As He Qing’s body sank deeper into the cold lake water, he gazed up at the sky, where the thunderclouds above grew more menacing, ready to strike at any moment.

He Qing spread his arms wide. “I guess I’ll just leave it to fate.”

“We’re cultivators, not slaves to fate!” Sun Tu couldn’t hold back any longer. Seeing that He Qing wasn’t planning to resist, he snapped, “In the ancient palace you collected, I still have some spirit stones hidden. Use them. I don’t want to die alongside a Buddhist cultivator—it’s disgusting.”

He Qing’s eyes brightened slightly as he took out the miniature house to inspect it. “How many?”

“Not many, just enough to get you through the first wave of tribulation lightning.” Sun Tu was on the verge of cursing out loud. “Are you doing this on purpose?”

“Amitabha, I’ve heard that fortune only comes after passing the White Tower,” He Qing said as he held up the house. “Which room?”

“The thirtieth room. Fifth row from the right, under the tenth brick, there’s a spatial ring.” Sun Tu gritted his teeth, almost spitting blood.

“You hid it well. I couldn’t even find it.” He Qing closed his eyes, and after a moment, he retrieved the ring.

“…” Sun Tu felt a pang of heartache as he watched his own ring being taken.

He Qing broke the seal on the ring and suddenly asked, “This is a Daoist’s ring.”

Sun Tu sneered at He Qing’s suspicion, “It’s mine. It even has my name engraved on it. There should also be a bone umbrella for protection in there.”

Upon closer inspection, He Qing saw the name “Sun Tu” engraved on it. Without asking more, he took out the spirit stones. There weren’t many, but they formed a small circle around him. He also pulled out the white bone umbrella and opened it.

He Qing swam to the bottom of the lake and looked up at the umbrella above him. “Interesting. This seems to be for ghosts.”

“Stop babbling,” Sun Tu cursed. “Focus on the tribulation! I’m not ready to die.”

“Are you afraid of dying?”

“Shut up.”

He Qing didn’t argue further, closing his eyes as he absorbed the energy from the spirit stones and set up a small barrier around him. Just then, the clouds above rumbled, and a massive black-purple bolt of lightning crashed down, splitting the air. The lake water splashed and evaporated in an instant.

He Qing chanted his incantations, and the umbrella above him blocked most of the lightning, though some still hit him. But the worst was yet to come. Hundreds of bolts of tribulation lightning poured down, quickly overwhelming his protective artifacts.

Sun Tu was growing anxious as he watched. He Qing’s body was struck repeatedly by the lightning, healing itself, only to be injured again. The golden core within He Qing’s body was spinning faster and faster, struggling to break and form into a nascent soul.

This wasn’t sustainable. The spirit stones were almost depleted, and Sun Tu, frowning, suddenly had an idea. “Aren’t you a ten-thousand-year lotus seed? Just hide inside the lotus shell, and you’ll be fine.”

A ten-thousand-year lotus seed was said to be harder than ancient stone, and the heart within was likely just as cold and unfeeling.

Sun Tu, recalling his past experiences, felt a wave of nausea. Killing a few people in the cultivation world wasn’t a big deal—it’s not like he wiped out entire sects or villages.

Another bolt of lightning struck, and He Qing coughed up blood. Nearby fish floated belly-up in the water, and Sun Tu also rolled his eyes. “You can barely take care of yourself! Why worry about mortal fish? If you can’t handle it, drop the barrier!”

He Qing wiped the blood from his mouth, feeling slightly wronged. “I lost my original body when I crossed into this world.”

“You lost your body? As a spirit, that’s embarrassing.” Sun Tu raged for a while. By now, more fish had floated to the surface, and the lightning finally paused for a moment. Seizing the opportunity, Sun Tu suggested, “The first round is over. There are so many people around. You could set up a blood sacrifice formation. Think about it.”

“You’re tempting me.”

“All I’m suggesting is that you become a demonic cultivator.”

He Qing ignored him, watching the thunderclouds intensify. He began swimming upward, realizing that the second wave would be even more intense. He needed to find another place to endure it.

Halfway up, he suddenly spotted a mecha flying down toward him. Its black frame reflected flashes of lightning, and the hatch opened, revealing a stern-faced man who leapt into the lake and swam toward him.

He Qing’s eyes widened slightly as he recognized the figure. Duan Chenhui? He’s okay? How did he find me?

While He Qing was still processing this, Duan Chenhui had already reached him, grabbing him and pulling him upward.

He Qing remained motionless, allowing Duan Chenhui to bring him to the surface.

Meanwhile, Sun Tu was rolling his eyes like the fish nearby.

As they broke the water’s surface, Duan Chenhui wiped the droplets from his face. “How did you fall into the lake?”

“Cough, cough…” He Qing coughed out several mouthfuls of water, almost forgetting that this body was human, not his lotus form. Drowning was indeed a risk.

Duan Chenhui patted his back as He Qing caught his breath. “General, you’re okay?”

“Nothing much,” Duan Chenhui glanced at him. “Though I can’t remember anything after the field trip.”

“Good to hear you’re alright,” He Qing said, not sure whether to feel relieved. It seemed like his cover hadn’t been blown yet, but when he thought of that suppressant, he realized Duan Chenhui had taken a huge risk.

Suddenly, another bolt of lightning cracked down from the sky. He Qing tensed and tried to push Duan Chenhui away, but Duan’s mecha drew a sword, absorbing the entire strike.

He Qing was stunned.

Sun Tu was equally shocked, mentally exclaiming, “What the—high-tech solutions!” Could that really work?

Duan Chenhui looked up at the sky, squinting slightly. “The lightning’s strong today. It’s too dangerous to stay here. Let’s head back.”

He Qing glanced at the sleek mecha. “It’s not damaged?”

“It’s charging the laser swords and energy cannons,” Duan Chenhui replied nonchalantly, helping He Qing into the mecha and settling him into the co-pilot seat.

[Pilot, would you like to grant co-pilot permissions?]

“Grant them,” Duan Chenhui said as he lifted He Qing’s hand and pressed it to the console.

[Fingerprint and palm print detected. Co-pilot permissions activated.]

He Qing quickly pulled his hand back. “General… I don’t know how to pilot a mecha.”

“You can learn.”

“…” He Qing suddenly felt a bit nervous. Duan Chenhui might have lost his memory, but he wasn’t an idiot. As He Qing gazed at the tribulation clouds outside, he wondered what Duan Chenhui was up to.

Pointing at the clouds, He Qing said, “It looks like more is coming.” This was the second phase of the tribulation.

Duan Chenhui maneuvered the mecha, “Then we’ll take a loop around first.”

He Qing fell silent, watching as Duan Chenhui flew the mecha leisurely through the sky, even absorbing more lightning strikes. The mecha’s power level was getting higher and higher, until even the AI complained.

[Pilot, should we activate the backup storage system?]

“How much power do we have?”

[80%.]

“Activate it at 95%.”

[Affirmative.]

He Qing clutched his abdomen, where his golden core was close to breaking free, and glanced at Duan Chenhui. This was high-tech cheating…

After a few seconds of thought, He Qing decided to surrender to the situation. He closed his eyes and focused on allowing his golden core to break.

Sun Tu, meanwhile, was shouting internally, “Damn it! If I had known, I would have enrolled in a school and gotten myself a mecha—or even a spaceship!”

As the final bolt of tribulation lightning descended, He Qing’s Omega pheromones suddenly surged out. Opening his eyes, he touched his forehead. It seemed this body’s heat cycles were becoming more frequent.

Duan Chenhui, smelling the pheromones, glanced over at He Qing, who was drenched in sweat. “Mo Yun, take us back.”

[Yes, Pilot.] The mecha AI responded.