Chapter 444: Is This the Only Move You Know?

Xie Ningyuan struggled to smile, wanting to reassure Lu Sangjiu.

But the smile that emerged looked even worse than if he were crying.

"It’s not that I want to be sad, but..." He pointed to his chest. "This... it aches all on its own."

The memories hadn’t come back to Xie Ningyuan naturally. To him, it was more like he’d been told someone else’s story.

Knowing his parents and his sect had been annihilated was awful, of course. But since he had no memory of them, he couldn’t honestly say he felt any deep pain or sorrow.

Therefore, the anguish he felt now was less his own and more of a natural reaction from the depths of his soul—something he couldn’t control.

And when he felt that instinctual reaction, he understood what his parents and sect must have meant to him, which in turn inevitably made him sad.

This created a feedback loop, trapping him in ever-increasing pain.

He knew this wasn’t the time to be thinking about these things, but he simply couldn’t control it.

Seeing him like this, Lu Sangjiu couldn’t help but feel sad as well. She sat down beside him, rested her head on his shoulder, and said gently, "It will pass."

Xie Ningyuan gently nuzzled his cheek against her hair and placed his hand over hers, which was linked through his arm. "Mm."

No matter how great the sorrow, it would eventually be soothed by time. He knew this.

On their third day of traveling on the Immortal Boat, Xie Ningyuan spoke. "Little Jiu, I can’t go with you to find your master and the others anymore."

Lu Sangjiu was taken aback. "Why? Did something happen?"

Xie Ningyuan said, "I’m about to have a breakthrough."

Lu Sangjiu was instantly alarmed. "Why so suddenly?"

Before, she would have been thrilled to hear he was about to have a breakthrough. But now... the closer he got to Ascension, the closer he was to death.

So, instead of feeling happy for him, she was mostly just worried.

Xie Ningyuan said apologetically, "It must be because of everything that’s happened. My state of mind suddenly elevated, and now I’m truly on the verge of a breakthrough."

"You know that at this Realm, one’s state of mind is far more important than cultivation practice when it comes to breakthroughs."

Since things had come to this, Lu Sangjiu couldn’t exactly tell Xie Ningyuan to just hold it in. She could only swallow her worry and nod. "All right... In that case, I’ll stand guard for you!"

Neither of them had the protection of a sect right now, and He Guang was still lurking in the shadows, watching them like a tiger. Who knew what kind of accident might happen?

Lu Sangjiu wouldn’t be able to rest easy if she let Xie Ningyuan go back alone.

Xie Ningyuan considered it. He wasn’t very comfortable with the idea of Lu Sangjiu going to find Duan Xingyun and the others on her own either, so he simply nodded. "Fine. Then let’s head back first."

Lu Sangjiu quickly sent another message to Duan Xingyun and the others before following Xie Ningyuan back to the cave residence where they had been staying.

After setting up layers upon layers of Barriers, Lu Sangjiu moved a safe distance away. Then, Xie Ningyuan began to summon the Heavenly Tribulation.

Before, in his desperation to break through and save Lu Sangjiu, he’d been unable to grasp the final key insight.

Now, however, it was all falling into place naturally. Before long, tribulation clouds began to gather overhead.

Lu Sangjiu sat cross-legged on a nearby mountain peak. As the tribulation clouds coalesced, she was surprised to feel her own energy begin to stir restlessly, as if drawn in by them!

’What’s going on? Why do I feel like I’m about to have a breakthrough, too?’

’Something’s not right!’

Logically, Lu Sangjiu’s cultivation had been artificially boosted by Cangming using countless Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. And while her cultivation wasn’t overly superficial—since this was her second time cultivating, her state of mind was already solid—it was still far from stable.

Ultimately, it had been artificially inflated. It still lacked the solid foundation that came from normal, step-by-step practice. That was something that required time to settle and be refined.

’Under normal circumstances, it should take her at least three to five years, if not more, to get a chance at a breakthrough, right?’

’But how long has it been? It hasn’t even been a full year! How could I possibly be triggering a Heavenly Tribulation now?’

An inexplicable sense of foreboding welled up in Lu Sangjiu’s heart. She felt strongly that she couldn’t break through right now.

At that thought, she figured it might be because she wasn’t far enough from Xie Ningyuan. So, she flew even farther away.

She didn’t stop until she was so far away that she could barely even see Xie Ningyuan’s figure.

But the moment she stopped, that feeling of an imminent tribulation didn’t just fail to subside—it intensified!

"What’s going on? I can’t control it..."

Lu Sangjiu gritted her teeth. Her energy was surging uncontrollably, and tribulation clouds were beginning to gather over her own head!

’Damn it, this is too sudden! I haven’t prepared anything, and my cultivation is nowhere near that level! How could I have triggered a Heavenly Tribulation? Can I get through this safely?’

Her heart was heavy, but Lu Sangjiu wasn’t one to panic in a crisis.

Even though she felt that everything about this was wrong, she had no choice but to immediately start setting up Barriers to shield herself from the Heavenly Tribulation’s destructive power.

Halfway through her preparations, her Communication Talisman suddenly vibrated. She took it out and saw it was a message from Gu Jue.

"Ji Li sensed that I was fighting him for the Heavenly Dao Authority. We reached a stalemate, and just now, I felt him suddenly use his authority to boost your personal fortune!"

"He can’t interfere too directly, so he can’t forcibly turn you into a Child of Fortune like Ye Zhiyao without your consent. But he *can* partially increase your fortune, making things go more smoothly for you and causing you to receive the favor of the Heavenly Dao!"

The moment Lu Sangjiu heard this, it all clicked into place.

’No wonder I suddenly triggered a Heavenly Tribulation out of nowhere. So it was that bastard Ji Li’s doing!’

’He must have realized he might lose his Heavenly Dao Authority in his struggle with Gu Jue, so he made one last-ditch effort. He forcibly boosted my fortune to accelerate my cultivation, hoping I’d reach Ascension sooner.’

’The sooner I ascend, the sooner Ji Li can kill me. This isn’t a blessing, it’s a death warrant!’

But even knowing all this, she had no way to stop it now. All she could do was grit her teeth and face the Heavenly Tribulation.

’But based on past experience, Ji Li can interfere with Heavenly Tribulations. The question is, will he let me pass it smoothly this time, or is he planning to tamper with it and try to kill me right here and now?’

’That son of a bitch. He can’t cause trouble for Xie Ningyuan, so he just comes after me. What a piece of work!’

Amidst Lu Sangjiu’s cursing, the first bolt of the Heavenly Tribulation struck.

With Lu Sangjiu’s current cultivation, surviving the Heavenly Tribulation was no easy feat. Fortunately, she had plenty of trump cards up her sleeve. By throwing one defense after another against the onslaught, she managed to survive all the way to the final bolt.

And as the final bolt of the Heavenly Tribulation fell, Lu Sangjiu’s consciousness was once again pulled away.

She was by that familiar lake, in the pavilion on the island at its center, facing that same familiar figure from behind.

As Lu Sangjiu’s cultivation had increased, her Divine Sense had grown stronger as well. The disorientation that used to leave her dazed for a long time after being pulled in here was now gone.

The moment she saw the figure, she was fully lucid and in possession of all her memories.

She sneered. "Ji Li, have you run out of tricks? Is this the only one you know how to use?"