Chapter Fifty-Two: Tempered by Heavenly Thunder

“Little Book, shouldn’t you be calling me Master now?” Gu Weiyu said mischievously, clearly annoyed at being dismissed.
“Master…” Little Book surrendered without a trace of dignity, promptly changing its address.
“That’s more like it. Let’s go!” Gu Weiyu walked to the door, pushed it open, and stepped outside.
“Ah—” Little Green Book spun wildly in her mind, “Finally, I’m leaving this dreadful place—ah—”
This time, as soon as the door was pushed open, a wave of heat surged in. Gu Weiyu looked around in surprise: outside was a barren wall of stone, and she realized she had entered a cave.
The air around her was stiflingly hot, visibility was low, and the stone walls glimmered with an odd gray-black hue. She couldn’t help but reach out to touch them—hiss, hiss—
Heavens, what was this? Not only were the stone walls scorching, but they also crackled with lightning!
“Little Book, where are we?” Gu Weiyu couldn’t help but ask the book, still frolicking in her mind.
Little Green Book paused, “Uh—I’m not sure. I’ve always been in that previous room; never came out. You have no idea how dull my days were… blah blah…”
Listening to Little Book’s rambling, Gu Weiyu felt a tinge of sympathy. But her pressing concern now was to figure out her situation.
She hesitated for a moment, then cautiously followed the winding path deeper into the cave.
The farther she went, the hotter it became. Crackling sounds echoed in her ears, much like the noise she heard when touching the stone walls.
Instinctively, she turned back—
The cave behind her had somehow sealed itself, and the path she had just walked vanished without a trace!
Was this a sign she was not meant to turn back? Gu Weiyu’s heart began to thump anxiously:
The cave was rife with strange energy, and who knew what awaited her ahead!
But this was the ancestral ground; surely her forebearers wouldn’t endanger her life, would they?
With this reassurance and no way to retreat, Gu Weiyu finally summoned the courage to continue onward.
The heat was oppressive. Just as she was inwardly grumbling that she might be roasted alive, a faint light flickered from deep within the dark cave.
Had she finally reached the end? Gu Weiyu’s heart soared with hope, and she quickened her pace toward the light.
The path widened, and ahead was no longer pitch-black. Just as she secretly rejoiced, a bolt of lightning struck straight down, illuminating the cave with dazzling brilliance.
She instinctively wanted to step back, only to realize with dismay that there was nowhere left to retreat.
Without mercy, the lightning struck her directly.

She had actually been struck by lightning!
That familiar tremor surged through her body, and Gu Weiyu couldn’t help but shiver uncontrollably.
It seemed only the beginning; lightning continued to strike at her, and every bolt hit its mark.
Soon, her exposed skin was charred, as if smeared with ink; her teeth clattered involuntarily, and every hair stood on end.
Gu Weiyu couldn’t help but think, even if she stood before her parents now, they might not recognize her!
After countless strikes, her body was numb, her skin crackling as if laced with electricity.
She even found herself amused: she’d heard that Foundation Establishment involved nine tribulations of thunder.
She’d already been struck more than nine times—at this rate, the heavenly tribulation would be a mere trifle!
Moreover, she realized the lightning, though painful, wasn’t fatal. Could it be the Spirit-Tempering Fruit she once consumed had granted her some immunity to thunder?
If lightning posed no real threat, curiosity welled up in her—what lay deeper in the cave?
With that thought, she edged forward, steadying herself against the wall.
The lightning grew even more frequent, but her body seemed to adapt; at most, it left her tingling and numb.
What baffled her even more was that she secretly hoped for a few more strikes!
Did she have some masochistic tendency?!
Rounding the last wall, Gu Weiyu stood in the cave, staring straight at a cluster of dark purple flames amid dense lightning.
The flame was as small as a peanut, yet impossible to ignore.
What startled Gu Weiyu was that upon seeing the flame, she felt an inexplicable sense of intimacy—a yearning to draw closer.
What was the reason for this? Gu Weiyu wondered, unable to resist moving toward the dark purple flame.
“Little Book, Little Book…” Gu Weiyu called out in panic within her mind, “What’s happening to me?”
Little Book rolled over in her consciousness, looking at her with disdain:
“Why are you so flustered? That’s the seed of Heavenly Thunderfire!
Do you know what Heavenly Thunderfire is? It’s one of the Four Great Fires of the Eight Wilds! Why are you standing there like a fool? Hurry up and refine it!”

“How?” Gu Weiyu really didn’t have a clue.
“Find a place to sit first, then draw a thread of flame from the Heavenly Thunderfire seed into your core. That’s about it.”
Little Book flipped over in her consciousness, sounding uncertain.
About?
Gu Weiyu had no time to quibble. She quickly sat down, assuming the five-heart pose for cultivation.
Using her spiritual sense, she hooked a strand of the flame and guided it into her core.
As soon as the Heavenly Thunderfire entered her core, the spiritual energy within began to bubble and churn as if boiling.
The Thunderfire gradually sank, searching for a place to settle in her core.
Gu Weiyu watched as it descended to the depths of her core, nestling in the vortex at the heart of the boiling energy, then remained still.
The spiritual energy continued to simmer, but less violently than before, gradually calming.
Meanwhile, a dark purple flame-shaped thunder mark appeared on Gu Weiyu’s forehead, only to vanish beneath her skin in an instant.
“Is it done?” Gu Weiyu slowly opened her eyes, still finding it hard to believe.
She didn’t know that, being born with a Thunder Spirit Root and having consumed the Purple Thunder Spirit-Tempering Fruit, she had developed a strong affinity for lightning-based spiritual objects.
Having just endured the Heavenly Thunderfire’s tempering, she was able to absorb it so smoothly.
“Huh, why does the Heavenly Thunderfire seed seem to be fading?”
The peanut-sized seed, after she drew a thread from it, shrank to barely visible, no bigger than a grain of millet.
“Don’t worry, it won’t extinguish.” Little Book assured her, saying the seed was still vital and, given time, would regenerate.
Gu Weiyu breathed a sigh of relief. As the Thunderfire seed weakened, she noticed the cave’s lightning had quieted considerably; not only had it halved in frequency, but the strikes now felt like gentle tickles.
Could it be the lightning was also connected to the Thunderfire seed?