The burning sensation on her back steadily grew more intense.
She had passed the eighth level of the Golden Lotus grimoire!
Which meant the tribulation lightning would soon follow!
This time, Golden Lotus was in deep sleep, so she wouldn't have Golden Lotus protecting her! For the eighth level, she had to face seven strikes of lightning!
Without Golden Lotus's protection, how was she going to withstand seven strikes?
Claire's rapid departure left most confused. All of their gazes followed after the figure leaving in a hurry.
Without a word, Feng Yixuan extended his wind wings and chased in pursuit. Shui Wenmo cursed in a low voice and dashed after them on foot.
Jean and the others naturally understood what was going on. Claire had another breakthrough!
The emperor frowned then turned to ask Li Mingyu, "Duke Li, what is going on?" Li Mingyu's face was full of worry.
"Your highness, we have some private matters to attend to. May we take our leave?" Li Mingyu requested, watching CLaire's figure disappear into the distance, farther and farther away.
Before the emperor could reply, An Lisha said hastily, "Your majesty, please take care of the situation. I will explain once I return." Immediately after, An Lisha flew up and followed after Feng Yixuan in pursuit.
Jean and the rest also hurriedly left, dashing out the city.
The emperor frowned slightly, watching An Lisha disappear into the distance, but he still immediately waved his hand to settle the crowd. The stage had already been destroyed so the tournament could only be delayed until tomorrow.
In the air, Claire flew as fast as she could followed by Feng Yixuan and An Lisha. In the sky, thunder clouds were already amassing.
Claire's heart sunk lower and lower. She had already sensed that the lightning would be different this time. Without Golden Lotus, would she be able to withstand them all?
"Claire! Claire!" Feng Yixuan anxiously called from behind.
"The hell are you shouting for!" An Lisha said. She speedily gave chase. After passing by Feng Yixuan, she caught up to Claire.
"Follow me!" An Lisha grabbed Claire by the wrist immediately, forcing her to stop.
"It's you!" Claire looked at An Lisha with shock. This woman was the one from that night! With absolute certainty!
"Ma, what are you doing?" Feng Yixuan also reached them.
What? This woman was Feng Yixuan's mother?
"Claire, your heavenly tribulation is coming, correct?" An Lisha's words made Claire freeze with shock. How did Feng Yixuan's mother know?
"Yes, so I cannot stay inside the city. The heavenly tribulation will not be so small this time. If I stayed, many people would have been involved." Claire did not try to hide anything.
"Go!" An Lisha grabbed Feng Yixuan with her other hand and made all three of them stand together. Then she pulled out a scroll and tore it. With a white flash of light, the three's figures disappeared on the spot.
Also able to fly, Leng Lingyun was the first to arrive. From far away, he could see the three had disappeared abruptly, so he understood that the woman had used a small scale spatial teleportation scroll! An extremely valuable spatial teleportation scroll that could teleport up to five people!
Where did they go? Leng Lingyun frowned, scanning about, but unable to find anything. He looked up at the sky. The dark clouds were dispersing rapidly. No! Not dispersing, but quickly chasing after another direction! They disappeared in an instant!
Jean and the rest had also arrived at this moment, but they only saw Leng Lingyun floating in the air alone, his expression solemn.
"Leng Lingyun, where's Claire?" Summer scanned around anxiously, only to see no one.
"She was taken away." Leng Lingyun said quietly. He slowly descended.
"Taken away? Who took her away?" Summer grew worried.
"The woman who had just been chasing, Lagark's minister of defense, An Lisha." Of course Leng Lingyun knew An Lisha's identity. Although the main temple of the Temple of Light was not located in Lagark, the Temple of Light was very familiar with the state of affairs in Lagark.
"What!" Walter exclaimed. "She took away Claire? To where? What does she want? Why didn't you stop her? What if she wants to kill Claire now that Claire is wounded?"
Walter's worries were not unfounded. The relationship between Amparkland and Lagark was very strained. With the strength Claire had displayed, Lagark would definitely take notice and be on guard.
"I do not know. When I had arrived, An Lisha had already taken Claire away with the spatial teleportation scroll. But you should not worry because Claire is currently a priest of the Temple of Light. Lagark will definitely not instigate a fight with the Temple of Light." Leng Lingyun's voice was low, but exceptionally certain. Even the most successful and strongest country, Amparkland, would not dare to go against the Temple of Light, not to mention Lagark, whose strength was below that of Amparkland's.
"In other words, Claire is safe?" Summer let out a long sigh of relief. She had almost forgotten that Claire was currently a priest of the Temple of Light!
Jean frowned deeply. Even if Claire was safe, where was she? Where did that woman take her to? What was her purpose?
Jean stood silently, not moving.
"Don't worry, nothing will happen to Claire. If my guess is correct, that woman wants to help her," Leng Lingyun said in a serious voice.
"F*ck! Where are they?" At this moment, Shui Wenmo had also bounded over energetically, glorious, but he only saw Jean and the rest of the group standing there.
"She was brought away. An Lisha used a spatial teleportation scroll," Leng Lingyun said faintly.
"Aiya! Why didn't they bring me too?" Shui Wenmo yelled angrily.
"Do you know where they went?" Jean turned and said to Shui Wenmo in a low voice, a trace of worry evident in his voice.
"I don't know." Shui Wenmo shrugged, serious.
"If you don't know, then don't say such misleading words!" Summer humphed coldly. She had become a bit angered seeing Shui Wenmo's attitude.
"Aiya, long time no see, little thief," Shui Wenmo laughed and greeted Summer.
"Humph!" Summer turned away, ignoring him.
"In other words, Lady An wants to help Claire…" Li Mingyu said with a low voice. "We don't even know where they went, so all we can do is wait.
Li Yuewen looked worried, wishing to speak, but stopped after she caught Li Mingyu's eyes.
"Let's return and wait. There's no way Aunty An will harm her future daughter in law. Perhaps they will appear with great bravado." Shui Wenmo stretched lazily. Clearly, he had great faith in An Lisha.
Shui Wenmo did not notice that his usage of the phrase daughter in law had caused a ripple in a few people's hearts when they heard this.
Future daughter in law? Why did this phrase cause a sense of unease? Jean lowered his gaze. He silently turned away and left. Leng Lingyun watched Jean's retreating figure, sighed softly in his heart, then followed. Walter cursed internally. Just because you say she's An Lisha's future daughter in law she will be? F*ck, what a joke.
In the end, they all returned.
Right at this moment, Claire opened her eyes and discovered that she had arrived somewhere unfathomable. With a sweep of her gaze, she found that there were a few wooden houses circled by a low, wooden fence with a few large trees nearby. It seemed like a very ordinary farmer's home, but once she looked in a different direction, she discovered what was strange. Lifting her head, she saw that the blue sky was without clouds, yet there were birds flying. She squinted. Those small birds were seabirds! This was an island?! Listening closely, Claire actually heard the sound of intense wind whipping past. Claire concentrated her senses and was shocked once more. The small island was surrounded by a wind barrier. An unusual, intense layer of wind surrounded the small island, isolating it completely from the outside world.
"Master… master, hurry and come outside!" An Lisha yelled at the top of her lungs.
"The hell are you shouting about? You just arrived and you're already yelling!" An energetic yet coarse voice retorted from inside the house.
"The lightning is about to strike, how could I not shout! Come out to block it right now!" An Lisha was even more rude, her voice yelling back louder than before.
"Huh? What lightning? What you're cultivating will not draw any lightning." Even though the voice inside the house sounded doubtful, there was the sound of quick footsteps.
An old man in faint blue appeared at the entrance of the wooden house, his pair of eyes bright. He emitted an ineffable, bold aura. His brows and beard were already white, long, yet combed neatly.
"Master, hurry and save us! The lightning will arrive any second!" An Lisha anxiously said.
But the old man ignored An Lisha and turned to Feng Yixuan, smiling widely. "Oi, you brat. You're already this big."
"Ah, old man, you've become more energetic. Your brows and beard became even more manly," Feng Yixuan laughed as he replied.
Claire was a bit shocked. Feng Yixuan, who was usually so unruly and arrogant, was actually acting so lovable and obedient?
"Of course." The old man did something that made Claire go 囧. She watched as the old man pulled out a small comb out of one of his wide sleeves and started combing his brows carefully, then his beard. He appeared extremely pleased.
Now Feng Yixuan switched to the topic at hand. "Old man, hurry and help my future wife, and block the lightning."
"What?! You brat, you actually started chasing after girls?!" the old man exclaimed loudly. Only then did his gaze land on Claire. Claire was currently in a very sorry state, her clothes torn, and although her wounds had already stopped bleeding, her clothes were still stained with blotches of red. She looked very terrifying.
"Master!" An Lisha started getting a bit urgent. Storm clouds had already started gathering overhead.
"Hmm?" went the old man lazily. Then he looked up towards the sky and stroked his beard gently. Only then did he say disdainfully, "What the heck are you getting worried for, isn't it just seven lightning strikes?"