The drastic changes in the world here naturally drew the attention of the people in nearby Sea City. Many enthusiastically filmed the dense lightning strikes flashing in the distance and posted them online. Although not as spectacular as the streams of light that had just filled the entire sky, the scene was still quite shocking.
Forums, chat groups, and video platforms were in an uproar.
"Holy shit! Is there anyone still out there?"
"Which fellow Daoist is undergoing their tribulation here?!"
"Thank you for your hard work, fellow Daoist. I just came back from my own tribulation, and seeing you posting here makes me feel very melancholy!"
"This demon has cultivated for a thousand years and taken human form. Be careful, fellow Daoist!"
"..."
Leaving the gleeful onlookers aside for now, this kind of Thunder Tribulation wasn't exclusively appearing in Sea City. In various renowned sects, military bases, and confidential research labs, Thunder Tribulations began to emerge one by one following the reshaping of the Heavenly Dao. Although the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi had been cut off for thousands of years, some inheritances still remained. Coupled with the great opportunity of personally experiencing the reopening of the Heavenly Dao just now, there were bound to be some stunningly talented individuals soaring into the sky!
This was the charm of the Spiritual Qi era.
However, the Thunder Tribulation in Sea City was the only one occurring in a civilian area. As a result, it was relatively more eye-catching.
One night passed.
The lightning in Sea City had been blasting for an entire night. The rumors online about the Thunder Tribulation had already received an official explanation. The explanation was that it was, indeed, the Thunder Tribulation!
The Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi had been recovering for three years now, and with a ferocious momentum. The government had even publicly disclosed cultivation methods two years ago, so the sudden appearance of Thunder Tribulations wasn't too hard to accept. But in other places, the longest Thunder Tribulation only lasted half a night.
Yet, here in Sea City...
Its momentum and power showed no signs of diminishing. Some of the lucky few who were capable of cultivation had already turned pale. Was the Thunder Tribulation really this terrifying? Should they even bother trying to cultivate into immortals anymore? Regardless, this place had already attracted the attention of the entire country, and even the world.
Meanwhile, Shen Yun remained completely oblivious to all this. After all, his phone was gone!
He could only sit on the ground, munching on a piece of bread, wearing noise-canceling headphones he'd dug out from the house along with a pair of sunglasses, and stare at the sky with dark bags under his eyes. His heart was brimming with worry. What exactly happened to his Pineapple 9?
He had now completely accepted reality. Without a doubt, his transmigration wasn't without rhyme or reason. The Bodhi Branch on his body and the mutation of his phone both proved this point. Whatever the reason might be, these could very well be the foundation for him to settle down and survive in this familiar yet strange world!
He thought, "Please, let nothing bad happen to it..."
Shen Yun stood up, rubbed his dry eyes, and tried hard to catch a glimpse of his phone amidst the dense lightning.
Finally, as the morning sun rose, the Thunder Tribulation seemed to have come to an end.
Shen Yun felt somewhat nervous. His phone had gained intelligence and had been struck by lightning for so long. Was it okay? What would it look like? A super phone? What functions would it have? He couldn't help but wonder about all this.
Until—
A slender figure slowly descended in front of him.
Long, straight, and lustrous black hair contrasted perfectly with skin as white and smooth as fine snow. Black pupils, shielded by long, slender eyelashes, sparkled like mysterious gems. Her milky-white skin bore a cherry-blossom flush on her cheeks, complemented by bright, alluring red lips.
To top it off, she wore a black-and-white, off-the-shoulder maid outfit.
She was charming yet innocent, so breathtakingly beautiful that she hardly seemed real. Instead, she looked like a character straight out of a painting, or a flawlessly crafted doll infused with a soul.
Most importantly...
Why the maid outfit?
As Shen Yun stared blankly, the young girl before him met his burning gaze. Her eyelashes fluttered gently, and she called out with a hint of shyness.
"Master..."
Shen Yun couldn't help but shiver as a dense layer of goosebumps rose across his skin.
This voice!
It was incredibly sweet!
And with her appearance and demeanor, if he took a picture and posted it online, she would instantly conquer the entire internet!
"Are... are you Little Nine?" Shen Yun couldn't help but ask. Even though he could feel the connection between them, he was still a bit uncertain.
"Yes."
The girl responded softly, folding her hands over her lower abdomen. Her posture was poised, making her look dignified and elegant. However, no one knew that she was actually incredibly nervous on the inside. This was her very first time meeting her master in human form.
Shen Yun, on the other hand, was full of disbelief. Did his phone really turn into a girl? And such a gorgeous one at that? Suddenly, a bold idea crossed his mind! But his phone was just a mass-produced item off an assembly line—an Pineapple 9 he'd been using for three years!
"...Is this what it means to be enlightened with intelligence?" Shen Yun muttered to himself. Although he knew the Bodhi Branch inside his body could enlighten inanimate objects to grant them intelligence, it never mentioned that it could turn such a tiny phone into a full-grown girl. How did a phone determine its gender, anyway?
"Little Nine isn't very sure either, but—" The girl's voice was soft and sweet. She took a few steps forward, her large, watery eyes filled with gratitude and affection. "Little Nine has memories of the past. From the moment I was born, to being bought by Master, to these three years of steadfast companionship, spending day and night together, and being carefully protected... Little Nine likes Master the most."
GULP.
Shen Yun swallowed hard. Who could possibly resist this?! It wasn't like he was a virgin who had never dated, but not only was his ex-girlfriend nowhere near as beautiful as Little Nine, he had never seen such a tender gaze—one warm enough to melt the hardest of steel. Still, he bit the tip of his tongue to force himself to calm down.
The thing in front of him was a phone! A phone!
Though, how on earth did she look anything like a phone?!
"Are you a phone or a human right now?" Shen Yun asked, breaking into a cold sweat. He tried hard to shift his focus away from her breathtaking beauty.
"I think... I should be a demon," Little Nine replied. When her confession went unreciprocated, she pouted her lips slightly, making her expression all the more vivid and enchanting. "In those novels Master has read, weren't there similar settings? All things possess a spirit, and when enlightened, they become demons."
"A demon, huh..."
Shen Yun mumbled the word, looking at Little Nine again.
If that was the case, he could more or less understand her existence. Thanks to Xu Xian and Ning Caichen, modern society's acceptance of human-transforming demons was unusually high. Did that mean his phone had really turned into a demon? And one capable of taking human form, no less?
Once he fully realized this, a trace of intimacy softened Shen Yun's gaze toward Little Nine.
Saying they spent day and night together was an understatement. He carried it with him every day. Looking at his phone was the last thing he did before going to sleep and the first thing he did when waking up. He stared at it whenever he had free time, and even when he went to the bathroom...
Uh!
Shen Yun's expression suddenly turned very strange.