"Here it comes!"
Xie Zhaolin's eyes burned with unbridled madness. She didn't dodge. Instead, she lunged forward with all her might, using the one arm that could still move to grip a vine of the struggling Bewitching Beast Yam, stopping it from retreating.
"Got you!" she snarled. "Let's… enjoy this together!"
Boom—!
The second Purple Heaven Thunder struck with ruthless precision, hitting both the frantically writhing Bewitching Beast Yam and Xie Zhaolin, who clung to it.
This time, the aura of destruction was even more intense.
Amid the lightning, she could clearly hear the beast's even more pitiful, desperate wails, and the cracking, collapsing sound of its core breaking apart.
She herself endured excruciating pain and annihilation. mThe arm clutching the vine instantaneously carbonized and shattered, her bones felt as if they'd been crushed and reassembled, and her organs burned as if placed in searing fire!
Yet the ferocity and vengeful thrill in her heart supported her, driving her to operate the Xuanyin Foundation Technique even more frantically. She guided the wild thunder to temper her baleful qi's origin.
She was going to use the most extreme, brutal method to make this demonic plant—and the heavens—pay the price. mProvoking Xie Zhaolin came with consequences!
The lightning finally faded.
Xie Zhaolin, charred black from head to toe, collapsed heavily at the bottom of the pit. Her breathing was faint, almost imperceptible. mShe struggled to turn her eyes and looked at the scene beside her.
The once-vast, sky-blocking sea of Bewitching Beast Yam flowers had shrunk by nearly eighty percent.
Most vines and blossoms had turned to ash. Only a small core remained, charred and damaged, a few withered leaves twitching weakly, emitting a faint pulse of life.
"Huh?" Xie Zhaolin's eyes flickered with surprise.
This monster… is tougher than it looks?
Even the second, amplified Purple Heaven Thunder hadn't completely finished it off. It was nearly obliterated, but somehow clung to life. Its defense and vitality far exceeded its aggressive appearance.
But…
"Doesn't matter now." Xie Zhaolin twisted her lips into a cold sneer. In its current state, it might as well be dead. At most, it could cling to life for a few more breaths.
Her gaze turned back to the thunderstorm still raging in the sky. The real trial was just beginning.
"And… four more to go." she counted silently.
Third, fourth, fifth, sixth!
Each one stronger than the last.
Each one more terrifying.
The Bewitching Beast Yam, now a useless meat shield, could barely absorb any more of the thunder's might. The next strikes would fall almost entirely on her alone.
Pressure, unprecedented.
Yet her eyes burned with fiercer fire, not fear.
"Come on!" she roared silently in her mind. "Let's see what you, thunder, can really do!
My path… is born through death! The greater the pressure, the more destructive the storm, the stronger I'll survive, the stronger I'll become!"
She ignored the dying heap of leaves beside her, pouring all her focus into guiding the reborn baleful qi within her, into understanding and mastering it.
Rumble!
The swirling thunderclouds above reached a peak speed.
The third Purple Heaven Thunder had formed.
Even before it fell, its destructive pressure made the valley itself tremble under its weight.
Crack!
The third thunderbolt struck, tearing the sky and earth apart. This time, the lightning condensed into a pure purple column, aiming precisely at the charred figure at the pit's bottom.
The dying remnants of the Bewitching Beast Yam seemed to have been ignored by the heavens.
"Come!" Xie Zhaolin's pupils shrank as she roared in her heart.
She no longer held anything back, channeling the purified baleful qi she'd reborn through destruction into a thin black aura around her body.
Boom—!
The lightning pierced through her!
Spit!
She spewed a mouthful of blood that instantly vaporized. Her Primordial Soul felt like it was about to scatter. The aura barely held for a moment before shattering.
The thunder's fury poured in, destroying relentlessly.
But this time, she sensed a faint glimmer of life in the devastation. With her understanding of the path of death-born life, a new pulse quietly sprouted from her shattered body and baleful qi origin.
Break and rebuild.
She painfully reconstructed herself from the ruins.
The lightning faded.
Xie Zhaolin lay in the pit, breathing weakly, but her eyes shone terrifyingly. Beneath her charred surface, faint new flesh wriggled.
The last vestige of the Bewitching Beast Yam's life, swept by the thunder's aftermath, finally turned to ash.
The thunderstorm, however, offered no respite. The fourth Purple Heaven Thunder descended!
"My path… is unyielding!" she gritted her teeth, fusing the new baleful qi with unbreakable will, bracing herself.
Boom—!
Her bones shattered, organs severely damaged, her sea of consciousness churned violently. Yet the new life force stubbornly protected the core of her spirit. She was like a candle flickering in a storm, threatened but unextinguished.
The fifth Purple Heaven Thunder arrived as expected!
It was no longer a column, but a roaring purple thunder dragon, exuding an aura of annihilation.
"Through death… I live!" Xie Zhaolin silently shouted.
She abandoned all resistance, fully opening herself to guide the destructive force into her fractured bottleneck.
Crack—!
Something inside her shattered.
Not destruction… but rebirth.
Amid the excruciating thunder dragon strike, the tiny pulse in her dantian suddenly grew, spinning violently, devouring the surrounding thunder and spiritual energy.
A primordial Golden Core began to slowly take shape, hovering between reality and form.
The sixth, and final, Purple Heaven Thunder brewed at the storm's eye.
This time, it was no longer purple… but black. Black as if it could swallow all light. Its pressure twisted and collapsed the valley's space.
This was the peak of destruction. And… the beginning of rebirth.
Xie Zhaolin struggled, forcing her broken body upright, staring at the sky. No fear, only unending madness and anticipation.
"Come on!" she screamed hoarsely. "With this thunder… forge my Golden Core!"
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For more context and explanation about thunder tribulation you can go to Chapter: Heavenly Tribulation (天劫 tiānjié) on my Xianxia Handbook