I courted death and then tried to escape, so the whole sect wants to get rid of me.

The spiritual spring behind the mountain is a secret realm enclosed by the mountain wall, where water vapor rises and is wrapped in a dense spiritual energy.

Jiang Jin's upper body was bare, and there were still scars on his shoulders and back from the vengeful spirits of the demon realm. His lines were cold and sharp, and his abdominal muscles gleamed with a cold white light in the steam.

His brows were furrowed, his jawline was taut, and his expression conveyed an intense, suppressed pain.

The spiritual energy around him swirled wildly like an out-of-control vortex, causing the surface of the spiritual spring to churn with waves.

In an instant, the once clear sky suddenly darkened, with rolling black clouds pressing heavily over the spiritual spring, and thunderous energy surging and exploding into tiny purple lightning bolts.

The Second Elder stood at the edge of the cliff, his white beard fluttering in the wind. He stroked his beard and pointed into the distance, his voice calm and steady: "Stay calm! Guard your dantian! These three tribulations of lightning are increasingly fierce; if you can withstand them, you will reach the Golden Core stage!"

Before the words were even finished, the first bolt of lightning struck down with a deafening roar.

A bolt of purple lightning, as thick as a bowl, carrying immense force, crashed straight down on Jiang Jin's head.

Jiang Jin suddenly opened his eyes, a fierce sword intent bursting forth from them. He slashed his long sword horizontally, the clear sword energy striking the lightning pillar and exploding into a sky full of lightning.

The dark clouds churned even more violently, and the second and third lightning tribulations followed one after another.

"boom--!!!"

A deafening roar erupted, and lightning and fire filled the sky. Jiang Jin was engulfed in lightning and fire, his skin and flesh charred black, yet he managed to withstand the last two lightning tribulations.

Jiang Jin was completely exhausted and collapsed heavily into the spiritual spring, his chest heaving violently as he gasped for breath in pain.

A lustrous golden core formed in the dantian, and the pressure of the Golden Core stage slowly dissipated.

The Second Elder clapped his hands and laughed heartily, his face full of satisfaction: "Good! Good lad! At such a young age, you have already achieved the Golden Core cultivation level. Your foundation is solid, and your future is promising! Our Nine Saints Hall has a worthy successor! You should stay here and recuperate well..."

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly realized something was wrong and looked up at the sky.

The dark clouds that should have dispersed did not recede for some reason; instead, they gathered madly above the Spirit Spring.

The gale howled, whipping up pebbles, and the lightning surging beneath the clouds was even more intense than before, a mix of gold and purple, causing the air to tremble and buzz.

Another tribulation of lightning is coming!?

The Second Elder and Jiang Jin exchanged a glance. Before they could figure out what was going on, a thin figure with a mournful face jumped out from behind the boulder.

"I didn't say I wanted to break the mirror!!"

-

Song Yao originally came only to collect debts.

When Jiang Jin broke through his cultivation level, he had no choice but to hide to the side and avoid him.

Despite all the calculations, no one anticipated that the spiritual energy here would be excessively abundant, especially given the vast surge of spiritual energy that would erupt when the protagonist, Long Aotian, broke through to a higher realm.

Without realizing it, she couldn't suppress the power gathering within her body and was about to break through to the next realm as well.

She just reached the Foundation Establishment stage a few days ago, and now she's about to break through to the Golden Core stage. Putting aside how much attention this will attract, her physical condition simply can't keep up.

Furthermore, with his soul incomplete, he would likely explode and die if struck by three bolts of lightning.

Without even considering the possibility of enduring it, she turned and rushed towards Jiang Jinchong in the spiritual spring.

Jiang Jin's pupils shrank sharply, his face filled with shock: "??"

Don't come here! !

Having just endured the Golden Core Tribulation, his spiritual energy was still in disarray, so his first reaction was to withdraw and step back.

But the pressure of the lightning tribulation had already locked down the entire spiritual spring airspace. Before he could even move, the lightning pillar crashed down, engulfing the two of them in a sky full of lightning and fire.

"boom--!!!"

The mountain walls trembled, and the spring water erupted into waves several meters high.

Jiang Jin felt his meridians burning with intense pain from the lightning, and his newly formed golden core trembled wildly in his dantian, almost shattering.

When the lightning subsided, he lay paralyzed in the spring, his body charred black.

Before he could catch his breath, he saw Song Yao, covered in dust, scrambling to her feet by his shoulder: "I'm so sorry, I really can't manage on my own."

Jiang Jin: "!!"

Are two people enough?!

He was so angry that the veins on his forehead throbbed. Just as he was about to speak, two even more intense bolts of lightning shot out from the dark clouds in the sky.

One after the other, they slashed down again with earth-shattering force.

-

Jiang Jin felt a strong urge to kill someone.

He lay supine in the spring, like a piece of charcoal.

Beside him, Song Yao, her hair disheveled, exhaled a puff of black smoke and shook him guiltily: "I'm sorry, don't you still owe me 200,000 spirit stones? Can I just take 100,000?"

"..."

Those pills couldn't possibly cost that much...

Wasn't she very concerned about him yesterday, afraid that something might happen to him?

Why are you trying to take his life and his money today?

Jiang Jin sat up silently, somewhat unable to control his emotions.

The Second Elder had been firmly blocked outside the spring by the lightning tribulation, but now that the barrier had dissipated, he quickly rushed to the edge of the spring and placed his fingers on the wrists of the two men.

Fortunately, Jiang Jin only suffered burns to his skin and flesh and was exhausted of spiritual energy. Although Song Yao was physically weak and her pulse was excessively weak, neither of them was in mortal danger.

He let out a heavy sigh of relief, stroked his beard, and laughed heartily: "Very good! You two truly deserve to be my most valued among the new disciples!"

He turned to Jiang Jin, his tone full of praise: "Jiang Jin, you really need to thank Lin Mu! Your newly formed golden core has been repeatedly tempered by this double lightning tribulation, greatly increasing the purity of your golden spiritual root and making your foundation more solid. This is an incredible opportunity that others would kill for!"

He then looked at the disheveled Song Yao, stroking his white beard with satisfaction: "You little girl are so thoughtful. Knowing that Jiang Jin's foundation was unstable after breaking through to the next realm, you specially summoned a lightning tribulation to help him temper his body. This old man will remember your kindness in thinking of your fellow disciple!"

Song Yao is extremely rare.

This was the first time the Second Elder had ever praised her in my memory.

In her past life, the Second Elder always called her a troublemaker, saying that she ruined the entire Nine Saints Hall and that there wasn't a single normal person among them.

She even said that she had ruined the reputation of sword cultivators in the world.

He estimates that Song Yao would be in the top ten of the list of people who hate her.

Is this the benefit of being reborn?

Before Song Yao could respond, Jiang Jin, who was standing next to her, turned his head slightly in surprise to look at her.

The girl sat in the water wrapped in a half-wet, wide robe. Her bangs were curled up by the lightning and fire, her face was covered in mottled black ash, and even the tip of her nose was rubbed black.

Yet those eyes remained clear and bright, carrying an air of nonchalant aloofness when they were silent.

Jiang Jin stared at her sallow yet undeniably beautiful face, and all his anger vanished instantly.

It seems she wasn't trying to harm him, but rather to help him.

It's so hard to guess what a young woman is thinking.

His cheeks flushed, and after catching his breath, he coughed lightly: "...In that case, thank you very much, Junior Sister Lin."

Song Yao paused, looked back at him, and asked tentatively, "Then, still two hundred thousand?"

Jiang Jin: "..."

wrong.

It's still a bit strange.

Is it really true that girls' thoughts are hard to fathom?

Isn't it true that businessmen's minds are hard to fathom?

Seeing his hesitation, Song Yao reluctantly offered another discount: "Fine, fine, 180,000 it is. We're from the same sect, I won't make too much money off you."

Jiang Jin is not short of money.

Before joining the sect, he had obtained a treasure trove by chance.

They weren't exactly rolling in money, but they had enough to live on.

He took out a jade token and handed it to Song Yao: "I don't have the habit of owing favors to anyone, so Junior Sister Lin, you don't need to be so polite."

Song Yao accepted it without any hesitation, stood up and bowed in the direction of the Second Elder: "In that case, this disciple has other matters to attend to, so I will take my leave now."

The moment their figures disappeared into the distant mountains, several figures appeared and landed at the edge of the Spirit Spring Cliff. Their robes fluttered in the wind, and their auras were deep and composed. They were the elders of the Nine Saints Hall.

The Grand Elder's gaze swept over the lingering lightning energy in the spiritual spring, his tone unable to conceal his astonishment: "Those two waves just now were Golden Core tribulations?! This new disciple has only been in the sect for two months, yet he's managed to trigger tribulations to break through his cultivation realm one after another?!"

"That's fast! Which two disciples are they?!"