99: Chapter 99 Mysterious Heavenly Tribulation, System Update

Early morning, dawn broke.

On the east side of Panlong Peak stood a massive platform—the Tribulation Platform. Its surface was inscribed with the ancient Bagua, with eight towering stone pillars standing at its edges.

Chi Wanhe, wearing a pink dress, sat cross-legged at the center of the platform, eyes closed and mind focused.

In the distance, the watching Disciples whispered among themselves:

"Is Senior Sister going to break through to the Golden Core Stage?"

"Senior Sister is so amazing! I'm so envious!"

"Is that the Tribulation Platform? It looks so profound!"

On Tianyuan Floating Island, at the top of Haoran Tower.

Yu Lingshuang looked at Ling Hao, who was standing by the railing. Her cold voice carried a trace of worry:

"So, you really aren't worried at all?"

Since the ancient erosion qi spread, the laws of heaven and earth had become chaotic, and the Heavenly Tribulation triggered by Cultivators breaking through major Realms had become increasingly strange and unpredictable. It could be ridiculously strong or laughably weak, with no certainty.

Some Cultivators might only encounter a weak lightning bolt during their tribulation, just enough to make them feel numb. Others, who were supposed to undergo the Four-Nine Small Heavenly Tribulation, might encounter a Five-Nine Small Heavenly Tribulation, or even a Six-Nine Small Heavenly Tribulation!

Ling Hao locked his gaze on the pink figure on the Tribulation Platform and smiled confidently:

"I believe in Xiao He."

With the Moonshadow Sect's cheats, plus his 'diligent teaching' as her Revered Master—and the saying that good Disciples come from strict discipline—what was there to fear from a mere Four-Nine Small Heavenly Tribulation?

Furthermore, there was the Tribulation Platform to act as a safety net.

Tribulation Platform: Balances Heavenly Tribulation, Auspicious Clouds +100%.

If the Heavenly Tribulation was too strong and beyond the range of the tribulation taker's ability, the Tribulation Platform would balance the intensity. If the Heavenly Tribulation was too weak, it would be enhanced to the limit of the tribulation taker's ability. Regardless of strength, the nectar bestowed by heaven would be doubled.

In addition, it had auxiliary effects such as accelerating the recovery of Spiritual Qi, protecting clothing, and masking external gazes from a distance.

Yu Lingshuang glanced at Ling Hao reproachfully, as if blaming him for not caring about his own Disciple.

"It's coming!"

An unknown Disciple exclaimed.

Above the Tribulation Platform, thick leaden clouds gathered crazily, instantly turning into a pitch-black sea of tribulation covering dozens of miles.

Lightning snakes danced wildly in the clouds, the dull roar making everyone tremble, and a destructive pressure enveloped the surroundings!

The Tribulation Platform slowly rose into the air.

Boom!

The first thick bolt of tribulation lightning tore through the sky and struck down fiercely!

Chi Wanhe opened her eyes suddenly, her figure shooting into the sky like lightning.

She formed a Spell with her left hand, and the Five Elements Spiritual Qi flowed, forming a shield. With her right hand, she drew in the air, and several Talismans shot out, merging into the spiritual shield to instantly form a triple array of wind, thunder, and ice.

The tribulation lightning hit the array, light exploded, and it was weakened and resolved layer by layer.

Outside the Moonshadow Sect, some Loose Cultivators were alarmed:

"Which Fellow Daoist is Undergoing Tribulation here?"

"Nonsense! The tribulation clouds are above the Moonshadow Sect, so it must be someone from the Moonshadow Sect!"

"Listening to those Moonshadow Sect Disciples at the mountain gate, it should be Sect Master Ling's eldest Disciple! In the battle of the Tianhuo Sect, she cut down Foundation Establishment Cultivators like vegetables! If she becomes a Golden Core, Golden Core True Persons might also become vegetables..."

"Let her pass it first! This Heavenly Tribulation is evil—what if it's a stronger Five-Nine Tribulation!"

"I can only sense her aura; it's like looking at flowers through the fog..."

After blocking the first tribulation lightning, Chi Wanhe landed gracefully on the platform, and her Magic Treasure appeared. In her left hand, she held a mysterious compass with flowing starlight, and in her right, a spirit pen inscribed with Dao patterns.

The tribulation lightning fell one after another, becoming increasingly violent.

Chi Wanhe moved nimbly, using Five Elements Spells at will, supplemented by exquisite Talismans and defensive arrays, to deflect, neutralize, or shatter the tribulation lightning!

The compass stabilized the eight directions, and the spirit pen painted the universe!

In the blink of an eye, twenty-seven tribulation lightnings had passed!

"The way of combining Talismans and arrays that Junior Sister mentioned is really quite practical."

Chi Wanhe looked at the increasingly violent tribulation clouds and whispered to herself.

The twenty-eighth tribulation lightning crashed down.

Its power far exceeded the previous ones; it was as thick as a palace pillar, wrapped in dazzling purple light.

Chi Wanhe's expression tightened. The compass rotated rapidly, and the spirit pen drew a mysterious trajectory in the air, drawing the spiritual power around her into a huge composite shield intertwined with ice crystals, wind, and thunder.

The lightning exploded, and the giant shield was covered in cracks, but Chi Wanhe's figure only swayed slightly before standing firm.

...

The thirty-sixth tribulation lightning also dissipated under Chi Wanhe's exquisite defense. However, when the last lightning light faded, the thick, ink-like tribulation clouds in the sky did not disperse as usual; instead, they churned even more violently.

A deep vortex formed in the center, brewing terrifying energy that made one's heart palpitate.

On the floating island, Yu Lingshuang looked solemn as she looked at Ling Hao:

"This tribulation cloud..."

"It's fine."

Before Ling Hao could finish speaking, as if specifically to spite him, the pitch-black tribulation clouds suddenly churned violently.

Countless pitch-black water droplets condensed in the cloud vortex.

Each drop exuded a terrifying coldness that annihilated vitality, and even the space was corroded into fine ripples!

A collective gasp of cold air sounded from the Loose Cultivators watching below:

"Hiss—what the hell is that? Just looking at it once, my Divine Soul is stinging!"

"Yes, this thing can only be looked at once. Look at it again, and it will explode!"

On the Tribulation Platform, Chi Wanhe looked up at the sky, her pretty face unprecedentedly solemn. She could feel the destructive power contained in the water droplets, which far exceeded the Lightning Tribulation!

"It's Bone-Eroding Weak Water!"

Yu Lingshuang's voice was anxious, "This is the Bone-Eroding Weak Water that only appears when Soul Transformation Cultivators undergo the Six-Nine Small Heavenly Tribulation! One drop... one drop is enough to erode bones and destroy the Soul, Wanhe, she..."

"Rest assured."

Ling Hao said in a deep voice, his eyes locked on the Tribulation Platform, his brows furrowed.

This broken platform had no reaction to Bone-Eroding Weak Water? Did the System give him a fake?

His spiritual power surged around him, and he took a step forward!

Although there were rumors that interfering with the Heavenly Tribulation would bring disaster, and there was the Changming Hall that could protect the Soul, Ling Hao still could not accept watching his Disciple's Physical Body perish!

Just as Ling Hao was about to make a move, the eight silent towering stone pillars on the edge of the Tribulation Platform suddenly erupted with dazzling golden light columns, rushing into the sky!

Where the light beams passed, the weak water droplets that were enough to erode bones and destroy Souls silently evaporated, annihilated, and turned into nothingness.

"What the hell?! What was that light just now?!"

"I don't know! As soon as the light flashed, those terrifying water droplets were gone!!"

"Heaven-Defying! Wait... the tribulation clouds are still there! This time it's a real Five-Nine Small Heavenly Tribulation..."

Under the gaze of countless shocked eyes, Chi Wanhe relied on her amazing willpower and the remaining protection of the Tribulation Platform to withstand the eight tribulation lightnings of the Five-Nine Small Heavenly Tribulation, each with power comparable to a full-strength blow of a Golden Core Perfection Cultivator.

But at this moment, Chi Wanhe was at the end of her strength, covered in blood, and swaying.

The Loose Cultivators in the distance sensed the weak aura and shook their heads, sighing:

"This Senior Sister of the Moonshadow Sect is amazingly talented. It is already a miracle that she survived the first eight tribulation lightnings of the Five-Nine Small Heavenly Tribulation, but that Five-Nine... the last one, its power is close to a full-strength blow of an Early Stage Nascent Soul! She is exhausted; how can she block it?"

Buzz—!

The eight pillars of the Tribulation Platform burst into light again. The light was like eight Heaven-opening divine swords, piercing the sky and fiercely stabbing into the core of the churning tribulation clouds!

After a dull, loud noise, the thick tribulation clouds that were brewing a fatal blow were forcibly washed away and torn to pieces by this brilliant light column.

The leaden clouds all over the sky were wiped away as if by an invisible giant hand, and they dissipated without a trace in an instant.

One, two, three... seven-colored auspicious clouds soon covered the entire Moonshadow Sect mountain gate, and the rich heaven and earth nectar, like a heavenly river pouring backwards, poured down towards Chi Wanhe!

"The... the tribulation clouds are just gone??"

"This auspicious cloud... this auspicious cloud nectar... are you crazy??"

"Is there any reason for this?! If you want the tribulation clouds, you have them; if you don't, you blow them away..."

"This isn't Undergoing Tribulation; it's clearly the Heavenly Dao chasing to feed her, using the Heavenly Tribulation to Cultivate!"

"Damn! Is the Moonshadow Sect Senior Sister the biological daughter of the Heavenly Dao?!"

"Ahhh! I'm so envious I could cry! Woo woo woo..."

Even Qin Zhaoxue, who was watching from the Pill Pavilion in the distance, couldn't help but support her forehead and complain: "This cheat... seems to be quite big!"

Bathed in the vast auspicious cloud nectar, the hideous wounds on Chi Wanhe's body healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Inside her body, the vast spiritual sea suddenly boiled, and billions of strands of liquid spiritual power turned into monstrous waves rushing against the dome, pouring madly towards the central Dao platform.

The gilded Dao platform shot out thousands of feet of light, and the ancient Dao patterns on the platform lit up one by one.

The rolling spiritual sea and the auspicious cloud nectar entering her body were crushed and purified the moment they touched the Dao patterns, turning into hot golden liquid, collapsing rapidly in the vortex at the center of the platform.

As the void vibrated, the spiritual power collapsed to the extreme and solidified suddenly. A crystal-clear Golden Core hung above the Dao platform. On the Golden Core, ten Dao patterns flowed, and every pulsation induced the surrounding Spiritual Qi to form a cycle.

Ten-grade Golden Core!

Chi Wanhe's aura rose steadily!

Golden Core First Layer! Golden Core Second Layer! Golden Core Third Layer!

The light converged, Chi Wanhe opened her eyes, and a sharp light flowed in her eyes.

She flashed, turned into a pink streamer, flew to the floating island in an instant, and threw herself into Ling Hao's arms, her voice excited:

"Revered Master! I... I have become a Golden Core!"

Ling Hao's eyes were full of relief and pride, and he dotingly flicked her pert nose:

"Good! My Xiao He is indeed the most amazing!"

"Cough, cough..." A deliberately emphasized cough came from beside them.

Chi Wanhe only then realized she was out of state, hurriedly retreated half a step from Ling Hao's arms, two red clouds flew onto her cheeks instantly, and she lowered her head shyly.

"Ding! Detected that the Sect has given birth to the first Golden Core Stage Disciple. The Sect Master's cultivation level is synchronized to—Golden Core Fourth Layer!"

"Ding! First Golden Core Stage Disciple born, conditions met. The System is entering update maintenance status. During the update, the Sect promotion function is temporarily frozen."