Before the pill was finished refining, Wang Tong noticed that Kong Hou’s heart wasn’t at peace. He simply shooed her away to teach術法 techniques to the newly inducted disciples, reasoning that it would prevent the new disciples from not recognizing this fellow sect member.

Kong Hou also wanted to calm her state of mind, lest it affect Huan Zong. Yunhua Sect had only recruited a dozen or so disciples this time. Their aptitudes were all quite good, and their mannerisms and speech patterns clearly made them a perfect fit for Yunhua Sect.

Having been absorbed in cultivation these years, Kong Hou was mostly skilled in methods useful for combat. Her divination and pill refining could only be considered superficial knowledge. Her artifact refining was somewhat better—she had learned quite a bit of artifact refining techniques from Huan Zong here and there. Fortunately, the newly inducted disciples didn’t need to learn these yet, otherwise this sect “veteran’s” dignity would be utterly lost.

Most of the new disciples hadn’t seen Kong Hou before, but they had long heard of her legend. How in just four or five years she had progressed from Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment, how after two years of traveling outside she reached the Heart Movement stage, and how she had captivated the cultivation world’s most famous sword cultivator Zhongxi Zhenren, making Liuguang Sect eagerly pursue an alliance with Yunhua Sect through marriage. There were also Wuwei Manor and Qingfeng Sect, who had chosen to affiliate with Yunhua Sect because of Kong Hou.

Several new disciples who had already happened to catch a glimpse of Kong Hou were listening to the quiet discussions around them, just about to say that Senior Sister Kong Hou wasn’t stunningly beautiful, when footsteps sounded in the corridor outside the hall.

They quickly sat up straight and proper, not daring to make another sound.

A young lady in flowing immortal-style robes ascended the steps, her face still carrying a hint of smile. Her lovely features brought to mind half-opened peach blossoms and dew-kissed pear blossoms—beautiful with a touch of delicacy, yet not at all aggressive.

“We greet Senior Sister Kong Hou.”

“No need for such formality, everyone please sit.” Kong Hou’s gaze swept over the disciples, her earnest manner as if she had committed each person’s appearance to memory. “I’ve never taught anyone before. Today I’ll just share my usual cultivation habits with everyone—how to spend the least time to draw more spiritual energy into the body. However, before I explain this, I must warn everyone: there are no shortcuts in cultivation. If someone tells you they can make your cultivation soar overnight, if you can beat them, thrash them soundly and don’t hold back. If you can’t beat them, come back and call on your fellow disciples to help you beat them together. Such shameless swindlers are just asking for a beating.”

Kong Hou’s words made the newly inducted disciples laugh aloud. Whatever Kong Hou said after that, they all took to heart.

When the morning lesson ended, Kong Hou walked out of the instruction hall under the disciples’ reluctant gazes and encountered Wu Chuan walking this way.

“Senior Brother Wu Chuan.” In the years Kong Hou spent in Yuexing Sect’s small world, Wu Chuan’s cultivation had already reached the Nascent Soul realm. She stopped and smiled apologetically. “I couldn’t attend Senior Brother Wu Chuan’s Nascent Soul formation ceremony. I’m very sorry.”

“It’s fine. Daoist Zhongxi already sent a very precious congratulatory gift on your behalf.” A hint of a smile appeared on Wu Chuan’s usually serious face. “You we can see often, but congratulatory gifts given by Daoist Zhongxi are quite rare.”

Kong Hou: “…”

After the two chatted and joked for a while, Wu Chuan wanted to ask Kong Hou about the pill, but ultimately didn’t voice the question.

“The clouds in the sky have changed…”

Kong Hou’s words made Wu Chuan look up at the sky. The clouds there were red tinged with purple, exactly like the phenomenon when a supreme treasure appeared. That was Chenxia Peak. Could it be…

While he was in a daze, Kong Hou had already transformed into a streak of urgent light, flying toward Chenxia Peak.

“Junior Sister Kong Hou!” Wu Chuan hurriedly followed, catching up to her outside Chenxia Peak’s pill refining chamber.

The purple mist in the sky grew thicker and thicker, with signs of gathering thunder. Wu Chuan drew his sword and said: “Junior Sister, be careful. This is pill tribulation.”

Some pills were too precious and would attract pill tribulation. Yunhua Sect’s pill refining chamber was struck by lightning every few decades. Wu Chuan had accumulated considerable experience in dealing with this.

“Pills also have tribulation?” Kong Hou held Fengshi in her hand, her expression somewhat worried. “What should we do?”

“Don’t let the lightning tribulation destroy the pill furnace, or else the pills inside will be ruined.” The wind stopped but the clouds kept roiling. Wu Chuan’s expression grew somewhat grave. “This lightning tribulation looks quite intense. We need to be careful.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a bolt of lightning struck down directly. Before Wu Chuan could react, he saw Kong Hou soar into the air and with a sweep of her sleeve forcibly batted the lightning back.

Wu Chuan silently sheathed his sword. He felt like he probably didn’t need to take action.

The second bolt, the third bolt, the fourth bolt.

Each lightning bolt was knocked back midway. Wu Chuan looked up at the young lady standing proudly among the thunder clouds, touching his arm. The world of geniuses was something he couldn’t touch.

Other presences appeared behind him. Wu Chuan turned to look back. Huan Zong stood outside the pill refining chamber at some point, the brocade robe draped on his body, his hair not bound up in a crown, looking as if he had rushed over in haste.

When Wu Chuan looked at him again, he wasn’t looking at Wu Chuan, his gaze fixed directly on the young lady in the air. He stepped forward, wanting to fly to the young lady’s side.

“You mustn’t go.” Wuming Zhenren pulled open the door and stopped him. “In the first five days after taking the pill, you cannot carelessly circulate spiritual energy. Miss Kong Hou’s cultivation is even more profound than I imagined. There won’t be any problems. Even if she can’t hold out for a moment, with so many people in Yunhua Sect, we won’t let anything happen to her.”

Speaking to this point, he looked at Huan Zong: “She exhausted her heart and strength to heal you. If you’re a man, you should accept this kindness with peace of mind.”

Huan Zong withdrew the step he had taken. In just this short while, Jin Yue, Wang Tong, and Heng Yan had all rushed over. Without a second thought, Jin Yue flew to Kong Hou’s side, swinging his sword to block a lightning tribulation bolt.

Kong Hou’s body was covered with black ash from being struck by lightning. Seeing Jin Yue, whose cultivation was higher than hers, arrive, she unhesitatingly put away Fengshi and cupped her hands toward Jin Yue: “Many thanks, Sect Master Jin. This junior takes her leave.”

She couldn’t make herself too disheveled, or else Huan Zong would worry and feel distressed.

Jin Yue: “…”

Seeing Kong Hou return, Huan Zong took out a handkerchief to wipe the black ash from her face: “Are you injured?”

“I’m fine. The first few lightning bolts weren’t very powerful.” Kong Hou looked up at Jin Yue using his life-bound sword to block the last lightning tribulation. “Sect Master Jin treats you so well.”

Huan Zong finished wiping the corner of her mouth, his voice gentle: “I was raised by my master’s own hand from childhood. Master is both teacher and father to me. Master treats me as his own child.” He changed to a fresh handkerchief and gave it to Kong Hou, watching Jin Yue in the air without speaking further.

The ninth tribulation lightning descended toward the pill chamber with overwhelming force. Relying on a single sword, Jin Yue actually forcibly split the lightning apart, causing the tribulation lightning’s power to dissipate into nothingness. This was the ability of a Void Refining stage cultivator.

Purple energy swirled around the pill refining chamber. Within this purple energy, the faint sounds of dragon and phoenix calls could be heard, and radiant light appeared frequently.

“The pill is complete!”

“It’s complete!”

Kong Hou, who should have been most excited, now stared blankly at the pill refining chamber door. Complete?

Was she dreaming, or was this real?

Qingyuan carefully emerged carrying a pill. These past days they hadn’t even blinked, and finally this pill was refined.

The pill was gold and purple colored, with clear pill markings that faintly resembled a dragon and phoenix entwined together. Heaven and earth, dragon and phoenix bringing auspiciousness—some of the medicinal ingredients in this pill came from the sky, some from the ocean, and some from mountains and land. Though seemingly without pattern, combined together, they were vitality.

The chance of survival—how precious and rare. No wonder it attracted pill tribulation.

Qingyuan placed the pill in Huan Zong’s hand: “While the medicinal effect is at its best right now, quickly eat it.”

Huan Zong held the pill but didn’t immediately swallow it. Instead, he looked with a smile at the dazed Kong Hou: “Kong Hou.”

“Ah?” Kong Hou’s eyes widened as she looked at Huan Zong.

Huan Zong took her hand and placed the pill in her palm: “Will you feed it to me?”

This opportunity was given to him by her. His person, his heart, naturally also belonged to her.

The round pill lay in her palm. Kong Hou finally felt a sense of reality. She blinked, her eyes reddening. Crying and laughing at once, she said: “Such a grown person, yet still afraid of taking medicine.”

“Because someone once told me that acting spoiled toward your most important person is not shameful at all.”

“Yes, I did say that.” Kong Hou fed the pill into Huan Zong’s mouth. “You can act spoiled to me for a lifetime.”

As the pill entered his belly, the meridians of his five viscera and six bowels began to reorganize. Countless streams of spiritual energy surged toward his spiritual platform. The cracks in the spiritual platform began to gradually fuse together. For cultivators, the spiritual platform was the most important place. Even slight attacks would cause unbearable pain, let alone forcibly using spiritual energy to heal cracks that had been broken for so long.

Huan Zong was in so much pain that his entire body was covered in sweat, yet this pain also made him happy. He knew he could accompany Kong Hou longer now, walk further with her.

The one in pain was Huan Zong, yet Kong Hou was just as pale. She gripped Huan Zong’s sleeve tightly, her nails breaking the skin of her palm without any awareness.

“Zhongxi, endure this moment and it will be fine.” Jin Yue’s face was covered in a thin sheen of sweat as he barely maintained the composure and calm of a sect master. “Sit cross-legged properly, sort out the spiritual energy within your body, and let the spiritual energy flow between your spiritual platform and meridians without obstruction.”

Kong Hou took a deep breath, forcing herself to release Huan Zong’s sleeve. She sat cross-legged beside Huan Zong and circulated the spiritual energy within her body together with him.

Then everyone saw spiritual energy from heaven and earth form a circle around Kong Hou and Huan Zong. Spiritual energy continuously flowed between the two of them. At this moment, they were like one entity, inseparable from each other.

In the entire cultivation world, it was difficult to find even one pair capable of dual cultivation of heaven and earth in a thousand years. Because people whose auras matched might not be able to trust each other completely without reservation. And those who could trust each other completely might not have this opportunity.

To completely and utterly trust each other—this was too difficult, too difficult.

Heng Yan and Wang Tong stood together. He said to Wang Tong: “Junior Brother Wang Tong, these two young people are truly a match made in heaven.”

Eyes can deceive, words can deceive, but the flow of spiritual energy during dual cultivation of heaven and earth cannot deceive. If these two weren’t spiritually connected and completely unreserved, the spiritual energy couldn’t possibly flow this smoothly.

Kong Hou and Huan Zong could no longer hear the conversations from the outside world. They were now in a profoundly mysterious realm. Especially Huan Zong—these years, because of his spiritual platform troubles, his cultivation couldn’t advance an inch, but his state of mind had become even more resilient through these trials. He had learned to love and to be loved, understood how to appreciate the beauty of the world, and the pleasures of life.

When his spiritual platform completely recovered, the tribulation clouds and lightning that had originally dispersed in the sky gathered together once more.

“Tribulation crossing?!” Wang Tong’s eyes widened. “Zhongxi’s cultivation is about to advance?”

Kong Hou and Huan Zong opened their eyes simultaneously. Kong Hou quickly kissed Huan Zong on the cheek: “I’ll protect your dharma.”

Huan Zong nodded: “Wait for me.”

“Alright.” Kong Hou stood up and retreated beyond the range of the lightning tribulation.

Below Yunhua Mountain, disciples of Wuwei Manor lay on rooftops watching the tribulation clouds that appeared from time to time on the mountain, discussing animatedly.

“Is Yunhua Sect planning to split the mountain?”

They’d just been struck half an hour ago, and now it’s happening again?

“Maybe they think the buildings are too old and want to renovate?”

Not only were Wuwei Manor’s disciples watching—the citizens of Yong City were also crowding into the streets to watch this spectacular sight. Some citizens had even brought out their pots, bowls, ladles, and basins, just waiting for the spiritual rain that would fall after successful tribulation crossing.

An outsider squeezed through, asking with an ingratiating smile: “Which great cultivator from Yunhua Sect is crossing tribulation this time?”

Several nearby citizens turned their heads to glance at him: “Why are you asking this?”

“Just curious, just asking out of curiosity.” The outsider said, “I heard that Kong Hou and Zhenren Zhongxi’s grand wedding is imminent, so I came over to join the excitement.”

“Oh.” Several Yong City citizens nodded and turned back to watch the excitement.

The outsider: “…”

Wasn’t it said that Yong City people love watching excitement and know many tidbits of information others don’t? Why did they just stop talking?

“The lightning is coming, it’s coming!”

“This lightning is truly bright. When Immortal Wu Chuan advanced his cultivation last time, did it look this terrifying?”

“Can’t compare, can’t compare. Looks like one of Yunhua Sect’s elders is crossing tribulation this time.”

“I think so too.”

The outsider listened quietly, looking at the tribulation clouds in the sky, his expression changing repeatedly.

“Why did a sect elder suddenly cross a cultivation tribulation?”

The outsider’s eyelids twitched: “Haven’t you heard about the evil cultivator invasion? Perhaps this elder had no choice but to advance cultivation because of the evil cultivators’ chaos.”

Hastily advancing cultivation—even if one barely managed it with pills, it couldn’t compare to advancing through one’s own strength and state of mind. Moreover, from then on, cultivation could never advance again, equivalent to giving up all hope of ascension.

It seemed Yunhua Sect had given up in despair.

The outsider turned and walked out from the crowd, hurrying toward the city gate.

Before reaching the city gate, he was suddenly knocked to the ground by several citizens and tied up like a human dumpling.

The outsider cursed: “What do you want?”

“Not watching such great excitement—either blind or harboring ulterior motives.” The burly men who tied him up sneered coldly. “No need to curse at us either. Even if you curse yourself hoarse, no one will come help you. We’ll just hand you over to the sect immortals, and they’ll naturally sort out right from wrong.”

The outsider: “…”

Go to hell! This place Yong City is truly uncanny!