Su Bai had a few guesses about what was happening.
The mysterious jade-like spirit item Su Xiaohei gave him—when he swallowed it in one gulp—the spiritual energy it released was a hundred times stronger than all the spirit items he had consumed before, combined.
“If I can’t form a Five Element Golden Core, then I’ll forge an indestructible Vajra body instead!”
Staring at the surging, turbulent liquid spiritual power within his dantian, Su Bai gritted his teeth.
The power left behind from his failed Golden Core breakthrough—no, it had already transformed into true Golden Core magic power.
Whether for alchemy or artifact forging, this was top-tier supplementary material.
Using it to temper his physical body would be a huge waste, but he had no choice.
Su Bai began desperately searching his memories for body-refinement techniques.
If body tempering were like driving a car, then a high-grade technique would be the engine, and Golden Core magic power the premium fuel.
But the tempering techniques in his memory were either too low-grade or lacked sufficient intensity.
In the end, he fixed his gaze on the flawless version of the Sunflower Manual.
“Let’s just hope I don’t turn into a girl again like the last time I broke through to the Foundation Establishment stage.”
Muttering under his breath, Su Bai resolutely channeled all the Golden Core power into his body.
The next moment, it felt like countless fine needles pierced him all at once.
The pain crashed over him like a tidal wave—as if tens of thousands of ants were madly gnawing at him, one wave after another, endless and unrelenting.
Then came the sensation of being hammered, each strike landing with earth-shattering force, as though his body would be shattered to pieces.
First, his eyebrows fell off.
His once-thick brows vanished, revealing a smooth forehead and causing his face to lose a measure of its masculine sharpness.
Then, his long hair began to fall, strands drifting gently down around him, as if signaling the beginning of this strange transformation.
Nourished by the unceasing flow of spiritual energy, his skin began to change drastically.
Originally baby-soft due to cultivating the Sunflower Manual, it now grew even healthier and more radiant, glowing faintly like fine mutton-fat jade—luminous and enchanting.
His already-subtle masculine features gradually faded, and his figure became even more slender and graceful.
His waist narrowed into a soft, elegant curve, delicate enough to grasp with one hand.
His hips subtly lifted, giving a plump, rounded shape.
His long legs were straight and perfectly proportioned, with skin as smooth as polished cream—like nature’s most exquisite creation.
His shoulder frame shrank and rounded, his arms took on gentler lines, and his fingers grew long and delicate, like tender green scallions.
His chest swelled prominently—snowy, round, and almost bursting out of his clothes.
The ethereal beauty that emerged from this transformation made him seem like an immortal descending to the mortal world.
His face was exquisitely refined, with an aloof and cold expression, untouched by worldly dust.
Su Bai clenched his jaw, enduring the intense and bizarre pain.
He had no awareness of the strange changes overtaking her body—he simply believed this was the agony of body tempering.
***
“Kill! Kill! Kill!”
“Kill kill kill kill!!”
“White Bone Yaksha—kill! Bloodthirsty Wraiths—kill! Enraged cultivators—kill! Whoever dares approach this house, kill them all!”
Stab, thrust, sweep, block, smash, hook, spin, twist, shred… Every move was infused with dense killing intent and overwhelming bloodlust.
Su Xiaohei had entered a state of total battle frenzy!
The spiritual energy around him seemed to be pulled by a powerful force, surging madly.
Visible currents of spiritual power roared through the air like rushing rivers, converging toward Su Xiaohei.
Su Xiaohei was completely immersed in a state of mindless combat.
The long spear in his hands danced with ferocious momentum, every move executed with deadly precision.
As he fought off the surrounding enemies with all his strength, the spiritual energy within his body surged to an unprecedented peak.
Waves of surging spiritual energy continuously poured into his meridians, bombarding the various acupoints throughout his body.
In the next moment—Foundation Establishment (Qi Refinement) Completion!
A completely new and far more powerful aura burst forth from his body.
Yet Su Xiaohei didn’t even notice.
Or more accurately, in that moment, he was entirely consumed by the act of slaughter.
Every time his spear pierced an enemy’s body, an exhilarating thrill ran through him.
Each strike that ended a life made his cultivation soar higher, as if the very act of killing fueled his strength.
Meanwhile, inside his storage pouch, beside the now-defunct Heaven-Earth Blink Talisman, a seemingly ordinary black stone—one he had picked up in that same cave dwelling—began to tremble softly.
The next instant, it transformed into a colorless streak of light and shot directly into Su Xiaohei’s body.
Su Xiaohei only felt a brief flash of warmth through his body, but he quickly pushed it from his mind.
Right now, there was only one thought in his heart—Kill!!
***
“Deputy Leader Li, we’ve found him.”
A black-robed demonic cultivator arrived swiftly with Li An in tow.
The two glanced at the cultivators guarding the area but didn’t waste words.
Li An moved first.
With a mere twitch of his finger, a surge of blood-red energy erupted like a tidal wave.
Su Xiaohei immediately felt a terrifying force crashing into him.
Instinctively, he raised his spear to block, but the blow still sent him flying.
He crashed heavily to the ground like a kite with its string cut.
A mouthful of blood spurted out, and his aura plummeted.
He was now teetering on the brink of death.
A cold gleam flashed in the eyes of the black-robed demonic cultivator.
A blade of energy sliced through the air, aiming directly for Su Xiaohei’s neck.
***
“Fellow cultivators, isn’t attacking my disciple in front of me a bit disrespectful?”
A calm female voice rang out suddenly, and in that instant, the entire world seemed to change.
Fierce winds howled like dragons tearing through the heavens.
Clouds churned like tigers leaping through forests.
A radiant illusion of a green sun slowly rose from the nearby building, its divine light blazing forth with boundless vitality.
Wherever the light touched, ghosts were banished, and nightmarish creatures fled.
The sun’s warm energy enveloped Su Xiaohei as well.
His weakening breath gradually stabilized under its nourishing force, and the deathly pallor of his face began to fade.
He was being pulled back from the edge of death.
The female cultivator raised a hand, and Su Xiaohei suddenly found himself caught in a warm embrace.
He blinked in surprise and looked up—only to see a celestial maiden who looked remarkably similar to his master.
She held him with one arm, and his face was suddenly pressed against two incredibly soft mounds.
His face turned bright red, and his heart began to pound uncontrollably.
The warmth and softness left him stunned, yet the familiar fragrance filling his senses brought him a strange sense of peace.
It was… the scent of peach blossom soup.
***
Li An’s eyes turned bloodshot as he glared at Su Bai.
Through gritted teeth, he growled, “So you’re the little thief who stole my Heavenly Soul Essence Marrow. No matter—once you’re dead, I’ll just extract it from your corpse.”
‘Heavenly Soul Essence Marrow?’
Su Bai’s heart stirred.
He silently made a note of the spiritual item.
“So you’ve decided you’ve got me cornered?” Su Bai asked coldly.
“Hah! You’re just a newborn Core Formation stage cultivator!” Li An sneered.
“You have Core Formation-level spiritual power but no matching combat skills. You’re nothing but a lamb waiting to be slaughtered!”
As he spoke, the spiritual power around Li An surged violently. A terrifying aura exploded outward, charging at Su Bai like a raging storm.
Countless threads of spiritual energy condensed into hundreds of razor-sharp bone spikes that filled the air, all hurtling toward Su Bai like a deadly swarm.
“Don’t even think about sending for help through the DaoNet.
This place has already been sealed by the Blood Calamity Yaksha Array.
No messages can get in or out.”
“Then what if I use the Domain Spirit Mirror to connect to the Heaven Ruins, and from there reach the DaoNet branch of the Immortal Alliance?”
***
The green sun blazed in the sky, its light illuminating all beneath it.
The two opposing forces clashed violently in midair.
Countless bone spikes rained down toward Su Bai’s body, but they were all stopped by a thin layer of pale green light.
The closest one halted just a hair’s breadth from the center of Su Bai’s forehead.
[TL Note: Even though Su Bai’s body transforms into a female form during cultivation, the author still refers to him using male pronouns. I’ll be following the same approach in the translation for consistency.]
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