The moment the Life Gold touched his chest, the entire surface of the lake suddenly surged like boiling water! The vast life energy rushed into his meridians like a broken dam.
Gu La grunted, beads of sweat instantly covering his forehead as veins bulged on the back of his hand holding the Life Gold.
He could clearly feel every inch of his flesh greedily absorbing the energy. His bones emitted faint hums, and his meridians stretched painfully, almost as if they were tearing apart.
During this process, the imperfectly fused essence of Celebi began to integrate further with Gu La, evolving under the influence of the evolution power toward a more perfect and powerful form.
"Stabilize your mind!" Gu Yue's voice pierced through the energy storm and reached his consciousness. Her silvery spatial power wrapped around him like threads, helping to stabilize the runaway energy. "Guide it like you would redirect a flood!"
Gritting his teeth, Gu La sank his consciousness into his spiritual sea. The once calm silver ocean was now churning with towering waves, and at the center of the storm, his martial soul, Celebi, was undergoing an astonishing transformation.
The originally translucent green body gradually solidified, its crystalline butterfly wings unfurling and scattering star-like phosphorescent powder. Intricate golden patterns extended from the antennae atop its head.
Most shocking of all were its eyes—within the once pure green pupils, galaxies of stars now slowly rotated, brilliant as constellations.
The future… was in his eyes!
Boom—!
The spiritual sea violently shook as a dazzling green light shot skyward! The Life Gold at his chest began to vaporize, its emerald mist seeping into every pore and limb. Each bone resonated with the clear sound of jade colliding, while the soul power flowing through his meridians took on a jade-like sheen.
"Prepare for the impact!" Di Tian's golden vertical pupils contracted sharply, and black dragon scales instantly covered his body.
He raised his hand, drawing five dark screens to contain the rampaging life energy within a hundred-meter radius. Xiong Jun directly transformed into his Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear form, his thick back shielding against the scattered energy turbulence.
Bi Ji revealed her true form as the Emerald Swan, her thirty-meter-long wings showering down healing rain. "Master, his vitality is skyrocketing—it's already nearing mine from twenty thousand years ago!"
But Gu La was still in his human form, with only four rings of cultivation! Her eyes trembled, emotions surging uncontrollably.
Gu Yue's gaze flickered, but unlike Bi Ji, she remained composed, standing quietly by the lakeside, reining in the chaotic energy and stabilizing the spatial barrier.
Gu La entered a state of unity with his surroundings, feeling an innate constraint shatter. Celebi's figure grew taller, and intricate runes imbued with the laws of time and space emerged on its slender limbs.
When it spread its butterfly wings, ripples like water waves appeared in the surrounding space. Several falling leaves froze eerily mid-air upon touching the ripples.
The emerald Life Lake suddenly boiled as tens of thousands of golden particles erupted from the lakebed, coalescing into a massive energy vortex three feet above the water.
Around the rock where Gu La sat, the hard slate surface began sprouting crystalline moss. These emerald lifeforms spread outward at a rate of one centimeter per second.
A flood of insight into the authority of the forest washed over Gu La. He suddenly "heard" the breathing of the entire forest—the rings of ancient trees recorded millennia of time, the veins of vines pulsed with the rhythm of life, and even the tiniest moss beneath his feet conveyed feelings of intimacy.
The millennium-old trees by the lake collectively bent their trunks, their hanging branches intertwining above Gu La's head to form an emerald crown.
Centered on him, tender green shoots sprouted across a hundred-zhang radius, quickly growing into dense shrubs. Several strands of Blue Silver Grass even bloomed with pale blue flowers, defying the season's rules.
"This is a new ability… Forest Guardian?"
Gu La had long studied Celebi's evolution abilities in the Pokédex. Amidst the unique state of forging a new "martial soul body," he was comprehending the newly acquired powers of his martial soul.
With a slight thought, the grass beneath his feet glowed like jade, and countless points of light rose like fireflies.
---
"Forest Guardian: Upon appearance, releases Grassy Terrain, granting immunity to 20% of damage from moves it's weak to. When using status-changing moves, it automatically applies Leech Seed."
The Leech Seed condensed in his palm and disintegrated into dust with a single thought. The pendant of the Time Flower around his neck radiated an unprecedented brilliance, its intricate patterns becoming even more mysterious before slowly merging into Gu La's forehead and disappearing.
"The exclusive equipment, Time Flower, has also been upgraded. When using status-changing moves, it restores 10% of vitality (HP), and Psychic-type moves gain a 30% boost."
What thrilled him most was the leap in Celebi's base stats. With a total value of 780, it now stood at the pinnacle of Tier 1 Legendaries, perfectly compensating for the weaknesses of his Groudon martial soul.
When he attempted to channel his soul power, he found that the energy circulation within his body was ceaseless, resonating with the surrounding forest—just as Groudon did when standing on the earth. His soul power recovered at an astonishing speed.
At the same time, his control over plants surged dramatically. The Boundless Forest Sea domain skill underwent significant evolution, essentially acting as an enhanced version of the Grassy Terrain move, greatly increasing the efficiency of vitality and soul power recovery.
"It's a success!" Celebi broke free from the constraints of a Mythical Pokemon, becoming a true Legendary.
Gu La opened his eyes, a flash of emerald green glowing within them. With a wave of his hand, the surrounding space slightly distorted, and the flow of time seemed to slow for an instant!
He gently stroked the time-and-space-attribute vine wrapped around his wrist, feeling the surge of his newfound power.
Groudon's Red Orb slowly rotated within his heart, forming a perfect balance with the life energy coursing through his blood and muscles, resonating with the Time Flower in his spiritual sea.
Gu Yue's eyes shimmered with silver light as the spatial barrier dissolved with her thoughts.
She took a few steps closer, her rare expression of surprise surfacing. "Control over time and space… have you touched the laws of time and space?"
"Has your martial soul evolved to this extent?"
Gu Yue became increasingly curious about the secrets Gu La was hiding.
Gu La stood up, stretching his now-powerful body.
He reached out to catch a Light Butterfly attracted by the life energy; where it landed on his fingertip, tiny buds immediately sprouted.
"I've only just scratched the surface, nowhere near your mastery of the seven elements. But as it stands, Celebi truly possesses the potential to reach the peak of a first-tier Legendary in terms of natural laws!"
In his past life's game, both Groudon and Celebi could evolve twice more!
Whoever completed their final evolution would become a Legendary comparable to the god-kings of the Douluo world.
"Congratulations."
Gu Yue gazed deeply at him. With her wisdom, she naturally envisioned the scene of Gu La combining the powers of his two martial souls.
She suddenly smiled. "It seems our collaboration can progress even further."
As their eyes met in a shared smile, the waters of the Life Lake shimmered with a dreamlike, multicolored glow, as if witnessing the formation of an important pact.
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