ATPnovel Chapter 45 Tribulation
Chapter 45 Tribulation
Li Qingyi, who was still rushing forward, was struck by this sudden blow and trembled violently. She staggered and fell heavily to the ground.
Amidst the swirling dust, he felt his internal organs churning, a sweet taste rising in his throat, and he nearly vomited blood.
"Damn! That was just a feint before, this is the real deal!"
He endured the pain, but he already understood—
Inside the city, the corpse puppet was newly formed, its aura concealed, like an inanimate object, making it impossible for the heavenly tribulation to pinpoint its location. It was most likely that its aura was leaked when it killed the demonic ape, thus attracting the lightning tribulation's attention.
Fortunately, he was now far away from the crowd, so at least he wouldn't implicate innocent people.
When the first bolt of lightning struck, Li Qingyi was still able to barely withstand it.
The corpse puppet was brimming with magical power and sword energy, and it withstood the attack.
However, what he saw next made his heart sink.
"Damn it!" Li Qingyi finally couldn't help but swear.
Suddenly, lightning surged across the sky, and thick white bolts of electricity, as thick as water snakes, rained down densely, one, two, three... leaving him no time to catch his breath.
The lightning tribulation, filled with boundless rage, sought to utterly annihilate this defying-the-heaven existence.
Li Qingyi couldn't remember how many times she had been chopped.
He felt excruciating pain all over his body, as if each lightning strike was tearing his soul apart.
When he finally managed to open his eyes, he found himself kneeling in a bottomless pit.
Li Qingyi struggled to raise her hand and wipe the blood from the corner of her mouth, but at that moment she realized the extraordinary nature of this corpse puppet—
It was actually absorbing the destructive power from the tribulation lightning, constantly strengthening its physical body!
He was certain that if it were his own body bearing the brunt of such a powerful lightning tribulation, he would have been reduced to ashes long ago.
"This secluded bamboo grove has truly bestowed upon me unparalleled divine skills!"
Thunder rumbled across the sky, and the final bolt of tribulation lightning brewed in the clouds, its light gradually turning blood-red. Li Qingyi knew that the biggest one was about to arrive.
If it survives, the corpse puppet will be recognized by heaven and earth; if it fails, all the suffering will have been in vain.
"I won't allow it! I've suffered so much, how could I possibly let you have your way!" Li Qingyi pointed her sword at the sky and roared angrily.
He steeled his resolve, forcefully drawing upon the few remaining sword energies within his body, concentrating all his cultivation into a single sword strike, preparing for a desperate gamble.
The crimson lightning crashed down, and Li Qingyi slashed out with all his might. The sword light and the lightning collided fiercely, instantly engulfing him in a blinding red light.
boom!!!!
The onlookers in the distance were so terrified by this earth-shattering sight that they stood frozen in place, only one thought in their minds:
Is this the tribulation of immortals?
When the crimson lightning dissipated, the giant crater that had been split open by the tribulation lightning was completely empty.
……
Inside the main hall of the Dao Sect, the eight figures reunited, each with a solemn expression as they gazed in the direction where Li Qingyi was undergoing her tribulation.
The Dao Sect Master spoke slowly, his voice tinged with contemplation: "What are your thoughts?"
The elder, whose hair and beard were both white, pondered for a moment and said:
"I reckon it was someone who used something to conceal their aura in an attempt to escape the heavenly tribulation, but ultimately couldn't escape it and was forced to undergo the tribulation."
"What kind of cultivation is it if cultivators fight against fate and dare not face the might of Heaven?" The cold-faced Third Elder sneered. "Now they have ended up dead and their cultivation has vanished. It is truly laughable."
"That's not how it works," said the kind-faced Sixth Elder.
"At least in that life-or-death moment, he did not choose to involve those ordinary people."
"Hmph..." The Third Elder didn't take it seriously.
The Second Elder, who had been silent all along and was dressed in black robes, suddenly spoke:
"It's hard to say. At our level, who doesn't have some means of survival? Disappearing doesn't necessarily mean dying."
The sect leader of the Dao Sect raised his hand to stop the argument: "Stop arguing. Things have come to this point, let's prepare for the grand competition first. It's time for the sect to inject some fresh blood."
Upon hearing this, the seven elders all nodded in agreement.
……
Inside the small house, Li Qingyi suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood, her face turning deathly pale.
He forcibly retracted the corpse puppet at the last moment, which caused a huge depletion of his divine soul power, and his physical body was also affected.
"Thank goodness... it wasn't destroyed..."
He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. Although he was seriously injured, as long as the corpse puppet was intact, it wasn't a loss.
This corpse puppet, which shares the same origin as him, will gradually recover its damaged parts as long as it is nurtured within his sea of consciousness.
"Hehe... Looks like my money-making plan will have to be delayed again..." Li Qingyi shook her head with a wry smile. "It's alright, making money a few days later is still making money..."
He closed his eyes and began to regulate his breathing and heal his injuries.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye, and Li Qingyi finally recovered completely.
When he opened his eyes, a sharp light flashed in them, and his cultivation had improved even further.
He slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, got up, and pushed open the door to leave.
In the courtyard, Ling'er was sitting on a stone bench, sipping tea.
Upon seeing Li Qingyi emerge, she couldn't hide the shock in her eyes, but quickly regained her composure.
"Brother Feng is truly a man of few words, but when he speaks, he amazes everyone," Ling'er said tentatively, putting down her teacup with a half-smile.
"What did you say?" Li Qingyi feigned ignorance.
"For the past three days, the whole of Xuan Ce City has been buzzing with rumors that a blue-robed immortal outside the city was undergoing tribulation, but ultimately died and his cultivation dissipated."
She listlessly fiddled with the strands of hair that fell over her shoulders, but her gaze never left Li Qingyi's face.
Li Qingyi sneered inwardly, 'This little devil, all she does is try to trick me into revealing information.'
"I've been staying indoors cultivating all this time, isn't that ridiculous?" He shrugged, looking completely innocent. "There are so many people in the world wearing blue robes, why did you assume it was me?"
"Brother Feng, we've been through thick and thin together for so long, why are you still keeping this from me?" Ling'er blinked her big eyes, her voice tinged with grievance.
Li Qingyi looked thoughtful. "What you said reminds me. The one-month deadline is up. Let's settle the final payment."
Ling'er's lips twitched, and she pulled out five spirit stones, throwing them at Li Qingyi. "All you ever think about is spirit stones, spirit stones!"
To everyone's surprise, Li Qingyi wasn't buying it at all. "Ten coins, what about next month's?"
Ling'er took several deep breaths, clenching her fists tightly, and glared at Li Qingyi with murderous eyes. "How are you going to calculate the fees for the time I protected you?"
"It's different," Li Qingyi said matter-of-factly. "After all, I've been taking care of your daily needs, so it's fair that we're even."
"Utterly shameless!"
Ling'er took out five more spirit stones and threw them at Li Qingyi, but he caught them steadily.
She turned around angrily and left the courtyard without looking back.
Looking at the ten spirit stones he had just received, Li Qingyi found it somewhat amusing. "Having her along isn't so bad."
"Judging by the time, there are still five days until the Dao Sect recruits disciples. I need to hurry up and draw some talismans to earn more spirit stones."
Back inside, Li Qingyi casually drew several talismans and pasted them in the four corners of the house.
He didn't intend to let anyone know that he possessed a corpse puppet; it was his biggest trump card.
With a thought, he summoned the corpse puppet.
Looking at the figure before her, identical to herself yet expressionless, Li Qingyi smiled faintly:
"I must say, I'm quite handsome. From now on, I'll call you Qingkui."
He tossed the green bamboo pen to the Green Puppet and gave the order to draw the Golden Body Talisman.
At the same time, he opened the jade slip inscribed with the method for drawing the Flowing Fire Talisman and began to study it intensively.
Three-quarters of an hour later, Qingkui was still working diligently, while Li Qingyi had roughly memorized the essence of the Flowing Fire Talisman.
"So that's how it is. No wonder it's a top-tier fifth-grade talisman." He muttered to himself.
"Its attack speed is extremely fast, its power is enormous, and its range is wide, even faster than my sword energy."
Li Qingyi now understood why cultivators loved these talismans. In the heat of battle, if one were to suddenly appear, who could withstand that?
He closed his eyes and repeatedly examined every detail of the drawing in his mind. The transitions of several spirit patterns were particularly obscure, consuming most of his attention.
He then channeled the fire elemental power within his body and, with swift, flowing strokes, began carving profound inscriptions onto the talisman paper.