"Give me a moment." Senior Hong went inside the building for a minute before returning with a cart that had a long wooden box resting on it.
"Here's your bow. Check it out."
Senior Hong opened the box, revealing the beautiful black short bow inside.
Meixiu immediately went to pick up the bow, and to her surprise, was it many times heavier than any bow she has wielded before. However, it wasn't heavy enough to where she couldn't use it.
She proceeded to move the bow around trying to get a feel for it.
"What do you think? If the weight isn't right, I can adjust it for you, but I can only make it lighter since that's already the heaviest I can make it."
"The weight is perfectly fine. Thank you for this bow." Meixiu bowed to him in a respectful manner.
"Haha… Don't even mention it. You deserve it. Go ahead, try shooting with it." Senior Hong handed her an arrow.
Meixiu took the arrow and proceeded to shoot it at a nearby tree.
'Even the string feels so different. It's more durable, and pulling back on it gives me confidence for some reason.' Meixiu thought to herself.
Whoosh!
Meixiu released the string once she got her aim, and the arrow flew in a straight line until it hit her desired location.
"Your bow is very heavy compared to ordinary bows, so it can handle special arrows like this one." Senior Hong retrieved another arrow.
This time, it was a black arrow that seemed to be made purely out of metal, and the arrow itself weighed a couple of kilos.
Meixiu used this arrow to shoot the same tree.
Whoosh!
The arrow flew straight at the tree, hitting the first arrow she shot before tearing a hole in the tree.
"It went through the tree…" Yuan mumbled in a dazed voice.
However, despite its ridiculous power, Meixiu wasn't that excited. After all, it wasn't like she could use the special arrow for other things besides showing off.
If she had this bow in Cultivation Online, where she could use the special arrow to fight magical beasts, that would be an entirely different story.
"If you're satisfied with the bow, it's yours. I am supposed to have an urgent meeting with the other grand elders and family heads, so I won't stay here any longer." Senior Hong said to her later.
"An urgent meeting? I hope it's nothing bad." Yuan said.
"Well… Do you remember the calamity that our ancestors had predicted? Apparently, there are signs of it appearing soon," Senior Hong explained.
"Calamity? What's going to happen?"
Senior Hong shook his head and said, "Nobody knows. But if you want to participate in this meeting, you can follow me. If the calamity truly exists, we can definitely use your help."
"I will come." Yuan nodded, as he was interested in this calamity.
'I wonder if this has anything to do with the tribulation…' Yuan wondered inwardly as he followed Senior Hong to another location.
About half an hour later, they arrived at this large building.
When they entered the building, Senior Hong led Yuan and the others into this spacious room where the other grand elders and family heads were already present.
"Daoist Yuan? You're also going to participate in this meeting?" Senior Wang and the others were pleasantly surprised by his presence.
"Yes. I would like to know more about this calamity. Hopefully, there is something I can do to help."
"Thank you. Words cannot express how grateful I am to hear such words." Senior Wang nodded.
Once everyone was seated, Senior Wang spoke, "Since Daoist Yuan is new to the subject, let's start from the beginning."
She then retrieved an old-looking scroll and placed it on the round table.
"This was left behind by our ancestors. It's a divination that predicts a calamity when the whole world starts to cultivate. Take a look at it."
Yuan took the scroll and read it in a low voice.
"When the world begins to cultivate, it will experience a tribulation that will dye the entire world red. When the crystal turns yellow, the tribulation is near. Once the crystal turns red, the tribulation will begin."
"Crystal? What crystal?" Yuan asked afterward.
"Take a look at this." Senior Wang then placed a wooden box on the table before opening it, showing Yuan the fist-sized crystal resting inside.
The crystal was semi-transparent, and it was yellow. However, that wasn't what Yuan was focused on, as there appeared to be a hint of red in the middle of the crystal.
"This crystal had remained clear for thousands of years, but around the time Cultivation Online was introduced, the crystal began turning yellow. And just two days ago, the center of the crystal turned red." Senior Wang explained.
"What kind of crystal is this?" Yuan asked.
"We're not sure either. We had it looked at by experts, and everyone said it's unlike anything else in this world. It's a one-of-a-kind treasure."
Senior Li then said, "To be completely honest with you, none of us here believed in the calamity until the crystal changed colors, not to mention the perfect timing. I hope it's only a coincidence, but that would be one hell of a coincidence."
"If we don't know what's coming, how can we prepare for it?" Yuan then asked.
"Unfortunately, there isn't anything we can really do besides being alert. That's why we created this faction and began recruiting disciples." Senior Wang shook her head.
"With that being said, we have gathered here today to see if anyone has any suggestions or solutions."
And for rest of the day, Yuan would stay with the Six Spiritual Families to see if there was anything they can do.
However, nobody had a good solution in the end, and despite many speculations about the tribulation, they won't really know until it happens.
"Dying the entire world red… That sounds horrible…" Yuan sighed as they returned to the immortal caves.