Chapter 169
The moment the heavens bristled, Baek Cheong grabbed the Five-Elements Banner beside her.
As she poured true energy into the banner, the formation veins laid across the courtyard immediately responded.
The Five-Element puppets, divided by element, hummed as they received the true energy.
Because she had already interlocked it with a concealment formation, it was easy to layer a new formation on top.
She overlaid the tribulation-cloud sigils atop the five sigils supporting the concealment formation.
With the peak's feng shui supporting the energies of the five directions, the formation ripened at once.
The clouds surrounding the courtyard were drawn by the formation and gradually lost their luster.
The pale clouds darkened and deepened into ink-black.
'But this won't be nearly enough.'
It was far too thin and pale to call it black clouds.
Compared with the heavenly tribulation clouds blanketing the sky, it was no different from mist.
It was nonsense to think she could split the thunder tribulation with clouds of this size.
She immediately took the Cloud Spirit Pearl in hand.
The Cloud Spirit Pearl she had secretly taken from the Cloud Sea secret realm quietly gathered light in her palm.
She pushed spiritual energy into it and drew out the clouds stored inside the Cloud Spirit Pearl.
The Cloud Spirit Pearl trembled faintly, then abruptly vomited out the clouds it held inside.
The clouds burst out like a broken sluice gate and filled the courtyard without a gap.
Even divine sense couldn't gauge how much cloud was hidden inside; it poured out endlessly.
The thin black clouds instantly grew thick and dense.
The clouds, now that thick, enclosed her tightly from every direction.
'At this point, the imitation looks pretty convincing.'
Once she was done preparing, Baek Cheong took the single-pattern Cloud Tribulation Pill out of the jade bottle.
She gently held the elixir, which contained milky clouds, between her teeth.
She intended to swallow it the moment the signs of heavenly tribulation striking became clear.
With the elixir still between her teeth, she lifted her head, slightly parted the fake tribulation cloud, and looked up at the sky.
She meant to watch how the heavenly tribulation clouds above would move.
Sure enough, the heavenly tribulation clouds seemed to be making full preparations as well.
A massive dark cloud spun like a typhoon, stirring into a vortex.
The center of the vortex caved in, and a round hole suddenly opened up.
Through that hole, a pressure as if the Heavenly Dao itself were looking down on the mortal world flooded out.
A prickling sensation ran from the top of her head to the tips of her toes.
It was probably just her imagination, yet it felt as if she had met the Heavenly Dao's gaze.
'That can't be right.'
More than anything, the heavenly tribulation clouds were still far beyond reach.
And yet, if she extended her divine sense now, it felt like she would touch something.
The sigils that made up the tribulation flickered, almost within reach.
That was the essence she had never managed to grasp even after experiencing a thunder tribulation up close in the past.
'But if I do that now, the Heavenly Dao will probably flare up again.'
Baek Cheong quietly withdrew the divine sense she had been about to send out.
The Heavenly Dao was glaring down at her.
There was no reason to stir it up and invite karma onto herself.
Better not to pick at a scab and make it worse.
'I can understand the essence slowly enough.'
Soon, a flash of blue began to flicker within the vortex.
Lightning gathered in clusters around the rim of the hole.
Within the heavenly tribulation clouds, thunder rolled out with a deep rumble that sent vibrations through her gut.
It was the heavenly tribulation cloud gathering strength to bring down the thunder tribulation.
She swallowed the pill-pattern Cloud Tribulation Pill she had been holding in her mouth.
The dissolved medicinal power traveled down her esophagus and spread throughout her body.
Soon, her entire body felt hazy, as if she had been molded from clouds.
A fake tribulation cloud different from the Five-Elements Tribulation Formation outside filled her body.
The moment she finished preparing, the first thunder tribulation struck.
Crack!
The blue thunder tribulation plunged into the fake tribulation cloud surrounding Baek Cheong.
The fake tribulation cloud created by the Five-Elements Tribulation Formation snapped up the thunder tribulation.
But the thunder tribulation did not fade just because it was blocked by the fake tribulation cloud.
Tribulation carried the karma of relentlessly pursuing one who defied heaven.
The thunder tribulation that had been scattering after hitting the fake tribulation cloud was drawn back toward her by that force.
The thunder tribulation, which should have struck straight down, was broken into tiny pieces and seeped in over dozens of passes.
And the divided thunder tribulation, the moment it touched her skin, met the fake tribulation cloud within her body.
The lightning wandering through the fake tribulation cloud scattered into even finer fragments once more.
After circling and circling dozens of times, it finally touched her body.
The thunder tribulation, split like that, didn't even sting.
That was thanks to the body-tempering pills she had steadily taken, which had thoroughly forged her flesh.
Her hardened body brushed off the thunder tribulation as little more than a tickle.
'What, it only tickles.'
Since she didn't need to take the thunder tribulation head-on, there was no better easy win than this.
After brushing off the thunder tribulation as a tickle, her shoulders lifted in delight.
Still, it was too early to relax.
The heavenly tribulation had only just unleashed its first thunder tribulation.
Thunder tribulations only grew fiercer the more they repeated.
What's more, her heavenly tribulation was burdened with the karma of the Nameless Forum as well.
She had defied heaven by her very existence, and had a mountain of accumulated karma on top of that.
She couldn't afford to underestimate the power of the next thunder tribulation.
Still, now that she had experienced it once, she had a rough measure of it.
'At this level, it's manageable.'
Baek Cheong drove even more spiritual energy deep into the Cloud Spirit Pearl.
The Cloud Spirit Pearl spewed out the clouds inside it without restraint.
The fake tribulation cloud surrounding her grew even thicker and blacker.
She estimated the end of the heavenly tribulation in her head.
She thought the next thunder tribulation would be the final one.
She poured true essence into the Five-Elements Banner, ramping up the momentum of the Five-Elements Tribulation Formation.
She layered her defenses tightly for the final thunder tribulation.
Sure enough, even the heavenly tribulation clouds' signs were different from before.
The very momentum of its formation was so fierce it made her skin sting.
It was hard to believe this was a heavenly tribulation falling for nothing more than a Foundation Establishment breakthrough.
The way it condensed already warned her what a thunder tribulation burdened with karma could be like.
But there wasn't much time to dwell on it.
The condensed thunder tribulation came crashing down with enough force to shatter the fake tribulation cloud along with it.
Crackle—BOOM!
A blinding flash was followed by a deafening roar that shook the courtyard.
Still, the courtyard had already been packed so tightly with clouds that it was suffocating.
The Five-Elements Tribulation Formation, pushed to its limit, wrapped the fake tribulation cloud in layer after layer.
The thickly layered fake tribulation cloud finally took the savage thunder tribulation head-on.
The thunder tribulation, broken into fine pieces as it passed through the tribulation cloud, seeped back into her.
This time, it was much harsher than before.
Pain like needles stabbing into her whole body pierced her dozens of times.
But it wasn't enough to make her grit her teeth, so it was perfectly bearable.
Her body, tempered by body-strengthening pills, silently shrugged off mere needle pricks.
Before long, she had completely withstood even the thunder tribulation carrying karma.
The heavenly tribulation clouds that had blanketed the sky also noticeably softened.
The vortex loosened, and the flashes of lightning grew sparse.
The rumbling thunder gradually fell silent.
The thunder tribulation's force had scattered considerably after passing through the fake tribulation cloud.
The courtyard, however, was a complete wreck.
The Five-Element puppets lay scorched and rolling about, and the formation veins were broken in places.
The feng shui divided into the five directions had also been tangled up by the thunder tribulation and turned into a mess.
The single-pattern Cloud Tribulation Pill had also taken two thunder tribulations, exhausting all of its power.
The fake tribulation cloud that had filled her body scattered without a trace.
Even the clouds outside, vomited out by the Cloud Spirit Pearl, were all blown away by the thunder tribulation.
Now there wasn't a single shred of fake tribulation cloud left, either outside or inside her body.
"Heh heh..."
Still, Baek Cheong remained relaxed.
Since she had endured a thunder tribulation burdened with karma, the heavenly tribulation was effectively over.
Looking up at the softened heavenly tribulation clouds, satisfaction welled up in her.
She dusted off her empty hands and opened her mouth toward the sky.
"Pathetic~"
But before the words even vanished into the air—
the center of the receding heavenly tribulation clouds roiled again and flashed blue once more.
The dispersing vortex suddenly stopped and gathered a third bolt of lightning.
'Huh? Why is this...'
She had clearly thought the previous thunder tribulation was the last, but the heavenly tribulation wasn't stopping.
Without realizing it, she had overlooked one fact.
Foundation Establishment was also divided into the Human Path, Earth Path, and Heavenly Path.
And because she had climbed all the way to the highest Heavenly Path Foundation Establishment, an extra heavenly tribulation had piled on.
She had only counted her defiance of heaven and accumulated karma, never the rank of her cultivation stage itself.
"H-hurry..."
Unaware of that hidden reason, Baek Cheong hurriedly moved her hands.
She tried to reconnect the broken formation veins and unfold the Five-Elements Tribulation Formation again.
But the lightning was gathering too quickly for her to raise the formation anew.
She was also out of clouds to shape into a fake tribulation cloud, and out of elixirs to fill her body.
The only saving grace was that the third thunder tribulation carried no karma.
Since it was only the heavenly tribulation of a Heavenly Path Foundation Establishment breakthrough, its momentum was weaker.
It lacked the murderous ferocity of the karma-laden thunder tribulation from before.
But weak or not, she had already run out of cards to play.
"Ah."
With no choice, Baek Cheong had to face the thunder tribulation barehanded.
The third thunder tribulation struck straight down while she was defenseless.
Kwakwakwakwa—BOOM!
The thunder tribulation, neither split nor dispersed, poured straight onto the crown of her head.
For the first time in her life, a complete thunder tribulation swept through her entire body.
Blue lightning ran wild through her body, tearing her apart.
Her vision flared white, and every fine hair on her body stood on end.
It was such a brutal thunder tribulation that even her body, tempered by body-strengthening pills, was shaken to its core.
.
.
.
How much time had passed?
In the courtyard swept by the thunder tribulation, Baek Cheong sat slumped in a scorched heap.
Her hair was disheveled, and her clothes had been burned away.
Still, she was alive.
Barely collecting her wits, she panted for breath.
"...I thought I was dead."
Taking a thunder tribulation barehanded was on a completely different level from a mere tickle.
She had easily endured the karma-laden thunder tribulation, only to get badly tripped up at the very end.
She even wondered if this was the price of running her mouth at the heavens.
She was grumbling as she tried to get up, when she suddenly stopped.
An unusual sensation stirred deep within her dantian.
It was a strange throbbing, different from the thunder tribulation she had just taken or the newly formed true essence.
Something prickling was slowly revealing its presence from the bottom of her dantian.