Chapter 45: Soul Dao Heavenly Lightning Tribulation

“Mother…”

A nostalgic smile appeared at the corner of Su Qiuyue’s lips.

“Yue’er, how is this sword?”

“Father is amazing! This sword looks so powerful!”

“My Yue’er will become a heroine in the future. This sword can’t be ordinary.”

“Father, what’s the name of this sword?”

“This sword is called Stunning Swan.”

“Why is it called Stunning Swan?”

“Uh, your father didn’t study much, so I don’t know. I heard the storyteller say a hero held the Stunning Swan sword.”

“Then tell me the story of the Stunning Swan sword, Father.”

“Alright.”

“When I grow up, I want to be a great heroine, slay all evil, protect Father and Mother, and make my name known everywhere.”

The innocent words of childhood seemed to shine across the river of time, blossoming in the depths of her soul.

“Father, Mother.”

“Yue’er couldn’t protect you.”

“But the path Yue’er wishes to walk, the person Yue’er wishes to become, has never changed.”

“Can you see me, Father?”

Su Qiuyue slowly raised her right hand.

Her translucent palm, condensed from Soulforce, closed as if she wished to grasp something.

“The Stunning Swan sword Father gave me.”

Boom!

The moment her words fell, her entire soul form erupted in radiant light!

The light madly converged toward her palm.

A sword’s outline, from illusion to substance, swiftly took shape.

The sword’s style was a simple wooden blade—exactly as in her memories, a long, straight piece of wood her father found for her.

Yet, the wooden sword’s body radiated a mysterious Dao aura, with tiny specks of light flickering in and out—each one a thread of longing, a thought.

With a remnant soul as flesh, longing as bone, and obsession as the edge!

This sword is Stunning Swan!

This Dao—her own Dao!

The wind rose.

The dark clouds above surged.

They twisted into a massive vortex, golden light crackling at its core, brewing wildly like the indifferent eye of a god staring down at Su Qiuyue.

It was the Soul Tribulation of Golden Thunder!

Mu Chenxi’s breath had long since halted, her face frozen in awe.

Was Su Qiuyue truly about to forcefully break through to the Enlightenment Stage with a remnant soul?

Was this truly possible?

Su Qiuyue raised her head, gazing at the terrifying black vortex above.

In her Soulforce-forged eyes, there was no fear—only endless battle intent.

Rumble!

As if angered by the ant’s defiance, the golden thunder within the black vortex flickered violently, contracting like a golden eye.

A massive Golden Thunder Dragon, thick as a pillar of heaven, roared and tore through the night, descending with supreme Heavenly Might!

Wherever the Soul Tribulation of Golden Thunder passed, all souls were obliterated into nothingness!

Mu Chenxi felt her own soul tremble under that Heavenly Might.

Her eyes burned, but she forced them wide open.

A strong one seeking enlightenment—she too wished to comprehend and become stronger.

Yet, in Mu Chenxi’s eyes, Su Qiuyue was but a remnant soul, and such might was nearly impossible to resist.

However, in the next instant, Mu Chenxi’s body trembled.

In her vision, the slender figure, tiny as dust before the Golden Thunder Dragon, did not flee.

Instead, Su Qiuyue gripped the ordinary wooden sword—and soared upward!

Facing the obliterating thunder that could vaporize even her in a moment, Su Qiuyue thrust her Stunning Swan sword forward!

There was no earth-shaking boom, nor any ripples of colliding energy.

The Stunning Swan sword in Su Qiuyue’s hand touched the Golden Thunder Dragon—and in that instant, it silently sank into the lightning, as if vanishing without a trace.

Like a drop of water merging into the ocean, stirring no waves.

“It’s over…”

Mu Chenxi muttered, heart heavy with sorrow.

But before her words could fade, a sudden change erupted!

The unstoppable Golden Thunder Dragon froze in midair!

From the point where the Stunning Swan sword pierced it, golden light spread across the dragon, its form rapidly disintegrating into countless specks and dissipating.

Mu Chenxi was stunned.

Before her dazed eyes, the almighty Soul-Destroying Heart Thunder kept falling, only to be dissolved by Su Qiuyue into showers of golden rain.

The golden rain drifted down, dreamlike and ethereal.

Su Qiuyue floated in the air, wooden sword angled at the sky.

The shattered thunder tribulation’s essence, as if drawn by an invisible force, turned into streams of golden light and poured into her.

Golden markings of mysterious dignity spread across her skin.

Su Qiuyue’s soul form grew more solid, radiating a strange Dao aura.

Had she succeeded?

No—there was one more!

The Ninth Thunder!

Mu Chenxi sharply looked up, eyes full of horror.

Above, the once-golden thunder eye had turned pitch black, lightning like ink flickering within.

An oppressive force suffocated even the soul.

Was this the final strike of the Soul Tribulation of Golden Thunder?

No ancient record Mu Chenxi had read spoke of anyone surviving this tribulation.

After all, Soulforce cultivators were rare; most perished in the earlier lightning strikes—or the tribulation was forcibly interrupted by powerful elders.

The last strike—

Soul-Destroying Heart Thunder!

A black dragon formed in the darkness, then crashed down toward Su Qiuyue with inconceivable speed.

Su Qiuyue could not even react before it engulfed her.

Her body, turning from illusory to solid, trembled violently.

A frigid, biting sensation gnawed at her heart.

To protect Father and Mother…

But Father and Mother were gone.

To slay the evil…

But the enemies remained.

To become renowned…

Now, she was like a stray dog, barely surviving.

Even the Sword of Linglong Heart could not aid her.

Her Dao heart was fractured—a crack that could not be healed.

Hatred and festering regret gnawed at her, endlessly tormenting her spirit.

Now, all of these became her weaknesses.

Under the Soul-Destroying Heart Thunder, they were amplified endlessly.

Su Qiuyue seemed to fall into an endless abyss, her body plummeting.

Boom!

Her frail form crashed to the ground, gouging a deep pit.

Blood trickled from her seven orifices.

In the end, she had failed.

Mu Chenxi watched as her soul body gradually crumbled.

Bit by bit, it became dark specks of light, dissipating into the world.

Soon, there would be no more Su Qiuyue.

The thunder faded, the clouds dispersed, and the night sky cleared, as if nothing had happened.

But Su Qiuyue, still sprawled on the ground, was not resigned.

She lifted her gaze toward Mu Chenxi.

“You didn’t lie to me, did you? Did you truly suffer as I did?”

Su Qiuyue’s voice was barely audible.

“I have no reason to lie to you.”

Mu Chenxi looked at Su Qiuyue, her gaze complex.

“Will you help me get revenge?”

Su Qiuyue raised her voice, her blood-filled eyes burning with hatred.

“I can’t right now. I’m no match for that old villain.”

Mu Chenxi was honest—she was not skilled at deceit.

“Then, if the day comes when your power is enough, if your blood remains unchilled! If your heart remains unfulfilled! You must kill that old dog for me! Kill him! Kill!”

Blood and tears flowed from Su Qiuyue’s eyes as she screamed her final, anguished cry.

She raised a trembling hand.

A pure white light shot toward Mu Chenxi—that was the Dao she had comprehended in her lifetime.