Supreme Master: Cultivation Starts After Recruiting SSS-Grade Talent-Chapter 54 - Breakthrough

The ground around Xie Ren looked like it had been through a war.

Deep gouges scarred the earth where lightning had landed. Wide cracks spread like a spiderweb across the cliff face, and broken chunks of stone lay scattered in every direction.

Xie Ren stood at the center of the wreckage, tall and unmoved. His right arm was still raised, smoking from the last strike.

The armor that had once glowed like moonlight now hung in pieces around his body, shattered. Its faint protective glow had long since faded.

From his elbow down, the skin on his arm was blackened, burned by divine lightning. Faint red light pulsed in the cracks along his veins, like magma flowing beneath stone.

"Heaven’s punishment," Xie Ren muttered, glancing up at the swirling sky. "They really mean business."

Another bolt of lightning flashed above, more violent than before. The clouds churned and twisted, drawing in more spiritual power. A charge built in the air again, ready to fall.

Xie Ren planted his feet firmly and shifted his stance. His eyes narrowed. He braced for another blow.

But before it could strike, the little fairy hiding in his chest yanked hard at his clothes.

[Wait! You don’t need to block the next one!]

He blinked. "What are you talking about?"

[Look! Look at her!]

She pointed a glowing finger toward the center of the formation.

Xie Ren turned his head and paused, eyes widening.

There, at the heart of the chaos, sat Lan Yue.

She had not moved. Still seated cross-legged, back straight, eyes closed in deep focus.

But something had changed. Her presence no longer felt human, it felt ancient, noble, and overwhelming.

Her body began to glow with a soft, silver light.

Then he saw it, on her head, two delicate, translucent fox ears shimmered into being. They were elegant and glowing, like they were carved from starlight.

Xie Ren raised a brow, lips curling upward. "So it’s started."

Behind her, thin strands of light floated into the air and began to weave together slowly. One by one, nine glowing tails began to unfurl behind her, long, flowing, and radiant.

Each tail shimmered with white and silver light, casting an almost holy glow across the battered cliff.

Crack!

A fresh bolt of lightning tore down from the clouds, sharp and swift, aiming directly at her.

As it neared her, a ring of light flared to life, and the lightning was pulled inward, drawn in like water through a funnel.

The violent lightning didn’t explode. It dissolved.

The punishment of the heavens turned into pure energy, and that energy flowed gently into Lan Yue’s body like rain soaking into the earth.

The nine shimmering tails behind her suddenly flared outward like a fan, each one glowing brighter than before.

The soft light surrounding her body intensified, wrapping her in a divine glow. Underneath her skin, her veins became visible, lit from within by flowing strands of heavenly essence. She looked like a celestial spirit reborn in mortal form.

She drew in a deep, steady breath.

Then her eyes opened, two brilliant pools of silver light that glowed with spiritual pressure.

Above, lightning split the heavens once again.

A streak of violent energy crashed down from the clouds, but like before, it couldn’t touch her. Instead, it was devoured by the ring light behind her.

Xie Ren stood a short distance away, watching everything unfold. His arms hung at his sides, still scorched from battle, but his smile was one of pride.

"She’s doing it," he whispered, a spark of excitement in his voice. "She’s using the tribulation to break the barrier."

Suddenly, the sky rumbled again, louder than before.

The clouds split open one last time.

A final bolt surged down from the heavens. It was enormous, thicker than any of the previous strikes, glowing with a terrifying darkness filled with flashes of gold. It streamed through the air, the sound sharp and deafening, like the fury of the heavens condensed into one moment.

The ring of light behind Lan Yue flared with blinding light.

Her nine tails moved in unison, wrapping gently around her body like a protective cocoon. The aura she gave off at that moment felt ancient and untouchable. Then, slowly and without fear, she raised her right hand.

Her fingers, delicate, graceful, opened toward the sky.

The final bolt slammed into her palm.

But it didn’t explode. It didn’t even spark. It simply vanished.

In an instant, the storm began to fade.

Darkness lifted, and beams of golden sunlight broke through the clearing clouds, spilling warmth over the broken land.

The tribulation cloud let out a final, reluctant rumble. Almost like a growl of defeat, then slowly scattered, dissolving into thin air like smoke in the breeze.

A gentle shockwave rippled out from Lan Yue’s body.

It was soft, but powerful. Her cultivation had risen. No longer just at the peak of the Golden Core stage, she had stepped fully into the Nascent Soul realm.

Lan Yue opened her eyes again. The silver light had faded slightly, but her gaze still carried that same depth. She turned toward Xie Ren and smiled at him.

"It’s done, master," she said softly.

The tribulation had ended, but the land showed the cost. Jagged scars split the ground, deep and wide.

Yet, the spot where Lan Yue had sat remained suspiciously whole, untouched by even a speck of ash, as if the heavens themselves had spared it.

She was about to ask about it when she noticed something with Xie Ren’s arm. A flicker of red caught her eye, and her pupils narrowed.

"Junior brother," she called out, her voice cracking for a moment. Forgetting to address him properly. "You’re... bleeding!"

Xie Ren followed her gaze down to his right arm. Blood dripped slowly from his fingers, each drop landing with a soft plip onto the cracked earth. His skin was blackened, seared, and riddled with crack marks that glowed faintly.

"Huh." His brow lifted slightly, a soft chuckle escaping his lips. "I guess I can bleed after all."

Lan Yue rushed to his side without hesitation, placing her hands gently over his arm. Closing her eyes, she poured her newly refined nascent soul energy into him, coaxing it toward the injured flesh.

Warm light wrapped around his arm. The bleeding slowed, then stopped entirely.

But her brows knitted in confusion. No matter how much energy she channeled, the injury refused to heal completely.

The crack marks remained, and the strange resistance rejected her healing as though the wound had been etched into existence by the heavens themselves.

’Why... isn’t it healing?’

Before she could question it, she felt a light touch on her head.

"Mn-!" A soft gasp escaped her lips.

Xie Ren had reached out with his left hand and was gently brushing her ears, now fully manifested, shimmering faintly atop her head.

"You can feel them?" he asked curiously.

She nodded quickly, cheeks beginning to turn a rosy red.

"I thought they were just part of your armor," he muttered, still caught up in the soft sensation.

"M-Master, could you please stop touching them?" she asked, voice flustered.

"Oh," he blinked, realizing his hand was still there. "Sorry. I got distracted."

Lan Yue cleared her throat and tried to compose herself, though her face remained crimson. Her gaze dropped to his injured arm again.

"Master..." she asked softly, "what happened here? This place... all of it... and your wound, how did you get hurt?"

She remembered nothing of what had happened outside. During her breakthrough, she had been entirely immersed in that inner realm, tearing through the invisible chains that bound her cultivation.

"It’s nothing," he said, offering that same grin. "I was just testing something."

Seeing the concern clouding her gaze, Xie Ren gave a reassuring smile.

"It’ll heal after I take a few elixirs," he said casually, as though his arm wasn’t scorched black and lined with fractures like shattered porcelain.

Then, changing the subject, he pointed toward her fox-like ears.

"What about you? Is this... permanent?"

Lan Yue blinked, then gently shook her head. A soft shimmer passed over her form, and the ethereal glow that had radiated from her began to fade. Her ears twitched once more before slowly receding, along with the faint, misty tails that had once flickered behind her.

"Mm, I can suppress it," she said.

"Handy," Xie Ren muttered.

He stretched his left arm lazily and turned to leave. "Now then, should we go-"

Ding!

A series of sharp tones rang in his mind.

[Host’s status: Critical]

[Scanning physical damage...]

[Damaged Part: Right Arm (80%)]

[Auto-Healing Feature: Activated]

A semi-transparent system panel flickered before his eyes, displaying a 3D silhouette of his body. His right arm pulsed red, marked with fracture lines and a blinking damage bar, sitting just beneath the threshold of complete failure.

As he watched, a gentle glow spread over the arm, and he could see the cracks knitting together slowly, the worst of the damage reversing in real-time.

"...What’s this now?" he muttered.

The little fairy on his shoulder flapped her wings and crossed her arms, puffing up her cheeks.

[It’s another backup feature, hmph!] she huffed. [Lord Immortal is powerful, yes, but you can’t keep being this reckless!]

Xie Ren raised a brow. "If I can’t even protect my disciple, then what kind of master would I be?"

The fairy paused. Her little eyes softened for a moment, then she turned her head with a stubborn pout.

[This time I’ll overlook it, Lord Immortal,] she muttered. [But you really can’t go charging into tribulations like this again.]