Chapter 69
Three months passed in a flash.
Baek-Cheong raised her Technique/Spell proficiency, filled her Dantian daily through Qi Absorption, and solidified her realm.
She also diligently took an Inscribed Pill every month to suppress the Unification Latent Spirit Root.
And in her remaining time, she held onto the Jinmun Formation Diagram.
“…What is this Formation Glyph again?”
Several times a day, she wanted to throw away the Five Elements Banner and the Jinmun Formation Diagram, but every time she did, the price of 11 High-High-Grade Spirit Stones popped into her head.
She had no choice but to reluctantly grab the Five Elements Banner and the Jinmun Formation Diagram again.
However, whenever she comprehended a Formation Glyph that seemed convoluted, a strange sense of euphoria washed over her.
As the Formation Glyphs containing the providence of heaven and Earth revealed their meanings one by one, the Language of Formations gradually took shape in her mind.
'Now that I’m doing it, it seems doable.’
From a certain day onward, her hand reached for the Jinmun Formation Diagram first, even without forcing herself.
She thought she hated studying, but she felt completely fooled by herself.
In her spare time, she also resolved her curiosities by posting questions related to Formation Glyphs on the Nameless Forum.
[Dao Friend (33.3): Don’t lie, there’s no way you could have learned it.]
Whenever she did, Dao Friend (33.3) would obsessively leave a reply, but she refused to reply even if it killed her.
It was absolutely not because she was disgusted by his attempt to treat her like a sucker.
“Ah.”
Suddenly, she felt a sensation of being completely full, as if water had risen from her Dantian all the way up to her chin.
As she engaged in Cultivation every day, before she knew it, she had filled her vast, vast, vast, vast, vast ocean-like Dantian with spiritual energy.
“It is about time.”
Baek-Cheong thought lightly of the breakthrough.
Ever since she used the combination of the Falling Star Style Sword Intent and Quasi-Unification to pierce through the 5th-stage Barrier, the burden of breaking through barriers had lessened.
Soon after, she sat in the Lotus Position on her bed and focused her consciousness on her Dantian.
“Just like I did before.”
She began to compress the Five Elements Qi contained within her spiritual energy in her Dantian.
Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water.
The Five Elements Qi spiraled and clumped together inside her Dantian.
At the same time, she engraved the Falling Star Style Sword Intent into the combined energy.
Its will is to minimize the waste of energy and concentrate destructive power into a single, extreme point.
The compressed Five Elements Qi harbored the sharp Sword Intent and was solidly forged.
“Now.”
She slammed the Quasi-Unification Sword Intent straight into the Barrier.
However, the sturdy Barrier held on as if resisting.
Though it was a resistance bound to be pierced through anyway.
“Huu…”
Baek-Cheong broke through the realm in an instant and let out a heavy sigh.
The massive Barrier opened up as if collapsing on its own, and the spiritual energy settled in as if finding a new home.
‘…Isn’t this too easy?’
She felt dazed for a moment.
As she thought back to how she had struggled to break through realms in the past, it was almost anticlimactic.
However, now that she had reached 6th-Stage Qi Condensation, it was too early to let her guard down.
Next, she had to overcome the wall of the 7th stage, known as a minor Boundary.
“Just in case I make a 1st-grade Inscribed Breakthrough Pill in advance…”
Baek-Cheong paused while continuing her train of thought.
Soon after, the sensation of her Divine Sense expanding followed.
“23 zhang.”
Her Dantian had doubled in size once again, and the range of her Divine Sense extended to a whopping 23 zhang.
It was so far beyond the level of the Qi Condensation Stage that even she found it absurd.
“It is a bit frustrating, though.”
If she set her mind to it, she could raise her realm by consuming Inscribed Spirit Gathering Pills.
However, her grandfather and father had dissuaded her, recommending that she raise her realm according to the natural order.
Becoming impatient could lead to Qi Deviation, so it seemed better to follow a stable method.
‘Well, it doesn’t matter.’
She was only 11 years old anyway, so there was no need to obsess over raising her realm.
Compared to her peers, she was on the faster side, excluding Heavenly Spiritual Root Holders, and the rate at which the Latent Spirit Root stole nutrients was so slow that it was hard to notice unless she focused on it.
“Let’s see…”
Baek-Cheong shook off her thoughts and naturally extended her Divine Sense far outward.
Scanning the surroundings of her Abode with her expanded Divine Sense had already become an ingrained habit.
“…?”
But the moment her Divine Sense touched the outside air, she felt a bizarre sense of incongruity.
It felt as if the entire sky had turned into a giant boulder, pressing down heavily upon the Earth.
“Could it be?”
She had experienced this sensation somewhere before.
She jumped up from her Seat and immediately threw open the window.
The sky outside was dyed pitch black.
An energy too thick and strong to be called mere dark clouds was slowly taking the shape of a massive vortex high up in the sky.
“It’s a Heavenly Tribulation!”
“A Heavenly Tribulation!”
The Family members of the Clan were already in an uproar.
The sound of hurried footsteps and anxious voices drifting back and forth could be heard through the window.
“A Heavenly Tribulation…?”
Baek-Cheong blinked blankly at the mention of a Heavenly Tribulation Cloud.
Then, she brought one hand toward her small chest.
As if asking herself, she tried to recall any actions that might have offended the Heavenly Dao.
‘I haven’t done anything.’
Training, studying the Jinmun Formation Diagram, manufacturing Inscribed Pills, and acting as a troublemaker in the Nameless Forum.
She hadn’t committed any heaven-defying acts that would particularly offend the Heavenly Dao.
“Then…”
Suddenly, she realized something was wrong.
The direction where the pitch-black Heavenly Tribulation Cloud was condensing was different.
It wasn’t swirling over the area where her Abode was located, but rather toward a place deep inside the Clan.
It was the direction of the mountainside where the Family Head’s Hall was situated.
“Ah…”
Baek-Cheong’s body stiffened rigidly in place.
And soon, she frantically kicked open her door and ran out.
Countless people were flocking toward the Family Head’s Hall.
Retainers, maidservants, and even the warriors guarding the Clan.
Everyone was looking in the same direction with terrified faces, murmuring in confusion.
The Heavenly Tribulation Cloud overhead grew darker and more massive as time passed.
Baek-Cheong squeezed through the murmuring crowd and spotted a familiar back.
“Uncle.”
Baek Mu-Yeong turned around at his Niece’s call.
Even though it was early dawn, he was neatly dressed in his robes, but a deep tension lingered on his face.
“Cheong-A, you were awake.”
Baek-Cheong looked up at the sky once and then looked back at her uncle.
“Is father currently…?”
Baek Mu-Yeong looked up at the swirling sky with quiet, heavy eyes for a moment.
And he answered shortly and firmly.
“Yes, elder brother is knocking on the wall of the Golden Core.”
The Heavenly Tribulation Cloud swelled massively, completely covering the sky above the Family Head’s Hall.
And through the hole pierced in the center of the Heavenly Tribulation Cloud, it seemed as if the Heavenly Dao was looking down at the Earth.
“father is…”
Baek-Cheong held her breath and silently looked up at the sky.
Something overwhelming pounded strongly inside her small chest.
It was a complex emotion that was difficult to label as either joy or worry.
RUMBLE!
The Heavenly Tribulation Cloud in the sky churned and roared.
Streaks of lightning condensed through the hole in the clouds, and then a lightning tribulation struck down ruthlessly toward the Earth.
BOOM!
It was a strike aimed somewhere at the Back Mountain attached to the Family Head’s Hall.
Tangled rocks and mounds of dirt, layered with all sorts of Formations, shot up explosively from the direction where the Eastern Region was located.
Through the thick dust and smoke rising up, the Eastern Region could be seen, its interior completely exposed as the entire outer wall of the mountain was blown away.
As the dust and debris slowly settled, the view cleared.
And Baek-Cheong subconsciously held her breath with a gasp.
In the middle of the Eastern Region, which had been turned into a wasteland, she saw her father sitting in the Lotus Position.
Her father’s surroundings were completely destroyed by the power and impact of the lightning tribulation, rendering them unrecognizable.
However, Baek Mu-Jin, located at the center of the lightning tribulation, stood his ground as steadfastly as a giant tree amidst the swept-away rocks and scattering dust.
As if he had taken root in that spot and hadn’t moved an inch from the very beginning.
“Thank goodness.”
Baek-Cheong unclenched the fists she had unknowingly tightened and softly let out a sigh of relief.
Even though he had taken the terrifying lightning tribulation head-on with his entire body, her father looked better than she had expected.
“At this rate, to the Golden Core…”
But Baek-Cheong, who had been relieved, furrowed her brow once again.
The Heavenly Tribulation Cloud overhead did not scatter or disappear.
Even after the first lightning tribulation struck, the momentum of the clouds did not subside, and they still hovered over the Family Head’s Hall, harboring dense lightning.
The Judgment of Heavenly Dao was not over yet.
As everyone realized this fact, a quiet tension settled over the surroundings.
And a moment later.
RUMBLE!
The sky roared as if it were being torn apart once again.
And the second lightning tribulation reared its head.
This time, it didn’t end at the level of smashing the outer wall of the mountain.
The lightning tribulation striking down from the sky hit directly deep within the Eastern Region.
Her father, who had been sitting quietly in the Eastern Region, could not withstand the impact of the lightning tribulation this time and swayed.
Belatedly, dark red blood trickled down from the corner of his mouth.
“Elder brother!”
Baek Mu-Yeong lost his composure and shouted with a raised voice.
The murmuring of the Family members, who had been watching with bated breath, grew uncontrollably loud.
However, Baek Mu-Jin did not collapse.
Soon, he slowly raised his head.
Paying no mind to the blood trailing down his chin, he straightened his posture, which had been half-disrupted by the impact of the lightning tribulation, and sat upright in the Lotus Position once again.
“Please…”
Watching her father vomit blood, Baek-Cheong felt her small chest tighten.
She comforted herself, repeating countless times inwardly that her father would be fine.
However, the real problem still lurked overhead.
Even after pouring out two lightning tribulations, the Heavenly Tribulation Cloud maintained its form, far from disappearing.
“Usually, the Golden Core Heavenly Tribulation experienced by someone at the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment Stage ends with one, or at most two lightning tribulations even if their aptitude is outstanding…”
Baek Mu-Yeong muttered low with a pale face.
The worry underlying his voice infected the surroundings.
Baek-Cheong also bit her lower lip, unable to say a word, and just stared intently at the sky.
The pitch-black Heavenly Tribulation Cloud squirmed, showing no signs of retreating at all.
Rather, from the center of the pierced hole, an energy incomparably stronger than the previous lightning tribulations slowly gathered.
And the sensation that it was scraping together the final lightning tribulation was transmitted right to their skin.