“Mm-hmm!”
The little butterfly puffed out her cheeks and nodded, already positioned behind Ling Xiao. She looked so tiny, but when she got serious, she exuded a sense of reliability that made people trust her completely.
Suddenly, the little butterfly’s two pairs of wings began to shimmer with dazzling light. The massive black beam of light, upon reaching her vicinity, shrank from a thick pillar to the size of a needle’s tip in an instant, then frantically surged into her wings.
“Hmm!”
The little creature nodded with satisfaction, then turned back to the stunned Ling Xiao and flashed a victory gesture.
“Bloody hell, to think that I, the great Ling Xiao, would be outdone by a tiny butterfly. How embarrassing.”
Regardless, the appearance of this little creature had indeed shielded Ling Xiao from a massive crisis.
“Tired!”
The little butterfly finally uttered her first human-like sound, though it was soft and babyish, like an infant’s voice.
Then, she transformed into a streak of colourful light and returned to the World of Mountains and Rivers, lying down among a cluster of flowers and falling asleep.
“Rest well, thank you.”
At that moment, Ling Xiao’s anger over losing his martial soul and rare herbs had completely dissipated.
The little butterfly had blocked that attack for him, effectively preserving his eligibility to continue the tower-climbing ceremony.
With this, he had a chance to seize even greater opportunities. Compared to such prospects, what were those lost items worth?
Taking advantage of the moment the little butterfly had bought him, Ling Xiao had reached the only clearing in the valley.
“As expected, there’s something odd about this place. That monster doesn’t dare come near!”
Standing on the clearing, Ling Xiao watched the monster roar furiously in the black lava, splashing it around but never daring to approach the clearing.
This must be the so-called glimmer of hope.
The challenges in the Moonlight Pagoda were relatively lenient, as it was merely a trial. The Moonlight Goddess would not truly allow her successor to be killed or eliminated too quickly, so she left a thread of hope in these secret realms.
Whether one could reach this place of hope depended on the trial disciples’ abilities.
At the very least, Ling Xiao had nearly been eliminated by that monster.
Upon closer analysis of the monster, Ling Xiao deduced its true strength.
No wonder it could overpower him. This monster was even stronger than the guardian of the third stage, having reached the second stage of the Heavenly Realm: the Dual Harmony Heaven.
The Heavenly Realm differed from the Mortal Realm. It consisted of ten stages, each marking a significant transformation.
Each stage also had its own unique changes.
Upon reaching the Heavenly Realm, the nine martial veins would fully merge into a single “Heavenly Vein.” From the first to the tenth stage, they were:
First Heaven, Dual Harmony Heaven, Three Talents Heaven, Four Symbols Heaven, Five Elements Heaven, Six Arts Heaven, Seven Stars Heaven, Eight Trigrams Heaven, Ninth Heaven, and Ten Directions Heaven.
For simplicity, martial artists often referred to these as the ten stages of the Heavenly Realm when teaching or compiling texts.
The guardian of the third stage was a First Heaven expert, also known as a First Heaven powerhouse.
In First Heaven, the nine martial veins had just fused, forming a single, thin Heavenly Vein that could hold far more true essence than a Mortal Realm martial artist.
The monster before him was a Second Heaven powerhouse, a Dual Harmony Heaven expert.
At this stage, the Heavenly Vein split into black and white, becoming more distinct and larger, naturally making it stronger than a First Heaven expert.
Ling Xiao still felt a lingering fear. No wonder his speed couldn’t match the monster’s. It was incredibly powerful, and he was lucky not to have been eliminated.
But even if the monster couldn’t approach, what was the next step?
Ling Xiao was almost certain this monster was a Primordial Hell Dragon, a pureblood one, not a mixed-blood like the Black Dragon.
Even if its strength seemed modest now, if he could claim it as his martial soul, it could grow stronger over time.
But how to do it?
Fighting it was out of the question.
There didn’t seem to be any other way either.
While thinking of solutions, Ling Xiao stuffed a handful of top-grade true essence pills and a few healing pills into his mouth.
The top-grade true essence pills were ones he had refined himself, while the healing pills were obtained during the Moonlight Pagoda trials.
No matter what he planned to do, he needed to restore his body first.
In any case, he had to claim this Primordial Hell Dragon. Even if he couldn’t make it his martial soul, trapping it temporarily in the World of Mountains and Rivers would do, and he could tame it later.
However, there was a significant difference between a pet and a martial soul.
A pet could only assist in combat, serving as an external force.
A martial soul, however, was tied to the martial artist’s soul and bloodline. At a certain level, it could not only aid in combat but also allow the martial artist to wield its abilities.
Thus, in some ways, a martial soul was far more valuable than a pet.
If possible, Ling Xiao would prefer to turn the Primordial Hell Dragon into his martial soul.
Pets were hard to control and could betray, potentially harming their master, but a martial soul would never betray.
The problem remained: how to defeat it?
Without defeating it, there was no way to subdue it, let alone turn it into a martial soul.
Even a Heavenly Realm expert of the same stage would struggle against such a pureblood primordial beast, let alone Ling Xiao, a mere Mortal Realm martial artist with no chance of victory.
Rely on the little butterfly?
Forget it. She was full, tired, and fast asleep.
Perhaps he should search the area. Since this was a place the monster feared to approach, there must be something here to counter it. And since the Moonlight Goddess left a glimmer of hope, there should also be a way to subdue the Primordial Hell Dragon.
Once his body had fully recovered, Ling Xiao began searching the clearing.
What others couldn’t find, he was determined to uncover.
Releasing his true essence orb and combining it with the analytical power of his Mountain and River Martial Soul, he quickly found the key.
Hidden beneath the soil in the clearing was an altar.
Ling Xiao swiftly dug away the dirt and approached the altar, hoping to find something useful.
On the altar stood a statue of a stunningly beautiful woman, whose features oddly resembled the little butterfly.
No matter.
Ling Xiao shook his head and focused on the necklace around the statue’s neck.
“Imitation Justice Pendant!”
That was the conclusion drawn by the Mountain and River Martial Soul’s analysis.
“Imitation Justice Pendant, a celestial-grade treasure, usable only once. It can temporarily elevate the user’s strength to match their opponent’s. In ancient times, one of the twelve human immortals, the Law-Enforcing Immortal Venerable who governed the human sacred dynasty’s laws, possessed the genuine version of this treasure.”
