Chapter 123: Another Breakthrough!
Fortunately, the commotion here had been quite startling, so it hadn't drawn any other powerful foes. The three smoothly entered the room.
"Hiss—"
The sound of sharply indrawn cold breaths rang out. Jiang Yun's trio stared in astonishment at the scene before them. The room not only lacked any rare treasures radiating powerful spiritual fluctuations—it was instead filled to the brim with skeletal remains.
"This... was my sense wrong?"
Looking at the scene before her, Zi Yan cast a somewhat doubtful glance at Jiang Yun and Medusa. For the first time, she questioned her own innate talent.
Surrounding them on all sides were skeletal remains of every kind, making the environment dank, cold, and damp. White bones piled high. Among them were even quite a few human skeletons.
No matter how you looked at it, this didn't seem like a place that would hold rare treasures!
"Let's go further in and take a look!"
After closing his eyes and sensing for a moment, Jiang Yun could feel an extremely powerful spiritual energy fluctuation in the vicinity. Raising a brow slightly, he spoke.
The two women chose to trust Jiang Yun's judgment. Besides, they'd come all this way—how could they just turn back now?
Frowning, the three threaded their way through small hills formed by white bones, pressing forward. Finally, they came to a halt at the very end of the chamber.
The interior was still littered with skeletal remains. But at the center of those bones lay a pool of deep crimson. It was a pool roughly ten zhang wide. Within the pool, a scarlet liquid filled it.
The liquid resembled fresh blood. Or perhaps, it was blood. On the surface of the pool, blood bubbles continuously rose and burst. As each blood bubble popped, a rich, blood-colored energy slowly wafted out like misty smoke.
"This... is a blood pool?" Medusa looked at the scene before her, a brow raised slightly as she spoke with some hesitation.
"My Ancient Dragon inheritance seems to have similar records. Gather the blood of powerful clansmen together for the younger generation to use for baptism and breakthroughs. I never expected to find one here!"
Zi Yan also spoke up at that moment, her gaze falling on the surrounding skeletons. "And this blood pool here was likely created the same way!"
"The energy here is extremely dense—enough for each of us to advance our strength another step!" Sensing the vast, seemingly endless energy within the blood pool, Jiang Yun chuckled lightly.
Hearing this, Medusa and Zi Yan both nodded, their expressions somewhat stirred.
Though their strength had progressed rapidly since arriving here, the opponents they faced had grown ever more powerful as well. Just like now—only those at the Divine Soul Tribulation could claim dominance on this battlefield.
Yet all three of them were at the Heaven-Connecting Realm. Even with the two women's extraordinary innate talent and terrifying bloodlines, it wasn't enough to leap across three major tiers. So, in truth, they had all been feeling rather anxious.
Now, this stroke of fortune would allow them to quickly catch up. How could they not be delighted?
"The energy here is extremely violent. Xiao Yun, be careful when you enter!" Zi Yan turned back and warned Jiang Yun.
The blood pool's energy was exceptionally violent. Ordinary people simply couldn't withstand it. But for Zi Yan and Medusa—a Taixu Ancient Dragon and a Nine-Colored Heaven-Devouring Python—it was no difficult task.
Though she knew Jiang Yun's physical body was powerful, Zi Yan couldn't help but caution him anyway.
"Got it. Medusa will probably break through to the Fleshly Tribulation this time. For you, that might not be so easy. Instead of worrying about me, maybe worry about yourself!"
Jiang Yun looked tenderly at Zi Yan, then couldn't resist teasing her at the end.
Sure enough, Zi Yan's face stiffened. Fuming, she huffed, "Stupid Xiao Yun! Just you wait—this time, I'll definitely enter the Fleshly Tribulation!"
Still not satisfied, her eyes darted. She stomped down on Jiang Yun's instep. Seeing Jiang Yun's pained expression, a spark of satisfaction flashed through Zi Yan's eyes.
In the next instant, her figure moved, diving straight into the blood pool like a beautiful mermaid.
Watching Zi Yan's graceful silhouette vanish into the blood pool and feeling the ache in his instep, Jiang Yun was briefly stunned. Laughing ruefully, he shook his head. Looking at Medusa beside him, he said, "The Fleshly Tribulation is even harder the stronger one's physical body. Be careful."
"Mm." Toward Jiang Yun's well-intentioned reminder, Medusa swept a cool glance at his foot. Letting out a soft "mm," her enchanting figure swayed, and she dove directly into the blood pool as well.
After watching the two enter the blood pool, Jiang Yun surveyed their surroundings. He laid down a warning array, only then turning around. Tapping the ground with his toes, he leapt onto the blood pool. Then, with a splash, his body plunged into the blood pool as well.
"Tch tch!"
Along with the trio's entry, the originally tranquil blood pool immediately began to boil. Countless blood bubbles rose and surged unceasingly. Rampaging energy howled madly within the blood pool. Faintly, strange sounds, low and deep like muffled thunder, quietly rang out, then spread far out into the distance.
Inside the blood pool—though it appeared only about ten zhang wide from the outside, at the bottom, the blood pool was extremely vast, as if stretching on without end.
Not having spotted the two women's figures, Jiang Yun began to sense the changes happening within him.
Pain!
Every part of his body conveyed this sensation. The rampant energy suffusing the blood pool—the moment Jiang Yun entered, this energy acted as if drawn by a trigger, like countless venomous snakes, slamming into his body from all directions!
Vast spiritual energy directly entered through the top of his skull, then swept downward from top to bottom in a frenzied rush. Everywhere it passed immediately brought searing agony, like being scraped by blades.
But in the very next moment, the pain subsided. Jiang Yun felt an exceptionally pure and peculiar energy surge from all directions, continuously burrowing into his body.
And under the nourishing touch of this energy, Jiang Yun could feel his body as if undergoing a baptism. A faint, comfortable sensation spread outward.
Both within his meridians and his flesh and blood, threads of crystalline, glistening filaments actually began to appear.
These fine threads threaded through his meridians, flesh, blood, and even bones. Though they seemed insignificant, Jiang Yun could sense just how terrifying a level of force these crystalline threads could withstand.
And consequently, his flesh, blood, meridians, and bones were also indirectly becoming more resilient and powerful.
Simultaneously, both the surface and the interior of his body, under that ceaseless, unending scouring, faintly began to seep out some blackened blood.
Those were impurities contained within his body as well as hidden injuries sustained in past battles. But now, these hidden traumas were being rapidly repaired at this moment.
Sensing the changes in his body, even Jiang Yun couldn't help but feel a surge of joy.
Yet, before Jiang Yun could celebrate, that stabbing pain assaulted him once more. So it went, repeatedly, back and forth—truly a torment to endure.
Sensing his body's transformations, Jiang Yun crossed his legs and simply floated suspended in the blood pool like that. Eyes tightly shut, he devoted himself to cultivation, silently awaiting the moment of breakthrough!
As time passed, under Jiang Yun's whale-like absorption, the blood pool's energy remained vast. By now, Jiang Yun was like a sculpture, eyes tightly shut, motionless.
Under his skin, streaks of blood-colored radiance quietly circulated.
But within his body, an extremely powerful energy was brewing. This energy, akin to a volcano about to erupt, sought the opportune moment for breakthrough.
"Boom—"
At a certain moment, an intangible fluctuation suddenly swept out violently from within Jiang Yun's body.
Jiang Yun was the first to achieve a breakthrough. Those tightly shut eyes abruptly opened.
Boom!
Simultaneously, an exceedingly fierce and powerful spiritual energy fluctuation, like a tempest, erupted from within Jiang Yun, raging through heaven and earth.
The skyrocketing of his aura lasted but an instant. A deep, muffled sound then rang out from the depths of Jiang Yun's soul. The spiritual energy within him returned to calm once more.
"Peak Heaven-Connecting Realm. A pity!" Sensing the spiritual energy fluctuations within him, Jiang Yun spoke with some regret. Just one step away from breaking through to the Fleshly Tribulation.
But Jiang Yun quickly collected his mood. When he'd arrived at this ruin, he had been a seven-star Dou Huang—the late stage of the Heaven Transformation Realm. Now, he was at the peak of the Heaven-Connecting Realm. This was improvement over less than a mere year. That was already terrifying enough.
Jiang Yun stepped out of the blood pool. Seeing the arrays around him undisturbed, it seemed no one had entered. After all, two corpses at the Spiritual Power Tribulation outside still held considerable deterrent force.
Now, thirteen days had passed. He wondered how far the other explorers had ventured?
Shaking his head, sensing the two steadily rising auras at the bottom of the pool, Jiang Yun once again sat cross-legged at the pool's edge, awaiting the two women's emergence from seclusion.
Three days later!
Roar!
A resonant, sonorous roar, like both lion and tiger, rang out. A heaven-spanning Nine-Colored Heaven-Devouring Python shot out from the pool's surface. Its mighty, powerful body seemed filled with force capable of piercing heaven. Every sinuous movement brought torrents of spiritual energy, distorting the very space around it.
Jiang Yun's eyes fixed on the colossal python. He noticed that the surface of its body was now tinged with a faint red hue and appeared somewhat scalding hot. An imperceptible force emanated from those heated meridians, gradually seeping into the very flesh and blood of the python...
"The Fleshly Tribulation, huh!"
When one's strength reached the peak of the Heaven-Connecting Realm, the Fleshly Tribulation could be drawn forth. When strength reached a certain level, the blood and qi within the human body would reach saturation. The blood and qi, merging with the spiritual energy within, gave rise to a kind of Blood Fire.
This Blood Fire was born within the flesh and blood, subsequently spreading throughout the entire body. The Blood Fire would blaze, tempering and hammering the flesh, making the physical body even mightier.
If one could not endure this tempering, their very flesh and blood would be refined and evaporated by the Blood Fire. Should the physical body be destroyed at that point, it would cause tremendous damage to oneself.
This was the origin of the Fleshly Tribulation. No external force could aid in this. One could only rely on oneself to endure and emerge metamorphosed within the Blood Fire.
Moreover, the stronger one's physical body, the more formidable the Fleshly Tribulation they would experience, and the pain brought would be all the more intense. However, simultaneously, after passing through it, the rewards reaped would also be all the more powerful.
As time passed, Medusa's Fleshly Tribulation also neared its end. A divine beast like the Nine-Colored Heaven-Devouring Python would naturally not be impeded by the Fleshly Tribulation—let alone when this divine beast was inhabited by the soul of a woman as fierce and formidable as Medusa.
The Nine-Colored Heaven-Devouring Python's form erupted with swirling nine-colored luminescence. Then, it began rapidly shrinking, finally transforming into a tall, slender, graceful silhouette.
Medusa stood tall in the void. Her tightly shut eyes abruptly opened. Instantly, a powerful spiritual energy pressure erupted from within her.
Her beautiful eyes swiveled. Medusa spotted Jiang Yun at the pool's edge. An enchanting, alluring curve tugged at the corner of her lips. Her figure flickered and silently came to stand beside Jiang Yun.
Watching Medusa—at this moment, not a trace of spiritual energy fluctuation emanated from her. Yet, Jiang Yun could still sense it: within that curvaceous, exquisitely proportioned body radiated a sensation of heart-palpitating, fearsome power.
"Congratulations," Jiang Yun looked at Medusa and chuckled softly.
"Mm." Sensing the power within her, Medusa's heart was filled with joy. Yet outwardly, she only nodded coolly. Then, turning her head to gaze at the bottom of the pool, she asked, "Zi Yan hasn't come out yet?"
"Within the next couple of days."
Turning to look into the blood pool, the two's gazes seemed to penetrate the layers of blood, seeing the Ancient Dragon lying dormant within. The energy within the other was rapidly accumulating, awaiting the moment that would startle heaven and shake the earth.
"That..." Just then, Medusa's hesitant voice broke the silence.
Turning his head, he saw her looking at him, seeming to hesitate, wanting to speak.
Jiang Yun smiled gently and said, "We've been comrades through life and death by now. If you need help with something, just say so. I daresay I have some small abilities."
Gazing at Jiang Yun's smile, Medusa immediately felt a warmth spread through her heart. She spoke: "Could I ask you... to set up a Protective Clan Array for my snake-people?"
Seeing Jiang Yun's expression turn curious, Medusa quickly added, "Don't worry, the snake-people will pay..."
After saying this, Medusa immediately hesitated. This time in the ruin, the three had reaped no small harvest. And Jiang Yun's origins were mysterious—he seemed to lack nothing. For the snake-people to invite him to act, it seemed they couldn't offer anything that would move his heart!
"It can be done," Jiang Yun's gentle voice came while Medusa was still hesitating.
"What?" Distracted, hearing Jiang Yun's words, Medusa looked at him with some surprise.
"I said, I can help the snake-people set up a Protective Clan Array," Jiang Yun said, his face full of smiles as he looked at Medusa. This icy-cold queen rarely showed such an embarrassed, flustered state!
"Thank you." Coming back to herself, she saw the other had already turned to look out over the blood pool. Gazing at the young man's back, a breathtakingly beautiful smile suddenly bloomed on Medusa's face. She murmured softly.
"Right. How are things between you and Xiao Jiu now?" At that moment, Jiang Yun's curious voice came.
"Ssss!"
Before Medusa could answer, nine-colored light flickered over her. Then, a nine-colored streak of light shot out, finally coiling itself atop Jiang Yun's shoulder, flicking its tongue happily at him.
"It's Xiao Jiu!" Looking at the little serpent on his shoulder, Jiang Yun smiled dotingly. He raised his hand, scooping it into his palm, gently playing with it.
"Ever since we began cultivating the spiritual energy system, upon reaching the Divine Soul Realm, I seemed to have refined the Heaven-Devouring Python's soul as my Divine Soul. Now, the two of us have formed a strange symbiotic state. We can appear together. Perhaps, upon reaching a certain level, it could even condense a physical body, forming a new individual entity!"
Medusa watched Jiang Yun playing with the snake, laughing softly.
"That is also quite a good outcome!" Hearing Medusa's words, Jiang Yun smiled slightly.
Originally, he had been pondering how to resolve the two souls' symbiotic state. He hadn't expected things to succeed by a stroke of serendipity. This was truly an unexpected delight!