"What the...?"

Hei was busy working on some designs when the room suddenly became dark.

It was an easy enough issue to resolve, clapping his hands twice would do the trick, but he was curious, so he went out front to see what was happening.

That was when he saw that the sky was covered by dark clouds. At their centre, there was a huge cumulonimbus that had lightning bolts coursing through it.

"Someone's going through a pretty big tribulation. Is it the sect leader?"

Hei had seen a few lightning tribulations, and they were usually accompanied by dark clouds, but he hadn't seen such an exaggerated one. He wondered if this was what cultivators could expect when trying to break through to the foundation establishment realm.

"Still, it looks like it's centred just outside the sect. Is the ascension hall ill-equipped to handle tribulations of this magnitude?"

***

Hei wasn't the only curious one. Most of those who weren't in seclusion came out to take a look.

"Who's tribulation is this?"

"Hasn't our leader been in seclusion for a while? Do you think it could be him?"

"But if it were the leader, that would mean he was going after foundation establishment."

Hearing that, the disciples started to bubble with excitement.

What would it mean if their leader were to reach the foundation establishment realm?

Wouldn't that mean they would reach equal standing with the three pillars?

It had to be known that the Shimmering Sword Sect was far and above its ranking as a third-grade sect. The leader and his junior disciples, the prime elders, were enough on their own for it to qualify as a first-grade sect, not to mention the quality of the teaching and the abundance of resources.

It was only by request that it was designated third-grade.

But if their leader were to ascend to the foundation establishment realm, it would no longer be suitable for them to remain a third-grade sect. They may even move to the upper continent.

Just thinking about the possibilities caused their eyes to shine in anticipation.

***

Hei overheard some of the conversations as he moved closer to the eye of the storm. He generally agreed with their deductions, but as he got closer, he began to feel that something was off.

It was difficult to articulate, but he felt that the clouds lacked their usual aggression. This particular tribulation seemed almost ceremonious in nature.

"Is this just how it is when someone goes after foundation establishment? Or is something else going on here?"

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When he got out of the sect, he spotted the 24 sword maidens who were looking up to the cumulonimbus.

"If they're here..."

He looked around for Tianlan, but couldn't find him.

"I guess he's busy."

He didn't see any of the Fang Clan juniors either. It looked like they lost interest in tribulations after they switched to elemental foundations and stopped experiencing them.

With the sword maidens being the only familiar faces, Hei decided to walk up to them to watch the tribulation together.

That was when he noticed it.

All the other disciples seemed to be excited, but these 24 showed worry on their faces. There was no excitement to be found.

"Don't tell me..."

He looked back up to the towering cloud that was teaming with lightning.

"Is this some sort of backlash?"

Who knew what effect Tianlan's task would have on the network? It was possible that shooting lightning into the sky was seen as some sort of provocation. And if that was the case,

"Then it's my fault."

Hei's body began to twitch as he fired up his qi.

A moment later, pulses of qi shot out from beneath his feet, propelling him upward toward the stormcloud.

As he flew, he conjured his chains, intertwining them with the fabric of his clothes, creating a stylish set of chainmail armour.

This was his Chain Knight 2.0.

He continued to get closer to the storm cloud and that was when it went on the offensive. He was struck by a bolt of lightning which caused him to lose altitude.

But similarly to the times he had interacted with tribulation lightning in the past, it didn't hurt him.

He exerted more force, propelling himself back up toward the cloud and more lightning bolts came, each pushing him back down, but stopping once he was far enough away.

He moved his head from side to side, stretching his neck, then looked back up to the cloud.

"If that's the way you want to play it."

He flew back up, and this time, when the lightning shot out to him, he circulated his cultivation technique.

The lightning was cleanly absorbed and failed to push him back.

More and more lightning came down as he got closer to the cloud, but it was like water meeting a sponge.

"This ends now."

He reached his hand out to the cloud, intending to absorb the entirety of it, but that was when his body froze. His mind grew sluggish and he felt a strong sense that he was being observed.

"Ah. So that's how it is."

***

"Who would have known that creating these communication jades would lead to a cultivation breakthrough? And quite a perplexing one at that."

"Yeah. It was pretty unexpected."

Hei and Tianlan had returned to Tianlan's abode after Tianlan's ordeal was completed. They were now discussing the aftermath.

"So you're in the minute realm now?"

Instead of answering, Tianlan levitated above his chair for a moment.

"It looks like my circulation paths were changed after I understood certain things about the sky nodes. The tribulation lightning then cemented them into a new cultivation technique. It also caused other changes to my physique."

"And now you cultivate lightning qi?"

"Yep. Cool, huh?"

Hei watched enviously as lightning snaked around Tianlan's hand.

"It's nothing much," he said, lying through the skin of his teeth.

Tianlan smiled.

"Since it's nothing much, why don't we have another sparring match? I've recently had a few comprehensions and want to exchange tips with my Onii-chan."

"You know what? I'm good on that. Maybe next time."

Tianlan laughed.

"Dude, I would beat you so bad."

"Wait a minute now, that's not fair. You're in the minute realm and I'm only in the transcendent realm."

"But didn't you say that main characters can fight above their realms?"

"Not against other main characters. Besides, you practised Way of Essence, the same as me. Your foundations are the same as mine. It's under these kinds of conditions that cultivation levels actually become a reliable predictive model for what the outcome of a battle would be."

Tianlan leaned back into his couch.

"It's fine if you want to forfeit the match, Hei. Just admit that I'm stronger than you and everything will be fine. There's no need to jump through all these hoops."

Hei's eyes narrowed and a suppressive aura started to emanate from his body.

"I wouldn't push it if I were you, brother. Do you know that I can break through whenever I want?"

Tianlan responded with his own suppressive aura.

"Is that so?"

Hei stood up and looked down at Tianlan who was still seated.

"Yeah. And let me tell you now, your minute realm is nothing compared to mine."

"Oh really?"

Tianlan placed his drink down on the table in front of him, then stood up to face Hei.

"Let's see it then."

Hearing that, Hei's aura receded a little.

"W-What was that?"

"Make your breakthrough and let's see."

Hei retreated a step.

"Well... The thing is...."

He could feel sweat forming on his forehead.

"That is... I..."

His throat felt dry, so he gulped.

"I just need a little more time is all..."

"Time for what?"

"Coz... want... qi... yours..."

"I didn't quite catch that."

Hei felt as if he had been backed into a corner, and like any small creature, it triggered a violent response in him.

He dropped to his hands and knees, tears flowing from his eyes.

"It's because I want cool qi like yours! Okay? Your element is lightning, Tianlan. Lightning! That's one of the coolest!"

"I know, right? I got super lucky. Maybe one day they'll call me the Lightning Emperor or something."

"Darn it! Why couldn't it be me? Lightning Emperor Hei has such a nice ring to it."

Tianlan couldn't help laughing as he watched Hei's pitiful display.

"There there, Onii-chan. I'm sure you'll get a cool element too."

Hei clenched his fists. He didn't want to hear those insincere words of pity from a person he envied on two fronts.

He tightened his grip even further and unwittingly activated his innate shadow physique.

Looking down at his now pitch-black hand, he was struck by a sudden sense of inspiration.

"That's it! Darkness! I'll become the Lord of Darkness! All will tremble at the mere mention of my name!"

"Uh... What?"

"Ah... Haha... I got a little carried away there."