After surviving my ordeal, I learned that the school beauty had given birth to twins for me.

The concentration of spiritual energy in the valley instantly increased dozens of times, forming a visible vortex of spiritual energy.

Shen Yu's body was like a bottomless pit, frantically devouring the surrounding spiritual energy.

Time passed by, second by second.

One day, two days, three days.

By the afternoon of the third day, the nascent golden core within the dantian had finally been compressed to its maximum.

The nascent golden core, originally the size of a pigeon egg, is now only the size of a thumb, but it is crystal clear, like a perfect golden glass bead, radiating terrifying energy fluctuations.

Only the last step is left.

Tribulation is triggered to refine the golden elixir.

Shen Yu suddenly opened his eyes, and two golden beams of light shot out from them, soaring straight into the sky.

"Heavenly Tribulation, come forth!"

He roared, unleashing his full power, which soared into the sky.

boom--

The clear weather in the sky changed instantly.

Dark clouds surged in from all directions, a vast expanse of black, like ink spilled across the sky. The clouds churned, flashes of purple lightning flickered within, and a rumbling sound echoed through the air.

A strong wind blew, causing the trees in the valley to bend and fall, their branches and leaves flying everywhere.

The entire sky darkened, as if it were the end of the world.

The heavenly tribulation has arrived.

……

A hundred miles away from the valley, there is a small mountain village.

The villagers were working in the fields when they suddenly saw the sky darken, with rolling dark clouds, lightning, and thunder, which startled them.

"What happened? The weather was fine just a moment ago, how did it suddenly change?"

"I don't know, these clouds are so dark, they're scary."

"Is it going to rain heavily? Hurry home and bring in the laundry!"

"Wait a minute, this lightning is behaving so strangely. Why is it making a muffled sound instead of striking downwards?"

"And look at those dark clouds, why are they all gathered in one spot? Everywhere else it's still sunny."

The villagers were talking about it, all feeling that the weather was very unusual.

Upon seeing this, the college students in the village who were on winter vacation immediately took out their phones, filmed the incident, and posted it online.

This was the first time he had ever seen weather like this in his entire life.

Since I've got nothing else to do, I thought I'd post it online for netizens to see, and maybe I'll even gain more followers.

[Family members, does anyone know what's going on? Suddenly dark clouds are gathering over our area, it looks really scary. Could it be about to pour rain?]

In the video, dark, swirling clouds surged, purple lightning flashed through the clouds, and thunder roared—it was indeed quite frightening.

Initially, the comment section was normal:

"These clouds are so dark, they're really scary. I haven't seen such extreme weather in years. Where are you, anchor? Be careful."

"It's the same here; the weather suddenly changed, and it looks like it's going to rain."

"The weather this year is getting more and more bizarre. It's almost December, and it's still raining so heavily. We used to only have thunderstorms like this in the summer..."

"What time is it? Still filming? Hurry up and find shelter from the rain..."

But gradually, people started using it as a meme:

"Holy crap, this weather is so strange. Could it be that a fellow cultivator is undergoing tribulation? Otherwise, why would the weather suddenly change like this?"

"I think so! The shape of these dark clouds is definitely a heavenly tribulation! The dark clouds that afflicted me when I underwent my tribulation were exactly the same as these!"

"Fellow Daoist, remember to come back and share your experience after you successfully transcend your tribulation! I'm about to transcend my tribulation too, waiting to copy your homework!"

"Is it possible that some celestial being is undergoing tribulation?"

"Hahaha, it's over, I can't hide my cultivation anymore! Well then, I won't hide it anymore, this Daoist is about to ascend to immortality!"

"Ascension? Can I take you with me...?"

Everyone was joking; nobody took it seriously. It was just for fun.

The video didn't go viral; it only circulated within a small circle.

Not long after, several other netizens posted similar videos, all showing dark clouds and lightning in the same direction, and the videos were getting closer and closer, with the thunder getting louder and louder.

Even more people are using memes.

"Holy crap, is this for real? So many people got photos?"

"I don't think this is fake at all; the thunder is way too loud!"

"Any of you guys living nearby want to go check what's going on?"

"Could there really be people cultivating immortality?"

"Upstairs, you've been reading too many novels. This is just ordinary severe convective weather, not some kind of tribulation."

People were arguing and making noise; some believed, some didn't, but most were just joking.

Until a fellow traveler posted a video.

This hiker happened to be hiking in the nearby mountains, not too far from the location of the Heavenly Tribulation.

He was filming the unusual weather when, suddenly, a blurry figure appeared in the frame.

The figure hovered in mid-air, standing beneath the dark clouds, its entire body enveloped in golden light.

A bolt of purple lightning struck him, but he was completely unharmed and even caught the lightning with his hand.

The video is blurry because it's too far away and is obscured by clouds and fog; only a rough outline can be seen.

But anyone with eyes could see that it was indeed a human-shaped object, floating in mid-air.

The moment this video was released, the entire internet exploded.

【Holy crap! Look what I filmed!!! I'm in the mountains right now, and it looks like someone in the sky across from me is getting struck by lightning!!!】

The comment section below the video exploded:

"??????"

"Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap! Is this for real?"

"That's a person??? Floating in the sky???"

"Am I seeing things? That lightning struck him? He's alright?"

"My mom asked me why I was kneeling while looking at my phone!!!"

"Oh no, is there really a god?"

"I knew that heavenly tribulation just now wasn't a joke! Someone really was undergoing tribulation!"

"Is this special effects? AI can make videos incredibly realistic these days, don't be fooled."

"You think special effects can be done like this? Show me one!"

"Is there anyone knowledgeable enough to analyze this and tell me whether it's real or fake?"

"I don't believe it unless I see it with my own eyes."

The video spread like wildfire, with the number of shares increasing rapidly.

Not long after,

#Immortals transcending tribulations#

#Do immortal cultivators really exist?#

#Real Footage of the Heavenly Tribulation#

Keywords like "hot" quickly became trending topics and climbed higher and higher, eventually reaching the top of the list, followed by a big "hot" sign.

The whole internet is talking about this.

Some people believe it, some don't. Some people offer various analyses, some say it's photoshopped, some say it's a drone, and some say it's a special effects performance put on by the scenic spot.

Noisy.

……

Meanwhile, at the headquarters of Bureau 749.

Lin Jianguo was in his office reading a report from Zhaoxi Town when he suddenly heard a commotion outside, with people shouting excitedly.

"What's going on? Why all the noise?" Lin Jianguo frowned and called out, "Xiao Wang, come in here for a moment."

A young team member rushed in, his face a mixture of excitement and disbelief: "Chief! Something terrible has happened! Check the internet right now!"