More than a hundred years ago, Luo Yuanyuan had already reached the Nascent Soul Great Perfection realm. Impressive, right?
Yet for some reason, her cultivation was stuck at a bottleneck, showing not the slightest sign of loosening.
Both of her husbands and all four of her children had ascended to the upper realm for various reasons.
Come to think of it, it was quite embarrassing—she had clearly been the first in the family to break through to the Nascent Soul (late) Great Perfection.
She had originally expected to be the first one to ascend to the upper realm, but as it turned out, she must have offended some deity somewhere, because she simply hit a streak of bad luck out of no where.
No matter how Luo Yuanyuan cultivated or how many miraculous pills she consumed, her cultivation remained completely motionless, firmly stuck at the Great Perfection realm as steady as Mount Tai.
Eventually, Luo Yuanyuan grew numb to it all and simply let go, adopting a carefree approach to her cultivation. She stopped desperately taking pills, cultivating, or seeking opportunities for a breakthrough.
As for her children, they had known since childhood that their mother's cultivation was no joke—she could break through the shackles and ascend to the upper realm at any moment.
They had to work hard at their cultivation and make sure they didn't fall too far behind!
To avoid being separated from their mother, the several of them had buried themselves in books and worked hard at their cultivation from a young age...
As a result, they accidentally tried a bit too hard, to the point where all four children reached the Nascent Soul (late) Great Perfection realm at a very young age.
Consequently, these youngsters ended up being the ones who first broke through the shackles and ascended to the upper realm.
She still remembered that day—for reasons unknown, lightning and thunder suddenly broke out, fierce winds raged, and dark clouds pressed down upon the city.
Luo Yuanyuan's four children actually underwent that terrifying ascension tribulation lightning on the very same day!
You must understand, those were a full nine bolts of Purple Firmament Divine Lightning!
If ordinary people hadn't made adequate preparations, they probably wouldn't have been able to withstand even the first bolt of tribulation lightning and would have kicked the bucket on the spot!
Yet Luo Yuanyuan always felt that when that heavenly lightning was striking her children, it was clearly holding back...
After all, those were a full nine bolts of genuine heavenly lightning! How could anyone take them without leaving a trace?
The reason Luo Yuanyuan thought this was because when those nine bolts of heavenly lightning struck down, to outsiders, they did indeed land directly on her four children.
Yet only Luo Yuanyuan herself clearly noticed that even though her four children had been struck by the tribulation lightning a full nine times!
Once the tribulation lightning vanished, not even half an inch of skin was broken on any of them... not a single strand of hair was out of place... and their clothes remained completely unruffled.
Was this tribulation lightning waterproof or something? She was both puzzled and uncertain. But she certainly wasn't going to go around talking about it!
All she knew was that after the nine bolts of tribulation lightning, sweet dew descended from the sky, landing entirely on her four little ones.
Not a single drop was shared with the onlookers!
The physical bodies of her kids received a thorough baptism.
Immediately afterward, a wave of golden light shone down from the sky. She had heard that this golden light was the welcoming golden light.
Xu Ang and Liu Hui only had time to toss a few storage bracelets inside before Luo Yuanyuan could pull out the rest of her storage bags.
Before long, her kids vanished into the welcoming golden light.
Ahem... I've strayed a bit off topic.
Anyway, after the four kids ascended on the very same day, only the three of them—Liu Hui, Xu Ang, and herself—were left in the mortal Cultivation World, relying on each other to get by as a family.
However, good times never last.
Xu Ang, one of her husbands, was holding Luo Yuanyuan in his sleep one night.
For some reason, a few bolts of tribulation lightning suddenly crashed down from the sky with a series of loud bangs, cleverly bypassing Luo Yuanyuan and striking Xu Ang directly.
Without time for a farewell, Xu Ang just vanished from the bed. Yes, that's right! He had ascended...
And so, early the next morning, Luo Yuanyuan went to the immortal cave of her other husband, Liu Hui.
Weeping pitifully, she threw herself into Liu Hui's arms and had a good cry. Liu Hui comforted her, saying it was fine, wasn't he still here?
Who could have expected that this damned heavens had no decency at all!
Before Liu Hui's voice had even faded, those familiar dark clouds, those familiar bolts of tribulation lightning, and that familiar formula struck right down from above!
And it very cleverly bypassed Luo Yuanyuan once again...
Liu Hui ascended as well... completely caught off guard... without any time to say goodbye...
Luo Yuanyuan was instantly dumbfounded... frozen in place... to the point where she even forgot to cry!
Never mind, though; she still had the little flood dragon Little Tuanzi to keep her company! She certainly wouldn't feel lonely!
Pulling herself together, Luo Yuanyuan sent a voice transmission to the little flood dragon: "Ask it about its upcoming cultivation plan. Does it want to come ashore and live with her? Mommy misses it..."
Who would have thought that coincidences happen precisely when expected!
The little flood dragon had just flown out from the bottom of the river and hadn't even had time to shrink its size when, without any warning, it was struck by several bolts of tribulation lightning.
Then, amidst the roars of the little flood dragon and Luo Yuanyuan's stunned gaze, she watched helplessly as the little flood dragon was enveloped by a welcoming halo of light and finally vanished into the horizon!
"What the heck! It didn't even drop any sweet dew..." Luo Yuanyuan muttered curses...
In the days that followed, Luo Yuanyuan hurriedly packed up her own immortal caves and the little flood dragon's immortal cave.
She thought to herself that since everyone else in the family had ascended, it should finally be her turn now!
So in the days that followed, she packed all the precious medicinal herbs, spiritual fruits and grasses, magic treasures, Spirit Springs, and so on from the various immortal caves into her own spatial storage.
She left only some worthless furniture, flowers, and plants in the immortal caves she usually lived in.
After all, Luo Yuanyuan was already at the Nascent Soul Great Perfection realm, and she might ascend any day now.
Therefore, she needed to pack her things up in advance so that it would be more convenient when the time came for her ascension.
Otherwise, once she ascended, nobody would clear these things out, and she'd just be letting someone else take advantage.
These were the capital she needed to establish a foothold in the upper realm; she couldn't just throw them away.
To achieve a breakthrough, she turned day into night and carefully waited for the right opportunity.
Yet who would have thought that she would wait in the Cultivation World for a full ten years!
The first year passed, and there was no movement!
"No rush, just wait patiently for the breakthrough!" she comforted herself in her heart.
Two years, three years... nine years passed!
She cultivated day in and day out, searching everywhere for the opportunity to break through, yet there was still no movement, no sensation at all!
Damn these heavens!
Just like that, she drifted along and cultivated in the mortal Cultivation World.
Until the tenth year, she finally felt something.
"Sob, sob..." Luo Yuanyuan cried tears of joy.
So she set up dozens of defensive array formations outside her immortal cave.
These arrays were not placed at random; rather, they were carefully conceived and laid out to ensure the maximum degree of protection for her safety.
Thanks to the blessings of her two husbands and her children, she had piles of finished, high-grade array discs stored in her spatial dimension.
These array discs had all been refined by her own hands, and every single one contained formidable energy.
No deep thought was required; she just had to take out the array discs, place them according to the instructions, add spirit stones, and keep the control tokens herself, and the array discs would activate automatically.
This kind of operation was simple and convenient—it was practically foolproof!
Next, she continued to pull various medicine bottles out of her space.
These bottles contained all kinds of precious pills, such as Spirit Spring water, Great Return Pills, Healing Pills, Bigu Pills, and so on.
Anything she thought she might need in the future was carefully laid out.
She had truly waited far too long for this day.
"Sob, sob..." Fortunately, she was a Grand Master Alchemist, having spent countless hours and immense effort to refine countless varieties of pills.
Among them, the Youth-Preserving Pill and the Longevity Pill were her proudest creations.
She had attempted to refine these two types of pills many times, and ultimately succeeded, producing top-quality pills in both cases.
Naturally, she had consumed both of these pills herself, which was why her age and appearance were permanently frozen at the age of twenty.
Time could leave no mark upon her; her appearance remained as breathtaking and moving as when she had first stepped into the Cultivation World—as ethereal and refined as ever.
It was precisely by virtue of this peerless visage that she firmly held the throne of the number one beautiful female immortal in the Cultivation World, becoming the center of everyone's attention.
As the years rolled on, only her beauty remained unchanged, drawing sighs of admiration from all.
Otherwise, if she had waited all these years only to turn into a shriveled old hag right here in the mortal world,
and then ascended to the upper realm only for her two husbands and children to despise her, she really would cry her eyes out...
Bottle after jar was arranged in several rows directly on the ground. The floor was completely covered, leaving only a tiny circular patch of open space in the middle!
Of course, alongside all this were the indispensable top-grade spirit stones—a breakthrough naturally required spirit stones, so she had also dug out quite a few, piling them into a massive heap on the ground.
Finally, she retrieved a stunning Spirit Gathering Array from that mysterious and precious storage bracelet.
This Spirit Gathering Array shone with a peculiar brilliance, as though it contained endless mystery and power.
She carefully inserted it into the ceiling of the surrounding cave room, treating it as if it were a priceless treasure of rare worth.
Immediately afterward, she produced a Spirit Gathering Cushion. This cushion emanated a unique aura, and the exquisite craftsmanship was simply astonishing.
This was a precious item that Xu Ang had specially and meticulously refined for her!
Furthermore, it possessed extraordinary spirit-gathering efficacy, easily being a hundred times more effective than an ordinary Spirit Gathering Cushion!
She sat gently upon this magical Spirit Gathering Cushion, feeling the powerful spiritual qi fluctuations it emitted.
Then, Luo Yuanyuan slowly closed her eyes, adjusted her breathing, and entered a state of serene and focused concentration.
She began to guide the massive ball of spiritual power within her body, getting it flowing as she prepared to launch an all-out effort toward a breakthrough.
Her heart was filled with firmness and determination!
Because she knew that only by passing through this breakthrough could she step onto the path leading to the upper realm and reunite with her loved ones.
Gradually, every single thread of spiritual power within her body was precisely controlled by her, flowing through her meridians like dancing ribbons.
She poured her heart and soul into her cultivation, not letting a single detail slip, striving for absolute perfection!
The spiritual power inside her, which had originally been as broad as a river, met with the sound of a soft "pop" under Luo Yuanyuan's continuous impacts and breakthroughs.
Like the sound of an invisible barrier shattering, the spiritual power within her transformed into a boundless, vast ocean.
Slowly, the tribulation clouds in the sky began to gather. The sky turned pitch black.
Between the cloud layers, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled, while fierce winds howled endlessly.
At that moment, Luo Yuanyuan believed with full confidence that she had made ample preparations, and she began to welcome the arrival of the first bolt of tribulation lightning.
"Rumble..." After a long period of brewing, the first bolt of tribulation lightning finally crashed down from the sky.
That thick purple lightning resembled a giant dragon, plunging down from the clouds and striking Luo Yuanyuan's body straight-on.
"Ouch... it really hurts so much... my flesh must be roasted to a crisp... this damn heavens didn't hold back at all!" Those were Luo Yuanyuan's final words.
Immediately afterward, she felt her body grow light as she slowly drifted toward the upper part of the cave.
She glanced back at the charred, human-shaped lump on the ground, but before she had time to express any final sentiments,
her consciousness began to blur, gradually plunging into a state of chaos.
Just like that, her tightly bound soul drifted slowly away, floating toward the dark cosmos outside the immortal cave.
However, right at that moment, a patch of pitch-black radiance suddenly flashed in the universe.
This mysterious radiance actually sucked Luo Yuanyuan's chaotic soul and consciousness straight into it without the slightest hindrance.
"Beep-beep... Wowza, a powerful soul entity has finally been discovered!" An excited voice suddenly rang out.
"Haha, detected that this soul entity can be bound!" The voice sounded again.
"Beep-beep... Oh dear, oh dear! Insufficient energy, but the soul entity is detected to be about to recover independent consciousness—must speed up the binding process..."
"Click... System active binding failed, insufficient energy!" The voice grew fainter and fainter.