The sounds of rain and thunder soon ebbed away like a falling tide and the gem-like droplets soon ceased.
The black agate-like droplets flowed along his wounds as they mixed with his blood, bringing an ungodly chill with its passage.
"Ssss"
Xiao LingYue sucked a cold breath as he rose, his face slightly pale from his injuries and lack of blood.
As he stood upon the chest of the Sanguine Ape, his hands gripped the cold spear which protruded from its skull, before wrenching it out from the mass of flesh and blood.
His body rested upon his spear for support as he saw a glint nearby and remembered the gourd the Sanguine Ape had spat out at the last moment, in a final attempt to save its life.
Dragging his injured body, he traipsed through the blood and muddied water as he saw a pristine white gourd laying upon its side with a black cork laying on its side amongst the leaves.
He grabbed it forcefully before raising it, his eyes staring intently at this treasure the Ape spat out of its stomach with a wary look in his eyes.
He turned it to see a large Totemic inscription on its side that he had never seen before.
His eyes widened as he stared at the inscription before him on the gourd, his mind began feeling faint as he realized it became harder and harder to focus.
Shock plastered his face as he looked away immediately!
Little did he notice, his face had become even paler as his back and face was layered in sweat!
The totemic inscription seemed to morph between an alluring flower as well as a ghastly skull while the more you stared at it, the deeper it entranced you...
His heart shuddered at the thought of losing himself from just staring at its inscription.
His arm shook the gourd vigorously as he heard a liquid swishing inside as it hit the sides.
Using his next hand, he uncorked the gourd...
Suddenly!
A mass of Spiritual Qi began to flood his surroundings, and his Demonic Qi which had just finished a breakthrough began moving again as his meridians showed signs of opening!
His eyes were wide open as he brought his nose to the bottle, and as he breathed in his muscles relaxed and his wounds began to itch!
His wounds had begun healing from just the smell!
Holding the gourd at arm's length due to shock, he stared at it before placing the opening to his lips...
He placed a drop of the liquid in his mouth as it slid down his throat, slowly infusing into his very being.
His Demonic Qi began to soar as strand after strand collected in his meridians!
It was like a dormant volcano had just been catapulted back to its peak, his surging Demonic Qi billowed around him, submerging him within!
The clothes around him slowly began to tear apart from the sheer force his Qi erupted with while the Mask of the Myriad Mask Silkworm Gu began to melt away as it fell piece by piece!
BANG
BANGBANGBANGBANG!!
His meridians opened one after the other as his Moon Lotus Mantra began to circulate furiously to keep up with the influx of Spiritual Qi!
It constantly churned as it did its best to convert it to Demonic Qi.
POOF!
The Demonic Qi began to contract as it bubbled around him, no longer was it like a mist but it flowed like water, engulfing him completely!
It became more and more viscous as the colour changed to a murky violet colour, as even his body couldn't be seen, its form changing as it was no longer the Demonic Lotus Qi, but Abysmal Lotus Qi.
The Lotus mark on his forward pulsed with a violet glow as his eyes illuminated the night!
His neidan pumped wildly as his veins protruded from beneath his skin, turning a darkened violet colour as they meandered across his body.
His flesh and blood began to be refined within the Abysmal Lotus Qi as it submerged his body.
The Abysmal Lotus Manifestation is shown behind him as he broke through from the mid-8th stage to the peak of the 9th stage!
Upon reaching the final stages of the Moon Lotus Mantra one would be able to summon the Lotus as a type of corporeal treasure being able to attack and shield at will!
The Lotus pulsed in the air similar to a beating heart as with every contraction it became a size smaller, its body becoming more corporeal as it slowly shrank to the size of a palm before descending above his head, spinning slowly before it slowly faded away.
Time passed as his wounds healed, his body unblemished like jade and his hair fluttering about him as the violet Abysmal Lotus Qi retracted into his meridians.
His body stood as his eyes glanced in shock at the gourd he took back within his grasp and tried to store it within his storage pouch but to no avail.
'I wonder if that was the legendary monkey wine...'
He thought to himself as he changed his robes, before placing a new Myriad Mask on, slowly making his way to the gateway leading away from this trial.
He placed the gourd within his robes as he stood before the swirling gate, taking one last look at this eerie and wretched world before stepping through the gateway...