An old man dressed like a con artist, with a long, waterfall-like beard, sat in a small teahouse in a quiet town, leisurely sipping his tea.
From afar, his gaze drifted toward Su Wen's direction.
"What a powerful tribulation… and she hasn't suffered a single scratch," he muttered, eyes narrowing slightly. "It's as if she's already accustomed to facing the Heavenly Tribulation itself…"
He paused, a flicker of disbelief crossing his face.
"Wait. Didn't she fail her last tribulation?" His fingers tightened around the teacup. "Don't tell me… that brat used the Heavenly Laws to refine her body and forcefully step onto the path of Body Cultivation…"
A rare trace of solemnity appeared on his aged face, the casual air around him quietly fading.
"Only a madman would even think of doing something like that," he whispered, "and… only a madman would be willing to endure such suffering."
The old man stared into the distance, stunned. If anyone from the Central Continent were to see this expression on his face, they would be shocked to their very core.
"That brat… that movement technique isn't simple at all," the old man thought, his gaze deepening. "And such a powerful sword technique… just what kind of background does this brat have?"
Despite his words, the faint pride in his eyes and the smile tugging at his lips were impossible to hide.
"It seems you'll be heading to the Central Continent soon," he mused inwardly. "I'm looking forward to the interesting things you'll show me… hahaha."
His gaze shifted briefly to Du Yue, then back to Su Wen. "I'm certain you'll stir up no small amount of chaos there."
The old man grinned, unmistakable excitement gleaming in his eyes.
Du Yue, who had been thinking about her husband, suddenly took out a light-blue pill refined from the Peak Grade 3 Frost Lotus and swallowed it.
"Another excellent pill rich in Yin Qi that husband refined for me," she thought with a faint smile. "It tastes really good… but husband tastes even better."
A strange hunger stirred in her chest, the fluttering butterflies in her heart growing crazy.
Her gaze drifted instinctively toward Su Wen's direction. She had clearly seen how swiftly he had dealt with a Peak Foundation Establishment cultivator earlier.
"Husband… he's amazing. I miss him. He looks so good," she thought softly, a gentle smile on her face, though her eyes were full of obsession and a little drool gave her away.
She still missed him, even though he was right there... constantly moving around her and quietly hunting. The interference from the tribulation meant little to her; it never dulled her senses. No matter where he hid, her attention never truly left him.
Su Wen wiped the cold sweat from his brow. 'Again?... Why do I feel like someone is watching me with ill intentions?' He cautiously scanned his surroundings with his soul sense, every nerve on alert.
At that moment, the eighth tribulation lightning descended.
It was as if the clouds themselves collapsed. The thunder completely engulfed her, the roar so overwhelming that, for several seconds, the world seemed to fall into absolute silence. It felt like the heavens themselves were crashing down.
When the light finally faded, Du Yue emerged exactly as before… unharmed, calm, and composed.
Only her aura had changed.
It was far stronger than before, heavy and profound, already brushing against the threshold of a true Golden Core cultivator.
Her body had nearly reached perfection, only a small final push away from stepping into the Sevenfold Body Refinement realm.
Meanwhile, the Soul Qi within her dark, pitch-black consciousness… nourished by the two pills and the heavenly lightning… had gathered into a small white pond, its ethereal glow standing out vividly against the surrounding darkness.
As for her spirit cultivation, the solid core within her dantian had grown to the size of a small fist. A faint golden light continued to radiate from it
Meanwhile, Su Wen moved quietly and discreetly toward Jin, the final rogue Peak-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, who was hiding and waiting for his chance once the tribulation ended.
Like a tiger stalking its prey, Su Wen waited for the perfect moment… and just as the eighth bolt of thunder descended, he struck. Using the Pride of the Heavens First Form, enhanced with Grade 2 Sword and Space Intents, he aimed straight for Jin's head.
Jin, smug and dreaming of his bright future, suddenly felt his instincts scream in alarm. He drew his sword and tried to defend, but Su Wen's swift, precise strike overwhelmed him.
Though he managed to save his head, it came at a heavy cost. Blood spurted from his wound, and his left hand fell to the ground like severed branch.
"You bastard! Who are you?!" Jin shouted instinctively in Su Wen's mind using his Spiritual Sense, his face twisted with terror. He clutched his left arm, slick with blood, replaying the near-fatal strike in his thoughts. Had he reacted just a second later… his head would have been gone.
Su Wen didn't reply. He had no time to waste on someone like him. Though Jin had survived for now, the roar of the waterfall-like thunder concealed Su Wen's movements, giving him enough time to move unseen before anyone could notice.
"Pride of the Heavens, Second Form!" He spoke loudly and moved forward with an overbearing momentum and attacked fiercely.
Jin, although injured, immediately reacted and took out his own Grade 2 sword with his right hand. As their swords collided, it released a powerful shockwave around the area.
Jin coughed up blood as a powerful force traversed his body. He looked at Su Wen with shocked eyes, unable to understand how a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator could be stronger than someone at the peak of the same realm.
Su Wen, on the other hand, instead of backing down, immediately grabbed Brother Jin's right arm with his left hand.
"N-nonsense…" Brother Jin tried to say, but to his horror, he couldn't shake his arm.
"You!!... You are a body cultivator!" But he realized it too late. Su Wen immediately kicked him in the nuts, eliciting a loud cry and still didn't stop. He swung his sword with his right hand and directly cut off Brother Jin's right arm and threw it on the ground like trash.
"Ahhh, Y-you bastard, let me go!... I will let you have her!"
"I don't want her... please!" he cried in pain and started to beg, but he heard Su Wen's cold voice in his mind,
"You still dare to speak of her?"
Before Jin could say anything, his head dropped to the ground, sending him to meet his other brothers.
He only heard a chilling, merciless voice as his consciousness slipped away,
"The moment your filthy eyes first landed on my wife, your fate was sealed."
Su Wen calmly collected Jin's belongings, applied his environmentally safe corpse-disposing liquid, and vanished silently, already scanning for more storage rings… cough cough… more scum daring to threaten his wife.