A tremendous roar echoed, and a lightning arc, resembling a celestial giant's sword, shot forth from the depths of the clouds, striking precisely the apex of the spectral wind. A flash of silver light illuminated the scene; beneath the gray-white wind, which trembled violently, both the lightning and the wind vanished. In their place, a creature with a bull's head and a serpent's body emerged in the lower air. Its lower body now coiled into a compact mass, and its form had changed noticeably—on either side of its body, two pairs of purple flesh wings and two sturdy, green arms had grown. Han Li gazed at it for a long time, yet could not discern any resemblance to the legendary celestial or terrestrial spiritual beasts described in the tales. At that moment, the Tianlan Saint Beast fixed its gaze upon the thick, faintly visible lightning arc above, and its newly formed flesh wings gently swayed. With each flutter, a cluster of gray-white spectral vapors suddenly materialized around it, swiftly enveloping the creature completely. The thunder above finally grew so dense it could no longer be intensified. Amid the deafening crack of lightning, arcs of electricity, each several cun in width, cascaded down from the sky's power grid one after another, enveloping an area of over ten li in radius in a blaze of lightning—so intense that even Han Li, standing by and observing, could not escape the fury. Within that small area centered on this strange creature, the density of silver arcs falling was several times greater than what fell at Han Li’s location. With his Qingming Ling Miao divination ability, Han Li could only see the gray-white aura of the beast completely enveloped in a radiant silver glow, the thunderclaps falling so densely they sounded like a steady rain—utterly unavoidable. Han Li’s face remained expressionless, though he was somewhat astonished. He had, indeed, witnessed the phenomenon of a beast undergoing a transformational lightning calamity during his time in the Chaotic Star Sea. Yet, when that turtle beast—already defeated by him—had faced its final phase of the ordeal, the thunder had not been so intense. And now, this celestial leviathan displayed such overwhelming power right from the very beginning, making it even more astonishing as it progressed into its final stage. Could it be that each beast’s lightning ordeal was entirely unique? Indeed, when it came to the secret traditions of the fabled beast-kin’s trials, human records contained only a few references—often just a brief mention. It's not surprising at all—transformation lightning is something that beasts and wild creatures experience, not closely related to human cultivators, and thus rarely documented in human texts. Even if some cultivators were curious about it, ordinary people rarely had the opportunity to witness high-level beasts enduring their trials. After each beast's ordeal, they are at their most vulnerable, so how often would human cultivators be able to observe them from close by? Nevertheless, Han Li found it slightly odd, but didn't dwell on it too much. After all, such lightning strikes were not particularly impressive for his current level of cultivation. The electric arcs, each about a foot in size, had been falling steadily for a full meal's time before the thunder in the sky gradually subsided and finally paused. Han Li focused intently and looked again, only to find that the pale, grayish aura within the array had already scattered into fragments, leaving only a very thin layer. Taking advantage of this moment of respite, the Tianlan beast was now breathing deeply, pressing hand seals, rapidly flapping its flesh wings, and simultaneously exhaling a misty, grayish aura from its open mouth. Thus, a cluster of妖energy, now even denser than before, swiftly coalesced and enveloped the beast once more. The Tianlan Sacred Beast, its gaze cool and composed, showed no signs of agitation, as though it had long anticipated the intensity of the lightning assault. Seeing this, Han Li smiled slightly. It seemed the beast indeed could withstand the preceding lightning strikes on its own, and thus, he need not intervene prematurely. Nevertheless, the advantages the beast had mentioned would prove invaluable to his future plans and could not be easily overlooked. With these thoughts in mind, Han Li raised one hand and tapped his waist satchel. Instantly, several magical artifacts of varying colors shot out and settled in a neat row before him—three containers in particular: a deep yellow gourd, a pristine white circular basin, and a jade bottle of a clear green hue. At that moment, the thunder in the sky roared again, and the second wave of lightning began to descend. The current lightning was significantly denser than the first wave, and the falling silver arcs were much larger in scale, making the overall spectacle far more impressive. Han Li withdrew these several artifacts and no longer paid attention to how Tianlan the beast endured the divine trials. Instead, he settled onto the ground and closed his eyes, appearing fully prepared to conserve his strength. Thus, within just one hour, Tianlan the beast endured six successive waves of lightning strikes—each progressively more terrifying and astonishing. By the third wave, the arcs of lightning had grown to nearly half a zhang in length, resembling long serpentine streaks of silver that plunged directly from the sky, even damaging several of Han Li's protective spells arranged around him. Han Li's divine, pestilential lightning, manifesting as a golden net, remained undisturbed throughout, securely enclosing Han Li within it. At the very heart of the lightning strikes, Tianlan the Sacred Beast, beginning from the fourth wave, finally lost its previous composure. It began casting spells to enlarge its form, growing to a height of over ten zhang. The妖气 spewing from its mouth had ceased to be gray-white and instead transformed into a silvery hue akin to lightning. This strange aura, when it came into contact with the celestial lightning arcs, emitted a metallic clashing sound—like the collision of two metals—rebounding half of the arcs back, while only absorbing the remainder. Such an unusual phenomenon caused even Han Li, who had been closed-eyed, to open his eyes in astonishment and gaze at it intently. He now noticed that the shimmering silver aura, though brilliantly luminous, conveyed an intense sense of cold. "Ah, this seems related to the cold essence he once gifted me," Han Li mused. "Could it be that this beast has already fully assimilated the essence of the sweat marrow in such a short time?" The Tianlan beast, now relieved by this unusual aura, successfully deflected several more waves of lightning strikes in succession. However, as the seventh wave of lightning approached, its expression grew increasingly serious, and it soon became visibly tense. The dark sky suddenly surged to life, with dense, gloomy clouds rolling and roaring. The vast electrical grid composed of shimmering arcs suspended beneath the clouds began to plummet in great segments. For a moment, the entire sky was flooded with silver light, and the thunder roared so fiercely that it drowned out every other sound. In that instant, the entire universe seemed to exist solely in the realm of lightning and thunder. After all, with such a senior cultivator providing protection, even if the lightning calamity grew a bit stronger, it should still be manageable. One after another, silver grid networks fully enveloped the beast, countless arcs leaping simultaneously from the grids and striking the silver aura with relentless force. Though half of the arcs were rebounded by the aura, the remaining ones were astonishingly numerous. The silver aura visibly shrank and dispersed rapidly under the assault of the lightning arcs. By the time the seventh wave of lightning passed, the silver cloud had diminished by nearly half. Yet this aura seemed to replenish itself effortlessly—just as the seventh wave concluded, the celestial beast expelled a fresh layer of gray-white aura, adding another coating over the existing silver one. Immediately thereafter, the eighth wave of lightning began. The grid networks now twice as large as before descended with impressive momentum. The thunder roared with tremendous power, instantly leaving only a silvery-white hue on the aura's surface, while the surrounding earth trembled slightly under the force of the thunder. Han Li, seated outside the spell array, slightly furrowed his brows at the astonishing display, but soon resumed his composed expression. However, at this moment, he slowly stood up and began to gaze steadily at the sky, as though searching for something specific. Suddenly, his expression changed, and he lowered his head sharply, looking toward a spot on the distant ground, his eyes flashing with a new interest. "Hm, this is quite interesting. I never expected such a presence in the southern heavens," Han Li murmured to himself. Then, he suddenly snapped his ten fingers against the ground, and several soft puffs echoed as ten slender red threads shot out, vanishing instantly into the ground. Han Li watched the spot intently, a quiet smile of contempt forming at the corner of his lips. Suddenly, the ground there shook violently, and then a horrifying cry rose from beneath, followed by a massive surge of soil rising into the air. Amidst the hazy dust, a colossal creature, several dozen zhang in height, burst forth from the ground, its upper body wrapped in seven or eight spirals of slender filaments glowing with crimson flame, the heat scorching its skin and causing it constant pain. This was precisely the ten remarkably magical Fire Spirit Filaments recently refined by Han Li. Seizing this moment, Han Li gained a clear understanding of the creature's form. The creature was long and massive, with a deep yellow hue, resembling a greatly inflated earthworm. Yet, it bore countless meat-like tendrils of varying sizes, constantly swirling and dancing, and atop its head stood a magnificent golden horn, shining brilliantly and standing out prominently. What was astonishing was that whenever the sky's lightning network descended near the creature, the golden horn at its head flashed intensely, as if drawing the lightning to it—each bolt instantly redirected and vanished into the horn, leaving no trace. "So it is a unicorn worm—yet how enormous is its size?" If I'm not mistaken, the horn of this kind of beast should be white!" Han Li stared at the colossal earthworm, now wildly enraged, and his expression turned puzzled.