Before Ya Wen could finish speaking, the sky suddenly darkened, with dark clouds looming over the city as if the end of the world had arrived.
Immediately afterwards, the dark clouds were twisted into a funnel shape by the tornado and rushed wildly toward one place, with lightning as thick as a baby's arm flashing in and out of the dark clouds.
By the light of the lightning, Chu Xinxin saw a tall, slender figure at the center of the gathering dark clouds.
"Boom!" A purple-gold lightning bolt tore through the sky and struck the figure hard. Before the first one was finished, another descended, each one more powerful and exaggerated than the last.
Even from a great distance, Chu Xinxin could still feel that terrifying pressure.
The lightning tribulation lasted for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn before it ended.
"I wonder which scumbag was making that oath, that even God couldn't stand it," Chu Xinxin sighed.
"Xin Xin, what are you talking about? What scumbag?"
"Uh, no, I was referring to which fellow Daoist is undergoing tribulation."
Ya Wen shook her head: "This isn't a tribulation lightning for transcending tribulations, it's a tribulation lightning for singles. Without a Daoist partner, you'll be struck by lightning once a year."
"What?!" Chu Xinxin's eyes widened, doubting whether she had misheard. "What did you say? A single-person tribulation?! What kind of bizarre setting is this?!"
"Sigh, Xin Xin, you're not twenty-one yet, are you? We cultivators should follow the way of heaven, the principles of mutual generation and restraint, and the balance of yin and yang. Marriage is also a way of following the way of heaven."
Ya Wen patted Chu Xinxin on the shoulder and continued speaking.
"Therefore, the Di Yao Continent has always been very enthusiastic about marriage. Regardless of gender, as long as they reach adulthood, they will get married as soon as possible. If they have not completed this important life event by the age of twenty-one, the Heavenly Dao will send down a lightning tribulation every year to remind and urge them to hurry up and complete it."
"each year?!"
Chu Xinxin recalled the lightning tribulation she had just experienced and was so frightened that her voice cracked: "Like that?!"
"Don't panic, don't panic. Judging from the direction and formation of that lightning tribulation just now, it should be the one from Zichen Palace."
Ya Wen moved closer, and Chu Xinxin put her hand to her mouth as she spoke.
"That big shot has been single for six thousand years. You, a junior who has only just established your foundation, are nothing in front of the Heavenly Dao. At most, he will give you a small white lightning bolt as a token gesture, just like being bitten by a fire ant. It won't do you any harm at all."
A lifelong single for 6,000 years?!
Chu Xinxin showed an expression of admiration. Awesome! A role model for us all... oh no, a disgrace to us all!
Chu Xinxin felt relieved after hearing this, but her gossip spirit was ignited: "Why doesn't that big shot have a girlfriend yet?"
The man from Zichen Palace is said to be the most powerful cultivator on the Emperor Yao Continent, with one foot already in the Immortal Realm. He possesses a demigod body, countless riches, and a high status. Logically, he should be the most popular male cultivator among female cultivators...
"Could it be that he's ugly or has some kind of weird fetish?" Chu Xinxin wondered.
"No, no," Yawen said with a mysterious expression. "I heard it's... that won't do!"
Chu Xinxin: ......
As soon as Yawen finished speaking, dark clouds gathered in the sky again.
"Huh? Is it going to rain? But Qi Yun Tower clearly said it would be a sunny day today."
Ya Wen looked up and saw dark clouds churning, with lightning flashing intermittently within them. The others from Si Yinge also sensed something was wrong and stopped to look up.
"Oh no, it's a lightning tribulation!"
Thunderclouds gathered above Chu Xinxin and Ya Wen's heads. Ya Wen suddenly turned her head and asked in a trembling voice, "Xinxin, how old are you this year?"
Chu Xinxin replied expressionlessly, "Twenty-one, single."
Upon hearing this, Ya Wen immediately summoned her natal magic weapon, the Azure Cloud Sword, and swiftly left her original spot. The next moment, a bolt of purple-gold heavenly lightning appeared and headed straight for Chu Xinxin.
Chu Xinxin also wanted to escape, but she was locked in by the lightning tribulation and couldn't move at all. The system also felt the scalp-tingling pressure and shouted in Chu Xinxin's mind.
[Quickly get out your seven-piece pagoda! The activation password is the first six digits of pi!]
"How would I know what it is? Couldn't you just set one up?!"
Master math, physics, and chemistry, and you'll be able to go anywhere in the world without fear!
......
The terror of this lightning tribulation was comparable to that of the one from Zichen Palace just now. Everyone from Siyin Pavilion retreated more than ten miles away and watched from a distance on their swords.
With their keen hearing and eyesight, cultivators could clearly see Chu Xinxin holding up a small, seven-colored glazed pagoda in her palm. The pagoda instantly grew larger, enveloping Chu Xinxin within it.
"What's wrong with Xin Xin? How old is she? She's actually using the most powerful Purple Gold Heavenly Thunder. The one in Zi Chen Palace is only at this level."
"Twenty-one, it should be the same heavenly lightning that happened to him. Although Master Zichen has finished his tribulation, the thunderclouds have not yet dissipated. Xinxin just accidentally called his name again, which involved karma, so this is why things turned out this way."
"Can Xin Xin handle it? She's only just reached the Foundation Establishment stage."
"The Seven-Colored Glazed Pagoda is a rare Earth-grade spiritual treasure. It can withstand at least eight or nine bolts of heavenly lightning of this level."
The people of Siyin Pavilion were discussing among themselves. They were indeed astute; it was only when the ninth bolt of heavenly lightning struck that cracks appeared in Chu Xinxin's Seven Treasures Pagoda.
During the interval between the two bolts of heavenly lightning, Chu Xinxin put away the Seven Treasures Pagoda and summoned a Crimson Banner. The Crimson Banner could not withstand eight bolts of heavenly lightning, so Chu Xinxin had to replace it with another one.
"Another Earth-grade spiritual treasure, this is the tenth one already. What's Chu Xinxin's background?"
"I don't know, I heard they came from Zhongzhou."
"Zhongzhou... could it be the Chu family, one of the four great families of Zhongzhou?"
Chu Xinxin had no time to care what others speculated about; being struck by such a divine lightning bolt was simply too much of a bullying act.
Chu Xinxin, with her Foundation Establishment cultivation, already struggled to wield such Earth-grade spiritual treasures, let alone so many in a short period. As soon as the heavenly lightning passed, she immediately collapsed and fainted.
......
When Chu Xinxin woke up again, she was surrounded by a group of people.
Colleagues who usually ignored her suddenly became incredibly enthusiastic, surrounding her and showering her with concern.
Chu Xinxin politely agreed while asking the system what was going on.
[Sister, you brought out more than a dozen Earth-grade spiritual treasures. They thought you were a direct descendant of the Chu family of Zhongzhou and were trying to curry favor with you.]
"The Chu family of Zhongzhou?"
The Chu family of Zhongzhou is one of the four great families of Zhongzhou on the Emperor Yao Continent. Their ancestor was at the early stage of the Tribulation Transcending Realm, and even the weakest of their three protectors possessed the cultivation of the early stage of the Mahayana Realm. Recently, they have been showing signs of replacing the Jiang family of Zhongzhou as the head of the four great families.
Chu Xinxin didn't want to cause trouble, but no one directly asked her if she was from the Chu family of Zhongzhou, so she didn't even have a chance to deny it. She had no choice but to pretend she didn't know and agree to it.
After everyone had left, Ya Wen came over and pulled Chu Xinxin aside.
"Xin Xin, you scared me to death." Ya Wen's lips turned slightly pale, showing her genuine concern for Chu Xin Xin.
Chu Xinxin felt a warmth in her heart and squeezed Ya Wen's hand in return: "I'm fine, I just fainted due to exhaustion of spiritual energy. What's going on with this lightning tribulation? Didn't you say..."
Just moments ago, Ya Wen was all smiles with Chu Xin Xin, then tossed Chu Xin Xin's hand aside and took two steps back: "Who told you to call that person from Zi Chen Palace by her full name?"
"Are you saying that I attracted this heavenly lightning because I called his name?"
"More or less." Yawen looked at her with a sympathetic gaze.
"This tribulation proves that you are now entangled with him in karma. His curse of being single for a thousand years may also befall you. You... you'd better pray for good fortune."
As soon as Yawen finished speaking, she quickly slipped away, afraid that if she was even a step too slow, the powerful curse of being single for a thousand years would spread to her like a plague.
"So the reason we don't call him by his name isn't because he doesn't like it, but because it will get him struck by lightning?"
The thought of this kind of heavenly lightning happening once a year made Chu Xinxin wish she could travel back to the previous hour and sew her mouth shut.
[Sister, this tribulation cost us a total of ten million spirit stones. In addition, eleven Earth-grade spiritual treasures were damaged. Repairing them will conservatively cost at least one hundred energy points.]
The system only spoke after Ya Wen's figure disappeared. Chu Xinxin felt heartbroken, but then the system spoke again.
[And there's even worse news... Because of the karma you've accumulated from the longest-single man in history, your mission progress in this world has dropped from 100 to...]
Chu Xinxin: ...Holy crap!
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