The Northern Sea Dragon was a divine beast that Jiuyou naturally knew of, as well as how beneficial its blood essence would be to her.
"How is your consideration going?" Liu Bai looked at the silent little black sparrow and asked calmly.
"Despicable human..." Jiuyou's voice was filled with resentment, but the struggle within her tone was evident.
A bloodline connection required the consent of both parties, and for a Spiritual beast like the Nine Nether Sparrow to lower its pride and willingly form such a bond with a human was nothing short of humiliation. To her, even death would be preferable to such disgrace.
However, her current situation left her with no choice—she did not want to die.
Divine beasts were proud and looked down on weak humans, but when facing enslavement, very few would truly choose death, especially when the matter wasn't as hopeless as it seemed.
If Liu Bai hadn't first proposed a bloodline connection but instead demanded submission right away, Jiuyou's resistance would have been far stronger. But as things stood, a bloodline connection was at least better than slavery.
It was like conducting a business transaction—set a high price first, then offer a discount, and the customer would be more inclined to accept it.
Besides, Liu Bai wasn't just all talk; he had actually presented tangible benefits.
"Despicable might not be the right word. It's mutual growth. I don't think forming a bloodline connection with me is a bad thing for you," Liu Bai said with a faint smile.
"Hmph, stop pretending. Even if we set other things aside, you humans may extend your lifespans through cultivation, but unless you reach extremely high realms, you will die long before me," Jiuyou said indignantly.
"Perhaps. Now give me your answer." Liu Bai waved his hand impatiently.
"You..."
Jiuyou was so furious she nearly gnashed her beak.
Yet Liu Bai was protected by five-colored radiance; even Jiuyou's dark flames had no effect on him. This left her both frustrated and helpless.
"This human does have some skill... perhaps a bloodline connection with him wouldn't be so bad," she thought.
When someone begins to find reasons to justify an action, it means they have already accepted it in their heart.
Naturally, Jiuyou was no exception.
Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Jiuyou stared at Liu Bai and said in a low voice, "I can agree, but you must keep your word and help me overcome my Heavenly Tribulation."
"Of course," Liu Bai replied instantly. "Once we form the connection, we will share life and death. Even for my own sake, I will not let you fall."
"There is something you must remember," Jiuyou warned. "The ritual must be performed by me. You only need to cooperate. If you harbor even a trace of resistance or hesitation, the connection will fail. And remember, this can only be done once—if we fail, we will never have another chance."
"Understood. Go ahead," Liu Bai nodded. His figure then dissipated and returned to his physical body.
When he opened his eyes again, he noticed the faint black avian mark on the egg beginning to move. Dark flames emerged from the symbol, swirling into a black vortex in the air.
"Infuse your blood essence into the vortex," Jiuyou's voice came from within the egg.
At her words, Liu Bai pricked his fingertip, and a drop of crimson blood shot out, landing into the dark flame vortex.
Hiss.
White mist rose as the blood touched the dark flames, gradually being absorbed and drawn into the symbol beneath the vortex, taking up half of the black flame mark.
Inside the egg, Jiuyou's eyes flickered with solemnity. A dark glow flashed between her brows, and a drop of pitch-black blood shot forth, tiny dark flames burning within it.
The dark blood was also absorbed into the mark, taking the other half.
Hum.
The two halves of blood merged within the spinning symbol.
Boom!
The moment they fused, both Liu Bai and Jiuyou's bodies trembled violently, but their attention remained fixed on the spinning dark flame mark.
Success or failure would be decided in this instant.
If it failed, their connection would vanish forever.
Fortunately, the fusion of their blood essence went smoothly, showing that neither harbored rejection toward the other.
Liu Bai sighed in relief; he had worried the little black sparrow's pride might cause resistance and ruin everything.
Buzz! Buzz!
As the two blood essences fully merged, the dark flame mark burst into dazzling light. The black flames surged, consuming the symbol entirely.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two streaks of dark crimson light shot out from the flames, striking Liu Bai's brow and the Nine Nether Sparrow's forehead within the fiery realm. The dark flames surged, condensing into two black flame seals that fused deep into their beings.
As the marks merged into their bodies, a strange sensation filled their hearts—they could faintly sense each other's lives, their existences now intertwined.
Moments later, the black egg shattered, and a one-meter-tall black sparrow emerged, gazing at Liu Bai with a complicated look.
The bloodline connection was complete. Whatever happened from now on, they were bound as significant parts of each other's lives.
Flapping her wings twice, Jiuyou flew before Liu Bai. Her round black eyes stared at him as her sharp beak opened, and a crisp voice rang out.
"Now you can give me the Northern Sea Dragon's blood essence, right?"
Liu Bai raised his hand, summoning the crystal orb containing the Northern Sea Dragon's blood essence. The golden liquid within shimmered with terrifying power.
"Are we starting now?" Liu Bai asked, raising a brow.
Jiuyou nodded, then breathed out dark flames that wrapped around the crystal orb before she swallowed it whole.
Whoosh!
Her figure shot into the sky.
In the next instant, an overwhelming wave of black flames spread across the heavens as a piercing, melodious cry echoed through the world. Amidst the surging inferno, Jiuyou's small body expanded rapidly. In just a few breaths, massive black flaming wings unfolded, blotting out the sky.
Cry!
The Nine Nether Sparrow released a deafening screech, her divine power erupting and her might sweeping across heaven and earth.
Rumble!
As she unleashed her strength without restraint, the absence of the Five Spirit Disk's concealment caused terrifying fluctuations to ripple through the heavens. High above, clusters of black thunderclouds brimming with destructive power began rapidly forming once more.
The essence blood of the Northern Sea Dragon not only replenished the energy Nine Nether Sparrow had lost due to her premature awakening but also completely healed the wounds she had sustained from her previous failed tribulation, allowing her to reach an unprecedented peak state.
At that moment, a dreadful aura of destruction shrouded the entire Black Nether Abyss. All the Spiritual beasts living there, whether low rank, mid rank, or high rank, were so terrified by that oppressive might that they cowered trembling within their lairs.
Even many regions within the Northern Spiritual Realm sensed the disturbance in the flow of spiritual energy across heaven and earth, and their gazes involuntarily turned toward the northwest, where the Northern Sea Abyss was located.
Within the Liu Territory, at the Liu Manor.
After sending off a group of loyal followers, Liu Zong could not help but sigh with emotion.
Earlier, when they saw the Liu Family offering so many Spiritual artifacts and pills as rewards, the expressions of those people had clearly changed.
Perhaps they had already been loyal before, but after receiving such tangible benefits, their loyalty had become even firmer. In this world, everything carried a value, and loyalty was no exception.
What the Liu Family had done was simply to make loyalty more valuable, meaning that if others wanted to take it away, they would have to pay a far greater price. In a way, it prevented many future problems.
Just as Liu Zong was reflecting on how all these changes were brought about by his talented nephew, his attention was suddenly drawn to a strange fluctuation.
"That direction… is that the Northern Sea Abyss?"
Recalling that his nephew had told him earlier he was heading there to find something, Liu Zong's heart tightened.
If even someone in the Liu Manor could sense this fluctuation, then what was happening within the Northern Sea Abyss was surely far beyond imagination.
For a moment, Liu Zong could not help but worry for his nephew's safety.
Meanwhile, Liu Bai stood atop a mountain peak around the basin, his eyes solemnly fixed upon the sky. There, black thunderclouds were forming at an alarming rate, streaks of dark lightning flashing within the clouds. The violent thunderous aura was so overwhelming that it reminded him of the tenth layer of the Lightning Domain where he had once been taken by the Northern Sea Dragon.
"The Lightning Domain was terrifying, but it was still something created artificially. Compared to that, this Heaven's Tribulation born from the will of heaven and earth is far more terrifying."
Looking up at the thunderclouds above, Liu Bai's expression grew even heavier.
After a moment's thought, he raised his hand, and a streak of azure lightning in the form of a serpent shot out, landing upon the massive black bird. It transformed into a faint azure barrier of light that enveloped the Nine Nether Sparrow.
"What is this? You startled me…"
Jiuyou's voice sounded within Liu Bai's mind.
She had been preparing to clash head-on with the tribulation lightning when the sudden strike of azure lightning had nearly caused her to unleash her full power prematurely.
"It's nothing, just a safeguard. This azure wood lightning carries immense vitality and, being lightning itself, will not interfere with your tribulation. At a critical moment, it can even heal your wounds."
Because of their bloodline link and shared life force, Liu Bai had infused Nine Nether's aura into the azure lightning, ensuring that Heaven's Tribulation would not change in reaction to outside interference.
"You can use lightning arts too?" Jiuyou's voice was filled with surprise.
In her view, Liu Bai's strongest power should have been his Golden Crow True Flame. Once she succeeded in evolving, her Nine Nether Flames would easily surpass it. She had thought linking bloodlines with him was his good fortune.
Yet now, seeing that Liu Bai even possessed such formidable lightning arts, she could not help but be astonished. She could sense that he harbored even more secrets than she had imagined. Perhaps she had underestimated him.
Boom!
As the tribulation clouds gathered their full power, the sky split apart. For a moment, all sound across heaven and earth fell silent as a massive bolt of black divine lightning descended, carrying the might of utter annihilation, and crashed down upon the Nine Nether Sparrow.
Caw!
The Nine Nether Sparrow screeched sharply, her colossal wings spreading wide. Boundless black flames surged forth, forming a blazing inferno that met the descending divine lightning head-on.
Bang!
A deafening explosion shook the heavens. Thunder and black fire collided with overwhelming force, and in an instant, countless mountain peaks around the basin were flattened.
Liu Bai instinctively raised his arm to shield himself from the raging thunderfire storm. Five-colored divine light surrounded his body, protecting him even as the destructive winds roared past.
In the first clash, Nine Nether Sparrow and the divine lightning were evenly matched, neither side gaining the upper hand.
But that was merely the beginning.
Perhaps the first bolt of divine lightning had merely been testing Jiuyou's strength, for the thunderclouds above soon revealed their true ferocity. One after another, bolts of pitch-black lightning crashed down, obliterating everything in their path as they sought to strike her down.
Jiuyou, however, was not one to retreat. Her black flames surged once more, transforming into massive storms of fire that roared toward the descending lightning, attempting to block every strike.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Thunder and flame collided endlessly in the skies, waves of terrifying power rippling outward, distorting space itself. The surrounding mountains crumbled one after another beneath the devastating energy.
For all life within the Black Nether Abyss, this day was nothing short of doomsday.
Liu Bai furrowed his brows as he watched the chaotic battle in the distance. He could not help but feel speechless at Jiuyou's reckless way of transcending tribulation.
No wonder that, despite being the most talented scion of the Nine Nether Clan, she had failed her first tribulation. Her approach was simply too brute-force.
Even in the original story, Jiuyou had recklessly attempted a second tribulation before fully recovering her strength after awakening, which perfectly showed how impatient she was.
No wonder Mu Chen had secretly nicknamed her "Violent Bird" at first, only changing his mind after seeing her human form later on.
.....
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