Chapter 429

After making preparations, Lin Meng took out the Spirit-raising Fruit from her space.

The rich fragrance quickly spread, and Lin Meng hastily swallowed it in one gulp.

Soon she felt a strong surge of spiritual energy within her body; as long as she absorbed and refined it, she should be able to break through to the Golden Core stage.

Compared to her previous Foundation Establishment, breaking through to Golden Core naturally couldn't be that simple; this process might be long or short, but it certainly couldn't be completed in the blink of an eye.

As soon as Lin Meng entered meditation, a full week passed.

Outside everything remained normal; tourists at the foot of Kunlun Mountain came in waves, and there was never a shortage of daring adventurers.

After Lin Yang came down the mountain, he rested for two days, then went daily to the mountain entrance to wait, waiting for Lin Meng to come down.

After a week passed, Lin Yang still hadn't seen Lin Meng, and he grew anxious.

The supplies he left behind were nowhere near enough for one person to sustain in the mountains that long; had he known, he should have insisted on staying.

But upon second thought, a deep sense of helplessness welled up again.

Lin Meng's mysterious power was beyond what an ordinary person like him could comprehend.

I'm nothing but a burden; what good would staying do?

Lin Meng can fly; Kunlun Mountain cannot trap her.

Thinking this, Lin Yang continued to guard the entrance, believing Lin Meng would surely come down the mountain and surely come find him again.

At that moment, the number of groups descending the mountain increased.

The local guides all recognized Lin Yang, and some teased him.

"Our gold-medal guide, are you lovesick? Why have you been coming here every day these past few days to stand guard, like a statue waiting for a wife?"

"Hahaha, I remember, I remember—the beautiful lady Lin Yang received a week ago was indeed stunningly beautiful; we've received many celebrity tour groups, but that lady still left us awestruck."

"Lin Yang, you need to face reality; in our line of work, the biggest taboo is falling for a client—tourists are ultimately just passersby, Lin Yang, snap out of it."

Facing the teasing from his peers, Lin Yang felt a bit angry.

Before, he had some thoughts about Lin Meng; love at first sight wasn't shameful in his view, but after getting to know her, that flutter remained, yet he no longer dared to entertain other ideas.

Lin Meng was someone he could not hope to attain.

"Please don't gossip about others; I have no such relationship with Miss Lin, please respect him!"

Lin Yang's voice was neither soft nor loud, yet it made everyone sit up.

Those who had been teasing just now all fell silent, some apologetically telling Lin Yang sorry.

"Lin Yang, don't overthink it; we didn't mean anything—the lady really is too beautiful, and many people in the scenic area were surprised when they first saw her, which is why they paid more attention."

"Come to think of it, why did you come down the mountain alone that day? Didn't Miss Lin come back with you?"

As they said that, some people's gazes involuntarily fell on Lin Yang.

In the early days when management was lax, there indeed occurred cases where guides brought tourists into the mountains and returned alone; later investigations revealed that those people had met disaster upon entering the snowy mountains, and sometimes their bodies were destroyed to erase traces.

Someone recalled that Lin Yang had returned alone that day, and Miss Lin had silently vanished, making them hesitate.

Lin Yang said:

"Miss Lin will come back; I made an appointment with her."

Seeing Lin Yang sit dazed in the snow, motionless, staring fixedly ahead with a firm tone, they could only leave off without further questioning.

Every year many people meet with accidents in the snowy mountains; most missing persons' families file reports, but only a tiny few bodies are brought out of the mountains, so most missing persons remain forever in the deep snows.

Therefore this tourism project is one of the few that requires a mandatory liability waiver.

Lin Meng also signed such a document before setting out; even if someone suspected she had met with misfortune, only after her relatives filed a report would it be taken seriously.

From the moment an adult steps onto the snowy mountain, they must accept any risks that may arise.

Lin Yang still guarded the entrance; seven days had passed, and Lin Meng had no news.

Most of the tourism projects here have been emergency closed; the weather forecast shows that tonight will officially enter a period of heavy blizzards.

The tourists remaining in the scenic area were all sent back; after the mountain was sealed, even locals couldn't enter, and nobody would go in—going in would be a dead end.

Lin Yang was very worried, but he tried to console himself, thinking Lin Meng was so capable that even extreme weather should be manageable for her.

But saying he wasn't worried would be false.

That night, the entire Kunlun Mountain indeed experienced heavy snowfall.

The blizzard brought a spectacular sight; people reveled in the rare snow scene amid the fire-pit-filled mountain base.

Even on major media and social platforms, Kunlun Mountain's wondrous scenery kept appearing, with countless netizens frenziedly flooding the feeds, all envying the tourists who were there in person.

At this moment, Lin Meng sensed that her cultivation had reached a critical step; her body brimmed with spiritual energy, only one step away from forming a Golden Core.

Without hesitation, she swallowed all the Yellow Dragon Pills in one gulp and took out all the remaining spirit stones.

In an instant, an even more majestic surge of spiritual energy poured into her body.

The next second, Lin Meng felt her whole body jolt, and her spirit platform became perfectly clear.

At her tiny dantian, a liquid Golden Core gradually solidified; she was about to become a Golden Core cultivator, but just then an anomaly occurred.

Above the cave dwelling where Lin Meng resided, thunderclouds suddenly coalesced.

Originally the sky was filled with drifting blizzard, but now dark clouds pressed down, as if a mountain rain were imminent.

The omen stirred the entire Kunlun mountain range.

Those who had been happily playing by the campfires suddenly noticed the sky overcast with dark clouds, fierce winds sweeping in, and they were greatly frightened.

The campfires were blown out, yet the flying heavy snow abruptly ceased at that moment.

"Has the weather changed?"

"Oh no! In this season Kunlun Mountain has never seen rain, but these thunderclouds look unusual; a heavy downpour is inevitable—what are we to do?"

"Quick, evacuate—everyone must leave immediately!"

In an instant, the entire scenic area fell into chaos.

After the blizzard came continuous heavy rain; the consequences of such extreme weather are a natural disaster.

Once the rain falls and freezes into ice, the entire Kunlun Mountain will change directly from a snow mountain to an ice mountain; icy roads are nothing in an ordinary city, but here it is a matter of life and death.

Lin Meng didn't know that outside had already fallen into chaos.

She sensed the thunderclouds gathering above her head, and broke out in a cold sweat from fright.

Generally speaking, from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core, heavenly tribulations should rarely occur.

But obviously, she has provoked the heavenly tribulation.

I've heard that the success rate of crossing the tribulation is low; lightly, one fails to advance and one's cultivation is damaged; severely, one is struck dead by the tribulation lightning.

If she had known it would come to this, she would have prepared more thoroughly no matter what.

Now it's fine; if the thunderbolt really comes down, she'll have to endure it head-on.

Is there still time to write a will now?