Qu Jianlei's fear wasn't feigned; when the Tribulation Thunder descended, he was almost petrified.

Seven waves of Tribulation Thunder, each stronger than the last, and the first strike pierced through the room, destroying the Qi Gathering Array.

Fortunately, although he wasn't sure if he would encounter the Tribulation Thunder, he had made ample preparations.

Apart from preparing some Qi Recovery Pills, he also had more than twenty A-level Crystals in hand.

As for the damage Crystals might cause to his body... he didn't even want to consider it; survival was the priority, right?

Unfortunately, even though the Qi Recovery Pills were accommodating and the Crystals were A-level, the recovery speed was still too slow.

By the time he withstood the third wave of Tribulation Thunder, he had to resort to his final trump card.

And that was what he referred to as his "opportunity" — the Stone Milk obtained from the Celestial Hook Enigma Mansion!

He wasn't certain whether this item was a millennium or ten millennia old, but he had tested its effects, and it was extremely potent in restoring his Inner Breath.

The Stone Milk was not only rapidly absorbable but also quite gentle, able to quickly and timely repair the body and Inner Breath.

Previously, just a drop the size of a soybean replenished seventy percent of his Inner Breath, which highlighted its extraordinary nature.

After the third wave of Tribulation Thunder, he decisively consumed five drops and found it insufficient, so he swallowed three more.

After advancing to Supreme... oops, the Golden Core, his Inner Breath had strengthened by possibly tenfold.

Thankfully, he was in the habit of planning ahead and had prepackaged the Stone Milk into capsules, totaling over three thousand drops.

He didn't even have time to digest the capsules, instead squeezing them down his esophagus, breaking them to let the Stone Milk flow out.

After the third wave it was eight drops, the fourth turned into sixteen, then thirty-two, sixty-four...

After the seventh wave, he did not take any more capsules; the Stone Milk was too precious and needed to be conserved.

In reality, by the seventh wave, he was no longer even remotely human in appearance.

However, whether it was because the Stone Milk hadn't been fully digested before or because the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi replenished him after Crossing the Tribulation, his body recovered quickly.

But to his feeling, it was probably a combination of both.

In roughly two hours, his body was restored, but the spiritual fatigue wouldn't recover all at once.

By now, he felt much better; a good sleep and a few more days to stabilize his Realm would suffice.

As for changing into new clothes? It was entirely necessary, just as someone small had thought, he was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside long ago.

Qu Jianlei initially wanted to rest a few more hours, but Yuanyuan had already arrived at the door, shouting loudly.

Yet, he wasn't angry. If she wasn't concerned about him, who would be in such a hurry?

Anyway, he felt good at the moment— with a thought, it was as if the entire planet was under his control.

The old saying is true; at the Supreme level, you're almost beyond the human domain.

Thinking about the Supremes he had taken down earlier, Qu Jianlei felt like it was a dream.

It wasn't that the Golden Core was weak, but rather those Supremes... they were really just amateurs!

At this moment, Yuanyuan spoke again, "Why did it seem like all that thunder was aimed at you?"

Qu Jianlei chuckled, "Blocking the door early in the morning, do you think your cooking skills are that bad, or are you just greedy?"

After Crossing the Tribulation, though his body was still recovering, his perception ability in spiritual power had skyrocketed.

The little one's attempts at cooking were sensed by him, making him shake his head unintentionally.

"No way," Yuanyuan touched her belly, subconsciously swallowing, "it's you who should eat more to replenish yourself."

Qu Jianlei nodded with a smile, "Got it, it's me who's greedy."

What followed was a busy hour, after which six steaming dishes were served on the table.

Yuanyuan instantly transformed into a Taotie, eating voraciously for half an hour before slowing down.

Then she brought up the old topic, "How did you know beforehand that the lightning would strike? Is it related to your Cultivation Method?"

Qu Jianlei swallowed his food, slowly replying, "After the meal, we still need to repair the equipment and facilities."

Yuanyuan was straightforward but not without brains; after two similar instances being sidestepped, she had caught on.

Still, she had to ask, "So, should I not tell others about this?"

Qu Jianlei looked at her speechlessly, "What do you think?"

Yuanyuan's issue, who knows if it's good or bad— she insists on digging to the bottom.

"Even those guardians outside noticed something was wrong and asked me... what should I say?"

Well, I can't just kill and silence them, can I? Qu Jianlei became increasingly exasperated, "Learn from me, just ignore it, and it's done, right?"

He could only downplay the existence of the Tribulation Thunder through ignoring it, hoping the river of time would wash away everything.

This approach was evidently passive, but... did he have another choice?

After the meal, the two began to inspect the damage.

In truth, Yuanyuan was mostly there for show; at critical moments, her ability to think of "step voltage" was already an extraordinary performance.

Qu Jianlei winced a bit as he observed, first noting that the room he used for Cultivation was damaged.

But that was just the room itself, not a significant issue. The worst was that the three layers of Defense Arrays had sustained varying degrees of damage.

The outermost grand array, which is the protective array left behind by the research institute, is the most severely damaged.

The Tribulation Thunder forcibly broke through its defense and hit Qu Jianlei, leading to damage in multiple components.

Qu Jianlei is not particularly familiar with this defense array, only having a general understanding of how it operates.

Fortunately, this is a standardized device, and each component is modular, so replacements can be made directly.

But the unfortunate thing is, besides the easily damaged parts, there are no spare parts for the others.

These components are too specialized, and even in Celestial Heart City, they can't be casually purchased; some even require military approval.

At the critical moment, Yuanyuan showed her value with full confidence, saying, "You make the list, I'll arrange for someone to buy them."

Qu Jianlei wasn't very pleased and expressed his frustration, "Some components are a century old; I wonder if they can still be bought."

Imperial technology has been continuously developing, so there is a high likelihood that this outdated stuff has been phased out.

Finally, there is some not-so-bad news: the two layers of defense arrays inside are ones he personally built, making repairs relatively easy. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Yet, there are still some minor troubles; he hasn't prepared much of certain components and needs to procure more.

Therefore, he wouldn't bother Yuanyuan again and let her continue arranging the procurement.

The worst problem is: the Qi Gathering Array is also damaged!

Fortunately, the array itself doesn't have a defensive function, and what was damaged were some precise electromagnetic components.

Also affected are some transmission systems, especially those involved in energy transportation.

Qu Jianlei analyzed carefully for several hours and, seeing Yuanyuan's helpless expression, firmly stated, "I can fix it!"

However, what frustrated him was that while he could repair them, he'd have to do it manually!

There's no choice; most of the damaged components are too sensitive.

Although he believes it's not hard to find some finished products in the market, isn't it possible that the military might be watching these similar items?

Qu Jianlei wouldn't gamble on others' mistakes; after all, transforming them personally isn't particularly troublesome.

So just buying some raw materials and chips will suffice; too sensitive chips will require alternative replacements.

It's imaginable that the repaired Qi Gathering Array won't have as aesthetically pleasing and technologically advanced an appearance as the original.

However, Yuanyuan was completely stunned upon hearing his explanation.

After a long time, she exclaimed in surprise and delight, "I'm really curious, is there anything you can't do?"

Giving birth is something I can't do! Qu Jianlei secretly complained in his heart, but showed no expression on his face.

"But these raw materials, I'll have to trouble you to arrange someone to purchase them…"

There are also other losses, mainly equipment and facilities affected by lightning.

For example, the robot responsible for assisting in feeding materials had its relevant chips and circuits destroyed by lightning.

The robot's value lies mostly in these components, the shell isn't worth much, essentially making it unworthy of repair.

But for Qu Jianlei and Yuanyuan, this is the least troublesome loss.

It's just a matter of spending some money to buy new ones and throwing away the damaged equipment.

Problems that can be solved by spending money aren't really problems; even though Yuanyuan is much poorer than Qu Jianlei, she wouldn't care about this bit of money.

Next, she used her wristwatch to contact the guardians and then listed out a huge list.

This list contains many professional items, some of which the guardians have never even heard of, let alone know their purpose.

Yet their attitude was impeccable; they only finalized the types and versions of the items they didn't understand without any other questions.

After finishing the communication, the sky was already getting dark.

Qu Jianlei didn't just wait idly; he took out his tools and, along with the island's existing equipment, began manually crafting some parts.

Yuanyuan was initially a bit curious, wondering when the other party would be able to fix the Qi Gathering Array, but hesitated to ask directly.

Upon witnessing this scene, she couldn't help but exclaim, "You're so young, how can you know so many things?"

Poor kids learn early on! Qu Jianlei casually replied, "Depending on mountains will lead to collapse, depending on people will lead to abandonment…"

"I have this habit of wanting to keep control in my own hands."

Manually crafting components is rather slow; he worked until ten at night and only finished three components.

At this rate, it would take at least five days to repair the Qi Gathering Array.

Qu Jianlei felt his state was somewhat off, "I can't go on, I need to rest, and I'll leave the night watch to you."

Currently, Half-Star Island has almost no defense, so manual surveillance is necessary.

Yuanyuan agreed swiftly, "No problem, I've slept a lot the past couple of days!"

Qu Jianlei entered deep sleep, and after advancing to Supreme, his perception ability had significantly improved.

Even in sleep, he could detect anomalies around him, ensuring his safety wasn't a major concern.

When he opened his eyes, it was close to noon the next day, and he felt refreshed again.

He was awakened by Yuanyuan, who was yelling loudly outside the house, "Wake up, the government officials have come looking for us!"

(The update ends, at the last twenty-seven hours of February, seeking monthly tickets, subscriptions, and recommendation tickets.)