Chapter 298

Chapter 298: Ling Xiao’s Tribulation Crossing, Heaven and Earth Change

After sending out the message, Immortal Lord Chang Li soon got a reply from Immortal Maiden Azure Luan. The Heart-Link Pearl clutched in his palm flickered on and off, which made him excited. He tapped the pearl with his fingertip to read the message.

The message flowed straight into his Divine Sense, and only the one holding the Heart-Link Pearl could see it. Shen Sang Ruo and Daoist Wu Wei waited nearby for Immortal Lord Chang Li to tell them the news.

Immortal Lord Chang Li said in a steady voice: “Azure Luan went back to her clan for some business. It should have taken only a short time, but she ran into some trouble.”

He added with a frown: “She is tied down and cannot get away, so she could not send a message out. She says we should not worry.”

Then he relaxed a little and muttered: “It probably is not a big deal. If it were, Azure Luan would have used the Heart-Link Pearl to call us for help.”

They all finally set their minds at ease. Still, Immortal Lord Chang Li grumbled under his breath, face souring the more he thought about it: “So long without a word, not even a quick check-in with this Immortal Lord, and I worried for nothing.” [Does she not know how to send me a message with the Heart-Link Pearl? She has probably forgotten me already.]

Shen Sang Ruo guessed most of her Master’s thoughts. With Immortal Maiden Azure Luan’s proud nature, she would rather hold her tongue than speak first. The fact that she replied at all was already rare.

She leaned closer and asked with a smile: “Master, what did you just say?”

Immortal Lord Chang Li, pulled out of his own head and a bit startled, pretended to be calm as he waved it off: “Nothing, nothing important.”

Shen Sang Ruo shook her head. [Their business is best left to the two of them.] She wanted to help, but she had no experience with this. She shifted the topic and asked: “Where are Immortal Maiden Azure Luan’s people?”

She had always seen Azure Luan living alone in the Windmoon Spirit Void and rarely going out, so she thought Azure Luan had left her clan. She had never heard where the Azure Luan Clan lived in the cultivation world.

Immortal Lord Chang Li explained carefully: “It is not that I refuse to tell you. This matter needs Azure Luan’s consent. If she agrees, I can tell you.” He knew Azure Luan was very sensitive about her clan.

Shen Sang Ruo nodded and said: “Disciple understands. I will ask Immortal Maiden Azure Luan for permission later.” She knew sending with the Heart-Link Pearl cost a lot of energy, so there was no need to use it just for this question. It was only curiosity, not a must-know.

Daoist Wu Wei stood up and clapped his hands as he changed the subject: “Now that your mind is settled, it is time for us to be Sang Girl’s tools for practicing Soul Extraction.” He gave Immortal Lord Chang Li a playful push and shooed: “Come on, come on.”

Shen Sang Ruo followed with a laugh and said: “Thank you, Sect Master and Master.”

Pulling the souls of these two was much harder than with Snake Maiden and Zhu Miao. Her guess was right. The Soul-Link between them really did affect the extraction. Luckily she had asked Daoist Wu Wei and Immortal Lord Chang Li to keep helping her practice, or her odds of dragging the Malevolent Spirit out of Bai Mu Mu would drop again.

Daoist Wu Wei’s soul was easier to extract. After a few tries, Shen Sang Ruo could do it smoothly, as long as he did not resist and worked with her. Extracting Immortal Lord Chang Li’s soul was far harder. As a Late Divine Transformation cultivator, his soul was frighteningly strong.

Over the next few days, Shen Sang Ruo focused on extracting Immortal Lord Chang Li’s soul. After she became skilled, she planned to try again while he actively resisted. First, his soul was stronger, and hard targets helped her improve faster. Second, Daoist Wu Wei was already an old man, and she could not bear to keep tossing him around. She did not want people saying she bullied the elderly.

Day after day passed, and the time to test Bai Mu Mu grew closer. With about ten days left, the signs of heaven and earth suddenly changed.

In just fifteen minutes, the bright sunny sky turned dim. It looked as if a thick layer of fog covered the light, and anyone who did not know better would think it was already dusk. A wild wind howled next, and flashes of lightning came with booming thunder that rattled the heart.

At that moment, Shen Sang Ruo had just finished practicing her Soul Method and was chatting in her cave abode with the others.

Fang Yu jumped at a loud crack of thunder and looked around nervously as he blurted: “What is going on? Did a heretic cultivator break in?”

Little Shi rolled her eyes, slapped his thigh, and said in exasperation: “Someone is undergoing Tribulation Crossing.” Then she scolded him: “Can you please hope for something good, Elder Brother Fang Yu?”

Fang Yu hugged his arms around himself and shook as he stammered: “Tribulation Crossing? I have never crossed a tribulation, how would I know? And this is too scary.” [Will I be struck like this in the future? Maybe staying at Golden Core is not so bad.]

He peered out of the cave and said with a gulp: “When Immortal Lord Chang Li crossed his tribulation, it was never this loud. Who is it this time?”

Everyone thought of the same person.

Shen Sang Ruo kept her face calm and said evenly: “It looks like Master Ling Xiao is about to break through to Void Refinement.” She acted like she did not care, but she cared a little. [If Master Ling Xiao succeeds, Flying Cloud Sect will use it to stir up trouble. Headache.] She started thinking about how she and Ninghua Sect should respond.

Fang Yu rubbed his chin and muttered with scorn in his eyes: “He is already breaking into the Void Refining Stage? Tsk. The Heavenly Dao must be blind if someone like him can reach Void Refinement.”

Before anyone could answer, a bolt of lightning slammed down and struck the ground half an inch in front of Fang Yu. Half of his hair frizzed into charred ends at once.

A gaping hole tore open in the roof of Shen Sang Ruo’s cave abode. The building materials were special to begin with, which showed just how strong this Heavenly Lightning Tribulation was. Through the new hole, layers of dark clouds pressed low, and a second strike seemed ready to fall.

While everyone was still wondering why Master Ling Xiao’s Heavenly Lightning Tribulation had hit over here, Fang Yu pressed his palms together and bowed toward the hole again and again as he babbled: “Ah, ah, ah! I will never badmouth you again! I was wrong, I was wrong! Please stop striking me!”

He had just said the Heavenly Dao was blind, so the Heavenly Dao used a perfect strike to show that its eyes were just fine.

Fang Yu poured out a stream of praise for the Heavenly Dao, and the clouds above finally began to fade. He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, looking badly shaken.

Little Shi shook her head like a disappointed elder and said: “I told you to hope for good things. You would not listen, and you made the Heavenly Dao mad.”

Song Wei Yan gave Fang Yu a big thumbs up and drawled: “You dare to insult the Heavenly Dao at a time like this. You are something.”

Su Xi Yu glanced up at the hole and said softly: “Come to think of it, this is the first time I have ever felt the Heavenly Dao so clearly.”