Ni Bo's body soaked in the magma pool for a full seven days before it finally recovered completely. When its entire form surged out of the lava, Ye Jingyu immediately felt an overwhelmingly intense heat wave wash over him, as if its whole being was a single, fiercely burning flame.

“Xiao Hei, how do you feel now?” Seeing Xiao Hei emerge, Ye Jingyu also rose from the ground and spoke. After seven days of cultivation, he discovered that within his body, near the fire aperture in his chest, a wisp of crimson mist had appeared, just like the azure mist associated with water. This was the purest essence of fire spirit energy. However, if the water-cold essence was the size of a washbasin, this trace of fire spirit energy was no larger than a grain of rice—practically negligible for a pond.

Yet, with even this sliver of fire spirit energy, the fire aperture began to spin incessantly, autonomously drawing in the surrounding fire spirit energy from the heavens and earth, requiring absolutely nothing from Ye Jingyu.

“Completely recovered, and even advanced beyond my previous state. My control over fire is certainly more refined now!” Ni Bo replied directly in human speech.

“That’s good, hehe. Now come with me, let’s return to Yunjing!” Hearing Ni Bo speak, Ye Jingyu showed no surprise, saying calmly.

“Very well, but wait a moment. I see you can absorb fire spirit energy too. I have something for you; it should be useful…” As Ni Bo spoke, its body turned and plunged back into the magma, quickly vanishing. Ye Jingyu felt no concern; it had endured seven days and nights in there without issue, and it wouldn’t suffer now.

Indeed, in less than fifteen minutes, Ni Bo’s form drilled out of the lava once more. This time, however, it held a lotus flower in its mouth—a fiery red lotus wreathed in flames.

“This is a thousand-year Fire Heart Lotus. I’ve eaten one before. You should consume this one; it will be of great help to you!” Ni Bo carried the Fire Heart Lotus over to Ye Jingyu and explained.

Ye Jingyu accepted it without ceremony and popped it into his mouth. It felt soft and delicate, like eating silken tofu. But the moment the Fire Heart Lotus touched his tongue, it dissolved into an extremely pure fire-attribute energy that surged into his body, ultimately being absorbed by the fire aperture in his chest, continuously strengthening the energy within.

When he finished absorbing the entire lotus, the crimson mist at his fire aperture had grown to the size of a water cup… This meant that the energy from this single Fire Heart Lotus was equivalent to one-tenth of the energy contained within a thousand-year-old giant Flood Dragon.

Thinking of this, Ye Jingyu’s hope for condensing nine Golden Cores within his body reignited. As long as he had enough spiritual medicines, he wouldn't need decades; he could condense the cores in far less time. It seemed the path of cultivation relied on more than just diligent practice.

Seeing how quickly Ye Jingyu absorbed the medicinal power of the Fire Heart Lotus, Ni Bo’s mouth opened slightly, as if about to utter something surprised. But then, recalling how Ye Jingyu had devoured the Flood Dragon’s inner core in mere moments, it relaxed.

“You seem to have changed significantly? I can’t sense your aura at all!” Finally, it voiced the question lingering in its mind.

“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you slowly later. For now, we must hurry back. We’ve wasted so much time; I don’t know how Yunjing is doing!” Ye Jingyu was anxious about Luo Ling’er’s safety and didn’t wish to linger.

“Good, climb on. My leg strength is now several times faster than before. We can reach Yunjing in half an hour at most!” Ni Bo stated with great confidence.

Ye Jingyu was overjoyed. He leaped up, landing squarely on Ni Bo’s back. Ni Bo’s four hooves moved, and they shot forward. Ye Jingyu summoned the giant corpse of the Flood Dragon from the ground into his Qiankun Bracelet with a gesture. Just as he was about to command Ni Bo to race toward Yunjing at full speed, a sudden sense of unease struck his heart.

And that feeling of anxiety originated from the direction of Medicine City.

“Xiao Hei, head northeast! Fast, run at your absolute top speed, quickly…” For some unknown reason, Ye Jingyu felt like something incredibly important was about to be lost.

Sensing the urgency in Ye Jingyu’s emotions, Ni Bo let out a piercing neigh. Black flames erupted simultaneously from its four hooves, and carrying Ye Jingyu, it transformed into a streak of black light, charging towards Medicine City. In the blink of an eye, they covered several li.

On the other side…

No matter how fast Liang Xiaoke moved, he had not yet reached the speed of a thousand li per step, and the thunder clouds in the sky would not wait for him to reach Ye Jingyu before descending the heavenly tribulation.

Just as Liang Xiaoke sprinted several hundred li out of Medicine City, the first bolt of heavenly tribulation fell from the sky. It was a lightning strike as thick as a water vat, striking precisely upon Liang Xiaoke. It instantly slammed him to the ground, his clothes scorched black, and his hair standing on end.

The second bolt followed immediately. However, this one did not target Liang Xiaoke, but the Blood Corpse Gongsun Lu beside him.

Compared to the previous lightning bolt, this cyan bolt was only the thickness of a fist, yet Liang Xiaoke felt its power was at least ten times greater than the previous one. How could Gongsun Lu’s newly formed flesh body withstand it?

Ignoring his own injuries, his body soared into the air again, raising his fist to smash towards the cyan lightning. The corpse energy within him circulated wildly, but heavenly lightning was the purest yang energy in the world, the nemesis of corpse energy. It struck Liang Xiaoke down again, his muscles charred black, smoke rising from many spots.

A very small portion of the lightning struck Gongsun Lu, continuously tempering her physical body, but it was precisely at the limit of what she could bear…

This was only two bolts, and Liang Xiaoke had nearly lost half his life. Yet, the Five Elements Thunder Tribulation consisted of ten bolts in total.

At this moment, a red bolt of lightning descended from the sky, again targeting Gongsun Lu. This bolt’s power was at least double that of the preceding one…

Gongsun Lu had absolutely no chance of resisting, so Liang Xiaoke, with no other choice, leaped into the air once more…

With a crackling sound, his body was struck by lightning again, dropping straight down. His entire form was no longer merely scorched black; he had turned entirely to charcoal, and the remaining half of his life was mostly spent.

Gongsun Lu, whose body had just been tempered by the first cyan lightning, immediately faced the second bolt. However, since Liang Xiaoke had shielded her from the bulk of its power, it remained within her tolerance limit, and her physical body continued to be refined by the heavenly lightning.