple aura appears and enters our bodies. There’s still some distance to the high platform. Should we continue?”
Sophia’s question was exactly what Leo was concerned about.
The purple aura in this place was terrifyingly abundant, like walking into a treasure trove filled with gold.
Opportunities came with risks, and risks contained opportunities.
Looking at the golden path beneath his feet and then at the dragon throne on the high platform ahead, recalling the giant python and flood dragon they had seen before…
Leo began to understand some things.
On this golden path, every nine steps would trigger an eruption of purple aura. The closer they got to the high platform, the purer the purple aura became.
If they completed the golden path, the total amount of purple aura that would erupt might be too much for even a Spirit Sect Realm Cultivator to handle.
The dragon throne?
The purple aura?
Who could withstand such a vast amount of purple aura?
Could it be an emperor?
Leo knew he wasn’t an emperor.
When Sophia took her third set of nine steps, she got injured from too much purple aura entering her body. Clearly, she wasn’t an emperor either.
Given the current situation, Sophia couldn’t continue because protective Spiritual Power barriers wouldn’t block the purple aura. Defensive Talismans were also ineffective because the purple aura wasn’t inherently aggressive.