Heavenly Tribulation

For some reason, the weather had been awful all day.

Yan Jue clutched Qi Xianqing’s communication talisman card, her emotions in utter turmoil. She soon returned to the mountain and first made a trip to the Library Pavilion.

The Library Pavilion was still as it had always been; there were very few people inside.

Yan Jue went to the bookshelves in the back row. When she looked up, she saw row after row of books coated in dust.

Standing on the ladder, she searched for a long time before finally finding what she wanted.

A thick, yellowed book.

"A Book to Help You Understand Ice-Type Divine Abilities."

Aside from the first and second chapters, which focused more on practical application, the rest of the book was basically all theory.

For example, Ice Soul Heart Method Volumes One through Six, Yin-Yang Five-Element Mental Arts, and so on.

Yan Jue only needed to memorize these in her mind, then circulate them through her body each night in a full heavenly cycle.

She was lacking a dedicated book on ice-type divine abilities; the only ice technique she currently knew was the Summoning Ice Formula.

Too little.

Yan Jue hugged the book and climbed down from the ladder. Just as she was about to leave, a figure suddenly caught her eye on the bookshelf beside her.

Yan Jue came to a sharp stop.

Qi Xianqing.

Qi Xianqing was dressed in white, a black sword on her back. She stood between another row of bookshelves and was taking a book down from the shelf.

Yan Jue’s eyes accidentally flicked to the cover and caught a line of small print: "A Book to Help You Understand Dual Cultivation."

Yan Jue: “?”

Qi Xianqing hugged the book to herself and walked out expressionlessly. When she looked up, she happened to see Yan Jue.

Yan Jue: “……”

The two of them fell silent.

Qi Xianqing’s gaze instantly turned cold. She flipped the book over and pressed it against her abdomen. “What are you looking at?”

Yan Jue gave an awkward laugh. “What a coincidence, Senior Sister. We just ran into each other down the mountain, and now we’ve met again.”

She recovered quickly; one moment she had looked like a lost puppy, and the next her face had brightened again, her smile clear and pure.

Qi Xianqing stared at her for a long while, then gave a quiet hum and passed by her without expression.

Yan Jue: “……”

She was used to it.

-

For some reason, Yan Jue’s heart kept pounding all the way back to her quarters.

She always felt as if there were a pair of eyes watching her from behind, leaving her uneasy.

Maybe she had experienced too much today; she was a little too sensitive.

“……”

By the time Yan Jue returned to her room, the wind had already risen from a light breeze to a fierce gale.

The rain in the sky had also gradually turned into a torrential downpour.

Yan Jue sat by the table and looked out the window, when she suddenly saw lightning flash across the sky.

A tree outside the dormitory was actually struck!

It was an old tree, and after being hit by lightning, it burst into roaring flames.

A knock suddenly came from the door.

Du Ying shouted, “Yan Jue!!! Come out and put out the fire! The tree at our door is on fire.”

Yan Jue came back to herself and hurried out to help put it out.

The divine abilities cultivated by Watercloud Sect disciples leaned toward water techniques to begin with, and with the stormy wind and rain overhead, the flames on the tree were quickly extinguished.

Du Ying: “What’s going on? Why is the heavenly thunder striking us specifically? Why not somewhere else?”

Yan Jue: “Did you do something shameful and deserving of being struck by lightning?”

Du Ying: “No way. I just saw a few very handsome junior brothers from the Muyin Sect yesterday and looked at them a few extra times, that’s all.”

The two of them were chatting when, in an instant, another bolt of lightning split the sky, turning both girls’ faces deathly pale.

Yan Jue stared at the lightning in the sky for a long moment. The words heavenly tribulation suddenly surged into her mind.

Demon and human were different.

Human cultivators would not encounter a heavenly tribulation until they reached the sixth realm, the Golden Core stage.

But for demons, heavenly tribulations were common, because a demon’s cultivation went against the heavens. Not only during the transformation stage; at any point of advancement, a heavenly tribulation might descend.

Could it be.

No good.

Yan Jue’s pupils contracted slightly.

This time, after she went down the mountain, her cultivation had indeed advanced.

Sometimes she had even found it strange; why was she already at the peak of the Entry Light realm, yet no heavenly tribulation had come down?

No wonder she had felt uneasy all the way back to her quarters.

Could it be a demon’s intuition for danger, warning her that the lightning was coming for her!

Yan Jue stared blankly at the dark clouds on the horizon when Du Ying shoved her from behind. “Hurry up and go back inside. This thunder is unusual; maybe some great power of our Five Dragons Sect is undergoing a tribulation. Be careful not to get dragged into it. On a rainy day like this, you should be hiding under your blanket listening to the rain.”

Yan Jue: “Okay.”

She returned to her room, then immediately transformed into a little red fox and leapt out the window, three large tails swishing behind her.

Another bolt of lightning flashed across the sky. Yan Jue’s scalp went numb, and the thunder that followed was so deafening it made every hair on her body stand on end.

She braved the rain and ran as fast as she could toward the forest.

When beasts underwent tribulation, they were supposed to hide in remote wilderness.

Not at home.

If she stayed home, the house would be struck to pieces by heavenly thunder.

Yan Jue searched the forest for a long time before finally finding a patch of ground that was passable.

At the same time, a thunderbolt crashed down; the trees behind her split open with a bang, throwing Yan Jue several zhang away.

By now, Yan Jue was completely certain that the thunder was coming for her. Wherever she went, it followed.

She quickly hopped onto that open patch of ground and sat down, rapidly searching through her memories for everything she knew about demon tribulations.

There were a total of ten bolts of heavenly thunder.

The demon would form a seal array in the open ground, and the tribulation would officially begin.

The higher the demon’s cultivation, the stronger the thunder.

A demon’s heavenly tribulation was extremely hard to withstand; among a hundred demons, very few could survive all ten bolts.

As Yan Jue was thinking this, the first bolt of lightning had already come crashing down.

Violent electric force spread in all directions. Yan Jue only felt her back burn, and she nearly fell over.

The little fox pressed itself flat against the ground and spat out a mouthful of blood.

This heavenly thunder was even more powerful than she had imagined.

The second bolt followed immediately. Yan Jue widened her amber eyes and clearly saw that in the cloud-heavy sky, a purple-blue galloping steed had appeared, rearing and crying out with immense force as it charged straight toward her.

In an instant, a blaze two people high exploded over the ground. Yan Jue was knocked over this time; the red little fox lay on its back, all four paws in the air, mouth open, miserable beyond words.

Third tribulation lightning.

The clouds gradually parted. Yan Jue could clearly see that in the center of the cloud layer lurked a ferocious steed with a gaping maw; its dignified eyes gleamed with faint golden light as yet another bolt struck down.

Fourth... fifth... sixth...

This was nothing less than the Heavenly Dao crushing an ant.

At first, Yan Jue could still barely hold on, but by the time she endured the seventh bolt of heavenly thunder, her fur had already been scorched black.

She could no longer be called a fox, but a hairless fox.

Yan Jue lay on the ground, teeth clenched so hard they nearly broke, her whole body taut.

Suddenly, the dark clouds overhead slowly dispersed. Yan Jue kept all four paws pressed to the ground and looked up at the sky, her pupils shrinking sharply.

In that instant, she saw a clawing, raging golden dragon among the clouds, its eyes bright as flames.

The tenth bolt of tribulation lightning!

The earth shook, and the thunder was deafening. A dazzling bolt of lightning illuminated the surrounding black trees, and the golden dragon in the sky roared as it tore through the wind.

Yan Jue used all her strength to lift her neck and let out a pitiful, high-pitched cry. Her three large tails swept violently; in an instant, a frost-colored protective barrier flashed into existence around her, and ice exuding cold energy layered over her again and again.

“BOOM!!!”

The heavenly thunder struck the barrier and shattered the thick ice into pieces in an instant.

But that protective barrier had, just in time, helped Yan Jue withstand the most difficult of the heavenly thunder strikes.

The residual electric force fell upon Yan Jue, and the pain made her let out a flurry of whimpering cries.

In this world, the thing that most restrained demons and monsters was lightning. Even a trace of righteous electric force could make Yan Jue kick her legs and roll her eyes back.

All strength drained from her body; she lost consciousness.

-

When Yan Jue woke up, everything was already over.

The surroundings were utterly quiet. A slightly cool wind after the night rain brushed past her ears, and faint insect calls could be heard from the treetops overhead.

Yan Jue slowly pried open a slit in her heavy eyelids.

The dark clouds had dispersed, revealing a deep, crystal-clear night sky. Tiny stars were scattered across the firmament, beautiful and tranquil.

Yan Jue lay on the ground for a while and tried to stand, but as soon as she moved she felt as if all the wounds on her body were going to split open.

So painful... so painful...

Yan Jue felt weak. Not only could she not move, she couldn’t even gather enough strength to turn back into human form.

So that was why, in novels, many heavily injured demons stayed in their original form; it wasn’t that they wanted to remain that way, but that they simply couldn’t turn back into human form.

Right now, even a hedgehog could bully her...

She was too fragile.

If some large spirit beast happened to pass by now, she might very well lose her life.

Yan Jue weakly lay on the ground and closed her heavy eyes. The first person that came to mind was Qi Xianqing.

She needed Qi Xianqing’s help.

At a time like this, would Qi Xianqing be at Frozen Peach Haven?

...

Yan Jue was cold and hungry. Dragging half her body along, she crawled to the outside of Frozen Peach Haven by the edge of Cold Pool and sniffed hard.

She smelled the fragrance of an Immortal Spirit Physique; Yan Jue’s large ears twitched, and she also heard the faint sound of pages turning.

Her eyes brightened slightly. Qi Xianqing really was in Frozen Peach Haven...

“Chi chi chi..."

After the storm, everything had become quiet again. Qi Xianqing liked rainy nights very much; she could sit by the window and read, or breathe in the scent of the evening breeze mixed with moisture.

Qi Xianqing was wearing her inner robe and sitting at the table, looking at a cultivation manual related to dual cultivation.

The pages were full of notes she had made herself.

The more Qi Xianqing read, the deeper her brow furrowed, and the more acutely she realized her own shortcomings.

In the past, she had devoted herself to the Dao and only thought about cultivation; she had never really learned anything about dual cultivation.

To think that dual cultivation could be such a wondrous thing. Especially after passing the sixth realm, the Golden Core stage; when dual-cultivation partners joined forces, it was equivalent to two golden cores circulating at once, and that kind of power was equal to the level of the seventh realm.

And dual cultivation could actually be done regardless of gender.

As long as the spiritual roots and yin-yang properties matched, two women could dual cultivate as well.

Qi Xianqing felt that her worldview, built up over many years, had been violently shaken. She rested one hand on the table and frowned in thought.

Then she suddenly heard a familiar sound.

“Chi chi chi..."

“Ying ying ying..."

Qi Xianqing walked out of the room and, to her surprise, saw a half-dead little fox.

She froze.

The little fox lying on the ground was no longer the same one from before.

It was a heavily injured fox; its entire coat of red fur had been scorched black, and half of the fur underneath had fallen out, exposing skin covered in wounds. Its front paws were also bleeding.

The little fox lay on the ground with only a slit left in its amber eyes.

Qi Xianqing’s heart lurched.

Yan Jue had exhausted all her strength crawling over to Qi Xianqing. The entire fox had curled into a ball on the ground.

With her eyes closed, she heard Qi Xianqing’s footsteps gradually approaching, and the heart hanging in her chest slowly settled down.

Qi Xianqing strode closer and lifted Yan Jue into her arms.

Blood stained her snow-white inner robe, then dripped slowly down from it.

Qi Xianqing half-crouched on the ground and lowered her head to inspect the little fox’s injuries. “How did you get yourself like this?”

Yan Jue didn’t even have the strength to cry out.

With her eyes closed, her black ears drooped and pressed tightly against the back of her head. She let out a muffled, weak whimper.

Qi Xianqing suddenly noticed something and paused slightly.

Behind the little fox, where there had originally been three fluffy large tails, there were now four.

After the three long tails, there was an extra small tail.

A four-tailed spirit fox.

The thunderstorm had indeed been unusual; Qi Xianqing had already suspected that some spirit creature might have been undergoing a tribulation in the mountain. Now, seeing the little fox’s condition, she frowned slightly and faintly formed a guess.

Qi Xianqing held the little fox in her arms, afraid of hurting it, and for once looked a little at a loss. In a low voice, she: “It’s all right now. It’s all right.”

Yan Jue closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the Immortal Spirit Physique’s scent. Like a small infant, she curled up in Qi Xianqing’s arms.

In Qi Xianqing’s arms, she felt very safe.

So unlucky...

She had just tried to leave the mountain and was punished by the Heavenly Dao; in the blink of an eye, she had run into a heavenly tribulation.

Heavenly tribulations really were terrifying.

So she had to work hard to make herself stronger. Yan Jue thought vaguely.

Qi Xianqing carried her and quickly headed back into the room.

“……”

Yan Jue closed her eyes and rubbed herself lightly against Qi Xianqing’s arms.

She suddenly felt that maybe she wasn’t quite so unlucky after all.