The elder Wang’s pupils contracted, her eyes filled with her granddaughter.
Time had no meaning during their journey, but her cultivation was largely spurred by this girl.
She knew she had reached the Tribulation Period. If she passed, she would officially reach the Golden Core stage, and then she would have to find a secluded place to break through the barrier, ascending to a higher dimension.
She might even leave this world.
With this thought, she placed a hand on her daughter’s shoulder, like a buddy.
“Granddaughter, don’t be afraid. If you master this well, it will surely keep you safe and healthy.”
“Grandma!” Ah Jiu looked at her sideways. “Why do you sound like we’re saying goodbye forever? What happened, Grandma?”
“Nothing happened. Practice a hand seal for Grandma.”
Wang lowered her head, watching her fingers.
“Once more.” Still not agile enough.
“This is passable. Practice more, and you’ll become more proficient. Remember the incantation; the Seven Star Step is used to strengthen your power when necessary. Stand up.” Wang directed her step by step.
Ah Jiu stumbled through the motions until past midnight before she learned it.
This filled Wang with urgency. Ah Jiu learned physical things slowly but grasped conceptual things with incredible speed.
But Wang looked at the delicate lightning in the sky and knew her time was running out.
She calculated the time: the heavenly tribulation would approach at midnight and last until the following dawn. If she succeeded, she would transcend dimensions; if not, she would die.
She was leaving this world one way or another.
“Grandma, did I attract that lightning?” Ah Jiu asked, hopping excitedly. “Grandma, if my mother ever calls you superstitious again, I’ll argue with her.”
Wang smiled. “There’s no need to argue; it will only hurt your feelings. Go now. Remember the cultivation technique Grandma taught you. The technique is for cultivating qi, and the lightning technique is for protecting yourself. Go to sleep.”
Ah Jiu turned and headed toward the cave.
However, her quick steps gradually slowed. She felt that her grandmother was different today.
Back in the cave, Ah Jiu tossed and turned beside her sleeping mother, unable to sleep.
She still felt something was off with Grandma.
Just then, a bright light flashed through a gap in the grass covering the cave entrance. It was exceptionally bright.
Then, a rumble.
Ah Jiu got up and ran out barefoot. She pushed aside the grass and looked out. A patch of red clouds was in the sky, and lightning bolts were striking the valley.
Was it going to rain?
But Ah Jiu felt it wasn’t like the weather before rain.
As she was thinking.
Rumble, crackle, like the whipping of a whip, the lightning seemed to gather only above the valley.
Soon, the visible red clouds turned black, as thick as a large pile of layered black cotton. The lightning crisscrossing through them divided the dark clouds into several sections, and crackling bolts struck down.
At that moment, a figure shot straight into the sky. Instantly, lightning wrapped around them, distorting their form.
“Grandma!” Ah Jiu cried out and rushed forward. “Grandma.”
Ah Jiu tripped countless times on her way, watching as her grandmother was struck by a lightning bolt and fell heavily to the ground.
By the time she reached the valley, she could only smell a thick scent of burnt smoke.
“Master, this disciple has succeeded. Please protect me, Master.”
“Grandma!”
Just as Ah Jiu lunged forward, her severely injured grandmother shot into the sky. A heavenly lightning bolt descended, striking directly onto Wang’s crown. The person who had been traversing between heaven and earth plummeted to the ground.
The air current rippling on the ground buffeted the dry grass as if by a strong wind.
“Grandma?” Ah Jiu pushed aside the grass, stomped out stray embers, and finally found the heavily injured Wang in an open space.
Ah Jiu quickly took her pulse, inserting a silver needle into Hei Qu’s earlobe.
At that moment, unknown to Ah Jiu, the heavenly tribulation descended again.
Wang’s eyes snapped open, and she shoved her granddaughter away. “Do you want to die? Get away!”
She shot upwards herself, a purple light flashing, but under the onslaught of lightning bolts, the purple light weakened.
Bang!
Wang’s body crashed heavily to the ground once more.
Ah Jiu was terrified. She fell to her knees, biting her lip so hard she suppressed the urge to cry. She choked out two words:
“Grandma… what are you doing? I was joking when I said you were struck by lightning, Grandma.”