Demon cultivators take far less time to undergo Human Transformation than human cultivators. While an ordinary cultivator forming their Nascent Soul might take three to five years, or even over a decade, demon cultivators are different. They accumulate power over a long period, but the actual advancement stage is brief.
Thus, in just half a month, the Chongming Bird had successfully advanced.
In the sky of the Void Heaven Realm, the cocoon formed of red light suddenly erupted with radiance. Xiaohuo, who had been squatting listlessly by the door, startled and jumped up. Xiaofan leaped out of the stream with a splash.
The red light grew brighter and brighter, almost blinding to the eye. At its peak intensity, a soft *pop* was heard. A crack appeared in the red shell of light, and a pale, slender hand reached out. This hand then grasped the red light, tore and rolled it up forcefully, and stuffed it into its mouth, chewing with a *crack-crack* sound. After finishing, it elegantly wiped its mouth, descended from the sky, and walked towards them with a swaying gait.
"Xiaofeng pays her respects to her master," she said in a soft, delicate voice, performing a flawless curtsy.
Mo Tiange stared, dumbfounded.
She knew Xiaofeng was a female bird, so her human form would be a woman, but she never expected it to be like this! The woman appeared to be about twenty-five or twenty-six, with fair skin, red lips, a charming posture, mysterious double-pupiled eyes, and an aura of mature, bewitching allure—this... didn't match Qin Xi at all!
How strange! Previously, the Chongming Bird's temperament had been quite similar to Qin Xi's, maintaining an aloof pride even when playing with Xiaofan and Xiaohuo. How could its human form turn out like this? Could it be the wrong bird?
Qin Xi was also frowning deeply, but he had a spirit beast contract with the Chongming Bird; there was absolutely no mistake.
"Pretty sister! It's a pretty sister!" Xiaofan was the first to cry out.
Xiaohuo snorted, muttered a few beastly words, and turned its head away.
Mo Tiange then saw a fierce glint flash in Xiaofeng's eyes, which had just been smiling gently and alluringly. She turned, swept her red sleeve, and a surge of domineering Breath of the Vermilion Bird flame shot out, sending Xiaohuo tumbling over thirty meters away.
Xiaohuo, dazed from the fall, turned its head back. Meeting Xiaofeng's gaze, it shivered and hung its head.
Xiaofeng smiled with satisfaction. The Vermilion Bird flame reappeared, coiling around Xiaohuo and pulling it back into her hand. She gently stroked Xiaohuo's fur and said, "Be good, and sister will naturally treat you well, understand?"
Xiaohuo, shrinking in her embrace, whimpered pitifully.
Xiaofeng tossed Xiaohuo aside and smiled charmingly again. "I pay my respects to my master."
Qin Xi cleared his throat. "Prepare yourself. We're going out to face the Human Transformation Tribulation."
"Yes, Master."
Watching Xiaofeng outside, who had subdued Xiaohuo so thoroughly, Mo Tiange asked, "Why is Xiaofeng like this?"
Qin Xi spread his hands. "How should I know?"
"You're her master. You don't know?"
Qin Xi said, "Xiaofeng isn't like Xiaofan and the others. Before her transformation, her intelligence wasn't high, and she didn't communicate with me much. Besides, I was either in seclusion or away, often leaving her in the spirit beast courtyard. The days we spent together were few."
Although the Chongming Bird was also an ancient variant species, he had only fed it ordinary spirit beast pills before and didn't have a place like the Void Heaven Realm to let it roam freely. Its intelligence was just at an ordinary level.
Coupled with his infrequent contact, he naturally didn't know. In that regard, he really wasn't a qualified master.
Of course, Mo Tiange wasn't in a position to criticize him; she was much the same. The only difference was that she had the Void Heaven Realm, so they spent more time together, and the pills she fed them were of higher grade.
Mo Tiange looked outside. Xiaofeng was playing with Xiaohuo and Xiaofan. Though a bit fierce, she was very patient. The question was whether she would be obedient.
Thinking of this, a thought occurred to her: if Feifei returned, between it and Xiaofeng, who would end up subduing whom?
Qin Xi had finished his alchemy and was now refining some simple magic treasures to withstand the Heavenly Tribulation. Mo Tiange watched distractedly for a while before suddenly saying, "Do you think I could try to capture the heavenly lightning?"
Qin Xi paused his work and looked up. "What do you mean?"
She extended a hand, releasing a ball of golden lightning in her palm. "Look, isn't this also tribulation lightning?"
This ball of golden lightning was originally swallowed by the Azure Dragon shadow within the Heaven and Earth Fan. At the time, it was just a tiny wisp. After several years of nurturing by her, it had doubled in size. More importantly, after refining this golden lightning, she could wield thunder-type spells with great ease, especially since the Heavenly Thunder Great Method was a top-tier technique.
Qin Xi pondered for a long while before slowly nodding. "You could try."
Mo Tiange continued, "The problem is, I haven't fully mastered the Azure Dragon within the Heaven and Earth Fan. I can't command it to devour the heavenly lightning."
"What if you capture it yourself?" Qin Xi asked.
Mo Tiange thought for a moment. "Personally enduring the heavenly lightning is definitely not feasible unless the lightning is weakened to a certain degree." Last time, the Azure Dragon could devour the heavenly lightning precisely because the lightning had already been scattered significantly by them. Otherwise, the outcome would have been the fan's destruction and their deaths, not the lightning being devoured.
"That's easy to handle," Qin Xi said. "I'll scatter the heavenly lightning, and then you can capture it."
"Hmm..."
The two discussed further about how to capture the heavenly lightning. One point required special attention: if the power of the tribulation was comparable to her previous Nascent Soul Tribulation, then their priority would be survival, not capturing lightning. However, that possibility was slim. The reason Mo Tiange faced such a Nascent Soul Tribulation was due to her special cultivation technique, which gave her strength far exceeding ordinary cultivators. As for Xiaofeng, it had always been no different from a normal spirit beast, only absorbing a small amount of Qin Xi's Breath of the Vermilion Bird during its final advancement.
Furthermore, this was the East Sea after all, only a few thousand li from the Bixuan Pavilion. It was best to find a safe place first before going out to face the tribulation.
After deciding, the two returned to the Ten Thousand Li Solitary Boat, traveled east for several days, and finally found a secluded spot to stop.
There was a small island here, only a few li in radius, with no spiritual veins and few demon beasts. After carefully inspecting the area, Qin Xi said, "Let's do it here. There aren't any high-rank sea beasts nearby."
Mo Tiange had no objections. She docked the Ten Thousand Li Solitary Boat, and they disembarked onto the island. After putting away the boat, they began preparations.
Qin Xi cleared away the island's dense vegetation, leaving bare ground. Mo Tiange then set about arranging formations. It was impossible to set up a grand protective formation like the Heaven-Earth Inversion Array here; all such grand formations required the support of a spiritual vein. Without a spiritual vein, there could be no grand protective formation.
However, setting up a simplified version was possible. Although its power wouldn't match the original, it would still be much stronger than ordinary formations.
After some thought, Mo Tiange set up a defensive formation in the center of the island, then covered the entire island with a Yin-Yang Life-Seizing Formation on the periphery.
"Done," she said two days later, standing up and clapping her hands. "Even if the power is comparable to my Nascent Soul Tribulation, we won't have a problem surviving."
Qin Xi, who had been meditating nearby, opened his eyes. "Rest first, then we'll call Xiaofeng out to face the tribulation."
Mo Tiange nodded and meditated for half a day, slowly regulating her breath until she returned to peak condition.
Half a day later, she entered the Void Heaven Realm and called the three spirit beasts. "Xiaofeng, you're coming with us to face the tribulation. Xiaohuo, Xiaofan, you two stay here and behave."
Xiaohuo's eyes widened. It grabbed her sleeve and whimpered.
Mo Tiange patted its head. "Xiaofeng hasn't passed her Human Transformation Tribulation yet; we need to go out for that. You and Xiaofan are too low in rank; it would be dangerous for you to go out. After the tribulation is over, I'll let you out to play, okay?"
Xiaohuo whimpered twice and listlessly released her sleeve.
Mo Tiange gave it a few comforting pats and brought Xiaofeng out of the Void Heaven Realm.
Once outside, she took out a puppet and tossed it to the side, then threw out a jade disk. The jade disk left her hand and floated in mid-air. Mo Tiange sent out a strand of spiritual energy. With a *hum*, the jade disk seemed to resonate with various spiritual energy points around the island, shooting out beams of white light that slowly converged towards the center, forming a protective shield.
"Stand in the middle!" she said to Xiaofeng.
Xiaofeng complied, standing at the point where the formation's power was strongest.
Qin Xi tossed over several bottles of pills. "Take these if you get injured."
Xiaofeng took them, poured all the pills out, placed them in her personal storage space, and then reverted to her true form.
Having advanced to the eighth rank, Xiaofeng's body had doubled in size. Her torso resembled a chicken's, bald and covered only with a thin layer of down, looking somewhat ugly. However, her tail feathers were like a phoenix's, incredibly splendid.
The sky had been clear just moments before, but as soon as Xiaofeng emerged, dark clouds seemed to sense the power on her body. They gathered at a visible speed, and in the blink of an eye, the sky was overcast with dark clouds, lightning flashed, thunder rumbled, and the surroundings grew dim, with the wind howling.
If it were an ordinary demon cultivator, reaching the Human Transformation stage would require enduring countless hardships and battles, making the chance of successfully passing the tribulation quite high. However, after Xiaofeng acknowledged her master, she was either in a spirit beast bag or the spirit beast courtyard, never experiencing any real battles. Letting her face the tribulation alone would be tantamount to seeking death.
Within half a quarter-hour, the pitch-black tribulation clouds had fully gathered. The rumbling of thunder around them sounded continuously, growing louder and louder.
Within the tribulation clouds, heavenly lightning was brewing.
The lightning and thunder here caused nearby demon beasts to flee in panic. Their innate intuition told them danger was approaching. However, their speed was no match for the heavenly lightning's. They had only swum a short distance when the heavenly lightning descended from the tribulation clouds.
*Boom!* A thick bolt of heavenly lightning fell, shining with white light, casting a deathly pale glow over the surroundings.
Mo Tiange threw out a Red Gauze Umbrella, which flew above Xiaofeng just as the heavenly lightning descended. The umbrella swayed and, under the power of the heavenly lightning, turned to smoke and ash. This Red Gauze Umbrella was a trophy from some past battle, of average material and power. Having it smashed to dust by the heavenly lightning was no great loss.
The Red Gauze Umbrella provided a momentary obstruction. By the time the heavenly lightning struck the formation's protective shield, its power was greatly reduced. Mo Tiange waved the Heaven and Earth Fan and drew it over.
The second bolt of heavenly lightning fell, its power slightly stronger. Under a single sword strike from Qin Xi, it was split in two. Mo Tiange captured one portion, while the other half was endured by Xiaofeng.
Protected by the defensive formation, Xiaofeng only swayed slightly, but she still took out a pill and put it in her mouth.
After two bolts of heavenly lightning, the tribulation clouds churned, brewing the third bolt.
Seizing this gap, Qin Xi said, "The power is much weaker than yours."
The two bolts just now had been easily handled by them, probably only half the power of her Nascent Soul Tribulation—this tribulation would definitely be passed.
Sure enough, the third bolt, the fourth bolt... each tribulation lightning was weaker than hers, its color only shifting from white to azure. Only the final bolt was purple lightning.
Actually, for an ordinary demon cultivator's Human Transformation Tribulation, the final bolt is purple lightning; golden lightning rarely appears.
"Finally over!" Mo Tiange let out a sigh of relief after the tenth tribulation.
This tribulation had been much easier than hers, though her spiritual energy was still drained.
She slumped to the ground, preparing to meditate and recover her spiritual energy, when she suddenly heard Xiaofeng cry out in surprise, "There's more! There's still heavenly tribulation!!"