Du Yue looked at the sky like an empress, feeling an oppressive aura from the clouds as if they were all merging together at a single, fated point. A thick bolt of blue lightning converged at that point, twisting and crackling violently as it took the shape of a massive dragon.
Its body shimmered with pure energy, scales arcing with lightning, and its eyes glowed with a piercing intensity that made even the heavens seem to tremble. The oppressive presence alone could make anyone shiver, yet Du Yue met it without a hint of fear.
Instead of retreating, she slowly floated straight up toward the heart of the storm, lifting her chin to meet the dragon's blazing eyes. She shouted loudly, her voice ringing clear over the thunder,
"Finally, it's about to end… I was getting bored… Come quickly and get it over with, I have a husband to eat at home!"
For a brief moment, the thunder seemed to pause, as if even the storm itself had been startled by her audacity.
Su Wen, moving stealthily while hunting for hidden threats as usual, froze mid-step. His face went completely red, and he instinctively lowered his head, wishing desperately that no one… especially Du Yue… had seen him like this.
'Did my dumb wife lose her mind while breaking through to the Soul Sea realm…?' he thought to himself, shaking his head in disbelief at why she always acts like this at the most serious moments.
The Dragon, as if insulted by her nonchalance, roared in fury. Its lightning crackled violently, booming like the tearing of the heavens. The dragon-shaped bolt stretched and twisted in the sky, scales of electric energy shimmering along its body, and it opened its massive, jagged mouth with a deafening crack, aiming straight for Du Yue as if it wanted to swallow her whole and erase her existence.
Du Yue didn't dodge. She let herself be consumed by the Tribulation Dragon, calm and composed. Spiritual Qi flared around her, protecting her robes from any shred of damage and shielding her sword from the worst of the thunder.
She let the lightning surge through her body, allowing it to refine and temper her to the fullest. Spiritual Qi from the surrounding twelve-kilometre radius converged around her, drawn by her aura, which swelled with an unstoppable momentum.
The tribulation thunder refined her body to perfection, finally propelling her to the Sevenfold Body Refinement. Yin Vital Qi surged from her heart and circulated through her entire body, reinforcing her muscles, meridians, and bones, making her stronger with each heartbeat.
Within her consciousness, the refined Soul Qi flowed and finally settled, forming a small, luminous pond that shimmered against the dark expanse of her mind. Her Immortal Divine Soul rested at the centre, nourished continuously by the Soul Qi.
With time, the pond would expand like a sea, eventually enveloping her entire consciousness and imbuing it with incomprehensible depth and power.
As for her spirit cultivation, her dantian now housed a perfectly formed Golden Core, noticeably larger than ordinary ones. It was round and lustrous, radiating a pure golden glow as it spun steadily on its own axis.
Golden Cores were usually similar in size, but a slightly larger core represented superior quality, while a smaller one indicated an inferior foundation. Beyond size, other factors that determined quality included the purity of the qi and the brilliance of the golden lustre.
It circulated the rich, Yin-infused Spiritual Qi continuously, refining not only her body and meridians but also her soul.
In Spirit Cultivation, a cultivator not only refines their spiritual energy but also channels it to strengthen both body and soul, weaving them into a seamless, harmonious whole.
She finally managed to break through her body to the Sevenfold Body Refinement, her spirit cultivation to the Golden Core realm, and her soul cultivation to the Soul Sea realm.
But still, one final test remained for her tribulation, the Heart Tribulation.
She suddenly found herself in a room so dark that she couldn't even see her own hands, a place where light itself seemed to have been devoured. Time lost all meaning there, and even a single second stretched into an eternity, pressing down on her mind like an invisible weight.
A female voice echoed through the darkness, intimate yet cruel, as if speaking to someone she knew all too well. It carried a faint, mocking warmth that made the words even more vicious.
"Little sister, everything you have belongs to me… your face, your body, your cultivation, your talent… even all the hard work you've put in until now. I will take it all. You exist only so that I may claim everything you are."
Then an arrogant male voice rang out, cold and domineering, each word like an iron chain locking into place.
"I won't let you out of the Dark Prison for another thousand years. Li Xin, don't call me your brother. You'd better behave and make yourself useful to our Li family. Your existence has value only as long as you obey."
Another female voice followed, sharp and filled with naked disgust, as though every syllable scraped against her soul.
"Li Xin, that wretch gave birth to you and then left you behind after her death… Don't call me mother, you filthy creature. If you want to be acknowledged by this family, then make this small sacrifice and give everything to your sister. You should be grateful we're even giving you this chance."
Finally, a middle-aged man's voice sounded, deep and heavy with killing intent, cutting through the darkness like a blade.
"Li Xin, if not for that bitch burning all her life force to carve the Ice Blood Guardian Seal into your body, I would have killed you on the spot… right after I killed your mother. Remember this well… your life was never meant to be yours."
"Shut the hell up, you bastards! Who gave you the courage to take what's mine?" Du Yue shouted furiously, her voice echoing like thunder. "Did you ask my husband first?!"
She waved her hand and punched forward.
The scenes before her cracked, spiderweb fractures spreading through the darkness, before shattering completely like fragile glass.
But in the very next moment, the scene changed.
She was once again in the same dark room.
A lone figure sat there… abandoned by those she once loved, treated like a prisoner by her own family, surrounded by suffocating negativity and despair.
Hatred, pain, and resentment pressed in from all sides. Yet even so, she never bowed her head. She never gave in.
Her lips slowly curled into a twisted grin.
Her eyes were dark like an abyss, as if they could devour the world itself. She looked like the embodiment of madness and despair, a person who had lost all reason yet clung desperately to a single thought… revenge.
She waited quietly, enduring everything, waiting for just one chance. A chance to repay every ounce of suffering, hatred, despair, and pain she had been forced to endure.