“What? Did you also notice the robe’s flaws? I was just about to say, if we could get two Purple Oriole Feathers from the Bai family to enhance the color, it would be perfect!” Feng Chi Shenjun remarked, seeing Li Xue’s conflicted expression as she held the garment.
Ji Rufeng’s heart twitched at the suggestion. Using Purple Oriole Feathers just for color? That was far too extravagant. Although a high-grade Dharma robe was a powerful defensive treasure, using such rare materials merely for aesthetics was simply unreasonable.
Li Xue’s lips twitched as well. What a waste. It would take decades for the plumage of a Purple Phoenix, Purple Phoenix-Crane, or Purple Oriole to grow back. Using Purple Oriole Feathers for color was better left unconsidered.
Seeing everyone looking at her expectantly, Li Xue gave a faint smile. She channeled spiritual power into the robe and performed a hand seal. A brilliant light erupted, and with a graceful swirl of her body, she donned the garment.
She looked like a celestial maiden descended from the nine heavens—ethereal, pure, and detached from the mortal world. With the White Silk Jade Belt tied around her waist, fluttering elegantly, her entire temperament had transformed. Li Xue sighed inwardly; no matter how high one’s cultivation reached, the old saying remained true: clothes make the man, just as gold leaf makes the Buddha.
Feng Chi Shenjun’s eyes lit up, his gaze growing increasingly fervent as he watched her.
“Let’s call this the Cloud Feather Gauze Robe. Thank you for the gift, Senior,” Li Xue said, her heart filled with joy.
Returning to the Dream Realm, Li Xue began preparing for her secluded meditation. Before Li Lin had entered his own seclusion, he had left behind many notes and insights regarding the breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage. Li Xue read through each of them with great care.
Originally, Li Yuhong had hoped Li Xue would spend more time stabilizing her realm before attempting the breakthrough. However, Li Xue felt she was in peak condition and did not want to waste any more time. Seeing he could not dissuade her, Li Yuhong could only offer a long list of detailed instructions and precautions.
The spirit beasts within the Dream Realm were incredibly supportive. They offered up their own treasured secret techniques and methods without reservation, hoping she would successfully form her Nascent Soul as soon as possible.
Half a year later, Li Xue officially began her attempt to break through to the Nascent Soul stage.
Inside the Dream Realm, Chi Ze and Bing Yan were playing with the little Water Spirit when suddenly, dark clouds began to mass in the sky, accompanied by the low rumble of thunder.
“Is this the Nascent Soul Tribulation?” Chi Ze looked toward the Spirit Void Realm with suspicion. This should be Li Lin’s tribulation.
Yun Xi watched the gathering storm from the air, her brow furrowed deeply. The lightning seemed to be brewing something, hesitating to strike. Having experienced a Rank 6 Tribulation herself, she could tell that the pressure from this storm was many times greater than a standard Rank 6 lightning strike. What was happening?
Yun Xi quickly sent a divine sense transmission to everyone in the Dream Realm: “Everyone, return to your dwellings and activate your strongest defensive restrictions! This is no ordinary Nascent Soul Tribulation!”
The inhabitants hurried back to their caves and activated their maximum defenses, leaving only magical mirrors to observe the outside world.
The heavenly tribulation lightning finally fully formed. With a deafening roar, it lunged downward like a clawed beast, striking simultaneously at the Spirit Void Realm and the Snow Whisper Cottage.
Yun Xi watched with a mix of worry and joy. It turned out that the Mistress had also begun her tribulation. She hadn't expected her to reach the Nascent Soul stage so quickly, actually catching up to Li Lin. However, because of this, their tribulations had merged. The power of the lightning would not just double; it would increase exponentially.
At this moment, Yun Xi felt a surge of gratitude toward Feng Chi Shenjun. If the Mistress fell into true peril, she wouldn't hesitate to trigger the Star-Stealing Moon-Swapping Secret Technique to ensure her safety.
Brilliant light erupted from both the Spirit Void Realm and the Snow Whisper Cottage. A fiery red glow rose from the Spirit Void Realm, while five-colored radiance surged from the Snow Whisper Cottage to meet the descending lightning.
A Nascent Soul Tribulation consisted of five bolts. The first three were blocked with relative ease. When the fourth bolt struck, Li Xue was forced to push the Cloud Feather Gauze Robe’s defenses to their limit. She summoned the Spirit Heart Furnace and the White Silk Jade Belt, while the Five Elements Shuttle vibrated with rainbow light and charged toward the lightning.
Simultaneously, Li Lin’s Fengyang Sword soared into the sky, attacking the tribulation lightning.
“Blazing Fire Prairie!” Li Xue cried out. A powerful attack fueled by Yang-fire spiritual energy combined with Li Lin’s pure Yang techniques to intercept the lightning in mid-air. The collision of fire and lightning produced a cacophony of cracking, sizzling, and ear-piercing screeches that filled the entire Dream Realm.
Had it not been for Yun Xi’s early warning, everyone in the Dream Realm would likely have been severely injured by the shockwaves.
As the final bolt of lightning began to descend, Yun Xi’s hands were already moving through the seals of her secret technique.
Li Xue knew that if this final bolt landed, the price of resisting it would be devastating. Her eyes narrowed. Her hands blurred as she performed seals, and the Five Elements Shuttle’s light intensified as it attempted to envelop the lightning.
Seeing the situation, Li Lin did not hesitate. He entered the center of the array and summoned the Purple Yang Cauldron. Inside the cauldron were over a dozen high-grade, top-tier pills he had been saving. He had already made his decision.
A barrage of magical attacks followed—a sky-filling rain of swords, a flood like the "Drowning of the Golden Mountain," and even "Yellow Heaven Thick Earth" were hurled at the lightning. Yet, the lightning within the Five Elements Illusion Killing Array actually managed to dodge them with eerie agility.
Li Xue and Li Lin were both dumbfounded. *Damn, this lightning is too clever! It can even dodge?*
Li Lin hesitated no longer. He detonated all the high-grade pills within the Purple Yang Cauldron, mixing them with countless high-level offensive talismans. He activated the Hidden Shadow Shield at its maximum defense and pulled Li Xue into the "Life Gate" of the Illusion Killing Array.
Under the combined assault of the array and the explosions, the lightning finally began to dissipate, slowly vanishing within the Illusion Killing Array.
Li Xue recalled the Five Elements Shuttle and began to regulate her breathing to recover. She failed to notice a faint arc of electricity lingering on the shuttle, slowly extending until it vanished into the Illusion Killing Array.
The dark clouds in the sky dispersed, replaced by a five-colored auspicious glow. Within that celestial phenomenon, the faint image of a golden sun-bird appeared, shining with magnificent brilliance.
“The Five-Colored Phenomenon and the Golden Crow Phenomenon... the Mistress and Xiao Lin’s breakthrough visions have merged. This is unheard of!” Hei Yan exclaimed in awe.
“How can the Mistress be compared to ordinary cultivators?” Yun Xi said dismissively. Even the Great Gods could not calculate the Mistress’s fate; no matter how strange the celestial phenomenon, it was only to be expected.
Li Xue carefully examined the state of her body. Inside her Dantian, a tiny figure sat cross-legged. Upon closer inspection, it looked exactly like her, very similar to how Li Xiaoyin appeared when she manifested.
She sank her consciousness into the Nascent Soul to sense it. Her entire body felt filled with incredibly pure spiritual energy. The Nascent Soul was the very essence of spiritual power; as long as the Nascent Soul remained, one’s source of energy was inexhaustible, and life would endure.
Only now could she be considered to have truly stepped through the grand gates of cultivation, joining the ranks of high-level cultivators.
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Ascended Without Me: Cultivating with a Genius Son | Chapter 149 | The Double Tribulation | Novela.app | Novela.app
