Chapter 12 Lightning Tribulation This little zombie seems unafraid of lightning tribulation! ? ...
The tone of this line was anything but polite; it even carried a strange sense of familiarity.
At this moment, the fluffy ball opened its diamond-shaped eyes, its scarlet pupils staring intently into the depths of the red mist.
The kitten glanced at it and called out in the same direction, "Who are you? What do you want?"
The red mist swayed and dispersed, then quickly coalesced again.
[I am the system, come here quickly.]
The kitten was skeptical, but after seeing the gray ball of fur close its eyes again, it didn't say anything more and simply broke free from the little zombie's embrace.
It jumped to the ground, turned around and looked at the little zombie: "You come with me."
The surrounding area was shrouded in red mist. Not only could they not see it, but they could not even detect anything that could serve as a landmark with their senses. If it weren't for the occasional arrows formed by the mist, they might have wandered around here for a long time.
After walking for only a short while, the kitten couldn't stand the silence and started talking to the system.
"Where did you fall in from?"
The system became alert: [Why are you asking this?]
The kitten said seriously, "The little guy and the 'dog' are tied together, of course I have to ask."
It sounds like it's worried, but it deliberately emphasizes the word "dog," and coupled with its head held high and tail held high, there's a subtle sense of schadenfreude.
Just as the system was about to complain, the little zombie suddenly said cheerfully, "System, dog, friend, woof!"
The system was helpless.
A wisp of red mist first brushed over the little zombie's head, as if gently stroking it, and then drifted to the kitten and condensed into words.
[The host and I escaped here from a collapsing world plane.]
Almost as soon as these words appeared, the system dispelled them all, clearly not wanting to discuss them further.
The kitten's eyes darted around: "Why are you suddenly separated from the little guy?"
This question hit the system right on the head, and it immediately spammed out a whole bunch of words, its anger palpable just by reading them.
[The lightning bolt had already cleaved the spatial barrier once before, which is why you were able to sneak in, right? But the second one was exponentially more powerful. If I hadn't arrived quickly, this spatial rift would be split in two by now!]
In short: the space is collapsing again, and the system has had to increase its integration with the spatial rift in an effort to stabilize it.
The problem is that this stability is only temporary.
Is there any way?
【Yes, I have. 】
Both sides simultaneously—
"Don't mention wanting those points again."
[Points are all you need.]
Kitten, System: ......
Just then, they arrived at the location indicated by the system. Upon seeing the thing in the fog, the little zombie immediately quickened its pace, almost running past the brown-furred kitten.
Those were the four plots of farmland they had been searching for for a long time.
Two plots of farmland were empty, while the green seedlings on the other two plots had already grown and formed tender green buds, clearly indicating that they would soon bloom.
The flowers this time looked different from the morning glories, but the little zombie wasn't distracted by the plants. Instead, it ran to the field, stood there, and hurriedly called for the system.
[Host, I'm here.]
The moment the familiar voice appeared in his mind, the little zombie immediately fell silent.
Like a fledgling bird that has finally found its nest, he slowly curled up into a ball and lay horizontally on the soil, quietly gazing at the vibrant little flower seedlings in front of him.
The gray ball of fur crawled out of the little zombie's arms. It wasn't that it didn't want to stay with the little zombie, but rather that it had already noticed the cracks in the ground not far away.
It and the kitten leaned closer to look. The two furry balls sniffed and whispered something as they looked, but suddenly, they both shivered at the same time.
A line of text floated over: "Not only can you travel between dimensions on your own, but you also can't be detected at this point... What exactly are you?"
The gray fluffy ball and the brown kitten finally realized that their shivering had been detected by the system.
The kitten wasn't angry; it just raised its head high and snorted, "That's right, how could we be so easily seen through?"
It crouched on the ground, flicked the tip of its tail lightly and slowly, and said in a voice full of pride: "Suanni, even you must have heard of this name, right?"
The system was silent for three seconds, and then began to spam the screen.
However, instead of something like "You're actually a famous mythical beast," it displayed—
[I knew my host was the most powerful in the world! To actually encounter a Suanni! My host is the best in the world!]
After it finished praising it enthusiastically, it went to ask Suanni what that ball of fur was.
"Taotie".
The system slowly typed out a question mark.
Taotie is known as a ferocious beast in many dimensions, and its fame is definitely higher than that of Suanni.
This "fame" is similar to faith power; it's a mysterious energy that can be converted into strength in most world rules.
Therefore, if we convert it into combat power, let alone an auxiliary system, even if it were placed in a dedicated combat system, Taotie would definitely be on the list.
[You mean, this thing with a huge head, no hair, and a back half that looks like a burnt mop, is a Taotie?]
The Suanni, which looked like a kitten, was laughing hysterically: "Hahaha, that's right, that's him."
Taotie still squinted, but the huge mouth on its face was now as wide as its head, and when the lips were lifted, several sharp teeth that gleamed with an eerie light could be seen inside.
Suanni quickly stopped laughing, but it was very difficult to stop; he was sneezing and almost choked.
"The Taotie doesn't actually look like this. Sigh, you've seen that lightning tribulation, its power is unparalleled, right? There were ninety-nine strikes in total. It's a miracle that it survived being struck for so long, isn't it?"
The Suanni, suppressing a laugh, explained, "He's currently in the process of regeneration, waiting until—"
He suddenly froze.
Suanni seemed to realize something, and instantly suppressed his laughter, his voice low and deep: "System, that little guy might have been targeted by the Heavenly Dao."
The system was bewildered.
The Way of Heaven? What is that?
Suanni recounted what happened when the little zombie first crawled out of the sand, and then said, "The little guy should only have hearing left, right? But the way he looked back then was as if his toes had suddenly regained feeling."
After being tempered by heavenly lightning, I suddenly regained my five senses... This sense of déjà vu is too strong.
Upon hearing this, the system on this side immediately tensed up.
This was also its first time binding a host, and its first time encountering a zombie. In comparison, the Suanni was very familiar with Taotie, one of the parties involved, though it was rude in its speech but not stupid.
So, the system hesitated for less than a second before writing down all the information it knew about the host.
Although the Suanni looks like just a big cat now, it has lived for so many years and has a lot of experience and knowledge. It can keep up with the system's rapid output.
Almost as soon as the system displayed the last line of text, Suanni understood the situation.
"You said the little guy was clearly shattered by the lightning tribulation, yet he recovered on his own. He made a contract with the Taotie, and the Taotie is reborn, and there's also the red mist that appeared after the lightning tribulation..."
Suanni's eyes lit up: "This mist is blood! It's the blood of the Taotie!"
He looked at the spot where the system had previously taken the word "Mist Condensation": "Your guess should be right, that little guy is absorbing blood energy, he is evolving, he is cultivating!"
The system quickly followed up with: "What is cultivation?"
The Suanni was generous and told us about the worlds they often stayed in.
"All things have spiritual roots, but some spiritual roots are weak and some are strong. In places with abundant spiritual energy, even weak spiritual roots can be nourished. Conversely, only those with strong spiritual roots can absorb spiritual energy and temper their physical bodies."
Suanni then explained things like "spiritual root attributes, cultivation stages, and breakthroughs and ascensions."
These things are easy for the system to understand; they are just different energy systems in different worlds. It quickly built an analytical framework.
However, Suanni then said, "Taotie, I, and beings like us are different from cultivators; we are subject to more interference."
He wagged his tail: "But it's not like there are no benefits at all."
Taotie is infamous; even if it does nothing, the malevolent auras from all over the world will still follow it.
The universe seeks balance, so Taotie can use these evil spirits to cultivate in addition to spiritual energy, and this has been the case for thousands of years.
“So—” Suanni suddenly drew out his voice: “That little guy should now be like Taotie, able to cultivate using things other than spiritual power.”
The topic shift was a bit abrupt, as if it deliberately avoided some things about Taotie, but the system's focus has always been on its own host, so it didn't pay much attention to this.
It only cares about one thing: Is the host in danger?
Suanni glanced at the words still shrouded in mist: "It seems you know very little, tsk tsk."
Before the system could even roar, Suanni became serious: "Let me say this first, the fact that Taotie can look like this is a complete stroke of incredible luck."
A cultivator's tribulation usually consists of one or two lightning strikes, while those who ascend to the Great Perfection stage will face nine. The purpose of these tribulations is more to test the cultivator's will and temper their body than to kill them.
Therefore, the ninety-nine lightning tribulations were not intended to give Taotie a way out.
But now, the little zombie and the gluttonous beast have made a pact.
The Taotie survived in another form, and the little zombies became able to absorb the blood energy that the Taotie released when it "died".
To the Heavenly Dao, which is similar to the rules of the world, the little zombie is now a non-human being who can cultivate using evil blood and demonic energy.
To make matters worse, since the Heavenly Thunder followed us in, the Heavenly Dao also learned about this spatial rift, leaving the little zombies and the Taotie with nowhere to hide.
The little zombie is still very weak, and the lightning that falls is like a greeting. But if this continues, once the little zombie has grown its new crystal core...
What awaits them is utter annihilation.
Suanni was frowning and thinking about what to do, feeling as if he had overlooked something.
Suddenly, an unusually sweet fragrance wafted to his nose.
It immediately turned its head to look and saw a large cluster of brightly colored giant flowers, and a little zombie standing next to the flowers, raising its hands and cheering.
The piece of cloth covering the little zombie had long been chopped into charcoal. Since the Taotie and Suanni were demonic beasts and had no concept of wearing clothes, the little zombie was now completely naked.
The child-like body was bluish-gray; it was clearly not a living person...
etc.
The Suanni finally realized what it had forgotten.
The little zombie had just been struck by lightning, yet he wasn't injured at all.
This little zombie seems completely unafraid of the Heavenly Tribulation!
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