The spiritual spring in the back mountain was enclosed by mountain walls, forming a secluded realm. Dense mist rose from the water, thick with rich, swirling spiritual energy.
Jiang Jin sat bare-chested in the water. Scars left by the wraiths of the demon realm marked his shoulders and back, his physique lean and hard, and his abdominal muscles gleamed a cold white through the mist.
His brow was furrowed, his jawline tense, and his expression showed a pain he was holding back to the absolute limit.
The spiritual energy around him spun frantically like an out-of-control vortex, crashing against the surface of the spiritual spring and sending waves churning.
In an instant, the once-clear sky darkened abruptly. Billowing black clouds pressed down heavily over the spiritual spring, and the surging lightning energy crackled with fine sparks of purple electricity.
The Second Elder stood on the edge of the cliff, his white beard fluttering in the wind. Stroking his beard, he gestured from afar, his voice calm and steady. “Steady your mind! Protect your dantian! There are three lightning tribulations, each fiercer than the last. Survive them, and the path to the Golden Core is yours!”
Before his voice could fade, the first lightning tribulation crashed down with a deafening roar.
A bolt of purple lightning as thick as a bowl, carrying the force of ten thousand tons, struck straight toward the top of Jiang Jin's head.
Jiang Jin snapped his eyes open, a freezing sword intent erupting from his gaze. He slashed his long sword horizontally, and the crisp sword qi clashed with the pillar of lightning, exploding into a sky full of electric sparks.
The black clouds churned even more violently as the second and third lightning tribulations followed in rapid succession.
“Boom—!!!”
A deafening blast shook the air, and lightning fire filled the sky. Jiang Jin was completely enveloped in lightning fire, his skin scorched black as he forced himself to endure these last two tribulations.
His strength entirely depleted, Jiang Jin collapsed back into the spiritual spring, his chest heaving violently as he gasped in pain.
A lustrous Golden Core formed within his dantian, and the pressure of the Golden Core stage slowly spread outward.
The Second Elder clapped and laughed, his face filled with immense satisfaction. “Good! Excellent boy! To reach the Golden Core stage at such an age with such a solid foundation, your future is limitless! Our Nine Saints Hall has a worthy successor! Rest here and recover well...”
Before he could finish, he sensed something was off and looked up at the sky.
The black clouds that should have dispersed, for some reason, did not recede. Instead, they began to gather over the spiritual spring like crazy.
Gale-force winds howled, kicking up gravel, and the lightning churning beneath the clouds was even more brilliant than before. Gold and purple intertwined, making the very air hum and tremble.
Another lightning tribulation was coming?!
The Second Elder and Jiang Jin exchanged a look, but before they could figure out what was happening, a small, slender figure rushed out from behind a boulder with a tearful face.
“I didn't say I wanted to break through!!”
...
Song Yao had originally only come to collect her debt.
Running into Jiang Jin's breakthrough, she had no choice but to hide to the side and wait.
But she had failed to anticipate that the spiritual energy here was excessively abundant, combined with the vast surge of spiritual energy erupting when the overpowered protagonist broke through.
In a moment of carelessness, she failed to suppress the energy gathering within her body, and she was actually about to break through as well.
She had just reached Foundation Establishment a few days ago, and now she was about to break through to the Golden Core stage. Not only would this attract too much attention, but her physical body simply couldn't handle it.
Coupled with her fragmented soul, if three lightning tribulations struck her, she would likely explode and die.
She didn't have the slightest intention of enduring it on her own, so she bolted straight toward Jiang Jin in the spiritual spring.
Jiang Jin's pupils shrank, his face filled with shock.
Don't come over here!!
Having just survived the Golden Core lightning tribulation, his spiritual energy was still in disarray. His first instinct was to pull back and retreat.
But the pressure of the lightning tribulation had already locked down the entire airspace over the spiritual spring. Before he could even move, a pillar of lightning crashed down, engulfing both of them in a sky of lightning fire.
“Boom—!!!”
The mountain walls shook, and the spring water exploded into waves dozens of feet high.
Jiang Jin felt a burning, agonizing pain in all of his meridians from the lightning's power. His newly formed Golden Core vibrated frantically inside his dantian, nearly shattering.
Once the lightning fire finally dissipated, he slumped in the spring, completely scorched black.
Before he could even catch his breath, he saw Song Yao, her face covered in soot, grabbing his shoulder to pull herself up. “I'm so sorry, I really couldn't do this alone.”
Jiang Jin: “!!”
And doing it with two people makes it okay?!
He was so angry that the veins on his forehead throbbed. Just as he was about to speak, two even more brilliant pillars of lightning shot out from the black clouds in the sky.
One after another, carrying a world-destroying power, they crashed down ruthlessly once more.
...
Jiang Jin felt a sudden urge to kill someone.
He lay flat on his back in the spiritual spring, looking like a piece of charcoal.
Beside him, Song Yao's hair was a wild mess. She spat out a puff of black smoke and shook him with deep guilt. “I'm sorry. Didn't you still owe me two hundred thousand spirit stones? How about I only charge you a hundred thousand?”
“...”
Even thinking with his toes, those pills could never sell for that much...
Hadn't she been extremely concerned about him yesterday, terrified that something might happen to him?
Why was she trying to take both his life and his money today?
Jiang Jin sat up in silence, struggling to keep his emotions under control.
The Second Elder had been firmly blocked outside the spring by the lightning tribulation. The moment the barrier dissolved, he quickly swept over to the edge of the spring and placed his fingers on their wrists to check their pulses.
Fortunately, Jiang Jin only had scorched skin and depleted spiritual energy. Though Song Yao's body was exceptionally weak and her pulse was terribly faint, neither of their lives was in danger.
He let out a heavy sigh of relief and stroked his beard, laughing heartily. “Excellent! You two truly deserve to be the ones I value most among the new disciples!”
He turned to Jiang Jin, his tone full of praise. “Jiang Jin, you must properly thank Lin Mu! Your newly condensed Golden Core has been repeatedly tempered by this double lightning tribulation. The purity of your metal spiritual root has increased significantly, and your foundation will be much more solid. This is a heavenly opportunity that others could only dream of!”
Then, he looked at the disheveled Song Yao, stroking his white beard with satisfaction. “You, little girl, are indeed quick-witted. Knowing that Jiang Jin's foundation would be unstable right after his breakthrough, you deliberately drew the lightning tribulation to help temper his body. This old man will remember this kind gesture of yours toward your fellow disciple!”
Song Yao found this highly unusual.
This was the first time in her memory that the Second Elder had ever praised her.
In her past life, the Second Elder had always scolded her for being a troublemaker, claiming she had ruined the entire Nine Saints Hall and that not a single normal person remained.
He had also said she single-handedly dragged down the reputation of all sword cultivators in the world.
If there were a ranking of people who hated Song Yao, he would probably be in the top ten.
Was this the benefit of rebirth?
Before Song Yao could respond, Jiang Jin turned his head to look at her in slight surprise.
The young girl sat in the water, wrapped in her half-damp, oversized robes. The wisps of hair on her forehead were curled from the lightning fire, her face was smudged with black soot, and even the tip of her nose was blackened.
Yet, those eyes of hers remained clear and bright, carrying a trace of casual, detached coldness when she was silent.
Staring at her soot-covered yet undeniably beautiful face, the anger filling Jiang Jin's chest actually vanished completely.
It seemed she wasn't trying to harm him, but was actually trying to help him.
A young woman's mind was truly hard to read.
His cheeks grew warm. Steadying his breath, he let out a soft cough. “...In that case, thank you, Junior Sister Lin.”
Song Yao paused, looking back at him with a hint of testing. “So, is it still two hundred thousand?”
Jiang Jin: “...”
No.
Something was still off.
Was this really a young woman's mind being hard to read?
Wasn't it actually a merchant's mind that was hard to read?
Seeing him hesitate, Song Yao reluctantly offered another discount. “Fine, fine, let's make it one hundred and eighty thousand. Since we're fellow disciples, I won't overcharge you too much.”
Jiang Jin was not short on money.
Before entering the sect, he had happened upon a treasure trove by chance.
He wasn't fabulously wealthy, but he had more than enough to spend.
He pulled out a jade token and handed it to Song Yao. “I'm not in the habit of owing favors. There's no need to be polite, Junior Sister Lin.”
Song Yao accepted it without any hesitation. Standing up, she bowed toward the Second Elder. “In that case, this disciple still has other matters to attend to. I shall take my leave first.”
The moment her figure vanished into the distant mountains, several figures sliced through the air and landed on the edge of the cliff by the spiritual spring. Their sleeves fluttered in the wind, and their auras were deep and heavy—it was several elders of the Nine Saints Hall.
The Great Elder's gaze swept over the lingering lightning energy in the spiritual spring, his tone filled with hard-to-conceal astonishment. “Those two waves just now were Golden Core lightning tribulations?! New disciples have only been in the sect for barely two months, yet they could trigger lightning tribulations to break through one after another?!”
“That speed is indeed incredibly fast! Just which two disciples were they?!”
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