Dual Cultivation: I Summon Villainesses of Mythic Era

Chapter 95: Celestial Tribulation

*Upper Realms... Temple du Dao*

Zhi Mei stood in the center of the Pavilion of Celestial Will, surrounded by white jade columns that seemed to rise to infinity.

The air was saturated with sacred incense, but this usual smell was not enough to calm the turmoil stirring in her heart. The Temple Elders, seated on their raised thrones, stared at the saintess with an insistence that made the atmosphere heavy. The silence was broken by the cavernous voice of the head of the Elders, Yunru, whose piercing gaze seemed to want to probe the soul of the Templar.

"Zhi Mei, report on your mission in the lower worlds. Where is the Executor, the chosen of the Dao?" asked the woman gracefully and young but whose real age was much older...

Zhi Mei felt a drop of cold sweat slide down the back of her neck as her fingers clenched nervously.

She remembered with terrifying clarity the scene in the cave, Huojin’s body disintegrating before her eyes after he had given his will to BaiShe...

The stress tightened her throat because she absolutely did not want to reveal that the Dao Executor was dead, which would mean the total failure of her sacred mission and perhaps her own condemnation.

"The Lord Executor is... he is currently perfecting his awakening in a secure location," she stammered, her voice cruelly lacking the usual assurance of a 5th stage Overlord.

The Elders exchanged doubtful glances, catching the hesitation in her Qi.

However, before they could question her further, a dull rumble made the very foundations of the Temple vibrate. Zhi Mei turned her head toward the high openings and saw signs appearing abruptly in the sky. A massive Yin-Yang symbol, with almost unbearable luminosity, began to pulse above the celestial clouds, announcing a major event in the order of the world.

"The Dao Executor is in the Upper Realms!?"

...

A few hours earlier...

In another sector of the Upper Realms, the Pavilion of the Xuan family was bathed in tranquility.

In his private quarters, Xuan BaiShe had been sitting in lotus position for three weeks now, immersed in meditation of absolute intensity.

Recently returned from the Purple Mist Kingdom, he had immediately withdrawn to stabilize the massive energies he had absorbed. His face, usually of jade pallor, was marked by effort and heat.

BaiShe had finally broken through to the Transcendence stage, crossing the barrier that separated mortals from divine beings. However, this passage did not happen without pain because Huojin’s essence was still powerful and rebellious inside his own body. The Law of Dao Authority, which he had torn from the Executor, clashed with his own chaotic Qi, creating devastating internal turbulence.

Sweat flowed abundantly on his forehead, each drop evaporating instantly upon contact with his burning skin.

Suddenly, the sky above the Xuan domain darkened abnormally, black and heavy clouds accumulating in a few seconds. A first Boom rang out, shaking the structures of the palace, followed immediately by a second even more powerful. The lightning of the Celestial Tribulation began to form, a mandatory and perilous step for anyone wishing to reach divine Cultivation.

A third tore through the air as BaiShe opened his violet eyes, staring at the ceiling.

He felt that in his case, the tribulation was much more violent than normal, no doubt because of his identity as a Celestial Demon and the sacrilege he had committed by devouring the messenger of the Dao.

"Does the Dao want to kill me or what?" he muttered between his clenched teeth, as a first discharge of violet lightning pierced the roof of the pavilion to strike him head-on.

"Aahhhhhhrrg."

Unfortunately for him, no one could help him in this crucial step where the cultivator had to face the judgment of the heavens alone. His body began to blacken under the effect of the repeated discharges until it formed a smoking crust, his Primordial Devourer physique struggling not to collapse.

Meanwhile, Hue Qing, who also lived at BaiShe’s, was in her own apartments. Officially, she did not reside here as a concubine but as a simple servant, a position that allowed her to remain in the shadows despite her true nature. In reality, she did not spend her days cleaning; she stayed all day cultivating in her pavilion while the other servants took care of everything, BaiShe personally ensuring her comfort.

Hearing these deafening noises and feeling this intense Qi emanating from the young master’s quarters, she was taken by surprise and sudden worry.

"BaiShe!!!" she cried as she rushed out of her room.

She immediately ran through the gardens until she saw this side of the pavilion totally destroyed. In the center of the devastated room, she saw BaiShe, whose body was completely blackened like charcoal, motionless in the crater formed by the celestial impact.

Logically, the Tribulation was charged with celestial Qi that would temper the body so it could evolve to another level of power, an internal reinforcement trial where any external intervention was judged dangerous and counterproductive.

This was the reason why the elite guards posted around the pavilion remained motionless, not daring to intervene despite the destruction.

However, seeing him like this, Hue Qing’s heart tightened unbearably.

"BaiShe!" she called again as she approached the smoking debris.

"Miss, it’s dangerous for you! Do not approach!" shouted a guard trying to hold her back by the arm.

"This concerns only me! Let me go!" she retorted with an icy authority that made the man retreat.

Hue Qing did not let herself be stopped because her Devourer instinct detected a much greater danger. Even if BaiShe seemed inert, she saw that a final large lightning discharge was preparing in the clouds, of such intensity that she wondered if it would not completely destroy his soul instead of simply testing him.

In the distance, Xuan Feng, the patriarch of the family, about a hundred kilometers away. He closed his eyes, his cold strategist face betraying a rare emotion.

He knew that the more talented one is, the more difficult the Tribulation will be, and his son carried a much heavier burden than anyone else.

But Hue Qing could not bear it.

She ran toward BaiShe and embraced him, pressing her body against his despite the residual heat that burned her own clothes. At that precise moment, the Tribulation struck them head-on, a column of destructive light falling from the sky to engulf them.

She used her Emerald Abyss Physique to absorb as much energy as she could, trying to divert the celestial fury toward her own voracious meridians. The burns were not small on her delicate skin, but she did not release her grip, her emerald Qi fighting against the purple lightning to save the one she considered her benefactor...