Chapter 20: Immortal Bones Of Jade, None In The World Compare
The peak of Yuzhao Mountain—lightning like a prison.
Jiang Linxian was fully aware of the probing gazes from all directions, but his mind was already tightly bound to the imminent Tribulation Lightning, leaving no room for anything else.
BOOM—CRACK!!
The first searing, bright-violet bolt of Tribulation Lightning finally tore through the heavy cloud layer. Carrying the vast and majestic will of destruction and rebirth intertwined, it came crashing down upon the white dragon-serpent standing tall and proud beside the pool!
The lightning instantly swallowed his silhouette whole.
The blinding radiance forced the many onlookers watching from afar to squint or avert their eyes.
The savage electric current drilled into every white scale, wildly ravaging the structure of his demon body and striking directly into the depths of his divine soul.
"Urgh!" Jiang Linxian's body shuddered violently. Countless tiny electric sparks burst across his white scales, sending scorching pain and numbing paralysis through him.
Yet within his body, the scripture of the Grand Void Dragon Transformation Chapter circulated instinctively in a faint flow, and the Demon Core formed from the Dragon Pearl madly devoured and expelled, forcibly absorbing and converting a portion of the rampaging lightning force.
The 7 dark markings on his torso also lit up simultaneously—like 7 meridians rooted in flesh and blood—shouldering and channeling this great power of heaven and earth.
The Tribulation Lightning was calamity, but also tempering.
He raised his head, slit pupils reflecting the second surge of lightning gathering with even greater ferocity. Not a trace of fear in his eyes.
The 2nd strike, the 3rd—they came one after another, each more vicious than the last, as though they meant to utterly obliterate this demon creature that dared to transcend heaven and achieve Manifestation.
The lightning fire scorched his white scales; the acrid smell of charred, split flesh drifted outward.
Jiang Linxian threw back his head and let out a long, piercing cry—his howl cutting straight through the thunder's roar.
Pain, of course there was pain.
Each bolt of Tribulation Lightning felt as though it would tear his divine soul apart.
But this pain, compared to the despair and chaos of a century of refinement inside the alchemy furnace—his body being dismantled and rebuilt—felt considerably lighter.
His demon body's constitution far exceeded that of ordinary Manifestation demons, and with the solid foundation laid by the 7-Colored Immortal Pill, although this Tribulation Lightning was terrifying in its momentum, it had never truly managed to shake his very roots.
BOOM!!
The 7th strike—and the last—a bolt of crimson-gold thunder descended like Heaven's spear of punishment, carrying the might to cleave mountains as it drove down!
Jiang Linxian neither dodged nor evaded. Instead he shot skyward, actively surging to meet that column of destruction!
The instant white scales collided with crimson-gold lightning, blinding radiance devoured everything.
Mountain stones cracked and split; the water of the deep pool was vaporized into a vast, billowing white mist.
The demons and ghosts watching from a distance held their breath in unison.
The lightning extinguished. The clouds dispersed.
The lingering force of the final crimson-gold Tribulation Lightning slowly faded in the air, dissolving into tiny fragments of electricity that melted into the damp atmosphere.
White mist rose and steamed from the mountaintop, diffusing through the space between the deep pools.
The white serpent who had risen so defiantly to meet Heaven's might was gone.
Under the gaze of the assembled demons—
In its place stood a silently still figure.
He stood barefoot on the surface of the cold water, his body wrapped in a thin, pure-white radiance formed from the residual demonic energy and the shed scales of his former skin, tracing the outline of a youth.
The radiance gradually faded, and his true appearance began to emerge.
The young man stood between the mortal dust and dying embers, his entire being seemingly veiled in an extremely faint, gossamer brilliance that did not belong to this world.
Most impossible to look away from was the extraordinarily divine mark resting upon his brow.
It was not an engraved pattern, nor a birthmark—it was a formless luminescence.
Like the very first ray of morning light falling upon the snow-capped peak of an immortal mountain: warm and restrained, yet radiating a brilliance all its own.
It hovered silently half an inch above the young man's brow, as though it were a natural divine ability manifested from the convergence of his entire body's immortal bones of jade, combined with the transformative power of the Grand Void Dragon Transformation Chapter and the 7-Colored Immortal Pill—or perhaps the embryonic form of some higher-order innate Dao mark.
With each barely perceptible breath he drew, the light and shadow of that formless glow resonated in a mysterious harmony with the invisible spiritual rhythm of the surrounding air, cycling endlessly, beyond all measurement.
When he inadvertently focused his gaze, the formless light upon his brow would emit the faintest tinge of pure radiance—neither sun nor moon, neither gold nor jade.
This pure radiance held no overbearing or oppressive aura, yet it instantly steeped his peerlessly beautiful face in a divine sanctity and purity belonging to no mortal realm—utterly untouchable, as though he had merely borrowed this form to walk the world.
Such an immortal soul for bone, jade marrow for flesh—divine light contained within, untouched by mortal dust.
Not a single trace of demon nature remained on Jiang Linxian. That faint human-shaped radiance he had glimpsed earlier inside the furnace and assumed to be an illusion—it had never been false.
The 7-Colored Immortal Pill, after all, was a wondrous object that seized heaven and earth's creative power and secretly harmonized with the innate Dao body.
Its primal essence and spiritual resonance had always been closest to the perfect human form.
Half of the pill's boundless power had forged his incomparably powerful demon body with limitless potential—serving as the root.
The other half—the most refined and concentrated transformative essence—had fully manifested under the profound guidance of this Manifestation Tribulation and the Grand Void Dragon Transformation Chapter.
Combined with his own unique qualities, it had sculpted for him this youthful immortal form that could truly be called immortal bones of jade—a manifestation bordering upon Dao itself.
Such appearance and bearing had long transcended the beauty of mere flesh—approaching a manifestation of Dao itself.
No wonder the Tribulation Lightning had been so tremendous in its momentum. This was not merely a demon achieving Manifestation; it was something closer to the creative forces of heaven shaping a body entire.
The demons, ghosts, and monsters watching from the shadows—after a brief shock and bewilderment—felt their greed stir anew.
The young man before them, though his bearing was astonishing, had just crossed his Tribulation. He must surely be weakened, and the spiritual energy on his body was pure and immense—he was practically a Heaven-sent great medicine!
Several of the most impatient, turbid demon energies and ghostly shadows transformed into dark, fetid winds and silently surged forward, striking directly for the seemingly unguarded young man's back!
Yet just as they were about to touch the hem of that white robe—
2 beams of clear, piercing sword light—one white, one green—arrived like startling birds from beyond the sky: coming after, yet striking first. They crossed and slashed down!
"Insolence! Who dares harm him!"
With that sharp cry, Lady White and Little Green's figures moved like bolts of lightning to block before Jiang Linxian.
Sword energy—cold and biting—carrying a rare urgency and fury, instantly slashed and repelled those few surging demon evils.
The lingering force shocked the other demons who had been stirring into retreat; they stared in startled suspicion at these 2 women of profound cultivation who had appeared so suddenly, their killing intent razor-sharp.
Lady White stood sword in hand, robes billowing. That face of hers, usually cool and composed, was now layered in frost.
When her gaze swept across the assembled demons, the imposing aura of a thousand-year Great Demon spread out without restraint—carrying an icy warning.
Little Green held her twin swords, her willow-leaf brows furrowed in fury, eyes nearly shooting fire as she scolded sharply:
"Get lost if you don't want your soul scattered to the winds! Take one more step closer and this old lady will tear apart every one of your lairs!"
That completely undisguised protectiveness and anxiety went far beyond what ordinary acquaintances would show.
The immediate crisis dissolved.
Only then did Lady White turn urgently, looking toward the young man who had just achieved Manifestation and stood motionless behind her. The frost in her eyes instantly melted into an overflowing concern and anxiety she could barely contain.
Little Green, too, immediately shed her fierce expression and stepped quickly forward, her gaze locked tight on Jiang Linxian as she looked him over—up and down—terrified he had even the slightest injury.
At this sight, both their breaths caught slightly.
Immortal bones of jade—none in the world compare.
It was the first time either of them had ever seen a demon, after achieving Manifestation, naturally carry divine sanctity and an extraordinary phenomenon.
No need for identification—the familiar energy was unmistakable: this was Jiang Linxian.
The Little Immortal they had worried over for a hundred years, searched for over a hundred years.
And yet…
As for Jiang Linxian himself, his reaction to the tremendous change in his own form was rather calm.
He lowered his head and examined his slender, clearly-defined hands with their even-set knuckles, sensing the spiritual energy flowing within his new form with even greater fluency and ease—especially the faint resonance with the Grand Void Dragon Transformation Chapter—and understood inwardly.
This human body was simply another form of vessel—one more suited to comprehending the Great Way, to walking the mortal world.
As for what his outer appearance looked like, he did not particularly care, though he was reasonably satisfied.
The lingering grace of the immortal pill had indeed given his Manifestation a starting point that was astonishingly high.
"For being able to cross this Tribulation smoothly, I must sincerely thank both young ladies for their protection just now."
His voice was clear and melodious—like cold spring water striking jade—utterly unlike the serpent hisses of days past.
He clasped his hands together and, following mortal-world courtesy, gave a solemn bow to Lady White and Little Green.
His posture was natural and flowing, his bearing composed and unhurried—not the slightest bit of the stiffness that demons fresh to human form so often showed.
Even without the aid of the 2 green-and-white serpents, Jiang Linxian would have been able to deal with the surrounding demons and ghosts on his own.
Lady White and Little Green, seeing this, felt something simultaneously sink in their hearts.
That surging tide of emotion seemed to have, in an instant, crashed into an invisible yet transparent wall.
His tone, his manner—courteous, thorough, yet also distant.