Rumble... RUMBLE...
Thunder cracked across the sky. It wasn't a series of isolated strikes, but a relentless and rolling cascade that promised absolute annihilation. Beneath its overwhelming roar, Su Min's expression grew increasingly grave. No matter how composed a cultivator might seem when faced with the raw and majestic power of heavenly punishment, even the so-called immortals of legend would tread with extreme caution. A mere Foundation Establishment cultivator still bound to the mortal coil had even more reason to be wary. The air around the island grew thick with the scent of singed salt and hot stone.
"This isn't the time for foolish heroics," she muttered under her breath. Her voice was a stark contrast to the celestial fury above. "If some idiot interferes now, they will be marked by the tribulation as well. And the stronger the intruder is, the stronger the lightning becomes. There's no upper limit to its wrath."
This was the ultimate barrier between mortal and immortal. It was a step that could only be crossed alone, in solitary defiance of the heavens. Any outside aid, unless it came from a being capable of trampling the laws of heaven and earth, would only magnify the tribulation's destructive fury.
RUMBLE—!
A brilliant and searing bolt of azure lightning, thick as an ancient tree, lanced down from the churning clouds. It hurtled straight toward Su Min's heart.
The Three-Nine Heavenly Tribulation had formally begun.
Yet she didn't hesitate. She was clad in her shimmering Azure Glazed Spirit Armor, the metal reflecting the violent light from above. The Thunder Attracting Talisman glowed fiercely at her waist, and her hand held the Thunderbreaker Sword steady. She did the unthinkable; she charged forward to meet the heavens.
BOOM—!
A deafening explosion shook the island to its foundations, sending plumes of water into the air. The bolt carried power enough to obliterate most peak Foundation Establishment cultivators, but it was met with a flash of silver and crimson. Her sword cleaved through its core. She emerged from the dissipating energy untouched. Not even a flicker of her formidable aura was disrupted.
"Ah... that was almost relaxing," she exhaled slowly. Her words were lost in the fading thunderclap.
Just as she had suspected, the first and foundational stage of the tribulation couldn't harm her.
CRACK—!
As if provoked by her nonchalance, the skies rumbled with renewed anger. Two more bolts followed in swift and merciless succession, their light blinding against the grey sea. Su Min met them head-on. She was a whirlwind of precise sword strokes and controlled flame, emerging unscathed once more.
But the moment the third and final strike of the first wave landed, she felt a profound change. A righteous and primal force surged into her body. It was pure and potent. It flowed through her refined meridians and converged in her dantian. There, it coalesced and compressed, solidifying into a perfect and brilliant golden orb that pulsed with immense power.
The Golden Core had formed.
Su Min had officially stepped into the Golden Core Stage. But the skies above didn't clear. The storm churned on. It grew darker and deeper. It became infinitely more menacing. Lightning of a more violent hue continued to gather. The spiritual pressure intensified until the air felt like a physical weight pressing against her lungs.
The Three-Nine Heavenly Tribulation was over. Now, the far more terrifying Six-Nine Tribulation was already brewing ominously overhead. The choice was now Su Min's. She could accept her new realm and let the clouds disperse, or she could challenge the heavens for a greater reward.
"Bring it on!!!"
She raised her sword. The Nanming Lihuo flared along its blade in a hungry roar. She shouted her defiance at the sky. It was a single and mortal voice challenging the cosmos.
The moment her voice faded, swallowed by the gale, the heavens shifted. The brilliant blue lightning vanished. It was replaced by an oppressive and dark crimson that stained the thunderclouds the color of clotting blood.
"Dark Demon Lightning? So the Nine-Nine Heavenly Tribulation summons the true Demon Slaying Thunder… Is this the heavens' ultimate method for suppressing demonic cultivators and heretical paths?"
Su Min suddenly understood. The Demon Slaying Thunder wasn't just raw power. It possessed a special and purgative quality that was supremely effective against evil beings and corrupted souls. The heavens were clearly wielding their ultimate punishment against those who walked unorthodox and heaven-defying paths.
She couldn't help but feel a wave of cold relief. She had never dabbled in demonic cultivation; her soul was untainted by such arts. Otherwise, she would have had no hope of surviving this escalated tribulation. The Demon Slaying Thunder of the Nine-Nine Heavenly Tribulation was terrifying enough on its own. If it had triggered its inherent purifying effect against a demonic soul, she would have been dead ten times over.
Boom!
Before she could think further, a thick tendril of dark red lightning sizzled with destructive intent as it descended.
"Ugh!"
This time, it wasn't so easy. The moment the lightning connected with her upraised sword, a violent shockwave traveled down the blade. Her entire arm went numb. Her teeth rattled in her skull.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The tribulation intensified relentlessly. Su Min was no longer as relaxed as before. Each strike demanded more of her strength and more of her focus.
"Four Symbols Possession: ACTIVATE!!!"
A furious roar tore from her very core. Fiery wings of condensed Nanming Lihuo burst from her back. Her raven-black hair flashed and turned a stark and luminous silver-white. Her aura exploded outwards in a visible corona of crimson and white.
"Mystic Firewood Sword: Blazing Strike!"
Several phantom swords materialized around her. They were woven from solidified flame and ancient wood essence. They shot upward like vengeful phoenixes to slash against the descending crimson bolts.
BOOM!
The next moment, Su Min was violently slammed into the charred ground. A small crater formed around her, the sand turning to glass from the heat. A trickle of blood escaped the corner of her lips. The Six-Nine Heavenly Tribulation's lightning grew exponentially stronger with each strike. By the time the sixth and final bolt of this wave landed, she was bleeding freely from her mouth. Her spirit armor flickered unsteadily.
"Hah… still manageable. Is that all you have?" she taunted. She wiped the blood away with the back of her hand.
Despite the injuries, she wasn't truly worried. With her newly forged Golden Core physique and the relentless regeneration of her Changchun Gong, the wounds would close and her energy would replenish in mere seconds. She didn't even need to consume a healing pill.
But then, the crimson sky turned an absolute and light-devouring pitch black. It was so profoundly dark that she couldn't even see her own hand in front of her face. The only illumination came from the Nanming Lihuo flames swirling protectively around her. She looked like a miniature and defiant sun in the void.
But this sun couldn't illuminate even a single meter around her. The Nanming Lihuo should have been far brighter, capable of lighting up the entire valley. The reason it wasn't? Something was actively devouring the light. That something was the final and concentrated essence of the tribulation lightning gathering directly above her as a singularity of heavenly wrath.
BOOM!
A jet-black bolt of Demon Slaying Thunder descended. It was silent and utterly devoid of light. This time, Su Min didn't dare block it head-on. She channeled every ounce of her remaining power into the Thunderbreaker Sword. The weapon glowed so brightly it seemed on the verge of melting.
"Mystic Firewood Sword: Wooden Sanctuary!"
Vines of pure green wood energy erupted from the ground and the air itself. They were as thick as pythons. They wove into a massive and layered shield covered in glowing Sanskrit runes in front of her. But the moment the black lightning made contact, the shield shattered into a million motes of fading light. Su Min was blasted off her feet. She was thrown backward like a ragdoll and slammed into the cliff face. She coughed up a mouthful of vital blood.
"Ugh… ARGH!"
This time, she couldn't hold back the cry of pain. She vomited a spray of crimson. She then frantically swallowed a third-grade high healing pill. The Demon Slaying Thunder had pierced through all her active defenses. Even her passive Buddhist Golden Bell Shield had fractured under the strain. But the Nine-Nine Heavenly Tribulation wasn't done. A second and even thicker black bolt was already coiling in the void above.
"Full power: BURN!!!"
Instead of attempting another complex skill, Su Min made a desperate choice. She threw both the Thunderbreaker Sword and the Thunder Attracting Talisman high into the air. She was going to sacrifice both priceless artifacts. She overloaded their cores to unleash their absolute and final potential.
CRACKLE!
A deafening and soul-screeching sound filled the air. The two treasures detonated in a storm of released thunder essence and spiritual shrapnel. They had been designed to counter tribulation lightning. Now, in their destruction, they fulfilled their ultimate purpose.
BOOM!
The second Demon Slaying Thunderbolt was met with the sacrificial blast and was forcibly dispersed. The black lightning scattered into harmless sparks. But the cost was absolute. The artifacts shattered into irrecoverable pieces. Their spiritual signatures were extinguished forever.
"Hah… success."
Su Min collapsed to one knee. Her body was screaming in protest. Her breath came in ragged pants. Above her, the final and undoubtedly strongest lightning bolt of the entire tribulation was gathering. It was drawing the very darkness of the void into its form. She had no more tricks left. She had no more artifacts to sacrifice. Но it didn't matter. Her plan had always been a grim calculation. She only needed to survive two strikes of this final wave. Now, she had.
When the third and ultimate bolt descended, it was a pillar of pure and silent black annihilation.
BOOM!
The void lightning engulfed her completely. Her Azure Glazed Armor shattered like glass. It revealed her flawless and spiritually honed body beneath for a single and stark moment. But that transient beauty lasted only an instant. The devouring lightning consumed her. It scoured her flesh and seared her soul. The entire island was unable to bear the concentrated force and split apart with a groan of sundered rock. Great chunks of it collapsed into the raging sea.
From within the epicenter of the destruction, a sound emerged.
"Hah… hah… hah…"
A weak and gasping voice echoed across the water-logged ruins. A charred and skeletal figure stirred. It was covered in ash and glowing embers. From within a cocoon of blackened and log-like husk, Su Min crawled out. Her body was already knitting itself back together with visible speed.
Her final and deepest trump card had worked. The Rebirth Art worked. This secret technique was akin to a phoenix's rebirth. It allowed her to revive once even if her body was reduced to ashes, so long as her Golden Core remained intact. Her plan had been to save this ultimate life-saving measure for the final strike. It had worked. Even so, she couldn't help but shudder in primal fear as she felt the phantom pain of total disintegration. She had survived the legendary Nine-Nine Heavenly Tribulation.
Bzzzt…
But just as she was about to let the tension drain from her newly formed body, her naked form suddenly convulsed. This wasn't from injury. A violent and overwhelming flood of information, concepts, and cosmic truths surged directly into her mind. It bypassed her senses entirely.
"What the...?! Is my Heavenly Dao Insight reacting again?!"
The influx was so intense and vast that her head felt like it was being split open by a divine axe. The pain was mental and spiritual. It was utterly debilitating. She didn't even have time to summon clothes from her storage ring.
"Is this the combined effect of my innate divine ability and the supreme reward for passing the Nine-Nine Tribulation? Why the hell hasn't the thundercloud dispersed yet?!"
Then, as if in answer, the dark clouds above did part. Но what was revealed wasn't the clear and welcoming sky. Instead, a new phenomenon manifested. Brilliant and divine golden lightning crackled within the clearing firmament. Its nature was completely different from the destructive force that had come before.
[To master the Five Thunders, one must endure the Five Thunders' Baptism.]
A statement, not a question. It was a final and unexpected trial.
"FUCK YOU—"
Before she could finish her curse at the heavens, the golden lightning struck. It didn't blast or burn. It infused her.
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"
A scream of a different kind ripped from her throat. It was one of unbearable and soul-deep transformation. It echoed across the empty ocean. This lightning wasn't trying to destroy her. It was forging her. It was tempering her very being with the essence of thunder. The process was excruciating and mind-shatteringly painful. Even though it wasn't lethal. For what felt like an eternity, but was in truth ten long years, the golden lightning continued its relentless baptism. It wove threads of heavenly thunder into the fabric of her soul and dantian. When it finally faded, Su Min collapsed unconscious onto a lone and half-melted reef. It was the only remaining remnant of the island that had been her trial ground.
"How long was I out? This divine ability is insane… What year is it now?"
Still disoriented, her mind was swimming with new knowledge. She hurriedly dressed herself in a simple robe. After the initial and searing agony of the baptism, she had entered a trance-like state of integration. She only awakened when the last vestiges of thunder energy had settled within her. Then, almost instinctively, she checked her status panel.
[Name: Su Min]
[Cultivation: Golden Core (Early Stage)]
[Talent: Immortality (having infinite lifespan and not aging)]
[Innate Divine Ability: Heavenly Dao Insight (Over time, comprehend techniques from the cosmos)]
[Physique: Five Element Holy Body — Blazing Sun Body (Taiyang Qi Unactivated)]
[Acquired Divine Abilities: Four Symbols Slaughter – Tiger; Four Symbols Heavenly Sun – Vermilion Bird; Mastery of the Five Thunders.]
[Cultivation Arts: Changchun Gong (First Layer); Fire-Wood Transformation Method (Second Layer)]
[Mental Arts: Great Sun Tathāgata Sutra]
[Skills: Sword Control Technique; Mystic Firewood Sword Art/ Xuanhuomu]
[Secret Technique: Rebirth Art]
[Possessed Heavenly Treasures: Nanming Lihuo; Heavenly Thunder]
[Possessed Innate Spiritual Treasure: Heaven and Earth Qiankun Gourd]
[Life-bound Spirit Treasure Vermilion Bird's Flameblade / Nanming Lihuo Sword (Yellow Grade, High Tier)]
A new acquired divine ability, Mastery of the Five Thunders, now resided within her. She had paid a decade of torment and isolation for it.
"The thunder energy settled in my dantian… is this the Heavenly Thunder? So to utilize the Mastery of the Five Thunders, I need to consume this thunder energy. Но this thing is way weaker than the Nanming Lihuo in raw destructive power."
She frowned as she probed the new energy. Thunder wasn't part of the core Five Elements. It didn't trigger any elemental synergy or special effects with her physique. And this Heavenly Thunder, as it was, couldn't even be released externally as an attack.
"Wait... I see. This isn't for direct offense." A realization dawned on her. It was sparked by the flood of insight. "It's a key. A catalyst to activate a hidden potential within me."
After a moment of deep introspection, she grasped the true purpose of the Heavenly Thunder. It wasn't a direct combat tool. It's a trigger. It's a divine spark meant to ignite latent abilities tied to the profound Dao of Thunder.
"Mastery of the Five Thunders… I actually obtained a legendary top-tier divine ability like this."
Divine abilities were fundamentally divided into innate and acquired. Her Heavenly Dao Insight was innate. The other three she possessed were acquired. While acquired divine abilities were less rare than innate ones, they were still incredibly valuable treasures. For the vast majority of cultivators, the only chance to gain one was as a reward during the Golden Core Heavenly Tribulation. Even the weakest Three-Nine Tribulation could potentially grant one, albeit of a lower grade.
But Su Min had endured the supreme Nine-Nine Tribulation, so hers was of the highest tier. And because of the unique resonance with her innate divine ability, she had obtained the Mastery of the Five Thunders. It was a legendary technique spoken of in ancient Daoist texts. Now, feeling the new power slumbering within her, she felt completely different. The world itself seemed sharper and brighter. The laws that governed it were slightly more transparent.
"Hmm… and what is this Taiyang Qi, Unactivated now listed in my physique?"
She frowned at the new designation. She couldn't immediately sense any tangible changes or access this hidden power. It was a mystery for another time.
"Whatever. It's time to return to land. I have a promise to keep, and a debt to collect."
===
See~ Yingying your flag is really rise. I wonder her expression when she finally realize it???
Taiyang is also called "Solar Sovereign" in this novel, while Taiyin is called "Lunar Sovereign".