IVYSCP - Chapter 53

Chapter 53

Nie Wenxiao rarely smiled; her stern face seemed all business. She looked straight at Shen Qi, utterly unabashed. "Core Formation. That's exactly right."

Shen Qi flushed with anger and ground her teeth as she leaned in close. "Nie Wenxiao, if that Nine-Tribulation Lotus doesn't come back perfectly intact, you'll be paying with your position as Piaomiao Sect Leader."

Nie Wenxiao's eyelid twitched. She quietly lifted her gaze to the distant, blackened tribulation clouds gathering on the horizon.

Beside them, Ying Ying was madly blinking at Chi Que.

Look! Look at the two of them! What's going on?!

Chi Que didn't match her meaningful glances this time. Instead, she opened her mouth and asked Nie Wenxiao, "Is this Lightning Tribulation from the one who came yesterday?"

Nie Wenxiao raised her cup, took a sip of tea, and looked genuinely puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Even someone as oblivious to human interaction as Chi Que could see that Nie Wenxiao was deliberately avoiding the question.

Chi Que didn't press further, but the sword at her side was faintly trembling.

Ying Ying tilted her head to glance at it. "What's wrong with it?"

Chi Que reached out and tapped the sword's hilt. The pitch-black blade suddenly shot from its scabbard. The sword rang out without pause, quivering with excitement.

Feeling the emotion of her lifebound sword, Chi Que frowned slightly. "Quexie."

Quexie wobbled, its tip pointing toward the distant ground where the tribulation was descending, clearly unwilling to go back into the scabbard.

Chi Que released spiritual energy to control Quexie, forcing it back down. Quexie was displeased, but it had no choice. Eventually, it quieted and settled.

"Quexie has a spirit. Did it sense something?" Ying Ying asked.

"The one crossing tribulation is a sword cultivator. It stirred Quexie's resonance," Chi Que explained. As she spoke, she lifted her eyes to glance at Nie Wenxiao across from her.

Even if Nie Wenxiao refused to admit it, everyone present knew perfectly well that the person enduring the tribulation right now was the same one who had blocked the Shangtianqiong party outside the Piaomiao Sect gates the other day.

"To make Quexie resonate… just how formidable is she?" Ying Ying said, and as she did, she felt a number of Soul Formation stage divine senses spread out from the Piaomiao Sect, all heading toward the tribulation site.

She had a natural fondness for excitement and crowds, but here she was, sitting right in front of the sect leader, so she had to restrain herself.

In the span of a single breath, every one of those divine senses was forced back. A terrifying, oppressive pressure descended across the area.

"Probe no further."

The voice was ice-cold, the tone brooking no argument.

The expressions of the cultivators whose divine senses had been repelled all shifted at once as they exchanged glances.

That was… the one from Cangshan.

When they looked up again at the grand formation above the Piaomiao Sect, for a moment, no one uttered another word of discussion.

No wonder the Piaomiao Sect could face off against Shangtianqiong with such backbone. They had the Immortal Venerable backing them.

The three at the Water Cloud Dwelling were thinking the exact same thing at this moment.

Ying Ying had originally been speculating, but now that the Immortal Venerable had made her identity plain, she was even more curious. Who exactly was that person beside the Immortal Venerable? Their swordsmanship was outstanding, and their actions were brazen, even reckless.

Did the Immortal Venerable even have someone like that around her? Wait, the Immortal Venerable didn't seem to have anyone around her at all.

Shen Qi smiled sweetly at Nie Wenxiao and spoke with unreadable meaning. "Sect Leader Nie, you are truly surprising."

In just a hundred years, not only had she elevated the dying Piaomiao Sect into the ranks of the Seventy-Two Sects, she had also recruited a reclusive Immortal Venerable to rebuild the sect's grand defensive formation. And now there was that mysterious sword cultivator as well.

Nie Wenxiao took another sip of tea. In the brief time they had been sitting here, she had already finished three cups.

---

In the depths of the mountain range, a hundred li away.

Pei Si finished laying out her formation and raised her head to look at the lead-black sky.

Mist was rising all around, the air beginning to turn damp. Rain was coming.

Ling Qingyue sat cross-legged in a clearing, watching her pace back and forth, and smiled. "Don't be so nervous. It's just a Core Formation tribulation."

The humor drained from Pei Si's eyes. She stared at Ling Qingyue directly. "Just?"

Ling Qingyue lowered her head and rubbed the tip of her nose. They both knew this was not something that could be compared to an ordinary Core Formation tribulation, but the tribulation hadn't even formed yet. If they were both tense and terrified right now, how long would the fear last? By the time the Heavenly Lightning struck, they'd probably already be scared out of half their lives.

Ling Qingyue gauged the distance between them and wasn't satisfied. "Pei Si, walk a little farther out."

It was still too close. She would be affected.

Pei Si shot her a displeased look.

How much farther did she want? Any farther and she'd be outside the barrier.

Neither would give way to the other. Then, from above, a muffled Heavenly Lightning rumbled across the sky. The two of them, locked in their stare, both paled at once.

It was about to begin.

Ling Qingyue took a deep breath and prepared herself for the lightning strike.

When the first Heavenly Lightning bolt struck down, Ling Qingyue made no sound, though she frowned. She was wearing the protective robes that Pei Si had prepared, so she wasn't struck bare-skinned like the last time.

Blood seeped from the corner of her lips. There was far more in her mouth, but Ling Qingyue forced back the thick, coppery taste and swallowed it hard. She was afraid that if Pei Si saw and grew worried, she would throw herself in to block the lightning for her again.

Having endured one bolt, Ling Qingyue raised her head and found Pei Si. She smiled at her.

It was as if she were saying, See? I can handle it. Don't worry.

Pei Si's lips were pressed into a tight line. Her hands, hidden behind her back, were clenched into fists. That single moment when she saw Ling Qingyue frown while enduring the pain, she had nearly lost control and rushed forward. But she couldn't yet. If she went in right at the start and her internal spiritual energy fell into chaos, what would they do about the remaining lightning? Nine bolts of Heavenly Lightning, each more severe than the last. She had to be the safety net for Ling Qingyue.

Ling Qingyue knew she had no chance of withstanding six bolts of Heavenly Lightning, but four should be more than manageable. She hadn't expected that when the second bolt struck, she couldn't hold back a muffled groan. Every meridian in her body throbbed and ached unbearably.

A sound of movement came from not far away. Ling Qingyue thrust out a hand at once. "Don't! Don't come over! I know my limits! We still have the Nine-Tribulation Lotus and the Heavenly Fire Cauldron!"

The footsteps stopped. Ling Qingyue hurriedly readjusted herself and threw all her strength into meeting the third Heavenly Lightning bolt.

The third Heavenly Lightning struck down. Her Spiritual Platform shook, and her very soul seemed to be tearing apart. Veins bulged across Ling Qingyue's temples. She collapsed to the ground, and blood poured from her mouth and nose. A dense, prickling heat spread across her eyes. That scorching sensation seemed to crawl from her eyes like a living thing, spreading down her cheeks, then stretching to her neck, until half her body felt as if it had caught fire.

The demonic markings had been forced out again.

Ling Qingyue painfully shifted her body, hiding the side with the demonic markings away so Pei Si would not see.

Even though Pei Si already knew she was half-human and half-demon, the demonic markings were savage and hideous. Ling Qingyue didn't want Pei Si to see her in this state, didn't want her to remember her like this.

She could endure one more. She could still handle one more.

Ling Qingyue's consciousness was already starting to blur.

The fourth…

A massive lotus bloom of brilliant, multicolored light unfurled. Its translucent radiance was dazzling, and it wrapped entirely around Ling Qingyue.

Pei Si's raised hand had not yet lowered. Her fingertips were trembling. Unbearably furious, she shouted, "Ling Qingyue!"

Ling Qingyue heard her. The Nine-Tribulation Lotus had blocked the fourth bolt for her. She caught her breath and murmured quietly, "So fierce."

But she knew why Pei Si was so angry. She was furious at her stubborn recklessness, furious that she had still wanted to endure the fourth bolt.

Pei Si clenched her hands and took several deep breaths before she barely managed to suppress the anger in her chest.

After the fourth Heavenly Lightning bolt, two of the Nine-Tribulation Lotus's original seven petals instantly withered and fell.

Ling Qingyue's voice was so faint it was barely a sound. "What do we do? If all the petals wither, will Sect Leader Nie drive us out?"

"She won't," Pei Si said, her tone softening a little compared to before. "Little Cangshan has many artifacts superior to the Nine-Tribulation Lotus. If it comes to that, we'll just compensate Linglong Pavilion for it."

Ling Qingyue added, "Shangtianqiong has them too. Why would we use something from Little Cangshan to pay them back?"

"Didn't you say you are now a person of Cangshan?"

Pei Si's words fell alongside the fifth lightning bolt.

Two more petals were gone.

By the sixth bolt, every trace of the Nine-Tribulation Lotus's light was extinguished. The artifact had lost its spirit.

Ling Qingyue blinked slowly. Had it not been for these two artifacts today, would she have fallen and died yet again?

Even a Core Formation Lightning Tribulation was this arduous to survive. What about Nascent Soul? What about Soul Formation after that? How many supreme treasures and artifacts would she need to block the bolts for her then?

The Heavenly Fire Cauldron was an artifact from the Piaomiao Sect's Treasure Pavilion. When Pei Si said she needed to use it, Nie Wenxiao hadn't shown a moment's hesitation.

The final three Heavenly Lightning bolts were far more powerful than the six that had come before.

The seventh Heavenly Lightning struck down, and the Heavenly Fire Cauldron immediately showed cracks.

Ling Qingyue closed her eyes and regulated her breathing. She had to recover her condition as fast as possible. She didn't know if the Heavenly Fire Cauldron could withstand the last two bolts.

A deafening boom echoed. The cauldron showed larger cracks but still stood firm.

Ling Qingyue clenched her teeth so hard it hurt. The muscles and veins on the back of her hands strained and bulged as she swallowed another mouthful of blood.

One bolt left.

Not long after, the ninth Heavenly Lightning bolt came crashing down, but someone moved faster than the lightning and wrapped her arms around Ling Qingyue.

Engulfed by that familiar presence, Ling Qingyue's eyes flew open, filled with shock and alarm.

The ghostly image of the Heavenly Fire Cauldron was slowly dispersing overhead.

"Pei Si!"

The Lightning Tribulation was over. The tribulation clouds parted, and warm sunlight streamed through the gaps. Yao beasts that had hidden all around began poking their heads out one by one. Seeing that the danger had passed, they cautiously ventured into the open.

Ling Qingyue held Pei Si, feeling how stiff her body was, still trembling.

"Pei Si… Pei Si…"

She reached up and touched Pei Si's face. Her hand came away slick with cold sweat.

"Why did you come in here?! Did you absolutely have to block it for me? The Heavenly Fire Cauldron was clearly…"

"Liar…"

Ling Qingyue's eyelashes trembled. The words she had been about to say stuck in her throat.

Pei Si spoke with difficulty. "You thought I couldn't tell?"

The Heavenly Fire Cauldron had already shattered during the eighth Heavenly Lightning bolt. That ghostly image was something Ling Qingyue created with her own spiritual energy. She had made it look as if the cauldron could still endure the final bolt, hoping to deceive Pei Si so she would take the last strike herself.

Ling Qingyue couldn't speak. She carefully cradled Pei Si's face and saw her eyes squeezed tightly shut, her expression twisted with pain, her lips drained of all color.

Pei Si grabbed her wrist, tilted her cheek against the hollow of Ling Qingyue's palm, and rubbed softly. Her breath was ragged and broken. "I only took one bolt. It's nothing. I've already withstood a Soul Formation tribulation. This is nothing more than a Core Formation one."

Hearing her throw the words Ling Qingyue herself had once spoken back at her, Ling Qingyue was so furious that tears spilled out.

One bolt? That last bolt was more brutal than the three before it combined.

Ling Qingyue touched her face, then her neck. Her fingertips brushed over that red mole. Pei Si's whole body was ice-cold, and only that mole was burning hot.

"Pei Si, I asked Gu Huai. As long as the Emotion Transference is released, your sealed acupoints will unlock. You'll be able to draw in spiritual energy and heal. Pei Si, let's release it, please…"

If they released the Emotion Transference, Pei Si could heal. She wouldn't have to suffer.

Pei Si pressed her forehead into Ling Qingyue's shoulder and shook her head faintly. "It can't be released. I won't release it."

In the next instant, hot blood covered Ling Qingyue's palm. It was Pei Si's.

The woman's face shifted from ashen pale to a bluish purple. She couldn't help curling in on herself. Her body, so cold moments ago, was now burning hot.

Ling Qingyue quickly sent a thread of spiritual energy into her, and sure enough, she found the spiritual energy inside her body in complete chaos.

"Pei Si!"

There was no response. Pei Si had already lost consciousness.

With her Seven Gates and Three Acupoints completely sealed, she couldn't absorb spiritual energy to regulate her condition. Rampant spiritual energy rampaged through her meridians. The higher the cultivation, the greater the danger.

Ling Qingyue wiped away her tears. Her voice was choked. She lowered her head and pressed her forehead against Pei Si's. "Alright. We won't release it. We won't."

"Pei Si, let me help you."

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