Chapter 351 : Lightning Tribulation Again
Jiang Mo had only come to the Buddha Sect by chance, and followed Golden Peng inside merely to avoid being discourteous. However, upon entering, she discovered that the Buddha Sect was unusually bustling today. Besides the sect's own cultivators, there were many monks wearing different kasayas, likely people from other nearby sects. She wasn't sure why they had gathered here.
Golden Peng seemed to notice her confusion and, despite his poor mood while carrying the half-dead Buddhist disciple, explained: "Today is the sect's annual Dharma lecture day. Monks from the surrounding areas come to discuss Buddhist teachings."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Mo immediately lost interest and glanced at Tan Xin. "Are we going to see the Sect Leader now?"
Hearing her question, Golden Peng pondered for a moment before saying, "The Sect Leader is giving a lecture today. Why don't you rest first, Jianbing, while I take Tan Xin to see the Sect Leader?"
Jiang Mo naturally had no objections. Golden Peng quickly summoned a young monk to escort her to the guest quarters, then hurriedly left with Tan Xin. It seemed he was going to find someone to save him, though whether they could bring him back remained uncertain.
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The Buddha Sect's guest quarters were ordinary—naturally clean and tidy, but the furnishings were somewhat sparse.
After dismissing the young monk who had guided her, Jiang Mo walked around the guest room. Before she had a chance to lie down and rest for a moment, she suddenly sensed something. With a flash, she directly entered her innate space.
Her timing was perfect—she saw the spiritual energy egg radiating light in all directions, seeming to have depleted all the surrounding spiritual energy in a short time. At this rate, even the spirit stone vein she had placed in her space years ago would likely be damaged. But this wasn't the most pressing concern; what worried her most was that insufficient spiritual energy might affect her Senior Sister's bloodline awakening.
Jiang Mo immediately became busy, hastily piling all the spirit stones she had accumulated over the years next to the spiritual energy egg, vaguely feeling that this scene was somewhat familiar. However, it was clear that those spirit stones were merely a drop in the ocean for Yun Qingyue in her current state.
The spirit stones, rich in spiritual energy, turned to ashes in an instant. Seeing this, Jiang Mo became anxious. While she didn't understand much about bloodline awakening, she knew the basics—the more spiritual energy the egg absorbed now, the stronger her Senior Sister would be after transformation. Conversely, if the spiritual energy couldn't keep up, her Senior Sister's transformation process might be stunted due to "malnutrition."
How could Jiang Mo allow this to happen? After anxiously circling the spiritual energy egg once, she decisively turned her gaze to the dragon bones nearby.
Dragon bones contained the essence of a dragon's entire being. Skin, flesh, and blood might all dissipate, but what remained in the world would inevitably be the dragon bones. The dragon skeleton before her was well-preserved, containing immeasurable spiritual power—its only flaw was that it was difficult to absorb.
Yun Qingyue's awakening beside the dragon bones must have been influenced by them. However, the spiritual power within the dragon bones was quite violent, and Yun Qingyue, at the critical moment of her awakening, couldn't withstand its impact... But fortunately, Jiang Mo was there. Remembering her previous experience filtering the dragon bones' spiritual power for her Senior Sister's cultivation, she gritted her teeth, placing one hand on the dragon bones and the other on the spiritual energy egg.
Sure enough, in the next moment, Jiang Mo felt an enormous suction force from her palm, instantly depleting all the spiritual power in her body. Jiang Mo's expression changed slightly, but she didn't stop; instead, she worked harder to absorb the spiritual power from the dragon bones.
As a White Tiger, Jiang Mo was a divine beast of the same rank as the Azure Dragon, so the spiritual power from the dragon bones wasn't difficult for her to absorb and use. The problem was that her Senior Sister needed spiritual power urgently and in large quantities. With one hand on each side, Jiang Mo immediately became a transfer station—and an overloaded one at that. Her face first turned pale, then gradually flushed red, then became pale again, cycling through these changes repeatedly.
Even though Jiang Mo's heart was filled with concern for her Senior Sister, she now somewhat regretted her rash decision. But it was too late to regret it now, so she simply endured the pain in her meridians and continued to persevere, as time unknowingly slipped away.
Perhaps it was a quarter hour, or perhaps an hour, or even longer...
Finally, Jiang Mo felt the suction force from her palm gradually weaken. When the connection was actively cut off, her legs gave way and she fell to her knees. In that moment of falling, she instinctively reached out to support herself, but her hand pressed against something, and a crisp "crack" sound nearly made her jump.
Jiang Mo quickly withdrew her hand in fright, collapsing sideways onto the ground. She thought her hand had been too heavy and had accidentally broken her Senior Sister's "eggshell," but when she looked up, she realized what she had leaned on wasn't the spiritual energy egg at all, but the dragon bones on the other side.
Yes, the originally extremely hard dragon bones now seemed to have developed osteoporosis, breaking at her touch.
That wasn't all. The dragon bones had originally been as white and lustrous as jade—ignoring their contours, they looked like a piece of fine white jade. But now, the "white jade" seemed to have lost its luster, covered in a layer of gray. Looking at the dragon bones now, though they still retained some spiritual power, they no longer possessed their former imposing aura.
It was as if this dragon, dormant for ten thousand years, had finally died at this moment.
Jiang Mo was momentarily dazed, feeling somewhat regretful, but quickly turned her gaze to the spiritual energy egg beside her. Having absorbed enough spiritual energy, the egg was no longer as eye-catching as before, becoming rather ordinary.
So, was it not yet time for the shell to break?
Almost the moment this thought arose, Jiang Mo suddenly heard another "crack." This time, she instinctively turned to look at the dragon bones, wondering which part of the osteoporotic bones had a problem, even though she hadn't touched them.
However, while the dragon bones had lost their luster, they showed no other changes. Meanwhile, the "crack" sound continued to repeat in Jiang Mo's ears.
Jiang Mo finally shifted her gaze back to the spiritual energy egg and saw a point of light flash, then continuously expand. What was initially just a thin thread of light quickly became as thick as a finger, then as wide as a palm, before a flash of light completely dazzled her eyes. Even Jiang Mo couldn't help but narrow her eyes slightly and raise a hand to shield them.
The dazzling light almost filled the entire space, and everything before her was shrouded in intense white light. As Jiang Mo raised her hand to cover her eyes, she suddenly heard Yun Qingyue's voice: "Quick, get me out of here!"
The voice seemed to sound beside her ear, yet also resonated in her mind.
Jiang Mo had no time to think deeply and instinctively sent her out of the space, hurriedly following.
The next moment, Jiang Mo heard the sound of the roof breaking. Squinting up, she discovered a hole in the ceiling—this normally wouldn't be a big deal, but looking at her surroundings, she suddenly remembered that she was currently a guest at the Buddha Sect!
Jiang Mo vaguely sensed something improper, but the development of events gave her no time to think or worry. Just as she clearly saw the hole in the ceiling, the next moment, through the opening, she saw that the originally clear sky had suddenly changed. The weather turned overcast in an instant, and streaks of lightning leaped incessantly among the dark clouds.
This scene was all too familiar—what else could it be but a lightning tribulation?
Had her Senior Sister reached the Fusion realm after her bloodline awakening? Thinking about it, it wasn't particularly surprising. After all, she had absorbed the spiritual power of an entire dragon skeleton during her bloodline awakening; if her cultivation didn't advance to a higher realm, it would be an injustice to those dragon bones.
Realizing this, Jiang Mo immediately became energized and hurriedly ran out of the guest room, looking up to find her Senior Sister's silhouette in midair.
However, before she could look up to see the situation in the sky, as soon as she stepped out of the door, she immediately sensed something wrong. Although she was a divine beast and didn't undergo advancement tribulations, it made no sense that she, a divine beast whose cultivation was approaching mid-Fusion stage, would feel such terrifying pressure from a Fusion realm lightning tribulation. Under the coverage of the lightning tribulation, she felt as if an immense weight pressed on her heart, making it almost impossible to stand.
Just then, a somewhat familiar voice reached Jiang Mo's ears: "Little tiger cub, get out quickly! That area is under the lightning tribulation's coverage. If you don't leave soon, you might be affected too."
Jiang Mo remembered—this was Golden Peng's voice. Unfortunately, she couldn't escape now; she couldn't even move a step.
Under the lightning tribulation, Jiang Mo was nearly in tears. Fortunately, Golden Peng quickly noticed her predicament. He immediately transformed into his original form, a huge golden eagle descending from the sky, moving as fast as a beam of light.
In just the blink of an eye, Jiang Mo felt her shoulders firmly grasped by claws, and then the golden eagle carried her skyward without pause. Only after completely leaving the area covered by the tribulation lightning did he slow down and hover in midair. Then Golden Peng finally had time to wonder: "Where did this demon come from? When did they arrive at our Buddha Sect, and why are they undergoing tribulation here?!"
Not only Golden Peng, but everyone at the Buddha Sect was bewildered. Only because of the imposing might of the lightning tribulation did no one pursue the matter for now.
Jiang Mo, grasped by Golden Peng and flying in midair, finally saw from a distance the only figure still standing in the air beneath the tribulation clouds—not the slender silhouette she was familiar with, nor the furry creature she had hoped for, but a huge bird. With snow-white feathers, three tufts of plumage on its head, and long, shimmering tail feathers.
It looked quite beautiful at a glance. If not for the wrong feather color, it might have resembled Lingguang.