owlsbooks Chapter 17 Preparing for the Transformation Tribulation
Chapter 17 Preparing for the Transformation Tribulation
After Teng San Niang explained, Lu Chang Geng realized that this body-capturing technique actually required the body of a recently deceased person.
The term "photographing form" refers to capturing the human form of a person.
Teng San Niang's appearance is based on that of a wealthy woman who was killed by bandits.
Based on this humanoid form, it was further modified using this magic, and finally became what it is now.
Lu Changgeng thought to himself, "Isn't this just like creating a character in a game?"
Having learned the details of this photographic technique, and seeing Teng San Niang's delicate face and graceful figure, Lu Chang Geng instantly lost interest...
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Half a month has passed in the blink of an eye.
Teng San Niang chose a sunny hillside on the west side of Zhuogou Spring, near the Iron Bone King's cave, cut down some old bamboo, and built a bamboo courtyard according to Lu Changgeng's idea.
The bamboo courtyard is not small, facing south, with the main gate located in the southeast corner of the courtyard.
There are three main rooms: one is used as a lecture hall, one as a study, and one as a tea room; there is a side room on each side, east and west. She and her two maids live in the east wing, while the seven little spiders stay in the west wing if they wish.
Flowers and plants were planted in front of and behind the bamboo house, and spring water was drawn to irrigate it. A stone table and several bamboo chairs were placed in the courtyard, giving it a reclusive feel in the mountains.
The rough work was naturally done by the Iron Bone King. He also had some underling demons, but Lu Changgeng was worried that too many demons would cause trouble, so he had him do it himself.
Without a word, Tiegu chopped bamboo, moved stones, and built scaffolding...
After setting up the bamboo grove, San Niang began to teach several small spiders. Just like the mortals, she chose to teach them in the morning.
In the early morning, before the mist had completely dissipated, seven graceful young women were already sitting neatly cross-legged on the futons in the bamboo hut.
Of course, they are far from taking human form. Their human form is merely a water-shaped incarnation that Lu Changgeng created for them to facilitate their writing and learning.
This method was inspired by the image-capturing technique. As for why he didn't use the image-capturing technique, Lu Changgeng felt that borrowing a human corpse would violate the laws of nature.
Besides, where in this desolate wilderness could one find the body of a young girl of the right age...?
Teng San Niang sat behind the stone table, holding a bamboo scroll in her hand. It was a handwritten copy of the "Cangjie Pian," which she had written overnight. Her handwriting was neat and elegant.
"Today is the first lesson." Her voice wasn't loud, but it reached every spider's ears clearly. "I will teach you to recognize characters. We'll start with 'Cangjie created writing'."
She stood up and wrote the character "仓" on the muddy ground with a bamboo strip.
Zi Ying sat cross-legged in the front row, her hands supporting her chin in an odd posture, as if she was not yet used to being in human form, her eyes fixed on the words on the ground.
Green Ivy yawned and asked lazily, "Third Aunt, why do we need to learn to read? What can we do with it?"
Teng San Niang glanced at her. This girl had the highest cultivation level and knew how to ask the most practical questions.
"Once you learn to read, you will be able to study." Teng San Niang put down the bamboo stick, her tone becoming more serious. "After you study, you will be able to understand things and distinguish right from wrong. When you grow up and become human, you will not be treated as uncivilized beasts, nor will you be deceived or harmed because of your ignorance."
She paused, then lowered her voice: "Back then, I was kicked out of my sect because I was illiterate and destroyed a manuscript of poems.
The bamboo hut was quiet for a moment.
Green Ivy suddenly said, "If one's cultivation level is high enough, one won't be afraid of being kicked out, right?"
Teng San Niang looked at her and said, "There are demons beyond demons, not to mention the gods in heaven. How high is considered cultivation? Besides, even immortals and Buddhas need to be literate. Didn't the God of Literature in heaven attain enlightenment through reading?"
Teng San Niang was quite well-read, which startled the little spiders.
Even the pothos plant, after being told this, obediently started studying.
Lu Changgeng's divine sense enveloped the area, taking in everything that happened, and he secretly thought to himself that he had indeed made the right choice in hiring the right person.
He immediately calmed down and focused on his own problems.
He has now taken one step into the transformation stage and is just waiting to prepare for the tribulation of transformation.
Deep within the spring, Lu Changgeng's divine sense was immersed in an ancient text.
That was the final part of the "Celestial Immortal Manual" in the chapter on Concentrating the Spirit, which recorded the key to dealing with the Heavenly Tribulation of Transformation.
"The tribulation of transformation is a test of the Heavenly Dao. The forty-nine Heavenly Thunders are not meant to kill, but to temper and refine. However, the thunder's power is vast and boundless, and the slightest carelessness will result in the destruction of both body and soul. Those who undergo the tribulation should prepare three things: first, a magical artifact; second, spiritual medicine; and third, a place for the tribulation."
"Magic artifacts are either protective treasures, weapons to control lightning, or objects to gather spiritual energy. Spiritual medicines are pills to heal wounds and prolong life, and powders to replenish qi and restore vitality. The place for tribulation is far from human habitation, with open terrain, which is convenient for attracting and dispersing lightning."
Lu Changgeng repeatedly pondered these key points and compared them with his own conditions.
What magical artifacts does he possess?
No, he has never crafted a single magical artifact, nor does he know how.
What kind of magic potion does he have?
The seven Earthly Element Fruits had already been distributed to the seven little spiders, waiting for them to concentrate before using them. As for the others, they wouldn't be of much use anyway.
Finding a place to undergo tribulation is not difficult; there are plenty of desolate and uninhabited hills within hundreds of miles of Pansiling.
He had long set his sights on a place: fifty miles north of Zhuogou Spring, there was a solitary peak, high in elevation, with open surroundings, and no demon caves or human habitation within a radius of thirty miles.
The reason for not choosing this place is to avoid attracting the covetousness of other beings.
But what Lu Changgeng cared about most was not these three preparations.
Instead, it's a thought-provoking passage from the "Celestial Immortal Manual":
"When a demon cultivator undergoes tribulation, he uses his physical body to withstand the lightning... The stronger his physical body, the easier it is to pass the tribulation. However, the stronger his physical body, the fiercer the heavenly lightning. This is the balance of the heavens, and cannot be forced..."
The text specifically addresses the tribulation of water-type spirits, noting that water has no fixed form. When lightning strikes the water's surface, the electric current disperses, causing damage to be scattered. A single bolt of lightning might only cause 10-20% of the damage.
It sounds like a good thing, but Heaven does not allow opportunism. If the four lightning bolts cannot strike his demon core, the tribulation clouds will not dissipate and will continue to descend with a fifth, a sixth... until they completely shatter him, or he will actively condense a target that Heavenly Thunder can lock onto.
In other words, he must withstand the heavenly lightning in the form of a demon core or a concrete human form.
The human form is not allowed to be an incarnation; it must be formed with the demon core as the core and spring water as the flesh and blood, just like the water giant when casting the Xuan Yuan Locking God Seal.
Four bolts of heavenly lightning were to strike this body, in order to temper its muscles and bones and solidify its human form.
If you can get through this, you will successfully transform.
If they can't withstand it, their main body will be shattered, their demon core will be damaged, and they might die and their cultivation will be destroyed.
The Cleansing Spring may still be there, but his soul will vanish into thin air.
"Damn it," Lu Changgeng cursed inwardly, "This isn't a tribulation, it's suicide."
But he had no way out.
The signs of the tribulation have already appeared. Even if he does not actively seek tribulation, the tribulation clouds will fall on their own in three to five years. At that time, he will be unprepared and have no way to survive.
Actively undergoing the tribulation offers a glimmer of hope.
Being passively attacked means certain death.