Despite the Golden Empress's astonishing talent and peerless beauty, her delicate face was filled with disbelief as she witnessed Xu Mo carrying a furnace to seize heavenly lightning.
"Xu Mo! What are you doing!?" the Golden Empress exclaimed, her voice clear and cold, directly calling Xu Mo by name.
In the Great Wilderness, only two individuals were qualified to address Xu Mo so familiarly: her, and the old Demon Emperor of the Myriad Demon Kingdom.
Xu Mo, holding the Chaos Refining Furnace aloft and gleefully harvesting heavenly lightning, chuckled lightly at the Empress's reprimand. "I'm not doing anything. I just saw that Bai Yue was having trouble with her tribulation, so I'm helping you, taking on the lightning tribulation to help you become a Saint!"
Bai Yue utterly disbelieved Xu Mo's words. They had always been enemies; how could Xu Mo possibly help her out of kindness? It would be a miracle if he didn't launch a sneak attack.
Yet, at this very moment, Xu Mo held the massive furnace above his head, positioning it beneath the tribulation clouds, blocking all the terrifying heavenly lightning that was about to strike her. Not a single spark managed to penetrate.
This scene was exactly as Xu Mo had described; he appeared to be genuinely shielding her from the heavenly tribulation, aiding her ascent to Sainthood?
Bai Yue shook her head, dismissing the ludicrous thought. Xu Mo absolutely could not be blocking the lightning tribulation for her. There was no connection between them, only the standoff between the Great Jin and the Great Qian.
Under such circumstances, Xu Mo, as the Emperor of Great Qian, could never be assisting her in overcoming her tribulation.
But Bai Yue couldn't fathom Xu Mo's motive for doing this. Could there be some ulterior plot?
She calmed herself, her beautiful eyes fixed on Xu Mo in the sky, who was catching heavenly lightning. Simultaneously, she circulated her cultivation technique to heal her injuries, aiming to quickly recover her full strength.
Having already endured six waves of heavenly tribulation, her Dao foundation was gradually solidifying, Dao rhymes surging within her. She was already a quasi-Saint. Facing Xu Mo, who had already become a Saint, Bai Yue felt a surge of confidence.
However, she didn't act rashly. Instead, she remained in the canyon, wanting to see what exactly Xu Mo was up to.
"Holy cow! This guy's gone mad, running up to the sky to steal heavenly tribulation?" The Floating Bottle was utterly dumbfounded by Xu Mo's actions, letting out a curse.
It had considered several possibilities: perhaps Xu Mo would intervene, disrupt the tribulation, and cause the female half-Saint undergoing the tribulation to die in hatred.
Or perhaps Xu Mo would take advantage of her weakened state after the tribulation had severely injured the female half-Saint, capture her, and then engage in some unspeakable, sordid acts.
But it had never in its wildest imagination conceived that this fellow would run up to the sky to steal heavenly tribulation! What was he trying to do? Was he so enraged by the Nine Tribulation Heavenly Lightning that he wanted to provoke it?
Or was he captivated by the female half-Saint's peerless beauty, wanting to play the hero and impress her?
The Floating Bottle flickered erratically, clearly agitated. In its entire existence, it had never encountered such a reckless Saint. Even an Extreme Dao Saint would not dare to casually interfere with someone else's Saint tribulation.
This was because the might of heaven was unfathomable. Once the heavens were angered, terrifying events could unfold.
"Has this guy gotten too arrogant? After enduring the Nine Tribulation Heavenly Lightning once, he can't tell the difference between a king and a pawn anymore?"
The Floating Bottle believed that Xu Mo's provocation of the heavenly tribulation would inevitably lead to trouble. Even if he didn't suffer consequences now, once he ascended to the Upper Realm after becoming an immortal, he would surely be placed on the wanted list and hunted by immortals!
Of course, this was all contingent on him successfully crossing the tribulation and obtaining immortal destiny, thus having the potential to become an immortal and enter the Upper Realm.
RUMBLE!!!
The heavenly tribulation descended like a dense swarm of pythons, its pressure several times greater than before.
Xu Mo could even sense emotions within the heavenly tribulation – anger, the fury of being challenged by an inferior!
"As expected, there's something lurking behind the scenes!" Xu Mo was certain that this heavenly tribulation was being manipulated by some living being.
But he was not the least bit intimidated. With the Chaos Refining Furnace, he could withstand several more rounds of Nine Tribulation Heavenly Lightning. In fact, he almost wished for more, as it would allow him to convert more Imprintless Dao Rhymes, potentially allowing him to directly step into the Great Saint realm within a single day!
After harvesting all seven waves of heavenly lightning, the eighth wave began to brew within the tribulation clouds.
Inside the Chaos Refining Furnace, the Chaos Fire was refining the residual heavenly lightning. On the other side, a small, incredibly pure cluster of Imprintless Dao Rhymes had been successfully converted. However, it was a meager amount.
After all, it was only the Seven Tribulation Heavenly Lightning, far inferior to the Nine Tribulation Heavenly Lightning, which was comparable to a world-ending divine punishment.
The Golden Empress could no longer remain seated. After the seventh wave of heavenly tribulation passed, she had gained no benefit. Her Dao foundation remained ordinary, not tempered into a flawless Dao foundation.
She finally understood Xu Mo's intention: he was trying to ruin her Dao path and sever her future!
Bai Yue hesitated no longer. Wielding her Heart-Protecting Mirror, she leaped up and charged directly at Xu Mo.
"Xu Mo, give me back my Dao foundation!" she roared.
She hurled the Heart-Protecting Mirror into the air. It transformed into a large mirror, emanating Saintly might, and shot a beam of light towards Xu Mo.
Xu Mo had been guarding against Bai Yue all along. Seeing her attack, he immediately dodged.
The white light from the Heart-Protecting Mirror grazed past him, melting a strand of his hair.
"Hiss, this isn't just any Saint artifact; it's an Extreme Dao Saint artifact!" Xu Mo was astonished, realizing he had underestimated this woman.
Bai Yue's exquisite face was contorted with rage. Seeing her attack miss, she charged at Xu Mo again.
Xu Mo frowned. He wanted to counterattack, but the eighth wave of heavenly tribulation was about to descend. If he were to capture the Golden Empress now, he would miss this wave of lightning.
He didn't want to miss it, as this eighth wave of heavenly tribulation was a rare opportunity, capable of converting at least one cluster of Imprintless Dao Rhymes.
Xu Mo beckoned, retrieving the 'lightning residue' that remained after being refined by the Chaos Fire in the Chaos Refining Furnace. He then hurled it at the Golden Empress, shouting, "Your Dao foundation, here you go!"