Chapter 221 - 217: Complete Transformation to Resist Impermanence

A torrent of thunderbolts cascaded down like a waterfall.

This time, standing amidst the thunderbolts, Song Ciwan barely had time to pull the struggling Mr. Gao closer before the terrifying deluge fell upon her once more.

BOOM!

After the lightning came the fire, blazing furiously.

Great swathes of red clouds began to peel away from the heavens, plummeting down and transforming into scorching flames that seared Song Ciwan’s flesh and blood upon contact.

Words could hardly describe the agony of being struck by thunder and seared by fire.

In that instant, the pain was so intense that Song Ciwan’s mind went almost completely blank.

She had once lamented the lack of a proper environment to practice the Thunder Fire Body Devouring Technique. Now, however, as she truly experienced the world’s most brutal baptism of thunder and fire, she finally understood why Body Refining Methods had fallen into decline.

In her delirium, she thought she heard Gao Xiaolang’s weak voice crying out, "Xin Mian, Xin Mian, let me go! Just let me go... I want to be with my mom and dad..."

A potent aura wafted out, and the Heaven and Earth Scale materialized once more, though what it collected was unclear.

Song Ciwan couldn’t spare even a sliver of her attention to check. She simply focused all her effort on circulating the Thunder Fire Body Devouring Technique. When the one hundred and sixty years of Cultivation she had gained from selling Gao Xiaolang’s Mysterious Ghost Spirit were completely exhausted, she immediately prompted the Heaven and Earth Scale to make another trade.

[You have sold a Small City-Level Mysterious Ghost Spirit: melancholy, relief, and grief. Weight: one jin and two taels. You have received one hundred and twenty years of Cultivation feedback.]

From the void, a surging wave of Vitality flowed into her once more.

Bolstered by this new influx of Vitality, Song Ciwan’s spirits lifted. She gently stroked the round forehead of Gao Xiaolang, who was still in her arms, before pushing him aside.

As she watched, the thunder in the sky changed direction, forking unnaturally as it streaked toward Gao Xiaolang once more.

In a flash, Song Ciwan soared into the air, deliberately placing herself in the path of the roaring deluge of thunder and fire.

At this moment, there was no wind between heaven and earth—only a sky filled with thunder and fire.

Yet, a gentle breeze stirred from nothing. This was the Wind Manipulation Technique.

Like riding the void on the back of the wind, drifting, transcendent, as if leaving the mortal world behind.

In that instant, Song Ciwan’s Wind Manipulation Technique reached a level of absolute Mastery. She wasn’t merely riding the wind; she had become the wind itself.

Above the earth and below the heavens, wherever the wind blew, she was there.

All the thunder and fire were drawn to her, crashing down upon her body.

Down below, Mr. Gao, who had been pushed aside, stared blankly at the ethereal figure in the sky, a figure so graceful it seemed to be ascending to immortality. For a moment, he even forgot the agony of his own flesh being torn from his bones.

At that very moment, Song Ciwan’s Thunder Fire Body Devouring Technique broke through from the First Layer to the Second Layer!

The First Layer cultivated the Jade Bone Dharma Body, while the Second Layer cultivated the Body of Impermanence.

Endure the devouring of thunder and fire to master the impermanence of the world.

Simply put, if one could resist even the impermanence of the mortal world, how indestructible must this Dharma Body be?

This was the Body of Impermanence.

To endure infinite thunder, fire, and pain; to be completely reborn, all to master impermanence!

In the sky, Song Ciwan’s flesh was still being torn away. Not just her flesh, but also her meridians and bones—even her skull and heart. Everything was in a constant state of dissolving and re-forming.

Only the divine figure seated serenely in her Sea of Consciousness, firm and unyielding in its suppression of the chaos, allowed this transformative rebirth to proceed.

A Spirit Beast Bag tumbled down from the sky, landing beside Gao Xiaolang.

Gao Xiaolang didn’t know what it was, but he instinctively held it tight.

He watched as Song Ciwan continued to ride the wind upward. Dazed, Gao Xiaolang couldn’t help but press a hand to his chest and murmur, "What on earth are you doing? Are you trying to... to..."

’What was she trying to do?’

But Gao Xiaolang couldn’t find the words. He could only look up, a growing warmth spreading through his chest as his eyes began to well with tears.

He was filled with an indescribable mix of surging anticipation, gratitude, and sorrow.

Song Ciwan continued her ascent, forcibly drawing all the thunder and fire in the sky unto herself.

The one hundred and twenty years of Cultivation she had just obtained were once again completely depleted.

Song Ciwan made another sale: "[You have sold a Small City-Level Mysterious Ghost Spirit: sorrow, confusion, and lingering attachment. Weight: eight taels and seven maces. You have received eighty-seven years of Cultivation feedback.]"

As Vitality surged into her, the experience bar for the Thunder Fire Body Devouring Technique on her Insight Technique panel continued to shoot up.

To be honest, however, even though the experience for the Thunder Fire Body Devouring Technique was rising rapidly, the rate of Energy consumption was far from proportional to her gains.

The reason was simple: the cost was just too enormous. An ordinary Cultivator could probably have used such a massive amount of Vitality to break through to the Divinity Transformation realm.

Even Song Ciwan herself, had she used this energy for her Sutra of Sitting and Forgetting, could likely have advanced from the beginning of the Late-stage Qi Refining realm directly to Qi Refining Perfection.

It just went to show that the unique nature of Body Refining Techniques came with an incredibly high cost.

But Song Ciwan had no regrets. Body Refining was essential, and saving Gao Xiaolang was a must.

With her goal firmly in mind, at a certain moment, with a resounding boom, she charged directly into the thunderclouds above!

Gao Xiaolang’s voice, a shocked cry, carried up from far below: "Xin Mian!"

Song Ciwan didn’t answer. Immersed in the terrifying thunderclouds, her mind was filled with a deafening roar.

Below her head, her entire body seemed to have disintegrated!

The Heaven and Earth Scale made another trade: "[You have sold a Small City-Level Mysterious Ghost Spirit: grief, confusion, and longing. Weight: two jin and three taels. You have received two hundred and thirty years of Cultivation feedback.]"

Two hundred and thirty years of Cultivation!

If Gao Xiaolang hadn’t been so generous, Song Ciwan feared she would not have had the courage to charge into the clouds.

A seemingly endless torrent of vast Vitality surged forth. As the Thunder Fire Body Devouring Technique circulated, Song Ciwan’s body re-formed once more.

Amidst this rapid regeneration, Song Ciwan reached out from within the clouds. With a sharp cry, her hands blurred into countless phantoms that struck out in all directions.

This was the Formless Flying Flower Palm, a Martial Technique she had recently acquired.

The Formless Flying Flower Palm was an Innate Martial Technique, countless Levels higher than the Mountain-Breaking Fist. But due to her limited energy, Song Ciwan had only recently reached the Beginner stage of this technique.

The reason she used this Palm Technique at this moment was not to actually use the Formless Flying Flower Palm, but rather the Infinite Power of Divine Communication and Daoist Techniques!

As the saying goes, brute force trumps skill. When it came to strange and cunning attacks, Song Ciwan’s top choices were naturally the Void Illusion Demon Sword and the Illusion-Breaking Blade Technique. However, both of these Strange Techniques were only effective against sentient beings with spirituality.

If her opponent was an unfeeling, non-sentient object, then no matter how formidable the Void Illusion Demon Sword and the Illusion-Breaking Blade Technique were, they would be utterly useless.

Therefore, the strongest single-target attack Song Ciwan could use at this moment was the Infinite Power of Divine Communication and Daoist Techniques.