[Ding! Foundation Establishment breakthrough mission completed!]
[Ding! Completion of the movie "The Avengers 1" this time: 90%. All rewards except for the salvation mission and hidden mission are increased by 50%.]
[Ding! Main mission "Clearance" completed: Obtained 1000x1.5 Wish Power.
Side mission "Slay" completed: Killed one hundred and twenty enemies, four giant beasts, obtained 1600x1.5 Wish Power.
Salvation mission completed: Obtained 1000 Wish Power, 2 points of Merit, and an upgraded Arc Reactor.
Hidden mission "See Avengers from the Future" not completed.]
[Ding! Total for this world: 4900 Wish Power, one point of Merit, upgraded Arc Reactor x1.]
Ling Feng looked at the light screen before him and pondered for a moment.
From the hidden mission, he could tell that with his involvement, Avengers 4 had still occurred.
He knew that even with his knowledge of the plot, he couldn't change it, which meant something else must have happened.
Moreover, he hadn't joined the team that traversed to Avengers 1 but had chosen another team.
Or perhaps, he was doing something else and didn't participate.
"Forget it, why think so much? It's time to execute my plan."
Ling Feng immediately exited the resting space and returned to Teyvat.
...
At Qingyun Peak, Ling Feng stood at the summit, his white robes fluttering, appearing like an immortal descended to the mortal realm.
"The third step."
Ling Feng waved his hand, and four items floated before him.
Innate Sword Embryo, Wind Mist Thousand Spirit Crystal, Hundred Refinements Spirit Iron, and the Mist Wind with a cracked blade.
The Hundred Refinements Spirit Iron was refined by Ling Feng from a large amount of spirit essence iron in the Earth's Core Fire Domain last time, reaching a five-star quality.
"Come on, Heavenly Tribulation!"
Everything was ready, only the east wind was missing!
Ling Feng no longer suppressed his power and directly broke through the bottleneck of the Foundation Establishment stage.
Instantly, the heavens and earth shifted, and tribulation clouds rapidly gathered and spread outwards.
Jueyun Canyon
Many animals, upon seeing the tribulation clouds, seemed to have witnessed a great terror, cowering on the ground and trembling.
Xiao, who was "hoeing the land," frowned upon seeing this familiar sight.
"Ling Feng is undergoing tribulation?"
Mt. Hulao
True Monarch Lishui Dieshan and True Monarch Xueyue Zhuyang were discussing where to go on a trip without True Monarch Cloud Retainer.
Suddenly, the crane and the deer sensed the anomaly in the heavens and earth of Jueyun Canyon, and their expressions changed in unison.
"Is this Ling Feng undergoing tribulation?"
Like Xiao, True Monarch Xueyue Zhuyang also guessed the source of the anomaly.
"Is this the might of Ling Feng's tribulation? Why is it so terrifying?"
After exchanging glances, the two decided to go and see. A flash of light, and they had disappeared from the blessed land of Mt. Hulao.
Mt. Aocang
True Monarch Cloud Retainer, who was studying mechanisms, suddenly looked very displeased.
"Ling Feng, you unfilial disciple! You didn't inform me to protect you! What if something happens!"
"Master, is that my junior brother?"
"Shenhe, you don't need to go. Wait here, I'll go and see."
With that, he also disappeared.
Qingyun Peak
Rumbling!
Within the tribulation cloud layer, lightning flashed and thunder roared, as if the heavens themselves were enraged.
At the center of the tribulation cloud, where the oppressive force was strongest, Ling Feng looked up at the clouds without any fear in his eyes.
"I've waited long enough, System, use Merit points!"
[Ding! Detected Foundation Establishment Heavenly Tribulation, a total of nine bolts. For every point of Merit consumed, three tribulation lightning bolts can be converted.]
Ling Feng was slightly surprised; this conversion rate was beyond his expectations.
He had originally thought that one point of Merit could only convert one tribulation lightning bolt, and he had planned to withstand the first three.
He hadn't expected Merit points to be so valuable.
However, since that was the case...
Then he would experience what a Merit Tribulation lightning bolt truly was.
"Consume three points of Merit!"
[Converting, Merit Heavenly Tribulation will descend soon.]
[Reminder to host: The power of Merit Tribulation lightning is beneficial to everything. Do not miss it.]
As soon as the system finished speaking, the originally dark tribulation clouds in the sky turned golden.
A bolt of golden tribulation lightning began to converge.
Seeing this, Ling Feng wasted no more time.
With a wave of his hand, the Wind Mist Thousand Spirit Crystal and the Hundred Refinements Spirit Iron flew into his hands.
"Heaven and Earth Refining Technique... Thunder-Fire Melting!"
The next moment, Ling Feng unleashed the origin of the earth fire within him.
The earth fire enveloped the Wind Mist Thousand Spirit Crystal and the Hundred Refinements Spirit Iron, and the high temperature flames continuously burned them.
The Hundred Refinements Spirit Iron showed signs of melting, but the Wind Mist Thousand Spirit Crystal did not. Melting it with just earth fire was far from enough.
Rumbling!
The first bolt of Merit tribulation lightning descended.
"Finally, it's here!"
As the tribulation lightning struck him, Ling Feng didn't feel his skin tearing this time but rather his entire body's cells boiling and celebrating.
Thirstily and greedily, they absorbed the power of the tribulation lightning, which was like a potent tonic.
However, Ling Feng's attention was not focused on his body but on the "furnace" before him.
The collision of lightning and fire created an explosion of immense heat, which finally began to melt the Wind Mist Thousand Spirit Crystal and the Hundred Refinements Spirit Iron.
As for why the explosive force did not spread out.
This was the power of the Heaven and Earth Refining Technique.
Heaven and earth as the furnace!
Nature as the fire!
Thunder-Fire Melting, as the name suggested, used natural elements, thunder and fire, to melt and forge materials, though the fire and thunder he used were not ordinary.
The fire was from the earth's core, and the thunder was tribulation lightning.
Aside from the fire being slightly less potent, the tribulation lightning was at its peak.
As for why he went to such great lengths to use Merit Tribulation lightning.
It was because a peak five-star artifact refiner could barely extract a trace of energy from the Wind Mist Thousand Spirit Crystal.
In other words, a five-star artifact refiner and a six-star artifact refiner were like ancient and modern iron smelting; their purity was completely different.
He needed to use the power of the Merit Tribulation lightning to maximize the effect of the Wind Mist Thousand Spirit Crystal.
And to improve the quality of the Hundred Refinements Spirit Iron and the re-forged Mist Wind.
One bolt of tribulation lightning was not enough to completely melt the Wind Mist Thousand Spirit Crystal.
After two bolts of tribulation lightning, both the Wind Mist Thousand Spirit Crystal and the Hundred Refinements Spirit Iron had been completely melted.
"Melt!"
Next was to fuse the two materials together.
By the time the two materials were fused, the third tribulation lightning had already passed.
"Next."
Ling Feng's gaze fell upon the Innate Sword Embryo and the Mist Wind. With a thought, the two items flew into his hands.
"Combine!"
This step was also crucial, akin to the fusion of souls.
Simply put, it was combining the Mist Wind and the Innate Sword Embryo.
However, if their compatibility was not a match, the fusion process would take a very long time.
After five bolts of tribulation lightning.
Sword Embryo · Mist Wind was perfectly forged. Their compatibility was unexpectedly high, leading to a smooth fusion process, reaching one hundred percent.
Although he didn't know why his luck was so good to obtain an Innate Sword Embryo that was perfectly compatible with the Mist Wind.
But now it was time for the final step of re-forging the Mist Wind.
Drawing power to form shape!
Ling Feng tossed the Sword Embryo · Mist Wind into the "furnace" along with a drop of his own blood, injecting it, and then focused all his attention.
Time slowly passed. After the seventh bolt of tribulation lightning.
The Mist Wind was successfully re-forged!
Ling Feng looked at the Mist Wind in his hand with excitement, tears welling up.
Since the sword forging was complete, then...
Ling Feng took out everything useful from his system space in one go, letting them also absorb some of the power of the Merit Tribulation lightning.
As the last bolt of Merit Heavenly Lightning descended, a beam of golden light shone down from somewhere, illuminating Ling Feng.
The moment the golden light descended, Ling Feng's aura surged, pouring out like a tide.
Early Core Formation
Mid Core Formation
It only stopped at the peak of late Core Formation.
He had advanced two minor realms in a row, and was only a step away from peak Core Formation.
Subsequently, the golden beam of light disappeared as if it had never appeared.
"This is Merit Heavenly Tribulation?"
Feeling the surging power within him, Ling Feng couldn't believe it.
The items he had placed around him also seemed to have been blessed, shining with golden light.
"The purpose of coming up the mountain this time has been perfectly accomplished!"
Ling Feng smiled with relief, looking up at the clear sky where the tribulation clouds had dispersed, as if enjoying the moment.
Not far away, several immortals, seeing that Ling Feng was unharmed, returned to their respective places.
After undergoing tribulation, Ling Feng did not immediately leave Qingyun Peak.
Instead, he stayed to consolidate his realm.
After all, advancing so many realms at once meant his realm was very unstable.
This consolidation lasted for three days and three nights.
"Hoo..."
Ling Feng slowly opened his eyes, which had been closed for three days and three nights.
As Ling Feng was about to draw the Mist Wind from his back, he felt empty air.
Ling Feng's pupils constricted, and he quickly got up, looking at the sword sheath on his back. The Mist Wind he had inserted into the sheath was gone.
"What's going on! Where is the Mist Wind!"
Ling Feng was instantly anxious.
"Ling Feng..."
Just as Ling Feng was about to turn the place upside down, a familiar voice sounded behind him.
Upon hearing this voice, Ling Feng's body froze, and his pupils trembled.
Ling Feng stiffly turned around, and upon seeing the person standing before him.
Tears immediately flowed from his eyes. He opened his mouth, wanting to speak, but couldn't utter a single word.
"I'm back."
"Ling Feng."
Sha Wu smiled charmingly at Ling Feng.
...
An hour passed.
Ling Feng sat at the edge of the mountain peak, swinging his legs.
Beside him sat Sha Wu, though her form was very transparent.
"So, you don't know how you came back to life either."
"Yes, my memory stopped at that moment. Just when I thought I was going to die, I opened my eyes and saw you, Ling Feng."
"Is that so... That's good too."
Ling Feng lowered his head and smiled. He mentally inquired the system about Sha Wu's situation.
The system's answer was simple.
[Host, you are very lucky. Although most of Sha Wu's Earth Soul was devoured by chaotic creatures.]
[Some Earth Souls attached themselves to the Mist Wind. Because you re-forged the Mist Wind using Merit Tribulation lightning, these Earth Souls recovered about ten percent after absorbing the Merit Tribulation lightning.]
"If I hadn't used Merit Tribulation lightning to re-forge the Mist Wind... what would have been the outcome?"
Ling Feng felt a lingering fear, wondering what would have happened if he hadn't had the Merit Tribulation lightning.
[No, even if you hadn't used Merit Tribulation lightning, Sha Wu's Earth Soul would have recovered eventually.]
[In other words, Sha Wu's Earth Soul has essentially become the sword spirit of the Mist Wind.]
"So, Sha Wu can only be a sword spirit, and her original body cannot be revived?"
[No, her original body can still be revived. This is why I said you are very lucky.]
[Sha Wu now has two bodies, one is her original body, and the other is the Mist Wind.]
[At the same time, her original body can enter the Mist Wind, equivalent to the Mist Wind being Sha Wu's house.]
[However, Sha Wu's Earth Soul in front of you is still very weak and cannot return to her original body. It needs to be nurtured and recovered.]
"I understand."
Ling Feng nodded. The system had already revealed a lot of information.