After arranging the Shadow Tiger's work, Li Mu continued to cast spells, further cultivating two hundred acres of spiritual fields, and planting the heavenly phoenix grass spiritual seeds one by one.
After planting the spiritual plants, Li Mu's figure flickered, and he appeared at the landing point of the high-grade Spiritual Vein.
Suddenly, a new mountain appeared at the edge of the Painting World Treasure Mansion, quickly replacing the area where the Spiritual Vein had previously degenerated into a Medium Grade Spiritual Vein.
All of a sudden, the Spiritual Qi returned to its original level, and even slightly increased, with the density of the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi permeating the air even forming dense spiritual clouds.
Feeling the changes in the surrounding Spiritual Qi, Li Mu couldn't help but feel a wave of comfort throughout his body; the joy of being nurtured within the Spiritual Qi was ineffable.
Gazing at the beautiful scenery around him, wisps of mist and clouds enveloped the Heaven and Earth, making the already breathtaking Painting World Treasure Mansion seem even more like it was covered in a veil, comparable to the legendary Immortal Realm.
Seeing this scene, Li Mu smiled contentedly, and then, with a flicker of his figure, he appeared directly in the Artifact Refining Room of the Painting World Treasure Mansion.
The gains from this Auction, coupled with the Artifact Refining Materials gifted by the Kun Family, were enough for Li Mu to refine Spiritual Artifacts for a period of time.
Inside the Artifact Refining Room, Li Mu sat cross-legged and took out the two greatly damaged Double-Horned Azure Moon Flood Dragon bones from the nine storage spiritual pearl.
The massive bodies of the two 'Dragon bones' almost filled the entire Qi Refining Room. Fortunately, Li Mu controlled the Painting World Treasure Mansion and could control everything related to protection, making them as large or small as he wished.
This Artifact Refining Room, naturally, could also expand to two thousand zhang in an instant, with more than enough space for the two Dragon bones.
This fifth-tier Flood Dragon was over a hundred zhang long, and the sixth-tier Twin-Horned Azure Moon Flood Dragon was over a thousand zhang long.
Although the two 'Dragon bones' had greatly lost their spirituality, the Evil Qi emanating from their skeletons was still oppressive and chilling.
Li Mu waved his hand, and a massive amount of spiritual essence poured out, 'attaching' itself to the Dragon bones.
With the Dragon bones suspended in the air, he once again took out two million catties of Mystic Nether True Water from the nine storage spiritual pearl. Immediately, a chilling aura caused the temperature inside the Artifact Refining Room to plummet, and ice and frost quickly covered the surroundings.
Soon, the Mystic Nether True Water transformed into a torrent, completely enveloping the two Dragon bones. A light blue glow gradually merged into the azure Dragon bones.
After dealing with the Dragon bones, Li Mu put them away and began to refine Spiritual Artifacts.
Time flew by,
A month had passed in a flash.
Inside Yin Yang Valley, beneath the Spiritual Mountain waterfall, it was spring all year round.
The faint purple light emitted by the Purple Yang Spiritual Mushroom seedlings rustled under the scorching sun, resembling a purple ocean.
Inside the Artifact Refining Room of the four directions house, the Heavenly Fire Furnace floated in the air. The Extreme Yang Heavenly Fire warped the space it burned. Li Mu sat in front, his fingers constantly forming hand seals.
Item after item of fifth-tier Artifact Refining Materials were thrown into the Artifact Refining Furnace and burned. Inside the Heavenly Fire Furnace, with the help of the purple Heavenly Fire, the fifth-tier Artifact Refining Materials quickly had their Impurities removed and were melted down, leaving only the essence of the Materials, forming two sword blanks. Li Mu then grabbed the spiritual souls of a tiger and a wolf Yao Beast from the nine storage spiritual pearl.
The two Yao Beast spiritual souls tried to escape, but the Purple-Gold Fire Phoenix immediately flew out of the Heavenly Fire Furnace. With a flick of its Phoenix beak, two clusters of Extreme Yang Heavenly Fire immediately blocked their escape route.
The tiger and wolf Yao Beast spiritual souls were terrified. Under the Purple-Gold Fire Phoenix's skilled herding, they obediently drilled into the sword blanks.
...
Soon, the two swords flew out of the Heavenly Fire Furnace, and the purple Fire Phoenix followed, flying out of the furnace and becoming substantial. It landed on Li Mu's shoulder, its intelligent Phoenix eyes opening and closing, as if claiming credit.
"Good, we'll stop after refining two more."
Li Mu smiled happily, coaxing softly, much like coaxing a child.
With the assistance of the Extreme Yang Heavenly Fire, Li Mu could even multitask, simultaneously refining two fifth-tier Spiritual Artifacts, no longer limited to refining only one Spiritual Artifact at a time as he was before.
And the success rate remained the same, without any impact.
Another month passed in a blink of an eye. With the help of the Extreme Yang Heavenly Fire, Li Mu almost exhausted his fifth-tier Artifact Refining Materials, having refined a large quantity of fifth-tier Spiritual Artifacts.
As for sixth-tier Spirit Treasure, Li Mu temporarily dared not attempt it without his Refining Skill having advanced to sixth-tier.
The Extreme Yang Heavenly Fire responded 'lazily,' as if saying it was the last time. Having refined Spiritual Artifacts for a month straight, it had consumed a lot of its firepower, and after helping to refine two more times, it would need to rest.
"Mhm, I know! Just two more times and we're done!" Li Mu replied with a smile, continuing to take out Artifact Refining Materials from the nine storage spiritual pearl and throwing them into the Heavenly Fire Furnace to begin Artifact Refining.
With the help of the Skyfire Refining Furnace, Artifact Refining efficiency was greatly improved. Without the assistance of the Heavenly Fire, Li Mu would never have been able to simultaneously refine two fifth-tier Spiritual Artifacts with such miraculous effect.
Soon, Li Mu spread his five fingers, channeling spiritual power into the Heavenly Fire Refining Furnace. Wonderful changes began to occur within the furnace; the artifact embryo formed on its own, and the artifact patterns condensed naturally.
About half a cup of tea later, two streams of ice and fire, intermingling, shot out from the Artifact Refining Room, and the tiger and wolf artifact spirits rushed out, heading straight for Li Mu's face!
"Excellent! Excellent!"
Li Mu waved his hand, easily catching the two fifth-tier water-attribute and fire-attribute, two fifth-tier high-grade Spiritual Artifacts, and couldn't help but nod repeatedly with joy.
After examining them, Li Mu contentedly put them into the nine storage spiritual pearl.
"This one hundred eighty-fourth Five Elements Spirit Sword, it's still so far from gathering a thousand fifth-tier high-grade Spiritual Swords!" Li Mu muttered to himself, still dissatisfied.
Immediately, Li Mu took out a large quantity of fifth-tier Materials. This time, he chose earth and metal Artifact Refining Materials.
If he could form a Thousand Sword Domain with fifth-tier Spiritual Swords, there was still a long way to go. If he could form a Thousand Sword Domain with fifth-tier Spiritual Swords, and replace the previous fourth-tier Spiritual Swords, the power of the sword array would undoubtedly greatly increase, even capable of heavily injuring experts at the early Void Refining Realm.
Of course, this was merely a guess on Li Mu's part. As for whether it could actually be achieved, that would have to wait until he had gathered a thousand fifth-tier Spiritual Swords.
In his first cross-tier battle with a Void Refining Realm Cultivator, Li Mu deeply felt the terror of Kun Yuan Venerable.
In the final moments, the opponent's unleashed combat power was suppressive. Even with all of Li Mu's trump cards, Divine Thought Divine Ability, Puppets, and even releasing the sixth-tier Twin-Horned Azure Moon Flood Dragon, he might not have been able to hold on for long.
...
Just as Li Mu was concentrating on Artifact Refining, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi suddenly surged violently, and a thundercloud condensed above Yin Yang Valley.
Li Mu's mind jolted. He hastily refined two earth-attribute Spiritual Swords and rushed out of the Artifact Refining Room.
The next moment, Li Mu focused his Divine Thought on the spirit control treasure bracelet and released the Azure-Eyed White Ape.
As soon as the Azure-Eyed White Ape appeared, its eyes looked at Li Mu as if it had something to say, but the thundercloud above its head suddenly gathered, and it looked up with a solemn expression, instantly losing the mood to speak.
"I understand, focus on Undergoing Tribulation!" Seeing this, Li Mu quickly gestured.
The Azure-Eyed White Ape's body was undergoing an unusual transformation, emitting the Spiritual Pressure of a sixth-tier Yao Beast. How could Li Mu not know that it was about to begin its Transformation Lightning Tribulation?
"Master, I'm going!" At this critical juncture, the Azure-Eyed White Ape nodded solemnly at Li Mu. It continued to control the power within its body and flew away from the core area of Yin Yang Valley, so as not to let the Spiritual Plants planted by Li Mu be affected by the Lightning Tribulation.
At this moment, the Azure-Eyed White Ape's fur was like black steel needles, its muscles bulging. The bulging blue veins on its chest moved around its body like giant earthworms, looking terrifying.
The drastic change in the Azure-Eyed White Ape's body made Li Mu's eyes light up.
The Azure-Eyed White Ape's Bloodline must have advanced?
Li Mu frowned and looked up, only to see terrifying thunder raging within Yin Yang Valley, with dark clouds covering thousands of miles.
This indicated that as long as the Azure-Eyed White Ape successfully passed this Lightning Tribulation, it could truly enter the sixth-tier transformed Yao Beast stage.
Li Mu gazed at the thundercloud above the sky and found that while the power of the Lightning Tribulation thundercloud was far inferior to his own Lightning Tribulation thundercloud, it was more terrifying than the Lightning Tribulation thunderclouds of ordinary Human Race Cultivators.
This was by no means an ordinary Lightning Tribulation. It seemed that as long as the Azure-Eyed White Ape successfully Underwent Tribulation, it would certainly not be an ordinary fifth-tier Spirit Beast. The Azure-Eyed White Ape had a high possibility of having undergone atavism. To what extent it would reach was currently unknown.
At this moment, the Azure-Eyed White Ape also sensed the danger of the thundercloud in the sky. There was no trace of panic; instead, it was eager to try.
Golden light flickered on the Azure-Eyed White Ape's body. Holding a giant club, it was like a fierce tiger general, staring directly at the thundercloud, completely unafraid.
The Azure-Eyed White Ape, on the other hand, moved its steps, actually treading on air, gazing at the thundercloud in the sky. Below its body, the earth surged, and countless giant rock palms rose into the air.
The thundercloud in the sky seemed to sense the Azure-Eyed White Ape's defiant intent. Purple-red lightning flashed continuously, and thunder rumbled, echoing through Heaven and Earth, like a burst of heavenly wrath.
"It's actually a Six-Nine Transformation Lightning Tribulation!"
Li Mu recognized the Lightning Tribulation in the sky and couldn't help but feel a surge of joy, yet at the same time, he worried about the Azure-Eyed White Ape's fate.
Those Undergoing Tribulation would trigger different Lightning Tribulations based on their Aptitude, cultivation, and Karma. Therefore, Lightning Tribulations were also divided into different grades.
For ordinary Cultivators Undergoing Tribulation, it was a Three-Six Lightning Tribulation. This Lightning Tribulation was the simplest to pass, but once passed, although their strength would undergo a qualitative change, it was merely a normal transition from the Golden Core Stage to the Nascent Soul Stage.
Currently, the vast majority of Cultivators, after advancing, face mostly Three-Six Lightning Tribulations, which belong to mediocre Aptitude.
However, those with extraordinary Aptitude, once they Undergo Tribulation, will trigger different Lightning Tribulations, just like the Six-Nine Transformation Lightning Tribulation that the Azure-Eyed White Ape is Undergoing.
Although this Six-Nine Transformation Lightning Tribulation was not as powerful as the Eight-Nine Purple Cloud Lightning Tribulation Li Mu had previously undergone, it was still an extremely rare Lightning Tribulation. Once successfully passed, its strength would double, almost making it invincible among those of the same tier. With the power of a Spirit Treasure, it could easily achieve cross-tier combat.
In the sky, thunderclouds gathered, and soon a dark red bolt of lightning descended, heading straight for the Azure-Eyed White Ape below.
The power of the lightning was immense, equivalent to a full-strength blow from a fifth-tier Peak Cultivator.
Facing the descending lightning, the Azure-Eyed White Ape was not angry but rather delighted. It stomped on the ground, pushing off with both feet, and shot into the sky. Its true body swelled to a hundred zhang, like a Jade-faced Vajra, swinging its huge hand, intending to smash the lightning directly.
With a loud 'boom,' the lightning struck directly on the Azure-Eyed White Ape's mighty body.
The Azure-Eyed White Ape revealed its true form, like a majestic Mount Tai, standing in the air, enduring the bombardment of the lightning, roaring continuously, its azure eyes gazing at the thundercloud above its head, without any fear.
The Azure-Eyed White Ape continuously threw punches, and countless giant palms shot into the sky, suddenly striking the lightning. The lightning, under the giant palms, instantly turned into smoke and disappeared.
The remaining giant palms rushed towards the clouds, intending to smash the powerless thunderclouds and declare war on the Lightning Tribulation.
"Good, what courage!"
Li Mu was extremely satisfied. The Azure-Eyed White Ape's successful advancement resulted in a surge in strength. The attacks it casually unleashed were so terrifying, far surpassing its previous capabilities.
The thundercloud seemed to be provoked and erupted in rage. Countless bolts of lightning suddenly descended, gathering on the Azure-Eyed White Ape.
Li Mu looked into Yin Yang Valley. The Yin and Yang spiritual plants were just within the range of the Lightning Tribulation. He couldn't let the residual power of the Lightning Tribulation affect the spiritual fields.
Li Mu took out the Five Elements Spirit Mountain from the nine storage spiritual pearl. With a thought, the Five Elements Spirit Mountain immediately transformed, turning into a cage, suddenly covering the Yin and Yang spiritual plants, and releasing a Five Elements Domain to protect the spiritual fields.
The Azure-Eyed White Ape unleashed all its abilities, battling the lightning. Countless bolts of lightning were instantly destroyed and reduced to rubble.
The Azure-Eyed White Ape was extremely happy, standing in the air, facing the lightning with full battle intent.
But Li Mu knew that this was only the first wave of Lightning Tribulation within the Six-Nine Lightning Tribulation.
The subsequent five waves of tribulation lightning would be stronger and fiercer than the last. It would be a bit difficult for the Azure-Eyed White Ape to get through them.
The Azure-Eyed White Ape exerted all its strength, breaking through one wave of Lightning Tribulation after another, and in a blink of an eye, it reached the fifth wave of Lightning Tribulation.
The Azure-Eyed White Ape was now covered in wounds, having long lost its arrogant demeanor from before. But beneath its bloodied body, its eyes still showed no sign of giving up. It looked up at the sky, completely fearless.
