Outside the formation, everyone stared at the sky.

Golden-white lightning gathered inside the clouds like a blessing personally lowered by the heavens.

For a moment, the Peak Masters did not know what to say.

"Is this still a tribulation?"

No one answered.

Normally, after a cultivator endured tribulation, the heavens might send a small amount of restorative energy. It healed wounds, stabilized the new realm, and repaired hidden injuries.

But this was not a small amount.

This was a bolt.

A massive golden-white bolt was gathering above Su Bai’s head.

It was shaped like mercy, but its pressure was not merciful at all.

Lu Canghai stared at the clouds, then his face slowly changed.

Others might see a blessing. He saw danger.

His disciple was built different after all.

Lu Canghai’s fingers tightened around his sleeve.

"Disciple..." he muttered.

...

Inside the formation, Su Bai was also staring at the sky.

His face had already changed.

The golden-white lightning above him was not thick like the previous purple-white bolts.

It was only about the size of a baby’s arm.

Compared to the barrel-thick destructive lightning, it looked almost delicate.

But Su Bai did not relax. Not even slightly.

The Reversal Body gave him a warning through instinct.

Su Bai’s scalp went numb. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Just then, the golden-white bolt finished condensing.

Su Bai stood up at once.

The Tribulation Lightning Bead chain crackled around his wrist.

His reaction speed sharpened.

His body leaned forward.

Frictionless Phantom Step activated.

The stone beneath his feet seemed to lose all resistance.

Su Bai vanished from where he stood.

The golden-white lightning descended.

It was thin. But it was fast.

It was not like the destructive lightning that smashed downward with overwhelming force.

This bolt moved like a needle. A golden needle from the heavens.

Su Bai had barely shifted three feet when the bolt turned.

His eyes widened.

It followed him! The golden-white lightning curved in midair and struck him in the chest.

Boom!

Su Bai’s body froze. Then his eyes shot wide open.

Pain exploded through him.

Not the burning, tearing pain of destructive lightning.

This was worse in a different way.

The golden-white lightning entered his body like a blessing.

Then, under the Reversal Body, the blessing reversed.

Healing became corrosion. Restoration became erosion. Vitality became flesh-eating decay.

Su Bai felt as if golden acid had been poured directly into his veins.

His muscles began to melt from the inside. His organs twisted. His jade meridians softened and lose its protective coating.

It was not tearing him apart with brute force. It was trying to make his body forget how to hold itself together.

Su Bai gritted his teeth.

The Black-Ice Core reacted immediately.

Extreme Yin surged through the crystal root network, trying to stabilize the collapsing flesh.

The Yang body surged vitality, trying to refill what was being dissolved.

The Taiji loop spun faster.

But the golden-white lightning was too concentrated.

It did not strike once and vanish.

It remained.

It clung to him like a curse pretending to be medicine.

Su Bai staggered.

His internal loop tried to repair the damage, but the reversed healing continued eating through him.

For the first time since the destructive lightning struck, the repair speed fell behind.

Su Bai’s knees bent.

"Ugh!"

He nearly fell.

...

Outside, Lu Canghai’s expression changed completely.

"Not good."

Peak Master Yao Ding was stunned.

"Why is he being hurt by healing lightning?"

Lu Canghai did not answer.

His eyes were already cold.

...

Inside the formation, Su Bai’s vision blurred.

The golden-white lightning chased through his body.

It did not feel endless in size.

It felt endless in intent.

Wherever the Black-Ice Core sent Yin to stabilize, the lightning corroded.

Wherever the Yang body sent vitality to heal, the lightning reversed it into weakness.

The loop was still working. But it was lagging behind.

Su Bai felt his organs scream.

His meridians trembled as if they were about to dissolve into threads.

His flesh twitched.

His breathing broke.

Less than two breaths had passed.

Only two breaths.

Yet Su Bai felt as if his body had been chewed hollow from the inside.

He clenched his teeth until blood appeared at the corner of his mouth.

No.

He could not continue like this.

His system inventory opened in his mind.

His thoughts moved quickly through the front slots.

Corpse-Chill Yin Pill.

Stagnation Salve.

Heavenly Aegis Mirror.

Su Bai’s mind stopped.

The Heavenly Aegis Mirror appeared in his hand.

He raised it with trembling fingers.

The golden-white lightning was still drilling into him.

Su Bai turned the mirror surface toward the bolt.

The next instant, the golden-white lightning struck the Heavenly Aegis Mirror.

The mirror trembled violently.

Light spread across its surface.

For one terrifying moment, Su Bai thought it would crack.

Then the mirror shone.

The golden-white bolt bent.

It reflected.

The beam shot sideways out of the formation.

...

Outside, Lu Canghai had already moved.

The moment he saw Su Bai’s aura collapse, he could no longer remain still.

He stepped into the edge of the formation, ignoring the warning pressure of the tribulation.

"Disciple!"

At almost the same time, Su Bai reflected the bolt.

The golden-white lightning shot straight toward Lu Canghai.

Lu Canghai had just entered.

His eyes widened.

"Eh?"

The bolt hit him directly in the chest.

"Ugh!"

The Peak Masters froze.

"Brother Lu!"

"Lu Canghai!"

"Get back!"

Several Peak Masters moved at once.

Even Li Xuanzong’s expression sharpened.

But then everyone stopped.

Lu Canghai stood there, frozen in place, with golden-white lightning wrapped around him like warm silk.

His old robes fluttered.

His white hair lifted.

His eyes widened.

Then...

"Oof."

Inside his body, decades of hidden injuries began to heal.

Old cracks in his foundation slowly mended.

Stagnant meridians loosened.

Dark wounds buried deep beneath his realm were washed by golden vitality.

Even the damage left behind from falling from Nascent Soul toward Golden Core trembled and began repairing at the edges.

Lu Canghai’s back straightened.

His aura rose. Then softened. Then rose again.

For a moment, the old man looked younger.

The exhausted weight that had followed him for years faded slightly.

The Peak Masters stared.

Peak Master Yao Ding’s mouth opened. Then closed. Then opened again.

As an alchemist, he understood healing energy better than anyone here.

That bolt was not harming Lu Canghai.

It was repairing him.

Hou Yan’s eyes narrowed.

Jian Wushuang’s gaze sharpened.

Shen Youran’s usually calm expression shifted.

Lu Canghai stood silently for a few breaths, then he slowly looked down at his hands.

His expression was blank. Then his eyes brightened.

Dangerously.

...

Inside the formation, Su Bai finally escaped the golden-white bolt.

He fell to one knee, breathing heavily.

His face was pale.

His body was still repairing the internal damage.

The Black-Ice Core surged violently.

The golden Yang sun inside flickered.

The crystal root network shivered as it corrected the damage.

Su Bai gripped the Heavenly Aegis Mirror and panted.

That was close.

The healing lightning had almost melted him into a cautionary tale.

Then he heard Lu Canghai’s voice.

"My disciple!"

Su Bai raised his head weakly.

Lu Canghai stood beyond the formation, golden vitality still lingering around his body.

His expression was solemn and filled with the bearing of a master willing to face heaven for his disciple.

"I will face this tribulation for you!" Lu Canghai declared. "You do not have to bear everything alone!"

Su Bai’s eyes moved.

For a moment, warmth rose in his chest.

’As expected, Master was reliable.’

Even though Lu Canghai was usually shameless, when it truly mattered, he stood in front of his disciple.

Su Bai’s fear immediately lessened.

With his master there, he felt that perhaps this terrifying healing lightning could be endured.

Then Su Bai noticed something.

The Peak Masters were silent.

Peak Master Yao Ding looked at Lu Canghai.

Then at the remaining golden glow around his body.

Then at the sky.

Then at Su Bai.

His eyes slowly narrowed.

Hou Yan’s brow twitched.

Jian Wushuang crossed his arms and looked away, as if trying very hard not to say anything.

Shen Youran’s expression became unreadable.

These people were all old monsters.

How could they not understand?

Lu Canghai’s words were righteous.

His posture was noble.

His timing was touching.

But the golden-white lightning had just healed his hidden injuries.

He had perfectly wrapped shamelessness in the robes of righteousness.

Peak Master Yao Ding suddenly stepped forward.

His expression became solemn.

"Brother Lu cannot bear this alone."

Everyone looked at him.

Yao Ding placed a hand over his chest.

"As the master of the Alchemy Hall, how can I watch a junior of our sect suffer under such strange heavenly power? Healing, poison, medicine. This concerns the Dao of alchemy itself."

He walked toward the formation.

"I must help protect Martial Nephew Su."

Lu Canghai’s mouth twitched.

Yao Ding stepped inside and sat cross-legged.

His face was righteous. His eyes were extremely focused on the clouds.

Huo Yan stared at him. Then his face darkened.

"Yao Ding, you old pill furnace."

The golden-white clouds above rumbled again.

Another healing bolt began forming.

Huo Yan took a deep breath.

Then he stepped forward.

"Martial Nephew Su is closely connected to my Heavenly Forge Peak. He has helped our peak before. If the heavens insist on striking him, then my peak cannot stand aside!"

His voice was loud and full of justice.

He strode into the formation and sat down on the other side.

Yao Ding opened one eye.

Huo Yan ignored him.

Jian Wushuang looked at the two of them.

Then he looked at the golden-white clouds.

Then he looked at his own sword.

After a short silence, he said coldly, "A sword cultivator should not fear heavenly light."

He stepped forward.

"Since this tribulation is unusual, I will guard one direction."

He entered as well.

Shen Youran sighed softly.

Her voice remained calm.

"Too many people entering recklessly may disturb the formation."

Everyone paused.

Then Shen Youran continued, "Therefore, I will enter to stabilize the balance."

She also walked in.

Su Bai watched this from the center of the training ground while still half-kneeling.

For a moment, he forgot the pain.

Su Bai silently lowered his head.

’Radiant Sky Sect was indeed righteous.’

Then Sect Master Li Xuanzong spoke.

His voice was calm and authoritative.

It spread across the whole sect.

"All disciples of Radiant Sky Sect, gather outside the training ground in ordered groups as soon as possible."

The Peak Masters inside the formation froze.

Lu Canghai slowly turned his head.

Li Xuanzong turned to the Peak Masters.

"Do not fight over the lightning."

Then he looked toward Slumbering Ancestor Peak.

His next words made the entire main peak fall silent.

"As for the ancestors..."

Lu Canghai’s eyelid twitched.

Li Xuanzong said calmly, "I will personally invite their coffins here. They can "protect" Martial Nephew Su better."

Everyone stared at him.

Even Su Bai forgot to breathe for a moment.

Invite their coffins?

Lu Canghai looked at Li Xuanzong.

For the first time, his expression showed sincere admiration.

Compared to the Sect Master, he was still too shallow.