Su Mingyuan looked at Xue Mingzhao, and a thought suddenly popped into his mind: Master, when you created this technique back then, were you thinking the same thing?
He carefully savored those words: The Great Dao has three thousand paths, and they are not limited to brute force.
Right at that moment, his dantian shook violently.
A vast surge of spiritual energy rushed up without warning, bursting through barrier after barrier. A long-lost roaring echoed from deep within his meridians.
The bottleneck that had been stagnant for many years finally loosened at this very moment.
Before he could say anything, he quickly set up a formation around himself and sat down cross-legged on the spot to meditate.
In the next second, the sky changed dramatically.
The originally clear sky was instantly swallowed by dark clouds surging from nowhere. Thick tribulation clouds rolled and swirled above the Grand Primordium Sect, stacking layer upon layer, pressing down so heavily that the entire mountaintop felt suffocated.
A low, muffled rumble echoed from deep within the clouds, like something gathering its strength. Immediately after, a streak of purple-gold lightning tore through the clouds, casting flickering shadows across the entire mountaintop.
Four streaks of light cut through the air from different directions, arriving almost simultaneously.
Wen Shuxian, Mu Tianqing, Xu Qingyan, and Ji Yushu had been alarmed by the phenomenon. Seeing the spiritual energy fluctuating wildly around Su Mingyuan, their expressions turned solemn—the Sect Master was about to break through.
Wen Shuxian made a prompt decision and waved his sleeve. “Protect him.”
The four of them guarded the four cardinal directions, firmly shielding Su Mingyuan in the center.
Xue Mingzhao and Su Ye, meanwhile, were politely escorted out of the area.
The spiritual energy around Su Mingyuan surged as the aura of his Soul Transformation Tribulation climbed steadily, yet the thunderclouds in the sky showed no signs of striking down.
The heavenly thunder circled round and round within the clouds, as if it were avoiding something.
Wen Shuxian frowned. “Something is wrong. Why is this tribulation thunder just circling around without striking?”
Mu Tianqing looked up for a moment, his brow furrowing deeper. “I've personally experienced the Soul Transformation Tribulation. Once the tribulation clouds form, the heavenly thunder should strike immediately. What's the meaning of this circling?”
Xu Qingyan said nothing, her eyes locked onto the sky, not daring to let her guard down even for a fraction of a second.
At the same time, Xue Mingzhao, who had been ushered to a large tree in the distance, was also looking up at the sky.
She stared at the mass of tribulation clouds that had circled seven or eight times above her head without striking. The more she looked, the more off it felt. She reached out and tugged at Su Ye's sleeve. “Senior Brother, do you get the feeling... that this heavenly thunder is looking at us?”
Su Ye looked up at the crackling lightning, then down at Xue Mingzhao, looking completely baffled. “Does heavenly thunder have eyes?”
“It doesn't have eyes, but I feel like it's looking at me.”
Su Ye: ...Junior Sister must have gotten too carried away with that speech about the three thousand paths of the Great Dao and hasn't snapped out of her state of enlightenment yet.
Within the tribulation clouds, the heavenly thunder was in a dilemma.
It had been summoned by the aura of the Soul Transformation Tribulation and, by all rules, should have delivered a few solid strikes. But just as it was about to fall, it sensed the aura of the one beneath the large tree.
Why is this ancestor here?
It paused.
No, this aura is both like and unlike theirs. It's clearly that person's aura, yet it's ridiculously weak.
Should it strike or not?
If it strikes, what if that person holds a grudge?
But if it doesn't strike, it still has to go through the motions.
The heavenly thunder struggled internally within the clouds for quite some time. Finally, under the gaze of Xue Mingzhao's eyes, it braced itself and delivered a few symbolic strikes.
It was all bark and no bite. The strikes landed on Su Mingyuan without causing any pain, as if it were merely saying hello.
Then, the tribulation clouds quickly dispersed, and the sky above instantly cleared up, as if the thunder were rushing to clock out of work.
Wen Shuxian froze in place. “That's it?”
Mu Tianqing was also stunned, his tone carrying a hint of uncertainty. “I suppose... it's over?”
Just as Su Mingyuan finished channeling his energy and stood up, Xue Mingzhao quickly approached him, bringing Su Ye along.
Su Ye jogged all the way over, his mouth running nonstop. “Master, did you bribe the heavenly thunder with spirit stones? Otherwise, why didn't it strike you?”
Su Mingyuan raised his hand and gave him a gentle smack on the head, making Su Ye shrink his neck with an “Ouch.”
“What, are you unhappy that I didn't get struck?”
“I'm happy, of course... I'm just curious,” Su Ye muttered in a low voice, covering his head.
A very soft laugh came from the side. Xu Qingyan stood three paces away, her gaze passing over the top of Su Ye's head to land on Xue Mingzhao.
“So this is the little disciple who reached the third level of Qi Condensation in a single night?”
Xue Mingzhao tidied her lapels, took half a step back, and bowed to Xu Qingyan and the other three elders.
“Disciple Xue Mingzhao pays respects to Martial Uncles. Thank you, Martial Uncles, for protecting Master during his tribulation.”
Su Ye followed with a bow. “Disciple Su Ye pays respects to Martial Uncles. Thank you, Martial Uncles, for protecting Master during his tribulation!”
Xu Qingyan curled her lips slightly. “Polite indeed.”
Su Mingyuan gestured to Xue Mingzhao and Su Ye. “Mingzhao, Su Ye, this is the first time you two are formally meeting the elders. You were far away just now, so come over and get to know them.”
He reached out and pointed to the three in turn. “This is Elder Mu Tianqing of Zhenlang Peak. He is the chief sword instructor of the Grand Primordium Sect and the number one array master in the entire sect. If you want to learn formations in the future, look for him.”
Mu Tianqing nodded slightly, his gaze lingering on Xue Mingzhao's face for a brief moment, a faint smile playing on his lips.
He still remembered the incident of her tricking his cloud-patterned white deer into working.
Su Mingyuan's hand moved to the second person. “This is Elder Ji Yushu of Yaoguang Peak. He teaches both swordsmanship and spells.”
Ji Yushu nodded with a smile.
Finally, Su Mingyuan's hand stopped in front of Xu Qingyan. His tone softened unconsciously, carrying a gentleness he hadn't even noticed himself. “This is Elder Xu Qingyan of Yunqi Peak. She specializes in alchemy.”
Hearing her master's slightly slowed speech and seeing the gentle look in his eyes as he looked at Xu Qingyan, Xue Mingzhao's mind raced: Oho, there's definitely something going on here!
She looked at Xu Qingyan with a gossipy gaze, wanting to see her Martial Uncle Xu's attitude toward her master.
Ignoring Xue Mingzhao's gaze, Xu Qingyan remained expressionless. Her voice was brief and neat. “I need to head back and tend to my cauldron. I shall take my leave.” With a slight nod, she turned and walked away, her robes rustling in the wind. In the blink of an eye, she was gone.
Su Mingyuan's gaze followed her departing figure for a moment before he quickly pulled it back. He let out a cover-up cough. “Your Martial Uncle Xu just has a cold personality, but she is actually very gentle.”
Wen Shuxian chimed in dryly from the side. “Indeed. Gentle enough to shatter a mountain with a single palm strike. And by the way, she is the only Mahayana realm cultivator in our sect.”
Staring in the direction where Xu Qingyan had vanished, only one thought remained in Xue Mingzhao's mind—shattering a mountain with a single palm strike, that is simply too cool!
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