Chapter 243: Meeting
Li Yao kept carefully circulating her qi around her lightning golden core. The delicate process required her complete focus as she slowly guided the energy to nurture the core. Although her qi had been violent before, after following the Empress’s detailed instructions, she gradually found her rhythm, each circulation becoming more and more natural until it finally calmed down.
After her core had absorbed enough qi over an extended period, she noticed the first hairline crack appearing across its surface. The sensation sent a sharp jolt of pain through her body, but it was still manageable.
She intensified the qi flow even more, watching as additional cracks spread across the surface of her core like intricate spider webs.
The fractures continued spreading until suddenly—crack! The core split cleanly down the middle, just like an egg breaking open. From within the shattered core, a small soul infant emerged, no larger than her palm. The tiny figure immediately assumed a perfect meditative posture beside the broken core fragments.
The infant began drawing energy from the scattered shell pieces, streams of blue-golden light flowing steadily into it. Outside in the physical world, Li Yao’s face contorted with strain. The core-breaking process had been painful, but she could sense this was merely the beginning of her ordeal.
[It’s starting,] the Empress’s voice echoed in her mind.
Li Yao lifted her gaze skyward. The lightning had gathered in truly staggering amounts. As far as her enhanced vision could reach, the entire sky had transformed into a roiling mass of thunder-filled clouds, all ready to descend upon her.
The first bolt descended toward her position.
She gritted her teeth and steeled herself for the impact. The moment the tribulation lightning struck her body, she felt as though invisible hands were tearing her apart from the inside out. Even with her natural lightning affinity and the protection of her Nine Heavens Thunder Body, the tribulation lightning proved anything but bearable.
She concentrated intensely on the lightning energy spreading through her meridians and guided it in the complex patterns the Empress had taught her. The electrical current wove around every cell in her body, bathing her flesh in lightning energy. She could feel her Nine Heavens Thunder Body responding to the stimulation, advancing incrementally with each controlled surge.
This was actually working, at this rate, her nine heavens thunder body might really reach the second heaven.
But when she looked up again, her expression immediately shifted. The sky was now raining thunder bolts—dozens of them descending simultaneously without giving her even a moment to prepare or brace herself.
...
Two hours later, Li Yao remained at the center of a massive storm of pure thunder and lightning. She had gritted her teeth so hard that blood trickled from the corners of her mouth, staining her lips crimson. Looking upward through the chaos, she saw that the lightning clouds hadn’t decreased in intensity even slightly.
Even so, she continued guiding the endless streams of lightning energy along the specified pathways throughout her body. She could feel that her Nine Heavens Thunder Body was approaching the completion of its evolution.
Turning her attention inward to her spiritual sea, she noticed the infant soul had grown considerably while she wasn’t looking. It now resembled a teenager rather than a small child, with just a little more development needed before it would complete its transformation into a true nascent soul.
[Get ready—the tribulation is entering its final stages,] the Empress warned [Don’t let any of it go to waste.]
Li Yao gazed up at the intensifying tribulation lightning with unwavering conviction burning in her eyes. This was merely a small obstacle in her path. So what if it was the heavens themselves testing her? She would eventually overcome them completely, and when that day came...
She smirked through her blood-filled lips. When that day came, she would rule over the heavens themselves.
As if responding directly to her defiant thoughts, the tribulation intensified even further, raining down upon her with tremendous force.
...
Li Mei continued flying up the mountain.
When she didn’t see her pursuers behind her anymore, she finally allowed herself to lean against the rough bark of a tree to catch her breath.
She tilted her head back and gazed up at the tumultuous skies above, her eyes widening in shock. Why did it seem like the tribulation lightning was becoming more and more intense instead of diminishing? What kind of absolute monster was undergoing their tribulation up there?
As these thoughts raced through her mind, the familiar voices of her pursuers echoed from somewhere behind her. Without hesitation, she pushed herself away from the tree and took off once again.
As she climbed higher, she silently hoped that whoever was undergoing their tribulation at the peak wouldn’t find fault with her attempt to use their lightning storm as cover to escape from her attackers. Surely any cultivator powerful enough to endure such an intense tribulation would understand her situation.
The three Soul Formation experts pursuing her suddenly noticed a massive lightning bolt descending directly toward their position. They immediately scattered in all directions, barely managing to escape as the electrical discharge struck the ground where they had been standing just moments before.
"Damn it!" one of them cursed. "It’s been like this for almost an hour now!"
They had been dodging these stray bolts throughout their entire pursuit, each strike seeming more powerful than the last. What kind of extraordinary creature was undergoing tribulation up there to cause such continuously intensifying lightning that showed no signs of diminishing? Most tribulations lasted mere minutes with talented ones lasting an hour or so, not like this one that seemed to grow stronger with each passing moment.
The first man looked up toward the mountain peak, his eyes narrowing as he noticed something that made his blood run cold. The lightning wasn’t randomly scattered across the sky—it was converging at a single point at the very top of the mountain, creating a pillar of pure lightning.
"What the hell..." he spoke aloud. Was it even possible for a human being to endure being in such a constant state of tribulation lightning bombardment? Had they made a terrible mistake coming here after all?
"What’s wrong?" the other two asked, cautiously approaching his position while keeping one eye on the chaotic sky above.
"Look at that," he spoke, pointing with a trembling finger toward the lightning converging at the mountain’s peak. The others followed his gaze, their expressions shifting from confusion to awe and finally to concern.
"Is it possible for any human to endure such an overwhelming tribulation?" the second man asked, his earlier confidence shaken.
The third man paused for a long moment, his usual arrogant demeanor notably absent.
"Keke, I’ve figured it out," he said suddenly, though his chuckle lacked its earlier menace. Then his expression returned to its familiar greedy cas.
"It’s not a human at all," he announced with growing excitement.
"What do you mean?" the others asked in unison.
"Do you remember what the leader told us?" he began. "To search for some sort of divine weapon that had recently appeared..."
The second man’s eyes widened as the implications hit him. "You don’t mean..."
"That’s right!" the third man exclaimed, his greed overriding any remaining caution. "It’s the divine weapon we’ve been searching for! It’s undergoing its own tribulation!"
The first man’s face brightened in understanding. "No wonder the lightning is so powerful—as expected of a divine-level treasure!"
All three men suddenly forgot about their earlier exhaustion and hesitation.
"We absolutely have to obtain that divine weapon!" they all thought simultaneously before dramatically increasing their climbing speed.
Meanwhile, Li Mei, who was still desperately going up the mountain, glanced back over her shoulder to see that her pursuers’ speed had increased even more.
She increased her own pace even more. What had suddenly gotten into them? But she didn’t waste time trying to figure out their motivation, she continued on climbing even faster toward the storm-wreathed peak above.
...
Li Mei continued climbing higher and higher. She thought to herself that she was completely out of all her trump cards—what was she supposed to do now? Her escape treasure was almost completely exhausted, her talismans had run out, and her pursuers showed no signs of giving up.
She looked up at the concentrated lightning striking relentlessly at a single point near the mountain’s peak. At this point, she wondered if she really had to take such a desperate gamble. The electrical storm above looked absolutely terrifying, but what other choice did she have?
She gritted her teeth and pushed forward at her absolute maximum speed, channeling every last bit of power from her flying treasure. The translucent wings on her back flared with brilliant light as she shot upward like a blazing meteor, her form cutting through the turbulent air as she appeared directly above the lightning-filled mountain peak.
The moment she reached the summit, the treasure finally lost all its remaining power. The wings flickered and vanished, leaving her suspended in mid-air. Her qi had been so exhausted that she couldn’t even fly by herself, tumbling through the crackling air and rolling hard across the rocky ground.
As her dazed eyes slowly rose up from where she lay sprawled on the rough stone, she watched in amazement as the lightning concentrating at that single point began to slowly recede. The electrical storm that had been raging for hours started to dissipate, gradually revealing the silhouette of a delicate woman sitting in perfect meditation posture.
Li Mei was completely frozen as she took in the individual before her. When she had first noticed this lightning-covered place from below, she had assumed that there probably wasn’t actually a person up here. How else would someone survive such an overwhelming tribulation? She had thought that it was maybe the birth of some divine treasure or natural phenomenon. Who would’ve thought that there really was a person after all.
"Wait a second," she blinked several times to confirm her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her. Although the features were noticeably more mature and refined than she remembered, she still recognized them with certainty. "Cousin Li Yao?" she called out in surprise.
Slowly, the figure opened her eyes. One could see faint traces of lightning still moving within her pupils. Her attention then locked directly onto Li Mei’s position.
"Mei Mei?" Li Yao asked, her own voice filled with equal surprise and confusion.
Before either of them could say another word, the three Soul Formation experts pursuing Li Mei suddenly launched themselves over the mountain’s edge.
"Finally found you!" they shouted triumphantly as they descended to land on the ground.
...
A/N: 1 chap today. Me make it up to you tomorrow. Sry for late upload