At a remote location, far away from the prying eyes of the capital, Leng Junfeng sat in a lotus position with his eyes closed. High in the skies, black tribulation clouds began to gather.
Far away, the loli Fenghua looked at him with a relaxed expression and with a trace of nostalgia. Even though she was created directly in the Foundation Establishment Realm, she still had Tianyi's memories of undergoing the Foundation Establishment Heavenly Tribulation. Although it wasn't as irrational as her main body's later heavenly tribulation, it was still above the norm.
That was over thirty years ago in her memories.
Despite her incorrect nostalgia, Fenghua stayed far away from Leng Junfeng. It wasn't because she was afraid of accidentally getting caught up in the heavenly tribulation, but she was afraid of the heavenly tribulation deliberately targeting her.
Fenghua could still recall how the Heavenly Dao attempted to use the heavenly tribulation to kill Tianyi. Although she was a clone, she didn't discount the fact that the Heavenly Dao might try to kill her too.
The Heavenly Dao of the Huang Realm wasn't the Heavenly Dao of the Allfist Realm. That is not to say that they were unrelated, though. After discovering that he had been targeted by tribulation lightning, Tianyi did some research—aka asking Mengfei—and learned that the Heavenly Dao of the Huang Realm and every other realm were offshoots of the central Heavenly Dao.
If there were an analogy, then the central Heavenly Dao was the computer's main processor while the Heavenly Daos of the realms were sub-processors. As for what the central Heavenly Dao was in charge of. It was naturally the whole Three Thousand Immortal Realms System.
Luckily, the central Heavenly Dao was busy managing the Vast Void the three thousand realms existed in, so it couldn't send a chaos tribulation lightning to smite Tianyi or her. However, Fenghua lacked the confidence to tank a tribulation lightning bolt at the Nascent Soul Realm. Never mind disrupting her student's heavenly tribulation, Fenghua was likely to fall in her current injured state.
"It's starting," Fenghua whispered as her body tensed, ready to flee at the first sign of something wrong.
Don't call her heartless. Leng Junfeng was only someone she found interesting to pass the time while she recuperated. Still, if he failed his heavenly tribulation, she would help him achieve revenge. It was not much of a conciliation since he would be dead and with him, the last vestiges of the Leng Clan, but it was better than nothing.
The first bolt of tribulation lightning descended, and Leng Junfeng allowed it to fall atop his body. The lightning arced around his form, trying to penetrate his skin but ultimately failing.
This scene surprised Fenghua. Leng Junfeng was only in the Bone Refinement Stage of the Body Transformation. True, he had the strength of a peak body transformation acolyte, but that was only due to his comprehension of the martial arts he mastered.
Leng Junfeng had already reached the advanced mastery of the Divine Wind Fist. If he mastered it completely, he would have the strength of an acupoint opening master. His mastery of martial arts and combat prowess did not equate to his body's physical prowess.
The tribulation clouds thundered as if roaring in anger and sent the second bolt of lightning that was over twice as powerful compared to the first bolt. Fenghua held her chin, feeling that the scene reminded her of something.
She snapped her fingers when she recalled what it was that exactly felt so familiar. The roaring of the heavenly tribulation was almost like when her main body absorbed the tribulation lightning to enhance his cultivation!
After a closer inspection, Fenghua discovered the reason. Leng Junfeng was using the tribulation lightning to help him refine his bones. He wanted to complete the Bone Refinement Stage while undergoing the Foundation Establishment Heavenly Tribulation.
This act was like disrespecting the Heavenly Dao. No wonder the heavenly tribulation was so angry. It was akin to the judge ordering a criminal to be executed, but when the marksman shot the criminal, the criminal caught the bullet and ate it!
'So...I worried for nothing,' Fenghua sighed. If Leng Junfeng had the time to do miscellaneous stuff like that, he shouldn't be in trouble. As expected of someone with the life of a protagonist.
What made Fenghua more relieved was that the heavenly tribulation didn't seem to be targeting her at all. 'Maybe it only targets the main body?'
Whatever the reason, Fenghua happily watched the ongoing Heavenly Tribulation. Eventually, she would have to undergo the Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation and then the Unity Heavenly Tribulation before undergoing the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. After all, she couldn't contact her main body, and ascending was the only way to travel through the realms with her current strength.
It was only after the seventh bolt that Leng Junfeng could no longer withstand the pressure and actively resist the tribulation lightning like a regular transcender. By now, Leng Junfeng was only a hair's breadth away from completing the Bone Refinement Stage. Fenghua estimated that when he stepped into the Foundation Establishment Realm, he would complete the Bone Refinement Stage simultaneously.
As Fenghua expected, after the ninth and final bolt of tribulation lightning descended, Leng Junfeng completed the Bone Refinement Stage. However, to Fenghua's puzzlement, Leng Junfeng did not emit the aura of foundation establishment disciple. Rather, it was somewhere between a qi gathering pupil and foundation establishment disciple.
Fearing something was wrong, Fenghua neared Leng Junfeng after the tribulation clouds dispersed. She didn't dare to use her spiritual sense at this time. If she accidentally disrupted something, then it would cause his meridians to shatter, necessitating him to find some treasures to restore his meridians. It wasn't as troublesome as fixing a shattered core, but it was equally challenging in a lower realm like the Allfist Realm.
Externally, aside from a few scratches and charred skin, Leng Junfeng seemed perfectly fine. Even his expression was normal, somewhere between awake and asleep.
'He couldn't have gotten some spark of inspiration and entered a state of enlightenment, right?' Fenghua suddenly thought.
No matter how hard she checked, she couldn't be sure of why Leng Junfeng hadn't entered the Foundation Establishment Realm. She was sure that he didn't have any trouble with his meridians, though. Left with no other choice, Fenghua could only wait.
She just never expected this wait to be three years long. 'God! I don't even think my main body has cultivated nonstop for three years straight! Just what is Junfeng doing? If it wasn't worth the wait, hehe. Just wait for your punishment, my lazy student.'
Her ears perked when she discovered the first change in three years. Glancing over, she observed Leng Junfeng's still body. In these few years, he never moved a single twitch, and his body was surrounded by vegetation that grew from the barren ground resulting from the heavenly tribulation.
Perhaps it was because of his heavenly wood spiritual vein or cultivating the Wood Book of the Five Element Method, or even a combination of the two, the greenery that had grown was extremely lush. Fenghua even spotted a lychee tree flowering a few feet away from her student, among other trees.
Under Fenghua's spiritual sense, Leng Junfeng successfully linked his meridians and opened his spiritual qi sea inside his dantian. For a moment, she could sense another existence similar to his spiritual sea but much smaller, but that feeling soon disappeared as Leng Junfeng's rampaging aura converged and calmed down.
"Master, I feel so powerful!" Leng Junfeng said as he looked at his hands in amazement.
"How many times do I have to tell you? I'm not your master yet!" Fenghua appeared next to Leng Junfeng and jumped, ready to smack him. Against her expectation, Leng Junfeng's body moved to dodge.
'So he can actually sense my movements now?' Fenghua thought with some surprise. Although she didn't cultivate the martial way, she had a top-tier spiritual cultivation method, and her speed was beyond most foundation establishment disciples, even injured. 'However...'
"Naive!" Fenghua shouted as she adjusted her movements and successfully smacked Leng Jungfeng's head. And then she smacked him two more times for good measure. Try to dodge her again, will you?
"So why exactly did you not enter the Foundation Establishment Realm for three years?" Fenghua asked the question that had been hounding her while she guarded him.
Leng Junfeng stopped rubbing the spot Fenghua had smacked and answered, "I also had a question for you, Teacher. After I transcended the Foundation Establishment Heavenly Tribulation, I sensed another meridian inside my body. I was confused since I had already opened all twelve of my meridians. But I had a feeling that it was a good thing, so I tried opening it, and I succeeded! Then I sensed another one and opened that second one, but I didn't sense anymore afterward, so I linked my meridians and opened my spiritual qi sea."
"If my guess is correct, you should have opened two of your Eight Extraordinary Meridians," Fenghua said.
"Eight Extraordinary Meridians?" Leng Junfeng asked, having only heard of the Twelve Standard Meridians.
"The Eight Extraordinary Meridians are, as the name implies, eight meridians in your body that give you unimaginable strength when you open them," Fenghua explained.
"Then how come you never told me abou–?" Leng Junfeng asked. He never finished the rest of his question as Fenghua smacked him. "OW!"
"Don't be rude and interrupt me. I was getting there," Fenghua said. "Anyways, unlike the Twelve Standard Meridians, the Eight Extraordinary Meridians are esoteric and unique to each individual, existing halfway between the body and the soul. Opening all eight is a herculean task, so most don't if they opened any at all. Entering the Core Formation Realm is easier than opening all eight extra meridians. I never expected you to open two in the lower realm without the aid of any treasures, so I never told you about them. Otherwise, you might become fixated and delay your cultivation. Now, any questions?"
"Yes," Leng Junfeng said, raising his hand. "What does herculean mean?"
Fenghua forgot that no one in the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System knew the legend of Hercules or any of the Greek myths or legends. She briefly wondered if Hercules actually existed and was still alive in the universe outside of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. Before that, though, she had a question to answer.
"It means arduous," Fenghua succinctly said.
"Oh," Leng Junfeng nodded in understanding. "Where does that word come from? Is it common to use where you come from?"
"Stop asking!" Fenghua replied, annoyed. She regretted her slip of tongue, but she was annoyed more by Leng Junfeng's curiosity that seemed to be latching onto her mistake. "Before that, shouldn't you return to Chang'an? You were away for three years. Who knows what changes might have occurred."
Hearing this, a serious expression appeared on Leng Junfeng's face. Although it couldn't be said that he was undefeatable in the Allfist Realm, he was close to it. Even if he couldn't defeat a martial grandmaster, Leng Junfeng was able to externalize his qi, so he could utilize artifacts now. Fleeing from acupoint opening masters was still possible.
"Let's go," Leng Junfeng said.
Fenghua smacked him again. "Why are you saying it like you're the leader? If anyone is deciding, it's me! Alright, let's go!"
Leng Junfeng smiled helplessly at Fenghua, who childishly pointed towards the capital of the Li Dynasty.
Along the way, Leng Junfeng practiced flying on an artifact. Fenghua gave Leng Junfeng a flying sword artifact at the foundation establishment rank. Originally, she didn't have such an item, but who told Leng Junfeng to take so long? So while she was bored, Fenghua refined it.
Although she was skilled in the use of fire and had a heavenly fire spiritual vein, Fenghua was not as skilled in refining artifacts as her main body. Still, in the Allfist Realm, where there were only acupoint opening masters and no core formation masters, she was confident that no one had surpassed her skills in refining artifacts.
When the two reached entered Chang'an, they were immediately surrounded by the guards. Each guard had a spear in hand pointing at the duo, and the intent to turn them into pin cushions should they make the slightest hint of resistance was obvious.
"Freeze!" The captain of the guards said as he glowered at the two. "Juedai Fenghua, Leng Junfeng, under the orders of the Prime Minister, you two are under arrest. Resist and face death!"