"Rumble rumble!"
Spiritual energy surged like a flood overflowing its banks, roaring into his limbs and bones. The overwhelming and oppressive sensation caused Mu Chen's meridians to swell with pain, aching everywhere, far exceeding the limits his body could contain.
Mu Chen clearly understood his body's condition. He circulated the Great Pagoda Art, driving this immense spiritual energy along the spiritual art's pathways.
Each wave of spiritual energy was refined by the Great Pagoda Art, transforming into dark spiritual energy that entered his Qi Sea, merging with the spiritual energy light wheel within.
With an enormous and incredibly powerful surge of spiritual energy pouring in, the spiritual energy light wheel, originally the size of a pigeon's egg, gradually expanded, emitting a dark glow, becoming increasingly dark and lustrous.
His entire Qi Sea trembled as if the earth was shaking and mountains were collapsing. The violent commotion within his body even woke the Nine Netherbird, which was trapped within the purple Mandala flower. It stared at the changes in the spiritual energy light wheel with cold and fierce eyes.
After observing for a moment, it suddenly stood up, its black flame wings fiercely flapping against the petal prison that held it captive.
"Boom!"
Receiving its attack, the Mandala flower only created a rippling, shimmering halo, like a lake's surface disturbed by waves, without any sign of breaking or cracking. The Nine Netherbird resentfully looked back at the light wheel. This was an excellent opportunity to launch a sneak attack and sabotage Mu Chen, but this beautiful and infuriating prison sealed it, leaving it helpless.
Regarding the Nine Netherbird's covert actions, Mu Chen could not spare any attention. His entire focus was on controlling the vast spiritual energy within his body, not allowing even the slightest mistake.
Spiritual energy roared incessantly through his meridians. This kind of high-speed circulation made his meridians feel very hot, almost worn away significantly, causing immense pain. The amount of spiritual energy forcefully entering his body this time was truly immense.
But the pain only made Mu Chen concentrate his mind further. The Great Pagoda Art was urged to run at full capacity, continuously refining the violent spiritual energy.
Time quickly passed. In the blink of an eye, two hours of refining had gone by. During that time, the spiritual energy light wheel in his Qi Sea had expanded a little, and his strength had reached the middle stage of the Spiritual Wheel Realm.
But a very large amount of spiritual energy still circulated within his body.
"It's time to break through to the late stage of the Spiritual Wheel Realm."
Mu Chen thought to himself. The surging spiritual energy flowing through his meridians suddenly accelerated, moving along the Great Pagoda Art's pathways at an extremely fast speed.
The excessively high speed caused his meridians to contract, but Mu Chen paid no heed. The Great Pagoda Art was powerful enough to control the violent spiritual energy well. The violent spiritual energy, which people considered difficult to control, was like a flock of docile sheep once it entered his body.
"Become mine!"
Mu Chen whispered to himself. The light wheel above his Qi Sea once again condensed into a faint black pagoda. The base of the pagoda swayed, like a greedy mouth sucking in continuously, absorbing the spiritual energy pouring in like a flood. With a large amount of spiritual energy flowing into it, the illusory black pagoda seemed to solidify a little, becoming clearer.
The black pagoda's absorption was terrifying. In just over ten minutes, the immense spiritual energy that had filled Mu Chen's body was completely absorbed by it.
The black pagoda became a little clearer, and Mu Chen shivered at the sight. Such a massive amount of spiritual energy could only make it a little clearer. If he wanted the black pagoda to truly solidify into form, how much spiritual energy would be enough?
He gasped in fear, and with a thought, the black pagoda slowly dissipated, transforming into a dark radiance that drilled into the spiritual energy halo.
"Boom!"
The dark streak plunged into the spiritual energy halo, causing it to shake violently. A layer of dark spiritual energy surged outwards, and the spiritual energy halo grew in volume at a speed visible to the naked eye.
In just a few short seconds, the spiritual energy halo was as large as a child's palm. Around it, spiritual energy light appeared, dark and profound, like a nebula surrounding stars.
Powerful spiritual energy fluctuations surged from Mu Chen's body. The feeling of overflowing power made him indescribably comfortable.
Mu Chen joyfully sensed the spiritual energy halo; its strength had truly reached the late-stage Spirit Wheel Realm!
After a period of enduring the pain of suppressing his spiritual energy, with the help of the Nine Cultivation Blood Ginseng and the Great Pagoda Art, he had finally successfully advanced to this realm. Now, he only needed to persevere for a little longer, take one more quick step, and he would be able to become a powerhouse of the Divine Soul Realm!
That stage was the first qualitative transformation in the cultivation process. In the Northern Spirit Realm, late-stage Spirit Wheel Realm strength was quite formidable, but there were quite a few such individuals, each capable of establishing their own faction. However, to truly possess a powerful, top-tier faction, one had to be a powerhouse of the Divine Soul Realm.
Because everyone knew that the capabilities of a Divine Soul Realm powerhouse far surpassed those of the late-stage Spirit Wheel Realm. The more late-stage Spirit Wheel Realm subordinates one had, the more one truly needed to step into the Divine Soul Realm to earn their conviction.
Two completely different levels, establishing completely different prestige.
Mu Chen enjoyed the feeling of his powerful body and nodded in satisfaction. With a thought, he moved towards the Nine Netherworld Bird, which was imprisoned in his Qi Sea.
Previously, although he had focused all his attention on refining spiritual energy and hadn't paid attention to the Nine Netherworld Bird's sneaky actions, it didn't mean he was completely unaware.
The Nine Netherworld Bird immediately noticed Mu Chen's attention, but its cold gaze merely flickered once before it lazily lay down to rest.
"You ugly chicken, no matter what, you're a tiger fallen into the plains now. Why can't you just accept your lot?" Mu Chen sneered, teasing it.
"You want to die!"
Hearing Mu Chen insult its noble Nine Netherworld Bird bloodline as an ugly chicken, the Nine Netherworld Bird flew into a rage. Its two black flame wings flapped fiercely, and a ferocious thought was transmitted.
"If I die now, you won't fare any better. It's best if you behave a little for me!" Mu Chen said coldly.
"With your late-stage Spirit Wheel Realm strength? In my eyes, you're not even as good as an earthworm, yet you dare to yell at me?" The Nine Netherworld Bird became agitated, and a chilling killing intent flared up.
"Do you really think that just because I'm temporarily imprisoned here, you've defeated me? You can't even control this Mandala Flower!"
Mu Chen heard its retort and was instantly enraged. With a slight movement of his mind, he flew to the Mandala Flower prison and slowly touched it.
The moment he touched it, his mood became extremely tense. It was true that he had no way to control either the black paper or the Mandala Flower, but no matter what, it was the only thing that could currently restrain the Nine Netherbird, so he wanted to give it a try. Otherwise, the Nine Netherbird would not take him seriously at all.
Mu Chen carefully touched the flower, surprised to find that it did not resist and send him flying backward as he had imagined. Instead, his spirit seemed to easily merge into the Mandala Flower.
He vaguely felt that he seemed to have some ability to control the flower.
The strange feeling startled Mu Chen. Involuntarily, joy surged in his heart, making him laugh aloud. Then, he cast a cunning gaze at the Nine Netherbird.
The Nine Netherbird caught his eyes and also sensed something unsettling. It retracted its wings, its gaze wary.
"Ugly chick, trying to harm me? I'll show you!"
Mu Chen laughed triumphantly. With a thought, he saw the enormous Mandala Flower extend like a hand, fiercely slapping towards the Nine Netherbird.
"Slap!"
Caught off guard, the Nine Netherbird was slapped, its beak askew. It shrieked in pain, the black flames on its body dimming slightly, its eyes filled with extreme horror.
It truly had not expected that this human could control this mysterious flower.
Seeing this, Mu Chen felt a visible surge of delight in his heart. For a while now, he had endured no small amount of frustration from this annoying Nine Netherbird, unable to do anything to it. Now, it was good. He had a way to deal with it. Immediately, he urged the Mandala Flower to slap it back and forth like playing table tennis with the Nine Netherbird's pained, distorted face.
The Nine Netherbird struggled to dodge, but it could barely avoid anything in this cramped cage. Each time it was hit by the flower, the black flames on its body dimmed a little, making it extremely frightened. That flower seemed to be able to absorb its energy, which was incredibly bizarre.
"Mu Chen, don't go too far! Do you believe I'll fight you to the death?!"
After a miserable struggle, the Nine Netherbird became enraged, the feathers on its body standing on end as it roared furiously.
"Hmph, if you're unruly, you must be disciplined. Stay here obediently for me. If you still harbor ill intentions, don't blame me."
Mu Chen showed no mercy, but he also didn't dare to push it too far. After all, it was a super-powerful creature. Even a tiger in a flatland still had two hundred catties of meat; who knew what other abilities it had yet to reveal? Forcing a tiger to jump over a wall, a fish to die and break the net—he understood these things and was not foolish enough to let them happen inside his own body.
The Nine Netherbird glared at him fiercely, but it no longer showed any contempt or mockery. Its body trembled a few times, then its feathers settled, and it slowly lay down quietly. Now that Mu Chen could control the flower, it was not wise to provoke him too much and suffer.
Mu Chen saw that the Nine Netherbird had finally given up. He let out a soft breath, his mind leaving the flower. Suddenly, the moment he left it, he immediately felt an intense wave of dizziness wash over him. His body was incredibly tired, making his eyes droop with sleepiness.
"I didn't expect controlling that flower to consume so much spiritual energy..."
Mu Chen felt a little startled, suppressing the fatigue in his body. That Mandala Flower was indeed strange. He had only simply used it for a few basic operations and almost fainted. If he wanted to use it for something more complex, would he have to sleep for days?
"It seems this thing shouldn't be used casually or frequently!"
Mu Chen muttered, his consciousness silently leaving his body. Even with such a great expenditure, it was still good that he could make the Nine Netherworld Bird wary, if only a little.
"That chicken, just wait until I reach the Divine Soul Realm. Then we'll see how I deal with you!"