The night was quiet, too quiet for a forest that usually buzzed with life. The sizzling of scorched grass was the only sound that echoed beneath the growing shadow of twilight. The dark-Furred earth elemental Bear turned its massive head. The tiger's body lay limp beside it, lifeless. But the human it had just slain—she was no longer dead.
A red cocoon, wrapped in blazing flames, encased the girl's body. The bear roared and lunged, swinging its thick, clawed arm toward the fiery shell. But the moment its furred hand touched the flames, the flesh sizzled and smoked. A cry of pain escaped the beast as it leapt back, staring at its charred paw in disbelief.
Inside the cocoon, Li Qingyue hovered on the edge between life and death. The heat was unbearable—her clothes had long since disintegrated, her skin red and raw. Had she not possessed the Fire Spiritual Root, her body would've melted into ash. But now, surrounded by scorching energy, her cultivation surged. One more circulation… then another… she broke through—peak of Spirit Gathering.
Outside, the sky had fallen into darkness. In the village, panic had begun to set in. Qingyue's mother paced anxiously, having discovered her daughter missing when night fell. She called on Li Zhen, Qingyue's uncle, and her father-in-law, Li Huoshan. A search party was forming.
Just as they prepared to search the woods, an unnatural pressure spread across the heavens. Everyone looked up.
Dark clouds swirled above the forest in eerie silence.
"This isn't normal," Li Huoshan muttered, eyes narrowing. A cultivator of the Foundation Realm, he recognized the signs. "That's… tribulation thunder."
A hush fell over the crowd.
Tribulation lightning descended when a cultivator attempted to break into the Foundation Realm. It was Heaven's trial—many perished under its wrath. Yet, as Li Huoshan studied the clouds, unease crept into his heart. The pressure was far beyond what he had faced in his own breakthrough. Could it be… a Spirit Formation tribulation?
No. That wasn't possible here. Not in this quiet mortal village. Not unless… a powerful cultivator was hiding among them, attempting to advance.
The other cultivators in the crowd exchanged glances and nodded. Maybe someone had chosen the forest—away from prying eyes—to ascend. Perhaps they thought this backwater place would shield them from attention.
Qingyue's mother, frantic and insistent, begged them to search the woods. If her daughter was caught in the tribulation's range… the consequences would be unthinkable.
---
Far in the forest, inside the crumbling cocoon, Qingyue stirred.
Her wounds from the bear's assault had partially healed with the breakthrough—but her legs remained broken, several teeth were missing, and she could feel the pressure of the storm mounting. The sky rumbled with power. The tribulation was coming.
The bear, sensing the impending danger, had already turned and fled. The two cubs had scattered, the injured one barely clinging to life. Their mother's corpse lay beside Qingyue, charred and lifeless.
Then—BOOM!
The first thunderbolt struck. The ground trembled. Animals screamed and fled. Trees shivered under the impact.
The red cocoon took the full brunt of the first strike. But a long crack formed along its surface. It had protected her once. It wouldn't hold again.
The second bolt came down—twice as fierce. The cocoon crumbled to ash. The thunder lashed her body like a whip from the heavens.
She screamed.
Blood poured from her wounds anew. Her legs were useless. Escape was impossible.
But even if she could run—tribulation follows the soul.
The third thunderbolt crashed down. Qingyue was now at death's door. Her breath ragged, her vision blurred. This was no ordinary tribulation. She had survived the Foundation Realm lightning in her previous life, but this… this was at the level of Spirit Formation!
Am I going to die again?
What about my revenge? Mother…
No!
A spark ignited within her.
Teeth clenched, Qingyue drew a formation in her own blood, fingers trembling as she traced ancient sigils. She sat cross-legged, bleeding, burning—and began making hand seals.
The fourth bolt descended—its power greater than the previous three combined.
It struck—
But stopped.
A thin red barrier shimmered above her head. The formation worked.
It was a Tribulation Formation, one she had learned in her previous life within the sect. It redirected the thunder's power into the cultivator, allowing them to convert it into spiritual energy.
Qingyue gasped as pure energy flooded her core. Her meridians screamed in protest, but she pushed the power through, sealing wounds, mending cracks. The barrier shimmered with strain.
The fifth bolt struck—the formation held… barely.
Then the sixth—and the barrier shattered like glass.
Qingyue coughed blood. She was stronger than before, but still not whole. She couldn't make another formation in time. Her only option now… was to endure.
She circulated the energy, weaving it into a shield around her body.
The seventh thunderbolt came.
Half of it was absorbed. The rest? It crushed her.
Bones shattered. Skin charred. Blood dripped from her nose, her mouth, her ears. Her breath faltered. She smelled burning flesh—her own.
Then something deep within her soul stirred.
A crescent-shaped mark on her forehead blazed. From her chest emerged two glowing Cresent shaped blades, one silver, one black, shimmering like moonlight and shadow.
The Moon Blades.
The weapons she had found in the ruins. The blades that the sect had slaughtered its own to possess. The blades that had led to her death.
They floated before her, humming with celestial power.
The eighth strike came.
The blades moved.
BOOM!
The thunder crashed—but this time, it didn't touch her. The blades absorbed it all. The ground shook, trees were uprooted. But Qingyue remained.
Then the blades rose into the sky. The ninth thunderbolt had barely formed when they sliced the clouds in half.
The tribulation—was over.
The Moon Blades descended quietly, returning to her body. The crescent mark on her forehead dimmed.
Qingyue sat there, dazed.
These blades… they defied the Heavenly Dao itself.
No wonder the sect had betrayed her. Even her master…
A bright golden halo surrounded her as spiritual energy poured down. Her body healed rapidly—bones knitting, skin regenerating, even her missing teeth sprouting anew. This was Heaven's gift for surviving the trial.
She had ascended to the Foundation Realm.
But there was no time to rest.
Others would come—cultivators hoping the one who faced the tribulation had died, leaving behind treasures. Even her own villagers might come looking.
And—she was naked.
Her clothes had melted long ago. With a flick of her fingers and a few hand signs, shadows wrapped around her body like cloth. Modest, but enough.
She looked at the tiger's corpse and felt a pang. The cub—it was still alive, lying a few meters away. Luckily, it had been outside the tribulation's radius.
She gently picked it up and spread her spiritual sense. The forest bloomed before her like a map. The villagers were approaching. The two other cubs—hiding behind a rock. The Bear—still following them.
Qingyue's eyes hardened.
She leapt—forty meters straight into the air, landing on a massive tree. From its peak, she spotted the bear.
Time to end this.
With a powerful jump, she soared through the sky. The bear looked up—too late.
Crack!
Her punch shattered its stone armor.
The second blow tore through its chest.
Blood gushed. Her hand gripped its heart.
She ripped it out.
The beast crashed to the ground with a final, shuddering growl.
Qingyue stood atop its corpse, blood-streaked, eyes glowing with newfound power.
The Moonblade Empress had returned.