Not only had he never consumed a spirit medicine, but this Blood of Scorched Sky was also far from reaching its peak.

Naturally, it was also impossible for it to manifest the divine ability known as the World-Burning Blood Pupil.

And in his memories, those Lu family experts who possessed the 'World-Burning Blood Pupil' ability had all achieved it naturally, as a matter of course. They had grasped it so easily,

how could it be like his current struggle, so agonizing and torturous?

Moreover, this time when it flared up, several bloodlines within his body were implicated simultaneously.

The power of the mixed bloodlines became chaotic, and the situation was growing further and further away from the 'World-Burning Blood Pupil' described in his inherited memories.

"Your servant previously made such a conjecture, thinking that if Your Majesty truly possessed the World-Burning Blood Pupil, then traversing this Nine Desolations Death Prison would be effortless. Upon closer inspection, however, it is not! Yet, there are still several similarities between the two—"

Lu Wubing shook his head, pulling an iron mask over his face.

This, combined with his armor, made his vital energy even more concealed and inscrutable.

"Observing Your Majesty's condition, there is an anomaly in the eyes, related to the bloodline. This servant has heard that the Nine-Tailed Mystic Fox lineage of divine beasts also possesses the Phantasmal Eye divine ability. Your Majesty’s mixture of several bloodlines has triggered a mutation. The precise cause is difficult to ascertain, and the future changes are equally unpredictable. However, our Lu family inheritance does possess some corresponding secret arts related to the World-Burning Blood Pupil, which might be of assistance to Your Majesty."

Zong Shou raised an eyebrow; what Lu Wubing said was remarkably similar to his own guesses.

He delved deeper into his memories and then relaxed his expression, having indeed located several secret methods.

They were methods for protecting and nurturing the eyes—

For any divine ability related to the pupils, the physical body of the eyes usually bore an immense burden.

Those crystalline beasts and divine beasts were fine, but human cultivators needed constant warming and training to achieve a certain level of strength before they could be employed.

The eye-protecting method was meant to prevent the pupils from sustaining excessive damage when deploying the divine ability.

While these secret arts were not precisely what he needed, the latter could reduce the agony when the qi and blood surged violently, striking against that barrier.

And the eye-nurturing method could be utilized right now. Several successive shocks had already left his eyes riddled with hidden injuries and chaotic meridians.

He secretly felt fortunate that for both human cultivators and crystalline beasts, the most fragile part was often the eyes.

For cultivators forging their physical bodies, this area was the hardest to strengthen.

It was only because he, Zong Shou, had been strengthened by the boundless Primordial Beginning Buddha's Vow Power that his entire body was evenly distributed.

Thus, he had managed to pass through these few shocks with alarm but no real danger.

A normal cultivator would have had their eyes burst long ago, and even if repaired through regeneration techniques, they would be hopelessly fragile.

"The Lu family's World-Burning Blood Pupil, the Phantasmal Eye divine ability of the Nine-Tailed Mystic Fox lineage. The Qilin, I don't recall, but the Ancient Thunder Roc also seemed to possess a pupil-related divine ability, though I forget the name. Could it truly be a mutation caused by the convergence of several bloodlines, all bearing pupil-related powers?"

As Zong Shou was contemplating this, he suddenly felt a stirring in his sleeve; it was Han Xi waking up. It shot out from his sleeve, flashed once, and vanished into the high altitude of a thousand zhang.

In that instant, this world filled with blazing fire and molten rock suddenly dimmed slightly.

Then, over a dozen streaks of black light rapidly descended from the surrounding horizons.

In this realm, countless resentful and malevolent energies converged.

Zong Shou took one look and knew this must be Han Xi’s tribulation to attain the Immortal Realm.

He was not surprised; after devouring the beast core of the Jiao Serpent and refining the vow power of the Azure Spirit World,

Han Xi had already one foot in the Immortal Realm.

Now, having successively 'swallowed' several of its own kind, this served as the catalyst for its true leap into the Immortal Realm.

Following behind Han Xi were thirty-six Sacred Fire Soldier Ants,

circling below, faintly forming a battle array.

These soldier ants were inherently akin to Han Xi's offspring, almost like extensions of its own body, so they naturally shared this tribulation.

When the black light struck, Han Xi effortlessly slashed out a few times, easily shattering the tribulation force into countless fragments.

It then gathered its flame energy, causing all the flames within this three-thousand-li world to surge toward its body.

Magnificent and vast, it hung in the void like a blazing sun.

This prevented the black light from even getting close.

At this moment, Xiao Jin from this world also flew out of Zong Shou's sleeve, transforming into a miniature 'Blood Sword Demonic Lord,' and perched on Zong Shou's shoulder.

Its expression was complex as it stared fixedly at the void. Half a moment later, when the tribulation force receded, it curled its lip in disdain and returned to Zong Shou's sleeve.

Zong Shou chuckled, knowing this little one had likely developed a competitive spirit.

This was a good thing, so Zong Shou let it be, paying it no mind.

But a distinct shade of strangeness emerged in his eyes.

Han Xi easily handling the tribulation was within his expectation. Celestial anomalies could contend with divine beasts.

Entering the Nine Desolations Death Prison and continuously consuming its kin had supplemented the deficiencies in its inherited divine abilities.

At this point, the tribulation force was less than one-tenth of his own tribulation when he reached the Immortal Realm.

Struggling to cope would have been the true oddity.

What surprised him slightly was Han Xi's handling of the gathering malevolent energies. It was using all its might to block them outside its body.

It wasn't exactly repelling them, but rather, after completely 'suppressing,' 'controlling,' and even 'purifying' them, it was slowly and carefully integrating them into its form bit by bit.

Zong Shou felt both gratification and a quiet sense of wonder in his heart.

It learned to control these malevolent energies so quickly, generating them yet not being controlled by them.

Han Xi had clearly broken free from its own instincts and developed its own nature.

The probability of it turning against its master had dropped to extremely low levels.

He couldn't tell if it was due to Han Xi's innate talent or his own careful guidance.

Nevertheless, Han Xi awakening and advancing at this juncture was indeed the best possible outcome.

As Han Xi began forming its beast core, the other Sacred Fire Silver Ants also started forming cocoons in the air.

Knowing that no further accidents were likely, and as Han Xi needed some time to consolidate its core, Zong Shou simply closed his eyes and entered a meditative state.

He waited for a full day and more. The forbidden techniques of this world flared up three times consecutively.

The surging of qi and blood indeed followed.

However, this time, experimenting with the secret arts from the Lu family bloodline inheritance,

it was significantly easier; even the Bone-Melting Blood Spirit Curse power was faintly suppressed.

Though the pain was intense, he could now bear it.

After observing for twenty hours, Han Xi finally condensed its beast core.

It slowly descended onto his shoulder, its six pairs of silver wings unfurling. Amidst the tassel-like luster, a hint of golden hue now appeared.

Its form had not changed, closely resembling a human figure.

Yet Zong Shou could feel the terrifying power contained within the little person standing on his shoulder.

Zong Shou let out a 'Hmph' of satisfaction and tossed the several mutated beast cores he had seized over.

Han Xi’s gaze shifted, but it was exceedingly discerning, selecting only two from the pile.

With a sweep of its silver wings, it tucked them within its own silver plumage.

As for the rest, a sense of resistance was faintly transmitted through Han Xi’s spiritual thoughts.