In the sky, the flames and darkness clashed against one another, erupting with great destructive power.
Sand and dust were blown away by the consecutive shockwaves.
The battle between the demonic phoenix and the black dragon was becoming more and more intense.
The residual power of their battle was more than enough to directly erase any normal living being from existence.
Not a single living demonic beast was found on this frontline.
The black dragon was growing stronger and stronger, but its movements were also becoming heavier.
The demonic phoenix gradually refrained from directly clashing with the black dragon, but instead, taking advantage of its speed and mobility to attack the black dragon’s openings.
At some point, the demonic phoenix found its chance and pecked at the body of the demon-shaped black mist.
Bang———
A heavy resounding noise echoed throughout the world.
The demonic phoenix had pecked a 7-colored shield.
Svalinn the shield!
Although it couldn’t summon Abyssal monsters here, it did not lose its defensive capabilities.
Because of its unique soul protection ability, Gu Qing Shan didn’t completely lose his rationality.
Despite blocking the demonic phoenix’s blow, the force of the impact still managed to cause Gu Qing Shan to tremble in his confusion.
Gu Qing Shan’s human body reappeared and fell down.
The demonic phoenix immediately reacted.
——this is the perfect chance!
As it was about to perform its movement technique to pursue him in full power, it noticed terrifying killing intent.
The demonic phoenix halted, then cautiously looked at Gu Qing Shan—— and the human female that suddenly appeared next to him.
Xie Dao Ling.
Xie Dao Ling had finally arrived.
She put her hand on Gu Qing Shan’s shoulder to help him stabilize his body.
“Such massive power… is this the power of the dragon race?”
She pressed one hand against Gu Qing Shan’s back, then quickly formed a hand seal with her other hand.
Secret Art, Nine Stars Cleansing Ocean!
“Ah…”
Xie Dao Ling’s eyebrows knitted together.
She immediately felt the pain that Gu Qing Shan was feeling.
This was a Secret Art to help another person cleanse and refine their power, which would naturally share a portion of the unabsorbed power when cast.
Fortunately, she was at a higher realm compared to Gu Qing Shan, so the threshold of power she was able to absorb was naturally greater.
Gu Qing Shan slowly regained his senses.
The pain throughout his body subsided, eventually reaching the point that a normal person could endure.
“Shifu? Why did you come here?” he hurriedly asked.
“I sensed your battle, so I performed a Divination, and arrived to take a look” Xie Dao Ling curtly replied.
“What were the results of Shifu’s Divination?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
“Pride precedes a fall, the surplus cannot be handled, disaster strikes as the limit is reached——- and sure enough, that’s exactly how it was, who would’ve thought that my disciple had gotten this desperate when fighting?”
Xie Dao Ling glanced at the broken bones all over the ground of the frontlines and coldly said: “If you’re fighting to this degree, as your master, I can’t act lazy anymore, can I?”
「 Cultivators, you’re too arrogant 」
A voice resounded from above.
The master and disciple pair turned back.
Only to see it was the demonic phoenix from earlier speaking.
「 Beat up the younger and out comes the elder? You humans truly are despicable and sly 」it stared closely at Xie Dao Ling and provoked her.
Xie Dao Ling didn’t care about the phoenix and instead asked Gu Qing Shan: “How many dragons did you kill?”
“Two”
“No wonder it had reached this degree” Xie Dao Ling’s expression became stern as she told him: “The power of two dragons is extremely rare, the upper limit of this strength had already surpassed even me. It is truly a great opportunity, but you mustn’t be arrogant after you’ve fully absorbed it—— you should know that there are countless mysteries within the infinite worlds, as well as countless unique abilities. Simply having strength doesn’t mean you will always win, so you must remain cautious on your travels”
“This disciple understands your teaching, but if my upper limit of strength had surpassed Shifu, wouldn’t that mean that I have already surpassed the realm of {Mahesvara King}? Why am I still here facing the Tribulation?” Gu Qing Shan doubtfully asked.
Xie Dao Ling shook her head and replied: “The Heaven’s Tribulation improves a cultivator’s total spirit energy reservoir, which is completely independent of the dragon’s strength. Not to mention, after the Heaven’s Tribulation, you will also earn the {Mahesvara King} realm Dependant Thaumaturgy, as well as your Mahesvara Thaumaturgy. Both of these are unique power of cultivators that are unrelated to the draconic power that you have”
Gu Qing Shan was surprised: “So that is how it is, this disciple understands”
All of a sudden, blinding flames started illuminating the sky.
「 You bastards! 」
The demonic phoenix glared at the two of them and cawed: 「 You keep talking and talking, are you treating this one as nothing but air!? 」
Xie Dao Ling glanced at it a bit, then continued talking to Gu Qing Shan: “The draconic power that you were refining was too violent, but now I have cleansed them, making them pure and neutral sources of power. This way, absorbing them won’t place too much stress on your body and spirit”
Gu Qing Shan examined his body.
The speed of absorption didn’t change, but it had turned from a violent torrent to a peacefully flowing stream.
The pain continued to subside.
He could even feel the clarity of his mind returning.
“How miraculous, for there to be such a technique” Gu Qing Shan praised.
Xie Dao Ling replied: “I had only just recalled that this Secret Art exists when I saw your state earlier. If you want to learn, I’ll teach you”
Gu Qing Shan replied without hesitation: “Yes please, I really need this Secret Art, I’ll most likely have use for it in the future”
The Demon Dragon’s bloodline power can absorb the various powers of other living beings, so if I have this power cleansing technique, I won’t need to worry about the properties of some power causing me harm.
Xie Dao Ling then sent her voice through inner sight in order to teach this Secret Art to Gu Qing Shan.
Gu Qing Shan silently listened, then asked a few questions for points that he didn’t understand, and eventually gained a full grasp of this technique.
On the other side, the demonic phoenix finally lost it.
It flapped its wings, preparing to kill these two arrogant human cultivators!
However——-
As soon as it spread its wings, it immediately pulled back.
Because another female cultivator appeared out of nowhere.
It was still Xie Dao Ling!
From the void of space, female cultivators appeared one after another, all of them with the exact same appearance as that human cultivator.
In just a few moments, the entire void of space was filled with the same female cultivator.
—–Thaumaturgy, [Thousand Incarnations]!
The demonic phoenix pulled retracted its violent flames and carefully glanced at Xie Dao Ling, re-evaluating her: 「 So such a Thaumaturgy exists, it seems that you aren’t a normal cultivator after all, deserving of my serious attention 」
Xie Dao Ling glanced at it briefly and continued talking: “Qing Shan, at the Ancient City of Immortals, I saw a mural, from which I seem to recall some matters that I’ve never witnessed before”
Gu Qing Shan replied: “How strange, Shifu clearly hasn’t ever come into contact with these murals nor this world before. Could it be memories of a previous life?”
Xie Dao Ling pondered: “I do not know, but I can faintly sense something——– if we are able to reach the summit of Sumeru this time around, we might be able to find out something”
She continued: “Last time, when we were at the 900 million World Layers Profession Committee, after you left, there was a girl called Yun Ji among your acquaintances who helped me seal my presence out of goodwill, returning me to my child form”
“I discovered that in this state, I very frequently recalled matters of the past, almost like enlightenment, so I gradually pondered the essence of this technique until I had a grasp of it”
Gu Qing Shan was full of admiration: “Shifu, I remember that Yun Ji wasn’t a cultivator, but you still managed to learn her technique, that truly is extraordinary”
Xie Dao Ling smiled, as her eyebrows slowly unknitted.
As the power of the dragons were being cleansed, the pain she had to share for Gu Qing Shan also subsided.
She then asked: “Qing Shan, I can see that you seem to carry worry on your expression still, why is that?”
Gu Qing Shan replied: “This disciple made a few friends in the 900 million World Layers, we had an agreement to gather for a fight against another group at the middle of noon, but everyone had already arrived and only I’m still missing”
“The middle of noon? I think that you had still better finish your Tribulation first, after all, the Mahesvara Thaumaturgy is very useful. Even if you won’t use it in this battle, it would most likely still be useful”
While saying that, Xie Dao Ling looked up at the sky.
At this point, night had begun to recede, a new day was approaching as the first rays of light were peering in from the horizon.
Dawn was emerging.
Xie Dao Ling quickly calculated and told him: “Qing Shan, once I take the form of a young girl, I would very easily fall into a state of nostalgic recollection or enlightenment, which would cause me to not pay attention to my surroundings—— but I must reach the secret of this Divine Mountain of Sumeru, so ever since the beginning of the Tribulation, I had been acting very careful”
“But now, Qing Shan, once you have absorbed the power of the two dragons, even if you still haven’t broken through on your cultivation realm, your non-Cultivation strength will have already surpassed mine. With your protection and support, we master and disciple pair will be able to quickly speed through this Tribulation”
Gu Qing Shan asked: “Shifu, how much longer will I need to fully absorb the draconic power?”
“About one minute, more or less” Xie Dao Ling replied.
Gu Qing Shan then felt relieved.
Shifu wanted to search for information on Mount Sumeru, so she needed someone to watch her back.
After one minute, I’ll have the full grasp of the power from two dragons, which should be no problem for protecting her.
He then replied: “Shifu, leave the job of protection to me, the only issue now that is this Mount Sumeru is too vast, if we want to quickly finish this Tribulation, we will most likely need to focus on traveling”
Hearing that Xie Dao Ling pondered: “I originally had a peacock as my mount, unfortunately, I did not take her with me during this Tribulation”
Gu Qing Shan also sighed and replied: “During the last spirit beast revolt, I already cut down my mount and my ship is currently docked in the space vortex”
The master-disciple pair both appeared regretful.
Wait—–
The two of them recalled something and both turned to the demonic phoenix at once.
Gu Qing Shan spoke up first: “Shifu, I heard that a phoenix is even faster than a peacock”
Xie Dao Ling nodded and muttered: “Indeed, legends had it that phoenixes are the most stable flyers. Unfortunately, ever since the beginning of my cultivation, your master had yet to ride a phoenix”
“This disciple has not either”
The demonic phoenix was hesitating as it observed the numerous female cultivators in the void of space, then it suddenly noticed their gazes.
Turning to them, it noticed that they were staring at it with strange expressions on their faces.
For some reason, the demonic phoenix felt a chill run through its body, instinctively feeling something wrong.
It cawed with a high-pitched voice: 「 You——- what are you planning? 」
Gu Qing Shan didn’t care to answer it and told Xie Dao Ling: “Shifu, please look, this phoenix is still full of demonic wild presence, so it would not succumb easily”
Xie Dao Ling thought a bit and replied: “It had already considered you to be its enemy, so it’s not easy to tame either… How about this, I’ll beat it up once first, if that doesn’t work, I’ll try a few more times”
Gu Qing Shan wiped the sweat off his forehead, quickly chasing after Xie Dao Ling’s train of thought.
“Wait a moment, Shifu, I remember that demonic birds are most afraid of a cultivator’s Lightning Tribulation, perhaps using lightning would be more effective”
“Ah… that is true…”
Xie Dao Ling understood what he was trying to say.
A moment later.
She drew a long whip.
“Demonic phoenix, are you willing to become my mount?” Xie Dao Ling asked.
Mount?
You want this great one to be a mount?
The demonic phoenix was immediately angered, preparing to rain the worst jeers and insults it had in its arsenal.
All of a sudden, Xie Dao Ling flicked the whip in her hand.
Arcs of lightning started to flow along with the whip, crackling as they did.
Mahesvara Dependent Thaumaturgy: [Dreamjolt]!
Following that, the thousands of Xie Dao Ling in the sky also drew their whips.
Each of the whips was wrapped in arcs of lightning.
The countless Xie Dao Ling swung their whips all at once.
Sha—–
Snap!!!
Resounding booms of thunder exploded all around!
The lightning illuminated the entire area, almost like the sun or moon in the sky, but also like a cultivator facing their Lightning Tribulation.
The demonic phoenix froze.
Xie Dao Ling glanced at the demonic phoenix and calmly said: “Think very carefully before you answer”
