Yesterday I posted the wrong chapter and ended up posting an extra one—my stockpile!
“That Dan Jie… it seems to have prematurely triggered Xuanya’s Immortal Ascension Tribulation!”
Xuanmo stared solemnly at the sky, her fingers rapidly calculating. “The Fivefold Thunder Tribulation… Shijie, are you confident?”
Xuanya remained silent.
Her gaze flickered between the bottle of crystal-clear medicinal liquid in her hand and the cataclysmic tribulation clouds boiling above her head.
Finally, in those deep, cold pond-like eyes, a spark of resolute flame suddenly ignited.
With her back to the wall and no way back, only this desperate resolve to burn away everything could carve out a faint path of survival against the ruthless Heavenly Dao!
“Xuanmo, fall back.”
Xuanya’s voice was calm and unshaken, yet carried undeniable authority. Her moon-white Daoist robe billowed as if moved by wind, though the air was still, and her aura surged steadily upwards.
“…Be careful!”
Xuanmo fully understood the mercilessness of a Heavenly Tribulation. All external forces were illusions. Without another word, she swiftly withdrew.
At that very moment—
——Boom!!!
The first heavenly thunderbolt, wrapped in the violent force of rending the firmament, fell like a waterfall pouring from the Ninth Heaven, directly striking Xuanya’s head.
Xuanya formed hand seals. The overwhelming Ling Power inside her instantly erupted like a besieging army, transforming into a massive light shield as solid as physical substance.
The thunder’s brilliance shattered against it. The shield trembled violently but held firm. When the dust settled, the slender figure stood proudly, her robes fluttering.
Crack! Sizzle—
The second thunderbolt followed immediately. Its color shifted to a deep purple and its power surged drastically. The thick pillar of lightning swallowed Xuanya entirely.
The light shield only lasted a moment before shattering with a roar. The immense force crashed down like a mountain collapsing, smashing her to the ground.
“Pft—!”
Blood stained Xuanya’s lips as she choked. Enduring the intense pain all over her body, she didn’t even glance at her injuries.
Instead, she forced herself upright and tilted her head back to swallow several healing Dan Yao pills. Ling Power surged wildly once more.
A greater shadow brewed in the center of the tribulation clouds. Xuanya’s gaze hardened, her fingers flickering like dancing butterflies as she furiously built layer upon layer of Ling Power barriers before her.
However… all was in vain.
The third thunderbolt, as thick as a water jar and radiating a chaotic dark glow, struck like the Heavenly Dao’s divine spear of judgment, piercing down mercilessly.
Those seemingly solid barriers were as fragile as paper before this torrent of destruction, instantly penetrated and annihilated.
Xuanya’s figure was once again swallowed by the vast sea of thunder without mercy.
“Shifu!” “Xuanya Jie!!”
From afar, Gantang’s piercing cries mixed with Xuanmo’s furious shouts, both screaming at the brink of tears.
As the thunderlight slowly dissipated… the figure reappeared, but no longer elegant.
The moon-white robe had turned into tattered blood-stained cloth, burnt in countless places. Her long black hair was disheveled, her face pale and grim, her aura faint to the extreme.
She knelt on one knee, bracing herself with an arm on the ground, gasping for air. Every breath pulled at her bones with unbearable pain.
“Damn it! Xuanya Jie can’t endure the next thunderbolt!”
Xuanmo’s heart sank into the abyss, knuckles whitening from clenching her fists.
She was filled with bitterness and helplessness, and could only hope that the medicinal liquid from Xiao Qiancha would take effect.
Then!
Xuanya struggled, fiercely standing again. Her blood-stained spine straightened like a blade. Even if shattered to pieces, she would never bow to the Heavenly Dao.
She tilted her head back and without hesitation swallowed the bottle of pale purple liquid.
A buzzing sensation.
A strange wave swept through her instantly.
What she saw— the speed of the raging wind suddenly accelerated by thousands of times. The rolling clouds left afterimages.
Even the impending fourth thunderbolt seemed to be pulled right before her eyes. The entire world felt as if pressed to play at a hundred times speed.
“!!!”
Xuanya was caught off guard. But what shocked her even more— when the suddenly “accelerated” thunderbolt actually struck, its earth-shattering power… mysteriously dissipated by eighty percent!
Instead, the faint remaining electric serpents that landed on her body only caused a slightly stronger tingling sensation.
“This…!” Xuanya’s heart trembled violently. Xiao Qiancha’s child… where did she find such an extraordinary godly medicine?!
Before she could ponder further, the strange sensation of accelerated time vanished, and the world returned to normal. The medicine’s effect… was gone.
Xuanya’s gaze turned to the jade bottle in her palm, holding the last glimmer of hope.
Perhaps… it could truly defy fate?!
Without hesitation, Xuanya took out the pill and swallowed it.
No more hesitation. She crushed the jade bottle, swallowing the Return-Soul Spirit Pill flowing with a gentle radiance, as if containing the vitality of all things. Strangely, there was no abnormal warmth.
Xuanya refocused, gathering the last of her strength to set up a final, thin yet resolute Ling Power shield before her.
Even if her body died and the Dao faded, she would shine one last light beneath the fifth heavenly might!
—Boom!
Deep within the clouds, lightning that seemed to have accumulated millennia of fury crashed down, carrying the supreme pressure to end all order.
Its power far exceeded the sum of the previous five thunders!
Xuanya straightened her body, bracing to face this final bolt.
As expected, that fragile shield lasted only a moment before melting away like ice and snow.
The destructive pillar of lightning slammed heavily onto Xuanya.
However—
the excruciating pain that should have torn her soul apart did not come.
That boundless thunder’s power, like a stone sinking into the sea, did not destroy her body but instead, in an unfathomable way, flowed entirely into the Sea of Consciousness at her brow.
At the same time, the Innate Immortal Spirit Qi produced from enduring the tribulation was also drawn by some invisible force, turning into a gentle stream flowing into the depths of her Sea of Consciousness.
“What’s happening??”
Xuanya stared in astonishment as she inwardly examined—
Within her Sea of Consciousness, brilliant light burst forth.
The soul fragment she had lost in a grievous injury long ago was now visibly being repaired and condensed by pure immortal spirit qi. In an instant, it became whole again!
Even more magnificent, vast Divine Soul power surged, condensed, and transcended within the Sea of Consciousness.
A sensation akin to mastering the laws of heaven and earth—the ‘Enlightenment to Immortality’—naturally arose.
Her Divine Soul… under the combined influence of the tribulation and the medicines, had stepped directly into the Earth Immortal realm?!
But why… was her body still mortal flesh?
“Congratulations, Shimei, on your Enlightenment and Ascension.”
A voice filled with comforting warmth sounded beside her. Xuanping had appeared silently at her side, a smile lighting his face.
“Shixiong… I don’t think I really became an immortal.”
Xuanya sensed the strange state inside her and stood stunned for a long moment, fingers slightly spread as a vast flow of Ling Power surged from her body.
“Oh, nonsense. Your Divine Soul has transcended and you’ve become a Scattered Immortal; that’s still an immortal.”
Xuanping smiled without changing, though a mischievous glint flickered in his eyes.
“I’m a Scattered Immortal?”
Xuanya looked at her body in bewilderment.
“Yes. But since your mortal body hasn’t been refined by immortal qi, when you attempt to break through to a true Earth Immortal status, you’ll need to face a complete Ascension Tribulation again.”
Xuanping chuckled teasingly. “By then, you’d better be ready. Tricks like you used today won’t work anymore!”
Suddenly, Xuanya recalled the devastating scene of the Dan Jie just now, and the pills and medicinal liquid that had reversed fate—everything instantly connected in her mind.
“So that’s how it is…”
Endless emotions and fear washed over her heart, turning into an indescribable warmth and bittersweetness that threatened to spill from her eyes.
She bowed deeply toward the courtyard, solemn and respectful; the corners of her reddened eyes could no longer hold back a few moist tears.
At this moment, the sound of rushing footsteps filled the air as elders from neighboring peaks and long-unseen friends arrived, their faces beaming with joy and congratulations.
Xuanya quickly composed herself, lifting a poised, gentle smile as she skillfully responded to everyone’s congratulations and exchanged long-missed greetings.
The heaviness etched between her brows finally faded, replaced by the relief of surviving the tribulation and the late arrival of warmth. A genuine, long-lost smile blossomed once more on her lips.
Xuanmo did not join the lively scene. Seeing Xuanya safe, the tension in her chest loosened sharply. Silently, she slipped back to the pill room on the rear mountain.
Her gaze settled on the small blue figure lying on the cold floor—curled into a tiny ball, soaked in sweat, her dress crumpled and clinging to her, her little face pale as paper, her breathing ragged enough to break one’s heart.
“All… it’s thanks to you.”
Xuanmo’s voice was unusually gentle, carrying endless gratitude and lingering fear. She bent down carefully, softly lifting the limp little wolf cub as if cradling the most fragile treasure in the world.
“Mm…”
Feeling the warmth in Xuanmo’s arms, Lu Qiancha’s tightly furrowed brows slowly relaxed, her rapid breaths gradually lengthened and steadied.
“All that sweat… it must be uncomfortable, right?”
Xuanmo looked down at the kitten-like treasure in her arms, affectionately brushing aside the damp blue hair on her forehead. A thought naturally surfaced:
“Come on, Shigu will take you home… and give you a nice hot bath.”