Urgh. It feels like someone’s been watching me lately. It’s a very unpleasant feeling, like there’s static in my tail. If I go to the immortal realm, that person probably won’t be watching me anymore, right? Ah? Immortal realm? I’m not going to go! Why are you thinking things like this, brain? Ahem, clearly, I’m a famous person. It’s perfectly normal for me to have one or two stalkers, mhm. Can a person even be called famous if they aren’t stalked? Of course not!

Even if this feeling isn’t caused by a bunch of stalkers, it could just be all these people staring at me right now. Why are they looking at me like that? It’s not like a child’s never been thrown before! I even coated his body with my qi, so he couldn’t have gotten hurt. Sure, he might be slightly far away now, but still, this was done out of self-defense, uh, I mean, daughter-defense! This grumpy old man thinks he’s better than me, thinking his kid can bully mine without me retaliating. Hmph, who does he think he is?

“Who do you think you are? Just because you’re the leader of the Holy Righteous Sect doesn’t mean I’m afraid of you! Immortal? You’re too scared to ascend! How can someone with a timid heart like you hope to win the respect of someone like me?”

Where did Ilya find this guy? Why is he so arrogant? Does he really think I won’t beat him up to teach him a lesson? Mm, his voice is loud, and it’s definitely scaring Sophia. In that case, I’m perfectly justified in teaching him a lesson!

“Mommy! You, mmph, you can’t!” Sophia grabbed onto my robe with her free hand. She was still holding and eating her cookie with the other. “Auntie Ilya says you’ll hurt the audience if you attack him here.”

Mm? Is it Ilya? Is she the one who’s been watching me? It has to be! There’s no one else who cares more about me than Ilya and Sophia and Softie, I guess. “Alright, if I take this old man away and attack him outside, there shouldn’t be a problem, right?” Hmph. I’m not going to go easy on this old man just because he’s ancient! I’m pretty sure ancient people are supposed to be stronger than young people, so it only makes sense you have to hit them harder, mhm.

“Fine! Let’s see how I, Thunder King Po, fare against a so-called immortal!”

Thunder King Po…, never heard of him. He’s probably famous, right? Ah, he’s flying away. Wait for me! Mm, I’ll leave Sophia behind. What if this man is unscrupulous and sneak attacks her to force me to block? I can’t let that happen! “Wait up, old man! I’ll make you regret challenging the strongest person in the world, me!” Mm, he’s going pretty far. How far is he going to—ah, he stopped. He wants to fight me in the sky? Fine! I’ll make this quick. “Flaming Hammer Strike!”

“Hmm? What power!”

Eh? He dodged? I can’t remember the last time someone dodged my teleporting attack! It’s weird though. He didn’t teleport. It was like his body dissolved into lightning, and he moved really, really fast before becoming human again. “Hey, if you can turn into lightning, why are you called thunder king and not lightning king?”

The grumpy old man stared at me. “You … have a very good point.” Then, he sneered, and a flash of light came out of his chest. “I heard all about you, Heart Devil Lucia. They say your words alone can defeat your enemies, constricting their hearts with devils. Did you really think I wouldn’t be prepared? Lightning is the bane of devils!”

Ah? I wasn’t trying to plant a heart devil in him. I just wanted to know why his name didn’t make sense. “But—”

“Silence!” the old man shouted so loud that it felt like my eardrums were going to burst! Maybe this is why he’s called thunder king; he shouts as loud as thunder. “Take my attack! Tribulation Lightning Strike!”

Ooh, I’ve seen this before. It’s the balls of lightning that the tribulations occasionally attack me with. Could it be…? “You’re the one responsible for tribulations!?” He’s the person who summons the clouds every time someone ranks up! It’s all his fault I had to suffer so many lightning strikes!

“What? Me, responsible for tribulations? Are you crazy?”

“If it’s not you, then it’s someone in your family!” There’s no way this grumpy old man isn’t responsible! Mm, I’ll smack away this lightning ball, and then, I’ll have him experience the despair I felt when I almost died to a tribulation. “Despairing Blade!” Great! He stopped moving. While he’s distracted, I’ll give him a good ol’ wallop to the head with my hammer. “Flaming Hammer Strike!”

Huh!? What’s this feeling? Danger? My tail just told me if I hit him, I’d be in a lot of trouble…. It’s a good thing I pulled back at the last second. Uh, the feeling of danger isn’t gone though. Aren’t those tribulation clouds?

“Ha-ha!” The grumpy old man shone with a bright light! Wind blew around him, whipping his long, white hair everywhere. “The final step to immortality, I’ve crossed it. Many thanks for tempering my heart, Heart Devil Lucia. Your illusion strengthened my will by leaps and bounds.”

…Is this guy serious? How can he get a breakthrough mid-fight? That’s cheating!

“Now, we can….” The old man stopped speaking and looked up at the sky. “Something isn’t right. Do you sense that?”

I’m sensing it, alright, and my tail is telling me it’s a lot of trouble! Unlike when Durandal’s tribulation appeared, the sky wasn’t completely black. There was a bright white light coming out from the clouds above my head. Those stupid doors, I thought they didn’t shine anymore.

“It seems like there’s a special event involving multiple ascending immortals,” the old man said and frowned. “Where’s my tribulation?”

Mm, I’m not liking the looks of this. Ah? I can’t teleport away! Is that a giant glowing hand!? It’s coming out of the clouds right towards me! “Someone! Help! Murder!” It caught my tail! There’s no choice. I learned this trick from Ilya. I’ll cut my tail off to escape! And, ah? Where am I?