Below the foreboding clouds, Bubai’s hands were reaching out towards heaven, yet he stood frozen in place, stiff as a statue.

The flicker of lightning in the clouds above, signaling its preparation for its next strike, seemed to finally awaken Bubai from his stupor. “Eh? It doesn’t hurt?”

Lowering his hand, Bubai touched himself all over his own body, feeling no pain whatsoever. In fact, it felt like he hadn't even been hit.

If it weren’t for the needle-like sting on his palm, where the lightning initially struck, he might have believed the entire ordeal was an illusion!

Doubt crept into Bubai’s expression as he gazed up at the thundercloud. Could it be old grandfather heavens was going easy on him?

Determined to resolve his doubts, Bubai prepared for the next strike, steadfastly staring up at the cloud. This time, he didn't even blink, resolute in catching every detail of the process!

Rumble! The bolt came down like a hammer!

Facing the blinding flash, Bubai’s eyes contracted due to the sting yet he forced himself to behold the yellow streak of lightning!

Just as before, his hand served as the lightning rod, letting the tribulation lightning strike him mercilessly!

However, at the moment he felt the lightning pricking him like a needle, the streak of lightning inexplicably vanished, as if it had drilled into another dimension!

Merlin’s beard... Where did it go?!

After a momentary shock, Bubai instantly guessed the possible fuse for the strange situation.

When there is a ghost…

He swiftly delved into his mysterious space, focusing his attention on the seed.

The sprout and seed still appeared untouched by the world, but now… he sensed the tiny streaks of yellow lightning flowing through the network of roots like currents of electricity through wires.

Yep, the culprit was found. It’s this gluttonous seed again.

At this moment, Bubai genuinely experienced mixed feelings.

Oddly, through his innate connection with the seed, he felt a sense of satisfaction. It was as if he had just eaten a delicacy and found himself hungering for more.

This was a paradoxical contrast with the senses of his physical body, which was still warning him of the danger coming from the tribulation outside…

Boom! The vague, distant rumble of thunder echoed in his senses, accompanied by a nearly negligible sense of pain.

Within mere moments, another streak of yellow lightning flashed into the mysterious space, instantly drawn towards the seed as if they were opposite poles of magnets.

Bombarding the seed, the lightning was effortlessly swallowed up, much like his Qi, vanishing without even ruffling the leaves!

After the meal, the seed throbbed slightly before burping out a couple of new runes. These runes floated towards the outer shell, contributing to the ongoing construction of the second outer layer...

Bubai didn’t know the nature of these runes, but they were clearly upgrading the mysterious formation responsible for gathering his Qi. So, these runes were definitely good stuff!

Following this chain of thought, Bubai drew a logical conclusion: the tribulation lightning was good stuff!

Supporting this fact was the craving for more echoing within him, his very core crying out like a hungry infant!

However, the sense of danger was already rapidly vanishing. His external senses actually detected the stormy cloud was already beginning to disperse!

No! Such a good thing, how can he let it go so easily! It’s not every day he could experience tribulation lightning!

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His senses rushed back to his body, and Bubai looked up at the dispersing cloud, hesitating for mere moments before he raised his finger, “Old Grandpa Heavens, is that all you got?! If you got the balls, blast me one more time!”

The dispersal of the clouds above slowed in a jarring way...

Moments later, as if responding to his call, the dispersing stormy cloud became turbulent once more, regathering with a darker grey color and even thicker than before...

Bubai’s finger twitched slightly. Um… maybe he shouldn’t have provoked the heavens?

The heavens did not let him regret his choice. The fourth yellow lightning bolt instantly struck down directly onto his extended finger! Boom!

A wisp of smoke curled from the tip of his slightly numbed finger, but that was it.

Phew. No problem. Bubai licked his lips, sensing the seed devour another streak of lightning. Gazing up at the heaven, he wagged his finger, “Yeah, that’s right! Keep striking me-”

Boom! The subsequent lightning struck even faster this time!

Alas, its end was the same as before.

When the seed swallowed the electrifying energy, the profound sense of fulfillment seemed to finally overflow from his spirit to his physical body!

Not only that, albeit subtly, Bubai could actually sense... his body was undergoing some mysterious change?

Bubai, now even more excited, jumped a bit as if trying to reach for the cloud, “Yes, yes! Hit me with all you got, Grandfather Heavens!”

Boom! Ahhhh yesss! This sense of satisfaction-

Ah, but it only lasted a fleeting moment. It wasn’t nearly enough.

Bubai wasn’t a masochist, but the benefits were too good for him to give up!

Bubai’s eyes flashed. Glaring up at the dispersing cloud above, he threw both hands up into the air, “Old geezer heavens, do you have back pain or something?! Don’t be lazy and come strike me! At least do the full set!”

The dispersing tribulation cloud abruptly froze, as if someone had hit the pause button.

Uh oh… That’s not a good sign, is it?

Following a moment of eerie silence, an ominous breeze brushed against Bubai's skin, signaling the cloud's resurgence.

This time, its gathering pace was significantly faster, and the cloud itself began to expand to daunting proportions...

Darkening in color, streaks of yellow lightning crackled ominously within, heralding the impending strike!

Without further warning, a thick yellow bolt descended from the heavens with a deafening boom!

Bubai's raised hands went completely numb!

Fortunately, the residual energy from the strike completely tapered off before reaching his wrists, cleanly devoured by his seed.

As wisps of smoke dissipated from his palms, Bubai could sense the damaged tissues in his hands autonomously repairing, without the need for his green Qi as a supplement...

His physique had ascended to an entirely new level!

But… Holy smokes. That still kind of hurts! The sudden jump in the tribulation lightning intensity was no joke!

However, it was completely worth it! The momentary pain was wholly eclipsed by a strong sense of fulfillment, not losing out to the conclusion of each of his sessions of dual cultivation!

This is it! This is it! No pain, no gain!

“Good old heavens, I just knew you could-” Boom!

A thunderous strike, even thicker than the previous one, caused Bubai to instantly shut up!

He felt half of his arms go numb, the pain nearly forcing him to shrink his hands back!

Instinctively, Bubai tapped into the green Qi within his mysterious space.

Unlike before, it was now a green drop. When this drop dissipated in his real dantian, a strong, refreshing wave surged through his entire body, even causing his cells to quiver in excitement!

Thanks to the dispersion of this energy, Bubai sensed a significant acceleration in the repair of his damaged arms!

With the immediate danger averted, Bubai released a relieved sigh. Dude, that almost costed him his arms.

When the sensation returned to his arms, Bubai lightly shook his rejuvenated limbs to ease the tension, his vigilant gaze still fixed on the cloud above, “Hmm, where is the ninth strike?”

The rapid succession of strikes had stopped, but the cloud was still there. Not only that, it appeared to be growing larger, its color darkening even further.

Even the menacing lightning streaks had vanished, as if the cloud were retracting its fist, preparing for an even stronger blow...

Um… It seems playtime is over.

An ominous black, final form soon confirmed Bubai’s thoughts.

Bubai braced himself, quickly consuming green droplets to speed up his recovery.

Unfortunately, the green drops had become his new and improved recovery mechanism - the upgraded version of the green strands.

Much like the situation with his strands before, he could only control one green drop at a time.

Therefore, a limitation persists: He couldn't store or retain multiple green drops in his real dantian.

If he could, he wouldn’t have to worry about sudden death because these green drops were unequivocally life-saving tonics!

Thus, Bubai could only expend the drops to restore himself to full health and maintain what he dubbed as 'buffed state II'.

This was as ready as he could get. “C’mon and baptize me!”

This time, the heaven didn’t respond to his provocation.

Just like that, Bubai stared at the ominous black cloud that was silently brewing a storm.

Yet, amid this intense stare-down, Bubai suddenly perceived a biting cold wind brushing against his skin, causing small cuts to open on various parts of his body!

Wind? How could there be wind in a completely sealed room?

Bubai's gaze instinctively lowered towards his body, only to discover that the mysterious wind didn't even ruffle his clothes. Instead, it passed through them, directly causing damage to his body!

Right at this moment when Bubai was distracted, his physical body's danger senses abruptly went haywire! Bubai’s focus snapped back to the sky, just in time to witness a blue streak already hurtling into his outstretched arms!

Son of a heaven! Doggone Old Heavens is playing dirty! BOOM!