Chapter Forty-Five: The Thunder Tribulation

The twelve Vitality Pills were stored inside a jade gourd, from which five-colored rays of light shone forth. Upon seeing this, Zhang Xiao hurriedly slapped a sealing talisman onto the gourd to suppress it, lest the pills grow restless. At this moment, Lan Fang and Ni Weilan rushed over in haste. At first, they hadn’t thought much when they saw Zhang Xiao heading for the rear courtyard, but when the pill furnace exploded, worry gripped them, and they hurried over.

Seeing the pill furnace in the courtyard blown to pieces, the faces of Lan Fang and Ni Weilan changed abruptly, and they ran straight to Zhang Xiao. Lan Fang grabbed Zhang Xiao’s hand and anxiously asked, “Are you hurt? Where? Let me see!” Her words moved Zhang Xiao deeply. He gently tapped her nose and smiled, “Look at me—don’t I look perfectly fine? How could an explosion like that hurt me?”

Only then did Lan Fang recall that Zhang Xiao was no longer the man he had been before the great change. Now, he was a true cultivator, a protector she could rely on. Thinking of this, Lan Fang hugged Zhang Xiao’s waist and murmured, “Promise me, never take such risks again, even if it’s for my sake.” Zhang Xiao smiled and agreed, their sweetness making Ni Weilan, who had just arrived, feel awkward. Her eyes, which had been full of worry, now brimmed with envy and a touch of melancholy. When Zhang Xiao’s gaze swept over, she quickly turned away, refusing to meet his eyes.

Spotting Zhang Xiao’s avatar standing foolishly by the side, Ni Weilan hurried over and pulled at him, saying, “Are you alright? You weren’t hurt, were you?” She meant to use this as a way to mask her embarrassment, but the avatar’s reply only made things more awkward. As she tugged at him, the avatar quickly jumped aside, pressed his palms together, and solemnly intoned, “Forgive me, benefactress. This humble monk thanks you for your concern, but men and women should keep their distance. Please take care. Amitabha.”

Ni Weilan was left speechless. She had not realized that this avatar, while inheriting Zhang Xiao’s intellect and memories, possessed none of his emotions—in essence, he was as detached and passionless as a high monk. Flustered by his words, her face turned crimson. Seeing this, Lan Fang laughed and teased, “Why are you so worried about a monk? Don’t tell me you like monks now?”

Lan Fang’s words made Ni Weilan’s face burn even redder, her cheeks like apples. When she noticed Zhang Xiao also looking over, she stamped her foot and huffed, “Hmph, I’m ignoring you!” With that, she fled as if escaping for her life. Lan Fang, emboldened, clutched her belly and burst out laughing. Zhang Xiao found it all rather strange, but seeing her so happy, he didn’t bother to ask further.

He began to calculate silently: as long as two Vitality Pills were enough to help Lan Fang and Ni Weilan reach Foundation Establishment, he himself—already at the peak of this stage—would only need three pills to advance to the Golden Core stage within two months. The timing would work.

Without daring to delay further, Zhang Xiao handed a Vitality Pill to his avatar, instructing him to give it to Ni Weilan and assist her in refining it, while he would personally guard Lan Fang. The avatar, however, looked troubled as he accepted the pill, saying, “I am a monastic; how can I remain alone with a woman? It would not be proper.” Zhang Xiao could only sigh in exasperation and say, “Then I will control your consciousness myself.”

As he spoke, Zhang Xiao split his mind, taking over the avatar’s will. Fortunately, he had long since mastered the art of multitasking in the Demonic Sword Pool of the Ten Thousand Demons Sect, so this extra effort was nothing to him. Guiding the avatar out to find Ni Weilan, Zhang Xiao handed a pill to Lan Fang and said, “Sit cross-legged, circulate your cultivation technique with all your might, and I will guard you.”

Lan Fang did as told, sitting cross-legged and adjusting her state to the optimum before swallowing the Vitality Pill. It melted instantly, releasing a vast surge of spiritual energy within her. Even as she poured all her effort into refining it, the speed with which the energy poured forth far outpaced her ability to absorb it. Just as anxiety crept in, Zhang Xiao’s voice sounded at her ear: “Don’t panic. Steady your mind and focus on refining, leave the rest to me.”

At the same moment, a stream of pure spiritual energy entered her back. This current locked away the excess energy from the pill, holding it in place for Lan Fang to refine at her own pace. In the blink of an eye, three days passed. Zhang Xiao withdrew the spiritual energy from Lan Fang’s body; her condition was now stable, her cultivation advanced to Foundation Establishment. All that remained was to consolidate her new level.

Ni Weilan’s progress was much the same. Satisfied, Zhang Xiao recalled his avatar. Time was tight, so without further delay, he entered a secret chamber of the manor with the avatar. Holding the jade gourd containing the Vitality Pills, he pulled over a meditation cushion and sat cross-legged upon it, while the avatar transformed into a stream of golden light and entered his brow.

To be safe, Zhang Xiao recalled the avatar into his body to help refine the pills. Unlike the women, Zhang Xiao simply poured out three Vitality Pills from the jade gourd and swallowed them all at once. Instantly, his body erupted with spiritual energy, the overwhelming force rampaging through him. Luckily, his Vajra Indestructible Body had long since reached perfection; otherwise, anyone else would have been torn apart by the surging energy.

Steadying his mind, Zhang Xiao fully activated the Taiyin Profound Splendor Sutra, while the avatar within his sea of consciousness unleashed the Prajna Zen Sutra to accelerate the refinement. The two complementary techniques, one yin and one yang, aided each other, allowing Zhang Xiao’s cultivation to soar at a tremendous pace. The spiritual energy in his dantian, once gaseous, gradually thickened into a viscous liquid. As more and more liquid spiritual energy accumulated, Zhang Xiao ceased refining the pills and instead used their energy to compress the liquid within his dantian.

Though the Taiyin Profound Splendor Sutra wasn’t as miraculous as the Prajna Zen Sutra, it was still a top-tier technique reserved for the inner disciples of Maoshan. A current of mysterious yin energy arose from within his dantian, forming a vortex that churned the liquid spiritual energy, drawing it toward the center.

The sky grew ever darker. Unbeknownst to him, dark clouds had gathered above the manor. With a thunderous crash, lightning snakes burst forth from the clouds. The Lightning Tribulation—a crucial step in breaking through to the Golden Core stage, known as the lesser tribulation. Of course, it was “lesser” only in comparison to the tribulation of ascension; there were forty-nine bolts in total. Survive them, and one would become a Golden Core cultivator; fail, and at best your spiritual energy would be scattered, at worst, you’d be reduced to ashes.

In the secret chamber, Zhang Xiao’s eyes snapped open. Swept up by a wild wind, he burst out of the chamber. While others feared the Lightning Tribulation, he did not. Standing beneath the sky, his entire body shone with golden light. Yet this time, his Vajra Indestructible Body was markedly different. Though still resplendent, it now bore a touch of gentleness. The scriptures that once wound around him were now interlaced with strands of blue silk, ceaselessly weaving through the golden script. This was an unexpected boon of breaking through to the Golden Core stage: the so-called Dao Patterns, a special technique only Golden Core cultivators could comprehend.

To refine a magical artifact, one must incorporate such Dao Patterns; this was why only Golden Core cultivators could wield true magical treasures. Foundation Establishment cultivators, no matter how close they were to the next stage, could not use them—unless it was a special artifact, like the multicolored armor Wang Yanbo possessed. With the intertwining of Dao Patterns and scripture, Zhang Xiao’s Vajra Indestructible Body took on a new form, blending hardness and softness, its power ascending to yet another height. Yet the original meaning of “Vajra” was now absent.

Thunder roared in the sky as bolts of lightning lit up the heavens. Suddenly, a bolt like a heavenly blade crashed down on Zhang Xiao. Electric arcs curled around him, but he paid them no heed. Instead, he released his avatar to use the opportunity to perfect his Vajra Indestructible Body. The avatar appeared before him, taking several strikes of lightning head-on, but remained unscathed. In fact, the golden light on its body grew even brighter as scripture emerged upon it. Above the avatar’s head, a halo appeared—not the bare one Zhang Xiao had once possessed, but one whose center held a treasured sword, surrounded by heavenly dragons, four Bodhisattvas, and twelve Arhat phantoms. In appearance and presence, it surpassed Zhang Xiao’s own halo by far. When he had perfected the Vajra Indestructible Body, his halo had been utterly bare; yet now, his avatar’s was replete with dragons, Arhats, and Bodhisattvas—especially the sword at its center, which Zhang Xiao could sense contained immense power, beyond even his own reach. This astonished and vexed him, though he was at least consoled that it was his own avatar. Had it been someone else, he might have vomited blood from frustration.

Thunder rolled, as if the heavens themselves sensed a challenge to their authority. A bolt of purple lightning crashed down from above. Zhang Xiao immediately recalled his avatar, crossing his arms before him. With an explosive roar, the ground where he stood was reduced to a cloud of dust. When it cleared, Zhang Xiao was revealed with several new wounds. “Bah!” He spat out a mouthful of dirt. The force of this tribulation was beyond his expectations—even his avatar could no longer withstand it.

Another bolt of purple lightning struck. “Damn!” Zhang Xiao cursed aloud. The forty-nine strikes should have ended already—why were more coming, each stronger than the last? As he inwardly railed at the heavens, several more bolts fell in quick succession, battering him until his vision swam and he nearly lost consciousness. In his daze, he instinctively pushed the Prajna Zen Sutra and Taiyin Profound Splendor Sutra to their limits. The scriptures and Dao Patterns on his body became ever more distinct and solid, and as bolt after bolt struck, the two gradually merged into irregular shapes—neither quite scripture nor quite pattern—yet the tribulation’s might was greatly absorbed by them.

Enveloped in lightning, Zhang Xiao grew numb, his sole focus on circulating his techniques and resisting, all else forgotten. He had no idea how much time passed when, faintly, he heard the voices of Lan Fang and Ni Weilan calling his name. Only then did he open his eyes. All around him—rockeries, ponds, trees, and flowers—everything looked as if a bulldozer had run rampant through the grounds.