One after another, bolts of lightning crashed down like a furious rainstorm. Blinding spears of white-blue light tore open the sky, hammering the ground with such intensity that the entire imperial city quaked as if the heavens had chosen to wipe it clean before the demons even had the chance. Roof tiles shattered. Courtyards trembled. The air itself buzzed with raw destruction.

Above the Phoenix and Dragon Dojo, hidden within a thin seam of space, Rong Lua swallowed hard, every nerve in his body trembling.

"When I broke through the Foundation Realm… my tribulation cloud barely crossed three kilometers," he muttered, voice dry. "And that alone shocked the entire sect. But this… this is double that…"

His pupils shrank. "Just how monstrous is her talent?"

Far below, Wang Chen's heart had already climbed into his throat. Although his expression stayed calm, every muscle in his body was taut. One more bolt, one mistake… and his little disciple might vanish under the heavens' authority.

Should I take action?

The thought flashed like lightning itself—but he crushed it immediately. Any interference would only anger the tribulation further, turning a deadly storm into an execution.

…

At the center of the heavenly calamity, Li Mei floated in perfect serenity.

The phantom of the World Tree wrapped gently around her figure like an ancient guardian. Its countless luminous branches swayed in rhythmic harmony, shielding her from the violent tempest as if the heavens themselves had agreed to spare her soul even if they shattered her body.

To the outside world, the scene was terrifying, apocalyptic.

To Li Mei, none of it mattered.

Her focus was razor sharp, wholly locked onto channeling the Nine-Petaled Soul Calming Flame toward the center of her forehead. The delicate blue-white spark hovered obediently, merging with her spiritual sea.

Then—her eyes narrowed.

The World Tree phantom suddenly erupted with a blinding radiance, brighter than every bolt of lightning combined. It illuminated the entire city in a single breath, the shadows fleeing from her like frightened animals.

And then—

BOOM!

A thunderclap detonated across the heavens. The tribulation clouds shuddered, rippling violently as if something far more ancient was answering the world's call.

Above Li Mei, the sky tore open.

A faint outline of barren space—cracked, silent, and starless—formed overhead. It grew like a living creature, expanding rapidly. At first, it was only a few meters long, like a wound on the world…

But even that tiny sliver radiated a pressure strong enough to make the entire city shake.

And it was still growing.

Cold wind swept through the imperial city, sharp and biting, carrying with it an ancient stillness that made even seasoned cultivators stiffen. The qi of the heavens stirred like a waking giant. Thin streams of spiritual energy rose from every direction—up from the mountains, out of rivers, spiraling from abandoned alleyways, drifting across rooftops—and gathered above Li Mei like a celestial tide answering a silent summons.

Within moments, every wisp of qi near the Phoenix and Dragon Dojo was fully drained, swallowed into the storm of power blooming around her.

The barren outline that had begun only a few meters long now expanded with terrifying speed.

Twenty meters.

Fifty meters.

And then—before anyone even managed a proper breath—it shot past one hundred meters, its boundaries continuing to swell with no sign of slowing. Space warped subtly as the pressure increased, like the world was being folded and stretched around something it couldn't fully contain.

Lin Huang exhaled at last, relief softening the hard line of his shoulders.

With the spiritual space revealed, Li Mei's breakthrough to Foundation Building was already achieved. The only hurdle remaining was the Heart Demon Tribulation.

He trusted his junior sister's willpower more than anyone. Compared to the storms she had already weathered in life, the heart demon should be nothing.

But the spiritual space did not stop.

It kept expanding—relentless, overwhelming.

Three hundred meters.

The sheer force pouring from the manifestation twisted the air itself. The outline shimmered like a vast, impossible flower—its edges curling, overlapping, weaving patterns that resembled a celestial rose blooming across the sky. The sight was so unreal that the mortals nearby fell to their knees, convinced they were witnessing a divine omen.

"Mercy, oh miracle from the heavens!"

"Immortals, please destroy the demons!"

Their cries echoed through the streets as they pressed their foreheads to the earth. To them, Li Mei—floating amidst lightning and wind, her hair fluttering like a silken banner—truly looked like an immortal descending from the heavens.

Wang Chen's eyes narrowed slightly.

Her Heart Demon Tribulation has begun.

A faint crease formed between Li Mei's brows, subtle yet unmistakable. Only those deeply versed in cultivation could perceive the shift in her aura.

To ordinary eyes, she looked serene.

To the trained, a spiritual storm was brewing behind her closed eyelids.

Even Wang Chen's certainty faltered. Despite his power, despite the ancient experiences he carried, he had never personally undergone a Heart Demon Tribulation—not in this life, and not in the lifetime of the Sword Saint avatar.

He had no reference for this.

And yet… he felt something coil in the air.

A strange, elusive pressure gathering around Li Mei.

As if her own past, karma, and destiny were rising from the depths to confront her.

The spiritual space continued to pulse like a living thing.

And the first shadow of the heart demon unfurled.

Li Mei drifted in a dreamscape woven from silent dread and cold illusion.

Before her stood Wang Chen.

Not the lazy, unbothered master she followed in reality, but a twisted reflection bathed in ferocity—his eyes gleaming with madness, his smile stretched into something predatory. In his grip, Lin Huang dangled helplessly, his face pale from lack of air.

"Kekeke… disciple," the false Wang Chen hissed, tightening his grasp around Lin Huang's throat, "did you really think I wouldn't uncover your secret? Now—tell me. What did you use to return to the past? Speak… and I will spare your senior brother."

The dream world trembled with each syllable he uttered. Space cracked. The ground beneath Li Mei split apart. Lin Huang's life hung by a single thread.

Yet Li Mei did not move.

She did not plead.

She did not tremble.

Her gaze was calm, still as a frozen pond.

No matter how the illusion twisted the world around her, her expression remained unchanged—indifferent, distant, transcendent.

"How can the heavens test my heart," she said softly, her voice rippling like ancient bells, "when I abandoned my heart long before walking this path?"

The moment her words fell, the illusion shattered.

The false Wang Chen's fingers dissolved into motes of collapsing light. Lin Huang faded like ash on the wind. The entire dreamscape cracked like fragile glass and vanished into nothingness.

A breath later—

Li Mei's eyes opened in the real world.

Serenity radiated from them.

Power surged behind them.

Her spiritual space—vast, quiet, and impossibly deep—settled into complete stability. Three hundred meters… and more. A foundation beyond the so-called 'peak grade.' Something that the world itself had no name for.

The tribulation clouds dispersed.

The roaring heavens finally fell silent.

Li Mei's figure slowly descended from the air, drifting like a falling petal until her feet touched solid ground once more.

Lin Huang moved first. The restraint he had been forcing into his rigid posture snapped, replaced by unfiltered excitement. He practically leapt toward her.

"Junior sister! How was it—!"

His voice carried a question he already knew the answer to, but the thrill in his eyes refused to dim.

Li Mei met his gaze, her lips curving into a soft smile.

"Senior brother," she said lightly, "I have stepped into Foundation Building. You'd better start working harder, or you'll be left behind."

Lin Huang grinned, utterly unbothered. If anything, pride gleamed in his chest like a rising sun.

He wasn't just happy.

He was honored.

His junior sister had taken her first step into true cultivation—and surpassed every expectation while doing so.

Wang Chen sensed Li Mei's breakthrough not only through the heavens trembling above the dojo, but from the glowing system window floating coolly before his vision.

[Ding! Your disciple Li Mei has successfully achieved the Foundation Building Realm, a transcendental-grade foundation with more than three hundred meters long spiritual space.]

[Ding! Ten times reward applied. Your spiritual space has increased by three kilometers.]

[Ding! The quest 'Help Li Mei Achieve Foundation Building' has been completed.]

[Assessment – Perfect.]

[Distributing reward – Ding! Reward has been successfully delivered to your inventory.]

Wang Chen's brows rose. Three kilometers? Even he needed a second to process that.

But before he could scroll through the rest of the prompts, something far more ancient stirred.

Deep within his soul, the Garden of Eternity trembled.

It was no simple vibration; it was as though an entire hidden world inside him exhaled after holding its breath for too long. A pulse rippled outward—slow, heavy, resonant—like the heartbeat of a slumbering primordial being awakening under moonlight.

Wang Chen stiffened in place.

The chair beneath him creaked.

The world around him dimmed for a heartbeat.

A faint emerald glow flickered behind his pupils like a forgotten star being reignited.

What now…?

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