Ye Liyuan, once a Sword Dao Fairy at the Divinity Transformation Stage, was the foremost Female Cultivator in the Sword Dao across the entire Cultivation Realm!
She had even glimpsed the profound realm above Divinity Transformation before Pei Yuhang. Seizing the inspiration from this brush with celestial fate, she attempted to achieve a Breakthrough Realm in one fell swoop.
Pei Yuhang never expected his usually prudent Dao Companion to be so reckless. Without even preparing a Dharma Protection Array, spiritual pills and elixirs, or Spiritual Artifacts to resist the Celestial Tribulation, she had hastily summoned the Nine Heavens Celestial Tribulation to attempt her breakthrough.
This reckless act, her Dao Heart clouded by greed and obsession, finally led Ye Liyuan to reap what she had sown.
The Celestial Dao is merciless; it does not allow all things to develop according to one's personal will.
Brimming with confidence, Ye Liyuan withstood seven bolts of celestial thunder. But then, the originally blue lightning suddenly turned a brilliant gold.
This was the Golden Sky Divine Thunder. The probability of a Cultivator triggering it during their Tribulation Crossing was minuscule. Any Cultivator who could both trigger the Golden Sky Divine Thunder and successfully endure it was, without exception, a peerless genius whose name would be etched in history.
But—
Pei Yuhang felt no joy for his Dao Companion. She was facing this sudden Golden Sky Divine Thunder with absolutely no preparation!
As the golden thunder descended, Ye Liyuan was forced to play all her trump cards, managing to block it only at the cost of damaging the very essence of her Lifebound Spirit Sword.
Even then, Ye Liyuan remained confident. She believed that even if the final bolt of celestial thunder was also a Golden Sky Divine Thunder, she would at worst suffer grievous injuries. The breakthrough itself was still assured…
However,
the pool of brilliant golden lightning was suddenly stained a horrifying crimson!
It was the Blood Evil Tribulation Thunder!
In the ten-thousand-year history of the Xuanyuan Dao Sect, only a handful of Great Powers had ever triggered it while Crossing the Tribulation. Without exception, the result for each of them was death, their Dao obliterated.
And when those Great Powers had triggered the Blood Evil Tribulation Thunder, their Cultivation had been far beyond the Divinity Transformation Stage.
This meant that Ye Liyuan, with only her Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivation, had to face a Blood Evil Tribulation Thunder that even the great ancestral Powers could not withstand!
Even if the might of a Blood Evil Tribulation Thunder triggered at the Divinity Transformation Stage could not be compared to one triggered by a Great Power, the outcome was already foreseen.
Ye Liyuan's Lifebound Spirit Sword shattered instantly. The Fairy, this paragon of the Sword Dao, fell like a broken butterfly, about to have her life extinguished in the Thunder Tribulation.
It was at this moment that Pei Yuhang, risking the consequences of being implicated and punished by the Celestial Tribulation, made his move.
...
Dense Spiritual Qi gathered into an azure, liquid stream, circling around the white-robed Fairy meditating at its center.
The Fairy's three thousand black tresses cascaded like a waterfall. Her skin was crystalline and supple, her figure full yet slender—as if she were the most perfect creation sculpted by the Celestial Dao itself.
But this perfect vessel was riddled with a thousand wounds on the inside, like a piece of exquisite porcelain filled with fine cracks, ready to shatter at the slightest touch.
TAP...
As the footsteps drew near, Ye Liyuan opened her eyes but didn't dare to meet the gaze of the man before her.
Ye Liyuan knew she had wronged him.
'If I had known that to save me, Pei Yuhang was willing to sacrifice his own path of cultivation, I would have rather thrown myself into that crimson thunder and died.'
As the white-robed Fairy thought this, the light in her eyes grew dimmer.
"What are you thinking about?"
A familiar flick landed on the Fairy's flawless forehead, making her cheeks flush red with a mix of shame and indignation.
"Ah Han, I've told you before, you can't flick my head!"
"Hahaha, I just wanted to liven you up a bit. See? You're looking much more spirited now, aren't you?"
Pei Yuhang said with a laugh.
The blush on Ye Liyuan's face was like a red plum blossom in white snow, a sight that would delight any observer.
It was much better than the suicidal look she'd had just a moment ago, as if she were about to "dissolve her mortal coil" on the spot.
Having been Pei Yuhang's Dao Companion for a hundred years, Ye Liyuan naturally knew what he was thinking.
But thinking of her Dao Companion's sacrifice and her own current powerlessness, Ye Liyuan was too ashamed to lift her head.
"I'm sorry... It's all my fault. Losing my Cultivation, even facing death and the dissolution of my Dao—it's all the Celestial Dao's punishment for me. I'm the one who dragged you into this, Ah Han, forcing you to bear this with me..."
Pei Yuhang couldn't bear to see his beloved junior sister so dejected. In his mind, she was supposed to be the proudest Female Sword Cultivator in the world.
'I have to give my Dao Companion some hope.'
Without hope, a person is like a hollow shell, their soul torn away; there's no difference between being alive and being dead.
Pei Yuhang was afraid his Dao Companion might take her own life.
"Liyuan, I just went to see Senior Sister Lu."
"Senior Sister Lu told me that although your Dao Foundation was destroyed by the Thunder Tribulation, there's still hope for you to cultivate again... But the first priority is to heal your injuries."
Hearing this, the light in Ye Liyuan's eyes remained dim.
"Heal my injuries... I know my own condition. At my current rate of recovery, it will take at least a hundred years, and I no longer have the lifespan of a Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivator..."
"After a hundred years, I'll be old and withered, turned to a pile of dust."
Ye Liyuan's voice was ethereal and vacant, tinged with a cold, deathly stillness.
Just then, a pair of large, warm, calloused hands—hands bearing the marks of a swordsman—covered her own slender ones.
The fiery warmth from Pei Yuhang's body transferred to her, causing a bit of color to return to Ye Liyuan's eyes.
"Liyuan, as long as we have enough Supreme Heaven and Earth Treasures and spiritual pills and elixirs, you can definitely recover quickly... And if you really can't recover,
then what's the point of me pursuing eternal life alone? It would just be an eternity of torment.
I'd rather grow old and frail with you, turn to dust in this world together, and be with you forever."
"Ah Han..."
Ye Liyuan's eyes grew moist, like spring water rippling, and she couldn't help but embrace the beloved man before her.
Her delicate, pink lips parted, her breath as fragrant as an orchid, as she initiated a kiss.
Pei Yuhang would naturally not refuse his Dao Companion. But when he felt her delicate hands begin to wander, he forcefully suppressed the Yang Fire in his body and pushed Ye Liyuan away.
"Liyuan, you're too weak right now. You can't handle it."
Ye Liyuan bit her lip, her expression dimming as she said, "Ah Han, with your Giant Sun Saint Body, you easily generate Evil Yang Fire Qi. In the past, I was always the one who..."
"If I can't help you now, which Fairy will you find?"
Hearing this, Pei Yuhang felt that his Dao Companion was underestimating his gentlemanly character.
"Liyuan, in your eyes, is there no other solution for me besides dual cultivation?"
"...Ah Han, that's not what I meant. I'm just worried about you."
"Don't worry, Liyuan. Right now, your situation is the most important thing in the entire Cold Palace Sword Mansion. As for my... fire problem... *cough cough*, I have my own ways of dealing with it."
With that, Pei Yuhang stood up.
"You're at a critical point in your recovery, so I won't disturb you any longer.
Yueqiu is living nearby now. If you need anything, just let her know."
As he spoke, Pei Yuhang walked out of the secret chamber, but his back was slightly bent, not daring to walk with a straight posture...
'After being handled by both Senior Sister Lu and Junior Sister Ye today, the Evil Yang Fire Qi I had just barely managed to suppress is flaring up again.'
'I need to get to the Cold Earth Spring and soak in it to suppress this fire qi, fast!'
Walking down the path with his back hunched, Pei Yuhang couldn't help but let out a soft groan.