Until the evening.
The celestial tribulations in the Three Thousand Great Mountains continued, but it was clearly not as intense as the first wave.
After the shaking subsided, chaos had not yet ended.
The market’s guard team and Lingyin Sect disciples ran around, assessing damage and maintaining order.
The still-frightened loose cultivators gathered at street corners, whispering about the apocalyptic scene they had just witnessed, speculating about the identity of the tribulation transcendence expert and the outcome of the celestial tribulation.
However, just when people thought everything was about to return to normal, another anomaly occurred!
The temperature in Yunxi District suddenly plummeted within just half a two-hour period!
The cold wind howled, whipping up the snow on the ground, and cutting the face like a knife.
The temperature dropped to an extraordinary degree, far surpassing even the harshest cold during past winters, with water freezing upon contact and breaths turning to frost.
A bone-chilling cold enveloped the entire market!
In Chen Ye’s small courtyard, the fireplace was no longer sufficient to drive away this unusual chill.
"So...so cold, Master..."
Qing Jun wrapped herself tightly in a thick rabbit-fur coat, her little face turning purple from the cold, her teeth chattering incessantly, even causing her speech to tremble.
Her hands and feet had long since turned cold, and she kept moving closer to the fireplace.
Even Chen Ye felt the unbearable cold, quickly adding a few more pieces of firewood to the fire, his brows furrowed.
He felt a heavy heart.
Frankly speaking, Chen Ye didn’t consider himself a good person.
Yet the conscience from his past life remained, and even someone like him at the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer, who also practiced the Body Refining Technique, felt the cold.
What about those ordinary mortals?
Who knows how many will freeze to death in this winter?
The only consolation is that,
The celestial tribulation had its greatest impact near the Three Thousand Great Mountains, and this area belonged to the cultivation realm, with not many mortals around.
Perhaps this is the reason why that Golden Core True Man chose to undergo the tribulation here.
"Zhiwei, aren’t you cold?" Chen Ye suddenly noticed Zhiwei beside him.
Compared to the shivering Qing Jun, Zhiwei, although equally pale-faced, appeared surprisingly calm.
Even her breath seemed longer and steadier than usual.
Zhiwei lifted her head, a hint of confusion flashing through her black eyes.
She felt it for a moment, then gently shook her head: "It’s alright...it seems...not that cold. It was very cold at first, but it stopped feeling cold afterwards."
Not that cold?
In such weather where even he, at the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer, finds the cold unbearable?
Chen Ye felt a shock in his heart, suddenly recalling Zhiwei’s special Purity Glaze Body, as well as the earth-shattering Nascent Soul Celestial Tribulation during the day!
The Purity Glaze Body requires experiencing extreme discomfort to gradually awaken.
Could it be that the terrifying pressure from the Nascent Soul Celestial Tribulation, inadvertently stimulated her constitution, causing her to experience some sort of change earlier than expected?
"Zhiwei,"
Chen Ye suppressed the shock in his heart, trying to keep his tone calm,
"Now, close your eyes and calm your mind, try to sense the surroundings, see if you can perceive anything...just like how I taught you to sense the energy before."
Lu Zhiwei obediently closed her eyes, her long eyelashes casting a faint shadow beneath her eyelids.
She stood quietly, her small body perfectly straight.
This time, unlike before, there was a reaction.
Almost the moment she concentrated and calmed herself, the faint Water Element Spiritual Qi in the surrounding air began to joyfully converge towards her, as if homing pigeons returning to their nest!
"Master, I think I can feel it. It’s cool and soft...like water..."
Zhiwei slowly opened her eyes, her previously calm, dark eyes now touched with a hint of bewilderment and wonder.
She raised her small hand, seemingly wanting to touch the invisible spiritual qi.
Chen Ye gazed at the rare lively expression on his disciple’s face, feeling a mix of emotions.
This sudden change, is it a blessing or a curse?
Will the early awakening of the Purity Glaze Body accelerate her emotional detachment?
But regardless, being able to cultivate is ultimately a good thing!
At least, in this perilous cultivation realm, she now has an extra measure of self-defense.
"Good! Very good!"
Chen Ye took a deep breath, suppressing the doubts in his heart, showing a genuine smile on his face, reaching out to rub his elder disciple’s head,
"Zhiwei, you did very well! From today onwards, you can officially start cultivating!"
With Master’s warm hand caressing her head, the White Furred Ball’s body stiffened slightly, but this time, she didn’t shy away.
Zhiwei carefully sensed the spiritual power in the air.
Does this mean she now has the ability to protect Qing Jun and Chen...and herself?
The White Furred Ball looked full of curiosity,
making Chen Ye quite emotional.
Zhiwei, has now taken her first steps on the path of cultivation...
But according to her description, she seems to only be able to sense Water Element Spiritual Power.
Judging by the closeness with which she connects with spiritual power, she approximately possesses the aptitude of Two Spiritual Roots genius!
Yet, in the original text, the Purity Glaze Body should have been a powerful constitution that could accommodate not only no attributes but all attributes.
Of course, this is very different from Chen Ye’s Five Spiritual Roots.
To provide an inappropriate example, in her fully awakened state,
each spiritual root could be regarded as an independent Celestial Spiritual Root.
As for why only the Water Spiritual Root was awakened...
It’s probably related to the master of the celestial tribulation?
The Golden Core True Man undergoing tribulation this time had an ice variant Water Spiritual Root, but it was still essentially a Water Spiritual Root.
Sadly though,
Zhiwei’s Purity Glaze Body has a sky-high awakening threshold.
If Zhiwei were to experience the Nascent Soul Celestial Tribulation again, it would be difficult to further awaken other spiritual roots, unless it’s a Divinity Transformation Celestial Tribulation.
Yet in the vast cultivation realm, Divinity Transformation Celestial Tribulations are few and far between.
"Master?"
Zhiwei, noticing Chen Ye’s prolonged silence and attention fixated on her, couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy, calling softly. Her cold little hand unconsciously clasped the hem of her clothes.
Chen Ye snapped out of his thoughts, his face once again displaying a warm smile:
"It’s a major step forward for you, Zhiwei, to sense spiritual qi. That the Water Element Spiritual Qi resonates with you indicates that you’re now suitable for cultivating Water Attribute Techniques."
"’Evergreen Technique’ might be a Wood Series Technique, but the Five Elements are intergenerational; water can nurture wood, and wood can also nurture water. For now, continue sensing and absorbing spiritual qi with this technique. In the future, once you find a technique that more closely aligns with the water element, you can switch accordingly."
Chen Ye patiently explained.
With his Five Spiritual Roots nature, he has dabbled in various elemental spiritual qi, and guiding a beginner disciple was more than manageable.
Zhiwei nodded as if she somewhat understood, then closed her eyes again, attempting to operate the technique according to her Master’s guidance.
This time, the results were significant.
Threads of cool Water Element’s Spiritual Qi flowed gently into her body’s meridians under her guidance, weak but undeniably real.
The nearby Qing Jun watched her senior sister surrounded by a faint spiritual light, her small face filled with envy.
She also attempted to sit cross-legged like her sister, puffing her cheeks and trying hard to sense, but the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi around her were still passersby, not pausing for her.
"Humph!"
The little girl opened her eyes in frustration, casting an indignant glance at her senior sister, and stealing peeks at her Master.
Noticing her Master’s undivided attention on her senior sister,
The White Furred Ball pouted high, toddling over to the fire pit to poke at the coal, trying no longer.
The little girl mumbled under her breath:
"Qing Jun wants to play with fire! So hot... Might as well get burned and make roasted little girl, give it to the big blackball to eat! No one cares for Qing Jun anyway!"