Old Clock Assists Me

"A Foundation Establishment Pill? Old Zhou, you're making progress this fast?"

Zhong Yi was slightly stunned.

The Foundation Establishment Pill was refined using an alchemy furnace and required various rare materials.

Many of these materials could only be obtained by defeating monster leaders.

Zhou Yue couldn't help but complain, "Exactly… Have you even considered how long you guys have been messing around with those shady methods?"

"H-How can you call it shady? I'm researching the logic of how the world operates…"

Zhong Yi's face flushed red as he quickly changed the subject.

"By the way, why didn’t you just take the pill yourself? Did you come looking for me to give it to me?"

"Dream on. If I left it with you, you’d probably feed it to some villager for an experiment."

Zhou Yue shot Zhong Yi a disdainful look before explaining,

"Here’s the thing—the Foundation Establishment Pill I refined is fifth-grade…"

Zhong Yi wasn’t surprised at all. "Hmm, now that I think about it being refined by you, that suddenly makes sense."

"Shut up."

Zhou Yue’s lips twitched.

"The success rate for a fifth-grade pill is only thirty percent, so I need your help."

"Help? What can I do?"

Zhong Yi pointed at himself in confusion.

Zhou Yue grinned. "Not that kind of help—I need your blessing! Just say, 'Your Foundation Establishment will definitely fail this time,' and I’ll be set."

"???"

Zhong Yi’s face instantly turned red with frustration.

What kind of reputation did he have in his teammate’s mind?

"You actually believe in this kind of nonsense?"

"Hah, Old Zhong, you still don’t understand the sheer power hidden within you. Just do as I say this once, and I won’t bother you again."

"Fine, fine…"

Unable to resist Zhou Yue’s persistence, Zhong Yi reluctantly agreed.

"Old Zhou, your Foundation Establishment will definitely fail this time."

"Perfect!"

Zhou Yue clapped his hands in delight and immediately swallowed the pill.

Zhong Yi eyed him skeptically. "Does this really work?"

"Relax, even if it doesn’t, I won’t blame you. If I fail, I’ll just refine another one."

Zhou Yue’s attitude was remarkably carefree.

Zhong Yi nodded. "Fair enough… It’s just Foundation Establishment. Failing probably isn’t a big deal."

Just then, a faint blue glow began to shimmer around Zhou Yue’s body—almost like a creeper about to explode.

"It’s happening! Is this the breakthrough?!"

Feeling the surge of energy within him, Zhou Yue was ecstatic.

Above them, dark clouds gathered, and thunder rumbled.

"Whoa, does breaking through to Foundation Establishment in this illusionary realm really cause such a spectacle?"

Zhou Yue looked up at the sky, clicking his tongue in amazement.

This celestial phenomenon…

Could it be granting him a Thunder Spirit Root?

Just as he was lost in his fantasies—

CRACK!

A bolt of violet lightning descended from the heavens and struck him squarely on the head.

"HOLY—?!"

Zhou Yue jolted violently from the shock.

"Tribulation Lightning?!"

……

"Puny lightning, bring it on!!"

CRACK

[You have been struck by Tribulation Lightning. Abnormal status applied: Epilepsy.]

"My fate is mine to control!!!"

CRACK

[You have been struck by Tribulation Lightning. Abnormal status applied: Inverted.]

"What the—why is the world upside down??"

CRACK

[You have been struck by Tribulation Lightning. Abnormal status applied: Drop Prone.]

……

Half an hour later.

Zhou Yue ultimately failed to endure all 99 strikes of the Foundation Establishment Tribulation and was reduced to a charred corpse.

His backpack items scattered across the ground.

Zhong Yi waited for a long time before Zhou Yue finally respawned and returned.

"Old Zhong… I think the lightning messed up my eyes. Everything looks upside down?"

Zhou Yue stared at Zhong Yi in confusion.

"Or maybe… you’re just walking upside down?"

Zhong Yi struggled to hold back his laughter.

At that moment, Zhou Yue was standing—or rather, hanging—completely inverted, feet in the air, with occasional full-body spasms. The sight was utterly ridiculous.

"...This Tribulation Lightning is such a scam."

Zhou Yue checked his status panel and saw that the debuffs from the lightning would last for half an hour and couldn’t be reset by respawning.

Not only was he upside down and occasionally seizing, but items from his backpack would also randomly drop out.

"What kind of nonsense is this… Screw it, I’ll just log out and come back in half an hour!"

Zhou Yue gritted his teeth in frustration.

"Whoa, bro, what happened to you?"

Zhou Qiaoling, who had followed the sound of thunder, couldn’t help but laugh at the sight.

The ever-stubborn Zhou Yue absolutely refused to let her see him in such a pathetic state.

"...Found a rare cultivation manual. Standing upside down boosts EXP gain."

"Then why were you twitching earlier?"

"Practicing my techniques."

"Wow! Bro, you keep dropping stuff—wait, is that a diamond?!"

"...Got too many. Not worth keeping."

"Then I’ll take it~"

"......"