Rubbing Shoulders with Heavenly Tribulation, Fleecing the Sheep, part 6

The assailant, a second-year, likely had at least Foundation Establishment cultivation.

Su Qing, barely at Qi Refining Layer 2, stood no chance.

Sword Sect disciples dual-cultivated, and Array Sect was no exception. This narrow-eyed male, Chen Dong, wielded a black-purple whip sword named Ghost Snake God, its strikes laced with gray-purple miasma. A single hit could turn wounds black and purple, bleeding for a hundred days without healing.

A third-tier, low-grade spiritual weapon, it was Chen Dong’s go-to. Even against a Qi Refining Layer 2 novice, he cautiously chose his best weapon.

Chen wasn’t really after Su Qing over a bowl of offal. He’d barely made second-year, his Foundation Establishment Layer 1 unstable, teetering on dropping back to Qi Refining Great Perfection.

He didn’t want to clash with Body Sect and risk demotion.

Su Qing, a weak first-year, was an easy target. He’d noticed the second-years’ protectiveness over her. Grabbing her as a hostage to intimidate them was a solid plan.

It’d give him something to show his Array Sect peers.

Chen approached half-heartedly, holding back on artifacts and spiritual energy. His whip sword, barely infused, relied on raw force.

Su Qing cautiously parried with her wooden sword.

She knew only basic Carefree Sword moves, far less fluid in combat than practice. Guarding her hands left her feet open; guarding her feet left her eyes vulnerable. Honestly, lasting three to five moves was a win.

*Stay calm. Don’t panic.*

Her cultivation was lacking; losing her cool would be her end.

She couldn’t win, but if she stayed safe and gained experience, that was a victory.

Calming down, she steadied her breathing, sank her stance, and gripped her sword tightly. She blocked Chen’s spinning thrust.

He wasn’t rushing, toying with her like a cat with a mouse, amused by her moves.

His underestimation was a boon. With his Foundation cultivation, he could crush her outright.

*Bang—hiss!*

The whip sword struck her wooden blade, its force nearly yanking it from her grip. Panicking as her hand emptied, she instinctively channeled energy into the sword. Tiny green sprouts shot from the hilt, wrapping her wrist.

The sprouts held, and the sword spun back into her hand. Fingers clenched, she braced, channeling energy to meet another whip strike.

*Clang—*

Her palms split, bleeding, but she felt no pain.

She was stunned: the force was immense, and she’d braced for her sword’s destruction. Yet the wood held!

Was his sword weak, or had hers evolved?

Undeterred, Chen was thrilled. “Not ordinary wood! Let’s see—dark sheen, metallic clang. Good stuff—thunderstruck wood!”

“Stabilizes essence, wards off evil. My Five Souls Array needs this. Effortless gain!”

He readied his whip sword, now serious. “Hand it over, and you’ll avoid suffering.”

Su Qing gripped her sword, voice low. “Robbing with such righteousness—Array Sect’s style?”

She hadn’t expected her plain sword to ascend with her in the tribulation, becoming thunderstruck wood!

Neither fell for provocations; harsh words only drew cold laughs.

Knowing Chen was getting serious, Su Qing, outmatched, gripped her sword and charged.

Seeing her counterattack, Chen sneered. “Just brute strength, typical body cultivator!” A ruthless glint flashed as he infused his whip sword with energy. Golden barbs sprouted from its joints like flower buds.

The barbed whip, like a venomous snake, lashed at her face. Su Qing planted her sword into the ground, activating the Lightweight Talismans on her knees and calves. Like a heron bursting from water, she sprang upward.

In midair, she twisted, aiming her sword at Chen’s unguarded face, thrusting toward his eyes!

But Foundation cultivation wasn’t for show—it could crush Qi Refining Layer 2. Chen, unfazed, stopped her sword three centimeters from his face, blocked by his protective technique or artifact.

Silver hooks detached from his whip, turning into needle-like projectiles swarming her.

“Try this!”

No escape.

Bracing for injury, Su Qing was stunned when her red robe triggered a white defensive array, deflecting most of the projectiles back.

Dodging, Chen shouted, incredulous, “You can afford a fourth-tier, high-grade robe and still sell offal?!”

Tang Yueling’s gear was top-notch.

Seizing his shock, Su Qing reactivated the Lightweight Talismans, shielding her face with her sword. Activating talismans on her elbows and torso, she vaulted over him like a gymnast, dashing away.

The move wasn’t damaging but deeply insulting.

“Running? Not so fast!” Chen, enraged, swung his whip sword at her head.

Su Qing twisted midair, crashing down. A whip segment grazed her back, hooks tearing flesh. Agonizing.

She’d endured lightning—this was nothing.

Rolling to dodge, she braced for more, but Chen’s next strike loomed, his blade filling her vision.

“You’re done,” he sneered. “Time to suffer!”

Before he finished, a frost-cold sword shot through the crowd, silencing him. It pierced his right chest, pinning him to the ground.

Clean, decisive. Su Qing blinked, and the sword’s hilt stood vibrating in the earth.

Snow-white ice flowers bloomed from Chen’s wound, freezing a ten-meter radius, withering everything.

Xuejin Sword. @Infinite Good Reads, Only at Jinjiang Literature City

Su Qing rubbed her eyes, frost on her lashes and hair melting into droplets.

Chilly.

Tianning arrived, pulling Su Qing up. Her hand was ice-cold but strong, reassuring.

Though a first-year, Tianning’s Foundation Establishment Layer 6 made her a force among second-years. Pointing at the brawling Body and Array Sects, Su Qing tattled, “They stole our stuff!”

Tianning’s blank face grew blanker. “Who?”

Su Qing pointed. “That one, that one, and that one!”

“Wait here.” Tianning summoned Xuejin Sword and charged. “I’ll take it back.”

*

Tang Yueling, shaking off Guan Jiayu, arrived to this scene.

Tianning and Body Sect second-years clashed with Array Sect. Su Qing, using a breath-concealing technique, lurked behind, chucking stones at Array Sect, infused with spiritual energy. They didn’t hurt much but were infuriating.

Array Sect fumed, but anyone targeting Su Qing faced Tianning’s icy sword. Her beauty didn’t soften her blade.

Su Qing stirred the pot from the rear.

Array Sect was no match for Body Sect head-on. As the sixty-ninth bolt fell, Zhuxu and Cui Huai finished refining, pummeling Xun Zian’s crew into the ground.

Zhuxu, half-recovered, her body part bone and muscle, veins pulsing with purple lightning, slammed Xun Zian’s head repeatedly, her lightning scorching him.

“Hand them over, huh?”

“Still tough?”

“Still scheming?”

Her iron grip held Xun Zian, Array Sect’s second-year leader, Foundation Layer 8, helpless like a ragdoll.

His comrades, battered and bruised, lost their earlier arrogance.

Su Qing, closer, marveled at Zhuxu’s jade-like bones and dense spiritual veins—far more than her own.

Envy sparkled in her eyes: such muscles and veins let Zhuxu endure all sixty-nine bolts.

Tang Yueling was jealous too. “Senior Zhuxu’s at Foundation Layer 9, nearly Great Perfection.”

Tribulations were *that* nourishing!

She’d arrived late, delayed by nonsense, barely catching any.

Though she refined her body, as a Tang Clan member, she wasn’t a broke body cultivator needing this tribulation feast. Her clan offered endless refining treasures.

But she hated being left behind. She’d been stuck at Qi Refining Great Perfection too long.

Su Qing felt sated. “A few weeks to stabilize, and I’ll hit Qi Refining Layer 3, maybe even touch Layer 4.”

Tianning returned with three lightning jars.

Su Qing glanced. “Seniors’ reward?”

She nodded. “One each.”

Tang Yueling refused. “I didn’t do anything.”

“Take it,” Su Qing said, clutching her jar’s purple sparks. “Your robe saved me.”

“Borrowed? Am I that stingy?” Tang Yueling took the jar, grumbling. “It’s yours.”

Curious, she opened it, her face twisting. “Why… is there a grilled fish in mine?”

A charred fish spun up from the jar’s bottom, burping contentedly.

Su Qing somehow recognized it.

Her literacy class’s Seven-Color Star Koi: Little Rainbow.

Now a charred mess, far from its radiant debut.

Tang Yueling poked it, disgusted. “My lightning’s eaten by this fish?”

“It’s a koi,” Su Qing realized. “It must’ve been zapped into the jar by mistake.”

Cradling Little Rainbow, limp and drunk, Su Qing offered her jar. “Take mine. My cultivation’s low—I don’t need this much lightning.”

Tang Yueling hesitated, but Su Qing cut in. “A jar for a robe? I’m winning. No arguing.”

They were about to continue when a warm male voice interrupted.

Guan Jiayu approached with his group, greeting Tang Yueling. “Yueling, Elder Danxia’s crafted a seventh-tier pill. Dan Pavilion’s invited Lanzhu Court to savor the fragrance. Join us?”

Tianning frowned—a rare expression of dislike. Su Qing winked at her, getting a blank look back.

*You hate him too?*

*Yeah.*

*Same!*

They all disliked him.

He was no good.

Tang Yueling caught their silent exchange, inwardly cursing: *Damn Guan Jiayu, acting like we’re close, dragging down my status, embarrassing me in front of my dorm!*

She declined. “No, I’ve got things to handle.”

“Alright, we’ll go ahead.” Guan Jiayu, rejected thrice, smiled gracefully, flawless as a gentleman, and left with his group.

But knowing about his dead contract, Su Qing couldn’t stand him. @Infinite Good Reads, Only at Jinjiang Literature City

The dazed koi peeked from Su Qing’s hand, shaking off ash to reveal dazzling seven-colored scales, each like fine glass, stunningly beautiful.

Absorbing the lightning, it had advanced.

Now a third-tier, low-grade beast. No combat boost—still weak enough to be squashed by a finger—but its sensitivity to fate’s mysteries grew, able to slightly sway luck or misfortune.

“He’ll have bad luck soon,” Little Rainbow chirped in a childish voice. “A big black mushroom cloud’s over his head. He’s bad, so I made him a bit unluckier.”

Koi and mysticism made sense. Su Qing accepted it, uncaring about Guan Jiayu. Pointing to herself, she asked, “What about me? My luck? Need my birth chart or star sign?”

“No need!” Little Rainbow hopped, staring at Su Qing’s head, delighted. “Teacher, you’re gonna get rich! Your wealth luck’s great soon!”