Lucia’s drinking her concoction. She gave me some, and I have to admit, it tasted better than I thought it would. It seems like Softie can’t handle the sudden influx of qi it provides though. Mrs. Feathers looks like she wants to try some, but she’s still bloated from eating that core. I bet she’s regretting it now. Anyway, I don’t think phoenixes are cannibals, so it’s probably for the better that she isn’t. As for Old Bai and his disciple…, Lucia threw Hu Shen’s pet tiger into the wok, so I don’t think they’re in the mood to drink the soup it’s become.

Ding, ding.

Who’s messaging me? Jin Mo, huh? I thought the orders I gave him were pretty clear. Let’s see what he wants….

“Master! Huge tribulation clouds are gathering above the Holy Beasts Sect! I can’t even see the sky!”

He sent a voice recording along with an image. Interesting. The tribulation clouds are so massive that it looks like the whole sky is black all the way up to the horizon. Is this for Lucia? It has to be. Well, it could also be for Mrs. Feathers, but it doesn’t seem like she finished digesting the energy since she’s still very round. Meanwhile, Lucia doesn’t even notice the incoming danger. Isn’t her tail supposed to be like a danger-detecting magical artifact?

“Drink, drink, drink, drink! This tastes too damn delicious!”

It’s possible her tail isn’t stiffening because it’s twitching and bouncing. She seems to be really happy. And drunk. Luckily, no one’s standing behind her or they’d get clobbered to death by her tail’s random movements. Our position is also another explanation. We’re underneath a treasury which was already deep underground. It may take a while for any lightning to reach us. It’d have to destroy all the treasures up there first. …Wait a minute. “Hey, Jin Mo, gather everyone and sweep through the treasury. Loot everything and escape west until you reach a region not covered by the tribulation clouds.” I invested some spirit stones into obtaining this sect’s wealth. I can’t let the heavens take it away from me. “Oh, you should also transport the people in the wooden boxes out of here too. Just stick them in a life pouch or something—it’s not like they can resist.” Right. I should save the people as well.

“Ilya! Do you want some more? I know you do! C’mere!”

I’ll pretend to drink this and store it away instead. Like Softie, I can’t handle too much of this either. The formation inside of this wok is pretty amazing. It draws out all the qi within the ingredients inside and infuses it into the liquid around it. If Hu Shen activated the tempering formation and sat inside of it with a layer of water, she probably would’ve died or, at the very least, dropped down to a saint. Not only does the formation draw out the qi, it amplifies it too. That’s really interesting. It’s a short-term amplification, but it doesn’t seem like there’s any drawbacks. Drinking this should only temporarily boost my strength. It’s perfect for breaking through bottlenecks like the one Lucia has. I should warn her. “Hey, Lucia. I think your tribulation’s coming for you since you’re currently becoming an immortal.”

“Eh? My what? Oh! Do I have to face another tribulation? Gah! This stupid world. Once I become an immortal, I’m going to destroy it. Hmph, hmph.”

That sounds … ominous. I wouldn’t be surprised if she actually did it. Hopefully the rest of the immortals, wherever they are, have some common sense and stop her from doing that. Just in case they can’t, I’ll be sure to take everything of value from every sect on the continent. This isn’t robbery; it’s the preservation of culture. I’ll get tons of good karma from doing it. Not like karma even matters anyway. Even if it doesn’t matter, I’m a bit curious. “Hey, Lucia. I bought this necklace for you. Want to try putting it on?”

“Ooh? For me? As an apology?” Lucia’s face lit up. “You didn’t have to!” Then she started laughing and tried to pat me on the back. Luckily, I dodged her swipe in time or I might’ve been crippled. “Eh? Mm, I missed. Oh wells. Lemme see that necklace.”

I passed Lucia the karma crystal on a string. It was pitch black when I handed it to her; what color will it become once she touches it? Lucia held the necklace by the string and raised it up so that the crystal was level with her nose. Then she sniffed it. “Oh! This is good stuff.” And with a flick of her wrist, she threw it into the giant wok. It didn’t even get to touch her skin to read her karma before it was destroyed….

“Why did you do that…?”

“Hmm? You didn’t give it to me to cook? But it would’ve been a waste to not cook it! It was perfect for cooking. Thus, I cooked it. Mhm.”

Lucia makes even less sense when she’s drunk. I should stay away from her for now. How’s the progress on transporting all the treasures and people out of the area? I’ll send a message to Jin Mo. Now that I think about it, I should probably get away from here. I don’t want to be around Lucia when her tribulation falls.

“Master, we emptied out the treasury and stored all the people. Currently, we’re making our way out of the sect. We’ve sent some men to take the jade slips and other miscellaneous items from the other buildings as well.”

That was a quick reply. “Good job.” With that, Lucia can have her tribulation in peace. Is it going to be lightning again? It probably will be. It’s always lightning. The heavens aren’t that creative.

“Ah? Ilya? Where you going? Stay, stay! Drink some more.”

“Err, your tribulation is coming soon, so I wanted to evacuate.”

“Tribulation, smibulation! C’mere!”

“I’m serious, Lucia.” This…, this is a spirit-restraining rope! “Lucia! I’m not joking! Your tribulation is really coming!”

“Bah, whatever. I’ve passed so many tribulations! What’s one more? This soup won’t stay hot forever, you know? Quickly, drink up. You too, Softie!”

…I’m going to die due to Lucia’s stupidity. It’s been a very long while since I’ve felt this way.