Staring at the Thunder Arcs of the Lightning Tribulation still falling, Joe Di knew this time he was truly doomed. Right now, only a dozen Thunder Arcs were coming down. According to his tribulation standards, the first wave should have eighty-one Thunder Arcs, with a total of nine waves—over seven hundred Thunder Arcs altogether.
Just these dozen Thunder Arcs nearly killed him, and there were still hundreds more to come. How could he possibly survive?
Joe Di hurriedly took out a communication bead, determined to send a message to Nora Xiu before his death.
But to Joe Di’s astonishment, after these dozen Thunder Arcs fell, no more descended. Though thunder still rumbled in the void, it was clear the next wave of Lightning Tribulation was gathering strength.
Joe Di was overjoyed. He quickly put away the communication bead, grabbed several Ninth-Grade Immortal Pills for healing, and swallowed them. Then, using the Rule Cycle, he frantically activated the Titan Body Technique and Starspace Technique.
His physical wounds healed rapidly, his cultivation surged once more, and endless immortal essence, under the Rule Cycle, was channeled out by the Starspace meridians, crashing against the bottleneck of the Immortal Emperor realm.
Thunderous booms echoed inside Joe Di’s body, and a faint mist of blood seeped from his skin, yet he paid it no mind. He knew that although this Lightning Tribulation far surpassed the Immortal Emperor’s, there was still a sliver of hope.
At least this tribulation finally resembled a normal one. Usually, each wave he faced had eighty-one Thunder Arcs, nine waves in total. This time, it seemed there might only be eighty-one Thunder Arcs altogether.
Based on the tribulation just now, he had endured twenty-nine Thunder Arcs in the first wave, leaving sixty-three more to go.
Seven hundred Thunder Arcs—Joe Di was certain he couldn’t survive that. But sixty-something Thunder Arcs? He was confident he could make it through.
Moreover, he didn’t have to wait for all sixty-something Thunder Arcs to fall before advancing into the Immortal Emperor realm.
Of course, Joe Di knew what he called normal was anything but, even for a cultivator at peak Immortal Lord. To them, this tribulation was still terrifyingly abnormal.
Joe Di’s bones had just recovered when thunder roared again in the void—the third wave, nine Thunder Arcs, crashed down.
......
“Zoe, there’s snow everywhere!” Nora Xiu looked out from the skyshuttle; outside, thick, pristine snow covered everything.
Zoe Shen nodded. “The temperature in the Ural Mountains has dropped. Minus dozens of degrees is the norm. We should be arriving soon—let me check the map, it should be...”
Just as Zoe Shen said the word 'should', the skyshuttle suddenly shook violently. Then the engine abruptly died, and the shuttle spun out of control.
“Not good, the engine’s frozen!” Zoe Shen had barely finished speaking when the skyshuttle plummeted downward.
Though Nora Xiu could have torn open the shuttle and escaped with her flying sword or Windrider Skill, she was still new to cultivation and lacked experience. She could only watch as the skyshuttle fell, unable to react.
By the time she reacted, Zoe Shen had already activated the emergency landing button.
A huge parachute deployed above the skyshuttle, finally slowing its descent.
Bang! The skyshuttle crashed into the ground, burying itself deep in the snow and vanishing from sight.
“Sorry, I dragged you into this,” Zoe Shen said apologetically from the cockpit, glancing at Nora Xiu.
Nora Xiu shook her head. “Zoe, it’s nothing. I planned to come out and train alone anyway, and besides, we’re fine now, aren’t we?”
Zoe Shen shook her head. “We may be unharmed, but getting out could be a problem. The snow here is hundreds of meters deep, maybe more. Ever since Earth’s climate changed, several meters of snow accumulate here every year and never melt.”
“What happened to the skyshuttle just now?” Nora Xiu asked, puzzled.
Zoe Shen apologized, “It was my fault. The skyshuttle’s engine is frost-resistant, so the cold shouldn’t have mattered. But a powerful, sudden blast of icy mist appeared out of nowhere and instantly froze the engine, making us crash.”
“Let’s get out of here and find a way out,” Nora Xiu said, unfastening her seatbelt.
Zoe Shen shook her head. “We can’t leave. Outside, the temperature is almost minus one hundred degrees. The sudden cold wave earlier was even colder. We still have some oxygen here, but if we leave, even if we don’t freeze to death, we’ll quickly suffocate.”
Only now did Nora Xiu realize she could use the Cosmic Cycle for internal breathing. That meant she could survive for a year or two without issue. But Zoe Shen practiced ancient martial arts, which rely on external breathing—completely different from cultivation. Nora could walk through the snow, but Zoe Shen could not.
“Zoe, we can’t stay in the skyshuttle for long either. With the engine broken, the oxygen will run out soon…” As Nora Xiu spoke, she swept her Spiritual Sense outward. If she weren’t in the snow, her range would reach dozens of miles; even here, she could sense everything within two or three kilometers.
Zoe Shen was startled, finally realizing that staying inside the skyshuttle meant they wouldn’t survive for long either.
“Zoe, stay behind me. I’ll lead you out.” Nora Xiu’s Spiritual Sense had already detected a huge cave nearby. She didn’t know where it led, but there were several snow mice inside. If snow mice could survive, so could they.
“Alright.” Zoe Shen knew Nora Xiu was right—staying in the skyshuttle was a dead end.
Before Zoe Shen could act, Nora Xiu summoned her flying sword and tore open the skyshuttle.
“You have a Quantum Vault Ring?” Zoe Shen stared at Nora Xiu in amazement. Such treasures were rare—even she didn’t own one.
Nora Xiu nodded. “Yes, my big brother gave it to me.”
She didn’t know that Joe Di had Quantum Vault Rings piled up like trash. If she did, she might have added, 'Once we get out, I’ll ask my brother for one for Zoe.'
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Zoe Shen was shocked. Quantum Vault Rings were so precious that every single one was controlled by the state. No private individual had ever owned one, no matter how powerful.
“Xiuqi, if we make it out alive, never tell anyone you own a Quantum Vault Ring, and don’t show it off to others,” Zoe Shen said solemnly, snapping back to herself.
She felt Joe Di was even more mysterious, able to give Nora Xiu a treasure as rare as a Quantum Vault Ring.
But then she remembered, Joe Di had always been like that. Years ago, he’d risked his life to find a Scarletblood Flower for her.
Such moments become memories—only at the time, one is lost in confusion.
Zoe Shen sighed, letting the past remain in the past.
Despite the tightly packed snow underground, Nora Xiu was a Foundation Stage cultivator with Spiritual Sense, and quickly carved out a tunnel.
Zoe Shen practiced ancient martial arts, and even at the Half-Pill Stage, following Nora Xiu became increasingly difficult. She could resist the cold, but the lack of air was torture. Now, she relied entirely on a single breath of spirit energy to cycle her internal breathing.
Luckily, Nora Xiu was fast. In less than an hour, they reached the cave entrance. Zoe Shen’s face was already turning purple.
When Nora Xiu moved the boulder from the cave entrance, Zoe Shen felt her breathing ease. For the first time, she realized how vital air truly was.
“Xiuqi, how did you know there was a cave here?” Zoe Shen asked Nora Xiu, puzzled.
Nora Xiu didn’t hide it. “I sensed it with my Spiritual Sense. Once a cultivator reaches a certain level, they can develop Spiritual Sense…”
Zoe Shen was stunned. She’d acquired some cultivation techniques herself, but were they really this powerful? If not for her self-control, she might have asked Nora Xiu to teach her cultivation on the spot.
Before Zoe Shen could say anything, Nora Xiu added, “Zoe, I’ll teach you cultivation in a bit. Even though there’s air flow here, we’re still beneath the snow. When we leave, you’ll need to know how to use the Cosmic Cycle for internal breathing.”
“What?” Zoe Shen exclaimed. Cultivators could use the Cosmic Cycle for internal breathing? Then she added, “But everything you learned was taught by Joe Di. Is it really okay for you to teach me…?”
Nora Xiu shook her head. “It’s fine. Big brother never said I couldn’t teach anyone else. He just helped clear my meridians before I started cultivating…”
After saying this, Nora Xiu couldn’t help but lean against the stone wall and retch.
“Are you alright?” Zoe Shen rushed over to support Nora Xiu. When she grabbed Nora’s wrist, her expression changed and she said, “Xiuqi, are you pregnant?”
Nora Xiu’s eyes widened in disbelief at the word ‘pregnant.’ Was she really pregnant? How could that be? Her big brother had been gone for two years—how could she be pregnant?
Clearly, Zoe Shen realized the same thing, and her expression turned equally strange.