Northern Yan Chapter 37: Are You Trying to Strike Me Dead?

Mo Hao was unscrupulously exchanging for medicinal pills at the alchemy hall, drawing envious and reddened eyes from the crowd nearby. These bystanders were also cultivators at the Pi Gu stage, and they could not help but wonder why the treatment they received was so vastly different.

"Isn't this Mo Hao one of the top five from the recent Pi Gu Grand Competition? I haven't heard that the top five receive such generous contributions. Wasn't he just an outer sect disciple before?"

"Shh, keep your voice down. If he were just an ordinary outer sect disciple, could he have killed his way into the top five? Don't you realize this guy probably has plenty of spirit stones in his pockets? He’s likely a trial participant sent secretly by one of the old ancestors! Just wait, he’ll probably pull out a pile of spirit stones to pay for these pills in a moment."

Mo Hao naturally heard these whispers, but he was preoccupied with gathering the pills. As he reached the exit, he was intercepted by a cultivator. However, the moment that cultivator caught sight of Mo Hao’s face, he stepped aside of his own accord. The crowd watched as Mo Hao strode out swaggeringly, their eyes widening in disbelief. They could hardly fathom that someone could walk out of the alchemy hall with pills for free.

"He... he didn't hand over a single contribution, nor did he spend a single spirit stone, did he? Am I seeing things? Uncle Yan just let him walk out like that? No, no, pinch me."

The cultivator standing next to him immediately pinched his thigh, channeling a surge of mana into his fingers, causing the man to shriek in pain.

After leaving the alchemy hall, Mo Hao pondered his next move. Prolonged secluded meditation was far too dull. He suddenly remembered his decision after defeating Zhang Kunyang to master a movement technique, so he headed straight for the Scripture Pavilion not far away.

Upon arriving at the Scripture Pavilion, Mo Hao went straight to the first floor. The pavilion was divided into three levels: the first floor housed techniques for Pi Gu stage cultivators, while the second and third levels were naturally for those at the Foundation Establishment and Golden Core stages. Looking at the countless jade slips, Mo Hao felt as though he had fallen into an ocean of cultivation manuals.

"Sanqing Technique, Heavenly Origin Earthly Venerable Art, Heavenly Eye Divine Ability..."

Mo Hao browsed through these secret manuals one by one. There was such a vast variety that he felt like someone picking up sesame seeds but losing the watermelon. Every time he picked up a technique, he liked it, but the next one seemed even better. He kept swapping them until he held over a dozen jade slips in his arms, his vision obscured by the stack.

Looking at the pile of slips on the floor, Mo Hao felt a bit lost. He wondered if studying so many techniques would be counterproductive, yet each one was a rare find. After a moment of contemplation, he recalled what Jiang Jianfeng had told him:

"Focus on quality over quantity. Greed leads to indigestion; do not sacrifice excellence for the sake of volume!"

"Greed leads to indigestion... Greed leads to indigestion..."

Mo Hao repeated these words to himself several times. He looked at the pile of manuals and tapped his own head. His master was right; if he truly tried to study all these, he might not even be able to defeat a mid-stage Pi Gu cultivator with all these spells. In the recent competition, there were many cultivators with a myriad of flashy techniques, but in hindsight, those methods were riddled with flaws—plentiful but not refined. His master had warned him to curb his greed, anticipating that if given unlimited access to sect resources, he would become dazzled and lose focus.

After reflecting, he began to sift through the pile for what he truly needed. After carefully examining the contents of each jade slip, he selected three. One, in particular, left him deeply shaken—the very first one he had picked up:

"Heavenly Origin Earthly Venerable Art!"

Initially, Mo Hao had only grabbed it because the name sounded imposing, but the content proved just as formidable. It detailed a footwork technique that could cover over ten zhang in a single step—a true "shrinking the earth into inches." While it could be practiced at the late Pi Gu stage, it could only be mastered at the late Foundation Establishment stage. At the Pi Gu stage, the limit was three zhang per step, which was rather lackluster for cultivators who could already fly on swords. While useful in combat, the requirements were harsh: it demanded the practitioner to train their physical body to its limit. In other words, a physical cultivator could practice it, but if a physical cultivator were already that close, would they even need such a technique? With their immense strength, covering ten zhang in a step was possible, but this technique allowed for an instantaneous transition to that distance.

However, Mo Hao had a different take. If he could flash beside an opponent unexpectedly, it could have miraculous effects. Since this technique required physical cultivation, Mo Hao muttered to himself that he would need to properly train the "Sea-Turning Formula" when he returned.

The other two jade slips were the "Extreme Bow Technique" and the "Heavenly Eye Divine Ability." The latter focused on the eyes, allowing the cultivator to dispel illusions, see clearly, and perceive objects at great distances. He chose the "Extreme Bow Technique" after much deliberation; he still possessed a mid-grade bow in his storage bag, obtained from the old man Xing Huang’s bell. Since he had never learned archery, he decided to seize the opportunity.

After selecting the three scrolls, Mo Hao returned the others to their shelves and left. He sighed as he glanced back at the shelves, feeling a pang of reluctance even as he returned to his cave dwelling on Heavenly Peak.

Mo Hao laid out his acquisitions. He set the three chosen jade slips aside, understanding that one cannot rush a good thing. These techniques were meant for late-stage Pi Gu cultivators. While he could attempt them now, he was not one to be blinded by haste. His primary task was to advance to the late Pi Gu stage and become a true practitioner of the Great Dao. He swallowed the Awakening Spirit Pill and the Heart-Clearing Pill, sat cross-legged, and began to circulate the Heavenly Residual Divine Art.

On Heavenly Peak, yellowed leaves had piled up in front of Mo Hao’s cave, and dust covered the stone floor of the courtyard, as if it hadn't been inhabited for ages. Two years passed in an instant. During this time, Mo Hao felt the bottleneck waver countless times, yet he never quite broke through. But he was not one to give up easily.

Today, however, he felt a subtle change as he circulated the Heavenly Residual Divine Art. The bottleneck felt like an eggshell ready to crack; he was only a paper-thin layer away from a breakthrough. With a surge of determination, he poured all the remaining pills into his mouth. As they dissolved, a rich surge of spiritual energy rushed into his body. He channeled it into his dantian using the Heavenly Residual Divine Art, and a wondrous sensation washed over him.

"I’ve broken through! Finally, I’ve broken through!"

Mo Hao excitedly inspected his condition. He felt as if he were merging with the world, sensing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. He took out the Cold Paulownia Sword and channeled his mana into it, discovering that he could now command this mid-grade flying sword without relying on blood sacrifice. He hurriedly tested his other mid-grade artifacts and found that he could control them all with ease.

He felt his mana had increased several times over. He guessed his cultivation might now be at the "half-step Foundation Establishment" level, as this breakthrough had propelled him directly to the third level of the late Pi Gu stage. He didn't know why—most cultivators only reached the first level of the late stage upon breaking through.

Before he could revel in his joy, an indescribable sensation washed over him. He couldn't tell if it was danger or an instinctive fear. Pushing open the door, he looked up to see the sky filled with dark clouds, flickering with lightning. He barely gave it a glance, dismissing it—surely this couldn't be the legendary lightning tribulation? He was only at the late Pi Gu stage.

But before he could process the feeling, a bolt of lightning struck him. Fortunately, he had perfected the Sea-Turning Formula over the past two years; otherwise, such a stealthy strike would have killed him or left him severely wounded. He touched his singed hair and cursed at the sky:

"Damn you, Heavens! Are you kidding me? A lightning tribulation for just reaching the late Pi Gu stage?"

Whether it was his imagination or the heavens were truly offended, the lightning gathered rapidly above his head. Realizing a second strike was coming, Mo Hao sat cross-legged in the courtyard, fixing his Ice-Flame Shield above his head and surrounding himself with various mana barriers. For extra measure, he pushed the Sea-Turning Formula to its limit, his veins bulging. With a deafening boom, a bolt of red-purple lightning the thickness of a thumb descended.

"Boom!"

Even with all his preparations, the strike left him reeling. Luckily, he had been struck twice before—once by Lan Heng’s Myriad Thunder Ice Soul Talisman—which had prepared him. He spat out a mouthful of blood, sprang to his feet, and braced for the next strike.

Other cultivators had gathered outside his dwelling to watch the tribulation. Among them were several Foundation Establishment cultivators. One of them remarked:

"Is this a heavenly tribulation? By the looks of it, some cultivator at the False Core stage on Heavenly Peak is breaking through to the Golden Core stage! If they succeed, Heavenly Peak will have another Golden Core cultivator!"

"Indeed, though I don't recall any False Core cultivators on Heavenly Peak!"

The other was puzzled. But the first cultivator suddenly realized:

"Could it be Meng Xin, the master's disciple who moved here from Ren Peak a while ago? I heard she is a False Core cultivator. They say she was once exceptionally talented, though it’s a pity she ruined half her face. I had the honor of seeing her once; had her face not been ruined, she would have been a beauty of legendary proportions!"

"Could it truly be Senior Sister Meng?"

As the two chatted fervently, they didn't notice a figure standing nearby. When one of them finally saw who it was, he nudged his friend, who was in the middle of a sentence. The friend turned around, ready to snap at whoever had interrupted him, only to fall silent.

Standing there was Meng Xin, dressed in white, wearing a golden hairpin shaped like three phoenixes, her figure perfect and ethereal. The cultivator was rendered speechless. A False Core cultivator could slaughter late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators like puppies, let alone them. He wondered, if Meng Xin was here, who was the one inside undergoing the tribulation?

Meng Xin was equally puzzled, though she harbored an unbelievable suspicion. She had been meditating when the thunder started. She hadn't paid much attention until the second strike, which made her realize something was wrong. She had rushed out, but even as a False Core cultivator, she dared not use her divine sense to probe the tribulation, lest it trigger her own.

Mo Hao had no time for the outside world; the third strike was vastly more powerful than the second.

"Boom!"

Another explosion of thunder. A bolt of purple lightning, now the size of an infant’s arm, descended. Mo Hao cursed, "Are you trying to kill me?"

Before he could finish, the lightning engulfed him.

"Pfft!"

Mo Hao spat out a large mouthful of blood. His clothes were shredded, and his hair was charred and curled. He struggled to his feet and touched his hair, which crumbled into ash. Looking up, he saw the clouds dissipating.

He assessed his injuries; they were severe, but he would recover after a few days of meditation. Moreover, being struck by lightning didn't seem entirely bad; his Sea-Turning Formula felt as though it had made a breakthrough.

As the tribulation ended, many onlookers dispersed, though some remained, hoping to catch a glimpse of the "Golden Core" cultivator. Meng Xin, as Mo Hao’s senior sister, probed the area with her divine sense the moment the lightning ceased and murmured:

"Even I have not yet experienced such a lightning tribulation, yet you, little one, have braved it today. The Five Elements Spiritual Veins are indeed extraordinary!"