Though the Purple-Gold Luo Jade Plate was the treasured artifact of the Zheng Yi Sect's Ling Gong School, a rare supreme magical implement in the world, the power of such an object ultimately could not compare to the might of Heaven. After enduring dozens of continuous strikes from heavenly lightning bolts outside in the Great Thousand World, it finally slowed its rotation, and a crack appeared on its body.
Zi Yuan nervously clenched her fists, concentrating on counting the strikes of the heavenly lightning. At first, when a bolt struck, the world shook once, and she could keep count. But then the bolts came in rapid succession, striking down almost without pause. The Minor Thousand World shook violently and ceaselessly; how could she possibly count them anymore?
She could only watch, helpless, as cracks spread across the sky and entire ranges of towering mountains collapsed in swathes, the scene eerily similar to the movie 2012—a vision of the world’s end!
Li Yundong, meanwhile, was deep in meditation, locked in a desperate struggle with the lightning power within his body, completely unaware of the situation outside. Zi Yuan glanced at him, hesitating whether to wake him, when suddenly, with a deafening boom, the Minor Thousand World created by the Purple-Gold Luo Jade Plate completely disintegrated.
In the blink of an eye, Zi Yuan and Li Yundong were thrust back from the Minor Thousand World into the Great Thousand World. Dark, heavy clouds churned overhead, punctuated by terrifying flashes of lightning and thunder.
Zi Yuan looked up and saw the Purple-Gold Luo Jade Plate cleaved into two pieces, falling through the air. She instinctively reached out to catch them, only to find that the Jade Plate, usually radiating spiritual energy, now felt no different from two common stones.
One of the three ultimate treasures of the Ling Gong School, destroyed by her own hand?
The thought flashed through Zi Yuan’s mind, but she had no time to dwell on it. She saw the churning clouds above begin to condense intensely—a scene identical to the final, overwhelming strike Li Yundong had faced within the Minor Thousand World. The sky was brewing one last, magnificent, unstoppable blow!
Zi Yuan glanced down at Li Yundong, then at the shattered Purple-Gold Luo Jade Plate in her hands. She bit down hard, let out a great shout, and with a flick of her wrist, abruptly held a mirror aloft over her head.
This mirror erupted with seven-colored light, instantly flying three meters above Zi Yuan’s head, growing larger and larger until, in moments, it completely shielded the area where she and Li Yundong stood.
This was the Heaven-Piercing Glazed Mirror, one of the three ultimate treasures of the Ling Gong School, capable of seeing a thousand miles and reflecting all spells in existence!
Two seconds after Zi Yuan manifested the Heaven-Piercing Glazed Mirror, a torrent of lightning bolts descended from the sky, instantly scouring the area spanning a li around their location, as if plowing the earth!
Even though they were far from where the tribulation struck, the citizens of Tiannan City felt a monstrous CRACK overhead, as if the sky itself had suddenly split open. The previously dark surroundings were momentarily flooded with brilliant light, as if nine suns had erupted in the sky, leaving no shadow anywhere on the ground!
Even though this heavenly lightning would not strike them directly, in that instant, every person felt a chill crawl down their spine. Countless young children and women burst into tears, terrified by the world-shaking thunder.
Even the snakes and insects that usually hid in the shadows and cracks in the earth fled frantically outward. On the distant Tianlong Mountain, cultivators from various sects stared gravely in the direction of the heavenly tribulation, murmuring amongst themselves.
“That’s the eighty-first bolt, the final one. I wonder if the one undergoing the tribulation will survive it!”
“Hmph, are you a rookie who just started cultivating? Who undergoes a lightning tribulation in the autumn? Isn't that inviting death?”
“Senior Brother, why can’t one face the tribulation in autumn?”
“Hmph, since you called me Senior Brother so sincerely, I’ll share some wisdom. Among the four seasons, spring lightning is the most powerful, but spring is when all things grow, filled with vitality. Though the heavenly lightning is fierce, it carries inherent life force, which cultivators can best absorb. That’s why cultivators undertake lightning tribulations exclusively in the spring. Autumn is the season when all things begin to wither; the heavenly lightning is utterly stern and killing, devoid of any life force. Undergoing a tribulation now is practically guaranteed death!”
“Ah? Then why is this person facing the tribulation in autumn?”
“Hmph, how would I know? Perhaps they violated some heavenly decree and triggered the tribulation?”
While the distant cultivators on Tianlong Mountain could still sense the terrifying pressure of the heavenly tribulation, Zi Yuan, situated at the epicenter, was paralyzed by it, her limbs numb, her fingers unable to move.
If not for the protection of the Heaven-Piercing Glazed Mirror above her head, she would have been reduced to ashes in an instant!
As these countless bolts of lightning struck down, the surface of the Glazed Mirror instantly reflected the flashes back. The lightning scattered in all directions—some shot straight up into the sky, others flew towards the ground, carving out massive pits, or struck the forests, igniting fires.
Zi Yuan felt a blinding flash sweep over her surroundings, followed quickly by the sky dimming again. Then, within the churning clouds, a pair of majestic eyes appeared, staring down as if unwilling to yield, only slowly dissipating after a long moment.
Slowly, the swirling clouds drifted apart, and the world returned to its normal brightness. Zi Yuan watched as the Heaven-Piercing Glazed Mirror gently floated down before her. She reached out and caught it, instantly noticing that the mirror’s surface was covered in a dense network of cracks. Clearly, even this artifact was ruined under the most powerful impact of the heavenly lightning!
“The Heaven-Piercing Glazed Mirror, one of the Ling Gong School’s three ultimate treasures, has also been destroyed by my hand…” A sharp, tearing pain shot through Zi Yuan’s heart, and she nearly wept.
To help Li Yundong survive his tribulation, she had ruined two ultimate treasures in the blink of an eye!
“Is this worth it?” The thought suddenly crossed her mind, but quickly, she recalled the cryptic poem left by her Master.
“When the Golden Core appears, worldly ties are set; When thunder first sounds, the true self is met. The Spirit Mirror shatters in mortal calamity; The Immortal Sword struggles against the red string of fate.”
Zi Yuan held the fractured Heaven-Piercing Glazed Mirror, and tears began to fall, pat, pat, dripping onto the glass surface. She choked out, “Master, you were right. Your cryptic verses were not wrong.”
But if she had not intervened to save him? Wouldn't that prove her Master wrong?
Zi Yuan recalled her Master stroking her head, letting out a long sigh, and saying those words: “Zi Yuan, you don’t need to know why. You only need to know that this is your destiny!”
After sobbing for a while, Zi Yuan finally gathered the broken Heaven-Piercing Glazed Mirror and the Purple-Gold Luo Jade Plate, which was split in two. She gently wiped away her tears, placed a hand on Li Yundong’s shoulder, and flew back with him to their home in Hongsheng New District.
Shortly after they arrived, Ruan Hongling suddenly burst in through the balcony doors, shouting loudly as soon as she entered, “Sister Zi Yuan! Sister Zi Yuan!”
Zi Yuan emerged from the inner room, forcing a smile, and said, “You’re back?”
Ruan Hongling, whose nature was forthright, didn't notice the strange pallor on Zi Yuan’s face. She asked loudly, “Is the tribulation over? Where is Li Yundong? Did he pass the heavenly tribulation?”
Zi Yuan nodded with a strained smile, “Yes, he passed!”
Ruan Hongling’s mouth dropped open in astonishment. “He really passed? He’s that amazing? I thought he was certainly doomed!” Filled with excitement, she grabbed Zi Yuan’s hands and urged her, “Where is he? Take me to see him!”
Zi Yuan managed a weak smile. “He’s currently stabilizing his energy through meditation; don’t disturb him.”
Only then did Ruan Hongling realize something was wrong with Zi Yuan. She saw that while her senior sister’s face showed relief, it was overwhelmingly mixed with confusion, sorrow, and deep unhappiness. She couldn't help but ask, “Sister Zi Yuan, what’s wrong? What happened?”
Zi Yuan lowered her head, refusing to speak, her expression growing increasingly mournful.
Ruan Hongling had never seen Zi Yuan look like this, and she immediately panicked, stomping her foot. “Sister Zi Yuan, tell me what happened, please just say something!”
Zi Yuan knew such a thing couldn't be hidden forever. She sighed softly and retrieved the Purple-Gold Luo Jade Plate, split into two halves, from her robes.
When Ruan Hongling saw the Jade Plate shattered in two pieces, her eyes widened, and her body shook. But before she could speak, Zi Yuan produced the Heaven-Piercing Glazed Mirror—its surface was also riddled with cracks!
This shock was immense!
Ruan Hongling was horrified beyond measure, crying out involuntarily, “What is going on?”
Though impulsive, she was not foolish. She quickly grasped the crux of the matter. Ruan Hongling grasped Zi Yuan’s arm and shouted, “Sister Zi Yuan, you ruined two of our Ling Gong School’s ultimate treasures to help him pass the tribulation! Are you insane? Is he worth you doing this?”
Zi Yuan, however, grew calmer. She took a deep breath and sighed softly. “This is also part of my tribulation; there was nothing I could do, nothing to avoid!”
Ruan Hongling was both frantic and anxious. She cried out, “Our Ling Gong School is already looked down upon. Now that two of our three ultimate treasures are destroyed, we will be even more scorned! Sister Zi Yuan, you might be able to endure people bullying us, but I can’t! Will there even be a place for us on Dragon Tiger Mountain anymore!”
Zi Yuan closed her eyes, silent. After a long while, she slowly opened them and said, “Hongling, if the world slanders me, cheats me, insults me, laughs at me, looks down on me, demeans me, despises me, deceives me—how should I deal with them?”
This question was drawn from the famous dialogue between Hanshan and Shide. Ruan Hongling, well-read since childhood, certainly knew the next lines: “Just bear with him, let him be, ignore him, avoid him, tolerate him, respect him, pay him no mind, and wait a few more years to see what becomes of him.”
Knowing the answer and being able to abide by it were two different things. Ruan Hongling wept, “Sister Zi Yuan, why are you always like this, willing to wrong yourself rather than wrong others?”
Zi Yuan smiled faintly. “This is the path my Master showed me; you don’t understand, Hongling! When the day comes that you understand, you will know!”
Saying this, she seemed unwilling to dwell on the topic any longer and changed the subject, asking, “Have you arranged the souls of those two sisters yet?”
Ruan Hongling wiped her tears and nodded, but she quickly remembered something. She recounted how Zhang Tian had invited them to assist in besieging the Fox Zen Sect and asked, “Sister Zi Yuan, do you think we should go help?”
Zi Yuan pondered for a moment. “It wouldn’t hurt to go take a look and see what this is all about. Right, Li Yundong is currently circulating his energy to recover, so we shouldn’t disturb him. You leave a note telling him what happened with the Fox Zen Sect and the location; he’ll find his way there on his own.”
Ruan Hongling pouted, grumbling reluctantly, “You always think of everything for him. In the end, he won't appreciate any of it and only has eyes for that fox spirit!”
Zi Yuan glared at Hongling and snapped, “If you seek reward for everything you do, perhaps you should become a mercenary businessman smelling of copper! Why bother cultivating at all!”
Ruan Hongling retorted, “Being a businessman would be good! At least they wouldn’t be suckers pulling stunts like this!”
Zi Yuan angrily declared, “Are you still talking back!”
Seeing Zi Yuan genuinely angry, Ruan Hongling dared not say more, merely grumbling as she wrote the note and tossed it onto the coffee table in the living room. “There, I left it for him. Let’s go quickly!”
Zi Yuan nodded with a serious expression. As she took her final leave, she subconsciously glanced back at Li Yundong’s room. She knew clearly that when Li Yundong next opened his eyes, he would find that an infinitely vast realm of cultivation had truly opened its gate to him; from then on, his potential was limitless!
As the saying goes: The sea is wide enough for a fish to leap; the sky is high enough for a bird to soar!
“I wonder how far he will eventually go…” Zi Yuan murmured softly to herself, then she and Ruan Hongling transformed into two streaks of cyan light, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
Not long after they departed, a gust of wind blew in from outside, catching the note on the coffee table and sending it fluttering to the ground...