As the pale golden true essence continuously flowed within Guo Xingyue's body, the lightning ball in his Yuan Ying's dantian gradually dissolved, until it completely vanished. All of its energy had merged into Guo Xingyue's true essence. Through his internal vision, Guo Xingyue was surprised to discover that his true essence contained traces of lightning energy, and as it flowed through his meridians, small sparks of lightning flickered occasionally. However, the other small lightning ball in the head of his Yuan Ying showed no change; it remained still, neither participating in the flow of true essence nor displaying any energy response. Guo Xingyue had grown accustomed to the oddity of this lightning ball, and since he could not figure it out, he decided to set it aside for now.
Although Guo Xingyue was continuously compressing the density of his true essence and controlling the growth of his Yuan Ying, the influx of abundant spiritual energy that had gathered from the lightning ball was overwhelming, causing his Yuan Ying to grow steadily. It had increased from its original height of five feet to over six feet, finally pushing Guo Xingyue's cultivation to the mid-stage of the Spirit Separation realm.
His Yuan Ying continued to expand, almost on the verge of breaking through to the late stage of Spirit Separation. If it were anyone else experiencing such a rare opportunity, they would undoubtedly be eager to advance rapidly. However, Guo Xingyue did not wish to elevate his cultivation too quickly. He understood the principle that haste makes waste. While it was commendable to progress vigorously, a weak foundation posed a great risk of losing control. Each stage of cultivation has its unique abilities and effects, meaning that each stage requires the practitioner to explore the responses to heavenly and human interactions, true essence operation, combat techniques, and more. As a cultivator's level increases, the danger of losing control also rises; a moment's carelessness could lead to disastrous consequences. Guo Xingyue promptly ceased the operation of his true essence, withdrew all of it back into his Yuan Ying, and steadied his excited heart, opening his eyes to stand up.
At the narrow doorway, a large crowd was gathered, among them were Ye Mingcheng's family. Upon seeing Guo Xingyue rise, Ye Mingcheng rushed forward, grabbing his shoulders with tears in his eyes, saying, "Great! Second Brother, you're finally awake! I've been so worried these years." For the first nine years, Guo Xingyue had been unaware of the happenings outside, but a year ago, after his spiritual consciousness connected with his Yuan Ying, he became aware of everything within a radius of several hundred zhang. He was fully aware of Ye Mingcheng's quiet sorrowful moments by his side. Seeing his brother's emotional reaction made Guo Xingyue feel deeply moved, and he smiled brightly, "Elder Brother, I'm fine! Look, my cultivation has improved again."
Ye Mingcheng gave him a heavy punch on the shoulder, exclaiming, "Second Brother, you can't do such dangerous things again! Don't let Elder Brother and your sister-in-law worry about you." Guo Xingyue didn't respond, merely nodding heavily.
Dongxu Shangren squeezed through the crowd and approached Guo Xingyue, smiling, "Little Brother, you've finally awakened! What's going on?" Dongxu Shangren suddenly realized he couldn't detect Guo Xingyue's cultivation level with his spiritual consciousness. As soon as he tried to probe, his consciousness was gently rebuffed, leaving him greatly astonished. Guo Xingyue smiled slightly and said, "Elder Brother, this is a surprise I obtained accidentally, a blessing in disguise, I suppose!"
While everyone was chatting inside the house, Ye Kai, who had been quietly standing beside Guo Xingyue, suddenly changed his expression and said, "Master, my Yuan Ying tribulation is about to come." As soon as he finished speaking, he dashed out of the room, and the crowd quickly made way for him.
Ye Kai sprinted towards the open ground with all his might. Although the Yuan Ying tribulation wasn't particularly powerful, if any other cultivators got too close, it would undoubtedly trigger a chain reaction of tribulations. With so many experts surrounding Guo Xingyue, if a chain reaction were to occur, the power of the thunder tribulation would be terrifying, and few present would likely escape its impact. (Before the Yuan Ying tribulation arrives, disciples of the Golden Stone Sect would typically go to a designated tribulation ground. Although Ye Kai was Guo Xingyue's disciple, Ye Mingcheng was a disciple of the Golden Stone Sect, which did not treat Ye Kai as an outsider. Ye Kai had originally planned to go to the tribulation ground, but Guo Xingyue's sudden awakening delayed his journey. In his excitement, he forgot about the Yuan Ying tribulation until it was nearly upon him.)
Standing alone on the mountain slope, Ye Kai summoned his flying sword, allowing it to swirl around him as he focused intently on the dark clouds gathering in the sky. Guo Xingyue and the others watched from a distance. The clouds grew increasingly dark, and a yin-yang fish emerged from the layers of clouds. As the fish's eye flickered, the first bolt of lightning struck down.
Though Ye Kai's martial arts talent wasn't on par with Guo Xingyue's, he was still a rare prodigy. Having grown up in a cultivation family and started cultivating from a young age, he had a solid foundation. He was diligent and had received Guo Xingyue's meticulous training. Even though he had just entered the initial stage of the Yuan Ying realm, the quality and density of his true essence were incomparable to that of ordinary cultivators. When the first bolt of heavenly lightning descended, Ye Kai remained unflustered, directing his flying sword to meet the falling lightning. With a crack, the first bolt was dispersed.
Ye Kai retracted his sword and calmly gazed at the flickering lightning in the yin-yang fish's eye, showing no signs of complacency. He understood that the first bolt was merely a warm-up; the second and third bolts would be the real test. Many cultivators who had arduously reached the Yuan Ying initial stage had met their end during this tribulation, especially those like Ye Kai, who cultivated through martial arts, as the power of the tribulation was stronger for them. Enduring the Yuan Ying tribulation was no trivial matter.
Soon after, the second bolt of lightning shot from the eye of the yin-yang fish. Ye Kai again commanded his flying sword to confront the descending heavenly lightning. Although he remained cautious, this second bolt was three times more powerful than the first. Ye Kai found it difficult to handle; although he managed to repel the lightning, his sword was knocked away, and he staggered a few steps before regaining his balance. Though his true essence had been heavily drained, he remained uninjured and quickly took two condensing essence pills (the return essence pills were too precious for Ye Kai to use casually; in the entire cultivation world, only Guo Xingyue would treat return essence pills so casually).
Watching Ye Kai face his tribulation from a distance, Guo Xingyue felt confident that Ye Kai would succeed; after all, Ye Kai's cultivation level was significantly higher than his own at the same stage. He had also cultivated the spiral true essence and was using the treasure-grade flying sword that Guo Xingyue had crafted for him. Moreover, he had ample pills to assist him in confronting the Yuan Ying tribulation. However, Guo Xingyue still felt a bit uneasy: Ye Kai was his brother's son and his first disciple. If he couldn't even overcome the Yuan Ying tribulation, it would become a great embarrassment, and no one in the cultivation world would dare to seek him as a master thereafter.