The instant the Nine Nether Dragon Umbrella appeared, the second wave of nine bolts fell in a flash. Nine black dragons leaped from the umbrella's canopy, swallowing the nine thunder strikes one after another. Thunder blossoms flickered across their scales before they flowed back into the canopy.
Only then did the remaining arcs land on Yunxi. They tickled more than they hurt, and before they could surge into her dantian, she had already refined and absorbed them.
The tiny Yuányīng in Yunxi's dantian opened its eyes, tilted its small head, and frowned in mild disapproval. Seated upon a seven-colored lotus, it conveyed its intention clearly. It needed tribulation thunder for tempering.
Yunxi understood well what tribulation meant. It was not merely being struck. It was the tempering of flesh and soul by thunder. Without that quenching, even if one's spiritual power reached the threshold, it would still be a false Divine Transformation.
She swept her divine sense inward. With her dantian already half filled with spiritual power, she waved a hand and recalled Hei Yao to her core.
Hei Yao sent a worried transmission. "Master, the Nine Nether Sword can take one more wave for you. You do not need to face it head-on."
Yunxi replied, "No need. You have already won me time to restore my energy. I must take the remaining strikes myself, or how will I truly reach Divine Transformation?"
"Very well."
With Yunxi's resolve clear, Hei Yao returned to her dantian, where the little Nascent Soul gripped it in its tiny hands.
Yunxi drew a deep breath, then sent the Xianling Grass back into her spatial storage. What remained had to be handled by her alone.
Yu Ling's gaze never left Yunxi. When he saw her put away the Nine Nether Dragon Umbrella, his brows knit. He knew she had not yet returned to peak condition. If she forced herself to take the rest of the tribulation, she might be injured.
No matter his worry, Yu Ling did not interfere. This thunder belonged to Ran Xi, not to him. If Ran Xi ultimately failed, as Master he would at least ensure his disciple's life was preserved.
After a minute of brewing, the third wave finally fell. Nine bolts split the sky and crashed down over Yunxi, swallowing her in light. Yu Ling's fist clenched tighter.
Yunxi felt exquisitely sore, like standing with both feet on a live high-voltage line. Wave after wave of thunder force ripped through her meridians, prying them open, even the finest channels not spared.
She drove her spiritual power with divine sense, repairing the damage in the thunder's wake. Yet, not having recovered to her peak, she only had half her usual reserves. Her repairs could not keep pace with the destruction. She made a snap decision and swallowed the Divine Transformation Pill from between her lips.
The pill dissolved the instant it reached her stomach. Majestic spiritual power flooded every meridian. Yunxi guided that power with her divine sense, mending the torn channels throughout her body. At the same time, she gentled the rampaging thunder and led it into her dantian.
Once inside, the thunder coiled around the little Yuányīng and began tempering it, bit by bit. The tiny face scrunched into a grimace, baring its teeth. Clearly, it was "exquisitely sore" too.
Yunxi's mouth twitched. She kept repairing what the thunder had torn. Overhead, the rolling thunder never ceased. The final wave was gathering.
While she faced her ordeal, thunder was also falling on other peaks. Perhaps because so many cultivators were undergoing tribulation at once, or because they were too close together, the clouds roiled even more fiercely. Each bolt was faster than the last. Those enduring the trial could only grit their teeth and cling on.
The powerhouses standing guard on Tribulation Peak stared hard at their surviving disciples. Nothing could be allowed to happen. All were ready to step in at a moment's notice.
Just as Yunxi finished repairing her shredded meridians, the last wave fell in one breath. She could only roll her eyes at the heavens. As if afraid she might pass too easily, the heavens had deliberately made this harder.
Seeing this, Yu Ling immediately activated the formations of Tribulation Peak to help his disciple shoulder the final wave. His natal sword, "Binghan," hovered at his side. If the formation could not hold, he was prepared to let "Binghan" dissolve part of the thunder.
Because "Binghan" appeared, the Mystic Frost Needle hidden in Wei Yunqing's dantian responded, vibrating more and more wildly.
Yunxi did not know that the Mystic Frost Needle and "Binghan" had been forged from the same block of ten-thousand-year profound ice. Long ago, Yu Ling obtained that ice from the "Misty Snow Domain" and fused it into his natal sword, raising its grade.
He hadn't wasted the leftover shards either. He refined them into the Mystic Frost Needle. After taking Yunxi as his disciple, he gifted the needle to his only student.
Now, the presence of "Binghan" naturally tugged at the Mystic Frost Needle. Sensing its master's poor condition, the needle instinctively wanted to return to her side.
That instinctive pull nearly scared Wei Yunqing to death. She pressed her palms together and prayed Yunxi would pass the tribulation. If Yunxi failed, Wei Yunqing would be the first to suffer.
The formation of Tribulation Peak did help somewhat, at least weakening the final three and strongest strikes, granting Yunxi a brief buffer.
Even so, she was blasted to the ground. Her entire body turned to charcoal once again, and her consciousness began to blur.
In that haze, a deep, magnetic voice sounded by her ear.
"Little girl, why do you block this deity's artifact from returning?"
Yunxi answered on instinct, "You are not here in person. Evil cultivators are using your Long Ya to do wicked deeds. Of course I would stop them."
"Long Ya merely draws out the deepest desires in their hearts. It does nothing wicked."
"Long Ya not only draws out desire, it magnifies it, pushing them to act against their dao hearts. How is that not wicked?"
"You said it yourself. Long Ya only magnifies desire. Whether they betray their dao hearts is their choice."
"You are twisting words. Without Long Ya's bewitchment, they might never make that choice."
"Wei Yunxi, what is the deepest desire in your heart? Speak it, and this deity will grant it."
The tone was no different from a con artist dangling bait. Yunxi did not bother to hide her contempt.
"I know my limits. I do not covet what is not mine or what I cannot control. I only want the Weiyu Realm to return to its rightful place, and for the fog before my eyes to part, so I can learn the true reason I was sent here."
The instant she finished, countless stars seemed to explode in her vision. Images flashed by too quickly to grasp. She reached out, trying to catch hold of something, but her hands closed on air.
At the same time, the little Yuányīng's eyes snapped open, seven-colored halos rippling through its pupils. Spiritual power surged into the dantian like a tide. The Yuányīng swelled, larger and larger, until it overlapped perfectly with Yunxi's fleshly body.
In the very next breath, the charred Yunxi opened her eyes. From the sky, spiritual rain began to fall, the mark of a successful tribulation. Above her head, a vision unique to her Divine Transformation rose slowly into the heavens.