It wasn’t him?

Lan, aka Elder Tine, looked at Pesi, Elder Ein, in suspicion, thinking, Do we have to keep our breakthroughs a secret now? That won’t work either!

Who knew when the heavenly tribulation would strike?

“Pesi, do you want to make a breakthrough in secret to surprise everybody? Other things aside, this thunder tribulation is so strange. I think you should hide. The breakthrough can wait!” Lan tried to talk Pesi out of it.

Pesi still shook his head. “It really isn’t my thunder tribulation!”

Seeing how serious he was, Lan got lost in her thoughts. If it wasn’t his, whose could it be?

Moreover, that tribulation was so strange!

“Are you telling the truth?” Lan asked again.

“Yes!”

Lan turned to the other elders and looked at each of them. They all shook their heads at her, indicating that it wasn’t their thunder tribulation.

By now, the rumbling sound in the clouds had become continuous. It was like the world was going to end.

“A thunder tribulation of this scale will affect us!”

“Go!”

Lan examined the thunder tribulation. Lightning kept flashing in the clouds, adding some color to the dreary atmosphere.

Normal thunder tribulation would only go after the person that it targeted, attacking other people if they intervened. However, Lan suspected that this strange thunder tribulation might attack the crowd too.

No one here was making a breakthrough to the Hinayana stage, and that was the only explanation.

“It’s going to strike down!” someone shouted.

As everybody gazed at the sky, the lightning finally came down. The power was going to destroy everything!

A person usually had a 10% chance of surviving a thunder tribulation, but the crowd saw no such opportunity right now.

“What?” Himmel Soan sensed the thunder tribulation and looked up at the sky. “Just about time!”

Bang!

He smacked the furnace, and nine pills flew out toward the clouds.

“Look at those pills!”

“What’s he doing, sending the pills toward the cloud?”

“I have an idea. I suspect the thunder tribulation is drawn here by the master.”

“Maybe the thunder tribulation started because of the pills!”

“That’s right! Putting seven portions in a furnace is against common sense. It explains this strange thunder tribulation!”

Everybody was talking about it, addressing Himmel Soan as “master.” Earlier, they only thought him to be a fraud. But seeing the pills, they realized they had underestimated Himmel Soan.

Pesi was relieved. He was right. The young man was a master!

Elder Tine was the most surprised of them all. Her mouth fell open as she watched the scene, not knowing what to say.

“Is this phenomenon caused by the pills? I heard extraordinary pills can indeed cause such a phenomenon. Passing the thunder tribulation will further improve the pills’ quality.

“But what’s happening now looks more like it’s trying to destroy the pills!” Elder Tine explained to the others.

She had never seen anything like this before. She wondered if the pills could withstand the thunder tribulation.

The pills then received the full impact of the lightning.

“It’s a little too powerful. I think I need to tone it down.” Himmel Soan looked up at the sky and analyzed the energy in the pills.

Without hesitation, with a wave of his hand, the clouds became much thinner.

No one noticed the change though. The crowd was focusing on the battle between the pills and the thunder tribulation. They had never seen pills going through tribulation before. This was a first.

Himmel Soan felt the tribulation should reach an end now. If it went on, maybe the pills would be destroyed.

He immediately chased the thunder tribulation away. The pills landed in his palm.

“He’s a master!”

“What a treat! I’ll remember it for the rest of my life!”

“Master, I want to learn this skill!”

“You want to? I want to!”

“Tribulations are hard to get through for people, let alone those pills. If they can pull it through, I should be able to do it as well!”

“I agree with you!”

“Of course you do!”

“You’re not alone!”

“…”

While the others talked among themselves, Pesi and Lan walked up to Himmel Soan. They couldn’t help but give him a bow.

“Master!” they said in unison.

Himmel Soan was perplexed because he didn’t remember Lan. He didn’t consider himself to be a master either.

“This is only the second time that I’m refining pills. I still have a lot to learn. It won’t take long though. I think I’ll master it after some more practice.

“I’m only getting started. It’s never too late to learn, and I’m going to keep learning!” said Himmel Soan.

He didn’t deny his ability. He knew his strengths well, and it wouldn’t take him long to learn anything.

Earlier on Earth, he quickly became a top scientist. He still had a long way to go in the scientific world. It was the same with refining pills.

“I’ve learned so much from you!” Pesi cupped his hands.

“I’m sorry that I thought you were a fraud. You’re so talented! I apologize for stepping out of bounds earlier. I’ll send a hundred Grade-5 and ten Grade-6 materials to express my apology!”

That was Lan. A hundred Grade-5 and ten Grade-6 materials!

Everybody drew in their breath. Elder Tine was so wealthy!

It wasn’t impossible though. Elder Tine was a talented cultivator that everyone tried to win over. That was why she was quite wealthy.