Chapter 1577: How can you get stronger without topping up?

October 21st, Monday, 9:00 AM.

The Fifth Stage heavenly tribulation was finally approaching its end.

To be honest, Song Shuhang had not expected the steel manifestation to actually survive until the end of the tribulation.

Ever since the tribulation had begun, the steel manifestation had been ‘on the verge of death’ the entire time, but it had tenaciously held its own until the end of the tribulation.

At this time, the ‘railgun’ on its back no longer had ammunition nor energy. The steel manifestation was no longer able to maintain the s.h.i.+eld on its body, either, and its mecha form had become tattered, making it feel like it would fall apart at any moment.

Song ‘Now My heart is Aching’ Shuhang.

He hadn’t even gotten to take his new immortal boat on a few trips yet. The plot in his dreams where he would use the immortal boat to bring his family and friends around for some fun had yet to be realized when the immortal boat was already near breaking down.

I wonder if the immortal boat can be repaired even after being broken down to such a state?

Right now, the only way the steel manifestation had to fight the heavenly tribulation was by relying on the phone-like magical treasure and its body, which was made of top-tier Fifth Stage materials.

Dharma King Creation said, “The final blow.”

He took out a small notebook and quickly began recording things down. After seeing the scene of Song Shuhang’s steel manifestation transcending the tribulation, he felt that his inspiration was overflowing.

Tragic and heroic scenes could always inspire composers.

While writing, Dharma King Creation would hum from time to time. “Steel as body, flames as blood… Hope will surely follow after despair. This is a good sentence.”

“Boom!”

The last wave of the tribulation descended.

The tribulation cloud had become a huge palm as it suddenly pressed against the steel manifestation. In that huge palm was the heavenly tribulation’s energy, condensed into a ball of lightning and filled with destructive power.

“The Lightning Palm? So it can be used like this!” Song Shuhang was dumbfounded.

The tribulation cloud and the heavenly lightning had combined to form a ‘Lightning Palm’, attacking the steel manifestation.

The steel manifestation held on, using the last bit of its strength to click on a b.u.t.ton on the phone-like magical treasure.

But at this time, the runes for a magical technique did not appear.

Instead, a strange voice sounded.

The language that was used by this voice was one that Song Shuhang could not understand, but there was a mental energy fluctuation in the voice which was something similar to a translation effect.

The translated meaning was approximately: [h.e.l.lo, your quota of magic power for international usage has already been exhausted this month… Please top up.]

Song Shuhang: “…”

T-top up?

You’re reminding me to top up at such a critical time?

I thought that this thing only looked like a phone, I didn’t think that it also functioned like a phone!

At first, Song Shuhang thought that it was something like a ‘magic wand’, but now it seemed that that was not the case at all.

No money? Then you’re on your own! How can you get stronger without topping up? But after topping up, you can do whatever you want!

“How do you top up? Anyway, top up as much as you need.” Song Shuhang gave orders to the steel avatar.

However, the steel manifestation did not perform a ‘topping up’ action.

It could not recharge this phone-like magical treasure.

It was probably because… it did not have the currency that the phone used for top-ups.

“Not good, it’s over.” Song Shuhang was heartbroken. His immortal boat was really done for this time.

The Heavenly Tribulation Lightning Palm finally fell on the body of the steel manifestation.

The upper body of the steel manifestation was destroyed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

“Ahhh~” The virtuous lamia, who was still recording, opened her mouth and prepared to use the ‘Song Shuhang’s Four-Toned Scream Technique’.

However, before she could even reach the second tone, Fairy Creation, who was behind Dharma King Creation, had already gotten ahead. “Ahhh~ Ah~”

[Song Shuhang’s Four-Toned Scream Technique] 5x speed!

Despite joining the compet.i.tion later, Fairy Creation had managed to steal the lines of the virtuous lamia by relying on speed.

The virtuous lamia turned her head stiffly and stared at Fairy Creation. Her expression read, ‘How could this be?!’

Was this not a breach of rules?

Song Shuhang: “…”

The tribulation cloud in the sky dissipated, and the heavenly tribulation also disappeared. Only a patch of scorched earth was left…

The ‘core reactor’ did not try to draw over a Sixth Stage heavenly tribulation.

Song Shuhang’s figure moved towards the area where the tribulation had taken place.

He arrived at the side of the steel manifestation.

The steel manifestation, which was in its mecha form, had been crushed to the ground. The area above its chest had been directly blown to ashes by that final Lightning Palm, and the ‘railgun’ on its back had also been reduced to half of what it used to be.

Song Shuhang stretched out his hand and placed it on the steel manifestation lightly.

In the next moment, the steel manifestation reacted to Song Shuhang’s touch.

It hadn’t died just yet.

For the steel manifestation, its upper body was replaceable. The most important part of its body was the ‘core reactor’ area at its abdomen.

As long as this part was not destroyed, the steel manifestation would be okay.

Although it was in a very sorry state, it had succeeded in transcending the tribulation.

At this time, the core reactor in its abdomen had taken on a dark golden color, which made it look very valuable. However, for some reason, he felt that the Fifth Stage core reactor was lacking something, like some patterns.

The phone-like magical treasure was still intact and was in the hands of the steel manifestation.

Song Shuhang stretched out his hand and gently placed it on the mecha, patting it lightly.

Although he knew that this was just a pet-shaped manifestation, and it did not have much intelligence, after seeing it hold its own and successfully transcend the Fifth Stage heavenly tribulation, Song Shuhang could not help but whisper to it, “You did very well.”

Until the last moment, it had not given up.

“Return to a humanoid state. I will take you to an immortal boat factory when the time comes and see if you can be repaired.” Song Shuhang issued an order to the manifestation.

Following Song Shuhang’s order, the steel manifestation, which was in its mecha form, quickly shrunk and finally a.s.sumed a humanoid form with half its body missing.

Song Shuhang reached out and placed his hand on the manifestation, transferring it to the Inner World.

Then, he grabbed the phone-like magical treasure.

Song Shuhang said, “It’s over. Now, it’s time to switch places with my main body and release Doudou.”

❄️❄️❄️

His main body had swapped back over, and Doudou was also transferred out from the Inner World.

When Doudou stepped out of the Inner World, changes began taking place in his body as he entered the process of condensing a monster core.

Song Shuhang reminded, “Doudou, don’t forget to drink the Seven Colors Wonder Fruit’s liquefied pill.”

“It’s finally over?” Doudou quickly took out the bottle with the liquefied pill and poured it into his mouth to improve the quality of his monster core.

Song Shuhang nodded. “It’s over. You can be at ease while condensing your monster core. Fairy Dongfang, Senior Creation, and I will keep watch for you.”

Doudou said cautiously, “When I’m condensing my monster core, you guys better not sing or gaze at me.”

Song Shuhang: “…”

At this time, the monster energy and innate true yuan in Doudou’s body began to flow toward his lower abdomen.

After a Fifth Stage monster condensed a monster core, they would be able to change the structure of their body and a.s.sume a human form.

When Doudou had been at the Fourth Stage Realm, he got to acquire a first human form that looked very similar to Song Shuhang in appearance.

After ascending to the Fifth Stage, he would condense a second human form, one that truly belonged to him.

Fairy Dongfang Six said, “What kind of monster core will Doudou condense? After all of the twists and turns he had to go through for his tribulation, it will definitely be top-notch.”

“I think it’ll be a top-notch colorful monster core. Moreover, since Doudou practices the cultivation technique that Senior Yellow Mountain specially created for him, his monster core may also have dragon patterns.” Dharma King Creation said.

For ordinary monster cultivators, when they condensed their monster core at the Fifth Stage, its strength was mainly judged depending on its color.

And for monsters who possessed monster energy and true yuan at the same time—such as Doudou—their monster core could have patterns similar to a human cultivator’s dragon patterns, and the more there were, the stronger they were.

Doudou shouted, “A monster core to determine one’s path, condense!”

At his dantian area, monster energy and innate true yuan converged, condensing the embryonic form of a monster core. At the same time, the power circulating in Doudou’s blood vessels also merged with the monster core.

Fairy Dongfang Six giggled, and said, “There is still a slight difference between the monster core of a monster cultivator and the golden core of a human cultivator. For example, the monster core of a monster cultivator is much more related to ‘flesh and blood’. In addition, for many female monsters, condensing a monster core is very similar to getting pregnant.”

“Fairy Dongfang, don’t say that word!” Doudou hurriedly called. “Song Shuhang, don’t stare at me!”

Song Shuhang: “…”

“Ahhh, how horrible! It really feels like I’m giving birth.” Doudou lay on the ground, his paws repeatedly slamming on the ground. The process of condensing a monster core had reminded him of a memory he did not want to recall.

Dharma King Creation hummed, “It seems that when Fourth Stage monster cultivators ascend to the Fifth Stage~ they might recall the terror of Profound Sage Tyrannical Song’s eyes, just like Doudou right now~”

“Don’t sing, please. Senior Creation, don’t sing!” Doudou slammed the ground vigorously.

This dog transcended his tribulation today, and Tyrannical Song is to my left while Creation is to my right. I ask the fellow daoists of the universe, are you afraid?

The virtuous lamia held the phone such that its camera was locked onto Doudou and she filmed the entire scene.

“Don’t record it. Fairy Waiting for a Promise, don’t film such a shameful scene!” Doudou wailed like a dog.

At this time, a sword light descended from the sky.

Venerable Yellow Mountain got down, letting out a breath of relief after seeing Doudou slamming the ground vigorously.

It appeared that Doudou had successfully ascended to the Fifth Stage.

“Awoo~” Doudou howled to the sky.

Inside his body, a seven-color monster core was formed, and this alone showed that it was a top-notch monster core. At the same time, there were patterns similar to ‘dragon patterns’ appearing on the monster core.

One, two… four… six… eight!

Doudou jumped up from the ground and said triumphantly, “Hahahaha, a seven-color monster core with eight patterns.”

Song Shuhang said with some regret, “What a pity. The heavenly tribulation had been strengthened to such an extent, yet it actually wasn’t enough for nine patterns.”

It could be seen from this how difficult it was to condense a golden core with nine dragon patterns!

The difficulty of Doudou’s tribulation had increased by three to four times, and there had also been a Fourth Stage heavenly tribulation on top of that. Despite all of that, his core only had eight patterns!

“Let me see.” Venerable Yellow Mountain showed a gratified smile after hearing that Doudou condensed a seven-color monster core with eight patterns.

He stretched out his hand and placed it on Doudou; his consciousness entered Doudou’s dantian area.

Sure enough, it was a seven-color monster core with eight patterns.

“Eh? Wait… What is this?” Venerable Yellow Mountain suddenly saw that Doudou’s monster core had a strange mark at the bottom.

This mark appeared to be a metal version of little friend Song Shuhang’s head.

Venerable Yellow Mountain: “…”

Are my eyes playing tricks on me?