The heavens and earth trembled.
Ye Qiu was engulfed by the unparalleled lightning.
In the moment between life and death.
Ye Qiu became unusually calm, no longer afraid, for he knew this seventh heavenly tribulation was beyond human resistance.
He closed his eyes, circulating the Nine-Turn Dragon Art, quietly awaiting death’s arrival.
Yet, after a long while, the lightning did not strike him.
What was happening?
Ye Qiu opened his eyes, only to find that the lightning had stopped a metre away from him.
What was going on?
Ye Qiu was puzzled.
The heavenly tribulation represented the will of the heavens, so why would it suddenly halt?
Could it be that the heavens had eyes, knowing he had many unfulfilled wishes and thus couldn’t bear to let him die?
Ye Qiu shook his head.
That was impossible.
If the heavens truly had eyes, those heroes who acted with justice or defended their homeland wouldn’t die, and the world wouldn’t have sayings like “the good die young, while villains live forever.”
But why hadn’t the tribulation struck him?
Ye Qiu observed carefully for a moment.
Suddenly, he noticed that two strands of innate true qi had surged from the Baihui acupoint on his head, and they were blocking the tribulation for him.
“This, how is this possible!”
Ye Qiu couldn’t believe it. Even with his full strength, he couldn’t withstand the tribulation, so how could two strands of innate true qi block it?
At that moment, the two strands of innate true qi were enveloped by the lightning, emitting low, resonant dragon roars.
At the same time.
Ye Qiu noticed that as he circulated the Nine-Turn Dragon Art, some of the lightning transformed into hair-thin strands, seeping into his skin and meridians.
“Ah, ”
Ye Qiu cried out in pain, the sensation akin to being pricked endlessly with an embroidery needle.
“Lightning entering my body, it won’t cause any adverse effects, will it?”
Realising this, Ye Qiu hurriedly checked.
After a few dozen seconds.
Ye Qiu was shocked to discover that after entering his body, the lightning transformed into a force that nourished his meridians.
In no time.
His meridians had widened slightly, and his inner strength had grown significantly.
“It has such an effect?”
Ye Qiu was astonished and began frantically circulating the Nine-Turn Dragon Art to absorb the lightning.
A few minutes later.
Ye Qiu realised he could no longer absorb the lightning, or his meridians would burst.
“I wonder if this lightning could temper my body?”
Ye Qiu deliberately guided a strand of lightning over, and it coiled around his right arm, crackling with sound.
The skin on his right arm immediately turned charred, like charcoal.
Even so, Ye Qiu clearly felt his right arm had become harder.
“It works!”
Ye Qiu was overjoyed and began guiding more lightning over. Soon, his entire body was enveloped in a layer of lightning.
The lightning was ferocious, causing Ye Qiu to grimace in pain upon contact with his skin.
Ten minutes passed.
Ye Qiu’s entire body was charred black.
He kept his eyes closed, continuously circulating the Nine-Turn Dragon Art.
A while later.
“Roar, roar, ”
Two dragon roars came from above his head.
Ye Qiu looked up, dumbfounded.
He saw that after being bathed in lightning, the two strands of innate true qi had transformed, taking the form of dragons.
Though each strand was only a foot long, they had dragon horns, heads, whiskers, scales, tails, and claws, vivid and lifelike. Coupled with the constant dragon roars from their mouths, they appeared like real dragons.
Most astonishingly, after transforming into dragon forms, the two strands of innate true qi opened their mouths and devoured the lightning.
“Damn, is this still true qi?”
Ye Qiu was so shocked that chills ran through him.
He even hesitated, wondering whether to let these two strands of true qi return to his body. Having devoured so much lightning, would they cause problems if they re-entered?
As he was lost in thought, the two strands of innate true qi zipped back into his body.
Immediately after, the surrounding lightning vanished.
Ye Qiu looked up, seeing that the thunderclouds in the sky had also disappeared without a trace.
“It’s over?”
Ye Qiu hurriedly checked his innate true qi, suddenly noticing that it was swiftly coursing through his meridians.
His internal injuries were also healing rapidly.
Moments later.
The surface of his skin cracked, and the charred old skin peeled away, revealing new skin, crystalline like jade, even smoother than a woman’s.
“I never expected the tribulation to have such effects. If lightning could be used to make cosmetics, it’d be a fortune.”
Of course, this idea was impractical, just a passing thought for Ye Qiu.
Then, he closed his eyes and resumed circulating the Nine-Turn Dragon Art.
Three minutes passed.
Ye Qiu’s face lit up with ecstasy.
He discovered that after surviving the tribulation, his strength had surged again, his body brimming with inexhaustible power.
“I never thought this trip to the Water Moon Sect would yield such rewards.”
“Not only did I obtain the inheritance of Tsukahara’s Sword Saint, but I also cultivated a second strand of true qi.”
“Truly worth the journey.”
Ye Qiu suddenly recalled that when he received the inheritance of Tsukahara’s Sword Saint, the three characters for “Killing Technique” on the stone wall were in Chinese, not in the script of the Great East.
“Could it be that Tsukahara’s Sword Saint was from Hua Guo?”
“Or perhaps, was Tsukahara’s Sword Saint well-versed in Hua Guo culture?”
“Otherwise, why would the three characters for Killing Technique be in Chinese?”
“Forget it, since I’ve already received the inheritance, dwelling on this is pointless.”
Ye Qiu glanced at his body. His clothes were tattered from the tribulation, his hair dishevelled. He looked worse than a beggar.
“Time to go back and take a bath.”
Ye Qiu stood, preparing to leave the Enlightenment Platform.
Suddenly, his gaze fell on the bluestone steps in front of the Enlightenment Platform.
The steps were stained with blood, left from his tribulation.
Ye Qiu crouched down, dipped his finger in the blood, and examined it closely.
He noticed that the blood contained faint traces of gold.
As is well known, under normal circumstances, human blood is bright red. Only in cases of illness or other conditions does blood turn black or brown. But Ye Qiu had neither seen nor heard of blood turning golden.
“Is this my blood?”
Ye Qiu immediately activated his Heavenly Eye, his vision piercing through his skin to his blood vessels.
What he saw shocked him.
Ye Qiu was stunned to find that the blood in his veins was half bright red and half golden.
The two colours of blood intertwined without any rejection, and he felt no abnormalities in his body.
“How could this be?”
“Why has my blood turned golden for no reason?”
“Could it be related to the tribulation just now?”
Ye Qiu checked his body again, confirming there were no issues, before preparing to leave the back mountain.
At that moment, with a “boom,” the Enlightenment Platform and the seven bluestone steps crumbled into dust.
