We made you practice martial arts, and you've mastered the Great Golden Body?

"Sister, what's wrong?" Xiaoqing noticed the unpredictable expression on Bai Suzhen's face, sometimes joyful and sometimes dejected, and immediately felt uneasy.

She thought that Bai Suzhen had suffered some kind of aftereffect due to premature birth. Hesitantly, she wanted to overcome her genetic instinct to avoid Bai Suzhen and offer her comfort when she needed care the most.

For hundreds and thousands of years, these two snake demons cultivated themselves in this way.

"It's nothing, Xiaoqing, don't come any closer." Bai Suzhen quickly noticed Xiaoqing's little action, and a warm feeling immediately rose from the bottom of her heart.

Xiaoqing's actions signify that although she has transformed into a dragon, the bond between her and Xiaoqing remains unchanged.

For Bai Suzhen, this was even more exciting than surviving the tribulation of lightning.

Because the true path of cultivation is not as beautiful as mortals imagine. Every cultivator is destined to endure long periods of loneliness on the road to becoming a powerful being.

For cultivators, solitude is the most powerful and enduring, belonging to the sixth category beyond the five signs of decay in the celestial realm.

A cultivator's mental state can collapse in an instant, but the root of this collapse lies in the long-term torment of loneliness accumulated over time.

However, Bai Suzhen thought that she had already transformed into a dragon, while Xiaoqing was still a python. Moreover, due to the previous battle of flooding Jinshan Temple, it would take at least several years for her to return to her original state without external help.

Furthermore, it may leave considerable damage, thereby affecting cultivation aptitude, causing a decrease in cultivation speed, and other negative effects.

Unless... unless Xiaoqing can also transform into a dragon, in which case Xiaoqing's cultivation aptitude will not only be greatly improved, although due to her "premature birth," she will be more like a pseudo-dragon compared to a real dragon.

But as the saying goes, something is better than nothing.

Even the most mediocre dragon still has a precipitous advantage in cultivation compared to a python. One year of a dragon's cultivation is equivalent to decades of a python's cultivation.

Furthermore, the difference in the purity of their essence is an insurmountable barrier for ordinary pythons.

Of course, there is always a glimmer of hope in this world. There are also exceptions among pythons, such as the legendary Devouring Python, which is said to be able to devour dragons!
Of course, it's just a legend, and Bai Suzhen has great doubts about it.

There's another point.

Bai Suzhen is one of the main characters in this calamity, but what about Xiaoqing? Based on the available information, Xiaoqing is very likely just a dispensable piece on this chessboard.

Or, to be more precise, it's a piece that should have been discarded halfway through the game.

It must be said that after getting rid of Xu Xian and calming down, Bai Suzhen's mind was indeed very sharp. She almost pieced together a complete puzzle by relying on just a few fragmented pieces of information.

Ninety percent of the guesses were correct, but one-tenth were wrong. That was that Shen Bailian's identity was not a Dao soldier at all, nor was he a white glove for the mastermind in the sky. He was a pure human being!

However, this doesn't have much of an impact.

After all, from another perspective, the Daoist soldiers in Bai Suzhen's mind were there to help her successfully complete this great calamity.

And what about Shen Bailian?
He took Fahai's place and impersonated the one destined for the calamity, with the aim of helping Bai Suzhen successfully complete this great tribulation and obtain a massive amount of innate merit, which could then be exchanged for skill points to upgrade her skills and gain a large number of attribute values.

There is no conflict between the two; on the contrary, they share a common goal.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Shen Bailian was a "Dao soldier" sent to protect the smooth progress of this great calamity.

"Xiaoqing, in your current state, is it possible for you to trigger the Heavenly Tribulation of transforming into a dragon?" Bai Suzhen pondered for a while and finally realized that there was only one way to help Xiaoqing cultivate and achieve enlightenment.

"what?"

"You mean me?"

Xiaoqing was stunned. She paused for a moment, then pointed at herself with trembling fingers, looking at Bai Suzhen not far away in disbelief, as if she were in a dream.

When she first heard Bai Suzhen's words, she thought she had misheard, but after seeing Bai Suzhen's affirmative nod, she realized that it was not a hallucination at all, but the truth.

"It can be triggered," Xiaoqing said helplessly, looking at Bai Suzhen's serious expression, which was not joking. "But the success rate is extremely low, less than one or two percent."

The threshold for triggering the Heavenly Tribulation of Transformation into a Flood Dragon is neither very low nor very high. For snakes, which are "close relatives" of flood dragons, it only requires a cultivation level of over a hundred years.

However, with the improvement of the Heavenly Dao rules, the completion of the order rules, and the restrictions imposed on the Dragon Clan by the Heavenly Court and Mount Ling, the situation has changed.

If a python demon triggers a heavenly tribulation when its cultivation has only reached a hundred years, it is safe to say that it will be completely annihilated, if not certain to die.

Only those whose cultivation level has reached over five hundred years can have a one percent success rate.

Although, based on Xiaoqing's actual cultivation level, normally, the probability of her surviving the Heavenly Tribulation of Transformation into a Flood Dragon could reach an astonishing three to four percent.

However, due to the severe damage, the source has already lost 50-60% or 70%.

Therefore, Xiaoqing's chances of successfully passing the Heavenly Tribulation of Transformation into a Flood Dragon have dropped by more than a fraction. Normally, to safely pass the Heavenly Tribulation of Transformation into a Flood Dragon, the success rate must be at least 50%.

Not to mention, Xiaoqing doesn't have any particularly powerful magic weapons at the moment.

"Sister, you don't mean... you want to let that guy withstand the heavenly tribulation again, do you?" The next moment, Xiaoqing thought of a possibility. If this guess was correct, then there was a very high chance that they could actually survive this Heavenly Tribulation of Transformation into a Dragon.

"Hmm." Bai Suzhen nodded in agreement and continued, "However, this matter needs to be considered carefully."

Although Bai Suzhen has now confirmed Shen Bailian's "true identity" as a Taoist soldier sent down by the mastermind behind the scenes.

But this doesn't mean that Shen Bailian will unconditionally help her.
After all, magical artifacts at the Dao Soldier level have already developed sentience and are no less capable than normal humans.

Therefore, we cannot rely on deception; we must find another way to make Shen Bailian, this Dao soldier, willingly help Xiaoqing overcome the tribulation of transforming into a dragon.

Otherwise, what if Shen Bailian runs away halfway through?
After all, given Xiaoqing's current state, the probability of her even surviving the first nine-day tribulation is less than one or two percent, let alone surviving the extremely dangerous third nine-day tribulation.

I'm afraid that before the Second Heavenly Tribulation even begins, Xiaoqing will have already been reduced to ashes by the tribulation, truly dying and disappearing!

"Alright, I'll do whatever you say, sister." After sensing Bai Suzhen's current attitude and tone, Xiaoqing immediately understood that the extremely calm Bai Suzhen of the past had returned. It has to be said, being blinded by love is truly terrifying; it's enough to lower a person's IQ below normal, or even to zero, or even negative.

woohoo~
The wind howled, emitting a mournful cry. Although the heavenly tribulation had dissipated, the restless spiritual energy in the sky had not yet subsided.

It will take at least another hour to return to the previous peace.

Shen Bailian's emotions, like the restless spirit, remained unsettled for a long time. His eyes flickered as he stared intently at the data on the panel—

Character Level: LV13 (1203/10000)

Physical Strength: 37.3; Spirit: 36.2

【Eight-in-One Great Sun Visualization Method LV4 (347/2200)】

Divine Skill: Shadow Follows LV6 (70/160) (Energy Storage: 3 times)
Divine Senses LV1 (91/1000)

咫尺天涯LV5（150/3000）（剩余固定锚点：4/5）】

Active Skill: Gale LV3 (1231/1500)

Hunyuan Qi LV2 (591/700)

Active Skill: All Things Under Heaven LV2 (566/700)

Five Elements Breathing Method LV5 (563/3600) 440
Fishing - Tier 1 LV5 (1533/3200) (Trait: Guaranteed)

[Passive Skill: Steel Body LV5 (1903/3200)] 1870
Skill Points: 1

【Cure point: 1】

[Divine Matter: 2432] 1424
Although Shen Bailian had a premonition before undergoing the tribulation that it would be an unimaginable gain, he never expected the gains to be so abundant.

In less than half an hour, the experience bar of the Steel Body had been filled to an astonishing 1903 points, less than 1500 experience points away from leveling up.

However, this level of experience is understandable.

During the first nine-day tribulation, the experience points of the Iron Body would only increase by one or two points every now and then. However, during the final heavenly lightning of the first nine-day tribulation and the second nine-day tribulation, the rate of experience point increase would rise from one or two points to five or six points.

When the Three-Nine Heavenly Tribulation stage arrives, the rate of experience point growth climbs to an extremely terrifying 20 to 30 points.

All the suffering Shen Bailian endured turned into a substantial reward when the Tribulation of the Three Nine Heavens ended. It was experience points that he could hardly obtain even after fighting the Golden-haired Hou for ten days and ten nights!
At the same time, the experience points for the Five Elements Breathing Method also increased by 440 points.

Of course, what is most important to Shen Bailian is his martial arts realm, which is the physical and mental attribute values, tempered by the Heavenly Tribulation, and the improvement of his character level.

This caused his physical attribute to increase from 35.5 points to 37.3 points, a full 1.8 points increase. At the same time, his mental attribute also increased from 35.1 points to 36.2 points.

The magnitude of this increase can only be described as terrifying.

It's important to understand that at this stage, an increase of 0.1 points in attribute value is equivalent to raising the base punching power of an ordinary martial arts apprentice from level 1 to level 10, with a remainder.

Such a powerful physique naturally leads to an increase in the quantity and purity of source energy.

Although Shen Bailian's physical and mental attributes increased by less than two points each, his overall combat strength increased more than tenfold once again.

If the Golden-haired Hou were to come knocking on his door again, even if it were its true form challenging him, it might not be able to withstand a single punch from him.

This is the confidence that comes with high physical attributes.

"I never expected that this heavenly tribulation would contain a certain amount of the world's origin. But upon closer examination, it makes sense." Shen Bailian felt the violent power within his body, feeling both excited and eager to try it out.

At first, Shen Bailian didn't pay much attention when he was undergoing the first and third nine-day tribulations. However, a chance glance made him notice an anomaly among the series of experience-boosting messages that popped up on the panel.

[Congratulations, your divine matter has been increased by 10 points]

After his innate talent revealed the true nature of the Heavenly Tribulation, he actually transformed the devastating power of the Heavenly Tribulation, which every immortal and god feared, into divine matter!
Therefore, after noticing this, when the Tribulation of the Three Nine Heavens was about to end, Shen Bailian, wanting more than he had, used his own body to intercept a portion of the Tribulation and temporarily seal it in his dantian.

"This power... is truly terrifying. If we make good use of it, we might even be able to kill a god!" Shen Bailian calmed down and felt the extremely violent power in his dantian. He immediately felt a chill run down his spine.

It was precisely because of the replenishment of the Heavenly Tribulation energy, coupled with the increase in his physical attributes, that he recovered most of his strength in a short period of time, enough to cope with 99% of the risks in this mortal world.

In fact, before sealing this heavenly tribulation, he never thought he would succeed. After all, even the immortals and gods of this world dare not say they have 100% control over the power of tribulation, let alone a mere Moon Embracing Realm martial artist like himself.

The reason for doing this is entirely due to the passive effect of the "Following Shadow" skill; it's about striking first, regardless of the outcome.

Fortunately, Shen Bailian succeeded, so there was no need to waste the important divine matter. Even if this power of heavenly tribulation could not achieve the expected effect of killing a god, it could still be used to transform the divine matter.

The only undeniable drawback was that he realized the power of this heavenly tribulation could be intercepted far too late, meaning that Bai Suzhen's transformation into a dragon tribulation ended before she had even reached her limit.

"Short! It's way too short!"

"If this Tribulation of the Three Nine Heavens could last a little longer, then perhaps the Iron Body skill could be upgraded," Shen Bailian secretly pondered.

One Tribulation of the Three Nine Heavens caused the Steel Body's experience points to reach a terrifying 1903 points. If it were to happen again, it would very likely advance directly.

His physical attribute value also has a chance to break through the 38-point mark.

Furthermore, Shen Bailian was also very curious about what skills the Steel Body would become after it was upgraded, and what kind of power it would display.
Of course, there is a more extreme way to trigger a heavenly tribulation now, which is to curse the heavens. But if you do that, the result will be much more than just the Three-Nine Heavenly Tribulation.

"Wait a minute, speaking of doing it again, isn't there still a demon that hasn't transformed into a dragon yet?" Shen Bailian suddenly had a flash of inspiration and shifted his attention to the distance. (End of Chapter)