Chapter 217: It's Time To Part Way
At this moment, the winds and clouds shifted dramatically.
As the little pink fox standing in mid-air took a single silent step downward, the layers of tribulation lightning seemed to be struck with endless terror, attempting to recoil back into the heavens.
But now, it was already too late.
Crack… crack crack…
With just that silent step, countless cracks spread across the endless tribulation lightning above.
And in the very next instant, the sky-filling lightning shattered into fragments in the blink of an eye.
Such a scene unfolded before the eyes of everyone present.
Even the many Netherkins who arrived just in time, though still reeling from the shock brought by a certain Holy Saint of the Demon Sect, managed to shift their gazes toward their own Netherqueen.
A glimmer of excitement flashed in the eyes of each Netherkin.
The Netherqueen had successfully reformed her three-tailed Origin Form!
This meant that the day when they would return to the Netherland, with the princess once again ruling over the Netherkin Nation, was now within reach!
Some of the Netherkins, overwhelmed by the prospect of a bright future, had tears welling up in their eyes.
And all this came right after experiencing the shock brought by that Holy Saint of the Demon Sect… If part of their emotions hadn’t been drained by the previous shock, some of them might have completely lost their composure at this very moment.
Meanwhile, the little pink fox in the air shifted her starry, flame-like eyes slightly.
Her gaze first fell upon Luo Wusheng, who was still entwined in the purple tribulation lightning.
A faint gleam flickered in her eyes, as though she was deep in thought. Then, the front paw that had lowered before lifted once more.
In that instant, the shattered lightning began to slowly converge again, flowing like a stream.
During this process, the little pink fox tilted her head slightly, glancing at the tribulation clouds above.
The tribulation wasn’t over yet.
Within the clouds, six-colored lightning continued to flash faintly… but there wasn’t a single sound. The lightning within showed no signs of striking down, almost as if it were trembling in fear.
The little pink fox, indifferent, withdrew her gaze and looked beyond the clouds.
Seeing her trusted subordinates gathered below, she seemed to fall into a brief silence.
Then, she gently closed her eyes.
At some unknown moment, a mystical and profound pill, radiating a faint rainbow glow, had appeared near her mouth.
With a slight opening of her mouth, the pill slid down her throat.
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Luo Wusheng’s face remained expressionless despite the numbness that had overtaken his entire body.
The strange purple lightning emerging from the void had already completed seven waves of attacks.
With each wave, an additional bolt struck.
And each wave conveniently came just when he had absorbed about half of the previous one.
To be honest, Luo Wusheng had felt a bit nervous at first when he noticed the increasing intensity of the tribulation lightning.
He was mainly worried that the combination of his newly gained recovery ability and his enhanced tribulation-devouring ability wouldn’t be enough to offset the damage.
However, the reality proved that, under the blessing of Lu Yuliu’s protagonist aura, things were going a little too smoothly for him.
With each wave of lightning he absorbed, his tribulation-devouring ability increased significantly. Even his right arm had inexplicably become more adaptable to the lightning throughout the process.
The pain also seemed to fade as his body gradually numbed—
To the point where it almost started feeling… pleasurable.
As a result, despite the number of purple lightning strikes increasing wave after wave, they always fell just short of the threshold needed to truly harm him.
Instead, the tribulation power accumulating in his right arm grew denser and more potent with each strike.
He felt like Dante, what’s with the glowing hand and all of that.
Luo Wusheng calmly gazed toward the horizon.
As Luo Wusheng observed the heavenly tribulation curling up in fear before the newly formed three-tailed little pink fox, a strange feeling rose in his heart.
Why did every tribulation he encountered feel so… off?
First, there was the tribulation that exploded itself.
Then, the tribulation that seemed to blow itself up for his benefit.
And now, this one had turned into a tribulation that came rushing over just to hand out free benefits—only to end up trembling behind the tribulation clouds, too scared to make a sound.
The poor tribulation must be mentally broken by now.
Luo Wusheng complained inwardly as he turned his gaze toward the little pink fox.
At this moment, the little pink fox had returned to the form of a pink glowing sphere, just like when Luo Wusheng had first met her at Ascending Immortality Lake.
The glowing sphere gradually expanded to the size of a human, its aura climbing higher and higher. The surrounding light seemed to twist under the terrifying pressure.
‘The pill she swallowed earlier… it must be the so-called “Netherkin Monarch Pill” mentioned before. Judging by this momentum, is she planning to restore her cultivation to the Tribulation Crossing Realm in one go?’
‘Come to think of it, according to the original storyline, the little pink fox was supposed to be rescued on the night of the battle at Ascending Immortality Lake and taken directly back to the Netherland…’
But because of his unexpected presence, the course of events had changed drastically.
Luo Wusheng sighed inwardly.
Perhaps today, the little pink fox would fully recover.
With her underling who had gathered in the royal city ready to follow her, there seemed to be no reason for her to remain in human territory any longer.
‘Looks like it’s time for a farewell…’
Thankfully, he had taken every opportunity to pet her when he could earlier. Otherwise, he might have regretted it for a long time.
While Luo Wusheng was lost in thought, the glowing sphere in the sky finally stopped rising in aura.
At that moment, time seemed to pause.
All was silent between heaven and earth; nothing changed, nothing moved.
The one-person-sized sphere of light slowly transformed, turning into countless flickering fireflies.
As the lights faded away, they revealed a figure of stunning beauty—an ethereal appearance capable of toppling kingdoms.
The Netherqueen had returned to her human form.
However, unlike before, her attire had transformed.
The soft pink fur had become a luxurious robe draped over her shoulders.
Her dress was magnificently exquisite, and her silky hair framed a face as flawless as a painting.
Three red markings adorned her forehead, and a newfound majesty radiated from her expression, far beyond what she once possessed.
In that instant, Luo Wusheng finally realized—
The figure before him was not just any Netherkin.
She was the Nine-Tailed Fox Netherqueen, the former Monarch of the Netherkin Nation.
With her eyes gently closed, the Nine-Tailed Fox Netherqueen’s delicate eyelids trembled slightly.
Her enchanting eyes slowly opened, stealing the breath of all who beheld her.
Then, she exhaled softly.
“—Gather.”
Her ethereal voice echoed like a whisper in the wind.
The previously scattered lightning, which had converged into a stream, suddenly compressed in an instant.
The massive lightning sphere, once terrifying in scale, shrank rapidly, twisted by an overwhelming force, until it was no larger than a thumb.
But that wasn’t all.
Even the tribulation lightning that had been hiding behind the clouds, too frightened to strike, was forcibly dragged out, merging into the now thumb-sized thunder pill.
The Nine-Tailed Fox Netherqueen extended her slender hand.
The thunder pill obediently fell into her palm.
With a slight parting of her lips, she swallowed it whole.
Then, her gaze shifted toward the tribulation clouds, which now hovered awkwardly, unsure whether to remain or disperse.
“Scatter.”
With that single word, the tribulation clouds—utterly humiliated—shattered and vanished.
The sky cleared.
The tribulation had ended prematurely.
Outside the previously designated tribulation zone, the world fell into dead silence.
No one dared speak.
Until—
A voice, choked with emotion, finally broke the stillness:
“Congratulations, Your Highness, on returning to the peak!”
With that cry, all the Netherkins present seemed to awaken from a dream.
“Congratulations, Your Highness, on returning to the peak!”
“Congratulations, Your Highness, on returning to the peak!!”
The voices of the Nascent Soul Realm Netherkins rang out, each shouting with all their might.
For a time, nothing else echoed between heaven and earth—only their cries of celebration.
There was no need for concealment.
No need for restraint.
Among the Netherkin crowd, the little Tree Netherkin Xiao Guai beamed with joy, though tears streamed uncontrollably down her face.
At the back of the gathering, the gaunt old ape trembled as he murmured:
“Finally… finally…”