The Child

Li Xuan watched the enormous egg, which radiated five-colored light and trembled incessantly.

Delight and anticipation flickered in his eyes.

This was the moment the Peacock Great Bright King, Kong Xuan, was born!

Was he the only one in all of heaven and earth to witness it?

The giant egg shook more and more violently.

At the same time, vast amounts of spiritual energy from the surroundings surged toward it.

Just then, the sky changed abruptly.

Dark clouds blanketed an area ten thousand li in every direction.

Li Xuan raised an eyebrow as he watched the clouds.

He knew those dark clouds all too well!

Wasn't this a Tribulation Cloud?

Was he about to face another tribulation?

But looking more closely, the Tribulation Cloud covered only a small area, and its power was clearly pitifully weak.

It obviously wasn't here for him.

"Is this... a Shaping Tribulation?"

After examining the Tribulation Cloud, Li Xuan lowered his gaze to the giant egg and finally understood.

He nodded approvingly. "As expected of a unique being of heaven and earth, a direct descendant of Yuanfeng, the Divine Phoenix. To think he can take human form right at birth! Born with the strength of a True Immortal! Truly impressive!"

Rumble!

The Tribulation Cloud gathered from ten thousand li away.

This Shaping Tribulation was much smaller than the one Li Xuan had faced when he broke through to True Immortal.

He still remembered his own Shaping Tribulation.

That Tribulation Cloud had covered at least seventy or eighty thousand li.

Even so, despite being much smaller,

its power was still nothing to scoff at for a newly born peacock.

He had the Thirty-Six Grade Creation Green Lotus Platform and didn't need to fear tribulations.

But the peacock had no such protection.

Li Xuan wondered whether he should use the Thirty-Six Grade Creation Green Lotus Platform to shield it from the tribulation.

But after giving it a moment's thought, he shook his head.

For Primordial Beings, taking human form required enduring a tribulation.

It wasn't enough to simply evade it.

The creature needed to have its body tempered by the lightning tribulation.

Only then could its horizontal bone, flesh, and meridians be transformed, allowing it to take human form.

He was an anomaly, so he had already been human-shaped without undergoing a tribulation. He only needed to reach the right level of cultivation.

But if he didn't let the peacock undergo its tribulation,

then no matter how powerful it became, it would forever remain a peacock, unable to take human form.

Using a magic treasure to shield it from the tribulation wouldn't help it. It would harm it!

So Li Xuan sighed.

He reached out and stroked the trembling egg, whose five-colored light was growing ever brighter.

"Only you can get through this yourself. Unless you truly can't endure it, I won't help you."

With that, Li Xuan waved a hand.

The giant egg rose into the air and landed outside the Thirty-Six Grade Creation Green Lotus Platform.

Rumble!

The Tribulation Cloud overhead thundered even more fiercely.

It had finally sensed where the creature that needed to undergo the tribulation was!

"Gah!"

At the same time, the giant egg finally reached the peak of its trembling.

A sharp, pitch-black beak pecked through the shell at the top of the egg.

Then a disheveled bird's head poked out.

"Gah! Gah!"

The little bird was not so little; its head alone was the size of a basketball.

Its gray-black down was a complete mess.

Yet waves of sharp, piercing energy kept radiating from it.

Its black beak looked capable of pecking a hole in the sky!

Its shrill yet naturally domineering cries rang out in every direction.

It seemed to be taunting and defying the lightning tribulation!

At last, the Tribulation Cloud stopped gathering power.

With a tremendous peal of thunder, a bolt as thick as an adult's arm crashed down!

Li Xuan's brow twitched, and he couldn't help worrying.

Because, as far as he could tell,

the little bird had only reached the True Immortal level!

Could it withstand a True Immortal's Shaping Tribulation?

As Li Xuan watched anxiously, the lightning tribulation crashed into the little bird as it cried out to the sky!

Crack, crack, crack!

The entire eggshell shattered in an instant!

But it didn't vanish. Instead, it transformed into boundless Five-Colored Divine Light and flowed back into the little bird's body!

Bathed in lightning, the little bird shrieked wildly.

Its cries were filled with pain and anger, but also with an unyielding pride!

Its gray-brown down rapidly changed, giving way to feathers.

Colors gradually appeared: azure, purplish black, pure white, crimson, and orange-yellow!

At last, a young peacock of modest size—but already so breathtakingly beautiful that it stood above all creation—

emerged, transformed by the baptism of the lightning tribulation!

"Gah!"

It let out another piercing cry.

At once, two more bolts of lightning descended from the Tribulation Cloud!

This time, the bolts were as thick as thighs!

Li Xuan's heart lurched. He wanted to intervene, but forced himself to hold back.

Let's see what happens!

It might be able to endure them!

After all, it was the Peacock Great Bright King!

The little peacock showed no fear.

As its crest shook, five-colored light gathered.

Its eyes, black as ink, stared at the lightning tribulation, filled with unyielding pride!

The lightning roared down and instantly engulfed the little bird!

Gah! Gah!!

Amid the crackling arcs, like a Thunder Pool, a multicolored figure shrieked and cried out.

Its body twisted further and further, its bones shifting and its flesh transforming!

Every nonhuman-shaped Primordial Being had to endure this pain!

Still crying out, the peacock began to change.

Li Xuan watched with keen eyes, seeing every detail as delight gradually filled his gaze.

A tiny human form was about to take shape!

Rumble!

But just then!

The Shaping Tribulation, which should have consisted of only three bolts of lightning,

for some reason gathered power for a fourth!

This bolt was as thick as a water vat!

It came crashing down in an instant!

Li Xuan's gaze had been fixed on the tiny human figure.

He hadn't noticed that there was another damn bolt coming in for a sneak attack!

As he watched it crash straight into the Thunder Pool, his heart gave a jolt!

"Holy crap?!"

Li Xuan couldn't help swearing.

And as the bolt struck, the tiny human figure,

let out cries that were now clearly filled with excruciating pain!

It was about to give out!

But this was the most crucial stage of its transformation.

Li Xuan couldn't simply reach in and pull it out.

Otherwise, it would become a monster that was neither human nor bird.

He had to help it!

Li Qing opened and closed his hands, gritted his teeth, and brought out the bundle of Divine Phoenix Essence Blood. He reached in and took a quarter of it.

But after thinking it over, he gritted his teeth and, with a pang of regret, took a little more—about a third in all.

Then he waved his hand and sent it into the mouth of the peacock, which was crying out with its head raised.

As soon as the Divine Phoenix Essence Blood drew near the peacock,

it seemed to sense a calling and transformed into a veil of blood.

The veil wrapped around the peacock.

The peacock cried out again and again, its voice full of joy and delight, and with the longing of a child yearning for its mother!

Mother!?

The peacock cried out, tears streaming from its eyes.

Rumble!

The final bolt of lightning gradually faded, and its immense power completed the peacock's transformation.

The blood-red shield, too, was tempered by the lightning tribulation until it completely merged with the peacock's body.

It helped him advance to the True Immortal level!

"Ah!"

With a long cry, the bird's head finally transformed completely into a human form.

There stood before Li Xuan a tiny child, about three feet tall, chubby and rosy-cheeked, who looked around seven or eight years old.

The child was exquisitely adorable, like a figurine carved from jade.

His black hair fell to his shoulders. Five points of five-colored spiritual light spun endlessly on his forehead, and his eyes were exceptionally clear, filled with boundless pride.

The last of the lightning faded.

The Tribulation Cloud vanished, and the world grew bright once more.

Li Xuan stared at the child and chuckled foolishly.

A powerful sense of accomplishment filled his heart.

The child shouted toward the sky for a while, then cleared his throat, lowered his head, and looked at Li Xuan in confusion.

Li Xuan smiled and met his gaze.

A moment later, the expressionless child suddenly grinned.

He spread his arms and ran toward Li Xuan.

"Mother! Hug me!"