Chapter 891: Advancing to the Deity Transformation Stage

While the three were chatting, a great gate opened within the spiritual space. A woman in a pristine white dress stepped through, her expression indifferent, a golden silken thread binding a bell around her wrist.

"Eldest Senior Sister, what brings you here?" Lu Yang was overjoyed to see her.

"Observing you from the outside, I saw you were persistently trapped within your Inner Demon Tribulation, so I came to check on your condition."

"Looking at things now, have you run into another situation?"

The Eldest Senior Sister cast her gaze upon the only stranger present.

"Who are you?"

Immortal Ying Tian felt as though he were facing a formidable enemy; this was the first time he had ever encountered a master whose aura was even more domineering than his own.

Immortal Ying Tian's demeanor instantly shifted, becoming unfathomably profound and suffused with a heavy aura of antiquity, as if he had crossed the river of time and the billowing red dust of the mortal realm to arrive here.

He shook his arms, his wide sleeves wrapping around his forearms as he tucked them behind his back, looking directly into Yun Zhi's eyes.

"My name is Immortal Ying Tian. I once met Fellow Daoist Yun Zhi within the Heavenly Tribulation."

"So it is a stray thought left behind by Senior Immortal Ying Tian, one of the five ancient immortals, hidden within the Heavenly Tribulation. Your methods are indeed commendable."

Immortal Ying Tian was startled. She was indeed a master, exposing his origins the moment she spoke and implying he was merely a single thought—unworthy of standing on equal footing with her, and that his main body should be summoned instead.

"Fellow Daoist praises me too highly. Yet I never imagined that a talent like you could appear in later generations. The youth are truly to be feared."

A cold sneer surfaced in Immortal Ying Tian's heart. He had deliberately pointed out that Yun Zhi belonged to a later generation to seize the upper hand in terms of seniority, waiting to see how she would respond!

"Merely natural talent, it is nothing of consequence," Yun Zhi said in a flat tone, as if speaking of a trivial matter.

Immortal Ying Tian: "..."

How am I supposed to respond to that?

However, he soon found himself spared from pondering the question.

Under the watchful eyes of Lu Yang and the other two, Immortal Ying Tian's body gradually faded, becoming so translucent that the things behind him were visible.

"Ying Tian, is this thought of yours about to be exhausted?"

Since he was about to disappear anyway, there was no longer any need to put on airs.

Immortal Ying Tian pressed two fingers together against his temple and flicked them outward, laughing heartily: "Then I shall take my leave first. Though I know not where my main body resides, I still hope you can find him."

With that, Immortal Ying Tian vanished, as though he had never existed.

The Eldest Senior Sister conjured three imperial chairs out of thin air, gesturing for Lu Yang and the Immortal Fairy to sit, her movements as practiced as if she were in her own spiritual space.

"So, what did you two do to evoke a thought from Immortal Ying Tian?"

Lu Yang and the Immortal Fairy honestly recounted the process of their tribulation, from encountering Immortal Ying Tian after surviving the Inner Demon Tribulation to the matter of the embryonic form of the Samsara Dao Fruit that Ying Tian had mentioned before departing.

Hearing of the Immortal Fairy's past experiences, a trace of pity flickered in Yun Zhi's eyes, though it was well concealed.

"So what you two mean to say is that Junior Brother Li is the reincarnation of the Immortal of Time?"

The Eldest Senior Sister nodded and said no more.

"Then what do you make of the changes in the Grey Fairy? Why is her personality different from the original Fairy, and why did she want to annihilate the Xinhuo Dynasty?"

Lu Yang analyzed: "From Senior Immortal Ying Tian's description, the more people Grey Doudou kills, the stronger she becomes—so strong that none of the four ancient immortals could defeat her individually."

"So, Junior Brother, you also believe that the more people the Grey Fairy kills, the stronger she becomes, and that this is a characteristic of the Dao Fruit of Extinction?"

Lu Yang shook his head: "Whether it is a characteristic of the Dao Fruit of Extinction, I do not know, but she is absolutely not a being who grows stronger simply by killing more people."

"If that were the case, during the three hundred thousand years following the fall of the Xinhuo Dynasty, she would have destroyed the world long ago."

"Judging from her desire to kill Senior Ao Ling and her desire to kill me, I lean more toward the theory that she only wants to kill those who are in the know—meaning those who are aware of her existence."

"And because the people of the Xinhuo Dynasty all knew of her, she grew stronger with every kill."

The Eldest Senior Sister was highly satisfied with Lu Yang's process of analysis, seeing that he was not deluded by superficial information: "Correct, it aligns with my thoughts."

"Only, as for why she is so eager to grow stronger, and why her personality differs from the cold and detached Fairy, I suspect it has to do with the power of faith."

"Tell me your thoughts?"

"Though I do not know much about the power of faith, some clues can be discerned from the matter of the Island Master of Penglai Island in the Eastern Sea."

"The power of faith is a double-edged sword; it can make one stronger, but it can also control a person's mind."

"Grey Doudou's immortal body was formed by the gathering of the power of faith, which must have included the faith of the four ancient immortals."

"Perhaps the four ancient immortals themselves did not realize that their thoughts contained not only the desire to resurrect the Immortal Fairy, but also the hope that after her resurrection, they could join forces to slay the original murderer."

Even if the Immortal Fairy was resurrected, it was still a feud of life and death, an enmity that had to be avenged!

"Influenced by this thought, Grey Doudou underwent a further shift from the cold personality of the Fairy, resorting to any means necessary to grow stronger."

"It is close to what I thought, but there is another possibility you have overlooked, Junior Brother."

"What is it?"

"The notion of growing stronger within the power of faith might not originate from the four ancient immortals; it could also originate from that murderer."

Lu Yang was startled. Right, how could he have forgotten this? During these hundreds of thousands of years, would the murderer just watch idly as the four ancient immortals resurrected the Immortal Fairy, completely unmoved?

They must have taken action.

"Alright, let us end our chat here. Junior Brother, do not forget that you are still in the state of undergoing your tribulation; you are still short of a conclusion." The Eldest Senior Sister rose, making the three imperial chairs disappear.

Only after being reminded by the Eldest Senior Sister did Lu Yang remember that his tribulation had not yet concluded.

The most important body-tempering transformation of the tribulation had not even begun!

"Has Senior Brother Lu Yang's Inner Demon Tribulation still not ended?" Tao Yaoye gazed worriedly at Lu Yang, who was suspended in the air in the distance.

"Ah, look, he moved! Senior Brother Lu Yang moved!" A senior brother of the Void Refining stage, sharp-eyed, saw Lu Yang's finger twitch, which meant the Inner Demon Tribulation had finally ended.

Sure enough, flying above the summit of Heavenly Gate Peak, Lu Yang opened his eyes, the aura of his entire being completely transformed.

The energy of the Primordial Supreme Haotian Golden Palace Divine Lightning still lingered within Lu Yang's body. Previously suppressed temporarily by him, he now intended to use this force to temper his body.

Lu Yang released his suppression, allowing the energy of the divine lightning to flow through his body, strengthening every line of his muscles and every single meridian.

Unlike the agony endured during the tribulation, the process of body tempering was tingling and numb, exceedingly comfortable. Every pore of his body opened to its absolute limit, striving to absorb the spiritual qi of the outside world and convert it into spiritual power within his body.

His spiritual power pool, mental strength, spiritual space, and meridian resilience... his entire body from head to toe was completely renewed, a thorough and profound metamorphosis.

The body-tempering effect of the divine lightning was unexpectedly magnificent. This was a tribulation even more powerful than the top-ranked Three Purities Thunder Tribulation; no Soul Formation stage cultivator had ever enjoyed body tempering from divine lightning of this caliber.

Lu Yang looked inward at his Dantian and saw cracks beginning to appear upon his Nascent Soul, which subsequently dissolved, releasing an even purer and mightier energy. A new form of energy began to condense, ultimately shaping into a Primordial Spirit the exact size of Lu Yang himself.

Body tempered by divine lightning, the Nascent Soul transformed into the Primordial Spirit.

Lu Yang had successfully advanced to the Soul Formation stage!