This was a vast, boundless blue ocean, stretching endlessly as if it had no end. Occasionally, massive fish-shaped spiritual beasts leapt out of the water, sending towering waves crashing.
Hiss… hiss…
A current of water hovered above the sea surface, and if one looked closely, a figure could be seen sitting cross-legged within it.
"Forming a Celestial Body… what is this kid thinking, forming a Celestial Body in the Endless Sea…" In the sky above the ocean, a stunning figure hovered midair. Her red lips pursed slightly, and when she looked down at the figure below, a trace of doubt appeared on her delicate face.
But this doubt was quickly dispelled by Liu Bai's actions. A cyan-blue orb suddenly shot out from his body.
"That aura… Taiyi True Water?!"
As the young chief of the Nine Nether Clan, Jiuyou had extensive knowledge and understanding of various divine treasures in the world, particularly divine flames and divine waters. The former was beneficial, the latter harmful; both were extremely significant for her.
"When did this kid get such a precious treasure? Truly, his luck is unmatched…"
A hint of envy flashed in Jiuyou's eyes. If she had possessed such fortune back then, how could she have failed her tribulation?
At this moment, Liu Bai had no idea what Jiuyou was thinking, because he was fully focused on absorbing information regarding the formation of the Five Emperor Celestial Body from the Innate Five Elements Great Law.
The process took dozens of minutes, leaving Liu Bai dizzy and needing some time to recover.
"I was thinking too simply. Attempting to form a singular Five Emperor Aspect is feasible, but the imbalance among the Five Elements will weaken the power of the Celestial Body. Even if I complete the elements later, ascending will still be difficult."
Moreover, re-forming the Five Emperor Aspect is an extremely time-consuming process, as it requires an immense quantity of elemental divine treasures.
Even in ancient times, when innate divine treasures were abundant, the Five Emperor Sovereign spent over ten thousand years merely to bring the Five Emperor Aspect to the Mid-stage of the Saint-grade Heavenly Sovereign level. So starting from scratch now, how long would it take?
"It seems there's only a shortcut…"
The Five Emperor Sovereign had obviously considered this, which was why he left the Immortal True Form Scroll. The five statues within represented the Five Emperor Aspects painstakingly condensed over countless years.
Of course, at Liu Bai's current cultivation, he is not qualified to inherit the full Five Emperor Celestial Body, so he could only form a simplified version: the Five-Spirit Divine Celestial Body.
This method, derived from the Five Emperor Celestial Body over a century, does not require forming the full Five Emperor Aspect. Instead, it forms a single entity with five faces, each representing a spirit of the Five Elements.
This Celestial Body can freely manipulate the Five Elements and master various Divine Abilities. Though simplified, in the current Sovereign Celestial Body rankings, it would likely enter the top thirty.
Do not underestimate this ranking. Anyone on the Sovereign Celestial Body list is exceptional. Those in the top fifty all possess strong backing.
Liu Bai, by contrast, had no power, no background, and was a seemingly ordinary "small cheat." Without the chance encounter with an ancient Emperor-level being in the Fallen Land, he would never have gained such a legacy.
"The Five-Spirit Divine Celestial Body cannot be formed separately, meaning I still need to gather Earth-element divine treasures…"
Liu Bai shook his head in exasperation and stored the Taiyi True Water orb.
"What's going on? You just put on such a big show, weren't you going to cultivate?" Jiuyou looked at the young man, puzzled.
Liu Bai scratched the back of his head awkwardly, embarrassed: "I didn't notice… I'm still missing one divine treasure…"
Jiuyou: "…You're deliberately trying to annoy me, aren't you? You actually manage to do such reckless things?"
"Tell me, what are you missing?" Jiuyou asked, sighing. She felt a little drained—after all, she was responsible for guiding him.
"One Earth-element divine treasure on par with Taiyi True Water or Haotian True Fire." Liu Bai answered honestly.
Jiuyou twitched her mouth. Did this kid even understand the level of Taiyi True Water and Haotian True Fire in the Great Thousand Worlds?
"You mean after this, you'll also need equivalent Metal and Wood-element treasures?"
"No, I already have those."
Jiuyou: "…!"
Looking at his innocent expression, Jiuyou nearly wanted to rob him on the spot.
"I think you're doing it on purpose to provoke me!"
"Impossible! No way! I didn't!" Liu Bai protested guiltily.
Jiuyou took a deep breath, clenching her fists, and decided not to argue further.
"Then we'll go to the Merchant Continent. Maybe you can find what you need there."
Liu Bai blinked: "Isn't the Merchant Continent outside our planned route?"
"Of course it is! To reach the Merchant Continent, we must take the teleportation array from Nanling Continent to Liuyun Continent, adding the equivalent of traveling through three extra continents. You pay for the teleportation, I won't!"
Jiuyou spread a spiritual map, tapping various locations. Each tap lit up a point, forming a route with dozens of points.
"Are these all the continents we must pass through?" Liu Bai asked, feeling a shiver down his spine.
He hadn't expected the journey to Skylaw Continent to be more than twice as far as going to the Five Elements Continent.
"You think so?" Jiuyou scoffed.
"For distant continents, we must use teleportation arrays; for nearby ones, we'll fly. This saves some time."
"Alright, alright, we'll do as you say. You're in charge!"
Jiuyou: "…!"
"Don't get lazy. You're not yet a First-Grade Sovereign. If you don't want to be looked down upon in the Great Heavenlaw Domain, you need to fix your spiritual power first."
Liu Bai nodded, understanding. Sovereign-grade spiritual power possesses unique sentience, a major reason for the strength of Sovereign cultivators.
The spiritual essence infused in his power doesn't need to match his cultivation methods; it just needs to be potent enough. Right now, his best choice for fusion was the Undying Fire.
It wasn't that he couldn't merge other attributes; any Five-Element substance could theoretically work. But among the divine treasures he possessed, none surpassed the Undying Fire.
Even Haotian True Fire and Taiyi True Water were one grade below the Undying Fire, making Jiuyou's awakened Undying Fire the perfect choice.
"Tsk tsk, I'm really heading down the road of becoming an unkillable cockroach…"
Liu Bai chuckled. All his abilities were now tied to "undying." Would this make him truly immortal?
However, Jiuyou's Undying Fire wasn't conjured from nothing. It required immense effort and time to cultivate. If Liu Bai wanted to completely transform his spiritual power, the Undying Fire needed would be massive, a huge burden for Jiuyou.
Liu Bai frowned slightly, glancing at Jiuyou's calm, delicate face.
"Hmm, is it because I look even more beautiful today?" Jiuyou's red lips curved, seemingly captivating the very heart.
"From today onward, you'll travel by day and work on fusing the Undying Fire by night. My bottom line: before reaching Skylaw Continent, your spiritual power must complete its transformation!"
Without Liu Bai even needing to speak, the intelligent and perceptive Jiu You had already seen through everything, speaking in an unquestionable tone.
"I said before, Jiuyou has your back, but if you dare disobey, don't blame me!"
Though originally threatening words, her perfect visage made them sound irresistibly commanding.
Watching her turned back, Liu Bai shook his head. If not for her occasional aggression, Jiuyou was every man's idea of the perfect girl.
Of course, he quickly dismissed the thought.
"Jiuyou, you're setting me up!"
The Undying Fire roared within the Sovereign Sea, its scorching heat nearly igniting Liu Bai's Sovereign Sea itself.
The boiling sensation of his spiritual power caused Liu Bai agonizing pain, even worse than when his Qi Sea had previously shattered. He vaguely felt as if even his Sovereign Sea could no longer bear it, as though it might rupture at any moment.
Although Liu Bai had prior experience merging with the Undying Fire and knew the sensation would be unpleasant, he hadn't expected Jiuyou to be so reckless as to directly infuse the Undying Fire into his Sovereign Sea. The feeling was excruciating yet oddly satisfying.
Whenever his tolerance approached the limit, Jiuyou would withdraw the Undying Fire entirely. Once the spiritual power in Liu Bai's Sovereign Sea stabilized, she would surge it again.
Amid this repeated cycle of spiritual power boiling, Liu Bai finally understood what it truly meant to feel "worse than death."
"Jiuyou, really… if you can't stand me, just stab me already! Don't torture me like this…" The exhausted man clutched the thighs of the alluring woman beside him, pleading desperately.
If anyone unaware of the circumstances were to see this scene and hear his words, they would likely misunderstand entirely.
Fortunately, no one else was around, so no one witnessed this scandalous moment.
"Had enough hugging?" Jiuyou looked at him expressionlessly, almost kicking him away with her 1.2-meter-long legs.
"Don't think I'm doing this to get back at you. Do you think merging with Undying Fire is that simple?"
Jiuyou explained: "The Undying Fire is far too domineering. If you start fusing with your spiritual power directly, the only result will be your spiritual power being completely burned away, possibly even affecting your Sovereign Sea.
"What I'm doing now is allowing your spiritual power to gradually adapt to the Undying Fire. Because your spiritual power is rather unique, you can endure this method. How many others could withstand the Undying Fire?"
Liu Bai couldn't help but sigh. He understood the reasoning, but it was like repeatedly cutting a knife into his own flesh—painful beyond measure.
But there was no choice: to obtain anything in this world, one had to pay a price. In the vast system of the Great Thousand Worlds, suffering was endless, and Liu Bai could only endure.
And endure he did—for ten days.
During these ten days, Liu Bai and Jiuyou finally reached a new continent. Jiuyou informed him that this continent possessed teleportation arrays to other continents.
Although each teleportation consumed over a thousand Sovereign Spiritual Liquid for the two of them, it saved nearly half a month of travel time—Liu Bai considered it acceptable.
Of course, Jiuyou had a different opinion:
"This is outrageous! Even a lower-grade Divine artifact costs only about two thousand Sovereign Spiritual Liquid. There are two of us, and a single teleportation consumes half an artifact?!"
"Next time, I absolutely refuse to use these cross-continent teleportation arrays again!"
Watching the small, grumbling Jiuyou, Liu Bai couldn't help but laugh.
He asked, "When you traveled from Skylaw Continent to Northern Spiritual Realm to undergo your tribulation, didn't you use a teleportation array?"
Jiuyou snorted: "Of course not! I flew there myself…"
"Then how did you manage such a distance?"
"How should I know! I just wanted a secluded spot, so I kept flying, flying, until I found a desolate place to undergo my tribulation. Who knew so much would happen!"
Though seemingly reckless, it made sense; the Northern Spiritual Realm was desolate enough and safe for her. Unfortunately, she failed the heavenly tribulation in the end.
As Jiuyou predicted, the two skipped teleportations across continents that weren't too far apart, choosing to fly instead.
During this time, Liu Bai endured the daily roasting of the Undying Fire, feeling like a whole lamb being rotated evenly on a spit by Jiuyou, the master chef.
Finally, after repeated life-or-death roasting, Liu Bai's spiritual power began to adapt to the Undying Fire. Compared to the initial agony, the pain had significantly lessened, and his spiritual power no longer burned away as quickly.
This subtle improvement gave Liu Bai a sense of relief. It seemed his grueling, near-death training had finally begun to pay off.
....
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