Autumn of the following year.
Once again, lingering rain veiled the weather, and neither mountains nor sea could be seen through the vast haze.
He was refining an umbrella.
Refining the book had been a chance encounter, a blessing that came as his heart moved, a marvelous creation stumbled upon. Refining the umbrella, however, had long been planned. After returning to the mountain from his first, hurried tribulation, he had begun considering what sort of protective treasure he should use to weather future tribulations.
Thunder was the spiritual pivot of heaven and earth, possessing both the supreme creative power that kindled life and the killing intent that annihilated and dissolved. The lightning of an elixir-washing tribulation was all the more so: its vitality surged, and its murderous intent was especially profound.
In tribulation lightning, tribulation came first. Once it descended into the world, it sought to split apart the Golden Core. This was one link in the endless circulation of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, a natural order just like birth, aging, sickness, and death. For cultivators to change their fate and prolong their lives was to row against the current, to steal the powers of creation, and so they had to undergo the trials of heaven and earth.
Thus, the Golden Core first had to withstand the annihilating, killing intent within the lightning. Only then could it enjoy the supreme creative power within and become more perfect and flawless.
People had always been clever. The Golden Core was the foundation of the Great Dao, something precious beyond measure. Naturally, it had to be carefully cherished and preserved by every means. If a risk could be avoided, it should be avoided. And so they devised a method-refining treasures specifically for weathering tribulations.
When tribulation lightning fell, the tribulation