Sang Dai turned and looked up at him. The two of them had done countless intimate things over the past days and had never left each other’s side, possessing everything of each other.
Su Xuan’s eyes, which were already beautiful, now shone even brighter, like stars. His thin lips curved slightly. She could feel the intense love in his gaze, and these eyes had conveyed endless affection to her over the past days.
Although many of his words made Sang Dai blush with embarrassment, her heart quickly fell, and the same was true for the little fox.
He adored her immensely whenever he saw her, cupping Sang Dai’s face to kiss her, childish but incredibly adorable.
Su Xuan took her hand and walked out of the back mountain. The two of them instantly teleported to the outskirts of the Beast Realm, leaving the Zhenhua Crossing where they had stayed for a month.
A hundred miles outside the main city of the Beast Realm was a desolate wilderness, uninhabited and the most suitable place to undergo the tribulation. There would be no risk of anyone being accidentally struck by their tribulation thunder.
When they stopped, they both looked up. Thick clouds were gradually forming in the sky.
The fierce winds howled across the plain, and the sound of the wind was like the wailing of evil spirits. The ground appeared dark like the end of the world, with thick clouds obscuring the sunlight. There was no light to be seen here.
“Dai Dai, this time, I will cross the tribulation with you.” Su Xuan held her hand tightly. “I will never leave you.”
Upon hearing this, Sang Dai also smiled and said, “If we cross the tribulation together, the tribulation thunder will be even more terrifying. Are you afraid?”
“If you’re not afraid, what do I have to fear?” Su Xuan’s brows curved into a smile. “I told you, I will always hold your hand until the end of my life.”
“Where will you go with me after the tribulation?”
“To meet Immortal Ying Heng.”
“And then?”
“To Guixu, to fight.” Su Xuan bent down and gently kissed her forehead. “And then, we will survive, live together, and return to our home.”
The next thousands and thousands of years to come.
His and her lifetime, a life Su Xuan had longed for, he didn’t know how many years.
Sang Dai stood on tiptoe, wrapping her arms around his neck. She lifted her head and kissed his lips, their tongues intertwining, bringing not lust, but mutual preciousness and love.
Sang Dai was thankful. She hadn’t lost her mind, and Su Xuan hadn’t gone mad.
Inside the main city of the Beast Realm, there was an eerie silence. Commoners stood on the streets, gazing at the clouds in the distance. The tribulation clouds stretched for hundreds of miles. Even from this far away, they could feel the terrifying pressure.
It was almost impossible to stand.
Since the Guixu spiritual veins had been corrupted, no tribulation-crossing cultivator had appeared in the cultivation world for thousands of years. Cultivators had been practicing with the toxic Guixu spiritual veins, and their spiritual power was also tainted with poison. The number of Yuan-level spiritual roots had decreased dramatically, and even Earth-level spiritual roots could only cultivate up to the Grand Ascension stage.
At the end of the crowd stood a young man in red, his black hair tied up with a jade crown. His striking face was filled with solemnity.
Sang Dai and Su Xuan, worried about the tribulation thunder affecting the commoners, had gone to the wilderness outside the Beast Realm to undergo the tribulation.
Liu Lixue had never witnessed a tribulation thunder before. It came from eighty-one thunderbolts, struck down by the Daoist himself.
There were two fewer bolts than the Grand Ascension stage, only seven.
But even a single tribulation thunder was incomparable to ten thunderbolts of the Grand Ascension stage.
The clouds grew thicker, and the lightning weaving through them became thicker and more violent.
“Are the Master and Madam crossing the tribulation together?”
“That should be the case. Didn’t Elder Liu say so? He told us not to go outside the city today, not to approach the wilderness. The city is protected by the city defense barrier, so we won’t be harmed.”
“Nothing will go wrong?”
“Phh, phh, phh! Shut up! How could anything go wrong?”
“I was being too talkative. Nothing will go wrong, nothing at all.”
The demons couldn’t help but look at Liu Lixue at the front of the crowd, secretly admiring him. As expected of the steward of the Xingque Palace, such calmness was not something ordinary people possessed.
Liu Lixue appeared calm, his expression still relaxed and peaceful.
But only he knew that his hand, hidden beneath his wide sleeves, had long since clenched into a fist. His heartbeat was chaotic and irregular.
The Heavenly Dao wanted to kill Sang Dai and Su Xuan. The previous Ascension thunder tribulation had nearly cost them their lives. Now, it was the tribulation thunder, the thunder from the eighty-one heavens.
“Master, Madam…”
At that moment, the tribulation thunder crashed down.
The shockwave spread all the way to the main city, shaking the ground, but it was blocked by the city’s protective barrier.
At the top of the Sword Sect’s Tianque Mountain, the white-robed sword cultivator was meditating with his eyes closed.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes. Before Shen Feng had time to react, he had already leaped out of the main hall.
On the side of Shen Ciyu, the Beast Realm stretched for thousands of miles. The clouds were invisible, but high-level cultivators could feel the immense pressure.
Shen Feng thought something had gone wrong and hurriedly came to his side to ask, “What happened, Ciyu?”
Shen Ciyu clenched his fists, but the corner of his mouth curled up into a smile.
“Father, she’s crossing the tribulation.”
“Who?” Shen Feng didn’t react at first. When he saw the smile at the corner of Shen Ciyu’s lips, he suddenly understood.
It was Sang Dai.
He asked in confusion, “Wasn’t she just at the peak of the Grand Ascension stage? What’s going on…?”
Shen Ciyu replied, “This is the tribulation thunder.”
Shen Feng felt his throat go dry.
Tribulation thunder, such a foreign term.
It had been so many years since the cultivation world had seen a tribulation-crossing cultivator.
Looking at Shen Ciyu’s smiling face, Shen Feng suddenly understood.
His son’s affection for that female cultivator was destined.
She was tough and powerful, always full of endless possibilities.
As long as it was Sang Dai, it seemed like anything was possible.
In the Burning Heaven Realm, Ling Yin sat on a tree, gazing into the distance.
A young man with a pale complexion approached beneath the tree. His features were handsome, and his wide robe trailed on the ground.
Ling Yin smiled and said, “They’re about to cross the tribulation.”
Fu You didn’t speak, only looking up at Ling Yin.
After all these years, it was the first time Ling Yin saw him not hiding away. She knew he had arrived, yet she still sat on the tree, neither avoiding him nor sending evil spirits to chase him away.
Ling Yin lowered her gaze to look at the person under the tree, her black hair falling loosely.
“Fu You, you’ve grown up so much. When I raised you, you were still just a child. But don’t blame me for abandoning you. The Burning Heaven Realm is not a place where a child like you could stay for long.”
Fu You pressed his lips tightly together, but his eyes suddenly reddened. “Was it worth guarding this place all these years?”
Ling Yin said, “It was worth it. I think I’m about to get what I’ve been waiting for.”
Fu You asked, “What are you waiting for?”
Ling Yin replied, “I’m waiting for Sang Dai to come and take me out of this Burning Heaven Realm.”
Fu You smiled lightly, “Then I’m about to get what I’m waiting for too.”
Ling Yin raised an eyebrow and said, “What are you waiting for?”
Fu You looked at her, and for the first time, this evil spirit seemed to soften.
“I’m waiting for her to take you out.”
Thunderbolts of tribulation struck again and again, and in an instant, three had already fallen.
Tian Yuxue threw the fruit peel at Ji Cang’s face. “My good friend, Sang Dai, is crossing the tribulation. After this, she’ll definitely need spiritual veins to replenish her energy and blood. Go cut some spiritual veins and send them to her!”
Ji Cang gritted his teeth, holding back his urge to curse, and with a twitch at the corner of his eye, he angrily said, “You’ve already secretly cut three of my spiritual veins and sent them to the Beast Realm! My Demon cultivators need spiritual veins too. There’s already plenty in the Beast Realm, and Su Xuan has money, so he can come buy them!”
Tian Yuxue jumped off the railing. “If you won’t cut them, I’ll go find Young Master Qiu to play. Chunqiu Tower is much more fun than here. I won’t come back for three years!”
Ji Cang blocked her with a cold face. “I’ll only cut the last one. If you dare act up again, don’t ever leave the Demon Realm again!”
Tian Yuxue smiled mischievously, “When Dai Dai finishes her tribulation, I’ll go play with her.”
Ji Cang sneered, “Do as you wish.”
The sixth tribulation thunder had already fallen.
Sang Dai struggled to support herself on the ground, and Su Xuan spit out blood, gripping her hand.
“Dai Dai…”
Sang Dai lifted her eyes to look at him. The silver hairpin that the little fox had tied in her hair had been struck and shattered. She suddenly smiled and said, “Su Xuan, this hairpin of yours isn’t very good. My nine-ring hairpin hasn’t broken yet.”
Su Xuan kissed her forehead. “Of course, the nine-ring hairpin I gave you is not something ordinary pins can compare to.”
In truth, both of them were running out of breath.
The Heavenly Dao didn’t want them to survive. The tribulation thunder fell without pause, and their spiritual energy shields were shattered time after time.
Only one tribulation thunder remained.
The chaotic eyes in the clouds coldly gazed at the two of them. It could not interfere with the fate of mortals, so it could only rely on the tribulation thunder it had summoned, attempting to kill them.
Sang Dai suddenly rushed into Su Xuan’s arms, and the two of them channeled all their spiritual energy, solidifying it into a protective barrier.
“Su Xuan, I won’t let you die.”
“I will definitely protect you both.”
Sang Dai closed her eyes and channeled the Guixu spiritual energy to reverse the flow through her meridians. The golden-yellow Guixu energy moved around them, growing stronger and stronger.
The final tribulation thunder descended.
Su Xuan bent down and held Sang Dai tightly, wrapping his arms around the slender sword cultivator, completely enveloping her.
The tribulation thunder crashed heavily against their protective barrier.
The surrounding mountains within a radius of several dozen miles collapsed, and the shockwave struck the city’s protective barrier. The demons in the area stared in fear at the distant clouds.
The clouds hovered and swirled for nearly half an hour.
Then, they gradually dissipated.
“Did the Master and Madam finish the tribulation?”
“Did they succeed?”
“I’m not sure…”
Liu Lixue’s hand trembled. Thinking of something, he suddenly turned and teleported away.
—
The dark clouds that had covered most of the Beast Realm dispersed, and sunlight broke through the clouds.
Nangong Zhu sat in the courtyard like a sculpture, not even glancing at the heavy, terrifying clouds that had just passed.
At this moment, the door to the room opened.
Ying Heng, dressed in loose white robes, appeared. His figure was so thin that even ordinary clothes could barely hold up.
His face was pale, as though he had just recovered from a serious illness. His black hair was messy, tied with a hairband.
His features were handsome, and his eyes seemed to carry the gentle warmth of spring water, a stark contrast to the numb and hollow gaze from before.
He accurately located Nangong Zhu and gave him a gentle smile.
“Young Master Nangong.”
Nangong Zhu stood up, his breath unstable.
“Ying Heng, how much of your five senses have recovered?”
“Hearing, sight, and touch have recovered. Taste and smell have not yet.”
“What about your memories?”
“I’ve remembered many things… including the death of your parents.”
Nangong Zhu closed his eyes, tears falling uncontrollably.
He had finally received an answer.
At that moment, the door to the small courtyard suddenly crashed open.
Ying Heng looked up.
The sword cultivator, dressed in blue, still had bloodstains on her clothes, which were torn and her hair disheveled.
Her face was covered with scars, and the exposed skin had injuries from being struck by lightning.
She didn’t look well, as if she had just crossed the tribulation and then instantly teleported over, looking weary and travel-worn.
But despite the dirt and blood on her face, her delicate features could still be seen, now more mature than the youthful appearance she once had. Her eyes were gentle yet resilient, always shining brightly.
She was like a tough flower, capable of breaking through obstacles and blooming in the cracks of stones.
Ying Heng had imagined her appearance many times, but seeing her in person made him realize that his previous thoughts were wrong.
So this is how she looks after growing up—beautiful and strong.
Ying Heng’s eyes curved into a smile, his voice warm with affection. “Dai Dai.”
“Master…”
Sang Dai stumbled toward him. Although it was only a few steps, it felt like half a lifetime had passed.
She threw herself into his embrace, the tears that she had been holding back from the tribulation finally pouring out.
“Master…”
The journey had been so difficult. She had endured one hundred and twenty-two years of loneliness, thinking that she would spend her life alone, searching for someone who could never be found, living a life of solitude, walking a wrong path that led to sacrificing herself for the Immortal Realm.
But now, she had finally found her true path.
The Weisheng family contract had given her a second chance.