Su Yan’s Breakthrough

Celestial wrath.

Tribulation clouds.

Roaring thunder.

Howling winds.

One cultivator.

Liu Ming touched the Sacred Cloud Seal on his belt, causing a small black cauldron to emerge.

Rrrrrr────CREEEEEAAK!

Gradually, it expanded into a large, ornate cauldron that landed heavily in front of Su Yan.

She was seated in a lotus position, readying herself for a crucial breakthrough in cultivation.

Standing behind her, Liu Ming spoke.

"Breaking through to the Foundation Spirit stage is a big step where you build a strong spiritual foundation inside your heavenly grotto. Inside the cauldron, there's a Foundation Pill that strengthens the stability of this foundation. You'll refine this pill together with your heavenly grotto essence to make it as pure as possible, then cultivate this refined essence.

"Your goal is to gather a huge amount of spiritual energy in your foundation to use for future breakthroughs. This accumulated energy will keep getting refined to increase its quality and potency. After that, you'll blend this refined energy with the energies in your heavenly grotto.

"This mix will start to crystallize and form a stable spiritual foundation within your heavenly grotto. This crystallized energy will eventually form a dormant core in your dantian, which will be the focal point for your next breakthrough.

"Is that understood?"

Su Yan nodded at her master's words and followed his instructions exactly.

"Focus..."

She was already surrounded by a golden energy that felt powerful enough to shake the entire sect!

The spiritual pressure in the area was immense, and no one dared to cross within a giant's step of this zone unless they wanted to be crushed by the overwhelming force!

Far outside the Sacred Cloud Mountain Range, in small towns and settlements, people could see the chaos in the sky.

A villager pointed at the dark clouds with fear.

"Tr-, tribulation clouds!"

"One of those bastards undergoing a tribulation."

Villagers began running into their homes, scared that the furious heavens would strike them down.

"NOT GOOD!"

"HAS IT ALREADY BEGUN?!"

"I REFUSE TO DIE!"

Crowds of villagers ran, some bumping into each other and others falling due to carelessness.

Su Yan extended one hand forward with her fingers spread out, and with the other hand, she made a Two-Fingered Incantation Gesture in front of her face to channel her spiritual energy. Yellow and orange energy arcs, resembling electricity, radiated from her hands and body, causing the earth to rock like a boat in a stormy sea!

The heavens seemed to have had enough.

TREEEEMBLE!

They rumbled furiously, and peals of thunder sent livestock in small village farms running around in panic.

Heavenly lightning was about to descend.

Even though the lightning itself was far from the villagers, they feared its aura would kill them. The mere aura of an attack capable of killing a Heavenly Grotto-Spirit expert could crush their bones to dust!

"Huh?"

Liu Ming looked up at the dark skies and saw golden lightning streaking across the heavy clouds, preparing to strike Su Yan.

He held a hand to the side and gathered sacred Qi within it.

"Isn't it about time you vanished?"

He thrust his hand forward, fingers spread wide, and unleashed sky-splitting sacred energy!

Spiritual energy roiled madly out of him, shooting up to form the image of a golden bell!

This was a powerful defensive art...

Golden Bell Technique!

A loud rumbling echoed as the huge bell slammed into the raging skies. The heavens seemed to shake as the bell's force broke apart the clouds, sending black fog scattering in all directions!

This revealed the once calm and peaceful night sky.

The villagers who watched from afar couldn't see the grandness of the bell; they only saw a burst of sacred Qi and the dark clouds dispersing as if washed away by an overwhelming force.

"Someone actually... shattered the tribulation clouds?!"

"That's impossible!"

"N-, no. It actually makes sense. The direction where it happened is from the Sacred Cloud Mountain Range. It must be the Heavenly Sword Patriarch!"

Every villager was left flabbergasted, utterly silent in awe of this unknown cultivator's majesty!

During this time, Su Yan was busy gathering and refining the heavenly grotto essence within herself. She was building her spiritual foundation and ensuring its rigidity by incorporating the Foundation Pill into the refined essence.

Successfully, she had strengthened her spiritual foundation, reinforced her mind, and tempered her flesh beyond measure!

Each enhancement made her fleshly body surge with explosive power, shattering the ground beneath her.

This was the fleshly body power of a Foundation Spirit expert──strong enough to shake the heavens and devour the earth!

Most of the tribulation's power and the refined heavenly grotto essence were almost completely absorbed by Su Yan. Now, she simply needed to nourish her body with the spiritual provisions of heaven and earth to achieve a breakthrough.

Liu Ming, with a proud smile and folded arms, watched her.

"Here it comes."

He could already sense it.

shh-KRACK────FZZZZZZZT!!

The skies were pierced by the explosive spiritual energy of Su Yan, manifesting as a sky-reaching pillar that seemed to touch the heavens.

She had experienced a breakthrough!

Cultivation level, Early Foundation Spirit!

Su Yan rose from the ground, placing a hand on her head, feeling very weak and heavy.

"I... did it..."

She started to feel dizzy and fell back.

But Liu Ming caught her in his arms before she could hit the ground.

Su Yan slowly opened her eyes and saw Liu Ming's face close to hers. He had a wide, charming smile, which made her feel a sharp pain in her chest for some reason.

"Yan Mei, are you okay?" he asked.

Su Yan blinked at Liu Ming, unsure of the strange feeling in her chest.

'My chest... why do I feel this way?'

It felt like drums were beating relentlessly in her heart.

Maybe it was because of her breakthrough, but she could even see his face shimmering with beautiful stars.

"I... I'm fine, Young Master."

Her usually calm and composed icy exterior was now glowing with a rosy hue, like frost-kissed petals blooming in the winter sun.

Liu Ming lifted her in a bridal carry, still smiling.

There was a certain joy in helping his student improve, or perhaps it was a personal joy because he was fulfilling the duty his grandfather had left him. These disciples were his to train, and he was determined to do that.

He would train them, care for them, and ensure they didn't regret meeting him.

Su Yan was comfortably settled in Liu Ming's arms, but she felt she was enjoying a luxury she didn't deserve.

"Young Master, are you sure about carrying me like this? You really don't need to; I can walk on my own."

The brown-haired beauty glanced to the side with her small brown eyes, avoiding making eye contact.

Liu Ming chuckled.

"Don't worry about it."

He paused and looked closely at Su Yan again.

He had been doing this more often lately, noticing new things about her──her scent was exceptionally nice, like lavender flowers or perhaps even better, and her skin had become more flawless.

Truly, this breakthrough of hers had multiplied her almost heavenly beauty tenfold.

"Young Master... is something wrong?"

"Huh?"

"You're staring at me strangely..."

Su Yan's voice was so soft and gentle that it would make anyone who heard it instantly feel drawn to her.

Infact, it was such a vulnerably attractive voice that any man, with a functioning jade stalk between their legs, would find it difficult to resist the urge to force her into a loving and passionate night.

Liu Ming took deep breaths to calm himself down.

"I-, it's nothing..."