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In the sky above the Demon Slaying Branch Sect, many mirrors appeared, reflecting the grounds of the Outer Sect Trial. Below, a crowd of disciples stood watching. When they saw their fellow disciples chasing each other, a clamor instantly arose. To them, they were cultivators; at their core, they always loved to strive for strength and fight.
Tan Yun hadn’t even stepped through the sect gate when she heard the noisy clamor from afar. Someone had already reported the matter to her. She looked at the grand gate1 and gently knitted her brows.
When the disciples saw Tan Yun, they instantly fell silent, each one standing frozen in place. Although her expression was calm and her attitude on the matter was unreadable, as she floated past, everyone felt an inexplicable shiver.
The Grand Elder stood among the Peak Masters. When she saw Tan Yun arrive, her expression was calm. The first words she spoke made one’s heart extremely uncomfortable: “I never thought you would return so quickly.”
“The journey was quite smooth, so naturally, I returned a bit faster.” Tan Yun did not look at the mirror in the sky. She walked to her side, her voice low, like a wild beast hiding a bloodthirsty thought. “Grand Elder, you have been in seclusion for a long time. If you are bored and want to do something, I will turn a blind eye. But if you touch my disciple, then don’t blame me for being ruthless and turning my back on you.”
The several Peak Masters had also once revered the Grand Elder as their Sect Master. Now, facing the two of them, they didn’t know what to do either.
The Grand Elder chuckled lightly. “I am only kindly training your disciple. Besides, you have always kept her locked up in the sect, which will only be detrimental to her cultivation. You should have known this the moment she ran out of the sect.”
Tan Yun lowered her eyes. Standing there silently, she had an added air of loneliness. No one could know what she was thinking, nor did they dare to guess. They only had reverence for her.
Kong Yue coughed. “This… I’m sure the Sect Master has her own considerations.”
The Grand Elder raised an eyebrow. “No matter what the considerations are, a child will always fly away when they grow up. She will not stay by your side forever. Forcibly obstructing her will only be counterproductive.”
The people around didn’t know what to say. The Grand Elder’s words were undoubtedly meant to leave Tan Yun speechless. As for Sui An’s growth, that was not important to the Grand Elder.
Suddenly, thunder rumbled in the sky.
Tan Yun looked up. At this moment, dark clouds were brewing in the mirror. Blue light flashed within them, as if a fierce beast were roaming about, making one’s heart pound with fear.
“Is this… going to rain?” The disciples of the sect were baffled, thinking this rain would add difficulty to the trial, secretly lamenting the bad luck of this year’s outer disciples.
“This is bad. A Four-Nine Transformation Tribulation.”
Tan Yun’s purple figure flashed and appeared. The Grand Elder followed closely behind. The two quickly entered the teleportation formation and went to the trial grounds. Before some of the Peak Masters behind them could enter the formation, the roaring thunder turned into a long howl. It could be clearly seen in the mirror as lightning struck down, pierced the barrier, and then the illusionary mirror shattered. Even the teleportation formation on the other side was destroyed, preventing them from teleporting over.
“Wow… was that tribulation lightning just now?”
“With that much power, it must be.”
“A sight to see in my lifetime!”
“The power of tribulation lightning is immense. Let’s just hope the Sect Master can arrive in time and everyone is safe!”
The disciples below discussed amongst themselves.
After some discussion, the several Peak Masters decided to send a few people to fly there on their own. Fortunately, the trial grounds were not too far away, and they could arrive in about an hour.
…
The first bolt of lightning not only destroyed the barrier, but also obliterated the trees and land. Flames burned, and the stream’s path was fractured. Immediately after, another bolt of lightning struck down. Like a coiling snake, it hit the ground, sending shattered rock flying and kicking up a cloud of dust that gradually spread outwards.
Sui An and the others combined their strength to create a massive spiritual energy wall in front of them, outputting all their spiritual energy to resist. Suddenly, a shower of stones fell from the sky, smashing heavily against the spiritual energy wall and turning to dust. Then, the swirling dust charged forward.
Sui An was pushed back several steps. The dust blocked her vision, and she could only hear another roar and the desperate cries of the others as their strength gave out. The sounds were deafening, striking the heart and lungs. They were truly fighting for their lives.
“Ah!”
As several screams faded into the distance, Sui An knew that a few people must have been thrown away. Even she herself felt like she could be blown into the sky at any moment.
Sui An narrowed her eyes. In the instant the dust thinned slightly, she saw a giant tree burning with flames, spinning and bobbing up and down as it was blown by the wind. Before she could react, the giant tree smashed into the spiritual energy wall. With a great impact, Sui An and a few of the disciples at the front were blasted into the air.
After leaving the defensive shield, the wind and sand became like sharp blades, frantically cutting at Sui An. She felt a stinging pain on her face, and her body tumbled uncontrollably in the air. She raised her hand to command her sword. The sword circled around her, but forget standing on it, she couldn’t even grab the hilt.
Her back slammed against a rock. The other side of the rock was extremely sharp. It made her spit out a mouthful of blood, and her head spun. Her clothes were torn, revealing the protective armor underneath.
Sui An slid along the ground. Her already tattered clothes were torn with even more gashes, revealing her fair skin. It should have been a tantalizing sight, but it was bruised blue and purple from the harsh impact, a heart-wrenching scene.
The sliding didn’t stop. Immediately after, another bolt of lightning struck with an even more intense shockwave. Sui An slammed into rocks and trees, tumbling down towards the bottom of a cliff, followed by a cascade of stones and wood. Sheltered by the cliff face, Sui An finally stabilized her body. The moment she grabbed her sword hilt, she immediately flew away from the area of falling rocks.
Sui An felt exhausted, her whole body aching. Like an injured bird, she flew lower and lower, finally collapsing on the ground, motionless.
The Four-Nine Lightning Tribulation had a total of thirty-six bolts, each one stronger than the last. It was not something a group of Qi Refinement disciples could resist just by joining forces.
As the disciples were blasted away one by one, the defensive shield grew weaker and weaker. Just when they couldn’t hold on any longer, Tan Yun appeared from the sky like a celestial fairy. That purple robe was so conspicuous and unforgettable even amidst the dust.
She just turned once and flicked her purple sleeve.
Bang!
Another powerful gust of wind and dust collided heavily. The ground shook, sending all the disciples tumbling to the ground. The winds canceled each other out. For now, all was calm. The disciples, having survived the disaster, were stunned for a moment.
“Have any of you seen Sui An?”
One of them looked around. “It was too chaotic just now, there was dust everywhere. I think I saw Senior Sister being blown away.”
Tan Yun’s eyes narrowed.
At this moment, another bolt of lightning struck down.
The disciples were in a panic!
She looked down at the dozens of pairs of eyes now staring at her, all filled with fear, afraid that she would leave them. If she did, they would surely die.
Tan Yun pursed her lips.
She closed her eyes, clenched her hand, and her divine sense spread out, constantly searching. The residual power of the lightning flashed like starlight. The moment her divine sense touched it, her face turned pale.
Rumble! Rolling dust and smoke charged towards them.
She opened her eyes, turned again, and waved her sleeve. A wave of spiritual energy rippled through the dust and smoke, protecting the lives of the disciples below. But her face grew paler and paler with each falling bolt of lightning.
…
An unknown amount of time passed.
When Sui An woke up, the sky was already dark.
She felt as if all the bones in her body had been taken apart; they creaked with every movement. She managed to turn over and lay there looking at the sky. Because the lightning tribulation had just ended, the sky was clean and clear, unobscured by clouds, revealing the full face of the starry expanse. A long river of stars shone brilliantly, quiet and beautiful.
“System, I wonder if the sky in your so-called real world is also this clean, this beautiful?”
[Due to high-tech pollution, it is not as clean as it is here, but it is the same river of stars.]
Sui An didn’t understand the words “high-tech,” but that was enough. If this world broke away from the script and gave birth to its own consciousness, then that world would perhaps be even more beautiful than this moment.
Sui An propped herself up into a sitting position.
She looked down at the vine armor Xufu had given her. It also had several cuts. If not for this armor, she probably wouldn’t be far from death. But the thought that Xufu had been monitoring her for Tan Yun all along created a knot in her heart that she couldn’t untangle.
She sighed and used her sword as a staff to stand.
The bottom of the cliff was covered in layers of rubble. Not far away, the stream had stopped flowing. Some place must have been blocked by this lightning tribulation.
Sui An swallowed an Origin Recovery Pill.
After regulating her breath for a moment, she extended a fingertip, and a small string of flames appeared, illuminating the surroundings. She followed the path of the stream back. After walking for a moment, she suddenly stopped, realizing that the surrounding barrier had been destroyed. If she were to escape now, it would be the perfect opportunity.
But she quickly dismissed this thought.
Although the dazzling world outside was tempting, she only had a Foundation Establishment stage cultivation. It would not be wise to rush out into the world so rashly.
Sui An saw the body of a fellow disciple lying not far away. She walked closer and looked at the girl. Her face was delicate, and judging by her bone age, she wasn’t very old. The fragrance was gone; the jade was shattered2.
This was the life of a cultivator, to die from all sorts of unexpected situations. “What a pity for such a fine age.”
Sui An took her waist token.
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Glossary
Demon Slaying Branch Sect (斩魔分宗, Zhǎn Mó Fēnzōng): The name of the sect, with 分宗 (fēnzōng) specifying it as a “branch” of a larger, main sect (the Dao Xuan Sect).
Illusionary Mirror (虚镜, xūjìng): The magical mirrors used to observe the trial from afar.
Spiritual Energy Wall (灵力墙, línglì qiáng): A defensive barrier created by cultivators combining their spiritual energy.
Protective Armor (护甲, hùjiǎ): Refers to the vine armor vest that Xufu gave to Sui An.
Celestial Fairy (天仙, tiānxiān): A term used to describe an immortal or a woman of otherworldly beauty and grace.
High-tech (高科技, gāokējì): A loanword from English, directly transliterated. The system uses it, but Sui An, being from a cultivation world, does not understand it.
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Reika’s Notes:
- The translation of this chapter will be in parts because it’s very long.
- A regular chapter is around 3000 characters. This one is 9516 characters.
- This text was translated by RudeGirl and given to BC Novels for publication.
- I helped with the footnotes, formatting, grammar, etc., the usual stuff that is needed to post this on the website.
- Please let me know if there are any errors. Thanks for reading!
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- 长戟高门 – basically, an idiom for the home of the rich and powerful. This is unfortunately impossible to translate properly without a long explanation. The literal meaning is “long halberds and high gates.” It’s a literary allusion to the line 鸣钟食鼎，积代衣缨；长戟高门，因循礼乐。from You Xian Ku (遊仙窟) meaning “Journey to the Immortals’ Grotto.” The full line is “Ringing bells and eating from cauldrons, generations accumulate official robes and caps; long halberds and high gates, following the rites and music.” This paints a picture of a wealthy noble family in the Tang Dynasty.
- 消香玉陨 – a poetic and literary idiom used to describe the death of a beautiful young woman