"How can there be a tenth bolt of thunder?"
Inside the Heavenly Sword Sect, every cultivator frowned. This was basically the Heavenly Dao trying to kill Jian Lu Zūnshàng.
The thunder struck the Yin Yang Taiji Disk head on. It almost split the disk apart, but Jian Dan lifted her hand and guided her own chaos power into it. Only then did it stabilize. Even so, that brief two breaths of time left her covered in cold sweat.
Once the rolling ink-black tribulation clouds unleashed their final strike, they scattered quickly. The sky turned clear again, and everyone waited. Either the Heavenly Dao would drop its blessing in the form of spiritual rain, or Jian Lu would die where she stood. Even the Zhēnzūn in the forbidden back mountain had their attention fixed on the cloud-veiled area.
The Yin Yang Taiji Disk spun wildly. With each rotation, it absorbed and refined more thunder power. After a full quarter hour, the outer rim of the disk gleamed with a thin edge of purple lightning. Then it slowly descended, shrank, and slipped back into Jian Dan's dantian.
She finally let out a breath. In the next moment, a massive Yin Yang Taiji Disk appeared above the sky. At its two core points were the faint phantoms of the Mò Xī Jiàn and the Mó Yuè Zhǎn. The image lingered for three breaths before vanishing.
Right after that, bean-sized spiritual rain began to fall. It was the Heavenly Dao's reward for surviving the thunder tribulation, yet everyone in the Heavenly Sword Sect benefited from it.
Vast amounts of spiritual rain were drawn into Jian Dan's body like she was a bottomless pit. Her cultivation soared, rising from early Mahayana to mid stage, then from mid to late stage, and only stopped there.
She didn't take in the remaining spiritual rain. Instead, she let the Sect cultivators absorb it, giving them a chance to climb a realm.
From this moment on, Jian Dan stood at the very peak of the Lingyun Continent. She became part of its top echelon, someone with the strength and right to influence the continent's future direction.
Most people didn't understand why the Mahayana apparition of Jian Lu Zhēnzūn looked the way it did. Only Tian Yun in the back mountain knew the truth.
Jian Dan glared at the perfectly clear sky, wanting to swear out loud. She'd worn her disguise properly. "Why did that old Heavenly Dao rip it off in front of everyone? What the hell was that supposed to mean?"
"Stop staring. Can you at least change out of that ruined robe first?"
Liu Chuan sighed helplessly. This woman always managed to twist the focus. Now wasn't the time to worry about her double cultivation identity being exposed. She already stood at the top of the entire continent, so why be scared of something like that?
After receiving Liu Chuan's voice transmission, she finally cleaned herself up. She slipped into a sky-blue robe that highlighted her slender, graceful figure. She used a magnolia hairpin to twist her hair back into a neat bun, tied on a matching ribbon, and only then did Cotton Candy drop onto her hair again.
She tapped her fingertip between her brows to reveal her forehead ornament. She fixed the pendant that held Xiao Yin back into place on her chest, hooked her purple jade sword pendant at her waist, then summoned a water mirror.
Only now did her beauty as a chaos spiritual root cultivator appear without disguise. Her skin was smooth and delicate, her oval face perfectly balanced, her brows soft and elegant without makeup, her bright black eyes catching faint flashes of blue, her small straight nose and naturally pink lips forming a harmony that drew the eye. The two dimples appearing when she smiled were unforgettable.
Jian Dan nodded in satisfaction and put the water mirror away. She used to hide her appearance because she wanted to focus fully on cultivation and didn't want to waste energy on looks. The other reason was simple. A chaos spiritual root body was an absolute top grade furnace. Without the strength to protect herself, keeping a low profile was safest. Unlike Du Yanran, she didn't enjoy attracting attention or being surrounded by men fighting over her.
One step later, she appeared in her cave residence. Lü Se and the four attendants were so overwhelmed that their hands and feet didn't know where to go. They rushed forward and said together,
"Congratulations, Jian Lu Zhēnzūn. The Great Dao is within reach!"
They hadn't even bent fully when a gentle force lifted them upright.
When the five raised their heads and finally saw her true appearance, they froze. None of them had ever realized their Zhēnzūn was this breathtaking. They couldn't even think of words to describe her.
Jian Dan snapped her fingers and blurred her appearance again. Only then did the five snap out of it. They lowered their gazes immediately, too afraid to look at her directly.
Yingge was thrilled. He spread his wings, circled around her, then transformed into a phantom phoenix. With a soft cry, he soared above Tianyue Peak to celebrate before landing back on her shoulder.
"Congratulations, Xiao Zhuzi, for breaking into Mahayana!"
"Mm. You're doing well too. Your sixth tail feather's about to grow out, right?"
"Yes. I caught some of your luck just now. After absorbing that pure spiritual rain, I'm about to break into sixth rank."
Yingge rubbed his head against her cheek and chirped excitedly.
In this short moment, several message talismans flew toward Tianyue Peak.
"Watch over the cave. My breakthrough jumped too many realms at once, so I need to stabilize my cultivation. Handle everything after I come out. Yingge's going into seclusion with me."
The first part was for Lü Se. The second was for Yingge.
"Yes, Zhēnzūn."
All five bowed respectfully.
Yingge pouted but still nodded. If he didn't work hard now, he'd fall behind even more. How would he fight alongside Xiao Zhuzi then?
Jian Dan was about to step into her cave when Tian Yun Zhēnzūn's voice came into her ear.
"Jian Lu, come to my place. Now."
"Whew."
She knew this was unavoidable. She suspended her seclusion plans, left Yingge behind, and headed straight for the forbidden back mountain.