That tiny bolt of lightning seemed to strike Su Yun atop the head, yet it appeared to pass through his body and land directly on the Heaven-Earth Great Furnace within him, striking the great egg of qi-blood formed from his vital qi.
The great qi-blood egg formed from his vital qi was immediately filled to bursting with violent qi-blood, nearly exploding on the spot!
Though this bolt was merely a negligible stray from the lightning striking the Flood Dragon, the Heaven-and-Earth qi-blood it contained exceeded the limit of what Su Yun could hold at his current stage!
After all, the Great Black Snake was an old demon that had cultivated for many years. Though Su Yun had the foundation of the Master's Qi Cultivation Chapter taught by Mister Wild Fox, he had only been formally cultivating for a little over a month.
His foundation was far inferior to the Great Black Snake's. If he rashly seized Heaven-and-Earth qi-blood, he would certainly be bloated until his body exploded and he died.
"Great Furnace Transformation, creation as craftsmanship!"
Just as the Heaven-and-Earth qi-blood in the lightning was about to burst the qi-blood egg apart, Su Yun activated the first volume of the Great Furnace Transformation technique. The Heaven-Earth Great Furnace within him suddenly drew the excess Heaven-and-Earth qi-blood into itself!
The great egg swelled and contracted, devouring and absorbing the Heaven-and-Earth qi-blood.
Patterns on the egg's surface lit up, revealing within it a curled, coiled yet powerful and ferocious body.
His qi-blood was undergoing a transformation from Crocodile Dragon to Flood Dragon!
The surplus qi-blood was refined by the Heaven-Earth Great Furnace through the Great Furnace Transformation's creation as craftsmanship, transforming into his own qi-blood.
The Heaven-Earth Great Furnace refined one's own yin and yang qi into vital qi. This refining process was called creation as craftsmanship, also known as transformation. Thus, while cultivating the Great Furnace Transformation, one would often feel hungry and need to eat six or seven meals a day.
When the yin and yang qi within the body transformed into vital qi, it needed to be replenished through food.
When Qiu Shuijing had taught them the Great Furnace Transformation, he had not told them whether it could refine the powers of Heaven and Earth and nature. Yet to Su Yun's delight, the Great Furnace Transformation could actually refine Heaven-and-Earth qi-blood as well!
Greatly encouraged, he hastened his refinement of the Heaven-and-Earth qi-blood, transforming himself.
But in the eyes of Flower Fox, Li Xiaofan, and the other fox demons, the lightning had struck Su Yun squarely on the forehead. The next instant, the places where he had been wounded burst open, vital qi and blood spurting out with sizzling sounds!
The fox demons hurriedly rushed over to plug the wounds, but they could not stop them at all!
Moreover, that qi-blood was scorching hot, as if it were about to boil.
This was because he was refining Heaven-and-Earth qi-blood through the Great Furnace Transformation. His body was producing blood too quickly and his vital qi was rising too fast, leaving his body unable to bear it.
He needed to cultivate gradually, improving his bodily functions and strengthening his heart, lungs, meridians, tendons, and fascia before he could contain more qi-blood. Otherwise, even if he could refine Heaven-and-Earth qi-blood, it would only cause his qi-blood to leak away.
It was like a weak person consuming ginseng. If he ate too much and exceeded what his body could bear, he would get a nosebleed. It was the body's means of self-protection.
The fox demons did not understand this. Qingqiu Yue was so anxious she was nearly crying aloud.
Fortunately, Su Yun's wounds soon stopped spurting blood, allowing them to breathe a partial sigh of relief.
Suddenly, another bolt of lightning split down from the clouds overhead, likewise shedding a tiny strand of lightning that fell upon Su Yun.
The wounds that had stopped bleeding began sizzling again, and the four foxes hurriedly tried to plug them. After a moment, the wounds stopped spurting blood.
Just as Flower Fox sighed in relief, another bolt descended, and Su Yun began spurting blood once more.
The four foxes looked at one another. Qingqiu Yue stopped crying too.
Su Yun had lost so much blood and so much vital qi, yet his breath remained long and steady, his qi and blood both flourishing. It was truly rather strange.
"Leave him be."
Flower Fox said, "What matters is that we watch The Whole Village Eats transform into a Flood Dragon!"
The three little foxes nodded one after another and stopped paying attention to Su Yun, who spurted blood from time to time.
When the fourth bolt of lightning fell, Qingqiu Yue, that little vixen, quietly scooted her bottom away from Su Yun, putting some distance between them. She looked thoroughly disgusted, afraid that Su Yun's blood would splash onto her beautiful fur.
Flower Fox, Hu Buping, and Li Xiaofan had grown used to it as well. Flower Fox told Li Xiaofan, "Stay farther from him. Be careful that when Heaven strikes him, you don't get caught in it."
Li Xiaofan deeply agreed and hurriedly moved farther away from Su Yun.
Within the lightning, the Flood Dragon in Snake Ravine had already completed more than half its transformation. The Black Flood Dragon's upper body looked as though it had been cast from black iron, towering upon a reef as it continuously stretched its body and changed poses, receiving the lightning strikes in different postures.
Yet the Black Flood Dragon's lower body remained that of a snake, still transforming within the lightning and shedding its snakeskin.
The thunder in the sky grew denser and denser, striking the waters of Snake Ravine crimson. Scattered flesh and blood lay everywhere; some had been scorched black, while some remained vividly red.
The Black Flood Dragon had even been struck until pale white bones showed through, making its injuries appear exceptionally severe!
Such was the tribulation a snake demon had to endure in transforming into a Flood Dragon—perilous beyond measure!
But the danger came not only from the lightning tribulation. It also came from all around.
Just as the lightning strikes eased slightly, firelight suddenly appeared from one side of the forest. More than a hundred weasels stood upright, holding torches as they rushed to the edge of Snake Ravine.
Among them, more than a dozen weasels, each over a person's height, carried a wooden platform. It stood around ten feet tall and was divided into five hollow levels. Within each level sat an old weasel cross-legged like a human, its forepaws forming hand seals on its knees, eyes closed in concentration.
These old weasels had each cultivated their own Spiritual Abilities. They were the great demons of Yellow Village.
Their Spiritual Abilities also emerged, mostly little things such as bells, rattles, hairpins, and small white banners.
Whoosh—
Torches were flung out one after another, stabbing into both banks of Snake Ravine with swish after swish, illuminating the ravine as brightly as day.
"The Whole Village Eats, Yellow Village shall not share the same sky with you!"
The old village chief of Yellow Village, that old weasel, stood upon the fifth level of the platform. He struck his cane against the floor and shouted sharply, "Today, either you die or I perish! Invoke the Spiritual Abilities—"
The other four old weasels each activated their Spiritual Abilities. A bell flew from the wooden platform and arrived above the Black Flood Dragon's head, spewing poisonous smoke and toxic mist that engulfed it.
Another old weasel shook a rattle, shaking souls and clouding minds. In an instant, many demons in the forest with insufficient mental fortitude were bewitched. They staggered about like drunken men, laughing loudly, singing and dancing.
Yet another old weasel gave a fierce shout and began casting a spell. A hairpin flew out and transformed into a flying sword, stabbing into the toxic mist to slay the Black Flood Dragon.
The five great demons each unleashed their methods. The other weasels charged into Snake Ravine, then turned around from afar, stuck up their rumps, and raised their tails. With a series of popping sounds, streams of yellow smoke flew from behind their buttocks and surged toward the Black Flood Dragon in the poisonous mist.
The Black Flood Dragon was already resisting the lightning tribulation while fighting the poisonous mist and the other Spiritual Abilities. Struck by that yellow smoke, it became dizzy and muddleheaded. Suddenly, it could not help opening its long dragon maw, collapsing onto the reef and vomiting loudly.
—It had not been poisoned. The farts were simply too foul.
The weasels rejoiced and cried out, "The Whole Village Eats has fallen for my move! He's weak beyond measure now—let's join forces and finish this bastard!"
Flower Fox said smugly, "I came up with the name The Whole Village Eats!"
The leaves in the forest shook, and with a rustling crash, a flock of great birds flew out. They were the Human-faced Beasts of Linyi Village, each with a wingspan of eight or nine feet, circling above Snake Ravine.
The Human-faced Beasts gripped bows and arrows in their two claws. Drawing their bows, they fired, arrow after arrow whistling toward the Black Flood Dragon undergoing tribulation in Snake Ravine.
Hoofbeats suddenly shook the forest once more, trees after trees knocked askew. A herd of upright Black Barbarian Bulls came charging wildly, barging into Snake Ravine.
These Black Barbarian Bull demons were brawny and thick-skinned. Each dragged a huge hay cutter, charging fiercely toward the Black Flood Dragon to kill it!
These hay cutters were roughly seven feet long, over a foot wide, and an inch thick. They were farm implements used to chop dry grass for feeding cattle.
After the disaster at Tianmen Town, all the humans had died, so the hay cutters became the weapons of the bull demons.
More demons, including sheep demons and cat demons, rushed from the forest and charged into Snake Ravine, attacking the transforming Black Flood Dragon.
The Black Flood Dragon flew into a rage.
It had always possessed the temperament of snakes and vipers, fickle in joy and rage. Only because Su Yun had helped it shed its skin had it invited him to observe. Normally, however, its savage nature was fully exposed: anyone who dared enter its territory would either be poisoned to death or devoured!
When it was hungry, it would venture out to hunt. Thus, not a few demons near Tianmen Town had suffered its venomous depredations.
The Black Flood Dragon turned and fought the charging demon horde. Yet the snakeskin on its tail had not been shed, making its movements inconvenient, while the new scales on its body had only just grown and were not yet hardened. Before long, the demon horde had battered it until it was covered in wounds.
Together with the unceasing lightning strikes from the sky, every bolt that landed upon it left its flesh mangled and bloody. It was a miserable sight indeed.
Flower Fox and the other fox demons watched until their eyes spun. Watching The Whole Village Eats transform into a Flood Dragon had brought them immense gains and greatly benefited their Crocodile Dragon's Roar, but seeing The Whole Village Eats beaten into such a miserable state also delighted them immensely. They shouted their approval.
Amid his cheers, Flower Fox glanced at Su Yun and could not help freezing slightly. Su Yun was no longer spurting blood.
"Could Little Yun have bled dry and gone cold already?"
Flower Fox's heart trembled. Just as he was about to test Su Yun's temperature, Su Yun's qi-blood suddenly became incomparably dense. Qi-blood emerged over his body, transforming into a Crocodile Dragon tattoo!
The Crocodile Dragon tattoo roamed over his body. Suddenly, it threw back its head in an angry roar, broke free from his body, and emerged behind Su Yun!
Flower Fox jumped in fright, only to see that the Crocodile Dragon tattoo manifested from Su Yun's qi-blood had undergone an abnormal change. Like The Whole Village Eats, it was transforming, shedding its form into that of a Flood Dragon!
And its transformation was many times faster than that of The Whole Village Eats!
At the same time, a startled cry came from across the cliff: "It's him! Uncle Xuan, he's the one from the Ghost Market!"
Flower Fox looked toward the voice and saw that Scholar among the four people on the opposite side had raised a hand, pointing at Su Yun as he shouted, "He's the one who killed Senior Tong Fan!"
At that moment, the firelight in Snake Ravine blazed brightly, illuminating it like daytime and allowing those on both sides of the cliffs to clearly see one another's faces.
Zhai Zhu: I recommend a novel, The Black Technology System of an Academic Genius, written by Chenxing LL. It's very good~
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