The First Tribulation

The clouds pressed lower and lower, a dull hissing rising from the churning gray masses.

That aura of destruction grew ever stronger, as though Heaven had flown into a rage and meant to grind the creature below into dust for daring to challenge its majesty.

"It's coming!" his second uncle, Si Che, warned in a low shout.

Before his words had faded-

Crack!

A blinding bolt of white lightning tore through the gloomy sky with a deafening blast, striking the slender figure at the center of the formation with unerring precision!

Lightning exploded, swallowing Si Chen in an instant!

"Chen!" Ye Fu cried out, instinctively starting forward, only for Si Kai to hold her firmly back.

The Lineage head's face was equally taut, but his arm remained steady as a rock, his gaze nailed to the spot where the lightning blazed.

The electric light dispersed, revealing the scene within.

Si Chen still sat cross-legged, his back perfectly straight.

But the blue cloth covering his upper body had turned to ash in the thunderbolt. Horrifying, charred fissures scored his exposed skin, blood welling from them in streams and instantly drenching him from head to toe.

This was the first time since his rebirth as a human that he had truly tasted what it meant to be "injured."

Si Chen lowered his head and looked at his mangled chest. For the first time, the bloody reality of mortal flesh was reflected in his eyes.

It hurt terribly,

as though countless tiny insects were gnawing at his wounds, accompanied by a peculiar numbness.

The sensation was so vivid, so intense, yet also... so unfamiliar.

He could also feel the plant vitality that had settled into every part of his body over the past five years awakening like a living spring, slowly beginning to repair the damage.

Destruction and renewal entered into the most direct of struggles within him.

He did not use the Thunder Spirit Root that had grown on its own to neutralize this power.

That would have been easy, certainly, but it would have defeated the purpose of tempering his body. He wanted this body to truly remember lightning, adapt to it, and ultimately make it a part of itself.

"This kid..."

Outside the formation, Si Shuo clenched his fists, his palms slick with sweat. "He really is taking it head-on..."

The second thunderbolt allowed not a moment's respite. Thicker than the first, it crashed down with brutal force!

Si Chen's body jolted violently. More blood poured from his splitting wounds, and the smell of scorched flesh filled the air. His face grew a shade paler, and a thread of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

Ye Fu turned her face away, unable to bear watching any longer.

The third bolt, the fourth...

Bolt after bolt of yin lightning struck without pause, seemingly without end.

Si Chen's seated figure vanished into the lightning again and again, only to stubbornly emerge each time.

He never fell, nor did he utter a single groan. Only his tightly pressed lips and faintly trembling lashes betrayed the extreme agony his flesh was enduring.

Amid this repeated destruction and repair, a change quietly took place.

At first, the gentle plant vitality had merely repaired the damage passively.

But as the lightning tempered him again and again, that vitality seemed to grow enraged-or perhaps some deeper instinct had awakened within it. No longer content merely to repair, it began actively meeting those raging arcs of lightning!

Sizzle-

When another thunderbolt pierced his body, the emerald radiance of vitality and the brilliant white lightning of destruction no longer simply opposed each other.

Like two luminous fish at play and at war, they began to intertwine and permeate one another.

Where the emerald radiance flowed, the meridians torn apart by lightning did not wither. Instead, like vines watered by spring rain, they became more supple and spacious.

As the violent arcs darted through them, that abundant vitality gradually stripped the destructive power of its ferocity, drawing out its purest essence and depositing it within his bones and flesh.

The Yi Wood Eternal Spring Art and the Nine Tribulations Thunder Body-two arts with conflicting attributes and vastly different paths-had now found a way to coexist within him that defied all reason.

Not suppression, but accommodation.

Not conquest, but union.

In a flash of inspiration, Si Chen relinquished all control over his flesh. He no longer distinguished between plant vitality and lightning, holding only a single thought.

With this body, embrace this power.

The seventh bolt, the eighth...

The lightning tribulation remained fierce, but the rate at which Si Chen's body split apart had noticeably slowed.

His newly formed flesh gleamed with a lustrous sheen. Charred, dead skin rapidly peeled away, and the fresh skin beneath seemed steeped in lightning, faintly glowing silver.

Outside the formation, Si Shuo's eyes widened. "What in the world..." he murmured. "His body seems to be... eating the lightning?"

Si Kai's taut expression finally eased a little. An incredulous shock flashed deep in his eyes. He could tell that his son was not merely enduring the blows, but undergoing a profound transformation.

When the ninth bolt-the last and thickest bolt of yin lightning-crashed down, Si Chen did not even sway.

The lightning power poured into him like a stream joining a mighty river, no longer able to stir even a single rampaging wave. Only immense power surged through every limb and bone before finally settling into stillness.

The clouds dispersed, and the lightning ceased.

Silence filled heaven and earth, broken only by the sound of wind passing through the mountain forest.

Si Chen slowly opened his eyes.

The charred marks across his body were fading at a visible pace. His newly formed skin was smooth and warm as jade, with a subdued, precious luster faintly flowing beneath it.

He gently clenched his fist. A faint arc of electricity flashed between his fingers and vanished.

He had succeeded.

The Yin Thunder Tribulation was behind him.

This body, which had once felt "cramped" and "fragile," was now light and resilient, as though it had shed a thousand-pound burden-or an invisible shackle had been unlocked.

Within his flesh, vitality and lightning power coexisted in harmony, forming a delicate balance.

Ye Fu was the first to rush forward. She hugged her son tightly, her voice choked with tears. "As long as you're all right. As long as you're all right..."

Si Chen could feel his mother trembling slightly. He hesitated, then raised a hand and gently patted her back.

Si Kai stepped forward and examined him carefully. The last trace of worry finally left his eyes, replaced by relief he could not conceal.

He could sense that the vigor of his son's blood and qi far surpassed that of an ordinary Foundation Establishment body cultivator. The vitality and faint lightning power deep within his flesh blended perfectly, forming a solid foundation unlike anything he had ever seen.

"Good! Good! Good!" Si Kai exclaimed three times, firmly patting his son's shoulder.

Si Shuo came over as well, circling Si Chen twice and clicking his tongue in wonder. "Incredible! When I passed this first tribulation, I spent half a month bedridden! But look at you, acting as though nothing happened!"

He reached out curiously to poke Si Chen's arm, but Si Che caught him. "Third Brother, keep your clumsy hands to yourself."

Si Chen felt the utterly different power within him. From this moment on, he had broken through the limitations of his flesh.

He raised his head and gazed at the clear blue sky, his eyes seeming to pierce the clouds and reach somewhere far beyond.

The Lineage's blessed land was fine, but it was no longer a world in which he could stretch himself to the fullest.

...That wider stage seemed almost within reach.