Wait, How Did My Digital Girlfriend Become a Sword Immortal? Chapter 833: The Old Ghost's Tribulation

After a moment of thought, Li Qingran finally decided to take in the three World Rings given to her by Chen Huaian.

Regarding the Battle Skills contained in the World Rings, she initially planned to stick with her earlier Battle Skills.

She had grown accustomed to those Battle Skills, and there simply wasn't enough time to get comfortable with fresh ones.

However, once she discovered the nature of the Battle Skills within those three World Rings,

Li Qingran wasted no time and promptly discarded her former methods.

The only cause for this shift was that the Battle Skills from those three World Rings matched exactly the sword techniques of the Green Lotus Sword Manual: the First Form, Long Wind Breaks Waves; the Second Form, Sword Soars Over Cangzhou; and the Fourth Form, Mist Formed from Rainbow Clouds.

Since stepping into the Canglan World, every sword technique she once knew had turned useless, even as the Sword Intent she grasped remained intact. Sword techniques needed True Essence to channel them, and True Essence stemmed from Spiritual Energy.

In the Canglan World, an energy resembling Spiritual Energy existed too, known as the Battle Power embedded in myriad living creatures. It resembled the unique energy she gained by slaying World Beasts and claiming their World Rings.

Yet this unique energy and Spiritual Energy could not be swapped or mixed.

Consequently, she found herself unable to wield the sword techniques from her past.

Items for survival, such as the Sword Sphere gifted by her Master, operated differently. The Sword Sphere held a trace of her Master's True Essence, powering its sword techniques through that essence. Thus, in the Canglan Realm, such single-use protective tools could still function.

Following the absorption of the World Rings, Li Qingran's setup now consisted of a Purple and two Black ones.

Still, none of this brought Li Qingran overwhelming delight.

Her real happiness stemmed from regaining the ability to perform the sword techniques her Master had imparted.

On her dormitory balcony, she called forth the Su Xian Sword, spinning it gracefully, as pale golden Sword Intent coursed through the blade in the shape of Battle Power.

A sense of familiarity flooded her heart.

It told her that what she commanded now surpassed the basic Battle Skills from her prior World Rings.

These were authentic sword arts.

Even prior to unleashing the sword art, fierce Sword Qi already whipped and circled around her.

Li Qingran clutched the Su Xian Sword close, sensing that despite the divide of two realms, she and her Master stayed connected in spirit.

"Holy crap, look, everyone! Goddess Qingran is smiling!"

"Goddess Qingran's smile is so beautiful!!!"

"What happy event did she encounter? Have any of you seen Goddess Qingran smile so happily before?"

The noise from beneath the dormitory pulled Li Qingran from her thoughts. She rolled her eyes irritably and retreated into her room.

Each morning, folks lingered below her dorm, some offering flowers, others delivering breakfast. She had grown numb to it all.

A handful of support Battle Masters from the culinary department even channeled Battle Power to create meals and attempted to hand them over.

Li Qingran naturally avoided such offerings with caution.

There lingered a sensation, almost an illusion, that they crafted food from portions of their own essence or bodily-derived power.

The mere idea sent shivers down her spine.

"Goddess Qingran! The match list has been announced! Your first opponent is Su Luyao!"

A shout echoed from downstairs.

Li Qingran, in the midst of slipping into her academy uniform before the mirror, furrowed her brow faintly.

A hazy image flickered in her thoughts.

Su Luyao... she recalled the name vaguely, but who was she precisely?

Li Qingran rubbed her temple. Since joining the academy, beyond her teachers, she hadn't committed any faces or names to memory. She had hoped to forge a few bonds, yet sincerity seemed scarce. Certain girls shunned her outright, glaring as though she carried a curse.

As a result, true companionship had eluded her.

"Whatever, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Li Qingran softly caressed the Su Xian Sword.

At first, she held strong faith in her abilities, merely irked by the pursuit from that Xiao family playboy.

With her World Rings enhanced and access to three techniques from the Green Lotus Sword Manual, fear had no hold over her.

...

Every action in the Canglan Realm fell under Chen Huaian's vigilant watch.

Witnessing Li Qingran settle into progress, Chen Huaian let out a relieved breath.

Thank goodness for the dream transmission feature.

Without it, considering Li Qingran's wary and prudent nature, those three World Rings—lacking any verification as items of dubious source—she would never have employed them.

She might have even passed them to another, squandering their potential entirely.

Thus, the dream transmission ought to see more use ahead.

Chen Huaian saw no rush to depart the Cangyun Realm. He intended to linger until the Spirit Beast Sect Master finalized the Meridian Refining Technique preparations. This duration would allow him to observe his young disciple in the Canglan Realm reach the finals and claim a top-ten spot for the Battle Soul team.

"Chen Sword Master!"

Chen Huaian arched a brow. The mental call came straight from the Spirit Void Old Ghost.

This Spirit Void Old Ghost had spent merely half a day in the Moon Shadow Sect's rear mountains. What prompted the sudden summons?

From the tone, it carried... a hint of thrill?

"Chen Sword Master! Your Moon Shadow Sect is a true paradise of spiritual lands! This old man has practiced here for just half a day, and already the True Essence in my form blends into perfect unity! My once-turbulent Spiritual Platform gleams with clarity!"

"This old man now perceives his Dao distinctly! Today marks my tribulation!"

Scarce had the declaration ended when, prior to Chen Huaian's response, the skies above the Moon Shadow Sect's back mountains shifted dramatically.

The prior pristine, rain-washed heavens were swiftly engulfed by roiling dark clouds. Unlike typical jet-black storms, these bore an odd purple-black tint, resembling spilled ink from a tipped stone, amassing atop the peak with alarming speed, stacking densely and bearing down until breath grew labored.

Amid the cloud strata, golden lightning serpents thrashed madly. Initially mere glimmers threading cloud fissures with soft "sizzling" crackles, they swiftly swelled into arm-thick bolts, darting and smashing inside the murk, casting erratic glows across the somber layers like a colossal beast's awakening gaze.

More daunting still was the surge of heaven and earth energies. The pure Spiritual Energy enveloping the Moon Shadow Sect turned savage in an instant, rushing toward the rear mountains like rampant steeds, forging a stark white energy beam that pierced upward.

Along the beam's path, flora and foliage bent without breeze.

Fresh willow sprouts were torn free by the energy's rush, while pebbles skipped and rolled across the soil, grinding out harsh rasps.

"Holy crap! Don't!" Chen Huaian rolled his eyes, palm-struck the earth, and blurred into a light streak hurtling skyward to the back mountains.

This Spirit Void Old Ghost facing tribulation was acceptable, but a prior warning would have been courteous, right?

After all, as a ghost cultivator, the Spirit Void Old Ghost likely harbored countless sealed grudge spirits in his Soul Banner. The Heavenly Tribulation fashioned for him by the heavens could hardly be mild, no?

Should this elder perish under the strikes, so be it—but he mustn't raze the whole sect grounds!

Positioned under the thunderous canopy, Chen Huaian keenly sensed the stifling aura saturating the atmosphere.

It embodied the Heavenly Dao's impartial judgment, stern and grand, appraising if the tribulation-seeker merited ascension to loftier heights.

He quickly spotted the Spirit Void Old Ghost in cultivation amid the back mountains.

Under the oppressive clouds, the Spirit Void Old Ghost floated suspended. Encircling him wasn't the standard True Essence pulse of typical cultivators, but a spectral aura radiating uncanny green luminescence.

The spectral aura billowed about him like ocean waves, and his formerly stooped posture now straightened rigidly.

His eyes bulged wide, sclera veined with dark blue-black lines. His stare at the firmament brimmed with the ghost cultivator's signature savagery and zeal.

"Come on! Hahahaha!"

The Spirit Void Old Ghost hoisted his Myriad Soul Banner, thrusting it defiantly toward the skies.

His garments whipped fiercely in the spectral winds, his pallid beard and locks bristling upright, each fiber sharply etched by the golden thunder's glare.

"Damn it, this old coot is taunting the heavens?"

Chen Huaian seethed with anger.

Yet no moment remained for deeper reflection.

The golden Thunder Eye in the cloud depths teetered on manifestation.

His immediate duty lay in safeguarding his sect's domain as best he could.

...