Divine Convenience Store

Above the transparent ceiling, the tribulation clouds roiled like a pot of boiling ink as it became a maelstrom of celestial fury. The air was so heavy that the very concept of breathing felt like a luxury for Lin Mo. Yet he remained stalwart.

In the second-floor lounge, which had been cleared of all other patrons, Xiaoyu and Wu Meiyu had their eyes fixed on the lone figure in the arena through the floating window showing the scene within.

"This is..." Wu Meiyu whispered shakily, her usual regal composure cracking under the weight of the heavenly pressure. "This doesn't feel like a Minor Tribulation. It feels like who's about to integrate a Law. The pressure is at least five times what I experienced."

"Five times? No. It's at least twenty times, Sister Meiyu." Liu Xiaoyu corrected. Her playful demeanor was gone, replaced by a fierce, protective focus. "When I broke through, the Tower's energy amplified my tribulation. But this... this feels like the heavens are denying him to further defy his path to immortality... Boss better not mess this up."

Back in the arena, Lin Mo took a final, steadying breath as the tribulation clouds roared even louder.

His mind, anchored by the [Everflowing Serenity Sutra], was a lake of perfect calm. He was ready.

RUMBLE!

The first bolt descended.

It was not the jagged, explosive arc of lightning he had seen from Liu Xiaoyu's tribulation before. Instead, it slammed down at his position like a silent, needle-thin spear of pure, solidified darkness, fringed with a sparkling silver that seemed to absorb all light and sound around it.

It fell with an unnatural, terrifying silence, with its target being his very soul.

Lin Mo didn't hesitate. With a flick of his wrist, the pink [Modern Tribulation Umbrella] sprang open, its cartoonish design acting like a defiant splash of absurdity against heaven's fury.

He held it aloft like a simple, almost comical gesture of blocking a heavy rainfall.

The spear of darkness struck the umbrella right in the middle.

There was no sound, no explosion. For a single, heart-stopping moment, the umbrella's surface warped, the cheerful pink fabric turning a sickly, translucent gray. The divine inscriptions that the divine being imbued it with flared to life. It was its final stand against a power they were never designed to face. After all, it was created for normal minor tribulations.

CRACK.

A spiderweb of fractures spread across the umbrella's canopy. A heartbeat later, it shattered into a thousand fading, pink motes of light, its purpose served but utterly annihilated.

The remnant of the dark lightning, a wisp of pure destructive will, slammed into Lin Mo's chest.

He grunted, a jolt of searing cold and sharp pain shooting through him but he held his ground. He must not flinch or his Perfect Foundation would be in jeopardy.

Lin Mo went back to a sitting position and circulated his spiritual energy. His body ached, but the damage was superficial. He looked up at the roiling clouds, a grim smile on his face.

"Alright," he murmured. "Warm-up's over. Let's see… how many tribulation lightning did Xiaoyu face? Looks like I might have to face more than her."

Up in the lounge, Xiaoyu clenched her fists, "That was absurd. One bolt… and it destroyed a tribulation artifact. How come Boss is facing a stronger tribulation than mine?"

Before Wu Meiyu could answer, the second bolt formed.

Unlike the bolt of darkness, it was a perfect, crystalline sphere of silver lightning. It descended slowly as if it were a judge passing a final, inescapable sentence to Lin Mo.

Lin Mo's expression turned serious as he sensed how destructive it would be. If the umbrella faced that one, it would be destroyed in a matter of a split second.

Looking down at the times he prepared, he grabbed the [Tribulation Null-Stone] and let it float before him. The unassuming gray rock seemed to pulse once, acknowledging the impending threat.

The crystalline sphere of tribulation lightning reached the transparent ceiling and passed through unimpeded.

The arena's formations were guiding it to him while also preventing the place from getting wrecked.

As it descended upon Lin Mo, its humming intensified, causing the air to vibrate and he had involuntarily swayed along with it.

Just as it was about to make contact, the Null-Stone flared to life. A vortex of gray, phantom-like energy erupted from it, enveloping the sphere of lightning.

The humming instantly ceased as the brilliant silver light was swallowed by the vortex, pulled into the stone with a voracious hunger.

The stone itself then began to glow. First, it was a faint silver then a brilliant, blinding white.

It shivered violently in front of him as the absorbed power threatened to tear it apart.

Lin Mo watched calmly, ready to react at any moment. He recalled the description of the stone. It was neutralizing the lightning's 'will' but the raw energy had to go somewhere.

Then, with a sound like a thousand crystals shattering at once, the Null-Stone released the energy.

Gone was the violent, destructive force that had descended. Instead, it became a wave of pure, untainted spiritual energy that washed over Lin Mo.

He immediately activated his [Silent Stream Breathing Technique], drawing the wave into his body. His meridians, already pushed to their limit, greedily drank in the energy.

Following that, his core cultivation technique, the [Vein of the Silent Stream], processed all that spiritual energy for his consumption.

The superficial damage from the first bolt was instantly healed and his entire spiritual reserve was refilled to its absolute peak.

It was a perfect defense and a perfect counter-attack. The heavens threw a mountain at him, and he turned it into a nourishing meal thanks to the Null-Stone.

But it was not over yet. The heavens were not pleased at that display.

The tribulation clouds up above, churned with an even greater fury, as if enraged by his defiance.

The pressure intensified again, and this time, two bolts began to form simultaneously. One dark, one silver. A spear and a sphere.

"Two at once!" Wu Meiyu gasped. "How can anyone possibly defend against two distinct forms of heavenly punishment at the same time?"

Xiaoyu also gulped down. Even with her Nine Heavens Exquisite Body, she didn't experience that kind of tribulation. Somehow, she couldn't help but think that Lin Mo was already about to overtake her once he completed this minor tribulation.

Meanwhile, Lin Mo's smile widened. The first two bolts of tribulation lightning passed by without him expending too much energy. In fact, he was even overflowing with it. He had yet to tap his starlight qi to assist him.

If Xiaoyu faced five tribulation lightning, he felt like he could face six or more of them.

Or so that was his confidence dictating.

"This is getting interesting."

He could sense it. The spear of darkness was targeting his soul while the sphere of silver was aimed at his body.

It was a coordinated attack designed to overwhelm and annihilate.

He couldn't use the Null-Stone for both. It was still cooling down after absorbing and converting the second bolt. If he used it against the two, the possibility of it overloading and breaking was too high. He had to face one of them head-on.

His choice was clear. His body, reforged by the waterfall and the starlight dew, was now his greatest weapon and his strongest shield. His soul, while protected by the [Everlasting Serenity Sutra], was still the more vulnerable target.

As the two bolts descended, he acted. He kicked the still-warm Null-Stone into the air, aiming it directly at the spear of darkness. Then, he stood up to meet the silver sphere himself.

He didn't raise a shield or a talisman. He simply took a deep breath, and his entire body took on a faint, silvery sheen. The new ability, [Stillwater Body], is activated. The principles he learned from the waterfall - harmony, absorption, redirection - were now an instinct.

The Null-Stone intercepted the dark spear, another silent vortex swallowing its destructive will.

At the same instant, the crystalline sphere of lightning slammed into Lin Mo's chest.

BOOM!

The first sound of the tribulation finally echoed through the arena. It was a thunderous explosion of pure power.

The stage beneath him cracked and a shockwave of silver energy erupted outwards.

From the outside, it looked like he had been vaporized. But when the light faded, Lin Mo was still standing.

His clothes were gone, his upper body scorched and bleeding from a dozen places, but he was standing.

His skin shone with a silvery glow as the energy released by the Null-Stone was once again being painfully absorbed and processed by his body to heal it.

He spat out a mouthful of blood, "Is that... all you've got?"

He had tanked a direct hit from a tribulation bolt designed for a genius and survived. The pain was excruciating but his foundation remained unshaken.

Unfortunately, it was still only the fourth bolt and the tribulation lightning above had yet to be satisfied.

He reached for the last set of items laid out before him, plucking the first of the [Seven-Star Soulmend Pills]. The one corresponding to the physical body and tossed it into his mouth.

"Come on. Don't make my prodigious assistant feel like I've become more monstrous than her. Finish it with this last one." He called out to Heaven's Will with a provocative grin.