The group didn't take long to arrive at the right place. There hasn't been anyone around since the Mercenary Guild took care of this issue already. Usually, no one would try to make things difficult for those breaking through another realm. But there are still situations where grudges or disputes would force the hands of people. So that's why the Guild would send some cultivators of higher level to take care of the process.
Shinja went to the center of the empty place and sat there. She was calming her mind before starting. While they waited, Mile turned to Krune and took a look at his eyes again.
'It really is the rainbow eyes! But how did he get that? I'd seen his picture before when he got a Four Starts Badge. But at that time, his eyes had a common color, so I didn't care much about his rainbow hair. Could it be that he was hiding his eyes true color before? No, that wouldn't make sense. Otherwise, he would still be hiding it now. But he seems to not care about it at all.'
In fact, the colors of Krune's irises aren't very apparent. They just started to change recently. So the people around him, who were used to his rainbow hair, didn't care much about that. So Krune himself isn't aware of the changes it has made.
'Anyway, when this is over, I will call him for a chat. If this is what I think, then our Mercenary Guild really got a treasure on our hands. Shinja's Pure Yin Body can't even be mentioned in the same line.'
Mile turned away and paid attention to Shinja again. There is a lot of time for her to discuss things over with Krune.
---
Shinja focused on her soul and allowed it to slowly approach her dantian. The dantian will only start absorbing the soul if the cultivator wishes. So it isn't anything dangerous until the cultivator decides to step into the Core Formation Realm. As soon as it got close, her golden core let out an enormous absorption power. Shinja felt like her soul was being ground away; her face went pale, and she started to sweat rivers. But, once the process begins, it can't be stopped. The golden core will only stop absorbing the soul when it feels satisfied.
Krune and the others saw that and could tell how much pain Shinja was going through. Yusa wanted to go help her, but there was nothing she could do to start with. She could only mentally cheer up for her at that moment.
During the process, the cultivator must keep a clear mind all time. If they faint, the golden core will go out of control and won't stop until the entire soul is gone. This will mark the end of the cultivator's life. Fortunately for Shinja, her soul is very strong, all thanks to the training she underwent at Rainbow Sect Secret Realm.
If there were a good thing about this, it is the fact that the process doesn't take too long. Shinja's golden core absorbed everything it wanted and started to change. Shinja took out a lot of spirit stones and put them around her. The golden-core changing process needs a lot of spiritual energy, and Shinja was ready for that. The spirit stones, one by one, turned into dust. But there was always another spirit stone to take its place. The golden core of Shinja's foundation got quite bigger. It also shined, even more; its sturdiness increased at a fast pace.
On Shinja's side, she could feel the connection between her soul and the soul inside the golden core. That is how Core Formation experts used their powers. Thanks to the connection between the two souls, the cultivator could bring out the golden core's real power, something impossible before.
The breakthrough process took only one hour. The spiritual energy around Shinja started to calm down, and her golden core slowly stopped to absorb spiritual energy. But it hasn't been over yet. If one looked at the sky above Shinja, one could see the gathering of dark clouds. It was obvious: the Heavenly Tribulation was coming down soon.
Shinja didn't waste time. As soon as the process was over, she activated the 'Stabilizing Soul Technique.' The pain on her soul immediately disappeared, and the injure on it stopped to affect her control over the elements. But she knows that it is only temporary. After some time, the technique will lose its effects, and she will have to spend a few days to properly heal her soul.
She looked above and could see that the first lightning was about to come down. She took out a hairpin that looked like it had been frozen. It was a water-type weapon she had especially acquired for that moment. The Heavenly Tribulation doesn't allow anyone to interfere in the judgment, but it had nothing against using weapons. A weapon is part of a cultivator's strength, after all.
The first tribulation lightning finally came down. But just when it was about to hit Shinja, something unbelievable happened, it suddenly… turned!
Everyone jaws dropped, and the target was none other than Krune!
In the last second, before the tribulation lightning made the turn, Krune felt a ripple inside his rainbow core. That ripple definitely came from the power of the tribulation lightning inside it. Thanks to that, Krune was put on high alert. Before the lightning hit him, he was prepared and used all the spiritual energy possible to attack and defend against that lightning bolt.
Blazing Wind Blades, Earth Walls, Water Walls, Myriad Water Dragons, Thunder Line. He used his entire arsenal to stop the bolt from hitting him. Unfortunately, that was the power of a Core Formation Realm Heaven Tribulation. It broke through all the defenses and struck Krune head-on. Of course, after passing through all those attacks and defenses, it had lost more than 50% of its power. But it was still terrifying anyway.
But, before they could even process what happened, a certain wisp human form was burnt to the point that it looked like charcoal.
"What the hell?!"
Krune felt like crying. He looked to the tribulation clouds in the sky and couldn't help but think.
'This is bullying!'
The heavens couldn't care less about Krune's thoughts. The second lightning bolt in the skies started to charge up again, but Mile didn't wait for it. She disappeared from her position and immediately appeared in front of Krune. She grabbed him and used her best movement technique to bring Krune away from the tribulation zone. In just a few seconds, she had already disappeared from everyone's sights. Before that, she'd sent a Divine Sense message to the other two Core Formation experts to take care of Shinja and stop anyone from following them. Thanks to that, Krune now had a chance at life, but when Mile used her Divine Sense to check things behind, her face sank.
'I won't be able to bring him away in time before the second bolt comes down.'
She then sent him a Divine Sense message.
"If the second bolt comes at you, you will have to defend against that as well. No one can intervene when the tribulation lightning selects a target; otherwise, its power will only increase. As long as you can survive the second lightning bolt, I have the confidence to bring you away from the tribulation zone."
Krune knew that it wasn't the time to ask questions and prepared himself. But there was a problem: he'd used almost everything he had in the last attack. He had only a little spiritual energy left in his body.
'Since that's the case, I only have one option!'
Krune once again felt that ripple coming from his rainbow core lightning. He knew that the second one was definitely coming for him. He used some of his remaining spiritual energy to summon his own tribulation lightning from his core. The power of the tribulation lightning immediately gathered above him. Mile looked at that and was amazed.
'That's the power of tribulation lightning as well!'
But she left this thought for later, focusing on Krune. She was ready to charge away with him as soon as he resisted the second lightning. Of course, if he survived that.
Back at Shinja's place, Krune's group was alarmed and wanted to follow, but the Core Formation experts immediately stopped them.
"Don't follow them! You will only turn things worse! Pray Mile can bring him away from the tribulation zone in time. If you follow them now, you might be considered as someone trying to stop the Heavenly Tribulation from reaching its target. Not only will you increase the power of the lightning he will have to face, but you will also die."
Yusa's and Ao's steps immediately glued in place. If that's true, then they really can't do anything to help Krune now.
Shinja looked at that and was extremely worried. But she knew there is nothing she can do now. The best action now is to focus on the tribulation lightning so that she can overcome it. As soon as possible, she looked up to the sky, and a look of determination appeared in her eyes. She will definitely resist the tribulation no matter what.
Everything took some time to explain, but, in fact, it had only taken a few seconds to happen. The second tribulation lightning finished charging up and immediately came down!
Back at Krune's side, he again felt that ripple in his core intensified. Sure enough, the second lightning bolt was just about to hit Shinja, when it turned again and charged in the direction Krune and Mile had disappeared. In an instant, Krune could already see it coming at him.
'Since the power of tribulation lightning of the Core Formation Realm is coming, I will use the same power to send you back. Let's see who is stronger!'
Krune didn't know if it was going to work or not. First of all, he is using the tribulation lightning to counter-attack another tribulation lightning. The chances are they will join hands and wipe him out of the map. As he really had no other choice, he could only bet for the best.
The tribulation lightning came, and Krune sent down his own as well.
"Heavens Fall!"
As soon as he gave the order for the Heavens Fall to attack the heavenly tribulation, his face changed. He could feel the power of his own Heavens Fall losing control to the incoming lightning. It felt like the tribulation lightning was stealing his command of the tribulation lightning coming from him.
Krune's face showed a hint of madness. There was no point in hiding anything at this point anymore. Krune reverted back to his wisp form. Immediately, his control over the lightning element soared! But that was still not enough. The tribulation coming over was again robbing him of the control over his Heavens Fall. Krune finally started to succumb to despair when, suddenly, his soul jolted!
That tribulation lightning lingering around his soul came back to life and connected his soul with the tribulation lightning inside his rainbow core. As soon as that happened, he regained the control over his Heavens Fall. Krune didn't understand what was happening, but he could feel that the connection between him and the Heavens Fall was back to normal. In fact, it was even stronger than before! Krune immediately corrected its trajectory to hit the incoming tribulation lightning.
The heavens seemed to understand what happened and got enraged. Someone took control over its power once again. After that, the lightning coming at Krune sped up even more! Krune screamed and adjusted his Heavens Fall at the last instant. The real Tribulation Lightning and his own Tribulation Lightning hit each other head-on!
BOOM!
Chaotic spiritual energy roared everywhere. Lightning sparks flew in all directions. Krune's wisp body was swept away. Just as he was about to lose his conscience, he used the last bit of spiritual energy in his universe foundation to return to his human form. In the place where the two tribulation lightnings hit each other, an enormous crater was formed. The power of the heavens isn't something people can joke around! Krune finally passed out after that. From now on, it was up to fate!
Mile saw everything and couldn't believe her eyes!
'Is that a wisp?'
But she had no time to think about it any further. She immediately grabbed Krune's body and charged out. This time, she was out of the tribulation lightning zone. She looked behind her and let out a sigh of relief.
She stopped a few kilometers away and put Krune down. She gathered spiritual energy and started to heal his body that had been hit by the first tribulation lightning. Mile looked at Krune's face, and complicated emotions could be seen on her own.
"Why does he have to be a wisp?"