"It seems Alice is quite familiar with stories from the cultivation world."
Jiang Yan chuckled, teasing lightly.
Alice giggled, a little proud of herself.
"I've read a lot of cultivation novels, you know. Something like Journey to the West—how could I not?"
"So, Sect Master, this can't possibly be the true Pure World Glazed Bottle of Avalokiteśvara, right?"
At that, Jiang Yan laughed out loud and shook his head.
"Impossible. The true Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva is a mighty Taiyi existence, second only to the Three Great Tathāgatas of past, present, and future within Buddhism."
"If this were truly her Pure World Glazed Bottle, it wouldn't even be proper to call it a mere immortal artifact."
"The bottle in my hand is only a replica, crafted by the ancestors of Mount Shu based on the features of the original."
"Even so, it ranks among the top-tier treasure artifacts."
"Though it doesn't contain the Three Lights Divine Water, within it is the most powerful water essence of the cultivation world—Heavenly One Divine Water."
"Heavenly One Divine Water is a formidable thing. As an attack, it can easily melt a Nascent Soul cultivator in the early Void-Returning stage. As a healing agent, it can revive even the dead."
"The bottle itself is an extremely powerful treasure, combining both offense and defense."
"But even as a top-tier treasure artifact, it is a little taxing for me to wield at my current level."
Venti understood and whispered:
"So Sect Master wants us to take the Heavenly One Divine Water before crossing tribulation. That way, even if something goes wrong, it can save us in time?"
Jiang Yan nodded softly.
"Drink just a mouthful. As long as you are not obliterated instantly by the lightning, you can restore yourselves in moments."
"With your talents, this should make success almost certain."
"Of course, it will be painful."
"If you'd rather take another route, you could first cultivate steadily to the peak of the Qi-Refining stage. Once you've learned more methods, facing tribulation will be far easier."
"How you choose is up to you."
Venti clicked his tongue, then suddenly grinned.
"If Heavenly One Divine Water is this strong, imagine brewing wine with it—what flavor would that be…"
At once, Jiang Yan and the others looked both helpless and amused.
"Heheh!" Venti scratched his head and laughed mischievously.
"Since the old man could cross tribulation without any spells, if I can't do it, I don't deserve to be the First Seat, right?"
Jiang Yan understood his choice and nodded slightly, then turned to Alice.
She seemed far more troubled. After a moment of silence, she asked softly:
"Sect Master… if Klee breaks through to Spirit Transformation in the future…"
"Of course a tribulation will descend on her. And it will surely be stronger than yours," Jiang Yan replied solemnly.
"After practicing the Crimson Emperor's Heaven-Burning Art, her Fire Spirit Body will gradually transform into the Crimson Emperor's Heaven-Burning Body."
"As a peerless genius, the tribulation she faces will naturally be far harsher than others'."
Hearing this, Alice's worry deepened.
But Klee only looked up at Jiang Yan with her innocent, adorable eyes, completely unaware of what lightning tribulation truly meant.
Alice bit her lip, then declared seriously:
"I'll face tribulation directly too! I want to set an example for Klee. There's nothing to fear about heavenly lightning. If I can do it, with her far greater talent, she definitely can too."
Jiang Yan nodded calmly. Though Alice worried, he himself was unworried.
Klee was his first disciple, and one who would become the Crimson Emperor's Heaven-Burning Body—the very pillar of Mount Shu's future.
How could he ever allow her to suffer mishap?
She still had plenty of time. Even with her peerless aptitude, without extraordinary opportunities it would take more than a mere decade to break through to Spirit Transformation.
By then, Mount Shu would already be thriving beyond compare, and Jiang Yan would have prepared her plenty of life-saving treasures.
Crossing tribulation would be challenging, but not insurmountable.
The Crimson Emperor's Heaven-Burning Body guaranteed she would never be stuck at Spirit Transformation.
Seeing that everyone had made their decisions, Jiang Yan flicked his fingers and sent out several streams of light.
"This is Mount Shu's Zhou Tian Circulation Method. First Seat Zhongli, help Elder Alice and the others comprehend it."
Zhongli cupped his hands in acknowledgment and began explaining the method to Alice and her companions.
Meanwhile, Jiang Yan produced a jade talisman.
"Klee, come."
The little girl obediently stood before him.
"From today, you will cultivate the Crimson Emperor's Heaven-Burning Art and transform your body toward the Crimson Emperor's Heaven-Burning Body."
Klee blinked, her face full of anticipation.
"Will learning this make Klee stronger, so I can protect Mommy and Master?"
Jiang Yan laughed softly, rubbing her head.
"Then you'll have to work even harder in cultivation."
"Okay! Master, Klee will remember!"
She nodded earnestly, raising her little fists.
"Klee will become super, super strong! Protect Mommy! Protect Master! Protect Captain Jean and the whole Knights… and all the Mount Shu brothers and sisters too!"
Such a pure heart… Jiang Yan sighed inwardly.
Her talent and comprehension were exceptional, and she was at just the right age.
Once she began cultivating, her progress would surely outpace everyone else's.
Yes—he had truly accepted an extraordinary disciple.
He gently pressed the jade talisman to Klee's forehead.
A stream of profound, incomprehensible knowledge poured into her mind.
The next moment, Klee sat cross-legged, golden flames quietly rising around her.
Yet the flames were strangely gentle, carrying no heat at all.
Ganyu and the others looked on curiously.
This was the first time, besides Jiang Yan, that someone had cultivated a unique, exclusive art.
The Crimson Emperor's Heaven-Burning Art was said to be a celestial method born of Heaven and Earth, one tailored specifically for the Fire Spirit Body.
Its details were known only to Jiang Yan and Klee, but even at first glance it already radiated extraordinary power.
Flames rippled like flowing water over Klee's small figure, making her look almost sacred.
A fiery rune imprinted itself upon her brow, making her look all the more like a delicate porcelain doll.
Nearby, Alice and the others stopped their discussion, watching.
Alice worried at first, but seeing Klee safe under the gentleman's care, she forced herself to let go of her concern and turned to her own practice of the Zhou Tian Circulation Method.
Though her progress was quieter, once immersed in cultivation she quickly grasped the method's immense strength.
That joy of one's very life essence soaring, power multiplying endlessly—only a true cultivator could experience it.
Soon, Klee's fiery manifestation subsided.
Though her talent was peerless, she was still just a child, currently only at the early stage of Essence-to-Qi.
Opening her eyes, she leapt excitedly into Jiang Yan's arms.
"Master! Klee is super-duper strong now!"
He didn't mind her enthusiasm. Children should be happy.
Sensing her body with his true essence, he found as expected that her physique had already begun transforming.
At this pace, once she reached the peak of Spirit Transformation, her Crimson Emperor's Heaven-Burning Body would be fully awakened—bringing into Teyvat a physique that could command all divine flames under heaven.
Jiang Yan tapped the fiery rune at her brow and smiled.
"Later, when you study a spell from the Sutra Pavilion, you'll grow even stronger."
"Klee will study really, really hard!" she vowed, little fists raised.
Jiang Yan only laughed and let her be.
Before long, Lisa too completed her transition.
Feeling the true essence circulating within her, and how under its suppression the curse she'd long borne had completely dissipated—along with the Eye of God on which she had once relied, now dimmed beyond recovery—
She felt not loss, but a freedom she had never known.
From now on, vast Heaven and Earth lay open before her, and she need fear the Eye's secrets no more.
Nestled quietly within her dantian, the true essence was subdued yet impossibly dense.
Now she understood why Ganyu had crushed her so effortlessly in battle.
Even now, Lisa could easily suppress her former self—let alone Ganyu, who also cultivated a true immortal art.
Clearly, Ganyu had not even fought seriously then.
So… next, she would seek out more techniques, continue cultivating, and delve into alchemy—perhaps even refining a pill to awaken her constitution.
"How does it feel?"
Ningguang stood beside her, smiling.
"Better than I ever imagined," Lisa answered with a relieved smile.
"Cultivation is far, far more powerful than I'd thought."
"Once you acquire more arts from the Sutra Pavilion, you'll understand its true might even more deeply," Ningguang reminded her.
Lisa thanked her sincerely.
By then, all eyes had turned to Alice and Venti.
Their auras surged without pause, and before long, both had broken through to Spirit Transformation.
At once, a pressure even heavier than what accompanied Zhongli's tribulation pressed down upon all.
"It's here."
Ningguang looked upward, as though her gaze pierced the hall ceiling to the heavens beyond.
"What is?" Lisa asked, confused. She too felt the pressure, but thought it only the result of their breakthrough.
"The calamity of cultivators—the heavenly tribulation—has arrived," Ningguang said softly.
"Still your mind. Let your spirit sense the world, like elemental vision. Open your divine sense and look at the sky."
Lisa realized at once and quickly adapted.
The moment she released her divine sense and looked up, her face paled.
Two thunderclouds surged, each seeming vast enough to annihilate the world.
"That… that's heavenly tribulation? How terrifying."
Even Lisa could not make light of it.
Ningguang nodded slightly.
"Lightning tribulation is the ordeal every cultivator must endure. Soon, you'll witness true tribulation crossing."
Lisa fell silent. All the knowledge she had once relied on was nothing before this overwhelming force.
For all her brilliance, she could imagine no way to survive such thunder.
She resolved then to first focus on studying methods before advancing her cultivation further.
Time passed.
Venti and Alice finally opened their eyes.
Before they could even savor their newfound power, an overwhelming sense of mortal danger surged over them.
With a wave of his hand, Jiang Yan sent them each away—one to the far west, one to the far east of Mount Shu's Blessed Realm.
Suddenly, they found themselves outside the sect, and before them floated a single pure, crystalline drop of water.
"Tribulation must not be crossed together in one place. If so, the lightning's power would amplify beyond your ability to withstand."
"Drink the Heavenly One Divine Water before you. Then—"
"Use every method, every effort, to survive beneath Heaven's wrath."
"After nine rounds of thunder, you will truly be Spirit Transformation cultivators."
"Remember—never attempt to resist heavenly tribulation with brute force."
"We will await your good news."
At the gentle yet powerful words of Jiang Yan, their nervousness eased.
The path of cultivation was set.
Now… all that remained was to cross tribulation.
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