Female Protagonist Assistance System

In the extreme south, the Ancient Forbidden Zone.

The ground beneath was inexplicably blood-red, almost devoid of vegetation. Large cracks covered the arid surface. The air seemed oxygen-deprived, causing chest tightness and difficulty breathing.

This was the southernmost edge of the Dou Qi Continent, a terrifying area known as the Ancient Forbidden Zone. No one who entered had ever returned alive, not even Dou Shengs. No one knew how they died or how long they survived inside. For millennia, hardly anyone dared to set foot here. It was considered the most mysterious and horrifying forbidden area on the Dou Qi Continent.

In this zone where none dared tread, a black figure slowly advanced step by step.

“Huff—” Xiao Han exhaled, wiping the fine sweat from her brow. “Are you certain it’s here?”

The system’s cheerful mechanical voice resonated in her mind: [That’s right, Host. It’s here. The heavenly anomalous lightning you seek is in the deepest part of the Ancient Forbidden Zone. You just need to keep going inward.]

“I’ve been walking for ten full days. How large is this Ancient Forbidden Zone?” Sweat trickled down her cheeks as Xiao Han struggled to lift her feet, moving forward at a snail’s pace.

For some unknown reason, upon entering the Ancient Forbidden Zone, her Dou Qi had been suppressed by an unidentified force. This condition worsened as she ventured deeper. By now, she could barely circulate her Dou Qi. Moreover, the further she went, the more fatigued her body became, as if some force was weighing her down. Each step now required immense effort.

[Almost there, Host. Keep going forward. It should take less than half a day to reach it,] the system reported dutifully. [You’re fortunate, Host. Being a transmigrator, you’ve essentially lived two lives. Combined with your previous life as a top-tier expert, your soul is extremely powerful. Plus, you have the Nine Heavens Thunder Technique protecting you. That’s why you’ve made it this far safely. Anyone else would have perished by the third day after entering the forbidden zone.]

Listening to the system’s chatter in her mind, Xiao Han couldn’t help but feel a lingering fear.

[Ah, right, Host. We’ve been gone for thirteen days. Do you think the Xiao family has noticed your disappearance? What will they do?] The system suddenly changed the subject.

“They won’t notice,” Xiao Han said, slowly advancing. “My courtyard is in the most remote part of the Xiao family compound. Hardly anyone ever comes there. I usually stay confined in my courtyard, not going out. Often, the Xiao family members wouldn’t see me for ten days or half a month. Moreover, with the plot not yet started, everyone is busy with their own affairs. It’s even less likely they’ll discover I’ve left.”

The system was surprised: [Host, you rarely go out normally to prepare for this?]

“Correct. I seldom go out, giving everyone the impression that ‘the Xiao family’s useless Fourth Young Miss doesn’t like going out, always staying in her own courtyard.’ This way, even if they don’t see me for a long time after I’ve left, they won’t find it strange or suspicious.”

[Wow— Host, you’re truly amazing. Sometimes I really wonder how your mind works.] The system expressed sincere admiration.

“It’s not that extraordinary,” Xiao Han panted. “Just planning ahead.”

[I see… But Host, you’re still incredible… Oh, oh, oh, Host, look! We’ve arrived!] The system’s voice suddenly became excited.

Xiao Han was startled. She looked up to see a pool before her eyes.

No, it shouldn’t be called a pool, for what filled it wasn’t clear liquid, but blood-red lightning.

This was clearly a lightning pool!

Even from a distance, Xiao Han could feel the immense, turbulent energy contained within the blood-red lightning of the pool. She was certain that such lightning couldn’t belong to this world! This world couldn’t possibly possess such powerful heavenly anomalous energy. It could only have come from a higher plane of existence.

[Host, your guess is correct. This blood-red lightning indeed doesn’t belong to this world. It comes from the highest plane—the Chaos Realm. As for why it’s in this world… I apologize, Host, but with your current permissions, you can’t know that yet. As for this anomalous lightning, I believe you’ve heard of it before.]

“What?” Xiao Han slowly approached the edge of the lightning pool. She crouched down, staring intently at the blood-red pool, feeling an inexplicably strange sensation.

Xiao Han couldn’t quite describe this feeling, but she felt the aura of this lightning pool was very familiar, as if she had once possessed it herself.

[This anomalous lightning is called—Tribulation Lightning.]

Xiao Han was shocked: “What did you say?! Tribulation Lightning?!”

[That’s right, Host. It’s Tribulation Lightning. The lightning tribulation that cultivators must endure when transcending. However, most tribulation lightning is ordinary purple lightning, while blood-colored lightning is the highest-grade tribulation lightning,] the system replied. [This is also the only anomalous lightning currently possessed by the Dou Qi Continent.]

Xiao Han broke out in a cold sweat. As a cultivator in her previous life, how could she not know the terror of weathering the lightning tribulation? Even with the Nine Heavens Thunder Technique, she had nearly failed to survive the tribulation several times. Tribulation lightning was no longer mere heavenly anomalous energy; it belonged to the laws of the Heavenly Dao itself. Yet now the system was telling her this was the Dou Qi Continent’s only anomalous lightning. This made her want to retreat.

What cultivator wouldn’t fear the lightning tribulation? Having been struck by tribulation lightning before, Xiao Han’s legs went weak at the sight of this blood-colored lightning.

[Don’t worry, Host. I’ve calculated that your chances of successfully taming the Tribulation Lightning are as high as 70%,] the system said seriously. [Although the process will be extremely painful, if you can endure it, you’ll make it through.]

Xiao Han’s lips paled, her heart quailing: “How do I tame it?”

[Please enter the pool, Host. Walk to the center of the lightning pool.]

Xiao Han was startled: “You’re not joking, are you? Walk to the center of the pool? I feel like the moment I step in, this Tribulation Lightning will obliterate my soul!”

It was the first time the system had seen Xiao Han so cowardly, but it wasn’t surprised. After all, cultivators feared tribulation lightning the most. One misstep could result in their soul being shattered, a truly mind-numbing prospect.

In her previous life as a high-level cultivator, Xiao Han had been struck by tribulation lightning countless times. It was normal for her to have developed a psychological trauma from it.

[Don’t worry, Host. The system’s life is linked to yours. If you die, I’ll be forcibly shut down without sufficient energy. So I won’t harm you,] the system said earnestly.

Xiao Han looked at the blood-red lightning pool, gritted her teeth hard, steeled her resolve, and jumped directly into the pool.

“Boom—”

The moment Xiao Han touched the lightning pool, a blood-colored thunderbolt suddenly crashed across the sky, dyeing half the heavens red.

Intense pain instantly shot through her legs, which had been blasted into a bloody mess by the lightning. The blood-red lightning seemed to have found an anchor, coursing up her body.

“Ugh—” Xiao Han groaned, her face turning pale. The severe pain was like a giant hammer, violently striking her brain, making her consciousness blur.

[Host, move forward!] The system loudly reminded her in her mind.

Xiao Han bit her tongue hard. A bloody taste spread in her mouth, bringing her back to some clarity.

She forced herself to move, trudging forward one painful step at a time, one foot deeper than the other.

Finally reaching the center of the pool, she realized it wasn’t actually very deep. Even at the middle, the Tribulation Lightning only reached her thighs.

[Host, sit in meditation. Try to absorb the Tribulation Lightning.]

Xiao Han hesitated for a moment but followed the system’s guidance, slowly sitting cross-legged. Throughout her process of sitting down, the lightning arcs, as if alive, automatically cleared a circular space around her. Only when Xiao Han was fully seated and began circulating the Nine Heavens Thunder Technique did the lightning slowly creep towards her, engulfing her like a tide.

A thunderclap exploded in the sky. Then, as if a switch had been flipped, several blood-colored lightning bolts roared down towards Xiao Han in the center of the pool, as if to tear her apart.

When the first blood-colored lightning struck Xiao Han, her entire body trembled. The immense energy mercilessly surged into her body. Her originally tough meridians were annihilated in an instant, and even her bones began to shatter under the strain.

“Urgh—” Xiao Han’s eyes reddened, a bestial roar squeezing out of her throat.

The Tribulation Lightning was like an insatiable giant beast, greedily devouring Xiao Han’s meridians and bones, inch by inch, slowly enough to inspire despair. Xiao Han’s face was completely drained of color, as pale as a corpse.

The Nine Heavens Thunder Technique circulated frantically, breaking down and absorbing the lightning force within her body. The absorbed energy gradually rebuilt Xiao Han’s meridians and bones. Reconstructed with the power of Tribulation Lightning, these new meridians and bones far exceeded ordinary human limits in their toughness.

But this process was undoubtedly extremely painful. She simultaneously endured the pain of her meridians being devoured and regrown, a suffering that made her wish for death.

The process of meridian regrowth was slow. Xiao Han clenched her teeth tightly. Her small face, pale to the point of bloodlessness, showed no trace of sweat. All perspiration evaporated the instant it emerged from her skin, leaving no trace.

Blood-red lightning bolts struck one after another, crashing into the lightning pool with world-destroying momentum. In an instant, the entire Ancient Forbidden Zone transformed into a blood lightning purgatory.