The first birthday celebration was somewhat rushed.
Song Qing Shi felt somewhat embarrassed. In the past, his birthdays were grand family affairs. There would be a three-tiered cake, chocolates flown in from overseas, a mountain of gifts—especially from his sister, who showered him with everything from computers and designer clothes to medical equipment. His mother would organize an annual concert for him; his father would make charitable donations in his name and had even donated an entire lab building to his school as a birthday gift. The family chef would cook him longevity noodles, the nanny would gift him handmade dolls, and the servants would make adorable birthday cards wishing him peace and good health. Even in his last year bedridden, his birthday celebrations were a hundred times better than what Wu Huan currently had.
No cake, no gourmet food, no greeting cards, and no valuable gifts...
The use of the Soul Essence to break the Harmony Seal was already agreed upon. Xie Que's soul was neither admirable nor worthy to be considered a gift. The wooden box was Wu Huan's own; he had merely added a few gems, which were worthless trinkets in the realm of immortals.
Song Qing Shi felt increasingly guilty, so he shot more fireworks into the sky to enliven the atmosphere of what was supposed to be a birthday feast. Then he pulled out a large longevity peach from his bag.
"They say one should eat this on birthdays," Song Qing Shi mumbled, ashamed, as he bowed his head. Only after visiting several bakeries in various cities did he discover that immortals didn't have anything like cake. Custom ordering was too late, but the bakery owner recommended this longevity peach, saying it served a similar purpose.
Unable to find suitable birthday candles, he simply lit a small Red Lotus flower on the peach with his elixir flame. He then handed it to Wu Huan, "You can make a wish and blow out the flame. Your wish will come true."
Wu Huan, having never heard of such a custom, laughed as he took the longevity peach, "Will it really come true?"
"Yes," Song Qing Shi replied confidently. His parents had taught him to make birthday wishes from an early age. Though his original wish for good health hadn't turned out exactly as expected, his miraculous journey to this world and a fresh start still fulfilled it.
Seeing Song Qing Shi's conviction, Wu Huan compliantly closed his eyes, "I wish to spend my next birthday with you as well."
"You shouldn't say your wishes out loud; you're supposed to think them," Song Qing Shi quickly corrected, "Make another wish, silently this time."
If wishes didn't need to be voiced, that made things easier…
Wu Huan smiled, silently making an impossible wish, and then gently blew on the Red Lotus atop the longevity peach.
In the flickering moment of the Red Lotus, Song Qing Shi extinguished the flame.
Every wish of Wu Huan's, he wanted to make come true...
"This year's birthday celebration was too simple," Song Qing Shi promised earnestly, "Next year, it will be grander. I'll learn how to bake a cake—a huge one, with white cream and your name written in jam. I'll buy you even more beautiful gemstones and set off real fireworks..."
Wu Huan stared at him for a long moment before tentatively asking, "Will you accompany me every year?"
Without hesitation, Song Qing Shi declared, "I will accompany you, year after year!"
Wu Huan had long since known that Song Qing Shi never lied. Every word he spoke held weight, so this promise meant that he could stay in Yao Wang Valley, by his side, forever, becoming the most important person in his life. A surge of elation swept through him, eclipsing the shadows of doubt; he couldn't help but smile—a genuine happiness he hadn't felt in years.
It felt as if he had returned to the joyful times of his youth, and he found himself unable to stop smiling.
A thought suddenly struck Song Qing Shi, reminding him of something Qing Luan had once said:
"When Wu Huan smiles, he's the most beautiful. It's as if all the celestial light has descended upon him, and it's too dazzling to look away."
It was true; his smile was incredibly enchanting...
Even if you combined all the stars in the sky, they couldn't outshine him.
Song Qing Shi found it increasingly difficult to look away...
Levels of phenylethylamine within his body were rising, impairing his ability to think rationally. His heartbeat sped up, and he felt a flush creeping across his face. What was this? This wasn't an emotion a healer should feel toward a patient. Taking a deep breath to compose himself, he suddenly felt a shift in his Yuan Ying—the core of his cultivation—throwing his spiritual energy into disarray and causing discomfort in his dantian.
Could there be some hidden issue with this body?
Gritting his teeth against the discomfort, Song Qing Shi suppressed the erratic movements of his Yuan Ying, temporarily stabilizing his condition. Observing Wu Huan, he noticed signs of foundation building after the Harmony Seal was lifted. Hurriedly, he handed Wu Huan an elixir to aid him in meditation and energy balancing.
For Wu Huan, foundation building was not a difficult task.
Song Qing Shi sat by his side, simultaneously inspecting his own body and waiting for Wu Huan's progress.
He spent almost half an hour thoroughly examining himself, ruling out toxins and other influences. Yet, he found no reason for the unsettling movements of his Yuan Ying, leaving him puzzled.
At this moment, Wu Huan opened his eyes, having successfully built his foundation. As if sensing something, he slowly looked up at the sky, cautiously drawing his longsword.
Only then did Song Qing Shi lift his gaze, finding that the sky had inexplicably transformed. Rolling black clouds now hid the stars, forming a vortex of swirling lightning. Disbelieving his own eyes, he muttered, "Is this...a tribulation cloud?"
The path of cultivation is one of defying the heavens.
Tribulation thunder is both a life-and-death test and an opportunity given by the heavens. It can solidify cultivation levels and temper the physical body.
Song Qing Shi had faced such trials during his Golden Core and Nascent Soul stages, so he was not unfamiliar with them. However, the idea of facing a tribulation during the foundation-building stage was unheard of in the realm of immortals! Foundation building was just the first step into the world of cultivation—practically every immortal cultivator could achieve it. Why would it require a heavenly test like a tribulation? Had the heavens gone mad?!
Wu Huan had never encountered such an event during his first foundation building either, so he was completely unprepared for this tribulation.
The first bolt of lightning struck, its intensity on par with a Golden Core stage tribulation.
Wu Huan faced the storm, his sword thrusting unhesitatingly. With a resonant cry like that of a phoenix, the blade's light intermingled with the lightning, astonishingly dismantling the raging celestial bolt. He then guided the scattered energy into himself, enduring it with his newly solidified body. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, but his eyes were filled with spite as he looked at the still-rolling thunderclouds above.
This was no ordinary tribulation cloud; it was malice from the heavens.
The second bolt of lightning struck, more intense than before.
Desperate, Song Qing Shi frantically searched his mustard seed bag, pulling out all the magical instruments, elixirs, and protective talismans to hand to Wu Huan, hoping to fend off the celestial onslaught. Immortality elixirs to temporarily boost cultivation, Heart Protecting Pills for safeguarding the meridians, Body Refining Pills for rapid physical repair—no matter their value or rarity, all became inconsequential at this moment.
Swiftly deploying a defensive array and aided by the magical instruments, Wu Huan faced the heavenly lightning.
The third bolt of lightning...
The fourth bolt of lightning...
The fifth bolt of lightning...
The sixth bolt of lightning...
Astonishingly, it was a nine-fold lightning tribulation.
With each successive bolt, Wu Huan's longsword shattered, all magical instruments were destroyed, leaving only elixirs and the array in a desperate struggle. Though his body was horribly marred by the lightning, he laughed wildly at the heavens: "If you want to defile me, come! If you want to destroy me, come! I'm waiting for you!"
Song Qing Shi's Yuan Ying—the core of his cultivation—became increasingly erratic, causing him immense pain. Yet, his eyes dared not stray from Wu Huan for a moment.
The seventh heavenly bolt...
The eighth heavenly bolt...
All the arrays were destroyed, Wu Huan was thrown to the ground once more, bloodied all over. He still tried to get up defiantly to continue the fight. However, the tribulation clouds above intensified further, with lightning gathering to a strength only seen in a Nascent Soul tribulation. Wu Huan finally realized that from the outset, the heavens never intended to give him a sliver of a chance...
He was fated to die today.
"Why?" Wu Huan murmured as he looked at the lightning in the sky, "In your eyes, am I not even worthy of life?"
With his foundational level of cultivation, no amount of struggle could resist the mightiest blow of a Nascent Soul tribulation.
The intensity of this tribulation had broken the laws of heaven and earth, unprecedented and unparalleled.
Wu Huan suddenly understood it all, and he smiled, questioning the thunderclouds in the sky:
"A tribulation that goes so far as to break the laws of the heavens...this isn't mere hatred."
"You must have a reason to want to kill me during the Foundation Building stage."
"Haha, you're not afraid of me, are you?"
"..."
In furious embarrassment, the heavens roared, unleashing a maddened bolt of lightning.
Mustering his last bit of strength, Wu Huan propped himself up, resentfully watching the lightning as he awaited the arrival of death. He reviewed his life, unable to discern what he had done to merit such relentless targeting by the heavens, who not only wished to destroy everything he had but even refused to spare his life. The sliver of warmth he had painfully crawled out of hell to find was about to be snatched away.
He wasn't afraid of dying...
His only regret was that he wouldn't be able to spend next year's birthday with his master...
Suddenly, a red and black lotus flower of flames burst open in the air. It was Song Qing Shi soaring up to intercept the heavenly tribulation with his life-bound magical instrument. He had long sensed something was awry with this tribulation. He had refrained from intervening earlier because a Nascent Soul cultivator's interference would only intensify the tribulation and eliminate any opportunities and benefits it might bring. So he had been forced to wait agonizingly until the final, fully-formed bolt before intervening.
But he had never anticipated that the last bolt would escalate to the intensity of a Nascent Soul tribulation, if not stronger.
Both lotus flowers were torn to shreds; the magical instrument was completely depleted.
All he could do was use his body to block this bolt of lightning...
His magical robe woven from Heavenly Silkworm Ice Silk was destroyed, his Yuan Ying (Nascent Soul) severely damaged, and the left half of his body numb and unfeeling from burns. Powerlessly, he descended from the sky like a lightweight leaf, landing in Wu Huan's arms.
The laws of heaven and earth reformed themselves, and the resentful tribulation clouds dispersed reluctantly.
Wu Huan held the person in his arms in despair. No! This was not the ending he wanted!
"Suo Qing" (the emotional lock spell) couldn't contain his crumbling emotions, and his breathing became erratic.
Sensing something amiss, Song Qing Shi struggled to muster his last bit of strength, attempting to produce a sound from his scorched throat: "Don't... don't be sad..."
Wu Huan, did you hear me?