Chen Yuyang looked at Yunlian, whose face was streaked with tears, and felt completely bewildered by her words.
“What… what’s going on?”
He stopped his cultivation, stood up, and walked over to Yunlian.
“Boo hoo, Senior Brother has the nerve to ask me!”
Yunlian lifted her tear-blurred face, her voice choked with sobs.
“Do I really need to tell you what you did to me?”
Chen Yuyang frowned deeply, even more confused.
“What did I do?”
Aside from carrying his Junior Martial Sister to the blanket, he hadn’t done anything at all.
Meanwhile, Yunlian, still crying, secretly observed Chen Yuyang’s reaction.
She was rather surprised to see that the young man’s expression didn’t look like an act, nor did he show any signs of guilt or panic.
‘Could it be… he really didn’t take advantage of me? Didn’t even cop a feel?’
‘Senior Brother, are you even a man? Fine, don’t go all the way, but at least cop a feel!’
Yunlian felt a wave of disappointment, even a bit annoyed.
‘Ugh, worse than a beast!’
With that thought, she took a deep breath, quickly wiped away her tears, and her sorrow vanished in an instant.
Instead, she flashed a sly smile, winked playfully at Chen Yuyang, and giggled, “Senior Brother, hehe, how was my acting? Did I fool you?”
Chen Yuyang: “…”
For a moment, Chen Yuyang didn’t know what to say.
“Senior Brother, I’m just kidding.”
Seeing that Chen Yuyang wasn’t responding, Yunlian stuck out her tongue guiltily and continued grinning.
Chen Yuyang took a slight deep breath, still silent.
He simply turned around, grabbed a wooden stick as thick as an arm from the side, and weighed it in his hand.
The smile froze on Yunlian’s face.
“Senior Brother, wh-what are you going to do?”
Chen Yuyang turned back, a half-smile on his face.
He swung the stick through the air, producing a low whoosh, then chuckled, “I think this stick and your rear end are a good match. The sound of it hitting should be quite crisp.”
“Senior Brother, I was wrong! I shouldn’t have made that joke! Please be magnanimous and forgive me this once!”
Yunlian quickly scrambled up, lowered her head, and began begging for mercy.
“Too late. Taste the stick!”
With a low shout, Chen Yuyang swung the stick through the air.
This time, he was really going to hit her, though without using any spiritual power.
‘This Junior Martial Sister has no respect for seniority, daring to make such a joke. Today, I must teach her a harsh lesson so she remembers!’
Thwack!
The wooden stick landed squarely on Yunlian’s rear end, indeed producing a quite crisp sound.
“Yah!”
Though it didn’t hurt much, Yunlian yelped immediately, clutching her bottom and jumping away, trying to dodge.
However, Chen Yuyang’s strikes weren’t random swings.
The stick moved nimbly in his hand, with a small range, but every hit landed precisely on the girl’s buttocks.
“Senior Brother, stop hitting! I’m sorry! Truly sorry!”
Yunlian ran while begging for mercy.
But Chen Yuyang ignored her, chasing after Yunlian and striking.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
Several more crisp sounds followed, and Yunlian’s rear end took several more hits.
Yunlian bit her lip, knowing Chen Yuyang wouldn’t let her off easily this time.
Thinking quickly, she ran while shouting at the top of her lungs in a very seductive tone: “Senior Brother’s rod is so powerful~”
“It hurts so much~ Boo hoo hoo~”
“Spare me, Senior Brother, I can’t take your rod anymore~”
Chen Yuyang’s scalp tingled from Yunlian’s shouts.
He stopped swinging, his temple veins throbbing violently, and asked in exasperation, “What are you yelling?”
“You’re hitting me, aren’t you allowed to let me yell?”
Seeing her tactic seemed to work, Yunlian also stopped, clutching her sore bottom, stuck out her tongue at Chen Yuyang, and snorted defiantly.
“No yelling nonsense!”
Chen Yuyang’s face darkened as he said sternly.
“If Senior Brother stops hitting me, I’ll stop yelling.”
Yunlian immediately started bargaining.
Chen Yuyang: “…”
Looking at Yunlian’s sly expression, Chen Yuyang only felt a headache coming on.
He dropped the wooden stick, shook his head, and said helplessly, “Anyway, don’t ever make that kind of joke again.”
“I know, I know~ It won’t happen again.”
Seeing Chen Yuyang finally stop, Yunlian immediately beamed and obediently agreed.
Chen Yuyang said no more.
He looked up at the sky outside the window; it was nearly noon.
“Alright, it’s getting late. Let’s continue our journey.”
With that, Chen Yuyang headed straight outside.
“Got it~ Got it~”
Yunlian quickly responded, hurriedly putting on her outer robe that lay aside, tidied herself a bit, and followed Chen Yuyang out of the ruined temple.
After getting his bearings, Chen Yuyang flew into the air and continued toward Heng City.
North Domain, Fenyang City, Soul Casting Volcano.
Deep inside Soul Casting Volcano, the Earthfire Lava Pool.
Here, molten lava infused with intense Earthfire power surged all year round.
At that moment, in the center of the Earthfire Lava Pool, a pair of crimson eyes snapped open, emitting an overbearing and fierce aura.
Yan Luo, naked, slowly walked out of the churning, boiling Earthfire Lava Pool.
Thick magma dripped down the curves of the girl’s body, giving her skin a translucent crimson hue.
The moment Yan Luo rose from the Earthfire Lava Pool, the already gloomy sky outside Soul Casting Volcano suddenly turned even darker.
Above the heavens, thunderclouds churned.
Purple-gold lightning flashed within the clouds, emitting a low rumble that faintly carried a dragon’s might.
The heavenly tribulation had arrived.
She, Yan Luo, would undergo the Nascent Soul Tribulation today!
Boom—
The first heavenly thunderbolt crashed down.
As the bucket-thick purple-gold lightning descended, it transformed into a somewhat ferocious, faintly visible dragon shape, letting out an earth-shaking roar.
Along the volcanic crater, it lunged fiercely toward Yan Luo deep inside Soul Casting Volcano.
“The Dragon’s Roar Lightning Tribulation?”
At the center of Fenyang City, the Yan Family Mansion.
A figure rose into the air—it was Yan Dangmo.
Dressed in a dark robe with a dignified expression, Yan Dangmo gazed into the distance at the Soul Casting Mountains, where thunder continued to rumble.
The corner of his mouth curled into a gratified smile.
‘This girl, after obtaining the Myriad Fire Box, has not only made rapid progress in her cultivation but has also greatly strengthened her physique.’
‘With the power of this Dragon’s Roar Lightning Tribulation, she might be able to completely temper her bones and further transform her innate Pure Yang Constitution into a Radiant Yang Constitution!’
Yan Dangmo’s eyes gleamed as he muttered to himself.
As for whether Yan Luo would succeed in the tribulation, he wasn’t worried at all.
He had absolute confidence in his precious granddaughter’s strength.
Moreover, before she went into seclusion, he had given her countless top-grade magical treasures and elixirs, enough to handle any contingency.
In the worst case, he could forcibly shatter the tribulation clouds himself.
Though that would not help Yan Luo stabilize her cultivation realm.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Successively thicker purple-gold lightning in the shape of dragon phantoms crashed down, blasting flying and thick smoke billowing.
Inside the volcano, by the lava pool, Yan Luo stood completely naked.
Her somewhat petite frame looked especially fragile before the violent dragon phantoms.
Yet on her face, there was no fear—only a hint of pride.
Facing the heavenly thunder, Yan Luo neither dodged nor summoned any magical treasures.
She simply stood straight, using her physical body to withstand the Dragon’s Roar Lightning Tribulation.
As she endured the successive strikes of the tribulation lightning, fine cracks appeared on Yan Luo’s crimson skin.
Trickles of blood also seeped from the corners of her mouth.
But she still bit her lip, stood upright, and frantically circulated her spiritual power and Sunfire to repair her damaged body.
Each lightning strike was more violent than the last, and the dragon phantoms grew increasingly solid.
More and more cracks covered Yan Luo’s body.
Blood continuously oozed from the wounds, dyeing her crimson body completely red.
However, with the relentless bombardment of the tribulation, a more brilliant and purer golden luster began to faintly emerge from within Yan Luo’s crimson body.
“The last one!” Raising her head, she gazed at the sky.
The girl’s pupils slightly contracted as she stared intently at the dragon phantom that had gathered all the remaining lightning.
Its body was even more swollen, its power more savage.
Roar—
The dragon phantom opened its gaping maw and let out a clearer, louder roar than before, then, carrying all the tribulation lightning, it lunged straight at the girl.
Yan Luo took a deep breath, circulated her spiritual power, and then azure-blue Radiant Yang Fire began to emerge from the cracks on her body, enveloping her entirely.
Yan Luo spread her arms, continuing to use her bare body and the naturally evolved flame to withstand this final Dragon’s Roar Lightning.
Boom—
The lightning struck Yan Luo’s petite body.
Countless bits of lava were blasted away by the shockwave, then fell like torrential rain.
Dust and smoke filled the air, and where Yan Luo had stood, a huge crater remained.
But when the smoke cleared, the petite body could still be seen standing proudly in place.
The girl’s body was now completely covered in cracks, yet she had still managed to endure without collapsing.
However, the golden radiance inside her was not yet fully condensed.
Above the heavens, the dark clouds dissipated.
Then, waves of pure spiritual energy surged toward Yan Luo like a tide, absorbed by her broken body, repairing the cracks, and making her aura increasingly solid and powerful.
The Nascent Soul stage was achieved!
But Yan Luo’s face held no smile.
She gave a light snort, swallowed the blood in her mouth, and muttered, “Hmph, nothing special.”
‘What a pity… I was just a little short… just a little bit short of going even further.’
Yan Luo lowered her gaze, assessing her body’s condition, feeling rather unwilling.
She had just used the heavenly tribulation to temper the Radiant Yang Fire she had condensed, hoping to further refine it and produce her own Radiant Yang origin flame.
If she could do that, her constitution would transform into a Radiant Yang Constitution.
‘But I fell short.’
‘If only there had been one more lightning strike.’
Yan Luo thought regretfully.