Chapter 531: When Things Become Extremely Difficult, One Must Be Bold!

"At the limit!"

In this moment, Li Yuan felt as if a thousand great mountains were pressing down on him simultaneously; his bones, muscles, skin, and even his internal organs trembled, emitting groans of unbearable suffering.

Were it not for the medicinal power of the Longhu Longhu Dadan supporting him, he would have crushed the token instantly; yet even so, he could not move a single step.

This mountain path test examines not only the potential of the Great Endowment but also the physique... Li Yuan's teeth began to crack, thick blood filling his mouth and nose; according to his original temperament, he would have crushed the token immediately.

No!

Normally, I could never place myself in such a perilous place... In a flash of lightning, this thought arose in Li Yuan's heart; he had always preferred to leave himself room for maneuver.

But now, he wanted to take a bold risk.

"The Daoist is steady, not cowardly!"

Enduring the excruciating pain that threatened to shatter his body, Li Yuan made a sudden decision; at this very critical moment, he swapped the Lei Quan Jun Tian Hammer for the Lei Quan Ling Wan.

He was clearly determined to gather a thousand and three hundred forms under this immense pressure to trigger a transformation of his talent.

While climbing, Li Yuan had already calculated in his heart; he wanted to test whether the Eight Directions Temple would change when his talent climbed another notch!

"Roar!"

In a daze, Li Yuan heard the furious roar of that Star Sunflower puppy again; at the same time, the Dragon Belt coiled around his waist and the Crimson Blood Pattern Dragon Armor both draped over his body.

"Ah!"

The little female dragon screamed in pain, feeling for the first time the oppressive pressure of the Eight Directions Temple; she shrieked and swelled her body, yet felt as if struck by a meteor; the armor she had transformed into collapsed inch by inch, actually beginning to disintegrate?

"Ah, help!"

After cursing, the little female dragon wailed; just a moment before, she had thought this native boy was utterly useless; merely climbing a mountain, his face twisted, shaking like a sieve, clearly hopeless.

But now, having personally experienced that overwhelming immense power, she only wanted to flee for her life—Boom!

The instant he mastered the Lei Quan Ling Wan, Li Yuan's mind went blank for a split second; in a daze, he saw again the young Star Sunflower howling loudly atop the Great Peak of the Divine Mountain in the night sky; the next instant, he felt that the one howling was himself.

In a blur of light, he seemed to have transformed into the Star Sunflower Divine Dog, howling loudly beneath the night sky's stars—"Roar!"

The wolf-like howl pierced through his body.

On the cracking Dragon Armor, the little female dragon's shocked face appeared, looking as if she had seen a ghost; no, a dog.

"Star, Star Sunflower?!"

In this instant, the little female dragon stood dumbfounded; in her perception, Li Yuan had vanished, replaced by a ferocious Lei Quan with grey-green fur, standing upright on two legs!

"Ah?"

The little female dragon's shock turned into a wail a moment later; she could not hold on; letting out a mournful cry, she transformed into a streak of light and merged into Li Yuan's body.

Li Yuan looked up; a long howl accompanied a spray of foul blood; then, his body trembled; under the pressure of that overwhelming immense power, his body crouched low, and his flesh, blood, bones, and sinews cracked inch by inch, as if he would be crushed into meat paste in the next moment.

"It hurts!"

Li Yuan's perception was distorted by the pain; such agony had exceeded his tolerance limit; yet his tightly strung mind actually relaxed slightly; until this moment, that token, though flashing with faint light, had not shattered on its own; evidently, the limit had been reached, but the limit had not yet been broken.

Then... Enduring that immense pain, Li Yuan raised his bloodied hand and pressed it hard against his chest and abdomen.

Only the sound of "Crack!" was heard; the spiritual pill inside his abdomen, along with the Long Long Modadan, was shattered into powder by him, and the mighty medicinal power surged and spread.

"Boom!"

Li Yuan's vision went black; his visualization almost failed to maintain; yet as the medicinal power spread, his nearly exhausted body trembled again; under this overwhelming pressure of qi, he actually stood in the Dragon and Tiger Great Stance!

Changing the bone structure and the stance art had long since seeped into his marrow and soul, becoming instinct—"Rustle, rustle~"

In this instant, Li Yuan seemed to feel no pain in his flesh; his mind had completely settled into the stance art; the Star Sunflower's howl and the surging of blood mixed together; externally, the wounds on his body healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, only to tear apart again under the pressure of qi; after several such cycles, even the little female dragon hidden within Li Yuan sensed something strange; in her perception, this native boy had transformed into a furnace.

Frantically burning and tempering the physique—"This..."

Watching Li Yuan, whose body kept growing hair and shuddering uncontrollably, the little female dragon felt sheer shock; she had never seen anyone undergo hair removal and marrow washing, yet this was too intense.

"One form, three forms..." Li Yuan's mind was in a daze; his physique was not shaking in disorder, but pulsing according to the Lei Quan Ling Wan, or rather, the bloodline of that Star Sunflower Divine Dog; he could feel his internal organs and bones changing, all kinds of organs pulsing, evolving toward a higher level.

One form, three forms, ten forms... thirty forms!

"Crack!" At a certain instant, Li Yuan heard the sound of breaking again, but this sound seemed to come from within his body, as if an invisible barrier had been shattered by him!

One thousand three hundred and thirty forms! Li Yuan clearly captured this number; this was the form he possessed when he broke that invisible barrier—"Roar!" "Ahh!"

"Miao!"

The instant the barrier broke, Li Yuan heard the howls and cries of countless spiritual beasts and ordinary beasts; in a daze, he lost his perception of himself; instead, thousands of different forms of countless spiritual beasts, and even weapons, reassembled into his body according to some trajectory, like a puzzle... Li Yuan had this thought flash through his mind; he could not interfere with this reassembly, but he knew it was done.

As he had predicted, when his form changed to one thousand three hundred and thirty, his own talent transformed again; he himself had already become a talent of the Eternal Age level!

With the support of the two Great Fortune Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing, he was now Zhao Zhao Tianxing!

Hum!

In this moment, heaven and earth were silent; the night wind in the mountains seemed frozen in the air; Li Yuan, covered in blood, stood tall; his eyes were closed, yet he perceived more clearly than if they were open; as if a thousand eyes had extended from within his body; up, down, left, right, there were almost no blind spots!

"It's done!" Li Yuan opened his eyes; all sorts of distracting thoughts had been completely suppressed; he stood motionless, observing the eight directions; he felt his heart was like a bright mirror, clear and bright; the previous anxiety, confusion, and unease were completely gone.

Replacing them was a intoxicating joy like fine wine; for him personally, the transformation of his talent was even more intense than the thrill he felt when he had previously completed the Blood Exchange; this deep-level transformation made him intoxicated.

Wooo~ At this moment, the Eight Directions Temple cave was filled with stars; Li Yuan stretched his limbs and no longer felt the pressure of the qi; starlight fell upon him, as if bathing in warm water.

"This feeling, awesome!"

Li Yuan closed his eyes and felt for a moment, paying no attention to the little female dragon's shock; when he opened his eyes, the mountain path stretching endlessly before him was gone.

Instead, it was a mountain peak covered in strange, jagged rocks, and behind those rocks, an ancient temple!

One step, ascending to heaven!

"Ah, you, you, you..."

The little female dragon's scream exploded in her heart.

Li Yuan shook off the filth from his body and looked at the strange rock rising from the ground before him; it resembled a young elephant, yet also bore some resemblance to a Sunflower Dog: 【Li Yuan's Stele (14,237)】 【Eastern Realm Challenger, Master of the Shan Xuan Whale Hammer】 【Bloodline: Human Race】 【Realm: Blood Exchange Completed】 【Spiritual Form Prototype: Gathering the forms of a thousand beasts through lightning, wind, and clouds; comprehending the Seabreaking Shan Xuan Whale; perhaps named 'Thousand Beasts Long Kun'; Potential: Divine Tier】 【Bone Age: Twenty-six, Cultivation Years: Ten, Initial Bone Structure: Below Average; Entering the Temple Endowment: Peerless (Upper); Entering the Temple: Twenty-seven days; Climbing Eighty-nine Steps; Talent Transformed to Zhao Zhao Tianxing Level; Insight: Extraordinary; Estimated Final Potential: Upper God Level】 【Comment: The high and low of all things are determined by Heaven; cultivators change them later; from below average to Zhao Zhao Tianxing; with gods and demons ahead, there is hope for 'Upper God'--】 【Overall Evaluation: Excellent】 【"Excellent" rated individuals need not climb the mountain and may enter the temple trial directly】 On the strange rock, various characters flowed, shining brilliantly, making one feel joyful at heart; at least Li Yuan was very joyful; indeed, if talent is high enough, one can ignore the trial rules... No, not talent, but potential; touching the characters on the strange rock, Li Yuan's expression was subtle; his previous judgment was wrong; the trial of the Eight Directions Temple examines not only talent.

Talent is merely the threshold to enter the temple; what is more important is potential!

This made him feel a mix of dazed joy and some lingering fear... I originally wanted to climb the mountain steadily, spending years or even decades to reach the summit; now it seems, if I had done that, I would have truly climbed the mountain until I died; Li Yuan's face changed; the evaluation on the strange rock was very clear: those rated "Excellent" need not climb the mountain, not those with Zhao Zhao Tianxing level talent; and this "Excellent" rating was because he had entered the temple for less than a month, climbed eighty-nine steps, and his talent had transformed to the Zhao Zhao Tianxing level!

If he had followed the proper order, or even been forced to retreat, returning in thirty or fifty years... Indeed, when things become extremely difficult, one must be bold; Li Yuan let out a long sigh, suddenly feeling some gratitude toward the imperial court; were it not for that glimpse of the future in the God-Seeing Sacrifice, he truly might not have dared to climb the mountain so ruthlessly.

At the same time, a trace of joy welled up in his heart.

The hidden worry from before, now that he had risked everything in one bold strike, seemed to have mostly vanished?

He turned to look back at the mountain path that stretched beyond the reach of his gaze, and his mood instantly brightened. The benefits of this all-out gamble far exceeded his expectations: "With this, even if people from the imperial court come in, it won't matter much!"

As Li Yuan's thoughts stirred, a pillar of light suddenly burst forth from the strange rock. The pillar of light shot up ten zhang into the air, then split into four, radiating dazzling brilliance.

"This is... the reward for 'clearing Dengshan'?"

Li Yuan's eyes lit up. He looked at the strange rock, and sure enough, a line of shimmering, glowing text had appeared upon it: 【Climbing Dengshan, Hundred Steps: Reward — one Eight Directions Token, which grants entry and exit to the Eight Directions Temple, and may offset one failed trial.】 【Climbing Dengshan, Thousand Steps: Reward — one? -grade superior spirit treasure, from which one may be chosen among twelve.】 【Climbing Dengshan, Ten Thousand Steps: Reward — one Sect Token.】 【For an 'Excellent Grade' evaluator, reward — one Spirit Guilt Heart.】