Chapter 72 : A Beam of Light
Divine beasts are inherently favored by heaven and earth. This advantage manifests not only in their Nascent Soul cultivation level at birth and their exceptional cultivation aptitude, but also in another tremendous advantage compared to ordinary spirit beasts—spirit beasts struggle with advancement, facing lightning tribulations far more severe than cultivators do when breaking through, with countless perishing during these trials. Divine beasts, however, are different because they don't need to face tribulations at all!
Indeed, cultivation advancement for divine beasts is easier than eating or drinking. They face no barriers during cultivation, no lightning tribulations during advancement, and with their longevity, they could simply lie down and still win in the end.
Take Divine Lord Zhiming of Xuanqing Sect, for example. The Black Tortoise isn't particularly diligent, yet despite spending his days sleeping behind closed doors, he reached the Tribulation Crossing realm ready for ascension by the age of 8,000. As for the lightning tribulation before ascension, he never worried about passing it, as the tribulation lightning would likely just symbolically strike him before allowing him to ascend to the upper realm.
The ascension tribulation might be the only lightning tribulation a divine beast experiences in its lifetime. This is the treatment for divine beasts needing to ascend from the lower realm—those born in the upper realm might never be struck by tribulation lightning in their entire lives.
This was the consensus of everyone in the cultivation world, until it was suddenly shattered a moment ago...
When the ninth Nascent Soul tribulation lightning fell, it shone with extraordinary brilliance, seeming to occupy all of heaven and earth with its radiance, dazzling everyone's eyes until they could see nothing. However, a few people present could still see clearly through the blinding lightning what was happening.
These observers were Sect Leader Qingxiao and several Peak Masters. The elders and disciples who arrived afterward instinctively closed their eyes. Under the watchful gaze of these few, they witnessed the tribulation lightning aimed at Yun Qingyue suddenly fork in midair, and before anyone could react, that diverted fork of lightning headed directly toward Qingyu.
Qingyu, a Fusion realm master with profound cultivation, reacted swiftly, immediately deploying a magical treasure as a shield before her. The shield's protection covered not only herself but also the little white tiger standing at her feet.
No one had time to wonder why the forked tribulation lightning was targeting Qingyu, but seeing her reaction, no one worried about her ability to handle it. After all, between the Fusion realm and the Nascent Soul realm lay two major cultivation boundaries—what threat could tribulation lightning pose? As long as it hadn't triggered Fusion realm tribulation lightning, dealing with Nascent Soul lightning would be even easier for her than Yun Qingyue's handling of the first three lightning bolts!
Yet something astonishing happened the next moment.
The magical treasure Qingyu deployed shone brilliantly, forming a barrier in front of both her and the tiger. What should have been an impenetrable shield was silently penetrated by the tribulation lightning in the next instant. The lightning ignored the magical defense and struck directly at the unprepared little white tiger.
Qingyu was immediately alarmed, but it was too late to remedy the situation, and some mysterious force seemed to hinder her movements. In just that brief delay, the lightning struck the little white tiger squarely, instantly enveloping the entire tiger in brilliant light. When the lightning dispersed, Qingyu was surprised to find her magical treasure's shield still intact, and she herself completely unharmed by the lightning.
Only the little white tiger was injured. Struck by the tribulation lightning and with cultivation far below the Nascent Soul level, she collapsed immediately. Without looking closely, what lay at Qingyu's feet appeared to be merely a lump of charcoal. Upon closer inspection, one could make out a bloody mess within.
Not only was Qingyu momentarily stunned, everyone who witnessed this scene was at a loss, all temporarily frozen in shock.
To put it bluntly, Yun Qingyue, who had just completed her lightning tribulation, looked far better than the little white tiger who had suffered this collateral damage. At least Yun Qingyue remained conscious, immediately changing into new ceremonial robes after completing the tribulation. After experiencing the blessing of spiritual rain that follows the tribulation, her wounds would quickly heal, leaving her disheveled for only a brief moment.
But the little white tiger's condition was truly dire—a pile of charred remains with barely a breath of life, so fragile it seemed she might expire at any moment. Sect Leader Qingxiao, regaining his composure, rushed over immediately, while Qinglan hastily produced life-saving pills.
By this time, the lightning had dissipated, and those previously blinded gradually regained their vision, looking first toward Yun Qingyue who had successfully completed her tribulation.
Having just passed her lightning tribulation and successfully formed her Nascent Soul, Yun Qingyue hadn't noticed the forked lightning striking the little white tiger. She had changed into ceremonial robes and sat cross-legged, simultaneously regulating her breath to recover from her injuries while examining her newly formed Nascent Soul, waiting for the subsequent blessing of spiritual rain. Thanks to her successful formation of a Nascent Soul, which attracted everyone's attention, no one had yet noticed that Jianbing had been struck by lightning.
Sect Leader Qingxiao watched as Qinglan administered the pills, and after his initial shock, he was extremely troubled. He didn't understand why a divine beast would be struck by lightning, but he knew this news absolutely could not spread.
Divine Lord Zhiming was about to ascend, leaving a vacancy for the sect's guardian divine beast. At this time, the sect receiving Jianbing's protection was truly heaven's favor, and it had deterred many people's stirring thoughts. Because of this, they hadn't dared reveal even the fact that Jianbing was a congenitally weakness, with diminished cultivation. If news that Jianbing had been casually struck by tribulation lightning were to spread, it would surely cause another wave of turmoil.
Thinking of the Tiandao Sect and Buddha Sect members still within their sect, Sect Leader Qingxiao's expression grew solemn, and he said: "Jianbing has been injured accidentally. I'll take her..." Before the words "away" could leave his mouth, a dark figure appeared before them.
Divine Lord Zhiming had arrived.
The little white tiger wore a magical device crafted by his own hands, and although the device ultimately failed to block the tribulation lightning, the disturbance created when the lightning struck the little white tiger had alerted him. With a sweep of his divine sense, he immediately discovered the little white tiger's critical condition and teleported through space to arrive, appearing no later than Sect Leader Qingxiao and the others.
Before Qingxiao and the others could speak, he swept his sleeve, gathering the charcoal-like little white tiger and vanishing from everyone's sight.
After a long silence, Qingxu asked: "What happened just now? Why did tribulation lightning strike Jianbing? And Sister's magical device had already activated its defense, so why couldn't it block the lightning?"
No one had answers to these two questions, including Qingyu who had been standing right beside the little white tiger—yes, she had been right next to the little white tiger, the distance between them less than half an arm's length, yet when the lightning struck, it only injured the little white tiger without even touching the hem of her robe. Furthermore, they hadn't even been within the range of the lightning tribulation, making that forked lightning all the more peculiar.
The Peak Masters exchanged glances, and finally Sect Leader Qingxiao looked at everyone and spoke: "Since Jianbing has been taken by Divine Lord Zhiming, her life should be safe. As for the rest... there's no need to mention it again, nor to investigate further."
Even if they wanted to investigate further, what could they do? Were they going to demand an explanation from the tribulation lightning or the Heavenly Dao?
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Indeed, the little white tiger watching the tribulation but being struck by lightning was due to the Heavenly Dao's "special attention." After all, the system had smuggled her here and directly occupied a divine beast's body—the two of them had long been targeted by the Heavenly Dao.
The data anomaly incident had passed long ago, and her life had become peaceful, so the Heavenly Dao had issued a new round of tests.
Struck by the tribulation lightning, Jiang Mo immediately fell unconscious. Her last sensation before losing consciousness was pain, and this pain seemed not to dissipate even after she lost consciousness. It clung to her soul, and even in unconsciousness, the excruciating pain persisted every moment. She seemed to enter the final moment of life, with scenes from her past experiences replaying before her eyes like a slideshow.
From birth to education to work, the first half of her life had been unremarkable. Then one day, she was suddenly bound to a mysterious system, and this mysterious system chose to bind to her while she was crossing the road.
Then she had a car accident, smashed to pieces by a speeding car—for the first time, she witnessed that horrific accident as an observer. She saw her own body shattered, saw the distance of more than ten meters between her upper and lower body, saw the blood spilled across the road, and a chill crept into her heart.
Pain, intense pain, the excruciating agony entwined with her soul did not subside in the slightest, repeatedly tormenting her.
Jiang Mo, who had suffered all this innocently, watched the scene of her death while enduring the pain, and gradually resentment grew in her heart.
But this wasn't the end. The system, unwilling to face its mistake, took advantage of her confused state when she couldn't resist and carried her soul across time and space to a new world.
It thought it had found her a suitable new body, but this body wasn't even human and was so weak it couldn't even stand. Stepping on insects, learning to walk, having neither food nor drink and only being able to sleep... these might seem like small matters, but for Jiang Mo, they were all undeserved disasters. She had originally lived her small life peacefully—who would willingly experience all this without cause?
She would never see her former family and friends again in this life, and the peaceful world she had grown up in was far away. She was forced to struggle for survival in an entirely new world. And the cause of all this was the system!
The resentment in her heart seemed to grow heavier. Jiang Mo, with her normally laid-back and easygoing personality, never knew she harbored so much anger within.
Then she watched herself stumbling through the forest, watched the system lead her to seek food she could never obtain, watched the system's stupidity drag her down... Anger accumulated bit by bit, and coupled with the torment of her soul's agony, if Jiang Mo were conscious at this moment, if she could open her eyes, they would likely be blood-red.
But she couldn't open her eyes, couldn't wake up, so the slideshow of images continued.
She was chased by an eagle that the system had provoked—an eagle so large and fierce, unlike any she had ever seen. She had no doubt it could kill her effortlessly. So she could only run, stumbling and extremely awkward.
Then she fell, and when she raised her head, she suddenly glimpsed the cyan hem of a robe... The resentment and anger brewing in Jiang Mo's heart paused at this moment, suddenly unable to continue. She had only been struck by lightning, not afflicted with amnesia. Of course she remembered this face, remembered this person, and remembered what happened afterward.
She had been saved by her, taken back to the spirit boat, back to the sect.
She had cared for her, indulged her, appearing cold on the surface yet secretly squeezing her paw pads.
She had taught her to cultivate, taken her to the Small Secret Realm to gain experience, and even taught literacy to her who had become illiterate.
She was like a beam of light, suddenly appearing, dispelling all the gloom in Jiang Mo's heart—Jiang Mo was not one to complain about fate, and in this strange world, at least Senior Sister treated her well, which was enough.
Then the little white tiger opened her eyes. The excruciating pain that had been entwined with her suddenly dissipated, and light indeed entered her vision.