Li Mu's robes gently fluttered in the clear breeze of the Spirit Valley, and the Chaos Qi beneath his feet spread silently like ripples.
When his gaze fell upon the tightly closed Immortal Cave in the valley, a long-lost ripple flashed deep within his pupils.
That was Xue'er's cultivation chamber, and at this moment, ice-crystal-like spiritual energy flowed through the cracks in the stone door.
"Crack!"
A crisp sound of ice cracking suddenly echoed through the valley.
The ten-thousand-year profound ice Seal on the stone door cracked inch by inch, and a figure as bright as moonlight floated out from the flying ice shards.
"Li Dage!"
Xue'er sensed something and immediately stopped her Cultivation, eagerly breaking through her seclusion.
The chilling aura surrounding her had reached an extreme coldness.
Her tiptoes lightly touched the air, and instantly, the plants and trees throughout the entire Spirit Valley were covered in glistening frost.
Xue'er's figure suddenly blurred, and Li Mu felt a weight in his arms as a warm, soft body crashed into his chest.
He could feel the damp warmth rapidly spreading on his shoulder and noticed the slight trembling of the arms wrapped around his waist.
Li Mu's hand hovered in mid-air before gently settling on her hair.
His fingertips touched strands of hair that subtly contained tiny ice crystals, exuding an intense cold.
"This time, it was my fault.
I happened to gain an Epiphany Opportunity and didn't have time to inform you!"
Li Mu felt the chaotic True Essence fluctuations within her body, and his brows furrowed slightly.
Xue'er's cold True Essence at this moment was like an ice lake in a blizzard; seemingly calm on the surface, but with turbulent undercurrents that could break through their restraints at any moment.
"It's fine, Cultivation Opportunities are inherently unpredictable, how could I blame you!"
Xue'er buried her face deeper, her voice muffled: "But I still couldn't help but worry!"
Before her words finished, a biting chill suddenly erupted from Xue'er's body.
The ground beneath her feet instantly solidified into a thick layer of profound ice, with ice patterns spreading several feet like a spiderweb.
Li Mu's eyes narrowed, realizing that the True Essence within her body had reached a critical point and could no longer be suppressed.
"Xue'er, you should advance now, don't suppress it anymore!" Li Mu frowned, signaling.
Xue'er looked up, her eyes swirling with icy blue light, as if frost and snow were flying, yet a hint of panic showed in her eyes: "I... I'm not ready yet!"
Li Mu held her wrist, his thumb pressing on her pulse point, carefully sensing the flow of True Essence within her body.
He injected a stream of Chaos True Essence to soothe the restless cold energy within her, comforting her: "Your cold True Essence has reached Perfection.
If you don't take this Opportunity to Breakthrough now, it will harm your Foundation.
Don't be afraid, I am here for everything.
You can peacefully advance and Undergo Tribulation! I will be your Protector!"
As Li Mu's words fell, he waved his sleeve, and four dazzling streams of light flew out from his sleeve, hovering before Xue'er.
A Five Elements Talisman Treasure, with five-colored spiritual light flowing, emitting powerful Five Elements Dao power; a light armor carved entirely from dark jade, its surface shimmering with starlight-like silver radiance, with profound ice patterns carved on its plates; an ancient bronze lamp, its lamp stand shaped like a lotus, with a faint green flame flickering at its wick.
The flame reflected, causing ripples in the surrounding space; a purple-gold token, its surface covered with profound Dao patterns, sometimes shimmering with a flowing luster, sometimes as heavy as metal.
"Li Dage, what are these?" Xue'er looked at the four Dao Artifacts before her, surprised by their power.
"Over the years, I have been preparing these items for your Undergoing Tribulation." Li Mu's eyes were calm as he introduced with a smile: "The first item is the Five Elements Dao Treasure.
This treasure is refined with Chaos as the guide, melting the essence of the Five Elements, and can help you balance the Five Elements and restore True Essence during your Undergoing Tribulation.
If needed, I can also use this treasure to assist you."
As his voice fell, Li Mu waved his hand, and the Five Elements Talisman Treasure flew into Xue'er's embrace.
"The second item is the Profound Ice Dao Armor, crafted with ten-thousand-year cold jade as its frame, infused with the essence of the Nine Heavens Profound Stars.
This armor can not only perfectly integrate with your extreme cold True Essence but also protect your Physical Body during Undergoing Tribulation.
When Lightning Tribulation and fire descend upon you during Undergoing Tribulation, this armor can transform seventy percent of the lightning force into cold essence to replenish itself."
Li Mu lightly tapped his fingertip, and the star-jade-like battle armor emitted a faint silver glow, releasing powerful Star Power and cold energy, like stars slowly circulating in the night sky, slowly flying towards Xue'er.
As Xue'er's fingertips touched the dark jade-like armor, the entire star armor suddenly transformed into a flowing silver light and wrapped around her.
She was startled to find that the restless cold essence within her body suddenly became as docile as water.
The starlight on the armor's surface and the ice crystals in her hair shimmered in harmony, outlining a spectacular scene like the Milky Way pouring down in the twilight.
"The third item is this Azure Lotus Soul Lamp." Li Mu raised his hand, and the ancient bronze lamp trembled slightly.
The azure flame flickering in its wick seemed to pierce through the Void Realm, reflecting the fluctuations deep within the Soul: "The most perilous part of the Heavenly Tribulation is not the Body Tempering by lightning and fire, but the Heart Demon devouring the Divine Soul.
This lamp, with the Chaos Azure Lotus as its wick, can ensure your Sea of Consciousness remains clear."
Xue'er listened in a daze, her eyes sparkling with pleasant surprise.
Li Mu continued: "As for the fourth item, the Purple-Gold Origin Token! This token is forged from the essence of the Five Elements, containing the power of the Heaven and Earth's Origin.
It can block the Lightning Tribulation for you at its most intense, enduring three fatal Lightning Tribulations on your behalf.
But remember, this item is ultimately an external aid.
The eighth-tier Demon Emperor Lightning Tribulation still needs to be faced by yourself; these are merely for assistance."
"Li Dage," Xue'er's voice choked, her fingertips gently tracing the Dao patterns on the purple-gold token, "These... all these years, you..."
Li Mu raised his hand to wipe away the tears from Xue'er's eyes, and said gently: "Silly girl, why speak of thanks between us?
Quickly refine them and Undergo Tribulation as soon as possible."
"Mhm!" Xue'er nodded heavily, sat cross-legged, formed hand Seals, and ice crystal spiritual energy surged around her like a tide.
The four Dao Artifacts hovered around her, emitting various spiritual lights, resonating with her cold True Essence.
She took a deep breath, completely releasing the True Essence that had been suppressed for so long within her body.
In an instant, a colossal cold force erupted from within her, causing the temperature of the entire Spirit Valley to plummet.
The ground solidified into thick profound ice, and the plants and trees instantly transformed into ice sculptures.
Xue'er's long hair moved without wind, and ice crystals sparkled among her strands, making her appear like an Ice and Snow Fairy.
The Five Elements Talisman Treasure was the first to respond, with five-colored spiritual light flowing.
Xue'er lightly tapped her fingertip, and a wisp of Divine Sense merged into the Talisman Treasure, beginning to refine it.
The Talisman Treasure trembled, and the power of the Five Elements intertwined with the cold essence within her body, causing the originally turbulent True Essence to gradually stabilize.
Next was the Profound Ice Dao Armor.
Xue'er formed hand Seals, and a drop of essence blood flew from her fingertip, landing on the dark jade-like armor.
The armor glowed intensely with silver light, transforming into countless stars that merged into her body.
Xue'er only felt a cool power circulating throughout her body, perfectly harmonizing with her cold essence, as if this battle armor was inherently a part of her body.
The Azure Lotus Soul Lamp trembled slightly, its wick's azure flame flickering.
Xue'er closed her eyes and focused, a wisp of Divine Sense entering the lamp.
In an instant, she felt as if she was amidst a field of Chaos Azure Lotuses, her mind clearer than ever before.
The Soul Lamp recognized its master, and the azure flame transformed into a streak of flowing light that vanished into her glabella, burning quietly in her Sea of Consciousness.
Finally, it was the Purple-Gold Origin Token.
Xue'er bit her tongue, spitting a mouthful of essence blood onto the token.
The token burst forth with purple-gold light, its Dao patterns flowing, transforming into a purple-gold imprint that branded itself onto her palm.
She felt the immense Origin power contained within the token, as if she held a piece of heaven and earth.
With the four Dao Artifacts refined, Xue'er's aura surged steadily.
The sky suddenly grew dim, dark clouds rolled, and thunder rumbled faintly.
Li Mu looked up at the sky, a hint of solemnity flashing in his eyes: "The Lightning Tribulation is coming."
Xue'er opened her eyes, her icy blue gaze as brilliant as stars.
She stood up, looked towards the horizon, and said softly: "Li Dage, I'm ready."
As her voice fell, Xue'er flew out of the valley.
This valley was where she and Li Mu had spent hundreds of years, and she didn't want it to be destroyed by the Lightning Tribulation.
The thunderclouds in the sky grew thicker and thicker, following Xue'er's figure closely.
Lightning flashed through the clouds, like silver serpents swimming.
Xue'er transformed into an icy blue stream of light, soaring straight into the sky, with thunderclouds rolling behind her, sweeping in like a raging sea.
She flew over a hundred miles, landing on the Seven Profound Sect's highest "Tribulation Transcending Platform."
This platform was specially designed for Undergoing Tribulation, its surface carved with ancient Dao patterns to weaken some of the Heavenly Tribulation's power.
"Undergo Tribulation with peace of mind, I am here for everything."
Li Mu appeared near the Tribulation Transcending Platform, looking at Xue'er who had landed on the platform, and signaled.
Xue'er stood in the center of the Tribulation Transcending Platform, nine snowy white fox tails unfurling behind her, each tail tip condensing with brilliant moonlight.
The Profound Ice Dao Armor shimmered with silver light, the Azure Lotus Soul Lamp hung above her head, the Purple-Gold Origin Token sparkled in her palm, and the Five Elements Talisman Treasure circled her body, its five-colored spiritual light weaving into a formation.
A silver fox Pattern appeared between her brows, and her eyes transformed into vertical pupils, swirling with the mysterious light unique to the Nine-Tailed Sky Fox.
Above the sky, the tribulation clouds had rolled to a thousand miles wide.
Within the ink-black clouds, the lightning actually glowed with an eerie bloody color.
Each flash illuminated Xue'er's nine fox tails as if they were burning silver flames.
Even more alarming, nine bloody fox shadows faintly appeared deep within the clouds, echoing Xue'er's nine tails—this was the Nine-Tailed Sky Fox clan's unique "Nine-Layered Fate Tribulation"!
"Boom—!"
The first bloody Lightning Tribulation struck, transforming into a giant lightning fox, baring its fangs and claws as it pounced towards the Tribulation Transcending Platform!
"Crack!" The runes on the platform instantly shattered, and the violent lightning force was strangely mixed with a fox's howl.
Three of Xue'er's fox tails suddenly rose, their tips condensing moonlight into a shield, which collided with the lightning fox with a thunderous crash!
Inside the Seven Profound Sect, there was widespread horror!
"Nine... Nine-Tailed Sky Fox?"
"Could the fox shadow in the clouds be the legendary 'Sky Fox Weeping Blood Tribulation'?"
An Elder of Void Refining from the Scripture Pavilion dropped his ancient book with a "thud."
"The Nine-Tailed Bloodline, which disappeared in ancient times, how could it..."
"Look at that tribulation cloud, it's so big!"
"It's Martial Aunt Undergoing Tribulation!"
The Sect Master of the Seven Profound Sect, Lin Maoshan, seeing the giant fox shadow on the Tribulation Transcending Platform, felt a surge of spirit and immediately flew towards the platform.
The next moment, Su Hongxiu and Zhao Tianchen also flew towards the Tribulation Transcending Platform.
...
On the Tribulation Transcending Platform, the terrifying lightning fox crashed into the ice shield, instantly exploding with a roar.
The violent lightning force swept across the surroundings, but the ice shield only developed a few cracks and did not shatter.
At the same time, the Profound Ice Dao Armor's surface shimmered with starlight, automatically absorbing a portion of the lightning power and converting it into cold essence to replenish Xue'er's body, stabilizing her spiritual energy, which had been slightly chaotic due to forcefully suppressing her True Essence.
The fox Texture on Xue'er's glabella shone brightly, and the cold air around her solidified into a tangible ice crystal storm.
"Profound Sky Ice Soul, Condense!" With Xue'er's clear shout, the tips of her nine fox tails simultaneously shot out dazzling ice light, weaving into nine ice chains in the air.
"Rumble—"
The second bloody Lightning Tribulation transformed into three lightning dragons and descended.
Xue'er's eyes burst with cold light.
The first fox tail suddenly rose, its tip blooming into an ice crystal lotus.
As the lotus rotated, it actually froze the lightning dragons in mid-air.
The ice-sealed lightning dragons maintained their ferocious posture, reflecting an eerie bloody light under the moonlight.
"Break!" Xue'er lightly clenched her jade hand, and the ice lotus shattered in response.
The frozen lightning dragons instantly transformed into scattered ice crystals.
The Profound Ice Dao Armor glowed brightly with silver light, absorbing all the dissipated lightning essence, and the rotation speed of the star patterns on the armor's surface suddenly accelerated.
The third Lightning Tribulation came even more swiftly, consisting of nine hair-thin bloody lightning threads.
Xue'er neither dodged nor evaded, and her sixth fox tail suddenly divided into myriad ice needles.
"Profound Ice Myriad Illusions!" Countless ice needles precisely met each lightning thread, exploding into ice-lightning flowers in mid-air.
The Azure Lotus Soul Lamp timely cast down clear radiance, completely isolating the aftermath of the explosions.
"Pfft—" A trickle of silver blood spilled from Xue'er's lips, but her Battle Intent grew even stronger.
She discovered that these bloody Lightning Tribulations secretly contained corrosive power, capable of even eroding profound ice.
Immediately, she no longer held back, and her nine fox tails suddenly swelled, their tips condensing into a crystal-clear ice sword.
"Extreme Cold Ice Sword!"
When the ice sword was unleashed, the entire world fell silent;
The fourth Lightning Tribulation, which had transformed into a hundred-zhang lightning spear, was actually split in half by this single sword strike.
Before the divided lightning light could dissipate, it was frozen into two bloody ice waterfalls by the extreme cold emanating from the sword body, crashing down on either side of the Tribulation Transcending Platform.
Before the fifth bolt of lightning even struck, a sharp pain shot through Xue'er's Sea of Consciousness, as if countless needles were piercing her Soul.
Her face instantly changed, knowing this was the "Heart Demon Tribulation" within the Heavenly Tribulation—the Lightning Tribulation not only struck the Physical Body but also the Divine Soul.
Indeed, before the Lightning Tribulation descended, illusions began to appear in Xue'er's Sea of Consciousness:
Li Mu's figure shattered before her eyes, turning into nothingness;
She stood alone in a desolate land, surrounded by ice and snow, but with no warmth left;
The ancient Legacy voice of the Nine-Tailed Sky Fox whispered in her ear: "You ultimately cannot escape fate, you are destined to be alone..."
Xue'er's eyes were tightly closed, and the Azure Lotus Soul Lamp suddenly burst forth with a deep blue-green flame, forming a Chaos Azure Lotus above her head.
The lotus's fragrance permeated, purifying her mind.
Her consciousness was pulled back to reality, and the illusions dissipated like smoke.
She opened her eyes, and the icy blue light in them surged, saying coldly: "These are merely illusions! What is there to fear!"
No sooner had her voice fallen than the fifth Lightning Tribulation struck with a boom!
This bolt of lightning was no longer physical but an invisible spiritual lightning punishment, directly striking her Sea of Consciousness, attempting to destroy the Foundation of her Divine Soul.
The Azure Lotus Soul Lamp suddenly erupted with dazzling azure light, and the seemingly fragile flame at its wick instantly transformed into a towering wave of fire, forming an azure barrier in Xue'er's Sea of Consciousness.
The spiritual lightning punishment collided with the azure flame, actually emitting a clang like metal striking metal.
Silver blood seeped from all seven of Xue'er's orifices simultaneously, but her gaze became even clearer.
"So this is the true fifth Lightning Tribulation."
Xue'er wiped away the blood from her lips, realizing that the fifth Lightning Tribulation actually contained hidden changes between reality and illusion.
On the surface, it was a Heart Demon illusion, but in reality, it was the "Illusory Destruction Divine Lightning" that directly struck the Primordial Spirit.
If not for the Azure Lotus Soul Lamp's warning, her Divine Soul would have been annihilated by now.
From the sky, an ancient fox howl suddenly reverberated, and the nine bloody fox shadows in the tribulation clouds simultaneously opened their eyes.
Before the sixth Lightning Tribulation even formed, the entire world began to tremble.
The Seven Profound Sect's mountain Protector array automatically activated, and the seventy-two mountain peaks simultaneously lit up with array patterns, yet they still groaned under the pressure. (End of this chapter)
