Chapter 263: Return

In the blood pool, crimson rays of light rose and evaporated, all absorbed into Shi Hao's body, making his flesh glisten and shine.

He was comprehending the Dao here, remaining motionless, as his body automatically absorbed the Kunpeng blood, and his aura grew increasingly powerful.

At this moment, the Qiankun pouch loosened, and a small golden creature appeared. It peered around, its furry little nose greedily twitching, and joined in to receive the Kunpeng blood's baptism.

Not to mention anything else, just this drop of true blood was enough to make the venerables fight to the death for it. Its benefits were immense, truly capable of transforming one’s entire being.

Shi Hao remained oblivious, relying solely on his body's instinct to absorb this power. He was comprehending the Dao, enveloped in crimson light, lost in clouds and mist, shining like a piece of divine gold.

With a thunderous boom, the ten great heavens opened. Within one of them, a Kunpeng opened its eyes, its spiritual nurturing already underway, and now it was truly taking shape, being granted life.

At this moment, a majestic aura of life pervaded the ten great heavens, each possessing powerful spiritual will.

Especially in the Kunpeng heaven, a giant Peng bird spread its wings, looking down upon the world with an invincible aura, its body shining with golden light interspersed with black patterns, embodying the true essence of the Dao.

At this instant, Shi Hao's body shook violently. The golden vortex on his body contracted, revealing a myriad of runes, which then surged up and merged with that heaven, aligning with the Kunpeng.

These were the rune mysteries left in the blood pool. Shi Hao had fully memorized them, engraved deeply in his mind, including the most fundamental rune.

Now, he was directly infusing these inherited marks into a heaven, merging with the Kunpeng spirit, becoming one entity, forging a unity.

This was an astonishing transformation.

The strength of this spiritual body surged explosively, becoming increasingly agile. In a trance, a true Kunpeng seemed to awaken, soaring above the nine heavens, dominating the universe, and being invincible.

Spiritual transformation, if carried to its extreme, could endow the spirit in the heavens with consciousness, as if it truly had life.

Nurturing spirits in the heavens is an endless process, ultimately requiring one's own will to be withdrawn and returned to the original body, leaving only the precious techniques to evolve into something akin to life.

Of course, this involves too much. Successfully nurturing spirits in the heavens is already a great achievement. To fully endow a spirit with life, one would have to reach the divine level.

Using Kunpeng as a spirit body, it is generally very difficult to succeed because such a creature is too powerful, making it hard to condense its form and true spirit.

In fact, if one continues to condense the Kunpeng's true spirit from the heavens, it becomes increasingly terrifying, nearing the reappearance of its true form, and its combat power would be unparalleled.

Ultimately, all the golden and black runes left in the ancient blood pool were merged with the Kunpeng in Shi Hao's heaven, making it seem as though it had been reborn.

“It’s done,” Shi Hao knew that even if he had not fully comprehended this precious technique, the special spirit body itself could already display some of its power, which was undoubtedly formidable.

Next, he refined the other heavens. In one of them, a Suanni (a mythical beast) raised its head and howled towards the sky, as if filled with hostility towards an existence beyond the nine heavens, ready to charge.

In the other eight heavens, there were no divine birds or ferocious beasts to nurture. Finally, Shi Hao infused his own will into one heaven, shaping a person identical to himself. In several other heavens, he created sword embryos, pagodas, bells, cauldrons, and battle spears.

He was severely lacking in precious techniques, so he could only use weapons and other substitutes for now.

However, the effect was the same. Nurturing spirits in the heavens was to develop their spirituality, evolve vitality, and later, corresponding precious techniques could be directly inserted.

Given his current cultivation level, the spirits he nurtured were merely manifestations of his own will and would eventually have to return to the original body.

Nurturing spirits only requires activation and a perfect fit.

And he had achieved this. With ten heavens successfully nurturing spirits, he had reached the legendary state, and a vigorous life aura permeated, shrouded in mystery.

Gathering the true spirit of the corresponding creature in the heavens was a long process, possibly lasting until the deification stage.

On this day, Shi Hao opened his eyes. After several months, he had been sitting in the blood pool all along, completing the nurturing of the heavens.

At this point, the blood pool had dimmed, all the crimson light had vanished, absorbed by him and the furry ball, refining into their true forms.

The furry ball had withdrawn into the Qiankun pouch again, resuming its deep sleep. It had shed a layer of fur and grown some more radiant golden fur, becoming even brighter.

Shi Hao looked down at himself, noticing he had shed an old layer of skin. His newly formed body was as translucent and shining as jade, making even women envious.

He stood up, stretching his muscles and bones with a crackling sound. He had grown taller, and a thirteen-year-old boy in the Great Wilderness was now fully capable of marrying and starting a family.

Shi Hao was very handsome, with bright eyes that gave him an ethereal quality. After changing into white clothes, he seemed like an immortal, floating and unworldly.

A thirteen-year-old spiritual transformation expert, achieving perfection in all three stages and reaching the legendary state—if this were to spread, it would undoubtedly cause a sensation in the Great Wilderness.

“Can legends be broken?” Shi Hao mused. He had paved his own path through the Blood Stage and the Heaven Stage. What about this realm?

“It’s time to leave.” He spread his large sleeves and, like an immortal strolling, dashed towards the exit of the spiritual transformation cave.

Due to the altar’s collapse, the exit had been buried. Shi Hao’s Kunpeng in the heaven surged up with a thunderous roar, clearing a massive passage.

In the end, he left the cave and stood on the azure waves. The sea breeze blew, making his white clothes flutter like an immortal about to return to the wind.

He stared blankly. The battle of that day was already four months past. The island reef still stood, and the mysterious portal remained, but the Kunpeng’s nest was already shattered.

From now on, this place would become a ruin, with no more traces of Kunpeng. Shi Hao sighed; even the most invincible existence would eventually be erased by time.

He did not leave immediately but instead ventured into the seabed, then entered the Yangji Cave again, feeling the intense heat of the divine fire scorching his body until he sat on the mysterious stone platform.

This time, flames like lightning surged over his body, unable to harm him any longer, and his spirit was as brilliant as flames, feeling no scorching pain.

It was unclear whether it was due to the baptism of the Kunpeng's drop of true blood or his success in nurturing spirits in the heavens, but he was now able to resist the terrifying flames here.

Finally, he visited the Xuanbing Abyss and the Meteorite Mound, reaching the deepest parts without injury, proving that he had indeed perfected the spiritual transformation realm.

“Roar!” The young boy roared, stepping on the waves and charging into the distance.

This was a myth; achieving such accomplishments at thirteen was enough to shake the world. He was rapidly growing, a young supreme being rising.

The emergence of the Kunpeng’s skeletal remains caused a great stir in the wilderness. It was unknown how many major forces were involved. It was rumored that venerables had fallen in the North Sea, causing boundless impact.

That battle was extremely brutal. Venerables fought in the nine heavens and battled extraordinarily terrifying beings outside the domain.

The final outcome was also quite tragic. Besides the fallen venerables, ancient sacred mountains, and overseas divine islands were heavily damaged. Even those who survived were severely wounded.

As a result, although several battles erupted afterward, calm was eventually restored.

The ancient divine land suffered severe losses and could not withstand further turmoil. After a colossal storm, it briefly fell into tranquility, with everyone recovering and resting.

This atmosphere was quite eerie.

People believed that the matter was far from over. The forces that obtained the skeletal remains would sooner or later become a source of conflict, and more turmoil was sure to arise, leading to even greater battles.

Of course, this was not bad news for the major ancient nations in the wilderness.

For them, the recent expedition to the North Sea had been minimal in terms of the forces they sent. The greatest loss was suffered by the isolated divine mountains, the descendants of the legendary ancient beasts.

A rare period of tranquility had arrived, and among the human nations, there was a sense of peace.

In the wilderness, there was a secluded forest, with all the trees being particularly unique, entirely black, including their leaves. There were no birds singing, nor any beasts roaming; it was a deathly silence.

This was the Black Deep Forest, a legendary forbidden zone.

Throughout history, almost all creatures that ventured into it had perished, with few surviving.

However, today, a sound emerged from the black forest. An old man stumbled out; although his steps were unsteady and he wobbled, he had truly emerged alive.

The moment he stepped out of the black forbidden land and saw the sunlight, he couldn't help but let out a long, triumphant roar that caused several nearby low hills to explode and the entire mountain range to tremble.

This was a person of formidable and somewhat terrifying strength. He was tall and imposing, with white, disheveled hair and an equally unkempt beard, clearly neglected for many years.

In his youth, he must have been quite handsome. Even now, with his beard untrimmed and hair like a wild mane, he exuded a unique aura, like a king standing tall.

Unfortunately, he had only one arm, and carried a large bow on his back. Despite his disability, he still appeared remarkably powerful.

“I’m finally out, haha! Damn Pixiu, not only could you not defeat me, but even Heaven itself couldn’t take me in!”

He laughed heartily, exuding great boldness. Although he had endured many years of hardship and was trapped in a dire situation, he remained optimistic.

“Thirteen years have passed. My grandson must have grown up by now. He must be extraordinarily gifted, just like me, haha!”

He sat down on the ground, meditating and adjusting his breathing. Clearly, emerging from the forest had taken a great toll on him. His body was covered in bloodstains, and his beard was smeared with blood.

The essence of Heaven and Earth surged into him, quickly making his whole body glow. Golden-winged Dapengs and Bixie appeared around him, rotating and creating a terrifyingly formidable aura.

After a long while, he stood up and spoke to himself, “Ziling isn’t much different from me when I was young. Now he should be able to shoot and kill a Quetza relic with a single arrow, right?”

Despite being trapped and suffering endless trials, the old man was not in poor spirits. On the contrary, he was very pleased and said, “Finally, I can go for a reunion.”

He strode towards the mountain’s edge, talking to himself, as being trapped here for many years had made him quite bored.

“Hao’er, Grandpa had high hopes for you back then. I even entered the battlefield of a hundred clans and fought against various enemies, just to get you some pure blood for your baptism.”

As he spoke about this, the old man’s face was full of affection, as if he saw his chubby, cute, and clever grandson from years ago. The little one was only a few months old when he left.

“Unexpectedly, Grandpa encountered misfortune and couldn’t bring the pure blood back to you. However, I found a divine pill here for you, which can make up for everything.” The old man smiled happily, like a child.

“You are my grandson; you should be incredibly strong. I believe no one will be able to bully you, right?” Saying this, he laughed heartily.

“More than ten years have passed. I really miss you all, Ziling, and my good grandson. I’m coming back.” As he reached the end, tears finally welled up in the old man’s eyes.