The Shi clan was extremely large, with the main branch in the inner court. Those of the main family whose names were known numbered several hundred, and each had their children. The lower their cultivation, the more children they tended to have. When a Shi family member was born and their bloodline was acknowledged, they would receive a jade tablet representing their identity. This tablet granted them access to several trials and advancement grounds controlled by the Shi clan within the inner court.
For example, there was Thunder Roar Valley, which could shield one from the lightning tribulation to the greatest extent; medicinal pools that could heal wounds and wash away impurities; Tranquil Spirit Platform that could suppress heart demons and allow peaceful cultivation; and more. As long as the Shi clan disciples met certain requirements, they could enter these places. They possessed many such precious grounds, and generation after generation, talent continually emerged from the Shi clan, allowing them to firmly control Gengchen Immortal Mansion.
These places had their special characteristics and were strictly guarded. Apart from Shi clan disciples, even members of the Mu clan—who had the closest relationship with the Shi clan and had intermarried with them for generations—could not obtain entry passes.
Liao Tingyan didn’t know these inside details. Sima Jiao never explained much, nor would he elaborate on his arrangements.
She took the little white rat, Shi Yuxiang, and successfully passed through layers of guards to enter Thunder Roar Valley.
This valley was completely different from the exquisite beauty of the rest of the immortal mansion. It was like another dimension—no mountains, waters, plants, or animals in sight. Only deep purple thunder stones were scattered everywhere, some as tall as buildings, others as low as park benches, arranged in a haphazard, irregular pattern like a massive quarry.
Liao Tingyan entered alone. Before departing, Sima Jiao had told her, “I won’t go with you. Go by yourself.”
Fine then.
Liao Tingyan didn’t feel much at first, but after entering and realizing she was the only person in the entire valley, she suddenly remembered that since arriving in this world, she had almost always been by Sima Jiao’s side. They had been separated for at most three days at a time, but now, for her breakthrough, she would likely stay here for half a month.
But there was nothing to feel uncomfortable about. After all, before meeting Sima Jiao, she had lived alone for many years. Which working adult away from home hadn’t experienced living alone? She might lack other strengths, but her adaptability was superb.
Thunder Roar Valley was vast. Liao Tingyan stood at the entrance for a while, looking around before choosing a direction to walk in.
She found a thunder stone shaped like a bench, made a hand seal to conjure water to wash it, used a wind technique to dry it, then laid a soft cushion on top and set up a sun umbrella.
She hadn’t forgotten the unfortunate little white rat, Shi Yuxiang, that she had brought as her entry pass. She took out a cover to place over her and set her aside. The cover even blocked the sound.
After finishing these preparations, she pondered for a moment and used an alert formation to encircle her resting area. After all, being alone outside, it was better to be cautious.
Other people who came here would anxiously find a place to sit cross-legged for cultivation, consolidating their realm. But not Liao Tingyan—after making these preparations, she simply lay down, as if she had come to catch up on sleep.
In the distance, atop a tall, deep purple thunderstone, sat Sima Jiao, who had said he wouldn’t come to accompany her through the lightning tribulation. With one hand resting on his knee and the other playing with a small, deep black thunderstone, he gazed toward Liao Tingyan from afar.
Seeing Liao Tingyan’s behavior, he suddenly recalled their first meeting, when she had acted the same way. Among all the people sent to approach him with various intentions, others were worried and nervous, but she alone was lazily napping.
She was like this wherever she went, always arranging things comfortably for herself.
Sima Jiao played with the thunderheart stone for a while. As the sky gradually darkened, his movements paused, and he leaned slightly forward.
There was movement near Liao Tingyan—not because she had awakened, but because long worms had emerged from beneath the thunder stones not far from her. Not just one, but many, almost surrounding her.
These long worms were called silent worms. They devoured sound, and because Thunder Roar Valley was filled with such creatures, it remained so quiet. Otherwise, in such an open and unique terrain, even the slightest sound would echo repeatedly.
These worms were insignificant to a Divine Transformation cultivator, but if Liao Tingyan became flustered and didn’t know how to deal with them, she might suffer a bit.
Sima Jiao had never seen Liao Tingyan kill anything. This lazy bug seemed barely skilled at anything and was unwilling to kill people. Sometimes Sima Jiao felt she was somewhat out of place in this world.
His hand pressed against the stone surface, his body leaning forward slightly, but suddenly he paused.
Liao Tingyan had awakened. She saw the long worms without alarm or panic. She directly took out several pills, crushed them into powder, and scattered it. Then she brought out a wide-mouthed jar and collected all the dazed worms inside.
Sima Jiao realized she seemed prepared, which was somewhat unexpected. But why was she collecting these worms?
Over there, Liao Tingyan finished dealing with the worms, washed her hands and face, applied a face mask, and ate something. Then she took out a book and two jade slips, flipping through them.
Sima Jiao recognized that she was preparing for her breakthrough, but why was she reviewing those materials just before the critical moment?
What Sima Jiao didn’t know was that talents forged by modern exam-oriented education were most outstanding in their psychological resilience. Resting well before an exam, maintaining a relaxed and positive mood to better face it—and of course, reviewing key points summarized by predecessors before the test for reassurance—was Liao Tingyan’s habit.
In any case, having prepared thoroughly, she began to face the tribulation.
At this moment, Liao Tingyan was still quite relaxed. She had previously read books at the academy, supplementing her basic knowledge. With her aptitude and spiritual roots, considered above average among the ordinary, advancing from Divine Transformation to the Void Refining realm would typically involve the Four-Nine Heavenly Tribulation—meaning nine major tribulations, with four minor tribulations between each major one.
Thunder Roar Valley’s special properties could weaken the lightning tribulation. She wore the super-strong defenses crafted by her ancestors and had her cultivation to protect her. Nothing could go wrong.
However, this relaxed mood changed to unease when her cultivation reached perfection, and she was about to break through as thunderclouds formed in response in the sky.
Her thunder clouds were exceptionally thick, with a faint purple hue, spreading across the entire sky. The flickering lightning within the clouds, even before striking down, already gave a heavy sense of oppression.
Experiencing the lightning tribulation for the first time and seeing such a grand spectacle, Liao Tingyan felt something was amiss—it seemed more dramatic than described in books.
The first bolt of heavenly lightning was more terrifying than she had imagined. A thick pillar of lightning descended with tremendous momentum as if intent on reducing her to ashes.
Liao Tingyan thought to herself, this is just the first tribulation—cultivators in this world have it too hard!
After one round, she was shocked to realize this wasn’t the Four-Nine Heavenly Tribulation but the Nine-Nine Heavenly Tribulation! Nine major tribulations, with nine minor tribulations between each major one. She counted through one round, confirming without doubt, and her heart sank. This damned Nine-Nine Heavenly Tribulation—had heaven made a mistake in sending the wrong tribulation?
The Nine-Nine Heavenly Tribulation was extremely rare, and not easily bestowed. Mostly, only those in the Great Perfection realm about to ascend through tribulation would face the Nine-Nine Heavenly Tribulation. It was so severe because becoming an immortal or deity in human form was against heaven’s will, thus deserving the most stringent tribulation. What virtue or ability did a novice like her possess to warrant this?
It was like going to take a sixth-grade math test but being handed a calculus exam instead.
Liao Tingyan couldn’t understand it at all as she watched the lightning tribulation rumbling down on her head, the electric and thunder lights so bright she could barely open her eyes. Despite the defensive artifacts she wore, the top of her head still ached faintly from the strikes, and her skin felt numb.
She heard the faint crackling of her Ying Luo necklace at her chest—the sound of defenses being activated to shield her from the tribulation, breaking under the strain. These successive breaking sounds intertwined with the thunder, and Liao Tingyan did not doubt that when the defensive artifacts were destroyed, she would be blasted to pieces by lightning.
Perhaps because she was in the midst of the tribulation, with a slight connection to heaven and earth, she sensed the killing intent within the lightning tribulation. It wasn’t testing her—it was purely intent on striking her dead.
At this moment, Liao Tingyan’s thoughts turned to Sima Jiao.
She recalled how he had said when she was leaving, “If I don’t let you die, you won’t die,” with that noble and arrogant attitude. If she were truly blasted to smithereens here, wouldn’t he lose face? His face would hurt.
She should at least struggle a bit.
Liao Tingyan paid attention to the limits of her defensive artifacts, summoning her spiritual energy, and preparing to endure.
She couldn’t even remember which stage of the Nine-Nine Heavenly Tribulation she was in; she only felt that each strike came with overwhelming force, without the slightest hint of mercy, hitting her one after another without a chance to breathe. When she sensed that her Ying Luo necklace had only a thread of defense left, her heart tightened as she prepared to bear the brunt herself.
At that moment, the thunder suddenly grew louder. Through the blinding white electric light, Liao Tingyan saw a black figure appear before her.
He stood there, his long sleeves and black hair billowing, his pale arms stretched upward, wrapped in purple electric arcs like protruding blood vessels. He fiercely grabbed the descending heavenly lightning and tore it apart with brute force.
Liao Tingyan: “…” Tearing lightning with bare hands—the ancestor was truly her ancestor.
Liao Tingyan moved forward slightly, but Sima Jiao, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, reached back with one hand to press her head down, making her sit in place.
Through the thunder, she heard Sima Jiao’s voice. His voice was cold, carrying unwilling malice and anger, but not directed at her. He said, “Sit quietly. You won’t come to harm. I said so.”
Liao Tingyan instinctively wanted to ask, “What about you?” But she didn’t voice it, just sat quietly as told.
Sima Jiao didn’t have the imposing physique of a bodybuilder, but standing there, he resembled a towering mountain, as if able to hold up the sky and earth. One look inspired fear as if he had “Trash like you can’t climb my Mount Everest” clearly written all over him.
When Liao Tingyan had discovered the tribulation was unusual earlier, she had felt somewhat panicked and stunned. But now, seeing Sima Jiao standing there, she immediately felt at ease. She didn’t even realize that despite the tribulation not being over—in fact, becoming even more terrifying, like an angry person—she had unconsciously calmed down.
Sima Jiao’s eyes were bloodshot. Flames erupted from his body, soaring fires meeting the electric light and lightning pillars. There’s a phrase “heavenly lightning drawing earthly fire” used to describe two people falling in love intensely and rapidly, and now Liao Tingyan was witnessing the literal version of it.
Sima Jiao’s flames spread out like the thunderclouds above, resembling an erupting volcano, enveloping the lightning pillars. The intertwined lightning and fire created a magnificent spectacle, the commotion like heaven collapsing and earth splitting. Liao Tingyan, caught in the midst of it, was so overwhelmed by this vast heavenly tribulation that she could barely breathe, unable even to stand up. This made her all the more amazed by Sima Jiao.
Not only did he remain standing, but he also tore apart and shattered one tribulation bolt after another. Liao Tingyan saw his fingers being torn by the lightning. The droplets of blood splashing from his fingers floated around, compressed into flower shapes by the surging lightning and fire, like red lotuses that suddenly burst into flames.
The scene was so tragically beautiful it seemed otherworldly. Blood flowed down Sima Jiao’s outstretched arms, his entire being seeming to burn.
Above was the purple thunder cloud with purple-white intertwined lightning; below were the flames entangled with lightning. The thunderstorms around them hummed softly due to the effects of lightning and fire. The deep purple stone surfaces, where touched by lightning and fire, bloomed with light purple radiance, like flowers blossoming from within the stones. All light erupted here.
…
Finally, the last lightning tribulation dissipated. Suddenly, a profound silence fell over heaven and earth, with what seemed like ringing in the ears, creating an illusion of sudden deafness.
The thunder clouds above still churned, as if very unwilling to disperse.
Sima Jiao lowered his hand and looked up at the sky with a cold laugh, that laugh filled with resentment and disdain.
Suddenly, another bolt of lightning fell from the thunderclouds. However, this time it wasn’t tribulation lightning but ordinary lightning, striking toward Sima Jiao as if venting frustration. Sima Jiao waved his sleeve, dispersing that bolt, and the blood congealed on his fingers splashed onto the nearby thunder stones due to his movement.
He turned around and looked at Liao Tingyan, who sat in place looking up at him and stroked her face with his bloodied finger.
His finger was cold, but his blood was warm.