Chapter 1231: Ghost Cave Appears

Under the illumination of the Eye of Insight, the power of lightning raged, and Hall Master Xing's primordial spirit seemed on the verge of collapse, as if it couldn't last much longer.

"Many people who reach the Pseudo-Nascient Soul realm are terrified of the thunder's might and dare not attempt the breakthrough for years. Take Hall Master Gou, for instance; he reached the Nascient Soul realm long ago but never dared to invite the lightning tribulation. Hall Master Xing's primordial spirit must have been controlled by someone using a witch soul's capture method, leading to this situation!"

His brows furrowed even deeper.

"Hall Master Xing's primordial spirit has entered the lightning; there's no way to stop it. Forcibly intervening would only make the lightning's power grow stronger, eventually burning him to death," Master Ji said, shaking his head.

Although he was only a peak Nascent Soul realm expert, he knew a thing or two about the Nascient Soul realm and its tribulation. This was heaven and earth's judgment on powerful individuals; using deceitful methods would only result in a greater backlash.

"Indeed, this is quite tricky!" Zhang Xuan nodded.

The lightning tribulation had to be endured by the individual alone. If anyone interfered, it would only grow stronger and become uncontrollable. It was just like his own Conferred Saint Tribulation back then; Luo Ruoxi knew the danger but still didn't intervene. If he were to act, he had at least dozens of ways to eliminate the lightning tribulation, but he couldn't interfere... which made things difficult.

"But if we don't find a solution soon, Hall Master Xing certainly won't hold on," Hall Master Liao said, full of anxiety.

"Hmm..."

Without further thought, Zhang Xuan's mind stirred, and a book appeared in his consciousness, which he gently opened. Moments later, he exhaled and turned to Master Wu, who was not far away.

"Only you can save him!"

"Me?" Master Wu was startled.

"Does anyone here have a Primal Spirit Pill?" Without explaining, Zhang Xuan looked at the crowd.

"I have one..." Hall Master Liao stepped forward, handing over a jade bottle.

"Take this medicine..." With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the Primal Spirit Pill over.

Master Wu casually caught it, his eyebrows twitching. This was a Grade 7 pill, brimming with spiritual energy to replenish physical strength. Even if he had reached the Half-Nascient Soul realm and was not injured or depleted of his true qi, forcibly consuming it without care could still cause his body to explode.

"No time to explain, hurry up!" Seeing his hesitation, Zhang Xuan's expression darkened.

"Yes!" Knowing that the young man before him possessed abilities beyond imagination, Master Wu dared not waste words. He uncorked the bottle and swallowed the pill.

In the blink of an eye, he felt a surge of heat within him, and violent energy began to surge restlessly, as if it would tear him apart.

"The cultivation technique you practice has several flaws. Correcting them will allow you to break through smoothly..."

Zhang Xuan's voice slowly sounded, like a divine melody, suddenly exploding in his ear. Before Master Wu could react, he felt the true qi in his body slowly flowing under the control of the other party's words.

"Heaven's Teaching of Master's Words... Is Master Zhang planning to have me fix the flaws and break through to the Nascient Soul realm?"

His pupils contracted. Taking the pill and explaining the primordial spirit's flaws... Even a fool would understand what was happening.

Just as he was wondering what to do, he felt the true qi in his body, gathering the spiritual energy from the Primal Spirit Pill, becoming stronger and stronger.

Boom!

In less than three minutes, he reached the limit his body could withstand, and a primordial spirit identical to his own shot straight out from between his eyebrows, hovering in mid-air.

"Go!"

With a raised eyebrow, Zhang Xuan forcefully pushed his palm forward. Before Master Wu could react, his newly emerged primordial spirit shot straight into the lightning before him.

"This..."

Master Wu's body trembled, and he nearly fainted from fright. He had only just reached the Nascient Soul realm, without even time to consolidate his cultivation, and now he was being pushed forward... Was Master Zhang implying that Hall Master Xing's predicament wasn't enough, so he wanted him to join in?

"Quickly, pull Hall Master Xing's primordial spirit back into his physical body..." Seeing Master Wu dazed in mid-air, Zhang Xuan couldn't help but scold him.

"Pull him back?" Master Wu was stunned. He then realized that although he had entered the lightning, he hadn't been attacked by the tribulation. He breathed a sigh of relief and quickly grabbed Hall Master Xing's primordial spirit, which was being battered by the lightning, pulling it towards himself.

With a firm push.

Whoosh!

The primordial spirit flew straight towards the physical body. It immediately re-entered, and with the former's nourishment, Hall Master Xing's primordial spirit instantly became much safer. Although the surrounding lightning was powerful, it couldn't harm him for the time being.

"This... what's going on? Aren't we not supposed to interfere with the lightning tribulation?"

Witnessing this scene, everyone was filled with shock, their eyes wide in disbelief. Under normal circumstances, one couldn't interfere with the lightning tribulation, so why was Master Wu's primordial spirit fine when he went to save someone?

"Who said it was fine? It's already here..." Zhang Xuan said with a grave expression, shaking his head.

Everyone immediately looked up, seeing the thunderclouds in the sky growing stronger. They had been on the verge of dissipating but now began to gather again.

"Master Wu just broke through to the Pseudo-Nascient Soul realm and couldn't attract lightning, so he could safely rescue Hall Master Xing's primordial spirit... However, now he's also been discovered by the lightning and must face the Nascient Soul tribulation as well!" Zhang Xuan explained.

"He has to face it too?" Everyone's bodies swayed.

How was this different from not saving him at all? He had just saved one person only to put another in danger, and that person might even be struck dead on the spot...

"Master Wu, quickly return to your physical body..." Ignoring everyone's shock, Zhang Xuan rebuked him.

"Yes!" Realizing that he was also attracting the lightning, Master Wu trembled with fear and quickly flew back, re-entering his body.

"Master Zhang, what should I do?" He quickly looked over.

"These thunderclouds gathered because they sensed your aura. Most of the lightning has already been absorbed by Hall Master Xing, so as long as you don't send out your primordial spirit, you should be able to withstand it..." Zhang Xuan took a few steps closer and patted him a few times. He explained that Master Wu's intervention to save someone had caused the lightning to gather again, but since it had already gone through one tribulation, most of its power had been absorbed by Hall Master Xing. The hastily re-gathered lightning shouldn't be very powerful.

Although Master Wu had just broken through, he had just consumed the Primal Spirit Pill, and his primordial spirit's flaws were completely mended. Even without cultivating the simplified version of the Heaven's Path Divine Art, he should be able to resist it somewhat by relying on his physical body.

"Most of it was absorbed by Hall Master Xing? That's good..." Master Wu breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing the explanation and felt somewhat relieved, when suddenly there was a crack, and a bolt of lightning struck directly towards his head.

Crash!

His hair stood on end, and his primordial spirit was suddenly attacked, nearly shattering into powder.

"...This is 'most of it absorbed'? Why does it feel even more powerful?"

His vision blurred, and Master Wu almost fainted. Hadn't he said Hall Master Xing had absorbed most of it? Why was it still so potent?

As he gritted his teeth and persevered, unsure what to do, he heard the young man not far away speak with a touch of embarrassment: "My apologies, I miscalculated... It seems that because of your involvement, the lightning's power has actually increased compared to before. But it's fine, I believe in your strength; you should be able to get through it easily!"

"..." Master Wu was speechless.

He had thought this person was trustworthy, but he turned out to be so unreliable. You sent me over without confirming... How am I supposed to withstand this!

Just as he was at a loss, he felt the lightning accumulating more and more within his body, leaving him no choice but to focus his entire mind on resisting it.

Boom!

The lightning exploded within him, and his primordial spirit was instantly severely wounded by the immense impact, on the verge of collapse at any moment. His physical body, like a tattered sack, was shattered in many places, blood continuously overflowing from his mouth, looking as if he could give out and die at any second.

"It's over..." Master Wu's face sank, filled with despair.

He had just broken through, and his cultivation hadn't even stabilized, yet he was facing the Nascient Soul tribulation. He simply couldn't withstand it.

Zzzzzzzzz!

Just as he thought the next lightning strike would shatter his primordial spirit and make him vanish completely, he felt a stream of true qi surging within him. His previous injuries visibly healed before his eyes.

This true qi carried the pressure of the Heavenly Dao and was incredibly pure; it could easily repair even primordial spirit injuries.

"This is... something Master Zhang left in me?" He clenched his fist.

He had personally witnessed Master Zhang being recognized by Heaven as a Master Teacher, so this wondrous true qi must have been left by him. No wonder he dared to send him to save Hall Master Xing; he had already prepared a backup plan.

In the blink of an eye, his damaged primordial spirit recovered, and then the lightning struck again. Injuring, recovering, recovering then injuring again... After enduring this for over ten minutes, feeling as though he had been to hell several times, Master Wu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The Nascient Soul tribulation was over!

He opened his eyes and saw that Hall Master Xing's lightning tribulation had also passed, and the dark clouds in the sky had dissipated. Although Hall Master Xing had been severely injured at the beginning, as a Hall Master of the Combat Master Hall, he was incredibly strong in all aspects, especially his cultivation, which was exceptionally pure. Despite the perilous process, he ultimately withstood it.

"Thank you, Master Zhang..." He quickly approached Zhang Xuan and cupped his fists.

If not for the true qi the other party had left within him, he surely wouldn't have been able to endure it and would have died. Though it was painful, it was equivalent to raising his cultivation by two realms in a short time, directly from the Half-Nascient Soul realm to the early Nascient Soul realm. No matter how great the pain, it was worth it.

Full of gratitude, and about to speak, he heard Master Zhang's telepathic message in his ear.

"Don't speak. Act as if you're severely injured..."

Unsure why the other party said this, Master Wu knew it must involve something significant and dared not ask. He immediately slumped his body, collapsing to the ground as if he had lost all his strength.

"Master Wu..." Zhang Jiuxiao quickly came over.

With the other party's support, Master Wu barely managed to stand up. Just as he wondered what Master Zhang was planning, he heard his faint voice.

"It seems you already know we're here. Since that's the case, come out directly. Anyway, you want to kill me, and I want to kill you, so there's no need to keep hiding!"

"Hiding? Who is Master Zhang talking to?" Master Wu was bewildered.

Not just him, everyone else was equally puzzled. This isolated island seemed empty except for them. If someone were truly hiding, they should logically not be able to evade their divine sense scans.

"Hehehe... As expected of Master Zhang, truly formidable. I merely made a small move, and I was discovered..."

Everyone was utterly confused and about to ask questions when they heard a sinister voice. Immediately, they saw a piece of land slowly emerging from the depths of the swamp, as if drilling out from underground.

"This... this is the Ghost Lair!" Zhang Jiuxiao said, his fist clenching as he looked at it.