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“Are you sure?” he asked. Although he could sense that the patriarch’s aura was stronger than before, and was even getting close to a critical juncture, it also seemed unstable. It definitely didn’t seem like he was ready for a breakthrough.

“Your humble servant is absolutely certain,” the patriarch said loudly, glancing in the direction of the shadow.

Xu Qing had never been a spirit automaton, so he wasn’t sure exactly what they looked like when on the verge of a breakthrough. After hearing the patriarch’s words, he mulled over the matter for a bit.

The patriarch waited nervously while Xu Qing considered the matter. The patriarch was worried that Xu Qing cared about the shadow more than him, and would thus refuse his request. Thinking back to the countless ancient records he had read, he remembered one specific, very noteworthy scene. In that scene, the MC refused one of his pet’s requests. For some reason, he fell in love with that feeling, and afterward, would refuse all of the pet’s requests. Eventually, because of all those refusals, the pet ended up being turned into food.

Has the Fiendish Xu been thinking of using me as fuel for the Balefire Soulswallowing Scripture this entire time?

Although Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior was now only the remaining essence of a living being, in life he had always been a jabberer. But after becoming a spirit automaton, he spent most of his days living in fear, and had thus become more perceptive than before. He was convinced he was going to die, and that the Fiendish Xu was preparing to devour him.

Terrified that Xu Qing wasn’t going to agree to his proposal, he loudly said, “Milord, I can’t hold it any longer. Here I come....”

The patriarch erupted with power as he tried to force himself into a breakthrough. His eyes turned red and his heart filled with madness.

I have to break through before the shadow!

His soul shadow rose up from the black iron skewer and black clouds began to form within him. Then they clashed, and lightning shot from the clouds through the patriarch. Unable to hold back, he screamed and looked at Xu Qing in terror.

The patriarch cultivated an incomplete technique that allowed him to turn into a spirit automaton. It had a very unusual and impressive-sounding name, that being the Supreme Yin Lightning Spirit Transformation. He had never been able to determine where the technique came from, but presumably it was created by some almighty being who had been researching lightning spirits. By cultivating it to the point of initial success, one could transform oneself into a body of lightning.

The first part of the cultivation process required a certain amount of natural skill, as well as a stockpile of resources. The second part of the process required the tenacity to kill oneself and become a soul body. Then, by using the resources built up in the first part of the process, one could transform into a spirit automaton. And that was the beginning of the third part of the process, transforming into a body of lightning. Once one completed that final transformation, it was considered an initial success with the technique.

However, becoming a lightning spirit was different than starting out as a lightning spirit. And thus, the technique... did not describe any way of reaching the highest level of success.

Right now, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior was risking his life to break through and transform into a lightning spirit, a painful process that involved clashing with clouds and dealing with lightning. When the lightning passed through the soul body and provoked heavenly lightning, then it would baptize the soul.

Xu Qing inhaled sharply upon hearing the patriarch’s anguished screams. Then he shifted some of his attention away from the shadow so he could watch both of them. Seeing the state the patriarch was in, Xu Qing had a bad feeling. He started to wonder what would happen to his iron skewer if the patriarch couldn’t hold on, and ended up being destroyed.

The patriarch’s screams didn’t just attract Xu Qing’s attention. The shadow in its black liquid form suddenly stopped forming bubbles for a moment, then started again, this time even faster than before.

And thus, the shadow and the patriarch went crazy competing with each other. The clouds within the patriarch clashed with greater intensity, and lightning bolts built up within his soul body. As they filled him, it reached the point where the patriarch felt like he might collapse. At that point, a bolt of lightning finally found a way out through the top of his head.

After that, massive amounts of lighting erupted from that opening, spreading out to cover the patriarch. At the same time, his energy and aura began to skyrocket.

When that happened, the patriarch breathed an internal sigh of relief. The process had not been easy. But then he thought about the baptism to come, and his heart again filled with anguish. He knew full well that the breakthrough process was dangerous, and that if he failed, he would be wiped out of existence. Back when he was a living person, he would definitely not have done anything like this.

That aspect of his personality was one reason why he had been slow in opening his dharma apertures. He had come across many opportunities to speed things up, but they all involved risking his life. And therefore in the end, he had just gritted his teeth and slowed down. Right now, he was tempted to do the same thing.

But then he looked at the shadow in its inky pool of black, and how something seemed to be rising up from within it! It wasn’t a bubble. Instead, there was something taking shape in that swampy mass. It was something struggling to get to its feet, and as it did, an aura that surpassed Qi Condensation roiled out from it. As that aura grew stronger, it got closer and closer to the Foundation Establishment level. And it didn’t seem like it would stop any time soon.

The shadow was obviously reaching a critical point in the breakthrough process, and was going to succeed at any moment. Expression turning vicious, the patriarch glared at the inky mass.

Eyes turning even more bloodshot, he shouted, “Bring on the lightning!”

As the words left his mouth, the sky outside filled with dark clouds and rumbling sounds. Then a huge lightning bolt formed and smashed down in a zigzag shape toward the island.

The lightning bolt smashed into the dirt overhead, piercing down into the mine until it hit Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior viciously on the head. A tremor passed through him as massive amounts of lightning coursed into him. Then it merged with the lightning he had been producing, and it began to converge in an astonishing fashion. Meanwhile, the patriarch screamed as his body grew transparent, like it might collapse into nothing.

The shadow seemed shocked, but kept struggling to reach its next form as it rose from the black liquid. In fact, it seemed to be going all out.

Xu Qing was visibly moved. He looked at the shadow, then at the patriarch, and a strange expression appeared on his face. However, he didn’t say anything.

Enough time passed for an incense stick to burn.

The patriarch continued to howl as more and more lightning built up. Finally, he let loose a scream as all the lightning was sucked through the top of his head and into his body. When that happened, he shivered. It was now visible to the naked eyes that his entire body was being transformed by the lightning, down to his soul body. Gradually, the patriarch looked over at the black iron skewer, and inhaled deeply. The skewer flew over and he sucked it in; inside him, it was assailed by countless lightning bolts. It was like he was an automaton furnace, the lightning of heaven and earth was a hammer, and his soul body was the flame, all of it being used to reforge the iron skewer.

With every crash of the lightning, the patriarch trembled. However, each blast also refined the iron skewer, and also added magical symbols of lightning onto it. The skewer was also trembling as much as the patriarch. However, the patriarch didn’t give up. Lightning smashed into the skewer ten times. Twenty times. Thirty times. Forty times.

The skewer grew darker and sharper, and the lightning symbols grew brighter until even Xu Qing felt them stinging his eyes. Finally, after striking the skewer with forty-nine bolts of lightning, the patriarch had reached his limit, and he spat out the iron skewer. The skewer had forty-nine lightning symbols flickering on it; its aura surpassed Qi Condensation and seemed unusually strong even for a Foundation Establishment aura.

Once its aura erupted out, the patriarch could again be seen inside. But this time, his body had transformed significantly. Although his features were the same as before, he glittered with endless bolts of lightning, and he was semitransparent. It seemed that he had transformed into a lightning body. The lightning bolts didn’t hurt him, as they were now part of him. And he pulsed with such a violent aura that Xu Qing felt like he was in front of someone with a life flame.

Also, Xu Qing sensed terrifying fluctuations coming from the lightning symbols on the skewer. Furthermore, the skewer wasn’t in combat readiness; he could only imagine how powerful it would be when its power was unleashed in full. It could probably fight someone with two life flames.

The reason for all this was partly because the patriarch had started out in Foundation Establishment. The rest was because of the technique he cultivated. That combination, plus everything he had stockpiled, led to an amazing breakthrough.

The patriarch was feeling very strong, and also very excited, especially considering how much effort he had expended. However, he hadn’t forgotten that Xu Qing had some of his life essence spirit, and thus prepared some words that he was sure would please Xu Qing.

“I’ve finally lived up to your expectations, milord! Your humble servant—”

At that exact moment, the shadow in the dark liquid seemed to become profoundly stimulated, and the figure rising up within it roared. The shadow was transforming! It didn’t look like it had before. Instead, it looked like a great tree rising out of the ground in front of Xu Qing and Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior. Branches and leaves spread out rapidly from it, and upon them grew numerous fruits.

Then the fruits burst open to reveal a host of crimson eyes. There were over a hundred of them, and as they opened, they all focused on Xu Qing. Each and every one of those eyes emanated a fierce and vicious feeling. Then a ghastly mouth opened up on the trunk of the tree, filled with countless razor-sharp teeth. And from that mouth came a bizarre sound that seemed vaguely familiar to Xu Qing.

C-c-crunch. C-c-c-c-c-crunch. C-crunch.

It sounded like the grinding of teeth. [1]

1. I don’t consider it a spoiler to call back to a clue from a previous chapter. Besides, I’m sure some readers remember exactly where this sound came up before. Either way, here is the reference: chapter 80. ☜