The violent thunder finally broke through the black flame storm and struck the massive black bird upon its back.
At once, the Nine Nether Sparrow let out a painful cry. The area struck by lightning billowed with black smoke, and even though black flames surged around it, the injuries could not be healed quickly.
However, soon after, a surge of green energy flowed out from the Nine Nether Sparrow's body. The black lightning that even the black flames could not suppress was devoured the instant it came into contact with this green energy. A tingling sensation spread across the bird's back.
The vast vitality contained within the Wood Divine Lightning swiftly repaired the wounds. In just the blink of an eye, not only did the injuries left by the Dark Divine Lightning vanish, but even the shattered feathers grew back anew.
The current Nine Nether Sparrow was entirely different from the one that had followed Mu Chen in the original story. Back then, it had only retained its Spiritual essence, while its physical body had been completely destroyed in the second heavenly tribulation.
That was why, even after successfully overcoming the lightning tribulation, it had to slumber for nearly two years before regaining its body. Those two years were the period during which it activated the Undying Bird bloodline and was reborn through Nirvana.
But now, things were different. The Nine Nether Sparrow was enduring the tribulation in its physical body, and if it wanted to ascend from Spiritual to Divine, it had to rely on the Dark Divine Lightning to awaken the Nine Nether power within its flesh.
That was the very reason why the Nine Nether Sparrow was recklessly charging into the lightning, appearing as though it sought its own death.
This process was unimaginably dangerous.
However, upon realizing that Liu Bai's green lightning possessed such powerful effects, the restless flame in Jiu You's heart burned even brighter.
Endless black flames surged around her, forming a layer of seemingly indestructible black crystalline armor. Then, with a single flap of her wings, she soared toward the tribulation clouds in the sky.
"Are you insane?!" Liu Bai cursed aloud when he saw the crazed Sparrow's action.
At this point, her life was no longer her own, yet she acted so recklessly! If the Nine Nether Sparrow simply endured the tribulation steadily, she would have an almost certain chance of success. Liu Bai had never imagined that this stubborn bird would cause such trouble at such a critical moment.
Unfortunately, his shout was completely drowned out by the roaring thunder.
As though enraged by the Nine Nether Sparrow's provocation, bolts of divine lightning pierced through heaven and earth, fiercely crashing against the black crystalline armor surrounding her.
Each strike shattered layers of the crystal, and the Nine Nether Sparrow's body trembled violently with every impact, clearly wracked with agony.
The tribulation thunder raged on for several minutes. The crystalline armor around the Nine Nether Sparrow was completely shattered, and her once elegant and majestic body now looked battered and charred, with blood dripping continuously from her feathers.
Liu Bai looked at her pitiful state and cursed inwardly, "Serves you right."
Yet, he still raised his hand again, sending out a streak of green lightning to help heal her body.
What Liu Bai failed to notice, however, was that though the Nine Nether Sparrow looked miserable on the outside, her eyes were becoming incomparably bright.
A faint purple glow slowly seeped from her black pupils, growing stronger and more intense.
Eventually, wisps of violet energy began to escape from her wounds and feathers.
As these violet flames appeared, her once heavily injured body rapidly recovered. The speed was even more astonishing than the healing power of Liu Bai's Wood Divine Lightning, nearly comparable to the Ice Jade Divine Lotus within him.
"That is... the Undying Flame?!"
Liu Bai's expression lit up with delight. He knew that once the Jiu You evolved, there was a high chance she would awaken the Undying Flame. After all, she was a supreme genius of the Nine Nether Clan, carrying the bloodline of the Undying Bird.
His surprise came from how smoothly her evolution was proceeding. Even though she had only just awakened a faint trace of the Undying Flame and its shape had yet to manifest, it was already enough to ensure that she would safely transcend the tribulation.
Liu Bai no longer had to worry about this reckless fool.
Sure enough, as the Nine Nether Sparrow sensed her body recovering, she raised her head proudly. Her bright eyes locked firmly onto the tribulation clouds above, which were condensing their remaining power into one final strike.
Within her body, a terrifying force was about to be born. The only thing missing was an external power to shatter her final shackles.
That external power was none other than the tribulation lightning above her.
A clear cry echoed through the heavens as her enormous wings slowly unfurled. Boundless black flames erupted around her, and within those flames, Liu Bai could faintly see threads of pale violet fire emerging.
The oppressive atmosphere filled the skies. The massive Dark Divine Lightning cloud that had once covered ten thousand feet of sky had now condensed to barely a hundred feet, its color darkening into an abyssal black, swirling like a black hole.
The hundred-foot cloud suddenly convulsed, and from its center slithered out a small yet terrifying black lightning dragon.
With a deafening roar, a beam of black divine light shot out from its mouth, tearing through the heavens. The destructive power was so overwhelming that even the spiritual energy of the world seemed to dissolve before it.
The entire world fell silent, save for the black divine beam descending like divine judgment.
The Nine Nether Sparrow was not one to cower. The flames around her body compressed violently, and above her appeared a small black bird only a tenth of her size.
That miniature black bird seemed inscribed with mysterious runes, its eyes burning with violet fire—mysterious and divine.
The tiny bird shot forth, tearing through space itself, and collided head-on with the descending beam of divine light.
At the moment of impact, all light in heaven and earth was devoured, leaving only a vast black shockwave sweeping across the sky like an eclipse.
The surrounding mountain peaks were instantly annihilated into dust. From high above, Liu Bai could see that within a radius of a thousand miles, everything had been flattened.
The mountainous heart of the Black Nether Abyss had turned into a vast plain.
As Liu Bai gazed at the sky, light was returning. The tribulation cloud had exhausted all its power and was rapidly dissipating.
As for the Nine Nether Sparrow who had charged into the tribulation head-on, she now lay in a vast crater below. From afar, only faint black flames could be seen rising from within.
With a single step, Liu Bai appeared at the crater's edge. There lay the enormous black bird, her body covered in hideous wounds, blood flowing freely and dyeing the crater floor red.
Liu Bai grinned slightly but did not move immediately.
As the immense black sparrow's body trembled continuously, boundless purple flames surged out, instantly engulfing the entire bottom of the crater.
The instant those purple flames appeared, Liu Bai felt an overwhelming wave of heat sweep toward him, forcing him to retreat rapidly.
That flame was the most terrifying one he had ever seen. Even with the protection of the Innate Five Spirits Disc, he dared not allow that fire to touch his body. Otherwise, in just a brief moment, he would likely be reduced to ashes.
Gazing at the purple flames, Liu Bai knew that within them, Jiu You was undergoing her metamorphosis. He had no idea how long it would take, so he found a nearby spot, sat cross-legged, and began to cultivate while waiting.
The waiting was dull, so Liu Bai thought for a moment and decided to set up four Hundred Spirit Sword Arrays around the area to protect the surroundings before circulating his spiritual energy rapidly.
Generally speaking, cultivators who reached the Late-phase of the Heaven Completion Realm would face the Human Body Disaster.
Of course, the Human Body Disaster would not appear on its own—it required the cultivator's conscious initiation.
It was said that once a person was prepared to face this trial, they would circulate all the spiritual energy within their body in continuous cycles. As that energy raced through their meridians, it would gradually seep into their flesh and blood.
When one's strength reached such a level, the blood energy within the body would become saturated. Once this blood energy merged with the spiritual power that had seeped into the flesh, it would transform into a form of Blood Flame.
This Blood Flame would then ignite within the flesh and spread throughout the entire body. As the Blood Flame burned, it would temper the body, strengthening it beyond measure.
However, if one could not endure this tempering, their flesh and blood would be completely burned away by the Blood Flame. When that happened, the destruction of the physical body would inflict devastating harm upon the cultivator.
This was the origin of the Human Body Disaster.
The Blood Flame that arose from within could not be avoided, and no external aid could help. Only through one's own will could a cultivator truly transform in the midst of the burning Blood Flame. This was why the Human Body Disaster was so perilous.
At this moment, Liu Bai was attempting precisely that.
Three days later, the purple flames above the distant crater still burned fiercely, while Liu Bai, who sat cross-legged, was also undergoing changes within his body.
A faint red mist began to rise inside him, and soon, countless beads of blood emerged, seeping out of his pores.
A sharp, needle-like pain began to torment his nerves. At some point, Liu Bai had clenched his jaw tightly, veins bulging across his body.
At that critical moment, a white glow like jade suddenly shone from his brow, and a lotus pattern faintly appeared on his forehead.
As the white light spread, Liu Bai felt the sharp pain in his body rapidly fade. Though he still felt as if his entire being was burning, the agony had been reduced by ninety percent.
Liu Bai finally exhaled deeply in relief.
It was the Ice Jade Divine Lotus taking effect. With its protection, Liu Bai was certain that even if he failed the Human Body Disaster, no irreparable consequences would occur.
At this moment, countless scarlet flames were appearing within Liu Bai's flesh, spreading wildly like a prairie fire. In less than a minute, they had already filled every corner of his body.
Thanks to the Ice Jade Divine Lotus, Liu Bai did not have to endure the unbearable pain that others would suffer as their flesh burned.
He even had the mind to observe his own body with his spiritual sense.
Within Liu Bai's body, wherever there was flesh and blood, the Blood Flame burned and spread, sizzling as it consumed him.
It reminded him of the scene from his previous life when he cooked steak.
Now, each piece of his powerful, vigorous flesh pulsed as if it possessed life, shrinking bit by bit under the burning of the Blood Flame.
The process was more brutal than any torture in the world, and without a divine artifact like the Ice Jade Divine Lotus, a cultivator could only rely on sheer willpower to endure it.
In all the countless fantasy, martial, and cultivation novels Liu Bai had read in his past life, the cultivation system of the Great Thousand World was easily among the most merciless.
Compared to the carefree, longevity-seeking path of Immortal Cultivation, the spiritual energy system of the Great Thousand World was pure self-torment.
The divine light from the Ice Jade Divine Lotus not only restored Liu Bai's vitality and eased his pain but also continuously produced new fleshly cells refined by the Blood Flame.
Because of this, instead of growing weaker, Liu Bai became even stronger. His body radiated an overwhelming vitality and power, and the aura from his flesh grew increasingly terrifying.
At that moment, if anyone saw Liu Bai, they would feel as if a ferocious beast was slumbering within him. The violent aura spreading from his body made even his handsome features appear slightly savage.
After another week, Liu Bai, who had been in a deep, trance-like state, slowly opened his eyes.
His body had completely calmed down. The clothes he had worn were long since reduced to ashes by the Blood Flame's heat, leaving his jade-white body exposed to the air.
Unlike Mu Chen from the original tale, Liu Bai's body was not covered in dried blood scabs after the Human Body Disaster.
With the Ice Jade Divine Lotus, all the blood that overflowed was purified by the divine light, leaving no chance for scabs to form.
His body was not particularly bulky, and if anything, he looked slightly leaner than before—a sign that his flesh had become more condensed.
Although the divine light continuously regenerated new flesh, it could not completely restore the fullness he once had, so he would need a few days of rest to recover fully.
Still, even though he appeared leaner, his body now emitted an aura of frightening power.
Liu Bai felt that with a single casual punch, he could kill a Late-phase Heaven Completion Realm expert.
...
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