Chapter 341 - Void Lightning and the Hidden Aura

Chapter 341: Chapter 341 - Void Lightning and the Hidden Aura

The preparations on the Main Peak were completed faster than Huo Yan would have preferred and slower than the heavens appeared willing to tolerate.

By the time Shen Youran arrived, the tribulation clouds had already followed her from Silent Orchid Peak.

Darkness spread above Radiant Sky Sect as she descended toward the center of the newly prepared grounds.

Formation lines covered the surrounding platforms, layer after layer joining into a structure far more complicated than what an ordinary breakthrough would require.

Several formations were there to withstand the aftermath of the tribulation.

Others isolated the breakthrough grounds from the rest of the sect.

The outermost layers distorted sight and spiritual perception, preventing anyone beyond the permitted area from examining the person undergoing the breakthrough too closely.

That precaution was especially important today.

The visiting cultivators were already suppressed by the Sect-Scale Suppression Formation and could barely extend their spiritual senses beyond themselves, but Radiant Sky Sect had no intention of allowing outsiders to freely observe an elder’s cultivation during such a sensitive breakthrough.

Several senior figures had gathered outside the inner formations.

Li Xuanzong stood near the front with Lu Canghai and the Peak Masters, while the Ancestors who had only recently returned to meditation had once again emerged.

Before Shen Youran entered the formation, Yao Ding stepped forward and held out a small jade bottle.

"Take this."

Shen Youran accepted it and glanced inside.

The medicinal aura escaping from the bottle was dense enough for her to recognize it immediately.

A Void-Breaking Pill.

The pill would not shield her from the tribulation, nor would it remove the dangers waiting inside the Void. Its purpose was simpler. It would stabilize her foundation during the breakthrough and help her seize the moment when the barrier to Void-Shattering finally opened.

Shen Youran gave Yao Ding a small nod.

Yao Ding nodded back.

Nothing more needed to be said.

Shen Youran acknowledged the others with another slight nod before walking into the center of the formation.

Huo Yan watched every formation layer activate behind her.

Only after the final barrier stabilized did some of the tension leave his face.

"This should hold."

Yao Ding glanced toward the dark clouds.

"You said something similar before Martial Nephew Su’s tribulation."

Huo Yan slowly turned toward him.

Yao Ding looked away as though he had said nothing.

A moment later, two more figures approached.

Lu Canghai noticed them first.

Su Bai walked toward the gathering alongside Ji Ruyue.

Ji Ruyue had returned to Clear Cloud Peak and briefly explained that her master had already triggered the breakthrough after cultivating the completed Heartless Sutra.

Su Bai had naturally come to see it for himself.

He moved beside Lu Canghai and looked toward the center of the formation.

Shen Youran was already seated cross-legged.

Her white robes spread around her while the completed Heartless Sutra circulated steadily through her rebuilt foundation.

Before the tribulation truly began, she opened the jade bottle Yao Ding had given her and swallowed the Void-Breaking Pill.

The medicinal power spread through her body almost immediately, settling into her meridians and cultivation foundation before sinking deeper.

Shen Youran closed her eyes and allowed the medicine to stabilize completely.

Above her, thunder rolled.

Su Bai’s expression gradually became serious.

This was his first opportunity to witness a proper Void-Shattering tribulation from beginning to end.

He had no intention of wasting such a useful reference.

The surrounding spiritual pressure suddenly changed.

Everyone looked upward.

Deep within the dark clouds, a streak of black-violet lightning appeared.

Space around it cracked.

Thin black lines spread through the clouds before closing again, only for new ones to appear elsewhere.

Su Bai narrowed his eyes.

The lightning was carrying something ordinary tribulation lightning did not possess.

Void force.

One of the Ancestors spoke quietly.

"The first stage has begun."

Su Bai glanced toward him.

The Ancestor’s attention remained fixed on Shen Youran.

"Void Lightning tempers the foundation while forcing it to endure contact with spatial force. Surviving the lightning itself is only half the difficulty."

Su Bai understood almost immediately.

The lightning finally descended.

The world flashed.

A black-violet bolt tore through the sky and struck Shen Youran directly.

The protective formations shook.

Space around her collapsed inward for a brief instant.

The lightning entered her body along with the spatial force carried inside it.

Blood appeared across Shen Youran’s shoulder almost immediately as several fine wounds opened from within.

She did not move.

The Heartless Sutra continued circulating.

Su Bai watched closely.

Shen Youran had already experienced a Void-Shattering tribulation once.

That experience showed.

Her Qi met the incoming force before it could spread chaotically, guiding the lightning through established routes while her body endured the tempering.

The second bolt descended soon afterward.

It was stronger.

Space folded around Shen Youran before snapping back into place.

Her sleeve tore open.

A line of blood appeared along her arm.

She remained seated.

Lu Canghai gave a low whistle.

"She’s handling it better than most people facing Void-Shattering for the first time."

One of the Ancestors shook his head.

"Experience helps."

His expression became more serious as the third bolt formed.

"The tribulation itself does not seem weaker."

Shen Youran had noticed the same thing.

The Void Lightning descending upon her carried substantially more power than what she remembered from her first Void-Shattering tribulation.

Another bolt struck.

Her body trembled slightly.

Pain spread through her meridians as Void force tore at the pathways from within.

Shen Youran’s eyes remained closed.

The difference was becoming impossible to ignore.

Her rebuilt foundation was stronger.

Much stronger.

The incomplete Heartless Sutra had already been classified at Half-Supreme Grade. The complete version had opened a path even she had not fully understood yet.

Apparently, the heavens had noticed.

Shen Youran circulated the sutra again.

Another lightning bolt descended.

The injuries accumulating across her body were not the greatest problem.

Void force remained inside the wounds.

Every strand behaved like a tiny tear in space.

Even after the lightning itself dispersed, those remnants continued pulling at flesh and meridians, repeatedly reopening injuries before they could properly heal.

Shen Youran swallowed a medicinal pill.

Its energy spread through her body.

Several wounds began closing.

But the trapped Void force tore them open again.

Su Bai noticed immediately.

"So that’s the problem."

Lu Canghai glanced toward him.

Su Bai pointed toward the faint spatial distortions appearing around Shen Youran’s wounds.

"The lightning doesn’t completely leave after the strike."

The nearby Ancestor nodded.

"Void remnants."

He watched another bolt descend.

"That is why this stage kills so many cultivators. Surviving one strike means little if every strike leaves something behind."

As the tribulation progressed, those remnants would accumulate.

Eventually, the cultivator’s own body could become riddled with unstable spatial tears.

In extreme cases, the accumulated Void force could open suddenly and drag part of the cultivator into unstable space.

Medicinal pills could restore flesh, but they could not easily remove foreign Void force embedded deep inside a foundation.

Another strike landed.

Shen Youran’s breathing finally changed.

Several wounds across her side opened simultaneously.

Ji Ruyue’s fingers tightened faintly beside Su Bai.

Huo Yan’s expression darkened.

"We have something that might help."

Everyone looked toward him.

It took only a moment for them to understand.

The stored Heavenly Blessing.

Huo Yan had collected several vessels during Su Bai’s previous tribulation. Some had been consumed when Su Bai’s body was revived, but a portion remained.

Yao Ding frowned.

"The blessing could stabilize her injuries."

"It may also help remove the foreign Void force," one of the Ancestors said.

Huo Yan nodded.

The difficulty was getting it to her.

No one wanted to enter an active Void-Shattering tribulation.

The heavens were extremely sensitive during this stage.

Another powerful cultivator entering the tribulation zone could cause the heavenly punishment to escalate or expand its target.

Void tribulations were particularly dangerous because any disturbance in the surrounding spatial pressure could change the entire trial.

Silence settled over the group.

Su Bai raised his hand.

"I can take it."

Several heads turned toward him.

Lu Canghai’s expression immediately hardened.

"No."

"Master, hear me out first."

"No."

Su Bai stared at him.

Apparently, hearing him out was optional.

One of the Ancestors looked at Su Bai more carefully.

His expression changed.

"Wait."

He remembered that Su Bai’s presence was strangely difficult to grasp. That had become more obvious after the Nascent Soul breakthrough. His aura only became clear when he deliberately allowed it to surface.

The others gradually remembered the same thing.

During his own tribulation, the heavens had not reacted properly to him until his concealed presence was exposed.

Su Bai tapped his chest lightly.

"They aren’t noticing me right now."

Lu Canghai still looked unconvinced.

Su Bai continued before his master could reject the idea again.

"I’ll only deliver the vessels. I won’t approach Martial Aunt Shen directly."

The Ancestors exchanged glances.

Eventually, one of them nodded.

"If the heavens react, leave immediately."

Su Bai smiled.

"Of course."

Huo Yan retrieved a few vessels containing Heavenly Blessing.

He handed them over with considerably less enthusiasm than Su Bai displayed while accepting them.

Soon, the formation opened a narrow passage.

He entered.

The moment Su Bai crossed into the tribulation area, he felt the difference.

Void pressure brushed against his body.

The air itself felt unstable.

Another lightning bolt descended upon Shen Youran.

The impact sent spatial force sweeping outward.

A fragment of that force struck Su Bai.

Pain flashed through his shoulder.

His eyes brightened.

Deep inside his body, the Myriad-Calamity Vajra Body reacted.

The unfamiliar spatial tearing force was recorded immediately.

Su Bai suppressed his expression before anyone outside noticed how pleased he was.

He continued forward.

Shen Youran opened her eyes as he approached the edge of the inner zone.

"It’s dangerous here."

Another bolt formed overhead.

Su Bai stopped at a safe distance.

"I came to deliver something, Martial Aunt. The heavens aren’t detecting me right now, so please focus on your breakthrough."

He sent the vessels across with controlled Qi.

Shen Youran caught them.

Her gaze paused briefly on Su Bai.

"Thank you, Martial Nephew."

She hesitated for the smallest moment.

"And for the Heartless Sutra."

Su Bai smiled.

"No need to thank me."

Another wave of spatial force swept across him.

The Myriad-Calamity Vajra Body immediately began adapting to the new damage pattern.

Su Bai glanced upward.

"Martial Aunt, would you mind if I stayed here for a little while?"

Shen Youran looked at him.

"Why?"

"I want to feel the lightning."

For the first time since he entered, Shen Youran stared at him for several breaths.

Her expression remained calm.

Somehow, the silence still conveyed exactly what she thought of the request.

Su Bai coughed lightly.

"Only the aftermath."

Shen Youran remembered everything she knew about him.

That did not make the request sound more reasonable.

Eventually, she nodded.

"Stay away from the center."

"I will."

Shen Youran turned her attention back toward the heavens.

Another Void Lightning bolt descended.

The world shook.

She opened one of the vessels.

Pale heavenly radiance poured across her body.

The effect was immediate.

The blessing entered the damaged meridians and began stabilizing the wounds the medicinal pills had failed to close.

More importantly, the trapped spatial remnants weakened beneath the heavenly radiance.

One after another, the tiny spatial tears embedded in her body began settling.

Shen Youran’s circulation became smoother.

The tribulation itself did not weaken.

The next bolt was every bit as violent.

Now, however, the damage from the previous strikes was no longer accumulating without restraint.

Outside the formation, several senior figures visibly relaxed.

Inside, Su Bai was having an entirely different experience.

Fragments of spatial force continued washing across the edge of the tribulation zone.

He stopped standing.

He sat cross-legged.

Lu Canghai stared at him from outside.

Huo Yan slowly covered his face.

Su Bai closed his eyes as another wave of Void force struck his body.

The Myriad-Calamity Vajra Body recorded it again.

Muscles, bones, and flesh reacted to the unfamiliar spatial tearing pattern.

Its adaptation deepened.

Su Bai’s mouth nearly curved upward.

’This is useful.’

He allowed several more waves to strike him.

The pain was real. So was the improvement.

The rare force carried within a Void-Shattering tribulation was exactly the kind of thing his body had never properly encountered before.

Outside, no one knew whether to be worried or irritated.

Yao Ding eventually muttered, "He’s cultivating beside someone else’s tribulation."

Lu Canghai’s expression became complicated.

"He is staying away from the lightning."

That sounded considerably less reassuring when said aloud.

Ji Ruyue remained silent.

She had already watched Su Bai consume part of her soul earlier that day.

Apparently, sitting beside Void Lightning was only the second strangest thing he had done in front of her.

The Void Lightning continued descending.

Shen Youran endured each strike with the same calm precision she had shown from the beginning.

The stored Heavenly Blessing slowly diminished while repairing the accumulating damage.

Su Bai continued studying the tribulation from the edge.

Eventually, another thought surfaced.

He opened his eyes.

The Void Ring was turning steadily around the Nascent Origin.

Ever since his breakthrough, the Null State maintained by that ring had hidden his presence remarkably well.

During his own tribulation, suppressing it had allowed the heavens to recognize him properly.

Su Bai looked toward the clouds.

He had been wondering about something.

Could his presence influence another person’s tribulation?

Perhaps even produce the strange beneficial phenomena that had accompanied his own?

There was only one way to find out.

Su Bai carefully restrained a small portion of the Void Ring’s movement.

The ring slowed. Only slightly.

A trace of his concealed aura escaped.

The reaction was immediate.

Thunder exploded across the sky.

Su Bai’s expression changed.

Part of the heavenly pressure that had been locked onto Shen Youran abruptly shifted.

Toward him.

The dark clouds churned.

A streak of lightning formed at an angle it had not taken before.

Su Bai released the Void Ring at once.

The ring resumed its natural rotation.

His aura vanished beneath the Null State.

The strange pressure disappeared almost as quickly as it had appeared.

The heavens returned their attention to Shen Youran.

Su Bai stared upward.

So much for that idea.

He had received his answer.

His presence did not turn someone else’s tribulation into a blessing.

If anything, exposing himself during another cultivator’s breakthrough risked dragging part of the heavens’ attention away from the original target and making the entire situation more dangerous.

Su Bai quietly erased that experiment from the list of ideas worth repeating.

Outside the formation, several Ancestors had noticed the brief fluctuation.

One of them narrowed his eyes at Su Bai.

Su Bai pretended to be deeply focused on the Void Lightning.

The Ancestor continued staring.

Su Bai became even more focused.

Fortunately, the first stage was nearing its end.

The final Void Lightning bolt gathered.

Its spatial force was noticeably stronger than everything that had come before.

Shen Youran opened the final portion of Heavenly Blessing she intended to use.

The lightning descended.

Space shattered around her.

The impact swallowed the center of the formation in black-violet radiance.

Su Bai felt the shockwave even from where he sat.

His Myriad-Calamity Vajra Body trembled.

Something inside it changed.

The accumulated records of spatial tearing finally settled into a coherent adaptation.

Su Bai examined his body briefly.

The Vajra Body had improved again.

He smiled.

That was enough.

The dark lightning faded.

Shen Youran remained seated at the center.

Blood covered parts of her robes, but her breathing was steady.

The remaining Void force inside her body gradually stabilized beneath the last traces of Heavenly Blessing.

Above her, the tribulation clouds stopped producing lightning.

They did not disperse.

The surrounding space began to bend instead.

Su Bai’s smile faded.

The second stage had begun.