I'll Just Quietly Watch You Get Struck By Lightning

At midnight, Lu Ya had already slipped to the bottom of the pool and fallen asleep, snoring and blowing bubbles in the water like a salted fish.

A vast bolt of lightning, as if signaling the end of the world, descended from the heavens with awe-inspiring celestial might and blinding white light, striking the Immortal Platform with a soul-shattering impact.

In his daze, Lu Ya thought he had been struck by lightning.

A Heavenly Tribulation?

Can I still undergo tribulation and level up even at max level?

Can I transcend to godhood in one step and crush the Heavenly Dao?

Lu Ya was overjoyed.

Just as he prepared to counter-attack with a palm-strike of lightning to strike back at the heavens, he realized the lightning wasn't hitting him, but the two-story bamboo house above the hot spring.

A head popped out of the mist-shrouded water, looking incredibly disappointed and utterly bewildered.

Is Liu Xuanye undergoing tribulation?

She's attempting to ascend while her severe injuries haven't even fully healed?

You've held back from leveling up for a thousand years—wasn't it because you wanted to find a fated partner for dual cultivation to pass the tribulation?

Cough, cough...

You aren't even tempted by this handsome body I crafted with my own hands?

Oh well, this is a fortunate thing.

Expanding his divine sense, he discovered that Ning Zhongzi, Muyu, and Feifei had all been placed under a hypnotic spell.

It seems Liu Xuanye wanted to keep her tribulation a secret from them.

Secretly undergoing tribulation?

Curious, Lu Ya wrapped a bath towel around himself and walked toward the bamboo house to take a look.

The two-story bamboo house was entirely enveloped in the vast, silent Heavenly Tribulation.

The first floor contained the living room, bedroom, and library.

The second floor was the Meditation Pavilion.

Lu Ya strolled casually into the tribulation, sat on the windowsill of the second floor, and peered inside.

The tribulation did not destroy the bamboo house; instead, it shone through the roof, illuminating the Meditation Pavilion as bright as day, radiating golden light.

The rolling celestial might scoured the air, scorching every tiny living organism within.

Suspended from the empty ceiling were three thousand thin swords, forming a circular Yin-Yang Sword Array.

When the tribulation struck the three thousand swords, a portion of the tribulation force was refracted outside the window, dimming the light significantly, but it triggered a cacophony of ten thousand swords wailing—a sharp sound that exceeded the limits of human hearing.

It was effectively silent.

Yet, it could kill without a sound.

Beneath the three thousand swords.

Liu Xuanye, draped in a thin white veil, sat cross-legged in the center of the pavilion, her valiant and ethereal posture exuding an indescribable clarity.

The three thousand thin swords clanged, emitting the Xingtian Howl.

Dozens of swords near Liu Xuanye had fresh blood congealing on their tips, slowly dripping down like a rain of blood.

Even with the majority of the tribulation force refracted by the three thousand swords, the residual power still stirred monstrous waves in Liu Xuanye's sea of energy, constantly battering the foundation of her Immortal Platform.

Gradually, beads of sweat seeped from Liu Xuanye's forehead, and her cold, picturesque face turned as pale as snow.

Lu Ya looked closely.

The power of this tribulation was at least ten times stronger than the one usually triggered by an Immortal Master of the Ascension Sect!

What on earth was going on?

Lu Ya soon discovered it was because the "husband-killing" restriction within her Immortal Platform was intolerable to the Heavenly Dao.

Liu Xuanye herself was not a demoness, but the person who had carved the restriction into her body must have been something the Heavenly Dao could not tolerate.

Liu Xuanye had long since fused with the restriction, engraving it into her soul until they were inseparable; even Lu Ya would need to exert great effort to safely separate them.

The reason Liu Xuanye was rushing the tribulation was that she knew the restriction within her had been suppressed slightly by Lu Ya. Since this suppression was merely a casual act on his part, it would weaken over time, so she chose to trigger the tribulation while his suppression still held, which would surely increase her chances of success.

Lu Ya thought to himself.

Would you rather grasp at this insignificant chance than ask me for help?

He admired Liu Xuanye's backbone and respected her decision.

He jumped into the Meditation Pavilion, still wrapped in his bath towel, and sat down opposite Liu Xuanye.

I will just watch you get struck by lightning in silence!

Facing such a formidable woman, Lu Ya felt that doing nothing was the greatest form of respect.

He lowered his spiritual pressure to zero, retaining only a faint sense of visual presence so that Liu Xuanye would know he was sitting there, but he would neither disturb her nor intervene to help.

Watching Liu Xuanye endure the strikes in silence, Lu Ya thought, if you are struck to death by the tribulation, perhaps I will casually slaughter the deity who cast the lightning to comfort your spirit.

After all, in the Immortal Realm, most lightning tribulations are not sent down by the Heavenly Dao, but are instead inflicted by certain deities acting on its behalf to temper immortals—and the vast majority of them are fueled by malice.

After all, he had once served as a deity in the game himself, striking down many players and NPCs attempting to transcend their tribulations...

Thinking this, Lu Ya suddenly realized that the divine lightning was striking even harder!

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

Lu Ya:

"..."

For a moment, Liu Xuanye's own spiritual power, the power of the restrictions, and the power of the heavenly tribulation—these three forces tore, collided, and wrestled within her sea of qi, ravaging her immortal platform.

Beneath her perfect skin, which looked as if it had been sketched by nature and carved by gods, her flesh, bones, and internal organs were being continuously destroyed and rapidly reconstructed by the three forces.

Sweat soaked her entire body beneath that skin.

Lu Ya could feel Liu Xuanye's agony.

He truly could not imagine how an Immortal Master could endure this level of heavenly tribulation and pain all on her own.

Liu Xuanye had turned as pale as a paper doll.

Lu Ya gritted his teeth, but still did not intervene.

Of course, he wouldn't actually let his wife die; he just wanted to see where her limits truly lay.

The answer was that he failed to see Liu Xuanye's limit.

A quarter of an hour later—

The heavenly tribulation dissipated.

A brand-new immortal platform was forged within Liu Xuanye's dantian.

Promotion to Immortal Sect!

One-star Immortal Sect!

Skipping the half-step Immortal Sect, she had promoted directly to a one-star Immortal Sect!

In game terms, this was like jumping from level 29 straight to level 31.

What kind of god was she?

Lu Ya was dumbfounded.

Liu Xuanye slightly opened her picturesque eyes. The spiritual pressure of an Immortal Sect level rolled like a river, the thin layer of sweat on her body had already dried, and her pale complexion had become much more rosy...

Lu Ya felt that she had become even more beautiful.

In an instant, an invisible heavenly tribulation, stronger than the last and carrying a sorrow as ancient as the primordial wilderness, struck Lu Ya square on the forehead.

Lu Ya scratched his head; it was actually quite itchy.

Liu Xuanye parted her lips and spoke softly.

"Thank you."

Her cold, solemn voice was like a hanging moon.

What are you thanking me for?

Lu Ya thought to himself.

He didn't know if it was a coincidence, but his attempt to intimidate the Heavenly Dao in his heart earlier hadn't worked at all; instead, it had only provoked the heavenly tribulation into striking even more fiercely...

Despite this, faced with Liu Xuanye's rare expression of gratitude, Lu Ya remained his usual thick-skinned self.

"Ahem, we are husband and wife; it's only right."

Liu Xuanye sat straight, staring fixedly at Lu Ya, her elegant figure as sharp as a green sword.

"If you hadn't drawn out a stronger heavenly tribulation for me, I would have at most reached the half-step Immortal Sect level this time."

You really are something!

Lu Ya had stumbled into helping her skip a rank and level up; what kind of talent and willpower was this?

Though impressed in his heart, he remained nonchalant in his speech.

"Just a small favor."

Slightly puffing out her chest, which stood firm like a mountain, Liu Xuanye looked straight at Lu Ya.

Yet, no matter how hard she tried, she still could not see through the man before her.

"But when I look at you with my Immortal Sect divine sense, it is exactly the same as when I looked at you with my Immortal Master divine sense."

Lu Ya smiled without a word.

He thought to himself, whether you are five-foot-three or six-foot-tall, the sky looks just as high.

A trace of resentment suddenly flashed through Liu Xuanye's cold, clear eyes.

"If I had known it would come to this, why bother ascending?"

Lu Ya was stunned.

You underwent the tribulation just to see my true strength?

But thinking about it, the higher Liu Xuanye's cultivation, the harder it was to suppress the restrictions within her body; the higher her cultivation, the closer she became to the Witch!

She had been intentionally suppressing her cultivation all along!

Lu Ya always felt that although this woman's cultivation was only at the Immortal Master level, having just ascended to Immortal Sect, her demeanor and conduct were unfathomable.

Her tone, like a hanging moon, combined solemnity with languor, as if she were probing as an equal, without a shred of the humility one shows a superior.

Just as she had shown no arrogance when facing the mortal Lu Ya before.

Always equal.

And permeated with ruthlessness.

Yet, Lu Ya's strength far exceeded her imagination.

She already had a vague sense of this.

Lu Ya couldn't be bothered to explain.

"My bamboo hut isn't finished yet, so I'll rest in the hot spring tonight. You should get some sleep too."

"You aren't staying with me?"

"I'm afraid I might hurt you."

Lu Ya rose indifferently and walked away with effortless grace.

Liu Xuanye's sword-like brows furrowed suddenly.

It had always been her hurting others; this was the first time she had heard of another man being able to hurt her.

Watching Lu Ya's retreating figure, she pondered every word he had said...

Suddenly, Liu Xuanye's sharp eyes froze as a shocking conjecture surfaced before her.

By now, Lu Ya had already walked far away.

Running off after acting cool—damn, that was exhilarating.

Just then, a cold, languid voice drifted from behind him.

"Was it you who used divine sense to peek at me bathing, triggering the celestial phenomena and drawing the Black Lotus?"

"Uh..."

Did she finally figure it out?

Lu Ya's expression shifted; far from feeling ashamed, he felt a sense of pride. He stopped in his tracks, back turned to Liu Xuanye, and without looking back, said:

"I am ashamed; I only made a small contribution."