Chapter 134: When Mortals Unleash Murderous Intent

Blending bloodlines to forge an entirely new race of one's own—how immensely difficult that is.

Yet, if the Dragon-Sparrow succeeded, the descendants born from then on would possess a unified lineage, and it would stand as the primordial ancestor of the Dragon-Sparrow race.

By that time, even if it were to perish, at the exact instant of its death, it would gather the bloodline power of every single member of the Dragon-Sparrow clan, transforming into an incense-fed deity—undying, indestructible, and existing eternally.

Xu Zhong swallowed hard.

He had not expected the Dragon-Sparrow to be so extraordinarily bold, daring to attempt such a heaven-defying feat without any fear of retaliation from the Dragon and Vermilion Bird clans.

Dragon-Sparrow: dragon in the front, sparrow in the rear. In the world of immortal cultivation, Dragon-Sparrows are generally classified under the Dragon race as pseudo-dragons.

Yet, on certain occasions, the Vermilion Birds would also claim the Dragon-Sparrows as their own descendants.

The Dragon-Sparrows, however, considered themselves to be uniquely Dragon-Sparrows, an independent race.

Although they were both under the protection of the Dragon and Vermilion Bird clans, protection naturally came at a price.

Every year, the Dragon-Sparrow race paid tribute to either the Dragon or the Vermilion Bird clan, acknowledging their status as vassals.

If the Dragon-Sparrows were allowed to achieve complete independence, would they continue to pay tribute to the Dragon and Vermilion Bird clans?

A spoonful of rice breeds gratitude, a basket breeds enmity.

The Dragon and Vermilion Bird clans would never sit idly by and let this happen.

Xu Zhong felt deep admiration for the Dragon-Sparrow's sheer audacity.

Upon its body, the bloodlines of the Dragon and Vermilion Bird clans were unifying bit by bit, the powers that originally belonged to the two great clans being refined by it into an entirely new strength.

It looked as though it was about to succeed.

Yet, the very next moment, an ancient voice transcended the endless ages, echoing as if from the primordial chaos, and finally manifested in the here and now.

At that moment, Xu Zhong beheld the Dragon God and the Vermilion Bird God at the end of time.

These were the primordial ancestors of the Dragon and Vermilion Bird clans.

Xu Zhong gazed upon the Dragon God: it opened its eyes to make day and closed them to make night; with a human face and a dragon body of crimson hue, it was the Torch Dragon.

As for the Vermilion Bird, it was not the manifestation of the Four Auspicious Divine Beasts, but an innate deity born directly from the raging flames.

They stood at the end of the long river of time, uttering words too profound to describe, seemingly pronouncing a divine judgment upon the Dragon-Sparrow.

In an instant, their words carried the mandate of heaven, every syllable transforming into a spear of judgment. Locking onto the Dragon-Sparrow in the present across the river of time, the spears came sweeping and turning through the void, descending to inflict tribulation upon it.

At this very moment, the Dragon-Sparrow felt its destiny, its fortune, its divine soul, and its undestructible spiritual light all vanish into nothingness.

This was not the power of the Jade Pool Thunder Tribulation, but the terrifying might of the primordial ancestors standing at the very source of its bloodline.

Tracing the connection of the bloodline, traversing thousands and tens of thousands of years, they had come to completely obliterate the Dragon-Sparrow.

The thirty-three layers of halos around the Dragon-Sparrow were unleashed to their absolute limit in this instant.

Layer after layer of sword formations erupted with might, their powers interlocking and nesting within one another to materialize an ocean of sword qi, a world of swords.

"It is imitating the Thunder Ancestor's Divine Pivot Azure Firmament Thunder-Governing Pagoda!"

This sword formation possessed a might similar to the Divine Pivot Azure Firmament Thunder-Governing Pagoda, condensing all the spiritual Qi and brilliance between heaven and earth into sword qi that roared above the nine heavens, revolving and transforming with terrifying intensity.

Even if those eight Inner-Scenery realm Qi cultivators who were watching from the sidelines were bound together, they probably could not match this Thirty-Three-Layered Divine Sword Celestial Gate.

This Thirty-Three-Layered Divine Sword Celestial Gate had been prepared from the very moment it entered the Outer-Scenery realm.

It had taken tens of thousands of years of preparation, consuming countless heavenly treasures just to be forged, and finally achieved perfection only after bathing in the divine blood of Xifeng Lie.

All the effort of these tens of thousands of years was for this exact moment.

The Thirty-Three-Layered Divine Sword Celestial Gate surged forth majestically, suppressing the long river of time and forcing the riverbed down by an inch.

Yet, under the terrifying might of the judgment spears, this Thirty-Three-Layered Divine Sword Celestial Gate shattered as easily as paper, broken with a single gentle poke.

The feathers on its body were snapped one by one, blood spattering across the vast sky, leaving hideous wounds so deep that its bones were exposed.

Behind the Thirty-Three-Layered Divine Sword Celestial Gate, the Dragon-Sparrow was pierced through the body by spear after spear of judgment, nailed to the present moment along with the long river of time.

It could feel that its past had vanished.

The past had collapsed and perished; its foundation for attaining the status of an innate deity now had a missing piece.

The Dragon-Sparrow spat out a sea of blood, its raw, bloody stench tinged with a hint of bitterness.

Having accomplished this, the two primordial sources of bloodline gradually faded away within the long river of time.

And its bloodline split into two distinct manifestations, which reflected upon its physical body in the exact same manner.

Its body swelled continuously at this moment, the bloodlines belonging to the Dragon and Vermilion Bird clans tearing away from within its flesh to transform into a true dragon and a vermilion bird.

This true dragon and vermilion bird took away the majority of the Dragon-Sparrow's power.

Struggling free, they flew out of the coverage range of the Jade Pool Thunder Tribulation.

Then they collided head-on with a kasaya fluttering in the sky, which blotted out the sun. With a downward scoop, it enveloped the true dragon, which was a thousand miles long. The kasaya expanded continuously before shrinking back down until it was only the size of a palm.

A long-eared monk tapped his finger, casting seal after seal before unfolding the kasaya.

Wrapped inside, the true dragon had been sealed down to the size of a little finger and two feet in length.

Having been converted by him, it docilely crawled onto his shoulder, peering inward.

The vermilion bird met the exact same fate.

A female Qi cultivator erected a divine tripod, from which gushed the dual energies of Yin and Yang. These two energies intertwined and combined to form chains that securely bound the vermilion bird. Then, chanting incantations, she made the chains contract back toward the divine tripod, ultimately pulling the vermilion bird inside as well.

On the exterior of the divine tripod, the imprint of a vermilion bird was now engraved.

"Everyone, do not blame us for being quick-handed." The female Qi cultivator put away the divine tripod and looked at the other onlookers whose eyes were burning with greed. "We have already obtained the opportunity we desired; from this moment on, I, Ji Qing, will take no further part."

"This poor monk, Zhenhui, will also take no further part." Monk Zhenhui draped the kasaya over his body, chanted a name of boundless Buddha, and stood side by side with Ji Qing.

The crowd maintained poker faces, but tacitly accepted the achievements of these two individuals.

Ji Qing and Monk Zhenhui exchanged a glance.

"This place is not to be lingered in," Monk Zhenhui calculated inwardly, then picked up his Zen staff and turned to leave.

Ji Qing, assessing the situation, followed Monk Zhenhui away.

In an instant, only six Inner-Scenery Qi cultivators remained outside the Xuanzhou Outer-Scenery grotto-heaven.

They continued to watch, for at this moment, the Dragon-Sparrow was on the verge of death with grievous injuries.

Its past was gone, its foundation for enlightenment was gone, and even its Dragon-Sparrow bloodline was gone.

Right now, the blood flowing through its body was the most ordinary and common kind, yet given its realm, even this blood possessed supreme, miraculous uses.

The Jade Pool Thunder Tribulation overhead was still ongoing.

Another dragon-headed deity carved out the Jade Pool, releasing its waters.

This was already the thirty-third tribulation thunder; it only needed to weather three more tribulations for the Dragon-Sparrow to officially cross the realm of All Things Equal and attain the Inner-Scenery realm.

Yet, judging by the Dragon-Sparrow's current state, its chances of survival were grim.

Xu Zhong had already prepared himself to mourn, even bringing out various vessels like "pots, bowls, basins, and plates" to collect the Dragon-Sparrow's blood for alchemy.

The Dragon-Sparrow was well aware of its physical condition.

However, it still retained a trump card.

Its foundation of tens of thousands of years consisted of more than just the Thirty-Three-Layered Divine Sword Celestial Gate; there was also the bronze vessel.

Seizing the bronze vessel before it, it manifested its Dharma-form, towering ten thousand feet high.

It wielded the bronze vessel like a great sword.

This precious sword traversed the heavens and earth, cutting the heavenly river in half with a single stroke.

Seeing this, the dragon-headed deity opened the floodgates once more.

The thirty-fourth Jade Pool tribulation thunder crashed down violently.

The winds blowing through the void drove the power of the Outer-Scenery into its body.

The Inner-Scenery took shape within its physical flesh, and those formless gales stirred the dragon scales on its body, prompting a rich surge of innate Qi to erupt. A fragrance of sandalwood drifted from its body, traveling further and further away.

Its body had met the standard—the standard required to become an innate deity.

The next tribulation thunder brought its divine soul up to standard.

The third made the undestructible spiritual light into the will within the Inner-Scenery, existing like the Mandate of Heaven itself.

Only the final tribulation thunder remained.

Yet by this time, the Dragon-Sparrow was like a candle flickering in the wind, tottering and crumbling.

Its body was tattered and torn, and seven or eight tenths of its blood had drained away.

Xu Zhong had managed to collect a vessel of Dragon-Sparrow blood.

The bronze vessel in its hand was equally battered, scoured by the Jade Pool waters until it was covered in rust, devoid of luster and spiritual resonance.

"Can it survive this thirty-sixth tribulation thunder?"

Xu Zhong opened his mouth and spewed out billowing black smoke.

His Four Auspicious Banners had also had their spiritual resonance dimmed just like the bronze vessel, rendering them temporarily unusable and in need of a period of nurturing.

His sword pellet had been knocked away, its seven hundred and twenty flying swords scattered all over the ground. He lacked the strength even to summon back the other swords, holding only the Cloud-Swallowing Sword with feeble hands. His physical body was like a sieve riddled with holes, the wind whistling right through him.

Staggering, Xu Zhong had endured everything that a cultivator of his realm should never have had to bear.

The surrounding Qi cultivators who had been alive just like him were now mostly dead; the few survivors were just as wretched as Xu Zhong, if not worse.

"It's better if it doesn't survive!" From a human perspective, the Dragon-Sparrow had killed far too many human cultivators, and Xu Zhong desperately wanted it dead.

Yet he was simultaneously moved by the Dragon-Sparrow's immense courage and unyielding perseverance, feeling that it deserved a better end—that it should die like a hero in the midst of resistance, falling beneath the hands of the primordial ancestors of the Dragon and Vermilion Bird clans.

Just as Xu Zhong was feeling pity for the Dragon-Sparrow, it tore down the human-skin sail from the bronze vessel, draped the skin over its body, and curled up into a ball.

The thirty-sixth tribulation thunder crashed down thunderously, striking the human-skin.

The great river surged, washing clean the heavens and earth.

It offered no resistance, simply hiding quietly beneath the human skin.

Meanwhile, the Outer-Scenery gradually faded, revealing the true land of the Sleeping Dragon Valley.

Xu Zhong was struck by the tribulation thunder; his golden core trembled, protecting his life as he tumbled to the ground. Watching all the changes before his eyes, he murmured weakly, "It has survived the Jade Pool Thunder Tribulation!"

As soon as it survived the Jade Pool Thunder Tribulation, heaven and earth began to nourish all living beings beneath the tribulation.

Rosy clouds descended from the heavens by the thousands, and divine springs gushed from the earth, filled with colorful mists.

Xu Zhong bathed in the boundless vitality, feeling the changes within his physical body.

As one of those undergoing the tribulation, he naturally qualified to share in this nourishment.

His injuries healed bit by bit, and the Dragon-Sparrow was no different. Tearing off the human skin, it bathed in the rosy light and sweet nectar, looking inward to find that an Inner-Scenery world now existed within its body.

The Inner-Scenery Qi cultivators outside had already made their preparations; the moment this nurturing process ended, they would charge in.

This was an opportunity bestowed by the Heavenly Dao upon all beings under the shadow of tribulation. If they stepped into it while it was ongoing, the Heavenly Dao would judge them as plunderers of opportunity, and thunder tribulations would immediately descend to slaughter them.

The Dragon-Sparrow seized every second to comprehend the transformation of its flesh and the qualitative leap in power brought by its new realm. It had to seize every moment to recover, otherwise, it would be unable to contend with the six Inner-Scenery Qi cultivators outside.

"The heavenly tribulation has ended." Xu Zhong put away his Four Auspicious Banners and the seven hundred and twenty flying swords. "But its tribulations are far from over."

With burning eyes, he looked at the two groups of people—one rubbing their fists outside and the other making hurried preparations within—and smiled faintly. "A heavenly tribulation is easy to pass; a human tribulation is hard to endure. This is the true final Jade Pool tribulation thunder."

Survive, and live!

Fail, and die!

And the death would be even more miserable than perishing under the heavenly tribulation.

To die at the hands of human tribulations meant nothing less than having one's tendons pulled, skin flayed, and undestructible spiritual light extracted.

As Xu Zhong pondered this, he felt the surrounding nourishment come to a halt.

For all the innate Qi of the nourishment had converged toward the Dragon-Sparrow, manifesting externally as a thick white cocoon.

At that moment, the people outside rushed in.