A Storm to Defy
"Ancient Thunder Tribulation."
Yao Ziyan's voice was dry, almost hesitant, as she whispered a name that had only ever existed in legends.
In ancient times, there was a special kind of tribulation, one that descended only upon monsters whose very existence defied the heavens.
Unlike ordinary tribulations—meant to temper and refine—this one was born solely for destruction.
The world had no place for creatures that went against the natural order.
Nine out of ten who faced it perished.
And the rare few who survived?
They transcended their kind—becoming beasts of myth, true legends among monsters.
Now, Yao Ziyan's ancestral bloodline had awakened to the point where it had summoned this very calamity.
And against such a tribulation—
She stood no chance.
---
Luo Chuan glanced at the sky. The oppressive thunderclouds churned like a vast, ink-black ocean, their depths crackling with violet arcs of destruction.
"This tribulation… is for you?"
Yao Ziyan nodded, exhaling softly.
> "Yes. The blood of the Violet Sky Fox has reached the level where it draws the Ancient Thunder Tribulation."
Luo Chuan wasn't well-versed in the difference between ancient and ordinary tribulations—
But just by name alone, he could tell this one wasn't something to take lightly.
Yao Ziyan's expression was grave.
Yet she understood there was no escape.
Once a tribulation descended, it could not be avoided.
"I have to face it," she murmured, steadying herself as she prepared to step out of the store.
---
"Wait."
The quiet command made her pause.
She turned, confusion flickering in her violet eyes.
"Boss?"
Luo Chuan met her gaze, his expression calm yet firm.
> "With your current strength… are you truly confident you can survive this?"
She hesitated.
She wanted to say yes—
But in the end, she sighed.
"This tribulation is for me. I have to go."
The Ancient Thunder Tribulation would not disappear just because she stayed inside.
If she remained within Origin Mall, the lightning would only spread, consuming everything around it.
Tribulations did not tolerate interference.
The stronger an outsider was, the more the tribulation intensified in response.
She couldn't let Luo Chuan be caught up in it.
Yet—
He didn't answer her.
Instead, he simply lifted his gaze to the sky.
There was something cold in his eyes, something that sent a chill through the air—
A silent, unshakable will.
"If you think I'll let something like a tribulation touch my employee—"
"—then even the heavens are mistaken."
Then, without another word, he stepped outside.
---
Yao Ziyan gritted her teeth and followed.
The moment she crossed the threshold of the Origin Mall—
Everything changed.
The black storm surged violently, as if suddenly aware of its target.
Then—
With terrifying speed, the clouds whirled into a massive vortex directly above them.
A thousand feet wide.
Within its depths, purple lightning raged, its presence alone distorting space.
BOOM!
A single arc of violet lightning lashed out.
Its power was no less than the full-force strike of a high-ranking Eminence.
And yet—this was merely the beginning.
---
Yao Ziyan clenched her fists.
Her cultivation had only reached first-rank Eminence.
Even with the awakening of her sacred beast bloodline, at best, she could fight someone at the third or fourth rank.
But this—
This wasn't a battle.
This was a sentence.
The Ancient Thunder Tribulation did not test—
It eradicated.
She could feel it.
The moment it locked onto her, she was nothing before its might.
Under the weight of the heavens, she was an ant facing a tidal wave.
Her limbs felt heavy. Her breath was shallow.
Yet—
She still refused to kneel.
Purple light surged in her eyes.
"I won't just stand here and die!"
But just as she was about to step forward—
A voice as steady as the earth itself reached her ears.
"Don't worry."
"I'm here."
She turned sharply, her breath catching.
Luo Chuan stood before her, unshaken.
His figure, which had always seemed so ordinary, so lazy and unbothered, now appeared—
Unfathomable.