Lightning flashed. Zhubi laid there, playing dead with all his might even as the lightning continued to strike with deadly force. The lotus beast thrashed, writhing in the force of the storm. Jin Xian screamed, a spine-tingling sound, and tensed as another bolt of black lightning struck her.

Oh, no. That sounds like it hurts. Oh no. Someone… someone save this small cultivator! Hui looked down and grit his teeth. Looking at the black lightning gathering at his feet and the golden lightning building overhead, he swallowed one of Xixing’s pills and slapped another talisman on his body. Hui swapped to his crystal mode and prepared himself to swap to plant mode at any moment, then ate another one of Xixing’s pills and patted another few talismans over his body. Is that enough? Should I put more?

Lu Lintei hovered just outside the range of the tribulation, but as the aura of the Heavenly Tribulation built, she rapidly fell back. After looking around another few times, she sighed and stretched luxuriously, then lounged back on her sword to watch. She gave Hui a big thumbs up. “Good luck, Zhi Ahn.”

“Th…thanks,” Hui said. Why do I feel like she’s relieved she doesn’t have to fight any longer? And that pose… isn’t she a little too relaxed for someone anxious about her Martial Brother undergoing a dual tribulation?

Catching his look, she shrugged. “There’s nothing I can do, after all. It’s all up to you, Zhi Ahn! I believe in you!”

Why don’t I feel cheered? Isn’t this supposed to energize me? Hui gave Lu Lintei an aggravated look, then shook his head. Oh well. Ultimately, she’s a member of an enemy sect. Thinking about it another way, it’s weird that she’s cheering me on at all.

The lightning continued to build. Hui took a short breath and slapped another few talismans on his body. Is that enough? Shit, that lightning looks painful… No, no. I can do this! A little pain—is nothing! I’m used to so much worse!

Argh, the wait is the worst. Just strike me already!

As if it sensed his thoughts, the Underworldly and Heavenly Tribulations both struck. Icy cold shot through him from beneath, while burning heat coursed through his body from above. Where they met, his flesh squirmed. A feverish feeling assaulted him, weakening his mental state.

Endure, Hui. You've survived much worse than this! Hui settled his breathing and circulated his cultivation faster. He narrowed his eyes at the tribulations and hovered his hand over his chest, ready to activate the talismans at any second.

The first bolts will be weaker. As I saw from Zhubi, the barriers can only block a few bolts. I can’t use them haphazardly. I’ll have to use them to block the most critical bolts! If I had to guess, that would be… the last bolts!

“Elder Sister… Lu Lintei, how many bolts are in the Heavenly Tribulation?” Hui called.

“Eh, huh?” Lu Lintei startled out of a doze and sat up. She blinked at him, her hair already slightly mussed.

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Hui stared, wordless. In that short time, she fell asleep? We don’t even have to sleep! And wait, wasn’t she watching me transcend the tribulation? Don’t tell me, is my tribulation that boring to her? But she’s a fourth stage cultivator! She should be excited at a chance to watch a live tribulation before she transcends her own!

“The tribulation, how many strikes?” Hui repeated urgently.

“Eighty-one,” Lu Lintei replied, yawning.

Eighty-one. Multiplied by two, that would be… 162 strikes! At least they’re simultaneous…

No, no! I should be cursing that they’re simultaneous! The damage and pain increases proportionally with the simultaneous strikes!

But… if I had to stand here and wait for 162 strikes... I don’t know if my endurance could take it. Besides, better to get the pain done with quickly than drag it out! Short, sharp pain is less terrible than long, drawn out dull aches… well, that’s a personal preference, but…

Already, the second bolt brewed in the clouds. Hui grit his teeth and circulated his cultivation, preparing to handle the strike. It cracked toward him from above and below, slamming into his body once again. Hui twitched. His head kicked back, and he let out a little screech. Even when the lightning faded, he still trembled, the lightning too powerful for him to bear.

I take it back! Too much, it’s too much. Sequential tribulations, please! Can I request sequential?

Another bolt crackled, preparing to dart at him.

Wait. I wonder if I could get the bolts to hit one another and cancel each other out? Or at least debuff one another! The Heavenly Tribulation and the Underworldly Tribulation should have opposing attributes, after all. It’s not a ridiculous idea!

This time, he darted aside at the second the lightning struck. The lightning chased after him, but Hui activated the movement technique he’d learned from Bai Xue and slowed time, darting away from the lightning at the last second. The gold bolt and black bolt struck one another.

Yes! Now, they cancel one another out—

The two bolts swirled together. A mixed gold-black lightning bolt, emanating a much fiercer aura than either of the original bolts, struck toward him from the side. At the same time, a fourth bolt shot at him from above and below. The three bolts darted toward him all at once.

Hui’s eyes flew wide. He slapped his talisman, activating one. The three bolts smashed into the barrier and instantly crushed it, then continued on to strike Hui, their power only slightly lessened. Hui activated another barrier, and another. The lightning crushed them one after another, but only after he activated three barriers did the sensation of imminent death lessen.

Lightning crackled over Hui’s body. Gold and black embers flickered out, fighting one another inside Hui. He screamed, twitching wildly. His skin splintered. Cracks ran through his crystal body, and it shivered, on the verge of shattering. Hui swapped to his plant form. In his lotus body, already a plant form, the shift didn’t change his physical makeup, but instead stimulated his healing abilities to their limit. His life qi surged, and he healed.

Even so, the tribulation continued to harm him. Incredible heat seared through his flesh. Steam rose off his body. Like a vegetable in a pan, he cooked even as he healed. Hui screamed, unable to bite back his voice. His flesh wilted, hair growing limp, and he trembled, but his wounds closed. On the verge of becoming a steamed vegetable, Hui swapped back to the crystal form. The heat assailed his crystal body. Cracks once more shot through the crystal, but the cracks hurt less than steaming to death as a plant. Hui shivered and released both forms, spitting up a mouthful of blood.

Bad idea, bad idea! I’m never doing that again. Shit, I almost died! I almost died for real, there. And that’s the tribulation! I can’t fake death against the Heavenly Tribulation. I…

Hui paused suddenly, thoughtful. He cast his eyes over at Zhubi and hesitated. Zhubi’s doing it. I… guess I haven’t tried it…