Another heavenly tribulation
Although there were only two more people on Cangmin Mountain, it seemed to have been infused with the hustle and bustle and vitality of an entire market.
"Senior sister! I can never seem to get the last stroke of this fire-starting talisman right!"
"Senior sister! I need a centipede of a full life for alchemy, where can I find one?"
"Senior Sister—!"
Yun Qian's days passed by in a lively yet peaceful way, filled with answering these endless questions and dealing with the small troubles that followed.
Naturally, when Bai Yan was on the mountain, this "burden" fell on her master's shoulders. Unfortunately, this master was usually elusive, so most of the time, Yun Qian had her own set of rules for dealing with it.
"Senior sister! My spirit gathering array exploded again!!" Bai Ji ran over, her hair sticking up from the explosion, looking disheveled and covered in dust.
Yun Qian lay leisurely on the jade platform, her eyes still closed: "Draw a cleaning talisman and clean yourself and the place."
"Senior sister, why is this Dew-Gathering Grass always so listless?" Bai Chuan asked, holding a pot of slightly wilted herbs, her brows furrowed.
Yun Qian leaned against the wooden sign she had erected for the "Spring Breeze Array" and lazily suggested, "How about we try drawing a nourishing talisman?"
Everything can be solved by drawing talismans! This is Senior Sister Yunqian's ultimate secret.
Time flies like an arrow; eight years have passed quietly amidst the sounds of swords, the glow of talismans, and the fragrance of medicine.
The boy who used to snuggle and cry in Yun Qian's arms has grown up rapidly and tallly, like a bamboo shoot that has absorbed plenty of rain and dew.
The little boy who once needed Yun Qian to bend down to listen has now grown into a handsome young man, and she has to tilt her head slightly to meet their gaze.
Yun Qian's role also gradually changed from teaching them swordsmanship to practicing swordsmanship with them and exchanging skills with each other.
Bai Ji spent his days immersed in the library, engrossed in those profound and ancient texts on formations, his fingertips often stained with the ink of his calculations.
Bai Chuan became the most frequent person to go down the mountain because his medical cultivation often required various poisonous insects and exotic herbs to make medicine.
Eight years have passed, and both of them have steadily entered the Foundation Establishment stage.
On this day, the sky was clear and the air was fresh. Yun Qian lay on her back on the jade platform as usual, her eyes slightly closed, and in her mind, she was repeatedly practicing the Cangmin Sword Technique.
The Cangmin Sword has no physical sword manual. She once asked Bai Yan why, and at that time Bai Yan only said calmly, "The Cangmin Sword Manual is in my heart."
Back then, Yun Qian was too young to understand. Now, lying on this stone platform, using her mind as paper and spiritual energy as ink, she repeatedly traces the trajectory of sword intent, feeling the energy within her body flow and resonate with it. Only then does she realize the profound meaning behind her master's words.
Only by keeping the sword manual in mind can one shed the superficial forms of the moves, directly reach the essence of sword intent, and achieve a thorough understanding and integration.
Her aura was calm, but the wooden sword beside her emitted a subtle yet continuous hum as her spiritual power flowed within her, as if it were in sync with her thoughts.
However, this tranquility was suddenly shattered by a deafening explosion!
"Bang—!!"
A loud bang rang out, and Yun Qian's mind was shaken. The originally harmonious and flowing spiritual power in her body instantly went out of control. A fierce energy, like a wild horse, rampaged through her meridians!
wrong!
Yun Qian suppressed her discomfort and abruptly sat up cross-legged, trying to guide and soothe the chaotic spiritual energy. But the more she urged her true energy, the more frenzied the out-of-control power became. Not only did it fail to subside, but it also snowballed, drawing in more spiritual energy from around her to join the frenzy!
What began as a turbulent current quickly coalesced into a torrent attempting to break free of her body's constraints! A tearing pain shot through her internal organs, as if something was about to burst forth! A suffocating sensation gripped her throat, and in an instant, she felt as if she had been pulled back to the moment in her past life when her life had come to an end.
No, that's not right!
In the pain that almost overwhelmed her consciousness, Yun Qian suddenly regained consciousness.
This excruciating pain, originating from the depths of her soul, did not come from her physical body, but from her primordial spirit! And the uncontrollable, violently surging spiritual power was a sign that she was about to break through her cultivation level!
Having figured this out, Yun Qian's mind became more at ease.
She stopped futilely suppressing the power that burst forth from the ground, and instead focused her mind and calmed her trembling spirit, preparing to break through the bottleneck!
Since we can't suppress it, then... let it be, and break through it!
Almost the instant she abandoned her attempt to suppress and guide the energy, the spiritual power accumulated around her burst forth like a river bursting its banks! Her primordial spirit endured the overwhelming onslaught of this spiritual power, experiencing waves of intense pain that were enough to shatter one's soul.
Yun Qian closed her eyes tightly, veins bulged on her forehead, and beads of sweat instantly soaked her temples.
And above her head, a thick, chilling cloud had unknowingly gathered. Lightning crackled within the cloud, and a muffled rumble grew louder as it approached, a destructive pressure descending upon her!
It's a heavenly tribulation!
Yun Qian groaned and forced down the metallic taste that rose in her throat.
Another heavenly tribulation... I give up.
This time... they're not really going to kill me, are they?
Master isn't in the mountains!
She didn't want to die!
With a hint of absurdity in her mind, Yun Qian looked up at the thunderclouds that were about to strike, trying to "negotiate" with the invisible Heavenly Dao with her eyes, asking if it could strike again next time.
However, the ways of Heaven are merciless.
A blindingly bright purple lightning bolt tore through the dim sky, like a spear of judgment hurled down by the heavens, carrying immense force, and pierced straight into Yun Qian's head!
Can't we even discuss it?!
Yun Qian gritted her teeth, grabbed the wooden sword beside her, pointed the tip of the sword diagonally to the sky, and instead of dodging or avoiding, she met the first bolt of heavenly lightning head-on!
Inside the library.
Bai Ji looked at his outer robe, which was once again charred black by the explosion, and sighed as if it were nothing new. His fingertips flashed with spiritual light as he skillfully drew a cleansing talisman and slapped it onto his body.
As he cleaned up the mess left by the broken formation, he subconsciously glanced towards the door.
"Strange... I made such a commotion, why hasn't my senior sister come yet?"
Normally, at the slightest sign of trouble on his side, his senior sister would appear immediately, either shaking her head helplessly or offering advice. Bai Ji pouted, a little aggrieved: Sure enough, as he grew up, his senior sister didn't pay as much attention to him as she did when he was a child?
He was just imagining a tragic story of a junior brother growing up and being disliked by his senior sister when a thunderous roar suddenly exploded without warning!
"boom--!!!"
The thunder was so close it seemed to be right above his head, causing the beams and pillars of the library to tremble slightly. Startled, Bai Ji dropped the ancient book he had just picked up with a "thud" to the ground, but he didn't even notice.
The next second, intense worry seized him! No longer caring about anything else, Bai Ji moved like lightning, rushing out of the library at top speed and running wildly towards the direction from which the thunder came, towards the jade platform!
The library wasn't far from the stone platform, and Bai Ji arrived in just a few leaps. He immediately spotted the fragile yet incredibly resilient figure in the center of the platform, illuminated by lightning!
Yun Qian knelt on the charred stone surface, her right hand tightly gripping a piece of wooden sword that had been chopped black, barely supporting her body, while her left hand pressed hard against the ground, her knuckles turning white from the force.
Before Bai Ji could even cry out in alarm, a second, even more violent bolt of lightning followed closely behind, crashing down with a deafening roar!
Yun Qian struggled to raise the broken wooden sword to defend herself once more.
A terrifying lightning bolt traveled along the wooden sword and instantly spread throughout her body, engulfing her entirely in blinding electric light.
Before his primordial spirit could recover even slightly from the impact of the second lightning tribulation, the third heavenly lightning struck without any pause!
This time, Yun Qian had exhausted even the strength to lift her sword.
Through the distorted, leaping, blazing white lightning, she saw Bai Ji rushing towards her without regard for anything else, his young face filled with fear and determination.
This is a heavenly tribulation! If a Foundation Establishment cultivator rashly enters, at best their primordial spirit will be damaged, and at worst they will die on the spot!
We absolutely cannot let him come over!
In the brief interval before the fourth bolt of lightning, brewing even greater terrifying power, struck down, Yun Qian used her last bit of strength to suddenly raise her hand and make a clear and stern gesture in Bai Ji's direction.
Stop! Don't come any closer!
Bai Ji abruptly stopped, his heart filled with anxiety as he watched his senior sister struggle in the sea of lightning, yet he dared not take another step forward.
The fifth bolt of heavenly lightning, like a roaring thunder dragon, crashed down!
This time, Yun Qian could no longer resist. The wooden sword in her hand turned to ashes in the lightning, scattering in all directions. Her body went limp, and she collapsed heavily onto the charred and broken stone platform, her consciousness quickly swallowed by darkness.
In the instant before she completely lost consciousness, at the edge of her blurred vision, a familiar silver-white figure seemed to flash by like a phantom.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
