After surviving the first thunder tribulation, Shen Qing immediately faced the second one, which was far more powerful and struck straight at her.
After enduring the two thunder tribulations, the golden core within her began to emit a dazzling light.
Amidst the thunder and lightning, Shen Qing didn't feel any pain.
On the contrary, she felt a closer connection with the world. All things in the world, from flying birds to running beasts, seemed to be in rhythm with her breaths.
After three thunder tribulations, Shen Qing faced the fourth one.
The blue - purple immortal aura surrounding her golden core became even denser, and the attributes of her spiritual roots within her body also improved.
Ordinary cultivators only needed to endure three thunder tribulations to form their golden cores.
The more thunder tribulations one endured, the higher their talent. For extremely talented individuals like True Lord Heng Ling and Li Xian, they endured the rare nine thunderbolts when forming their golden cores.
Shen Qing knew that once she survived these nine thunderbolts, her life would be completely different from then on.
During the thunder tribulations, Shen Qing seemed to have undergone a complete transformation. The nine powerful thunder tribulations didn't harm her in the slightest.
Among the people in the forest, except for those from Nianbai Peak, all were praying for Shen Qing, hoping that she could successfully survive the tribulation.
Some disciples even secretly felt proud of having experienced life - and - death situations with a genius who endured nine thunder tribulations.
On Nianbai Peak, Lin Yibai, dressed in white, stood on the cliff, quietly looking at the place not far away where lightning flashed.
Her face was calm, showing no emotions on the surface, but deep in her eyes was intense jealousy.
"Host, it's a failure. Shen Qing still managed to form her golden core. If Shen Qing reaches the God - Transformation Realm, we won't be able to extract the remaining half of the spiritual bone."
A faint smile appeared on Lin Yibai's lips as she said indifferently, "The rise of the female protagonist makes it more interesting..."
The previous plans had been too smooth. If she hadn't taken half of the spiritual bone from Shen Qing, she would have doubted whether Shen Qing was really the original female protagonist of this world.
So weak and incompetent, how could Shen Qing be favored by the Heavenly Dao and become the female protagonist!
In the world of cultivating immortals, the strong are respected. Only by any means necessary could one ascend to the upper realm and achieve immortality.
"Don't worry. I won't let Shen Qing reach the God - Transformation Realm."
The current sound of the system passed by, as if sighing...
...
After the nine thunder tribulations, the clouds in the sky quickly dispersed, and the sky returned to a clear state.
When the elders arrived at the place where Shen Qing had endured the tribulation, they only saw a charred area and no trace of a person.
Elder Fei Yun sighed regretfully, "The sect master will cry this time. Such a genius is gone..."
After successfully forming her golden core, Shen Qing returned along the original path and reunited with the others.
Hong Chaoyang was still in meditation. To advance from the initial stage to the middle stage of the Golden Core Realm, she needed more time to comprehend.
Seeing Shen Qing return safely after enduring nine thunder tribulations, Qi Nian walked over with red eyes and excitedly talked to Shen Qing.
"Shen Qing, you're really amazing!"
Shen Qing smiled and said to Qi Nian, "Of course I'm amazing. You are too. We will both have a bright future!"
Qi Nian was touched by Shen Qing's words and kept nodding. Even though Shen Qing had just formed her golden core while she was already in the middle stage of the Golden Core Realm, it didn't stop Qi Nian from becoming Shen Qing's little fan.
Pei Xuanjing walked over with a complex expression, "Junior Sister Shen, were those nine thunderbolts just now during the tribulation yours?"
Shen Qing raised her eyebrows, neither denying nor admitting.
This made Pei Xuanjing feel even more uncomfortable. The junior sister he had always thought of as having mediocre talent had suddenly surpassed them all, which was hard for him to accept.
Rationally, Pei Xuanjing told himself that he should be happy for Shen Qing.
However, beyond reason, a trace of jealousy arose in him. The more he knew he should be happy for Shen Qing, the more he would think of what Shen Qing had done before.
The more he thought of what Shen Qing had done, the more he felt that Shen Qing didn't deserve it.
And there was still Junior Sister Xiaobai lying unconscious in bed. If she knew about this, she would surely be sad...
There were two others who had the same thoughts as Pei Xuanjing, He Yu and Shen Chuyun.
Shen Chuyun had always looked down on Shen Qing, who only had three spiritual roots. He thought that Shen Qing entered the sect not really with the pursuit of the Great Dao, but to act arrogantly under his name.
After all, he was a disciple of True Lord Heng Ling.
Now, Shen Chuyun saw that Shen Qing had to endure nine thunder tribulations when forming her golden core, which almost shook his Dao heart.
As for He Yu, he had always scorned Shen Qing's behavior of being a sycophant. Once in a secret realm, she even snatched the favor of saving his life from Lin Yibai just to get his attention.
In his mind, Shen Qing was the same as all the women who flattered him, just coveting his status and resources.
Previously, he could be nicer to Shen Qing because of her status as a junior sister. But since she had caused Lin Yibai to be seriously injured and unconscious, He Yu had already classified Shen Qing as a vicious woman.
"Senior Brother, we know Shen Qing's talent best. How could those nine thunderbolts be hers? Maybe... maybe there's someone else enduring the tribulation there and we just don't know."
"Even cultivators in the God - Transformation Realm endure nine thunderbolts during their tribulation. Maybe Shen Qing is lying again."
He Yu scanned Shen Qing up and down. His peach - blossom eyes were full of determination and disgust.
Shen Qing could never be a genius who endured nine thunderbolts during the golden - core formation!
Shen Chuyun also chimed in, "I agree with Senior Brother He. Shen Qing is full of lies. It's true that she formed her golden core, but the nine thunderbolts are false. As Shen Qing's senior brother, I can tell you that those nine thunderbolts just now were definitely not Shen Qing's."
The other disciples felt speechless when they saw the three of them sparing no effort to belittle Shen Qing.
Not to mention whether there was really someone coincidentally enduring the tribulation in the same direction as Shen Qing in this forest. If there was, it would be a cultivator in the God - Transformation Realm. At such a close distance, wouldn't they feel the pressure?
After this incident, the disciples also realized that Shen Qing was not popular at Nianbai Peak at all.
In their eyes, Shen Qing had sacrificed herself to save them even though she was only at the Foundation - Establishment Realm.
Previously, there were rumors in the sect that Shen Qing had evil intentions and framed Lin Yibai.
Now that they thought about it, none of them had seen it with their own eyes, and the things they had witnessed with their own eyes were being misrepresented by Pei Xuanjing and the others.
Rumors were really unreliable!
Shen Qing couldn't help but roll her eyes secretly.
At this time, Hong Chaoyang also opened her eyes. She immediately felt that Shen Qing was different and was extremely shocked.
What had happened while she was in meditation? How had Shen Qing formed her golden core?
Seeing Hong Chaoyang wake up, after everyone recovered a bit, they started flying back to the sect.
Along the way, Qi Nian kept telling Hong Chaoyang about Shen Qing's nine thunder tribulations, which left Hong Chaoyang stunned.
When they arrived at the sect gate, everyone was surprised to find that the originally quiet gate was filled with sect disciples.
When the disciples saw Shen Qing in the crowd, the lively chatting suddenly stopped. Hostile and malicious looks were directed straight at Shen Qing.
Hong Chaoyang frowned, "What's going on?"