According to the laws of nature, the bigger your opponent, the harder they were to defeat. The bird understood this, and after Alex had already defeated it, the bird simply watched Alex, hoping that he would let it go.
"You've had a tough time of it, haven't you?" Alex asked. "It's okay. I won't harm you."
He withdrew his inner power, setting the bird free. It immediately became lively, rushing over to Alex and snuggling into him, clearly trying to please him.
Alex chuckled. "You're quite a friendly creature, aren't you? I think I'll call you Bernie."
He looked at the crest on the bird's head and smiled. "You have a good life here, and you're doing pretty well for yourself. If you can take another step forward, won't you reach the next level?"
Bernie nodded, chirped, and then stared in another direction.
"What's over there?" Alex asked, stroking its feathers.
The bird crouched down and signaled for Alex to get on its back.
He climbed on and said, "Let's go see what's over there!"
Bernie launched into the air and flew to another place. The closer they got, the more spiritual energy flowed over Alex, refreshing him.
"I did well to pick you up," he said to the bird as he slid off its back.
Alex knew that the Tomb was under a powerful spell, and he also knew it had been created by someone with a great deal of power. Although the spell had been partly destroyed, it was still incredibly strong.
Still, he had increased his inner power and had consumed the tricolor flower. He had also endured the lightning tribulation, and now he wanted to use the abundant spiritual energy in this place to break through to the next level of advancement.
With that in mind, he sat down and began to cultivate his power.
When the bird saw Alex meditating, it grew bored and wandered off.
Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, night arrived. The desert was extremely hot during the day, and at night, it was incredibly cold. Most people would not be able to withstand it.
However, Alex was not affected in the slightest. He focused all his attention on repairing some of the flaws in his training, determined to perfect the golden core level. He sat there all night, allowing nothing to distract him.
The next morning, the strange bird returned, carrying some odd-looking berries in its beak. It dropped them in front of Alex, and then flapped its wings.
Alex opened his eyes and was surprised to see the fruit. "There are plants growing in this desert?" he asked. He looked closer. "Lightning berries. Of course. They could flourish here. Thank you. These will be very helpful."
He raised his hand to stroke Bernie's head, but then he noticed a large wound on its wing. Although dried blood surrounded the injury, the wound itself wasn't healing.
"You're hurt!" Alex exclaimed in surprise. "Did this happen because you plucked this fruit?"
Bernie nodded and looked mournfully into the depths of the desert.
"I'll heal you first, and then I'll help you take revenge!" Alex said. He took out several pills and smiled. "I should have given you one of these before."
He threw a pill to the bird. "Here. Take this. It'll help."
Bernie caught the pill in its beak and tilted its head back, allowing the pill to slide down its throat. It grew excited, frantically flapping its wings and letting out a sharp cry. Then it flew into the air, circled Alex, and then landed again.
Moments later, a roar came from somewhere in the desert. It sounded like a challenge, and Alex looked at the bird with amusement.
"Is that the creature that hurt you?" he asked. "Take me to it, and I'll teach it a lesson for you. That'll make you feel better."
Bernie poked at its rapidly healing wound with its beak, and then it confidently shook its head and raised one wing to the sky, adopting a mighty pose.
"You're telling me that you can do it yourself?" Alex asked, grinning at it.
Bernie confidently patted its chest with its wings, and then it proudly strode in the direction of the roar. It called out twice, and then it flapped its wings, launched itself into the sky, and flew off.
Alex watched it go and shook his head, smiling. He picked up the lightning berries and ate them all. As each one hit his tongue, he could feel it zapping the inside of his mouth, and brief flashes of lightning surrounded him, but the berries left him feeling refreshed.
The energy from the lightning flowed through his veins, completely remolding his body, and flooding him with power.
Within moments, a lightning bolt streaked across his body, which immediately went to work absorbing the power of the lightning. When it was over, he glowed with energy, and several small flashes of lightning danced across his skin.
"Whoa!" Alex said.
This time, he stayed in a meditative state for more than a month. When he finally opened his eyes again, two lightning bolts flashed within them and then shot out, hitting the city wall.
As soon as the lightning struck the wall, it collapsed into a pile of rubble with a loud, booming sound.
He threw a punch, sending out another bolt of lightning that hit another wall. Several bolts of lightning bounced off it and scattered in all directions. The wall had remained standing for thousands of years, resisting the wind and sandstorms, but now, the lightning smashed it to pieces in an instant.
"I've finally done it," he said to himself. "I've absorbed all the energy, and now I've reached the golden core level. Although I'm only at the beginning of this level, I think I could hold my own against someone at the early nascent level."
He frowned. "But why hasn't the lightning tribulation appeared yet? Is this place able to block it? If that's the case, then there's a high chance it'll happen once I leave here."
He could hide his power level to avoid the tribulation, but once he stepped fully into the golden core stage, it would become impossible for him to conceal his strength, and then the tribulation would happen. Its absence must be the result of the spell that covered this place.
When he heard a rustle of feathers, he turned to see the bird standing beside him with fear in its eyes. Clearly, it had been disturbed by the power behind Alex's punch.
"Oh! You're back?" Alex tilted his head and looked at Bernie, noticing several deep wounds on its body. These injuries had already formed scabs, which made the bird look somewhat fierce.
"You're still injured?" he asked suspiciously.
Before he had entered a meditative state, Bernie had flown off to seek revenge on its enemies. But that had been a while ago, and he would have expected it to have healed by now.
When Bernie heard Alex asking about its injuries, it raised its head, and then it paced back and forth, showing off its wounds as though they were badges of honor. The meaning was very clear—it had faced its enemies and emerged victorious.