It is not widely known that the more you curse during a lightning tribulation, the fiercer the lightning tribulation strikes.
In response to Lime's roar, the lightning tribulation in the sky reacted.
That red lightning was extremely rare in Teyvat.
Even Zhongli had only seen it once, on a frenzied and desperate Electro God.
It could be said to symbolize madness and destruction.
And now, this crimson lightning struck down from the sky, directly at Yun Xu and Lime.
"Is it still not too late to order a coffin from Director Hu now…?"
Yun Xu mumbled blankly while raising his hand to form a hand seal.
Soon, Spirit Invocation activated, and a four-armed purple phantom appeared behind Yun Xu.
Lime also felt the threat, soaring directly into the sky and unleashing the power accumulated over the past two months. Unruly lightning arcs struck all around, while he himself charged straight at the red tribulation lightning, using the sharp horn on his head as a lightning rod.
Boom—!
When the lightning struck, the red glow was so blinding it was impossible to open one's eyes.
Thud—
After the thunderous roar, Yun Xu's drooping ears, which had been covering his head, perked up again, just in time to hear the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground. He even smelled something like cooked meat, and quickly forced his eyes open, enduring the stinging pain.
Then he saw Lime lying on the ground, severely injured with torn skin and flesh. His 0-shaped eyes, originally consistent with a Slime's appearance, had now turned X-shaped, and he was sticking out the only pink tongue on his purple body, his life unknown.
"Li—me—!"
Yun Xu quickly pulled out the remaining Sweet Sweet Pills and rushed over, placing several of them together on Lime's tongue, using his tongue to roll up the Sweet Sweet Pills and stuff them back into his mouth.
As the Sweet Sweet Pills took effect, Lime's X-shaped eyes slowly returned to their 0-shape.
"Gawu gawu…"
Only then did Lime slowly wake up, letting out a weak cry.
"I'm sorry… Sister… Lime will never swear or curse again…" The dragon-transformed Lime already possessed a certain level of intelligence, and such thoughts emerged in his mind.
Just now, he had seen a large yellow Electro Slime waving at him from across the river, even though Slimes don't have hands.
The red lightning had been brewing for longer than usual, but it was almost ready after Yun Xu fed Lime the pill.
However, the maximum HP restored by the Sweet Sweet Pills was clearly not enough to return Lime to his peak state, and he would likely struggle to withstand another tribulation lightning strike.
"Don't be afraid, Lime, this time I'll resist it with you."
Yun Xu stroked Lime's head to comfort him, then took out a long spear.
Bosacius had also used a long spear as a weapon during his lifetime, so a phantom of a long spear also condensed.
Feeling Yun Xu's will, Lime rubbed against his hand and stood up again, facing the lightning tribulation in the sky once more without any fear, just like at the beginning.
"It took away my sister, but it will never defeat us…" "What's with this touching feeling…?"
Paimon, watching from the periphery, munched on popcorn and mumbled in confusion.
"Wow, the tribulation lightning is so scary! Good thing I was just kidding when I said I wanted to learn Yun Xu's alchemy last time. This Master definitely can't handle being struck by lightning like that…"
Although Hu Tao wasn't afraid of normal thunder, the lightning that had just struck, being so close, almost deafened her as a mortal. It took her a while to release her hands from her ears.
"Don't worry, Director Hu, even if you learned it, there wouldn't be a need to undergo a tribulation."
Zhongli, at his side, offered a comforting remark.
As an Ancestor of a myriad of Adepti, he had never heard of pills needing to undergo tribulation before Yun Xu.
"?"
"Guest Elder, you're looking down on This Master's Talents!"
"Hmph, no one helps me achieve my lofty ambitions, This Master… might not be able to ascend on my own either."
Hu Tao initially thought Zhongli believed she couldn't learn, but halfway through her somewhat displeased remark, she suddenly became less confident.
At this moment, after Yun Xu and Lime struck a pose of readiness for death for a while, the red tribulation lightning finally struck.
As the tribulation lightning descended, Bosacius's phantom was the first to soar into the sky. The power Yun Xu could exert with his compatibility was not much, but fully mobilized, it was enough to form a thick Electro element barrier.
However, the lightning tribulation itself had the characteristic of growing stronger the stronger the tribulation-undergoer was, so the barrier was shattered in an instant.
After exhausting the power summoned from the ley lines, the Spirit Invocation technique automatically ceased, and at this moment, Lime roared and soared into the sky with Yun Xu, the two of them together resisting the remaining power of the tribulation lightning.
Then the two fell together, losing consciousness.
"Oh no, oh no, This Master's enthusiastic friend seems to be turning into cold business…"
Seeing this scene, Hu Tao couldn't help but exclaim.
"Traveler, Yun Xu seems to be in a bad state, but he said that the more people there are, the stronger the lightning tribulation will be. So how should we save him?"
Paimon asked while eating popcorn.
And beside Lumine and Paimon, Shenhe had already taken out the Calamity Queller, her gaze fixed on the re-brewing thunderclouds.
"…"
"Next time… no more cursing…"
"After we go back… I'll deal with you then…"
Yun Xu slowly raised his hand and patted Lime's head.
"Gawu…"
Lime responded with a pitiful whimper.
"Whew…"
Yun Xu exhaled and continued to consume pills.
But this time he didn't feed any to Lime, because most of the Sweet Sweet Pills had been used for the Seven-Turn refinement, and there weren't many left to begin with.
Having recovered some strength, Yun Xu did not get up, but instead dispelled his human form and reverted to his small white fox form.
"Wow, he's been struck back into his original form!"
Paimon exclaimed, taking a few big bites of delicious popcorn.
Yun Xu ignored Paimon and slowly raised his tail behind him, standing on all fours.
The recent tribulation lightning not only left scars on them, but also scorched the earth, creating severe cracks, and the surroundings were filled with a large amount of Electro elements and electrical arcs.
As Yun Xu's tail stood up, those Electro elements made his tail fluff up as if startled, the entire tail looking bristled.
At the same time, Yun Xu activated his ability to manipulate sand, causing countless tiny brown grains of sand to surround him, giving him a brown and light yellow outer coat, almost to the point where he couldn't be seen as a white fox.
But this wasn't enough; Yun Xu twitched his ears and began to consciously control the curve of his ears, making them look like upward-growing ox horns.
"Adeptal Art, Spirit Invocation: Azhdaha!"
After completing the imitation of his appearance, Yun Xu then activated the Adeptal Art again.
"What? I'm not dead yet, how can I be invoked…?"
Sitting on the edge of the cliff outside Cuijue Slope, watching her grand-disciple get struck by lightning while leisurely swinging her fleshy little short legs and eating popcorn, Ruo Li was stunned when she heard Yun Xu's words.
She couldn't possibly jump from here and ride on him, could she?
Ruo Li hesitated for a moment.
But just as she hesitated, an ancient power was awakened, and the phantom of Azhdaha appeared behind Yun Xu, maintaining a size about one circle larger than Yun Xu's fox form.
Compared to Yun Xu's bristling fox tail, what stood up behind him was a miniature Fulong Tree tail.
"Roar!"
The Geo Dragon began to absorb Electro element power from the ley lines, enhancing its resistance in that aspect.
Rumble—!
With Azhdaha invoked, and with his DEF, Yun Xu no longer had to worry about the red tribulation lightning.
After all, Spirit Invocation was considered a person's own technique and was not within the scope of the lightning tribulation's characteristic of growing stronger when encountering stronger opponents.
After a few more red tribulation lightning strikes, this lightning tribulation finally ended.
After the last tribulation lightning, the Seven-Turn Sweet Sweet Pill, which had been absorbing the tribulation lightning's power with Yun Xu and them, shot into the sky, instantly piercing into the clouds.
Subsequently, a hazy colorful light bloomed on its surface, dispelling all dark clouds in its path, leaving only a circular opening in the middle where the colorful haze could be seen.
Until the dark clouds completely dispersed, the pill then fell from the sky, returning to Yun Xu, who had dispelled the Adeptal Art.
Yun Xu was tired and in pain, too lazy to transform for a moment, and extended his paw to cup the pill.
"Seven-Turn blessing pill (4-star · Rainbow): Upon consumption, restores all HP, but has a chance to emit a sweet aroma that tempts all living beings. Living beings tempted to share and consume the user's flesh and blood can gain almost infinite vitality and inherit all effects of this pill."