Moments later, a golden bolt of lightning struck from the sky, piercing through everything.
It shattered ten barriers in succession, only diminishing slightly.
It then collided with the great formation, causing another deafening roar. Ling Luoqian felt her ears go numb.
Ling Luoyi struggled to maintain the formation. After fifteen minutes, the golden lightning began to weaken.
Another thirty minutes later, the golden lightning had shrunk to about her own size. Ling Luoyi said, "Fu'er, it's here!"
Ling Luofu had already prepared herself and replied, "Okay!"
Receiving her response, Ling Luoyi dispelled the formation, and the heavenly lightning directly struck into the cave.
Ling Luofu produced a talisman, channeled her spiritual energy, and held the talisman above her head, catching the heavenly lightning.
The heavenly lightning was further depleted. By the time the talisman was shattered, the lightning was only as thick as Ling Luofu's forearm.
With nothing to block it, the heavenly lightning struck Ling Luofu directly, and a scorched aroma filled the air.
"Fu'er!" Ling Luoqian cried out anxiously as Ling Luofu was struck down by the heavenly lightning.
"Fu'er, hold on!" Ling Luoyi leaped down through the hole created by the heavenly lightning.
Ling Luofu felt an overwhelming force strike her newly grown spiritual root, carrying an intent of destruction.
No! No!
Her spiritual root, which she had finally managed to grow, could not be destroyed like this!
The method her eldest sister had painstakingly found could not be let down!
Her eldest sister had risked everything to help her grow her spiritual root; she could not fail!
She heard the sound of Ling Luoyi spitting blood again.
What should she do?
What exactly should she do?
Ling Luofu's consciousness began to blur.
Ling Luoyi and Ling Luoqian could only see a golden light emanating from Ling Luofu's spiritual root after the heavenly lightning entered her body. They knew nothing else.
Who am I? Where is this?
Ling Luofu felt as if she were in a haze.
Suddenly, Ling Luofu heard someone speaking to her.
"Fu'er, you're here, come quickly."
"Mother?"
"Third sister, what's wrong?"
Ling Luofu strained to look towards the source of the sound. A white light blinded her, forcing her to close her eyes.
It's so dazzling! I can't open my eyes!
After finally adjusting to the white light, Ling Luofu opened her eyes.
Standing there were her mother, father, grandfather, third brother, fourth sister…
Everyone was there!
"Daddy, Mommy, Grandpa… why are you all here?" Ling Luofu ran over and hugged Ling Xuan's waist, acting spoiled.
"What's wrong with this child? If Daddy isn't at home, where else should he be?"
Everyone burst into laughter.
A chill ran down Ling Luofu's spine, and she said, "I don't know where you should be, but you shouldn't be in the manor!"
Ling Xuan looked at his daughter strangely and asked, "Fu'er, why shouldn't Daddy be in the manor?"
"Not just Daddy, Grandfather and Fourth Uncle shouldn't be in the manor either!"
Ling Yan was also curious and asked, "Fu'er, why shouldn't Grandfather and Fourth Uncle be in the manor?"
"I don't know." Ling Luofu took a few steps back, examining them closely.
"Fu'er, what's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?" Li Ziya asked worriedly.
"Mother, I didn't have a nightmare."
"If you didn't have a nightmare, why would you say Daddy, Grandfather, and Fourth Uncle shouldn't be in the manor? This is their home, why shouldn't they be here?"
"They should be outside looking for someone!"
That's right! They should be outside looking for someone!
"Fu'er, looking for whom?" a gentle female voice asked, one that sounded unfamiliar.
The one calling her Fu'er should be her sister. This voice didn't sound like her second sister's. Who could it be?
Ling Luofu looked over, only to find that she couldn't see her face clearly.
Ling Luofu closed her eyes and shook her head vigorously.
"Fu'er!"
This was her second sister's voice!
What's wrong with her second sister?
Ling Luofu looked at Ling Luoqian, who was standing next to the woman whose face she couldn't see.
Ling Luoqian saw her looking over and asked with a smile, "Fu'er, what's wrong?"
Ling Luofu asked, confused, "Didn't my second sister just call me?"
"No, why do you ask?" Ling Luoqian replied.
Ling Luofu suddenly pointed at the woman whose face she couldn't see and asked, "Who is she?!"
The woman whose face she couldn't see exchanged a look with Ling Luoqian, neither understanding what she meant.
Ling Luoran touched Ling Luofu's forehead and said, "You don't have a fever. Third sister, what's wrong? You don't even recognize Eldest Sister anymore?"
"Eldest Sister?" Ling Luofu was truly bewildered.
"Fu'er, what's wrong?" 'Ling Luoyi' asked.
"No! Eldest Sister should be outside, and Grandfather, Daddy, and Fourth Uncle are looking for her outside! That's how it should be!"
"Why should I be outside?" 'Ling Luoyi' asked, puzzled.
"Because… because…"
Ling Luofu didn't know why, but she felt that Ling Luoyi shouldn't be there.
"Fu'er."
Suddenly, she heard Ling Luoyi's voice again.
"Eldest Sister!"
This was her eldest sister's voice!
"You're all fake!" Ling Luofu suddenly shouted at them.
She remembered!
She was in the inner perimeter of Falling Cloud Forest with her eldest and second sisters!
Her eldest sister was going to help her regrow her spiritual root!
Her eldest sister had endured nine heavenly lightning tribulations for her!
Her spiritual root had already grown. Her eldest sister had said that as long as she passed the final tribulation, she could cultivate spiritual power like others and become a spirit cultivator!
Her eldest sister had consumed a lot of the final heavenly lightning for her!
She had been struck by the last bit of heavenly lightning!
After she uttered those words, those people began to dissipate bit by bit.
Ling Luofu watched blankly.
She also remembered these people. This was the life she had once longed for, a life without the Wei family's troubles, where everyone in her family was together.
And she couldn't see her eldest sister's face clearly because they had all thought her eldest sister was dead at the time, so she couldn't imagine what her eldest sister would look like when she grew up.
Ling Luofu watched them disappear, feeling no sadness, because she knew the life she desired was slowly approaching her.
Ling Luofu's consciousness slowly returned. She opened her eyes and saw her second sister anxiously calling her.
After clearly seeing her surroundings, Ling Luofu heard Ling Luoyi say, "Fu'er, absorb the spiritual power within your body!"
Ling Luofu looked over. Ling Luoyi was standing a few steps away, looking at her with equal concern.
"Okay." Ling Luofu smiled sweetly and began to absorb the spiritual power.
With Ling Luoyi's help, Ling Luofu finished absorbing the spiritual power within her body in just fifteen minutes.
Instantly, Ling Luofu emitted a brilliant golden light that shot towards the sky.
Within moments, the golden light vanished.
"Alright, let's go first."
"Okay." Ling Luofu took out the round sphere from before and injected spiritual power into it.
Just before they vanished, Ling Luoyi threw out a black sphere the size of a fingernail. A moment after they disappeared, the sphere exploded, leveling everything within a three-mile radius.
*
In Ling Manor, within Qingyin Pavilion.
The three sisters returned to Ling Manor via a teleportation sphere, without alerting anyone.
Ling Luoyi took out a crystal ball and said, "Fu'er, check your spiritual root. Just inject spiritual power into it."
"Okay."
Ling Luofu obediently injected spiritual power.
Soon, the crystal ball was filled with golden spiritual power.
Words appeared on the crystal ball, first 'Gold, Wood, Lightning,' then 'Upper.'
"Gold, Wood, Lightning, three attributes, Upper quality. Fu'er, your talent is quite good."
Ling Luofu was stunned, and Ling Luoqian was also stunned.
"It seems your lightning attribute was a reward for absorbing the heavenly lightning," Ling Luoyi said, not intending to explain. "Fu'er, your time is very tight. You must reach the first stage of Spirit Apprentice before the Genius Selection."
"So urgent! It might be difficult."
"It's alright, Eldest Sister will help you. From today onwards, you are not to leave your room. You will stay here with Eldest Sister. You don't need to worry about the Pill Pavilion or the auction house anymore."
"Okay."