Chapter 1397: Shameless Gourd

The Void Tribulation was extremely dangerous. Under normal circumstances, Luo Xuanqing would have triggered the lightning tribulation in the designated area within the Holy Son's Hall to receive protection from Master Kong's spiritual will and lessen the influence of inner demons. The fact that he had triggered it here, now, implied an uncontrollable turn of events. He was either using the tribulation to force his enemies to retreat or was making a desperate attempt to perish with them.

Knowing this, Zhang Xuan did not rush forward. Instead, his Eye of Discernment flickered as he scanned his surroundings. A moment later, his brow furrowed. There was not a single person in sight. Had he misunderstood? Or had the individuals he was fighting earlier been scared away by the overwhelming power of the approaching tribulation?

"Never mind that for now. Brother Luo is agitated; rashly undergoing this tribulation could be extremely dangerous..." Seeing no one around, Zhang Xuan paid no more attention to his surroundings and looked at the young man beneath the lightning. The Void Tribulation involved spatial transformations, making it difficult to overcome even for Zhang Xuan himself. Luo Xuanqing's eyes were bloodshot, clearly indicating he was not in his right mind. If he forced his way through, he might not only fail but also perish in the process.

"I must go save him..." No longer caring about anything else, Zhang Xuan's body flickered as he charged straight towards the lightning.

As soon as he flew in, two figures slowly materialized less than three hundred meters from where he had previously stood. They appeared as if squeezed out of space, or perhaps as if they didn't belong in this world at all; even a divine sense scan could not have detected them in the slightest.

"Who is he?" The elder in the lead, dressed in golden robes, looked at Zhang Xuan's disappearing back, his brow furrowed.

"Reporting, Elder, this is Zhang Xuan, a friend Young Master Xuanqing recently met at the Holy Son's Hall," explained the other elder behind him with a clasped-fist salute. "The two of them went together to find the Void Gourd, which allowed the Young Master to successfully break through to Half-Step Void!"

"Zhang Xuan? From the Zhang Clan?" The golden-robed elder was momentarily stunned.

"According to our investigation, he is not from the Zhang Clan. He rose step by step from a small kingdom and is reportedly a direct disciple of Master Yang Xuan," the second elder continued.

"Yang Xuan? Has that fellow started taking students too?" The golden-robed elder shook his head, a little perplexed. "Since he's Yang Xuan's student, he should possess extraordinary insight. Why would he charge in directly? Does he think his Ethereal Soul realm pinnacle strength can help Xuanqing?"

Undergoing a tribulation required one's own efforts; the greatest taboo was interference. The more people interfered, the stronger the lightning would become, potentially leading to an uncontrollable situation in the end. Although this fellow's strength wasn't great and wouldn't significantly affect the Void Tribulation, rushing in so rashly would not only be unhelpful but also akin to seeking death. What was he thinking?

"This Zhang Xuan, according to my investigation, is also a total troublemaker," the second elder explained. "He and the Young Master likely have similar temperaments. Seeing him endure the lightning tribulation, he probably couldn't hold back and went to check on him..."

"Couldn't hold back?" The golden-robed elder snorted. "He acts without planning. Once Xuanqing successfully overcomes the tribulation, tell him not to associate with such reckless people..." Luo Xuanqing's constant troublemaking already displeased him, and hearing that he was "cut from the same cloth" as such an individual made him even more unhappy.

"Yes..." The second elder nodded.

Zhang Xuan was unaware that figures would appear in what had previously seemed like empty space to his Eye of Discernment. At this moment, he had already arrived not far from Luo Xuanqing.

"Why are you here...?" Seeing Zhang Xuan appear and directly enter the tribulation's range, Luo Xuanqing grew anxious.

"In your current state, you definitely won't succeed. I'm here to help you..." Zhang Xuan explained.

"Help me? How can you help with my own lightning tribulation?" Luo Xuanqing shook his head. "Leave quickly, or once the lightning fully gathers its power, even I might not be able to withstand it, and I'll have no way to protect you..." Before he could finish his sentence, the lightning in the sky finally gathered its full strength and crashed down.

Crack! Crack! A massive bolt of lightning, spanning over ten meters, tore a black line through space as it descended straight down.

"Block it!" No longer able to speak to the young man before him, Luo Xuanqing sharply raised both palms upwards, meeting the lightning head-on with the formidable power in his palms. The Half-Step Void realm power, vast as an ocean, collided with the lightning, causing the surrounding space to shatter layer by layer.

Crack! Although he blocked most of it, a bolt of lightning still struck his head, leaving his hair standing on end and his whole body scorched black. The Void Tribulation was countless times stronger than the Ethereal Soul Tribulation Zhang Xuan had previously drawn. Even though Luo Xuanqing's cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds, reaching Half-Step Void, the impact still left him weak and rubbery, his true qi nearly dispersing within him.

"Leave quickly! I really can't withstand this lightning..." Luo Xuanqing gasped a few times rapidly. His body felt limp, nearly half of his total strength consumed, and his eyes were bloodshot. The Void Tribulation consisted of six bolts of lightning, each more powerful than the last. He was already struggling with the first; if all of them were to fall, he truly didn't know if he could last through them all.

"Don't concern yourself with it. I'll go up and take a look..." Ignoring his words, Zhang Xuan suddenly moved, leaping up towards the sky.

"You..." Luo Xuanqing was deeply moved, never expecting the other party to charge directly into the lightning, entering the most dangerous area, all to save him. True friendship was revealed in times of life and death. Forget friends, even many cultivation partners would abandon each other in times of great peril, yet this Master Zhang, disregarding his own safety, had directly entered the most dangerous place to save him... He truly was a person of genuine character!

"Could it be... he likes men?" Suddenly, Luo Xuanqing remembered something and shivered slightly. Ever since they met, Master Zhang had seemed unusually kind to him, far beyond what ordinary friends would do... Could he truly have some improper intentions towards him? "Anyway, I'd rather die than comply..." He shook his head, pushing the thought away, and rapidly recovered the vital energy within him, preparing to resist the second bolt of lightning.

"That fellow... has he gone mad?" It wasn't just Luo Xuanqing who was shocked; the two elders outside were also dumbfounded. They had seen people helping others and fighting the lightning tribulation together, and they had seen people risking their lives to protect others... but they had never seen anyone charge directly into the lightning to seek death. How could Yang Xuan, such a formidable master teacher, have taught such a foolish disciple?

"The lightning of the Void Tribulation is something even Saint 8-dan experts wouldn't dare to enter lightly. For him, a Saint 5-dan Ethereal Soul realm pinnacle cultivator, to charge in means certain death... We'll collect his body later." The golden-robed elder shook his head. He had seen madness, but never this level of madness. This wasn't rescuing someone; it was just committing suicide.

Fizzzt! Fizzzt! Ignoring everyone's shock, Zhang Xuan's eyes immediately shone with excitement the moment he entered the lightning. "Little Tribulation, your Brother Zhang Xuan is here..." With a long cry, he no longer concealed the aura within him, opening all his acupoints and desperately absorbing the energy.

He had only spent five or six days searching for the Void Gourd, but the return journey took over ten days. Helping Bi Hongyin and the others break through only took a few hours combined. Zhang Xuan hadn't wasted the remaining time; he had continuously used the Void Gourd to expand his dantian, shaping it into a ring-shaped space. His efforts had not been in vain; he had indeed succeeded before returning to the Holy Son's Hall. However, a new problem had emerged. After the ring-shaped space formed, the capacity of his dantian had increased more than tenfold. The true qi within him accounted for, at most, only one-tenth of that capacity. He had been worrying about how to fill it when he saw the lightning—how could he not be excited? With this, he would definitely be able to once again fill his true qi to its peak, no longer having to pitifully hide in a corner.

Fizzzt! Fizzzt! As the lightning entered his body, it immediately transformed into lightning true qi and flowed into his dantian. Inside his dantian, the lazy, motionless gourd felt this power, gave a sudden jolt, and leaped out.

"What are you doing?" Zhang Xuan was stunned. Ignoring his question, the moment the gourd appeared, it let out a long cry of excitement, flew straight to one side, and then began to spin rapidly. As it spun, countless bolts of lightning from the surroundings immediately gathered densely towards it. The moment they landed on the gourd, they vanished as if falling into a black hole.

"Oh for crying out loud... Slow down, you! You're just a gourd, have some shame!" Zhang Xuan was stunned to find that this gourd was also devouring lightning, just like him. Then, rage flared within him. What the heck...? Did it know how hard it was for him to get here just as Luo Xuanqing triggered the lightning tribulation? He still had a huge void inside that needed to be filled, and it was already snatching it all away... Where was its dignity? As a treasure, did it not know how to respect its master?

With a depressed expression, seeing that calling it back was futile, he continued to absorb. After only a short while, he again felt the lightning getting scarcer. He looked up to see a vortex of lightning forming not far away. At some unknown point, the vine hidden in his storage ring had also flown out and was now gobbling up the lightning in large mouthfuls.

"Damn it...! This lightning is mine!" Zhang Xuan was almost driven mad. How shameless! Openly snatching it like this—was this even acceptable from the gourd and the vine? His face twitched. Just as he wanted to curse them out again, his clone had also appeared before him at some point. It snorted and ran into the middle of the lightning, rapidly absorbing it.

"You all..." Seeing these guys absorbing faster than him, Zhang Xuan knew this was not the time for anger. He gritted his teeth, his Witch Soul left his physical body, and he began to devour continuously, using both methods simultaneously. As both accelerated simultaneously, streams of true qi rapidly flowed along his meridians into his dantian, filling the emptiness within his body.

He had only filled one-third of the true qi within him when he felt the lightning growing scarcer. Looking again, he saw that the gourd, the vine, and the clone were absorbing faster and faster. The already dense lightning in the surroundings had now become as thin as mist. "Damn it..." The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. Zhang Xuan cursed under his breath, gritted his teeth, and sped up his absorption.

While he was fuming, almost to the point of exploding, Luo Xuanqing, who was diligently recovering his strength below, finally awaited the arrival of the second bolt of lightning. A sound like a faint sputter rang out. The lightning bolt that was previously over ten meters thick was now only as thick as a finger and weakly descended upon his head. Pfft! It landed on his head, lacking even the force of a wooden stick, and extinguished instantly.

"..." Luo Xuanqing."..." The golden-robed elder and the second elder.