Chapter 39: Forging a Divine Artifact, The Auspicious Beast's Transformation
By the Lake of Life, Lei Chen hovered in mid-air, his gaze calmly sweeping over the dozens of emerald crystals before him, each one gathering the condensed life essence of the entire plane.
They varied in size and shape, yet every one radiated a vitality as vast as the sea. Especially the central, head-sized, dark green crystal originating from the depths of the Lake of Life. The life energy contained within was as profound as an abyss. Merely the natural, drifting fluctuations from it caused the surrounding plants and trees to grow with wild abandon.
"Let's begin."
With a slight stir of his mind, the supreme authority of the Plane Master quietly activated. He slowly raised his right hand, palm facing the suspended Gold of Life, and gave a gentle clench.
There was no earth-shattering commotion. Yet, those dozens of pieces of Gold of Life—incredibly hard, difficult to damage even under the full assault of a Titled Douluo—instantly became soft and translucent, beginning to melt like glass meeting heat.
Streams of emerald-green liquid flowed from each piece of Gold of Life, as if drawn by an invisible hand, converging towards the center.
They merged and permeated each other, ultimately transforming into a massive, luminous sphere resembling liquid jadeite.
Inside the sphere, the life energy had concentrated to an extreme, even emitting a low, resonant hum akin to a heartbeat. Circulating emerald-green light illuminated the entire Lake of Life area, rendering it dreamlike and illusory.
Lei Chen's expression remained unchanged. With a light guide of his fingertip, this sphere of liquid Gold of Life, now condensed with the plane's Life Origin, flew like a nestling returning to its nest, slowly drifting towards that towering, majestic Golden Ancient Tree radiating a soft golden light.
Thump!
The moment the sphere touched the trunk of the Golden Ancient Tree, a strange, soft sound spread out, as if striking the very origin of the world.
The Golden Ancient Tree trembled slightly throughout its entire form. The naturally formed, profound patterns on its trunk suddenly lit up, shining in mutual reflection with the emerald-green sphere.
The emerald-green sphere was not repelled. Instead, like a drop of water soaking into a sponge, it silently merged into the trunk of the Golden Ancient Tree, leaving only a rippling mark on the surface that continuously undulated with emerald-green and golden halos.
In the next moment, with the Golden Ancient Tree at its center, an even more vast and pure life force spread outwards like a tide.
Under Lei Chen's precise control, the Golden Ancient Tree—the materialized core of the plane's life—was using its unparalleled vitality to gently nurture and temper that mass of Gold of Life origin.
Simultaneously, using his will as the Plane Master as a guide, Lei Chen mobilized the entire plane's laws of life, beginning the most preliminary shaping of this origin mass, laying the foundational framework of laws for its role as a vessel of "life" and "creation."
This process required time, patience, and the day-and-night nourishment of the plane's origin power. It was not something to be accomplished in one move.
Lei Chen was in no hurry. He sat cross-legged in the air, the multicolored halo around him blending with the auras of the Golden Ancient Tree and the Lake of Life. He entered a certain profound state, as if completely merging with this patch of heaven and earth.
However, although his main body remained by the Lake of Life forging the artifact, his consciousness was not entirely focused here.
As the Plane Master, his perception was sufficient to cover every corner of the plane. While concentrating on forging the divine artifact, he still diverted a strand of his awareness to monitor situations across the plane, especially a place not too far from the Lake of Life.
...
Deep within the Star Dou Great Forest, in a hidden place surrounded by vines and exotic flowers, lay the small den where the Imperial Auspicious Beast, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, usually rested.
Now, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion had returned. She lay prone on soft moss, her golden eyes filled with excitement and anticipation. Close behind, Bi Ji's figure also descended quietly, landing not far away. A gentle concern on her face, she quietly stood guard.
"I'm going to begin!" The Three-Eyed Golden Lion glanced back at Bi Ji. Receiving an encouraging look from the latter, she hesitated no longer. Concentrating her spirit, she activated the unique power within her body belonging to the Auspicious Beast.
In that instant, the vertical eye at the center of her forehead—which had always been closed, shimmering with an eerie red light—suddenly snapped open.
Hummm—
A dazzling golden pillar of light erupted violently from that vertical eye, shooting straight into the clouds, dyeing a small patch of the sky golden. The light pillar did not continue to erupt. Instead, it rapidly retracted, forming a massive golden dome that completely enveloped the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's entire body.
The golden light grew denser and more solid, eventually forming an oval golden cocoon roughly the height of a person. On the cocoon's surface, countless intricate and complex patterns spontaneously derived and flowed, as if containing the supreme principles of heaven and earth, yet also carrying the unique auspicious aura of the Auspicious Beast.
Inside the cocoon, a warm and powerful force was reshaping the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's body. Bones made slight cracking sounds, flesh and blood rearranged themselves. A wonderful sense of metamorphosis spread throughout her being. She could feel her Soul Beast essence transforming towards another form.
Just at this critical stage of transformation, a sudden anomaly occurred.
The mass of dark golden origin belonging to the Golden Dragon King, which had lain dormant deep within her body, seemed stirred by this Life Origin-level metamorphosis, trembling faintly.
Although it was an extremely minute tremor, an indescribable, supremely majestic aura flashed by for an instant, causing the entire golden cocoon to shake momentarily.
Bi Ji, guarding outside, paled slightly. She could sense that terrifying aura that made her very soul tremble. Though brief, it was utterly real. She immediately took a step forward, brilliant green light erupting from her body, guarding the cocoon with even greater vigilance, fearing any mishap.
Fortunately, the disturbance from the Golden Dragon King origin did not last long. It soon returned to dormancy, and the cocoon's shaking settled. The internal transformation process continued smoothly.
Time passed bit by bit. After roughly half an hour, the golden cocoon finally began to turn transparent, its surface patterns gradually dimming and dissipating.
Crack...
A faint, crisp sound. A crack appeared on the cocoon's surface. Immediately after, cracks rapidly spread like a spiderweb. Finally, the entire cocoon shattered with a crash, transforming into countless golden points of light that dissipated into the air.
Where the cocoon shattered, a slender figure was revealed.
It was a girl who appeared to be around fourteen years old.
She was completely unclothed, her skin as white as freshly fallen snow, glowing with a lustrous sheen under the dappled forest light. A brilliant cascade of golden hair fell to her waist, the ends slightly curled. Her face held a touch of the youthful innocence and purity unique to a maiden.
Most striking were her eyes. They were no longer bestial pupils, but like the purest rubies—clear, translucent, yet harboring deep within a hint of the liveliness and nobility belonging to the Auspicious Beast.
At the center of her forehead, where the vertical eye once was, now remained only a faint, flame-like golden mark, adding a touch of mystery to her.