Everyone was seated in the sect's main hall.
Jiang Yan used the Water Mirror Technique to project the scene of Alice and Venti undergoing tribulation.
The two stood high in the skies as thunderbolts gathered endlessly above them.
Beneath Venti, two demon gods sensed mortal danger and—completely losing any semblance of dignity—scrambled away in a panic.
The surrounding beasts were so frightened they couldn't even move, curling up on the ground and praying the lightning wouldn't strike them.
"Master, will Mama be in danger?"
Suddenly, Klee asked in a worried voice.
Jiang Yan glanced at her. The little girl was forcing herself to look calm, but her big eyes were already brimming with tears.
If Klee really saw Alice getting blasted by lightning, wouldn't she just break down crying on the spot?
With that thought, Jiang Yan gently touched Klee's brow with his fingertip and softly asked:
"Klee, do you trust your master?"
"I do! Mama said it—'Once a teacher, a father for life.' Klee trusts the Master most!"
Hearing that, Jiang Yan chuckled and nodded.
"Then why don't you take a nap first? When you wake up, your mother will already be back."
The moment his words fell, Klee suddenly felt an unprecedented wave of drowsiness crash over her.
Yawning, she curled up beside Jiang Yan and quickly drifted into sleep.
Judging by the faint smile on her lips, she must have been having a beautiful dream.
"Sect Master, Elder Alice and First Seat Venti really won't have an accident, will they?"
Lisa's tone carried concern. That tribulation thunder… no matter how one felt it, it didn't seem like something easy to survive.
"Don't underestimate Elder Alice and First Seat Venti," Jiang Yan replied with a smile. His voice was calm, yet carried a persuasive force.
"They both have plenty of trump cards. And besides, they're already late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators. Injury is unavoidable, but as for failing the tribulation? That won't happen."
The reassurance in his words immediately soothed Lisa's heart.
And indeed, Alice and Venti's performance wasn't far from what Jiang Yan had predicted.
When the two truly began their tribulation, the depth of their foundations was enough to leave even Zhongli clicking his tongue.
Even more outrageous was the style of their tribulation-crossing.
Alice relied on the "rich whale, pay-to-win" approach, while Venti leaned on her innate command over the power of time.
When the first thunderbolt descended, Venti instantly transformed into a wind sprite. She loosed arrows infused with true essence and a trace of temporal power, clashing with the lightning.
After a brief stalemate, the thunder was shattered.
It seemed that ever since stepping onto the immortal path, Venti had gradually learned to manipulate faint strands of time itself.
Alice's side, however, was pure extravagance.
Although she had given away a mountain of gifts during the initiation ceremony, she clearly still had plenty left in reserve.
The first thunderbolt fell, and Alice simply threw out a dozen substitute straw dolls to take the strikes in her stead.
Later, she put on a full display of what it meant to be a well-traveled adventurer with deep pockets.
All sorts of treasures equivalent to magical artifacts were casually flung out, each one meeting its end against tribulation lightning.
They couldn't negate the bolts completely, of course, but the final burst of light from each destroyed item did weaken the strikes considerably.
And once the force reached her body, she defended with her true essence shield.
Bolt after bolt came crashing down, yet both Alice and Venti endured them with relative ease—much to the wide-eyed awe of everyone watching.
"First Seat Venti's method isn't something we can copy… but Elder Alice's method…"
Ningguang bit her lip, a spark of interest in her gaze.
"It might be extravagant, but it's very safe. Perhaps, in the future, we can consider this a clever shortcut."
Jiang Yan couldn't help but laugh. He hadn't expected Ningguang and the others to already be developing "tribulation-crossing techniques."
The "treasure-flinging survival build."
In the cultivation world's great sects, this was actually a common tactic for geniuses.
Heaven's Chosen naturally faced tribulations of higher difficulty, and the sects were loath to lose them.
So, the sects simply piled a mountain of treasures on them and let them throw things until the lightning ran out.
But that usually only happened at the Void Returning stage and above—Nascent Soul tribulations were far too trivial to trap true prodigies.
Meanwhile, within Mount Shu's blessed land, the two massive thunderclouds blotted out the sky.
Far away, many demon gods were watching.
When they spotted Alice, several of them nearly exploded with rage.
They still remembered being chased and beaten across the Dark Sea! And now she had chased them into Mount Shu itself?
Just when they thought they'd finally gained some peace, were they about to face constant bombardment again?
But then they remembered—Alice was now part of Mount Shu.
The fact they could live peacefully and continue growing stronger all depended on Mount Shu's protection.
To attack her would be pure suicide.
So, the demon gods chose the safer route—turning away and pretending they'd never seen a thing.
As the tribulation continued, however, the pressure only intensified.
Even Alice's pay-to-win strategy was starting to falter.
She still had plenty of trinkets, but their level wasn't high enough to matter.
By the later stages, they couldn't even weaken the strikes anymore.
Both Alice and Venti were already covered in wounds.
Fortunately, the Heavenly One Divine Water began showing its worth.
Each time they were injured, a single sip would restore them almost instantly.
When the final bolt descended like a collapsing sky, the two barely withstood it—only to be healed once more by the miraculous water.
The tribulation clouds scattered, and golden light poured down from the heavens, bathing them in brilliance.
Their true essence surged, their quality rose to a new level, and the invisible shackles of mortality were cut away.
From that moment, Mount Shu had two new Nascent Soul cultivators.
Jiang Yan smiled warmly. Once they finished receiving heaven and earth's gift, he teleported them back into the main hall.
The two still looked somewhat shaken—it was obvious the tribulation's intensity had exceeded their expectations.
"Congratulations to Elder Alice and First Seat Venti for overcoming the tribulation and attaining the Nascent Soul stage!"
"Congratulations, Sect Master—Mount Shu has risen to new heights!"
The hall erupted in cheerful congratulations.
Alice and Venti exchanged a glance, unable to hide their excitement.
"So this is crossing a tribulation? How terrifying! Several times, I thought I was about to be blasted to ash."
"If not for the Sect Master's Heavenly One Divine Water, I'd probably have been reduced to nothing already. Honestly, how did you manage to succeed without even using spells, old man?"
Venti turned to Zhongli, eyes full of curiosity.
With a thought, Zhongli summoned the Vortex Vanquisher from his dantian.
"When my tribulation came, the Sect Master personally reforged my spear into a spiritual artifact, then passed on the Mount Shu Sword-Manipulation Art. With those, I barely managed to survive."
Hearing this, Venti glanced at the spear, which resonated harmoniously with Zhongli's will, and couldn't help but feel envious.
"A spiritual artifact… that's amazing. I hope my Skyward Harp could evolve into one too. If not, then maybe I can find a true treasure in the Sword Forest."
Jiang Yan chuckled.
"Right now, Liuyun and Madame Ping are researching the path of artifact refining. With the resources you brought back today, they should have results soon. You can let them try first."
"If that doesn't work, then in a few days we can head into the Nine Nether Secret Realm. It's vast, and high-grade spiritual artifacts are bound to be there."
At that moment, Klee woke up right on cue, rubbing her eyes.
The first thing she saw was Alice, safe and sound.
Instantly, she leapt up and threw herself into her mother's arms.
"Mama! You're back! Master said you'd definitely succeed, and I never doubted it! Klee trusts Master the most!"
Alice felt a warm current in her heart and smiled, hugging her tightly.
"Of course, Mama wouldn't fail a measly lightning tribulation. As long as little Klee believes in your Master, that's enough."
"In the future, when it's your turn, you'll cross your tribulation even more easily than Mama did."
Klee nodded earnestly.
"Klee knows! Klee will train really hard!"
Alice stroked her daughter's cheek. Now that things had calmed down, she finally noticed the flame-shaped mark on Klee's forehead.
A little puzzled, she asked:
"Sect Master, this is…?"
"Nothing to worry about," Jiang Yan said, waving his hand.
"This is the manifestation of the Fire Spirit Body cultivating the Crimson Emperor's Heaven-Burning Art. In time, Klee will be able to store endless divine fire in that mark. When released in battle, she'll be invincible among her peers."
"For now, though, her body is still nurturing the physique. She can't hold much divine fire yet. But it's a good thing."
Hearing that, Alice let out a breath of relief.
Looking again at the golden-red flame mark on Klee's brow, she couldn't help but think it made her daughter look even cuter.
Klee was already adorable beyond reason; with this mark, Alice was certain there wasn't a child in the world more beautiful than hers.
"So… does this mean that people with exceptionally powerful physiques will always have some kind of mark on their forehead?"
Keqing looked from Klee to Jiang Yan.
No wonder these two were master and disciple.
One had a strange cloud pattern, the other had a flame sigil.
And when Zhongli summoned a god, that Heavenly Court's first war god Yang Jian even had a vertical eye on his brow.
It seemed like… if you didn't have something special on your forehead, you couldn't be called a true prodigy?
"That's not exactly true," Jiang Yan said helplessly, shaking his head.
"But since you asked, I may as well explain it now while all the disciples are present."
"The forehead, apart from the dantian, is the most important core of cultivation. It houses divine sense—the sea of consciousness."
"Those with strong divine sense often manifest incredible spiritual powers. Elder Alice has read plenty of cultivation texts, she should know this well."
Alice nodded seriously.
"That's right. Cultivation novels—cough, I mean texts—say the sea of consciousness is the core of a cultivator's divine sense. All techniques of soul-seizing and rebirth happen there. Damage to it means death."
"Therefore, divine sense techniques are rare and stir bloody storms whenever they appear. Training such arts usually leaves mysterious marks on the brow—both a weapon and a shield for the sea of consciousness."
The others nodded in realization.
But Alice added, "Of course, in most novels, those with such marks are always unparalleled geniuses."
Jiang Yan gave her a wry look.
Just when he'd corrected their misunderstanding, she'd gone and skewed it again.
Seeing the disciples' eyes heat up, he sighed and nodded.
"Alice isn't entirely wrong. Most who are born with extraordinary physiques do indeed have such marks—it's their body's way of shielding the sea of consciousness."
The group silently turned their eyes toward the profound purple-gold sigil on Jiang Yan's forehead.
After a while, Ganyu muttered, "Sect Master… you've never told us what your special physique actually is."
Jiang Yan blinked, surprised. "You really want to know?"
Everyone nodded in unison.
Their curiosity about his physique had been etched into their bones.
To become a Void Returning cultivator at his age, and to be accepted as the Sect Master's final disciple—how could they not be curious?
"…Alright then."
Jiang Yan gave a resigned smile.
"It's nothing secret. I was born with the Innate Dao Body."
Alice's eyes went wide as saucers, staring at him in disbelief.
"There really is such a thing as the Innate Dao Body?!"
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