To comprehend all laws and attain immortality

The Taihao Xuanguang appeared calm, but in reality it was extremely violent.

When Gu Fan activated the Guiyuan Furnace and transformed his magic power, he was still burned even though he protected his palm with magic power.

Fortunately, the injury was not serious. After circulating his magic power through his meridians, the pain was suppressed.

Ji Wushen fell to the ground, lifeless.

However, being from the Yin Corpse Sect, Gu Fan was worried about a trap, so he only threw out a meteorite fire from afar to incinerate its physical body.

A moment later, a gust of wind blew up a wisp of gray smoke, revealing a palm-sized, pitch-black coffin.

Gu Fan picked it up and looked at it, then shook his head in disappointment.

"What a pity, it has lost all its spiritual energy and is now useless."

This black coffin should be Ji Wushen's natal magic treasure, which is intertwined with the cultivator's life. Once the cultivator dies, it will lose all its spiritual power.

As he casually tossed the black coffin aside, Gu Fan suddenly recalled the remnants of soldiers that could be seen everywhere on the ancient battlefield. Perhaps those were once the natal magic weapons of some Golden Core cultivator, but they were broken here.

Just then, a roar came from beside my ear.

Gu Fan was startled and rushed over.

The ancient corpse, which had been suppressed underground by Ji Wushen, was now struggling to climb upwards. Unfortunately, Ji Wushen's attack had broken many of its bones, making it slow to move even though it felt no pain.

Gu Fan raised the corner of his mouth slightly, took out the Returning Origin Furnace, and sucked the ancient corpse into it.

The ancient corpse had no power to struggle against the Returning Origin Furnace. After falling into the furnace, it frantically pounded on the furnace wall, making a clanging sound.

With a thought, Gu Fan caused flames to rise in the Returning Origin Furnace, and the ancient corpse instantly became still.

Lifting the lid of the stove, one finds a patch of soot at the bottom, with a pale blue flame hovering inside, emitting a cold, sharp light.

It was the fire of the Netherworld Corpse.

Upon seeing this, Gu Fan burst into laughter.

......

Lingxiao Sect, Ziyun Palace.

After obtaining the Netherworld Corpse Fire, Gu Fan did not linger in the Fallen Soul Abyss, but immediately returned to Cloud Realm Mountain.

He had already searched the celestial ship last time, and unless he was blessed with good fortune, he didn't think he could find anything else.

Inside the main hall, Gu Fan sat cross-legged on a futon, with the Yin-Yang Corpse Fire flickering in his palm.

With a spit, the Samadhi True Fire engulfed him and drew him into its belly. Gu Fan closed his eyes tightly and activated the Devouring Flame Returning to Origin Secret Technique, slowly refining it.

Three days later.

In front of the Chenxing Pavilion, Gu Fan toyed with a wisp of Yinming Corpse Fire.

A faint, chilling aura emanated from the area, causing the disciples who came to Chenxing Pavilion to fall silent in fear.

Gu Fan frowned in thought, and the others dared not disturb him, so they stood aside and waited.

At this moment, Gu Fan's mind was filled with a myriad of thoughts.

"The Netherworld Corpse Fire was clearly born from an ancient corpse buried underground, accumulating yin and turbid energy; I never expected it to undergo such a transformation."

The Netherworld Corpse Fire was born from an ancient corpse, but after Gu Fan refined it, he actually sensed a life force within it!

After frowning and pondering for a long time, Gu Fan finally figured out the key point.

"The ancient corpse was buried deep underground. The earth, with its capacity to nurture and sustain life, allowed the turbid, yin energy to condense into the Netherworld Corpse Fire, which in turn inherited this life force. In other words, it wasn't that the ancient corpse awakened and mastered the Netherworld Corpse Fire, but rather that the Netherworld Corpse Fire was born within the ancient corpse, thus awakening it!"

After figuring it out, Gu Fan felt he had gained a new understanding of the mysteries of creation.

The two characters '造化' (zaohua, meaning creation or transformation).

"Creation" is the beginning of the birth of all things, and "transformation" is the path of the evolution of all things.

The True Yang Bright Sun Gang was born from the transformation of magical power; strictly speaking, it can only be considered a 'transformation' rather than a 'creation'.

As for the realm of "creation", Gu Fan recalled what Chang Yuan had said about the origin of the strange flower and thought to himself: the realm of creating something from nothing is probably only something that can be glimpsed by immortals.

Just as Gu Fan was thinking about Chang Yuan, a thundercloud suddenly gathered in the sky above Ziyun Palace.

Gu Fan suddenly stood up, his eyes slightly open, and without thinking, he fled towards Ziyun Palace.

When he arrived at Ziyun Palace, he found that a large crowd had already gathered around him, including the sect leader, Qi Zongyuan.

Seeing Gu Fan returning from the direction of Wendao Peak, Qi Zongyuan frowned slightly and asked solemnly, "Elder Gu, what's going on this time? Why did you suddenly trigger a tribulation?"

Gu Fan calmly bowed and replied, "Reporting to the Sect Leader, one of my spirit beasts has just advanced in rank, and I did not expect to disturb you all."

"Spirit beast advancement?" Qi Zongyuan's gaze fell on the gourd on Gu Fan's shoulder.

He knew that Gu Fan liked to raise spirit beasts and had seen the gourd before, but the gourd was sitting there perfectly fine, so which one had advanced?

Qi Zongyuan pondered for a moment, then suddenly remembered something and asked, "It can't be the Xuanjia Earth Dragon, can it?"

He was there when Xuanji Zhenren and Elder Chen made their bet, so he naturally knew the inside story.

However, Gu Fan had only been with the Xuanjia Earth Dragon for a very short time. Unless he had an extraordinary stroke of luck, Qi Zongyuan did not believe that he could advance to the third rank so quickly.

Gu Fan smiled awkwardly: "It is another snake-type spirit beast that I have raised. It is particularly lazy by nature. Although I have raised it for a long time, it rarely goes into battle. I hope the sect leader will forgive me."

As soon as he finished speaking, the thunderclouds gathered deeper and deeper, as if the sky were collapsing.

Qi Zongyuan nodded slightly, frowning but saying nothing more.

Although it was somewhat sudden for Gu Fan to acquire an extra third-tier spirit beast, Qi Zongyuan was not worried because of his clean background.

This is actually a good thing for the Lingxiao Sect.

If third-tier spirit beasts are willing to leave behind their bloodlines, the Lingxiao Sect might be able to catch up with the Hualing Sect in terms of spirit beast cultivation.

Thinking this, Qi Zongyuan took out a blue seal.

As the azure seal shimmered with spiritual light, Gu Fan sensed a change occurring in the heavens. He quietly activated his Myriad Manifestations Eye and immediately discovered that the Zhou Tian Cloud Forbidden Array, which had been sealing off the sky, had dissipated.

Third-tier spirit beasts undergoing their tribulation are usually prepared in advance and take place outside the Cloud Realm Mountain.

Chang Yuan's advancement was too sudden, so he had no choice but to stay within the Lingxiao Sect.

If the Zhou Tianyun Forbidden Array continues to operate, the lightning tribulation will not strike Chang Yuan's head. It may seem that he can successfully pass the tribulation, but in reality, he will lose the opportunity brought by the lightning tribulation, which will be more harmful than beneficial.

Qi Zongyuan's actions were tantamount to allowing Chang Yuan to undergo his tribulation here.

Upon seeing this, Gu Fan bowed again and said, "Thank you, Master."

At the same time, Chang Yuan was unaware that Qi Zongyuan was plotting against him.

When he awoke from his deep sleep, he already sensed the arrival of the heavenly tribulation, which he had anticipated.

As the tribulation clouds gathered to their peak, a deafening thunderclap resounded, and a bolt of purple lightning as thick as a bucket crashed down.

Suddenly, a ten-zhang-long black-scaled giant python sprang out of the Purple Cloud Palace. Unlike ordinary demonic beasts that trembled and were afraid when facing the heavenly tribulation, it rode the clouds and soared into the sky to face the baptism of the lightning tribulation.

A flash of lightning caused the giant python to suddenly freeze.

Gu Fan, using the lightning, keenly observed that the scales on Chang Yuan's forehead had burst open, and a gash had been torn in his skin.

"Is Chang Yuan shedding his skin?"

What happened next confirmed Gu Fan's guess.

One after another, bolts of lightning descended from the sky, their power leaving the onlookers horrified.

What surprised everyone was not only the power of the lightning tribulation, but also Chang Yuan's tenacity.

He flew up and down amidst the lightning, as if dancing in the lightning. With the earth-shattering thunder, pieces of snakeskin fell off and were ignited by the lightning and turned into ashes.

Gu Fan watched the lightning strike, silently counting: 'Three more strikes and I'll successfully pass the tribulation.'

There are only twelve tribulations in the Golden Core Tribulation, and Chang Yuan has already withstood nine of them. His old skin has completely shed, and his body has grown by a full zhang (approximately 3.3 meters).

Just when everyone thought Chang Yuan would withstand the remaining tribulation lightning, a surprising scene unfolded.

Chang Yuan flicked his long tail, coiling it into a snake formation. He opened his mouth wide and inhaled deeply into the thick tribulation clouds. The tribulation clouds were drawn in, gathering into a storm of lightning that flowed into Chang Yuan's mouth.

In an instant, lightning flashed all over Chang Yuan's body, and countless tiny cracks appeared, from which blood gushed out, staining the ground red.

But the wound healed very quickly, at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Chang Yuan's body trembled, and he fell from the clouds and disappeared.

Qi Zongyuan turned to look at Gu Fan and asked solemnly, "What's the background of your spirit beast?"

He had never even heard of a spirit beast that dared to devour heavenly tribulations, let alone seen one.

Gu Fan suddenly felt a headache coming on.

He couldn't very well say directly that this was the mastermind behind the attack on the Hualing Sect by the Desolate Mountain, the former Refining Void Demon Lord.

If he really did tell, the Lingxiao Sect would either kill Chang Yuan on the spot or worship him as a sacred beast.

Neither of these is what Gu Fan wants to see.