The faint smile vanished too quickly. Daojun Hongyi felt as if he had seen it, but by the time he reacted and looked again, it was already gone.
He felt something strange in his heart, yet he couldn't quite articulate the feeling.
Selectively ignoring this anomaly, Daojun Hongyi watched Bai Shengyi, who had already awakened, use her brush to block three descending lightning bolts. He smiled and said, "Indeed."
Little did he know, what he considered "indeed" referred to Bai Shengyi's strength, while Qinglan was referring to Bai Shengyi's charm as a person.
Daojun Qinglan mused, his gaze drifting into the distant, vast expanse, his thoughts wandering somewhere unknown.
Within the sea of lightning, Bai Shengyi once again survived the lightning tribulation. However, her flesh and blood had already split open. She had no doubt that one more bolt of lightning would destroy her physical body.
"Don't worry. After you pass the lightning tribulation, the holy light bestowed by the Heavenly Dao will allow you to condense a new body," the Samsara Brush said, sounding somewhat exasperated, understanding its master's subtle intentions.
Bai Shengyi heard its weak voice. "How are you? Little Samsara?"
The Samsara Brush replied nonchalantly, "I won't die."
As usual, it was irritable.
Bai Shengyi choked. Of course, she knew divine artifacts wouldn't die. After all, divine artifacts could only be annihilated or damaged, not truly die.
But as she looked down at the translucent green brush body held by her white bone hand, she still felt worried. "There are three more lightning tribulations. According to the previous pattern, one bolt will descend first, followed by two bolts together..."
"Not necessarily," the Samsara Brush said. "Don't you remember, when you first started your tribulation, there was no such pattern?"
That was right. Bai Shengyi's body stiffened, feeling a bone-deep ache reaching the depths of her sea of consciousness.
Damn it!
She had forgotten that when the heavenly lightning first began to fall, the lightning tree alternated in a one-two-one-two pattern. Later, it changed to a one-two-three cycle. If her memory served her correctly, others followed a one-two-three cycle, followed by a mind-questioning tribulation to test their inner demons. Why was it so different for her?
And...
Bai Shengyi looked up at the sky, at the lightning that had not fallen for a long time... The third to last lightning bolt was brewing for far too long!
"Rumble!"
As if summoned by her thought, a three-meter-thick bolt of lightning smashed down directly at her.
"Ah!"
Bai Shengyi couldn't help but let out a scream.
The lightning pierced through her body, flashing with crackling sparks. Her flesh and blood turned to ashes, leaving only stark white bones. Her sea of consciousness was also violently shaken, merging with her spiritual sea.
Pain!
A searing, soul-rending pain!
But Bai Shengyi dared not relax her focus even slightly. She quickly circulated her spiritual energy to absorb the power within the lightning. However, another bolt of lightning with a red glow descended, directly interrupting her actions.
Mind-Questioning Lightning Tribulation!
Heart Demon Tribulation!
Bai Shengyi had almost no time to react before she was pulled into the illusionary realm of this heart demon test.
"Who are you?"
"Who are you?"
"Do you want to go back?"
"Go back where?"
Bai Shengyi looked at the empty surroundings and retorted to the voice questioning her from the air with a similarly indifferent tone.
She knew clearly that she was undergoing the heart demon tribulation of her ascension tribulation, but she didn't know what heart demons she could still have.
As she thought this, the empty surroundings suddenly filled with a thick fog. As the fog gradually dispersed, it revealed rows upon rows of steel and concrete buildings, a bustling modern city, bathed in the lights of countless homes at night.
"Go back here," the voice said. "As long as you walk over, you can go back."
Bai Shengyi took a step forward.
The voice from the shadows said, "Yes, just like that."
"But this is not my home. I don't want to go back." Bai Shengyi let out a soft laugh. If anyone could see her form, they would notice the utter coldness in her eyes, her silhouette seemingly condensed from spiritual energy.
"Then what about here?"
The fog rose and then dissipated again, transforming the modern city into a futuristic cityscape, with hovercars shuttling through the sky.
"This is not my home either. I don't want to go back."
Bai Shengyi replied with the same words.
Before the voice could ask again, she raised her palm, and a ball of green spiritual light leaped out, transforming into a tree. Immediately, this tree grew rapidly, splitting into two, then into four, soon occupying the entire space.
She asked, "Do you want to come here? It's much more fun here than the two places you conjured earlier."
With another flick of her hand, a few flowers bloomed on the treetops, and grass grew on the ground.
"Oh?"
The voice seemed to be a little puzzled.
"Don't you cherish the places deep in your memory?"
It could clearly sense that all of this cultivator's obsessions were the two places deep in her memory and that man. However, that man was very special, possessing an aura that originated from the same source as the Heavenly Dao consciousness it guarded, so it dared not offend him, hence it conjured the two places.
It had not expected to fail to tempt this cultivator.
What it didn't know was that for Bai Shengyi, neither the 23rd century nor the Federation was her destination. They were merely landscapes she had passed through, though indeed incredibly magnificent and worthy of her careful collection.
However, compared to those, she was more attached to her current place, which was filled with like-minded friends, her master, her family, and most importantly, her beloved.
Not to mention, she had encountered this kind of heart demon tribulation before, so she was naturally unaffected by it.
The heart demon tribulation had been idle for a long time and was momentarily hesitant about whether to continue.
However, before it could make a decision, a wisp of white smoke drifted into this space. It blinked, and when it regained its senses, it had already forgotten what it had initially intended.
Bai Shengyi was not anxious about the lack of response from the voice behind her. She raised her hand and the forest she had conjured became denser and more lush. She wondered if the life force contained within this forest was feeding back into her, making her feel much more comfortable all over, even feeling a bit drowsy... No! She was undergoing a lightning tribulation!
In a flash of lightning, a meteor shower descended from the sky, and the scorching heat hit her face!
First, a wave of fire rushed in, then flying arrows, then collapsing mountains. The illusory phenomena conjured by the heart demon tribulation appeared one after another, determined to kill Bai Shengyi right there.
Bai Shengyi was not one to sit and wait for death. She formed a hand seal with her fingertips, and the trees on the ground shot up, their branches extending like soft vines, deflecting the flying arrows and holding up the collapsing mountains...
"Daojun Qinglan, what's wrong?"
Outside the lightning tribulation, Daojun Hongyi had been holding his breath. Suddenly, seeing Daojun Qinglan turn his head, he anxiously looked over.
But as he scanned his surroundings, he saw nothing out of the ordinary.
Venerable Fei Yun frowned. "Daojun Qinglan, there's no need to be so nervous. It's just a mere heart demon tribulation. With Bai Shengyi's abilities, she can easily overcome it."
These words sounded like they were meant to comfort him.
However, Daojun Qinglan ignored him. Instead, his face grew even more somber. He leaped into the air and moved towards the area of the lightning tribulation where the thunder was churning.
"Get out!"