The lightning pierced into her nascent world at the dantian and vanished.
Yet, that nascent world now felt subtly different.
Under the invasion of the tribulation lightning, Zi Linling's body quickly became riddled with holes.
Her meridians and internal organs were continuously shattering under the fierce power of the tribulation lightning.
The air was filled with a thick, scorched smell, mingled with a faint aroma of cooked meat.
Though the "Emperor's Medical Canon" was constantly repairing Zi Linling's body, the bone-deep pain was something few could endure.
Having barely managed to completely digest three bolts of tribulation lightning, Zi Linling couldn't even catch her breath before three more bolts descended from the sky.
The thunderous roar shook the very earth.
Electric serpents writhed everywhere, appearing terrifying beneath the dark, oppressive tribulation clouds.
Without time to think, Zi Linling summoned a scalpel to her hand once more.
A flash of blade light, and half of the three tribulation bolts were shattered. However, the scalpel in Zi Linling's hand was also shattered.
The remaining half of the tribulation lightning, without exception, struck Zi Linling's body, causing her to tremble violently.
Electric serpents roamed her body, flesh splitting and then recovering.
In mere moments, her entire being was enveloped in a bloody hue, appearing exceptionally demonic.
The recently repaired meridians and internal organs shattered again, only to slowly heal.
It was thanks to the "Emperor's Medical Canon"'s formidable repair capabilities that her body could regenerate endlessly.
The intense pain pushed her consciousness to the brink of dissipation. If not for her strong willpower and her refusal to ever give up easily, she might have already perished.
The onlookers in the distance, especially the men, marveled at the immense power of the tribulation lightning while simultaneously being stunned by Zi Linling's reckless actions.
They were all cultivators, yet they knew that if they were in Zi Linling's position, they would have no choice but to watch themselves be annihilated by the tribulation lightning.
But Zi Linling, a woman whose innate conditions were inferior to men, was demonstrating her most tenacious spirit in a way that surpassed many men.
The gazes of the crowd towards Zi Linling shifted.
While greed still lingered, a touch of admiration was now present.
It turned out that this twelve-year-old girl was not only ruthless to others but also to herself.
No wonder she had achieved such remarkable success at such a young age; no wonder she, at the peak of the Hua Yuan Realm, feared no Saint King Realm experts.
She had proven with her actions the truth of the saying: the strong fear the defiant, and the defiant fear those who court death.
And Zi Linling had perfectly embodied how terrifying a reckless madman could be.
Therefore, if before the crowd had only feared Zi Linling, now they held her in awe.
Not everyone had the courage to fight for their lives! Not everyone had the courage to endure such inhuman torture.
Zi Linling's current suffering was ten times more intense than Zi Wentian's ordeal with the Nine Fractures Bone Shattering Pill.
With each wave of tribulation lightning that fell, she employed the same method: first shattering a portion with her scalpel, then drawing the lightning into her body.
Her plight was dire, but the benefits reaped were equally evident.
Her internal organs, meridians, and flesh were constantly being strengthened by the lightning.
If her internal organs were once as fragile as glass, shattering at the slightest touch, they were now encased in a layer of impenetrable bronze.
If her meridians had been only as thick as a thumb, they were now three thumbs thick.
If her physical body had reached the silver level, it was now nearing the gold level.
Such internal organs could no longer be easily disrupted by ordinary force.
Within such meridians, spiritual energy flowed like a ceaseless, roaring river.
Her physical body was now strong enough that even a full-power strike from a Royal artifact would leave little trace.
In essence, Zi Linling was undergoing a rapid transformation from the inside out.
After enduring nine waves of tribulation lightning, Zi Linling no longer resembled a human.
She was like a charred ember, yet she exuded a vibrant, potent aura of blood.
She looked human, but her entire body was blackened, emitting an eerie red glow.
Zi Linling took a deep breath, intending to leave before anyone could react. However, she sensed that she was still locked onto by the tribulation lightning.
"Huh? What's going on? The nine waves of tribulation lightning have passed, the Three-Nine Tribulation is over, so why do I still feel this way?"
The crowd finally snapped out of their shock. Just as they were about to rush forward and demand the secret of her tribulation ascension, they sensed an extremely dangerous aura.
This aura was so powerful that it could easily annihilate everyone present.
Thus, the restless crowd had to halt in their tracks.
The thunderclouds in the sky churned again, and more black clouds drifted in from afar, gathering above Zi Linling's head.
If the previous tribulation clouds had spanned only a hundred zhang, the current ones now extended to two hundred zhang.
Simultaneously, everyone within this radius felt the anger of the tribulation clouds.
"Not good! Run! This tribulation lightning isn't over! Anyone within the range will be targeted by the tribulation lightning!"
Someone shouted, jolting the stunned crowd.
"Damn it! Bad luck! Hurry and run!"
"Run, run! Get out of the tribulation lightning's range!"
"This is truly the worst luck imaginable!"
...
The onlookers within the two-hundred-zhang radius scattered like startled birds, fleeing outwards.
The moment they stopped at a distance beyond two hundred zhang, they clearly felt the anger of the tribulation lightning subside.
The reason for this was that anyone within the tribulation lightning's range was considered a provocateur.
The method of the tribulation lightning to deal with provocateurs was to form tribulation lightning based on the highest cultivation level within the range.
In other words, if the highest cultivation level within the range was the peak of the Saint King Realm, then the tribulation lightning would be of a magnitude that even someone at the peak of the Saint King Realm would have only a nine-tenths chance of surviving.
As the crowd retreated from the tribulation lightning's vicinity, the churning of the thunderclouds visibly weakened.
Zi Linling, looking at the two-hundred-zhang tribulation clouds overhead, turned pale.
Referencing Ye Lingyuan's previous tribulation, she suspected that the next trial would be the Six-Nine Tribulation.
The Six-Nine Tribulation consisted of nine waves, with six bolts of tribulation lightning descending simultaneously in each wave.
"Damn you, heavens! Though I, this divine physician, am not a good person, I have saved countless lives. Why am I being struck by tribulation lightning when others are not undergoing trials? Why is surviving the Three-Nine Tribulation not enough? I have to face the Six-Nine Tribulation?"
Though Zi Linling cursed the heavens in her heart, her eyes remained vigilant.
She held a scalpel in each hand, their blades pulsating with light, ready for the most arduous resistance.
Fortunately, her body had already been significantly strengthened by the previous tribulation lightning. Otherwise, the mere pressure of the Six-Nine Tribulation would have crushed her.