"Eiiii, You can't kill me no matter how hard you try" Bai Lingling sang to herself as she escaped one strike from the thunder above after another.
Her body bled badly because the heaven was set on making it impossible for her to accend. It was simple and common sense, simply because she was a snake demon no one would simply accept her not even the heaven.
Bai Lingling tried her best to avoid as much strikes as she could from the now ruined Temple.
This Temple was once of great Temple that resided in the Yunhai City. But now it was almost completely ruined because of Bai Lingling who kept running from one spot to another.
Everytime she leaped from one spot to another, the once perfect spot became ruined beyond repair.
If anyone was around it was be hard for them to spot the small cunning, petit figure because of how fast she moved from one spot to another.
"Ah!" Bai Lingling screamed in pain as she barely dodged a lightening strike. "You call yourself heaven? Then act like it. Strike me straight. No more dirty shots!" Bai Lingling said angrily as she successfully evaded her 47th strike.
Two more to go.
As a snake demon who had tried everything in her power to cultivate properly and prepare for accession, it was really clear at this point the heaven was doing everything in it's will power to stop her from ascending.
It was really rare for a snake demon to get to her level, but she did it with everything she had and she wasn't going to stop till she passed.
Bai Lingling leaped up onto a broken pillar, her small body shaking from exhaustion as she wiped the blood from her cheek. "Hah… see? I told you already… you cannot catch me," she muttered to herself proudly, her tone light and playful even though half her robes were burned away.
The forty-eighth bolt shot down like a furious white dragon, splitting the sky apart. Bai Lingling twisted midair, her body curving like a real serpent as she dodged it by barely an inch.
The ground behind her exploded into dust.
But she landed safely.
"Heh!" Bai Lingling grinned, actually grinned, even though she was covered in blood. "Forty-eight! Just one more. I knew it. I knew I would make it. You thought you could kill me? Dream on."
She placed her hands on her waist proudly, breathing heavily, her hair sticking messily to her face.
The dark clouds above rumbled.
Bai Lingling raised her chin. "Come on then. The last one. I'm ready."
The forty-ninth bolt gathered slowly, as if heaven itself was reluctantly letting her pass.
Bai Lingling narrowed her eyes. "Good. Good. Finally you..."
She dodged it smoothly.
And she laughed.
Actually laughed. "HAHA! You see? You see? I told you! You cannot kill me no ma..."
Her smile froze.
The sky suddenly twisted.
A second bolt formed instantly behind the first, silent, fast, and sharp like a blade aimed directly at her heart.
Her face drained.
"…wait… what?"
She barely had time to blink.
The bolt tore through the sky like it was hunting her specifically.
"That's...that's cheating!" Bai Lingling shouted, eyes widening as she tried to jump away, but her legs were already too weak. "You shameless thing! You...you petty heaven! I said FORTY-NINE! Not FIFTY!"
The lightning struck her before she finished screaming.
A deafening crack split the air.
Her small body was thrown backward like a ragdoll, slamming into the shattered temple floor. For a moment she couldn't breathe. Her vision blurred into white.
Pain crawled through every part of her body, burning, tearing, ripping.
"Ah… it hurts… too much…" she whispered as her fingers trembled on the ground.
Above her, the sky gave a triumphant rumble, as if mocking her.
Bai Lingling forced her head up weakly. "You… you really did that on purpose… didn't you…?"
Her vision faded.
Darkness wrapped around her.
...
Darkness wrapped around her.
For a moment, Bai Lingling wondered if this was what dying felt like.
It was… disappointing.
No flowers, no soft music, no gentle ancestors welcoming her.
Just pain. A ridiculous amount of pain.
And humiliation.
"Heaven… you really have no shame…" she muttered in her half-conscious state, her thoughts wobbling like a drunk chicken. "Can't even follow your own rules… cheating old thing…"
If her body could move, she would've pointed at the sky and cursed it again.
But she couldn't.
Everything hurt too much.
Somewhere in her fading mind, she groaned softly.
"…I hate it here… I hate everyone… I especially hate the heavens… they're more dramatic than I am…"
She exhaled shakily, her consciousness slipping even more.
"…forty-nine strikes my tail… liar…"
And with that final grumble, Bai Lingling finally passed out properly, annoyed even in unconsciousness.