Within Feng Shuran’s dantian, a golden coloured pill-like core was slowly forming into what looked like a mini Feng Shuran. This was her Nascent Soul, and she would have completed her breakthrough after the Nascent Soul had fully formed.
Outside. The sky had changed, turning dark despite being the middle of the day. It was as if a sudden storm was coming.
Lightning danced behind the dark clouds as thunderclaps echoed through the air.
The lightning tribulation!
Whenever a cultivator was about to make a major breakthrough, they would have to overcome the trial of lightning, which was the heavenly tribulation.
A trial where cultivators had to defend against nine powerful lightning attacks from the heavens; failing one meant death or serious injuries!
But danger wasn’t the only thing that the lightning tribulation brought. After successfully blocking all nine attacks, a cultivator would receive a massive boost in strength and a massive wave of QI.
Their talent would determine how much of the QI they could use; some only managed to reach the peak of the first stage of the Nascent Soul Realm while others would directly jump a few stages!
Sensing the aura of the lightning tribulation drawing closer, Feng Shuran looked at Gu Chen, who was beside her, with a strange glint in her eyes.
"Senior," she called out softly. Now that she was no longer suspicious of Gu Chen, her way of speaking naturally became softer and more sincere.
Gu Chen "..."
’What? I’m no longer an immortal and don’t have any tribulation formations with me; you’ll have to handle this on your own.’ Gu Chen said inwardly as he looked at the vortex that had formed above them.
"Carry on, I’ll watch over you." He said to Feng Shuran before turning around and walking away. He had to keep some distance to avoid getting affected by the woman’s tribulation lightning.
He wasn’t worried that Feng Shuran would fail. The sky might look threatening, but the nine tribulation strikes would not exceed what a peak Core Formation Realm cultivator would produce; it might cross into the Nascent Soul Realm toward the end, but it was still manageable for a talent such as Feng Shuran.
After all, he had recovered her to full health!
Seeing Gu Chen walk to the side without giving her any magical treasures to help block the tribulation, Feng Shuran wasn’t displeased in the slightest.
’Senior has already done enough by giving me the opportunity; I have to prove that I’m worth that miraculous pill!’
Feng Shuran steeled her resolve as she looked at the sky with determined eyes. Silver threads that were almost invisible appeared around her fingers, and QI surged around her.
Time passed slowly; the vortex in the sky continued to accumulate power, and the first lightning strike would descend at any moment.
Standing at a safe distance, Gu Chen stared at the beautiful woman standing alone under the black vortex. He recalled when he had broken through to the Nascent Soul Realm hundreds of years ago.
At that time, his ’master’ had prepared a tribulation formation for him to help weaken the lightning strikes. Sadly, he wouldn’t be able to do the same for Feng Shuran.
He was poorer than a beggar at the moment and didn’t expect her to suddenly break through!
Rumble!
After almost a minute, the sky let out a deafening rumble as white lightning streaked across the surface of the vortex.
The first strike was coming!
Boom!
Before Gu Chen could even blink, a violent pillar of lightning shot down from the vortex. Its target was Feng Shuran, who was right under it.
Seeing the incoming lightning attack, Feng Shuran’s eyes flashed as her fingers moved.
QI surged within her dantian and fused with her silver threads, which she twisted rapidly, causing them to take the form of a silver circle.
Bang!
The lightning struck the surface of the silver circle that had been formed by the threads. A deafening sound rang out, and the earth shuddered.
Strong shockwaves swept in all directions, and Feng Shuran’s beautiful white hair scattered in the wind.
She remained unmoving; the first tribulation lightning had been blocked successfully.
The vortex kept churning with lightning, preparing to send the second wave of lightning.
"I should keep this for now," Feng Shuran muttered to herself after realising that she could handle the first attack easily and the next few wouldn’t be much stronger.
She would use other means for now and save her best defence for the last few.
While the silver threads were the best in her arsenal, they also consumed more QI to use; she would be in trouble if she couldn’t continue using them after the lightning tribulation got stronger.
Rumble!
The sky roared, announcing the arrival of the second tribulation lightning strike.
Feng Shuran waved one of her hands and a bronze disk that was as big as a carriage’s wheel appeared above her right palm. She infused a bit of QI into the disk before tossing it into the air.
Whoom!
The disk suddenly expanded after flying a few meters above Feng Shuran, becoming as large as a full carriage. Strange patterns could be seen on the surface of the disk; they glowed with faint blue light.
At the same time that the disk grew in size, the next lightning strike descended.
Boom!
Bang!!!
Destructive lightning struck the surface of the bronze disk before disappearing into countless light particles. The disk trembled violently but held strong.
The second tribulation had passed.
Feng Shuran stood under the coverage of the bronze disk, unfazed.
In the distance, Gu Chen nodded in approval after seeing Feng Shuran handle the two strikes with ease. He had nothing to worry about.
The next strike soon came.
Boom!
The disk trembled as cracks spread across its surface, but it didn’t collapse yet and continued to cover Feng Shuran.
The fourth strike created more cracks that fully covered the disk, even causing some parts to fall off.
The fifth strike arrived with a domineering aura; the air roared as strong wind swept for dozens of kilometres. The fifth strike was in the form of a lightning dragon; its gigantic head descended from the vortex like a killing God as it roared at the bronze disk.
Whoosh!!
The lightning dragon shot down with all its might and crashed into the disk.
The force was shocking. The lightning dragon slammed into the disk and shattered it instantly before heading for Feng Shuran.
But Feng Shuran was prepared. A talisman had appeared in her hand at some point. Immediately after the disk shattered, she activated the talisman and a yellow barrier formed around her.
Bang!
The lightning dragon crashed into the yellow barrier with the remainder of its might.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The ground shook as several rocks close to Feng Shuran were reduced to dust by lightning residue.
The cracks spread across the yellow barrier rapidly after enduring the lightning dragon for some seconds.
Shatter!
Eventually, the barrier also collapsed, but it managed to block the strike in the end.
Feng Shuran gazed at the vortex above her; not a hint of fear could be seen in her crimson pupils.
She stretched out both hands and two talismans appeared in them. She brought them together before fusing them with QI.
The moment she did this, both talismans instantly exploded into crimson flames.
At the same time, the sixth tribulation lightning descended. Another lightning dragon that was slightly bigger than the previous one shot out from the vortex and rushed toward Feng Shuran.
In response, Shuran pushed the crimson flames in her hands toward the sky.
Whoosh!!!
A massive pillar of crimson flames shot towards the lightning dragon.
Bam!
Both sides collided, and a battle of power followed as both tried to destroy the other.
From a distance, Gu Chen watched as the lightning dragon battled the crimson pillar of flames with a calm look. He had seen far more powerful and deadly tribulations, so this one felt like child’s play.
Of course, it was child’s play as long as they stayed far from him. Too close and he would be erased like those rocks that were surrounding Feng Shuran some moments ago.
"It’s her! The invisible killer is here!"
"She dares to try and break through? Hmph! Let’s see if you can finish this tribulation; everyone, attack!"
"The strength of that lightning dragon is so strong; she must be close to breaking through. Kill her quickly!"
While Feng Shuran was still dealing with the lightning dragon, several loud voices were suddenly heard from the distance.
Feng Shuran’s eyes widened slightly; she looked to the side and saw several cultivators in green robes flying towards her on their flying swords.
While they were too far away to make out their faces, she instantly recognised their uniforms. They were cultivators of the Dae Qu sect that had been hunting her.
If they really attacked her at the moment, she wouldn’t be able to survive. Not only would their interference cause the strength of the lightning tribulation to increase, but its only target would still be her!
It was a dead end.
For a moment, the pillar of crimson flames grew weaker, and the lightning dragon started pushing it back.
"Focus on the tribulation, leave them to me."
A calm voice sounded within Feng Shuran’s mind, surprising her even more. She looked at where Gu Chen was standing previously and noticed that he was now facing the incoming cultivators of the Dae Qu sect.
"Senior," Feng Shuran mumbled, feeling extremely grateful as she returned all her focus to the lightning tribulation.
Meanwhile, Gu Chen was inwardly sulking. Reason? His MP had dropped to 199 after he used 1mp to send a direct message to Feng Shuran.