Chapter Eighty-One: Metamorphosis and Punishment

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  ………

  Yun Zhongzi flew with Yang Jiao all the way, although his soul had been repaired now, but thinking about what was to come next, Yun Zhongzi was a bit at a loss.

  "Everything depends on heaven's will."

  Yun Zhongzi could only sigh softly and then shake off his thoughts, flying towards the Ziwei Palace with all his might.

  The two of them moved extremely quickly, and before long they had returned to the Ziwu Palace. The current Ziwu Palace, after three years of reconstruction, was almost completely restored, regaining its former grandeur.

  Back in the grand hall, both of their faces turned solemn, because for what was to come next, even Yun Zhongzi didn't have much confidence. However, after the soul repair, Yang Jiao's soul had grown stronger, and they at least had a six-layer guarantee of success.

  But is having 60% confidence really a lot? No, it's just over half.

  "Master, I..."

  Yang Xiao looked at Yun Zhongzi, opening his mouth, but didn't know what to say at this time, and was quite nervous.

  Yun Zhongzi let out a sigh, squeezed out a faint smile and said, "Hold on, in the future you will definitely catch up with your master's footsteps, or even surpass your master. Remember, Wu Xing Island still has your parents waiting for your return, no matter what, grit your teeth and hold on for me."

  Yang Jiao nodded firmly, "Yes, disciple will definitely not disappoint Master."

  Yun Zhongzi patted Yang Jiao's body and said, "Alright, you first adjust your body, once everything is ready, then begin to transform."

  Yang Jiao immediately sat cross-legged in the great hall, began to adjust his breath, while Yun Zhongzi took out a brown gourd, absorbing all the star essence in the great hall. Then, he transmitted his divine consciousness and ordered the guards of the Ziwei Palace, "Use your full strength to control the star essence of billions of stars, and gather half of the star essence into the great hall."

  All the guardians were shocked, with a look of astonishment in their eyes. The essence of half of the stars in the billions of starry sky? Isn't that too exaggerated?

  To know that the star essence consumed by Yun Zhongzi and Yang Jiao before, although many, but compared to the vast universe, is less than one ten-thousandth. Half of the star essence, isn't that too terrifying?

  However, they did not dare to disobey Yun Zhongzi's orders and all took action. In the Ziwei Palace, there were special instruments used to control the starry essence, such as magical artifacts, etc., which Yun Zhongzi did not understand, so he left this batch of guards behind.

  In an instant, a torrent of starlight essence surged towards the Ziwu Palace like a vast ocean, and almost instantly, the entire Ziwu Palace was bathed in this starlight essence.

  Yun Zhongzi was also startled, he had originally planned to use the gourd to store a bit more stardust essence, fearing that Yang Jiao would not have enough time to absorb it from the billions of stars, but as soon as he sensed the entire Ziwei Palace's stardust essence at this moment, his heart skipped a beat, this was also too frightening.

  At the same time, all living beings in the vast wilderness only felt that the sky and earth suddenly darkened for a moment, but when they looked around, the light was still the same. It was only when they raised their heads to look up at the sky that they were all stunned.

  All that can be seen is a palace floating in the void, bathing in an ocean of five colors and ten colors. The ocean is strange to say, floating in the air, but not falling down, making the Honghuang crowd of living beings shocked, their jaws all dropped.

  And those quasi-saints, such as Meng He and Kun Peng, had their mouths twitching, their backs chilled with a cold air, and their nerves were somewhat unbearable.

  Recently, the entire Honghuang has been paying attention to Yun Zhongzi and Tian Ting's affairs. As for Yun Zhongzi's madness, they all have a number in their hearts. But looking at today's momentum, one can only sigh, "There is no craziest, only more crazy!"

  But several saints all furrowed their brows, yet none of them made a move, and they all quietly watched.

  ……

  After several hours, Yang Jiao adjusted his breath and said, "Master, I'm ready."

  Yun Zhongzi nodded silently, his expression calm, and gave Yang Jiao an encouraging glance.

  Yang Jiao smiled slightly, as if to encourage himself, clenched his fists tightly, and in a flash, he stood in mid-air, subtly sensing the majestic starlight around him. He took a deep breath, then lay flat on his back, floating above the grand hall, while a powerful suction force emanated from his body.

  Yang Jiao's body was like a whale swallowing a cow, absorbing all the starry essence on top of the great hall into his body.

  In almost an instant, the entire main hall was once again filled with a vast amount of stellar essence, and Yang Xiao continued to absorb it.

  Absorb, fill, absorb, fill, repeating endlessly, the amount absorbed is too enormous, making Yun Zhongzi secretly purse his lips.

  As more and more stardust essence was absorbed, Yang Jiao's skull continued to assimilate, and at the same time, Yang Jiao became more and more painful.

  Time slipped away, three days had passed, and at this time he was already half assimilated. A cold sweat broke out on Yang Jiao's forehead, dripping down, dripping onto the silent grand hall, yet it was exceptionally loud. This sound was like a heavenly drum resonating in his heart.

  Every time a drop of sweat fell, Yun Zhongzi's heart would suddenly jump, and he too became tense. Yang Jiao was after all his most promising disciple, if the transformation succeeded, he would surely soar to great heights in the future, but if it failed, he didn't know how to explain himself to Yang Tianyou and others.

  As time slipped away, Yang Jiao's entire body began to convulse, while his face became distorted, and from his throat came out one after another painful roar.

  ……

  In the blink of an eye, six days had passed, and Yang Jiao's skull had also been fully assimilated. However, Yang Jiao still hadn't woken up, and at this moment, he was constantly struggling in mid-air, sometimes kicking his legs, sometimes clenching his fists and waving his hands, with a painful expression.

  Yang Jiao's body kept twitching, his eyes rolled back, only showing the whites, his head shook back and forth, as if his eyes were about to pop out. The veins on his forehead bulged, as if they would burst at any moment, making Yun Zhongzi's heart almost jump out of his chest.

  ……

  Nine days have passed, and Yang Jiao's body lies flat in the void, as if asleep, with a calm expression and smooth breathing. However, Yun Zhongzi's face is heavy because he senses that Yang Jiao's soul energy is getting weaker and weaker.

  Watching Yang Jiao's soul energy getting weaker and weaker, Yun Zhongzi also sighed to the sky, his mouth trembling. At this time, he couldn't help either, and could only anxiously wait in the great hall, "Is it going to fail?"

  When Yang Jiao's soul energy completely disappeared, Yun Zhongzi sat down on the dragon chair of Ziwei Dadi with a thud, and his whole body softened, as if he had aged a hundred years in an instant. He looked up at the ceiling of the main hall, leaving only a sigh.

  "Little guy, I see that you have a remarkable skeleton, you're a good seedling. I have the Supreme Clarity Taoist scriptures here, and I intend to pass them on to you. Are you willing to become my disciple?"

  "Upper clarity, upper clarity, ah, is Xian Chang the Upper Clarity Holy Man and Heavenly Master?"

  ……

  "Shangqing Shengren is the revered master of this humble Daoist, and I am the chief disciple under the Heavenly Master's seat, Yunzhongzi."

  "Yun Zhongzi? Ah, is the immortal really Yun Zhongzi, who was able to fight evenly with a quasi-sage during the Da Luo Golden Immortal period?"

  ……

  "Master, please also save my younger brother and father, mother."

  ……

  "Master, let's go find my little brother. He is in a cave over there. And Master, you must save my mother, she must have been captured by those heavenly soldiers."

  ……

  "Master, your disciple has already ascended to become a celestial immortal. Can you tell me where my mother is?"

  "Not strong enough, continue to cultivate."

  "Hmm!"

  ……

  "Master, your disciple has already advanced to the Mystic Immortal stage, what now?"

  "Still not strong enough, continue to cultivate."

  "Uh-huh."

  ……

  "Yang Jiao, follow Master out for a trip."

  "Master, where are we going?"

  "Save your mother!"

  ……

  At the beginning of his apprenticeship and over the past century, scenes flashed through his mind like a movie, making Yun Zhongzi's eyes sour. Having come to Honghuang for so many years, he had never experienced such a farewell, even before crossing over, he had not experienced it either.

  Now, as he watched Yang Jiao's soul disappear, a sense of defeat struck his heart like a loud bronze bell, filling Yun Zhongzi with deep self-reproach. "Why didn't I stop him? If only I had stopped him from transforming, even if he wouldn't have achieved greatness in the future, at least he would have lived forever."

  The entire hall was filled with a bleak atmosphere, Yun Zhongzi sat weakly on the dragon chair, staring blankly at Yang Jiao, muttering to himself, "When I saved your life all those years ago, it was out of kindness, but in just over a hundred years, you've become... Is this really the will of heaven?"

  A wave of sorrow spread, causing the temperature in the entire grand hall to drop. Outside the hall, Chen Yi and the other guards all lowered their heads, sitting silently on the jade steps, not even daring to breathe.

  The Heavenly Court, Haotian also noticed everything here, but after seeing this, he fell silent, without a hint of joy...

  Wu Xing Island, Yun Xiao also knew the result, his face sank, his eyes scanned Yang Tianyou and his family of three, shook his head, and sighed...

  The great masters of the Primordial Chaos, some are delighted and others are sad. If Yang Jian's transformation is successful, it will undoubtedly give rise to another powerful master in the future. Unfortunately...

  Yun Zhongzi gazed at the floating Yang Jiao in the great hall, his eyes moistening, his mouth trembling, his teeth chattering, and his entire being devoid of spirit...

  Suddenly, in Yun Zhongzi's eyes, Yang Jiao's right little finger moved slightly, just this slight movement made Yun Zhongzi stand up in shock, and a pair of eyes lit up at the same time.

  "Heh heh"

  His eyes shone with a fierce light, like two sharp divine spears, shooting forward.

  Yun Zhongzi was shocked, and with a flash of his body, he struck down the two divine lights. Then, without blinking, he stared straight at Yang Jiao.

  At this time, a wisp of soul energy spread out from Yang Jiao's head, and then Yang Jiao's entire arm moved, as time passed, that soul energy grew stronger.

  Yun Zhongzi smiled, a huge stone in his heart fell down, and at this moment Yun Zhongzi just found that his forehead was full of sweat beads.

  However, Yun Zhongzi did not relax at all this time, because judging from the current situation, the third possibility is the greatest. If so, Yang Jiao would still be dead...

  "Whoosh"

  Yang Jiao opened his eyes, somewhat dazedly sweeping a glance over the great hall, and in an instant saw Yun Zhongzi, immediately standing up, excitedly saying, "Master, I succeeded?"

  Yang Jiao's eyes were filled with a look of surprise, looking up and down at his own body, feeling incredibly powerful.

  Yun Zhongzi finally breathed a sigh of relief at this time, and the tightly clenched fist also relaxed. At the same time, he really didn't know what to say, but just nodded, "Hmm, you succeeded."

  Just a moment ago, I thought Yang Jiao was already dead, and couldn't sense even a hint of his soul's presence. Who would have thought that in the blink of an eye, he'd be reborn like a phoenix from the ashes? The stark contrast between before and after left Yun Zhongzi rubbing his temples.

  At this time, many places on the vast continent also spread out sighs.

  Above the heavenly court, Haotian was not silent at this time, but let out a cold hum, however, it only contained dissatisfaction, without much anger.

  "We've finally succeeded, Master! I thank you, Master. Without you, there wouldn't be the me of today."

  Yang Jiao suddenly knelt down in front of Yun Zhongzi and knocked his head three times with a "thud, thud, thud".

  "Get up, by the way Yang Jiao, what did you feel when you transformed just now?" Yun Zhongzi suddenly asked.

  Yang Jiao stood up, thought for a moment and said, "When the disciple's skull was being assimilated, a strong tearing force acted on the disciple's soul, wanting to divide the disciple's soul into several parts. The disciple persisted, but in this tug-of-war, the disciple's soul power lost more than half. The disciple originally thought it had succeeded, but at this time, a scorching heat appeared, as if to refine the disciple's soul. At the same time, a huge repulsive force also appeared, wanting to squeeze the disciple's soul in one direction."

  He paused for a moment, and then Yang Jiao continued, "The disciple knew that he absolutely could not fail. Once failed, it would mean death. So the disciple always thought of his loved ones, thought of his master, and persisted. Finally, the disciple felt as if he had fallen into a sea of fire."

  At this point, Yang Jiao's eyes became firm and he continued, "In that moment, I thought I was going to die. I thought of my mother, father, sister, master, and all the people on Wuxing Island. I didn't want to die like that, but after falling into the sea of fire, my consciousness went dark. In a daze, I felt like several clusters of green energy extinguished the flames, so I woke up."

  Although Yang Jiao's words were concise, the danger in them was not something that others could empathize with. It was a matter of life and death, and if one let their guard down even slightly, they would lose their life. All that can be said is that Yang Jiao's transformation this time was successful, but it was also a bit lucky.

  "Alright, you take a break for now. We'll head back to Wuxing Island later." Yun Zhongzi instructed, then left the grand hall.

  Yun Zhongzi, however, had thought of more. Yang Jiao seemed to have narrowly escaped, but the nine spiritual roots that merged with his soul played the most crucial role; otherwise, whether Yang Jiao lived or died would be really hard to say.

  "See the great emperor."

  A group of guards had already discovered that Yang Jiao had woken up, with joyful expressions on their faces. Now, seeing Yun Zhongzi come out, they immediately paid their respects.

  "Don't be polite."

  Yun Zhongzi was very pleased with the situation, and everything that the group of guards had done was seen by him. He looked around at the remaining star essence in the vicinity of the Ziwei Palace and said, "Leave some of the star essence for you to cultivate, and return all the rest to the billions of stars."

  A group of guards were stunned, this happiness came too suddenly, feeling so unreal. It was Chen Yi who reacted first, overjoyed and said, "Yes, I obey the imperial edict."

  The other guards also reacted and immediately took orders and left.

  After a moment, all the starlight essence around Ziw Palace disappeared. Yun Zhongzi nodded in satisfaction and returned to the Grand Hall.

  Several saints saw this and their faces relaxed, then they each went about their business.

  In the vast expanse of the universe, various versions of myths were circulating, after all, the entire Ziwei Palace was once bathed in the ocean of starlight essence, that soul-stirring scene made many creatures unforgettable for a lifetime.

  After entrusting everything in the Ziwei Palace to Chen Yi and others, Yun Zhongzi took Yang Jiao away from the Ziwei Palace and flew towards Jin Ao Island.

  "I've seen Master Big Brother, and the old master has said that if Master Big Brother comes, there's no need to report, he can just go in directly."

  Yun Zhongzi had just arrived at Jin Ao Island when Tongtian Sect's young disciple spoke in this manner.

  Yun Zhongzi nodded, and then took Yang Jiao directly to the main hall of Biyou Palace. The master of Tongtian Sect was sitting upright in the main hall, with the disciples of Jie Teaching standing on both sides.

  "Disciple Yun Zhongzi pays respects to his master."

  "Disciple Sun Yang Gou, paying respects to Master Ancestor."

  The master of Tongtian's face was calm and serene, saying lightly, "Mm, get up, is this enough commotion for now?"

  Yun Zhongzi's body stiffened, and his heart was shocked, but he still said, "It was wrong for my disciple to make a big disturbance in the Purple Wei Palace and to recklessly move the essence of billions of starry skies. My disciple is willing to accept punishment."

  The Tongtian Sect Master nodded in satisfaction, saying, "Hmmm, I shall punish you by not allowing you to be summoned by me. You are not allowed to leave the Five Elements Island. On the island, you must reflect on yourself and cultivate diligently. Can you accept this?"

  "The disciple's heart and mouth are both obedient."

  "Master, Big Brother...". In the grand hall, all the other disciples of the Intercepting Sect spoke out to plead for Yun Zhongzi.

  The Master of Tongtian shouted in anger, "This matter has nothing to do with you all, disperse immediately! As for Yang Jiao, from now on, you can come to Jin'ao Island at any time to listen to the Tao."

  Duobao and other disciples of Jie Jiao had no choice but to retreat, while Yang Jiao bowed his body and said, "Thank you, Master."

  "Alright, Yun Zhongzi, you can go back too." The Heavenly Master looked at Yun Zhongzi, shook his head and sighed. A slight distortion appeared in the void, and the Heavenly Master's figure vanished from the great hall.

  "Master..."

  Yang Jiao looked at Yun Zhongzi, wanting to say something.

  However, Yun Zhongzi shook his head directly, "Let's go, back to Wuxing Island."

  "Master brother, Master is being too harsh on you." Dabao and the others immediately surrounded Yun Zhongzi as soon as he came out, speaking in a low voice to plead his case.

  Yun Zhongzi smiled slightly, looked at the group of younger brothers and sisters in front of him, and a warm current flowed through his heart. Then he said seriously, "Don't worry, I'm fine. Remember, stay on Jin Ao Island to cultivate and don't go out to cause trouble. I have a premonition that something big is going to happen soon."

  Duobao and others nodded in unison, all saying "yes".

  Yun Zhongzi patted Duo Bao's shoulder and left Jin Ao Island with Yang Jiao, flying towards Wuxing Island.

  In the residence of Tongtian Sect Master, upon hearing Yun Zhongzi's words, Tongtian Sect Master gazed towards the direction of the Heavenly Court and let out a cold snort.

  His eyes suddenly lit up like two lanterns, gazing in the direction of the Purple Cloud Palace, his brow furrowed, lost in thought, and let out a sigh.