Shi Lang consumed the pill and began to channel the energy inside his body. The speed of the flow was not very high but it was mellow. The essence of the pill was soothing the cracks inside his meridians as if a sealant filling the cracks in a wall.

The pain in his body was slowly receding. Injuries in the meridians caused immense pain, thankfully Shi Lang was a Terran cultivator as well, and that was why he was able to endure the torment, however, he did not tell anyone about this. The pain in his body was a constant, and that was the reason he was so irritated as well.

The spirit essence moved through his body not only healing the meridians but also rejuvenating them. Once the spiritual energy has come in contact with the meridians if the supply is disrupted, the meridians become atrophic in nature, and without proper treatment, they will cause strong pain throughout the body.

While Shi Lang was busy healing himself. Nestia was going to witness the biggest political show.

…

Kar-te walked inside the courtroom with a subtle smile on his face. To him, the objective was achieved splendidly. He did not account for the Empress to even take custody of the Terran envoys. He was very happy with the behavior of the lady, she was doing very well. Kar-te stood in front of the court and knelt on the floor after bending a knee.

He said, “Long Live Your Excellency.”

Nexalia gazed at him calmly and said, “Rise Kar-te.”

The man stood up from the ground and bowed his head to the woman on the throne. He asked, “Your Excellency, I was told that we are at war with the Federation. May I ask you, what transpired between the two sides?”

Nexalia nodded and said, “I am glad that you asked me this. As you are aware General Shi Lang came here for a visit. However, he was attacked by a group of people, the situation was not optimistic and the general suffered a great ordeal. He still has not recovered yet. We were willing to provide them with any and all medical help. However, why should I tolerate their blasphemous accusations?

So I imprisoned them in paradise. Somehow they got the message out and now their fleet is standing at our borders. I want you to come forward and use the skills that you have learned during your stay in the Galactic council. Help us, stop this war.”

Kar-te did not expect Nexalia to be so upfront about everything and said, “I understand your majesty. Please rest assured that I will do my best to get things done.”

Nexalia nodded and said, “I am aware of your skills, I have full confidence in you and that was why I called you here. However, things need to be adjusted before you go ahead to negotiate.”

Kar-te was surprised and asked, “What is this, your excellency?”

The minister said, “Your job title as the envoy in the Galactic Council will make this approach a little complicated. General Shi Lang is still imprisoned and if the Terran Envoy reported this matter to the council, we will be facing sanctions. So you would have to step down from the position of the galactic envoy.

Do not worry, we have prepared a special place for you to overlook. We have decided to give you the information department.”

Kar-te was elated. He never expected this to happen. This was completely a chance for him to make the run to the post he has been drooling over the years. He nodded and with a solemn expression said, “If that is what must be done to preserve the peace in our empire. I shall do so.”

Kar-te was a good operative, but too bad, OB-One had traced him and ruined his plans. He could never get away from the actions he has taken this time. The formalities of the resignation were triggered after the small de-briefing. The procedure only required Kar-te to write a letter and submit it to the ministers.

…

Amelia was watching all this happen from the secret room. She said, “This all seems to be going too smooth.”

Hayley nodded beside her, General Edward said, “You, youngsters think that politics and traps are all too fragile and the enemy can turn the tables at any given moment. However, it is not so. Politics and warfare are like chess. You make a move, I make a move. If someone intervents that might change things, however, they still could not do that before either side has made a move.

Kar-te had no support, he made a move against us, trying to gain something, thinking that being a part of the galactic council will cover him up. However, he did not realize that the timing of all his moves was not optimal and that was what gave him away.”

General Charlotte nodded and said, “We have to thank OB-One for this because that bot was the one who spotted the micro-adjustments in the things.”

The people began to converse and analyze the situation. Time was flowing slowly. Kar-te was done with his resignation, and Nexalia quickly arranged for another person to bring his appointment later to the galactic council and take charge of the seat.

…

Shi Lang was sitting cross-legged and his breathing was deep. At this moment, something wonderful was happening inside him. The spiritual energy was gathering and condensing inside his dantian. This process was called core condensation.

When a cultivator reached this level, they will be able to fly on their own they said in the myth, however, the speed of the flight was a different matter. Imagine how strong a person would be if they could fly above your heads with no wings behind their backs. Shi Lang was just breaking through to the first level of core condensation when the climate outside began to change.

He was a cultivator and he could sense the approaching tribulation. After a few final rotations of the spiritual energy, the core was completely condensed, it was like a soybean, floating inside his dantian and rotating at a very fast speed. Suddenly, Shi Lang opened his eyes, stood up, and dashed outside the room.

These actions were so fast that even OB-One had no time to respond. Shi Lang was not going to stay indoors when he was about to face tribulation. This would not have happened basically. Yet the guy deduced that it was because his soul was old.

Clement was barren of people. Shi Lang dashed out of the manor and came closer to the beach, and he did not wait to stand there. He ran forward on the surface of the ocean. He cleverly used his spiritual energy to coat his legs with spiritual energy and moved further away from the population.

Suddenly he stopped, at this moment the sky had already turned dark like it was the dead of night. He raised his head to the sky, and joint his hands as he said, “I welcome the trial of heavens.”

The sky thundered so loud that it sent tremors to the earth. The ocean had become calm all of a sudden, and from the skies, a lightning bolt rushed straight toward Shi Lang.

Crackle!!

This was the sound that Shi Lang did not hear, his body was already flung away from the impact, however, he was not injured. The second bold didn’t come one after the other. The heavens will give you time to recover your strength and still not achieve anything. Heavens could be sadistic, you know.

Shi Lang was facing the lightning bolts.

…

Kar-te did not know what happened, all of a sudden, he was treated like a criminal. Yes, after he signed his resignation, a soldier came up and put shackles on his hands and legs. Then he was taken to the courtroom.

A minister stood up beside Nexalia, and said, “Kar-te Kurx, you stand in front of the Thunder Court, accused of treachery, and for intentionally sabotaging the relations with an ally civilization that could lead to war, you are charged with Intentional Genocide. Do you have anything to say about these charges?”

Kar-te Krux could not believe what was going on, how could anyone find out, and what did it mean that his actions can lead to war, were they not at war already? He wanted to say something but when he raised his head and looked toward the throne, he found a few people standing nearby. The uniform color made his pupil contract. He could not understand why the Federal military people were there.

Just before he could come up with a clarification. A messenger walked inside the court and said, “I apologize to interrupt the proceedings of the court, Your Excellency, there is a piece of news from Clement that you might want to know.”

Nexalia and the rest of the people knew that Shi Lang was the only one staying at Clement at the moment, what was this news, thinking about this Nexalia waved her hand and the messenger said, “It was detected that General Shi Lang is being hit by lightning. The entire sky is thundering.”