Wait, How Did My Digital Girlfriend Become a Sword Immortal? Chapter 835: Successfully Surviving the Tribulation

"Ahhhh! This old man will block it!" Spirit Void Old Ghost bellowed, spinning the Myriad Soul Banner rapidly like a windmill. Ghostly radiance erupted across the banner's fabric, with countless yin souls pouring out from it, merging in front of him into an enormous ghost phantom towering a hundred zhang high.

The colossal ghost phantom featured a bluish face with sharp fangs, clutching a jet-black soul shield in its grasp, resolutely facing off against the lingering power of the thunder pillar.

However, the Heavenly Dao thunder naturally overwhelmed yin and evil forces. As soon as the thunder pillar made contact with the soul shield, a crackling, burning noise rang out.

The giant ghost phantom let out a miserable howl as it started to melt away, while the soul shield rapidly became scorched and then crumbled into floating ashes.

Spirit Void Old Ghost's complexion drained to a ghostly white. He coughed up a huge spurt of dark blood, waved his sleeve, and unleashed three soul orbs pulsing with thick death aura. They burst in the air, creating a dense veil of soul fog.

These soul orbs were his vital treasures, nurtured over countless years, each harboring a millennium of ghost energy.

Meant originally as a secret weapon for realm breakthroughs, he was forced now to deploy them just to weakly cushion the thunder's fury.

The soul fog slammed into the thunder pillar and caught fire immediately, forming a vast expanse of strange green blaze. But it endured for only three breaths before the thunder pillar ripped it to shreds.

He executed hand seals and slammed them onto it—"Blood Soul Sacrifice!"

At his shout, the ghost power surrounding him tripled in intensity. Yet his ashen hair visibly whitened to pure snow, and his flesh withered further, as though every drop of vitality had been drained away.

This forbidden art consumed one's essence and soul alike, granting a short burst of enhanced strength at the cost of lasting Dao wounds.

With this surge, Spirit Void Old Ghost directed the Myriad Soul Banner to unleash myriad soul threads, intertwining them into a vast soul web to catch the thunder pillar anew.

But on this occasion, the thunder pillar tore straight through the soul web, crashing down forcefully on his shoulder—"Crack!"

The clear snap of breaking bone echoed sharply.

Spirit Void Old Ghost's left arm exploded into a gory, twisted ruin under the thunder's impact. Dark ghost blood mingled with burned flesh fragments, spraying in all directions.

His form plummeted to the earth like a broken kite, stirring up a plume of dirt.

He labored to rise. His left arm hung useless, and the Myriad Soul Banner dangled slack in his grip, its fabric torn with deep rifts. The cries of the yin souls inside weakened noticeably.

That barrage of techniques—from unleashing the Myriad Soul Banner at full power, to offering his life-bound soul orbs, to invoking the Blood Soul forbidden art—represented every last resort he possessed. Still, they failed to fully halt the initial heavenly tribulation. Its mere aftermath had inflicted grave injuries upon him.

"No… impossible…" Spirit Void Old Ghost shook uncontrollably. Staring at the roiling thunderclouds above, the madness and zeal in his eyes gave way instantly to dread. "This is only the first one… there are still ninety-nine more? Heavens, are you messing with this old man?"

He reflected on his whole existence. Orphaned from youth, taken in by a ghost cultivator, he had indeed practiced dark methods. But his victims were solely despots who tormented the masses, deceitful cultivators who betrayed oaths, and foes who hunted him down. He had never wantonly butchered the blameless.

Was it merely his pursuit of the Ghost Path that denied him even the right to face the tribulation?

Despair surged over him like a wave. He collapsed to the ground, his mangled frame spasming faintly. His once fierce, staring eyes dulled, a wry grin tugging at his lips. "Enough, enough… toiling away for a lifetime, only to perish under the heavenly tribulation in the end…"

He gradually shut his eyes, bracing for the next heavenly tribulation's arrival, lacking even the power to fight back.

Chen Huaian brushed blood from his lips, eyeing the wavering Blue Lotus Sword Domain, his expression as grim as a storm.

The leftover might from the first heavenly tribulation had almost demolished the mighty array. Should ninety-nine more strike, ten sword arrays would be futile—even a hundred couldn't withstand them!

He was on the verge of swearing when he realized the sky's thunderclouds had ceased their turmoil.

The gathered Thunder Beast image slowly dissipated. The violet-black clouds withdrew visibly, unveiling the prior bright, azure heavens.

Even stranger, the fierce Heavenly Dao pressure that had raged earlier disappeared entirely.

A bridge of rainbow colors, ethereal and immortal, began to lower from the clouds' depths.

Formed of vapor and haze, the bridge sparkled with myriad glowing specks, radiating a soft, holy presence—a complete opposite to the earlier thunderous terror.

Spirit Void Old Ghost kept his eyes closed for what felt like ages. Rather than the expected heavenly tribulation, a soothing warmth wrapped around him.

Confused, he pried open one eye. Spotting the immortal bridge, he froze solid, his jaw dropping wide enough for a fist. He even ignored the agony in his shattered left arm. "This… what is this? An immortal bridge? Shouldn't it be smiting this old man down?"

Chen Huaian stood even more stupefied. He lifted a hand to scrub at his eyes, wondering if the heavenly tribulation had addled his senses. "No way, this Venerable One is doomed! What trick is the Heavens pulling? First a thrashing, then a treat? That doesn't add up, where are the ninety-nine heavenly tribulations? How can it just bail midway?!"

He glanced at the immortal bridge inching toward Spirit Void Old Ghost, then at the completely dazed elder, his lip quivering.

He sensed… he might have been played for a fool.

Even without the 30% boost to the sword array, fending off the first heavenly tribulation would have been no issue.

Had he realized Spirit Void Old Ghost's heavenly tribulation consisted of just that single blow, he wouldn't have wasted all those premium spirit jades.

Those were vital assets!

As for Spirit Void Old Ghost, after a moment of shock, he gulped nervously, reached out his good right hand gingerly, and brushed the bridge's rim—a rush of pristine immortal spiritual energy poured into him at once. His battered form actually started mending gradually, and the sharp pain in his left arm eased notably.

He jerked his head up toward Chen Huaian, his gaze brimming with confusion. "Chen Sword Master… this old man, this… does this signify the tribulation succeeded?"

Chen Huaian's mouth twitched. "You ask this Venerable One, who should this Venerable One ask? This Venerable One has never faced a tribulation… But with the immortal bridge appearing, it probably means a successful tribulation, right…"

The bewilderment in Chen Huaian's mind matched Spirit Void Old Ghost's exactly.

Previously, Tu Shan Yue's tribulation had been odd—lots of thunder, scant actual peril.

This time, Spirit Void Old Ghost's was downright peculiar.

For most, tribulation spelled near-certain death. But for him? One thunderbolt and done!

The grand celestial display and Thunder Beast vision earlier appeared mere for show, like a superficial act.

As though declaring to the Cangyun Realm's inhabitants: Look! The heavenly tribulation arrived, see?

No claims later that it skipped out, alright~

It came across as… so half-hearted.

Seemed like the Immortal Realm was understaffed, a tad… undiscriminating.

Spirit Void Old Ghost rubbed his head. The hopelessness had vanished from his features, supplanted by a spark of realization. "This old man… this old man thinks he gets it! Hahahaha! Maybe because this old man, despite walking the Ghost Path his whole life, held true to his heart and touched the Heavenly Dao?"

Chen Huaian: "…"

A ghost cultivator touching the Heavenly Dao?

The absurdest jest imaginable!

He'd sooner buy that the heavenly tribulation's overseer was some novice fumbling the task.

Even more oddly, the wild, oppressive Heavenly Dao aura that had stormed before faded completely.

Meanwhile.

Cangyun Realm, Upper Realm.

"Oops…" Real Person Jade Compassion smacked her brow, eyeing the Cangyun Realm's sand table and poking out her tongue bashfully.

"Only tweaked the overall strength of the heavenly tribulation, overlooked changing the total count of strikes… hehe…"

…