"Girl, wait a moment!"
Zi Lingling asked in confusion, "What's wrong, Old Du?"
Old Du said solemnly, "Girl, thank you for all you've done for me. I'm very reluctant to part with you, but there are some things I have to do."
"After I leave, the Nine Spirit Ring will temporarily lose its ring spirit, and some of its functions will be shut down. To re-enable these functions, you must re-infuse the Nine Spirit Ring with a ring spirit."
"Remember, the Nine Spirit Ring, like the Repentance Heart Ancient City, is a divine artifact of deep love. Therefore, ordinary spiritual bodies cannot be compatible with the Nine Spirit Ring."
"If possible, after that boy wakes up, you two should merge the Nine Spirit Ring and the Nine Dragon Ring into one! If you do, perhaps you can awaken the original ring spirit!"
Upon hearing Old Du's words, Zi Lingling suddenly had a bad premonition.
"Old Du, what are you going to do?"
Old Du smiled and said, "I'm going to merge my soul into that physical body now and face the heavenly tribulation with him. If we pass, I can recover to my peak state within a month."
"A month?"
Zi Lingling was greatly surprised but asked with concern, "What if you don't pass?"
Old Du laughed heartily three times, "If I don't pass, then... my soul will be scattered and vanish into nothingness!"
"No!"
Zi Lingling said sternly, "You could have waited until after the heavenly tribulation to merge with the body, why take this risk?"
Old Du shook his head and said bitterly, "Girl, I've waited a thousand years, and someone has also waited a thousand years for me."
"Merging with the body after the heavenly tribulation is indeed the safest option, but it would take me at least a hundred years to recover to my peak state."
"Girl, a hundred years. I can't wait any longer, and she shouldn't be able to either. I've already made her wait a thousand years, and I can't bear to make her wait any longer."
"Therefore, I want to recover to my peak state in the shortest possible time, then go find her and marry her. This way, even if great calamity strikes, we will have no regrets!"
Zi Lingling's words of persuasion were on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed them back.
She too had a beloved. She understood Old Du's feelings.
So, her lips moved a few times, and she finally managed to utter only one word: "Okay!"
Sensing the heavy atmosphere, Old Du laughed heartily, "Girl, you don't need to worry too much. I'm confident I can successfully pass the tribulation!"
"Heh heh!"
Zi Lingling's lips curled into a smile, "What else can I say? I wish you success!"
"En!"
Old Du nodded and unilaterally severed his connection with the Nine Spirit Ring.
Because he had a contract with the Nine Spirit Ring, severing the connection meant suffering the backlash of the contract.
Old Du's soul form trembled violently, and then he resolutely dived into the physical body.
He lay there, smiled at Zi Lingling, and then merged with the physical body.
Zi Lingling composed herself and said sternly, "Everyone, heed my command, withdraw the formation!"
Xuanyuan Xun, Rong Guang, Shangguan Yulin, Shen Liuxing, Long'er, Huangyi, Little Tiger, and Xuanwu immediately left their positions.
"Rumble!"
Thunder roared, and thunderclouds gathered.
"Hurry and leave!"
Zi Lingling shouted a reminder and then led the way, soaring into the distance.
Although she was not afraid of the lightning tribulation, if she remained in her spot, it would only make Old Du's tribulation of merging even more terrifying.
Xuanyuan Xun, Rong Guang, Shangguan Yulin, and Shen Liuxing also retreated out of the lightning tribulation's range as soon as possible.
As for Long'er, Huangyi, Little Tiger, and Xuanwu, they were directly recalled into Zi Lingling's contract space.
Black clouds pressed down, almost merging with the mountaintop.
Old Du lay quietly on the mountain peak, racing against time to merge with the physical body and control its power.
Zi Lingling watched Old Du from afar, her face filled with worry.
"Boom!"
The first bolt of lightning struck.
Old Du did not resist, but allowed the lightning to strike the physical body.
"Sizzle sizzle..."
Arcs of electricity danced, and the physical body was blackened by the strike.
A rich aroma wafted from the physical body under the onslaught of the lightning.
Only one-tenth of Old Du's soul had merged, and the remaining nine-tenths were still separated from the physical body.
Therefore, under this first bolt of tribulation lightning, his soul trembled violently, but he gritted his teeth and persevered.
The reason he chose to face the tribulation was to use the power of the lightning to force the rapid fusion of his soul and the physical body.
The effect was quite good.
Although the lightning tribulation caused him immense pain, it rapidly fused the soul and the physical body, which had a low degree of compatibility.
By the time the second bolt of tribulation lightning struck, his soul had already merged by three-tenths.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
Bolt after bolt of tribulation lightning descended. Although Old Du was in great pain, he was delighted with the results.
After four bolts of tribulation lightning, his soul and physical body had merged by nine-tenths.
"Boom!"
The fifth bolt of tribulation lightning was even more terrifying. Old Du no longer dared to face it head-on.
He controlled his body to stand up, and immense power of the laws projected from his fingertips, forming a barrier in an instant.
The function of this barrier was to decompose and channel. It split the tribulation lightning into several streams.
Old Du stood within the barrier, channeling the decomposed tribulation lightning into his body according to his tolerance, while the rest was channeled underground through the barrier.
Instantly, deep pits were electrocuted on the ground, and the power of the tribulation lightning was gradually consumed.
Old Du assimilated the part of the tribulation lightning that had entered his body and looked up at the sky again.
"Just a little more! I'll risk it!"
He gritted his teeth and channeled half of the sixth bolt of tribulation lightning into his body.
"Ah..."
A mournful cry of pain echoed beneath the thunderclouds, but it was masked by the roaring thunder.
Previously, because his soul and physical body had not fused enough, the pain he felt was not significant.
But now, Old Du could feel intense pain.
However, despite the pain, if he did not endure it, his soul and physical body could not fully merge.
Thus, amidst the intense pain, Old Du forcibly integrated the last wisp of his soul into the physical body.
"Success!"
He let out a long sigh of relief but still did not dare to be careless.
Because there were still three of the most terrifying bolts of tribulation lightning, he had to deal with them carefully.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
The last three bolts of tribulation lightning descended together, striking fiercely at Old Du's barrier.
"Crack!"
The barrier shattered, unable to even wear down a tenth of the tribulation lightning's power.
Old Du quickly formed hand seals, and six layers of barriers rapidly formed around his body.
However, these last three bolts of tribulation lightning were the eruption of all the power accumulated by the thunderclouds.
Therefore, the six layers of barriers only held for three breaths before being blown apart by the thunderclouds.