Chapter 219

Chapter 219: Foundation Establishment, Spirit Rain, Possession

The old woman glared at the thunderclouds full of heaven’s might. Her eyes were cold, yet full of fear. As a demonic cultivator, she would never face tribulation lightning upon raising her cultivation base, because heaven and earth did not recognize their path at all. Even if it did, they would not dare to meet tribulation lightning. Heaven already disliked cultivators, and it loathed demonic cultivators who rose by crooked means. Once found, a demonic cultivator would be struck as if to be killed.

She had not reached the Foundation Establishment Realm. Now, staring at those clouds, she felt both envy and jealousy. Her cruel nature even stirred up a fierce urge to ruin everything. She forced it down. Not out of kindness, but out of fear. Rats like them feared righteous thunder the most.

So she could only watch as nine bolts of tribulation lightning fell one after another. When they faded, auspicious clouds bloomed. That meant that here, in the thin spiritual energy of the Great Sheng Empire, a cultivator had reached the Foundation Establishment Realm. Someone at Foundation Establishment could easily crush her.

Luckily, she was always careful and never offended people she could not afford to offend. Her dead partner had been even more cautious. He would never provoke such a powerhouse. As for why he died in the Great Sheng Empire, she only thought he had been blinded by lust and tricked by that young girl. She had heard that girl was a beauty.

Out in a wild stretch of land, dozens of miles from the Capital City, Yu Zhi Yi’s dress had been blasted to rags by tribulation lightning. The torn cloth hung pitifully from her body, and through the gaps you could see scorched skin. Even now, her heart hadn’t calmed down.

She had never expected the merit light to be so strong. She had refined only five strands, and she had suddenly broken through into the Foundation Establishment Realm. She had thought it would take at least three or four days to reach the threshold. The sudden breakthrough caught her off guard, leaving her in a sorry state.

Thankfully, she had gathered many good items recently. Not only did her own defensive magical artifact help, the prayer beads Madam Yao had given her held great power. They blocked most of the tribulation lightning. Even with artifacts, some of the lightning still struck Yu Zhi Yi directly. At first she worried and wanted to pull out more defensive talismans. But after the first bolt ended, she found that the lightning could temper her body. She decisively stopped relying on artifacts to block everything.

There were nine bolts in all, each stronger than the last. Each time, Yu Zhi Yi used only three defensive talismans to offset part of the strike, and she bore most of the power herself.

It hurt. It hurt a lot. The feeling of being torn apart by lightning was awful. Yu Zhi Yi hadn’t had an easy life, but she had never suffered like this. She felt as if not only her body had been smashed to pieces, but even her spirit platform was close to collapse.

Just when she thought she couldn’t hold on, the tribulation lightning ended. Yu Zhi Yi gulped the air that smelled of char. In that smell, there was even the burned scent of her own flesh. She gave a bitter smile. Right now, lifting one finger felt like it took all the strength in her body. If the demonic cultivator came seeking revenge, he would find her for sure. She did not want to die. [I can’t die. I finally escaped that ridiculous marriage and the Yu Clan. I finally have my own single-woman registration and a new life. I can’t die now.]

Driven by a strong will to live, she began to move her dantian, trying to turn merit into spiritual energy to restore herself.

All at once, a cool breeze passed by. The clouds above broke apart, and rosy light spread across the sky. Then clear rain fell from above. Raindrops landed on Yu Zhi Yi’s face and she froze. [Spirit rain?]

Her shock lasted only a blink. She steadied her mind and began to absorb the power of the rain. The spiritual energy inside these drops was pure. She didn’t need to convert it. She could use it right away. After reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm, Yu Zhi Yi’s dantian had grown more than three times larger, and her speed of absorbing spiritual energy had soared.

Very soon, most of the spirit rain turned into the purest spiritual energy and entered her dantian. From there it flowed through her limbs and bones, repairing her lightning-torn body. Once her body healed, the energy kept moving, tempering her again and again, then returning to her dantian. Then it started over. Again and again.

Yu Zhi Yi found that after entering the Foundation Establishment Realm, she no longer needed to focus hard to guide the spiritual energy inside her. With only light guidance, the energy could follow a set path, slowly flowing to refine her meridians and body over and over. Although it was slower than full focus, the result was still very good.

About a quarter of an hour later, the spirit rain stopped. The auspicious clouds faded. Yu Zhi Yi had fully recovered. She felt better than ever. After Foundation Establishment, her six senses were sharper, and she felt full of power. She had a strong sense that if she met that demonic cultivator who had set the Hundred-Dream Slaughter formation again, she could kill him easily without using much strength.

Looking toward the Capital City, she now noticed something she hadn’t seen before. Though no heavy yin energy covered the city, a trace of evil and a hint of formation energy lingered above it. This formation felt very similar to the seal she had seen on the fox paperweight in Prince Ping’s Manor.

She willed it, and her body flashed a hundred meters away. The power of the Foundation Establishment Realm was truly different.

Imperial Palace.

Watching the last of the auspicious clouds fade, the old woman felt her resentment grow. Since she was young, she always paid back every slight and hated seeing others do better than she did. She had heard that righteous cultivators faced dangerous tribulation lightning, but if they succeeded, the reward was great. Some with strong destiny might even receive signs of fortune after the lightning passed. It was heaven’s gift to righteous cultivators for their hard work. But demonic cultivators did not face deadly tribulation lightning, and they also received no heaven-sent blessings.

That unknown cultivator was clearly someone with great destiny. Such a person must have excellent bones and top talent. [If I could seize that body, wouldn’t all of it become mine?] Normally she would never dare to go after someone in the Foundation Establishment Realm. But now that person had just gone through tribulation lightning and was at their weakest. At that thought, a burning heat rose in her heart.

Meanwhile, many in the Capital City also noticed the strange sight in the distance. The ex-husband, no, the ex-ex-husband Zhang Tian Shun, felt the scene looked familiar, as if he had seen it before, and thought: [Where did I see this?] But no matter how he searched his memory, he could not recall when.

Du Zi Heng’s heart suddenly tightened with pain, and he thought: [It feels like I lost something forever.]