Blue Lake behind Jingchen Mountain.

A silver spring slops down the mountain, converging to form a deep lake according to the terrain. Blue Lake is the lowest point in Jingchen Mountain. The lake is roughly elliptical in shape, with a major axis of over 100 meters, a minor axis of about 70 meters, and a depth of tens of meters.

But at this moment, the vast Blue Lake has been turned upside down.

The rampant energy transformed into a gale and thunder, piercing through the heavens and earth and striking the lake. The lake water rippled violently, but one person in the center of the lake remained unmoved as the thunder struck.

The boy, around twelve or thirteen years old, was still small and his youthful face flickered in the flashing lightning. His pale, snow-white face was marked with a mix of old and new bloodstains, like jade stained with red plum blossoms, a beauty tinged with brokenness.

His short, black hair crackled with lightning, and after a slight burnt smell, a few barely visible strands of gold began to spread outwards, slowly turning his entire head of black hair gold. Even his dark, greyish-gold eyes were tinged with a dazzling flash of lightning.

"The third one!" Jiu Fanggui stood on the cliff by the lake, watching Shen Sanmei's situation intently. "Qiqi, get ready. We need to give Sanmei a chance in the middle three rounds."

"Hmm." Qi Qi, dressed in a dashing martial arts outfit, responded and activated her superpower, causing countless ferocious and terrifying dark green vines to instantly appear around her.

Each vine is at least as thick as an arm, covered with sharp barbs, and on top of the barbs are tiny, hook-like hairs.

"Whoosh—"

A blinding flash of lightning streaked across the dark, swirling clouds, purple lightning brewing before suddenly striking down!

Jiu Fanggui held Qi Qi down and flung out three original cores.

As the original core flew to the lakeside, a shimmering white array instantly rose above the entire blue lake, with countless shields with tortoise-like patterns soaring into the air, layer upon layer, fiercely meeting the purple lightning.

"Boom—Boom—Boom—"

A tremendous roar erupted, and lightning bolts pierced downwards, shattering the array's shield layer by layer. The array's disc crumbled, and the lightning dissipated completely.

Thunderclouds churned in the sky, as if the gods were enraged, and in the blink of an eye, the fifth bolt of lightning struck down.

Qi Qi made her move instantly. The overwhelming vines, like ghosts breaking through the cage of hell, fluttered and surged like dark green waves, meeting the thunder that swept across the sky from bottom to top.

Amidst the piercing shriek of lightning, countless fragments of vines scattered everywhere, but the purple lightning, like prey, was completely devoured by the vines!

The fifth bolt of lightning vanished, and Qiqi snorted coldly as she retracted the vines.

This is her special ability—

[Absolute Devour].

All energy can be devoured until it is completely stripped from its original body, but it cannot be preserved or stored in the owner's body.

Qi Qi's abilities and Jiu Fang Gui's abilities are a perfect match, one is stripping and transferring, and the other is receiving and merging.

Thunderclouds were brewing, and this time they rolled across the sky, with a vast expanse of lightning pouring down like a curtain of rain.

Jiu Fanggui and Qi Qi made their moves at the same time.

Vines coalesced and enveloped the lake surface, forming a protective barrier, while jagged barbs devoured all approaching lightning energy.

With a swift movement of his arms, Jiu Fanggui was "forcibly borrowed" from invisible energy, and a dense black light enveloped his body, spreading out dragon horns and transforming his entire body into armor-like dragon scales.

Jiufang Gui borrowed Shen Sanmei's [Dragon Transformation] ability, and black light condensed and shot out, with dragon flames blazing and obscuring the sun.

The lightning bolts fell unstoppably, tearing through the dragon flames and crashing onto the vines. They were consumed one after another, and when they finally landed on Shen Sanmei, they only left a slight tingling and electric current.

"Only the last, most crucial three bolts of lightning remain." Jiu Fanggui withdrew his hand and said to Chen Sanmei:

"Samadhi, you can only rely on yourself for the last three paths. If you can get through them, you can roam freely in the world. If you can't get through them, then everything will be in vain."

Shen Sanmei's forehead was covered in a mixture of water and sweat, and his breathing was slightly heavy.

The nine tribulations of lightning are divided into three stages, with the last three being the most powerful and requiring the person undergoing the tribulation to overcome them alone. If someone else intervenes, the tribulation will be incomplete, and the subsequent transformation into a dragon will not be successful.

He can only rely on himself.

Qiqi looked up at the thunderclouds in the sky, her brows furrowing slightly: "This tribulation is far too severe. Samadhi is only so powerful; he's probably not going to survive on his own... Heaven is not giving him a way out!"

Jiu Fanggui sighed, "He awakened his pure Golden Dragon bloodline at the age of twelve, a full twenty years earlier than Shen Hongchou. Such a prodigy would naturally face many trials from Heaven. We cannot interfere."

Qiqi gritted her teeth, and although she was reluctant, she clenched her fists to prevent herself from striking.

Just as the seventh bolt of lightning was about to strike, Qiqi suddenly shouted, "Chen Sanmei! Lele is still waiting for you!"

Shen San's spirits lifted, and in an instant, thunder descended!

"Aaaaaaahh ...

The boy's agonizing screams rang out together with the sound of his dragon scales tearing apart.

The lightning was like a knife slowly tearing the boy apart, peeling away almost all of his tender black dragon scales, and scraping off the scales that were still attached to his flesh.

His body was covered in blood, which stained the lake water where his lower body was immersed red.

If it weren't for the chains that held his hands to the mountain walls on either side, Chen Sanmei would have already fallen into the lake.

The chain was to prevent him from falling into the lake and choking. Blue Lake was chosen because the lake water gathers the energy and essence of the mountains, and it is located inside the mountains so that it is not disturbed by outsiders.

Shen Sanmei trembled in pain, the chains clanging and rattling. The immense energy of the descending lightning surged into his body, causing excruciating pain that made his head spin.

"elder brother--"

The little girl's scream pierced the chaos, jolting Shen Sanmei awake.

He looked up in surprise and saw the familiar little guy standing next to Jiu Fanggui. He tried to rush forward but was stopped.

With bloodstains everywhere, he couldn't make out Xiao Changle's appearance, but he could hear her crying. Was she terrified?

"Don't, don't look..." Shen Sanmei tried his best to make a sound.

He saw Qiqi reach out and cover the little guy's eyes, and immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

But then, the eighth bolt of lightning struck.

Shen Sanmei let out a low roar, and a dark, swirling light rose around him, containing both the energy of the [Dragon Transformation - Black Dragon] and the netherworld energy from hell.

Shen Sanmei, who was abandoned by the Shen family, actually inherited the supernatural abilities of both his parents perfectly.

【Beast Transformation - Black Dragon】 and 【Netherworld - Summoning Spirit】.

The reason he didn't show signs of dragon transformation in his childhood was due to a rare atavism, possessing a high purity of golden dragon blood within him. This meant that his dragon transformation ability would only be activated with sufficient energy at an older age.

However, Shen Hongchou and the others didn't understand and mistakenly thought he was a weak and useless person with supernatural abilities. It wasn't until he followed Jiu Fanggui that he gradually awakened the bloodline within him.

However, even Jiu Fanggui did not expect that Shen Sanmei's bloodline talent was so powerful. He had only been awakened for two years when he was about to undergo the tribulation and transform into a dragon.

Even with the best efforts to simulate and prepare, the situation is still one of the most likely to fail.

Xiao Changle's eyes were covered by his mother, but he could not see, yet he could hear a deafening roar.

But why can't I hear my brother's voice?

On the way here, Xiao Changle heard Shen Sanmei's screams and was so anxious that tears streamed down her face. Even though she can't see him now, she's still crying her eyes out.

She was worried, and Shen Sanmei knew she was worried, so this time, he remained silent.