The head of homeland security sighed. It seemed like that was it. The mighty soul-seed cultivator had been reduced a blob of quivering flesh. No longer did the blob try to climb out of the hole. Instead, it remained in place, unmoving as lightning bolt after lightning bolt rained down on it. The screams had stopped, and the head of homeland security wondered why the lightning was so unrelenting. It was clear the cultivator was dead. Would the tribulation not stop unless the body had been turned to ashes as well? It was a shame no one knew who this mysterious cultivator was; their corpse was going to turn to ashes, and their gravestone wouldn’t even have a name.

Beside the head of homeland security, Luthor let out a sigh. It seemed like the prayers had failed. After all, the heavens were the ones sending down the tribulation, why would they intervene to save someone from it? When Luthor was about to turn away to get back in his car, an eerie laughter rang out from the bottom of the pit. His eyes widened as the bloody figure rose up, torso first, its body moving as if it was being controlled by strings. The figure looked like a magma golem, its body was charred black, but red blood oozed out of the cracks in its flesh. It was hard to believe the person was still alive.

A black lightning bolt rained down on the figure, but it simple raised one hand and stopped the lightning. It crackled and squirmed, but with a clench of the figure’s hand, the lightning snapped and dispersed, shooting into the surroundings. The head of homeland security pushed Luthor out of the way, narrowly avoiding a stray spark. The eerie laughter grew into booming laughter, and the clouds blocking the sky parted, revealing rays of sunlight. Underneath the light, charred pieces of the figure’s flesh dropped to the ground, and pink muscles replaced them. Jade-white skin grew over the figure, and long hair sprouted from its head. The body that had been completely charred and burnt had been remolded into a naked beauty!

Luthor and the head of homeland security gaped at Rachel. Of all the soul-seed cultivators who could’ve been undergoing the tribulation, why did it have to be her!? Rachel glanced down at herself. Her interspacial ring had been broken. The treasures and spirit stones she had horded for so many years had vanished, but she wasn’t displeased. Displeasure was an unnecessary emotion, one that she had severed long ago. However, even though she was emotionless and couldn’t feel embarrassed, it didn’t feel good to be stared at whilst naked. With a wave of her hand, four spurts of blood shot into the air, and Luthor and the head of homeland security screamed as they clutched their empty eye sockets. “What are you looking at?” Rachel asked. “I’m in a good mood, so you can scram now.”

As Rachel walked away, a layer of frost formed over her skin, creating a dress made of ice. She didn’t want these two weaklings to be the first person she tested her newfound powers on. There was only one person suitable for that: the false immortal that had beaten the crap out of her! She didn’t know where he was, but that didn’t matter. As an ex-sect leader, she was an expert at drawing out her opponents. Wings grew out of her back, and she flew up into the sky. She looked around, searching her surroundings. In the distance, there was a large city, a perfect target. With a flap of her wings, she soared towards the horizon.

It didn’t take her very long to fly above the city. Once she did, she released the spiritual energy within her body. The buildings below rumbled and cracked from the pressure. “Hear me, citizens of Bread!” she said, her voice being transmitted everywhere by her spiritual energy. “I challenge the federation’s false immortal to a life-or-death duel. If he does not show up here within the hour, I’ll kill every last person within this city. I’ll continue doing this until this planet becomes an absolute wasteland or until that glowing bastard appears. The hour begins right now.”

As expected, panic filled the streets. Compared to the Moon Lotus World, news traveled extremely quickly in the intergalactic society thanks to the internet. There was no doubt in Rachel’s mind that the federation’s false immortal would appear in front of her without her having to follow through with her threat. Although it wouldn’t weigh on her conscience to exterminate a planet, she’d rather not be killed more than a few billion times by herself during the next tribulation. Although she expected the false immortal to show up, she didn’t expect anyone to approach her so quickly, much less a familiar figure. “Elder Azalea?”

Azalea nodded from atop her flying whale golem. “Ancestor Rachel, congratulations on becoming a false immortal,” she said, bowing her head and cupping her hands. “The false immortal is already dead. There’s no way he’s going to appear in front of you, so I’m here to stop you from killing all these people.”

Rachel froze. “The false immortal died? What do you mean? Who killed him?”

“Elder Vremya provoked him into attempting, what he called, the tribulation of the mind,” Azalea said. “I’m not sure of the specifics, but I saw the false immortal turn into ashes in front of my very eyes.”

Rachel stared at Azalea. Then, she stared at her even more. Two words came out of the ex-sect leader’s mouth. “The fuck?”

Azalea cleared her throat. “I’m not lying to you,” she said. “He really did turn to ash. There were a few videos on the internet, but those were removed really quickly.”

Rachel’s brow furrowed. Who was she supposed to test her power on now? As a cultivator, after experiencing a major growth in strength, she wanted to flex her muscles, figure out how strong she was in comparison to other people, but the only person she could compare herself to had died because his mind was weak. In that case, was he even worth comparing herself to? No, he wasn’t. Rachel’s eyes narrowed, and she flapped her wings.

“Hey!” Azalea said, urging her whale golem to follow after Rachel. “Where are you going?”

“There’s still two false immortals left in the intergalactic society,” Rachel said, not stopping. “I’m sure one of them can be coerced into fighting me.”

“So, you’re just going to fly there?” Azalea asked. “Do you even know where you’re going?”

Rachel frowned. With the newfound strength in her body, it really felt like she could do anything she wanted. However, practically, it was much more efficient to let Azalea plan the route out for her. “I think I’ll go have a chat with Elder Vremya while you figure out a way for me to fight the other false immortals.”

Azalea’s expression darkened. How did this suddenly become her job just because she asked a few questions? Was this why Grandpa Vremya always insisted on keeping his mouth more shut than open? A few tiny words could bring about so much extra work, and it was clear from Rachel’s attitude that she expected it to be done. A sigh escaped from Azalea’s mouth. “Let’s go back to the internet café for now.” She glanced at Rachel, gauging the ancestor’s facial expressions. It didn’t help much. “That’s where we’re temporarily staying.”