Chapter 313: 313 Heavenly Tribulation
Whatever isn’t taken seriously must be true, Lin Bai thought, looking towards the Qingmu tree a hundred li away, complaining inwardly as he braced himself for a battle against the tree spirit.
The Qingmu towered into the clouds, surpassing even many of the surrounding mountain ranges in height.
Even from a distance of a hundred li, with an expansive view, Lin Bai couldn’t see the treetop. From two-thirds of the trunk upwards, it was veiled by clouds.
The branches of the Qingmu were thick and strong. Large wooden houses were built upon its broad leaves, and mist swirled among the foliage, creating an ethereal beauty reminiscent of an elven kingdom from fairy tales, or perhaps Jianmu, the legendary bridge between heaven and earth.
It’s not surprising at all that such a Divine Wood would birth a tree spirit.
The Blood Sect’s Sea of Blood had also formed naturally, but its current scale was largely due to later human intervention. To be precise, its formation was half-natural, half-artificial.
The Qingmu, on the other hand, was clearly a naturally formed Divine Wood. The Holy Extreme Sect relied on it to establish itself; its prestige surpassed the Sea of Blood by countless levels. Being called the foremost of the five demonic sects was well-deserved.
...
"The Holy Extreme Sect actually fled, every last one of them! They didn’t even put up a fight! What an embarrassment to the five demonic sects!" a Great Cheng practitioner from the Phoenix Seeking Phoenix Group loudly voiced his dissatisfaction.
This Great Cheng practitioner was named Song Xu. He had been performing a handstand, upside down, for a full day and night.
With his profound cultivation, maintaining a handstand for an extended period wouldn’t cause blood to rush to his head like it would an ordinary person. However, being stuck in this position for so long, able to see only his own shins and feet, and forced to observe the outside world through the gaps between others’ legs, was truly testing his patience.
Everyone has a different temperament. Song Xu preferred tranquility. Yet, all around him, some were singing, others were shouting. To make matters worse, members of the Justice League were practicing Spoken Law Follows nearby, which had long since grated on his nerves.
The only reason he’d endured it so far was his hope that the Holy Extreme Sect would free him, allowing him to fight Lin Bai to the death.
Who would have thought that after finally reaching the Holy Extreme Sect, they’d find such a deserted scene? He was so furious his lungs felt like they might explode. Especially when he considered the unknown number of days he’d still have to spend doing handstands, a despair that made life itself feel meaningless welled up from the depths of his heart.
Old Tuohai and the other elders also showed a touch of disappointment, though a glimmer of hope remained. The Qingmu was the very foundation of the Holy Extreme Sect. Abandoning it would mean the severing of the Sect’s lineage. To take no action at all was truly uncharacteristic of the Holy Extreme Sect.
The Blood Sect members each harbored their own thoughts.
Suddenly, from behind the Phoenix Seeking Phoenix Group, a chorus of uneven voices rang out: "Lin Bai, Lin Bai, with infinite power, he conquers all and is undefeated in battle!"
The moment the humiliating slogan was shouted, Old Tuohai’s eye twitched, his gaze towards Lin Bai growing even colder. He had already resolved that as soon as this damned Phoenix Seeking Phoenix group stopped, he would risk his old life to trigger the Heavenly Tribulation and take everyone down with him. Those scoundrels at the back who had shamed the Blood Sect didn’t deserve to live.
Just as Lin Bai had anticipated, the hearts of the Blood Sect members were not united.
Those at the Hollow Realm and above weren’t afraid of death, but below them were cultivators at the Divinity Transformation Realm. Performing talents was one thing, but if this dragged on much longer, they would indeed risk death...
It was a choice between losing face, or losing both face and life. In the face of death, what was dignity worth?
Besides, since they had already lost face, by using the slogans to thoroughly drag the elders at the front through the mud, perhaps there was a chance of survival.
More and more Divinity Transformation Realm cultivators joined the chanting. Gradually, their voices became more uniform, and they even managed to build a certain momentum. Eventually, they no longer felt embarrassed performing their talents after shouting the slogans...
...
Lin Bai turned, winked at the dark-faced Old Tuohai and the other Crossing Tribulation Realm elders, then activated the Cloud Water Mirror. It spread out, covering everyone, as he strode towards the Qingmu.
...
「At this time.」
Behind the Qingmu.
A female cultivator of the Transcendance Tribulation Stage, withered in appearance and exuding an aura of death, looked like a thousand-year-old zombie. She coldly observed the Justice League’s procession, her pupils as tranquil as an ancient well, seemingly unaffected by the singing and dancing Blood Sect cultivators.
Beside her stood more than ten female Great Cheng cultivators, some as beautiful as flowers, others, like the old Crossing Tribulation Realm woman, shrouded in a deathly aura, pale and eerie, like statues of zombies.
The composure of the Great Cheng practitioners clearly couldn’t match that of the Crossing Tribulation Realm elder; their faces twitched at the sight of the Phoenix Seeking Phoenix Group, unsure how to react.
"Phoenix Seeks Phoenix is utterly humiliating! They treat cultivators like dirt!" one female Great Cheng cultivator frowned repeatedly. "Such Evil Spirits must be eliminated to appease public outrage!"
"Sister Mingyan, Lin Bai’s Bind the Immortal is an even greater humiliation, especially to female cultivators," a zombie-like female cultivator beside her said icily. "This is good for us. If we kill Cen Qing, the elders of the Blood Sect will surely share a common enemy with us."
"Enough idle chatter," the withered Crossing Tribulation Realm elder suddenly interrupted, her voice as grating and harsh as a spade scraping across stone. "You are already aware of Lin Bai’s Divine Skills. Later, I will initiate the attack and trigger the Heavenly Tribulation, drawing Lin Bai and his Justice League into its vortex. Cen Qing’s Cloud Water Mirror will not withstand many strikes from the Heavenly Tribulation. Once she is dead, the Heavenly Tribulations of Tuohai and those other old fiends will also be triggered.
With more than a dozen people undergoing Tribulation simultaneously, and tens of thousands dragged into it, the Heavenly Tribulation’s intensity will surely be world-destroying. Lin Bai’s Puppet followers will have no escape, and I too shall not be spared.
However, Lin Bai is extraordinarily strange and cannot be judged by common sense. If, by some chance, he escapes from the Heavenly Tribulation, that will be your moment to act. Do not let him flee again, and do not let my death be in vain."
"We obey Ancestor Peach’s command," the female cultivators replied respectfully.
Ancestor Peach was in the Crossing Tribulation Realm. However, back when she was in the Great Cheng realm, she and her Dao companion had both suffered cultivation deviation while practicing a peculiar Cultivation Technique. Her Dao companion perished on the spot, and her own Divine Soul’s foundation was damaged. Relying on Qingmu Fruit to sustain her life, she had barely managed to enter the Crossing Tribulation Realm. Now, she had no hope of ascension and was certain to die if she faced her Tribulation.
With Lin Bai invading the Holy Extreme Sect, everyone knew that luring him into a Heavenly Tribulation was the best solution. But human nature is selfish. Many Crossing Tribulation Realm cultivators, after millennia of practice, were on the verge of ascension. Even if their chances were only twenty to thirty percent, none wished to waste a lifetime of cultivation to perish alongside Lin Bai.
Ancestor Peach, who was doomed to fail her ascension, was the best candidate, yet no one below dared to directly persuade her to go to her death.
Therefore, the consensus had been to focus on a plan involving the Great Cheng realm cultivators: assassinate Cen Qing, rescue the Blood Sect’s Crossing Tribulation Realm experts, and incite them to fight Lin Bai to the death. All strategies revolved around this core plan. They even devised a shameless contingency based on Lin Bai’s perceived character: if their initial plan failed, these Great Cheng cultivators would feign joining the Justice League to preserve their lives, then secretly search for another opportunity.
Who would have guessed that at this juncture, Ancestor Peach herself would step forward? She stated that she no longer had any chance of ascension and had long wished to follow her Dao companion in death. Thus, she volunteered to be the one to draw down the Heavenly Tribulation and help the Sect overcome this crisis.
Thus, the current scene unfolded, and the previously arranged plan involving the Great Cheng cultivators became secondary.
A Player was live-broadcasting from a hidden spot within Qingmu. Inside and outside the game, all eyes were fixed on this crucial battle. The Players from the Beggar Gang, however, remained oblivious to all of this.
...
To guard against potential sneak attacks, Lin Bai opted to fly towards the seemingly tranquil Qingmu rather than using the Magpie Bridge. This way, he could react immediately if any unexpected situation arose.
They were still eighty li from the Holy Extreme Sect when, suddenly, a screeching voice echoed from Qingmu.
"Lin Bai, die!"
Then, a shadow materialized above the Justice League Army as if it had torn through time and space.
She ignored Lin Bai, reaching down to slam a giant black claw imprint towards Cen Qing, who was beneath the Cloud Water Mirror.
As the paw print descended, the space around Lin Bai seemed to constrict. The surrounding air temperature instantly plummeted by more than ten degrees. Black energy billowed out, like strands of dark hair, coiling towards everyone in the formation.
This ferocious attack was stronger than any Lin Bai had previously encountered. The flow of spiritual power became sluggish, as if the very will of heaven and earth had been temporarily suppressed.
"Ancestor Peach!" Ye Song cried out, looking up at the shadow in the sky. "Alliance Hierarch, quick, retreat! She’s in the Crossing Tribulation Realm!"
Cen Qing’s expression changed drastically. A flicker of joy appeared on the faces of Old Tuohai and his cohorts, but it swiftly turned into terror. Ancestor Peach was unleashing her full power! Such might would undoubtedly trigger a Heavenly Tribulation. Caught within its range, they would surely be affected, and none would escape.
It was one thing to resign oneself to triggering a Heavenly Tribulation to take Lin Bai down together, but entirely another when someone else initiated it. With death imminent, the fear of dying instantly took precedence.
To be reduced to ashes after millennia of cultivation was an unbearable fate. The Holy Extreme Sect never intended for them to survive!
Regret gnawed at Old Tuohai and the others. If we had known it would come to this, we would have been better off surrendering directly to the Justice League. Perhaps then we could have peacefully undergone our Tribulation. Lin Bai hadn’t seemed to mistreat those female Great Cheng cultivators from the Blood Sect who surrendered to him earlier...
CRACK!
With a single strike, the Cloud Water Mirror fractured, and the protective array dissipated into nothingness.
Black energy instantly swept towards the Great Cheng cultivators around Lin Bai, as well as the Players who were live-streaming.
The Players were the weakest among them. The moment the black energy touched them, their life force was drained, and their bodies, like desiccated corpses, plummeted into the forest below.
Lin Bai’s few Great Cheng Puppets protected Little White Fox and the others. The Purple-Cloaked Ancestor unleashed a sword qi, dispersing the black energy around Lin Bai, while Ye Song channeled spiritual power to shield the nearby Ye Lan. The other Great Cheng cultivators also managed to repel the black energy, emerging unscathed.
Lin Bai reacted fastest, giving Ancestor Peach no chance for a second move. With a mere thought, he sent the Red String flying out. This time, he wasn’t using the Red String to forge marital bonds but as a tool for Bind the Immortal. A Crossing Tribulation Realm expert unleashing their full power was immeasurably stronger than someone in the Great Cheng realm. The ordinary ropes he had previously refined would likely be incapable of restraining her.
A Red String is still a string. If it can bind destinies of marriage, it can surely bind people... Quadriga Binding!
For the first time, the Red String truly manifested before the world. A single, slender cord was all it took to suspend the zombie-like Ancestor Peach in mid-air.
Black energy erupted from Ancestor Peach as she struggled, but the seemingly delicate Red String remained taut and unmoving.
The Bind the Immortal technique usually possessed an aesthetic, captivating beauty. However, when used on Ancestor Peach, it looked more like Lin Zhengying binding a zombie with a red string—utterly devoid of any elegance.
"Master, we must leave now!" Ye Song said urgently. "When a Crossing Tribulation Realm cultivator attacks with full force, it inevitably triggers a Heavenly Tribulation! With so many people caught in it, the Tribulation will be immense! I fear none of us will survive!" Seeing Ancestor Peach restrained hadn’t eased his anxiety; looking up at the sky, he grew even more frantic.
Xiao Yu, the Purple-Cloaked Ancestor, and the others also urged Lin Bai in panic. Their individual strength was insufficient to escape the impending Heavenly Tribulation; everyone pinned their hopes on the Magpie Bridge.
"It’s too late!" Ancestor Peach sneered, ceasing her futile struggles as she hung suspended, looking down at Lin Bai. "The Heavenly Tribulation has already formed. No one can escape!"
Before she could finish speaking, a vast expanse of dark clouds rapidly converged overhead. Lightning snaked through them, forming a dense, crackling web that threatened to descend at any moment.
Simultaneously, the sense of spatial confinement intensified. Seeing the Tribulation clouds gathering above, Ye Song and the others felt their hearts sink into despair. Only a single thought remained: It’s over!
Within the Phoenix Seeking Phoenix Group, wails and howls erupted. Old Tuohai glared at Ancestor Peach in the sky and cursed, "You madwoman! Is the Holy Extreme Sect trying to completely sever ties with the Blood Sect?!"
Just then, DING!
A new mission notification appeared in Lin Bai’s War God System: [Unyielding War God: Only a War God who dies in battle, never one who flees. Endure the current Heavenly Tribulation. Reward: Body of the War God].
Body of the War God? What the heck is that? No matter how good the reward, I need to be alive to use it!
The oppressive force from the sky made Lin Bai’s heart pound. This was no time to consider rewards! With a wave of his hand, Lin Bai released Pei Yanzong. A Magpie Bridge extended from beneath his feet, connected to Perfected Li of the Blood Sect, and shot straight towards the Blood Sect.
Everyone was overjoyed and scrambled onto the Magpie Bridge. In the next instant, they had returned to the Blood Sect.
But before they could even sigh in relief, the Tribulation clouds, incredibly, began to gather above their heads once more.
Damn it! Lin Bai’s expression changed instantly.
No wonder the War God System issued such a mission. It turns out this Heavenly Tribulation has a tracking function; there’s no escaping it at all!
He had once considered that a Crossing Tribulation Realm cultivator might try to drag him down with them. At the time, he had believed the Magpie Bridge could evade anything. He never expected...
Seeing the Tribulation clouds rapidly forming above the Blood Sect, whose cultivators were still blissfully unaware, Lin Bai didn’t hesitate. He dragged everyone back to the outskirts of the Holy Extreme Sect.
The strongest cultivators within the Blood Sect were merely at the Divinity Transformation Realm. A Heavenly Tribulation that only those at the Transcendance Tribulation Stage could endure would likely reduce the Blood Sect members to ashes in the very first wave. The foundation he had painstakingly built couldn’t be destroyed just like this.
Seeing Lin Bai and his group reappear, Ancestor Peach laughed wildly. "Just wait obediently for death! If the Heavenly Tribulation were so easily escaped, would it still be called a Heavenly Tribulation?"
The Magpie Bridge had failed to evade the Heavenly Tribulation. The faces of Ye Song and the others turned ashen. Xu Longyun, Jiang Qingqin, and Little White Fox exchanged glances and huddled close to Lin Bai. Their cultivation levels were the lowest, giving them almost no chance of surviving the Heavenly Tribulation.
But to die by Lin Bai’s side, they were content.
"Lin Lang, use Phoenix Seeks Phoenix on that old crone up there!" Xu Longyun said with a liberated smile, embracing Lin Bai and gently pressing her lips to his cheek. "Phoenix Seeks Phoenix grants immunity to damage. The Heavenly Tribulation shouldn’t harm you before it strikes her down. Don’t worry about us."
"Being with Master for so long, Little White is already very satisfied." Little White Fox reverted to her true demon form and nestled into Lin Bai’s embrace. "It’s just a bit of a shame; I haven’t had my fill of being the king of the Monster Race yet!"
"I have no regrets," Jiang Qingqin whispered, emulating Xu Longyun by hugging Lin Bai and kissing his cheek. Under the Heavenly Tribulation, all beings are equal. At this moment, she surprisingly felt no jealousy towards Xu Longyun’s excellence.
Lin Bai knew Phoenix Seeks Phoenix could grant immunity to damage, but could he really abandon these women, who had shared thick and thin with him, to survive alone?
"Enough of this talk about life and death," Lin Bai said casually. "Let’s not even discuss whether the Heavenly Tribulation can kill us. Even if you do get struck by lightning, I have at least two ways to keep you alive."
"Master, I knew you’d have a plan!" Little White Fox exclaimed, poking her head out from Lin Bai’s arms.
Xu Longyun smiled, giving Lin Bai a curious look.
Lin Bai explained, "First, Cards. I can seal you into Cards. As long as I don’t die, you’ll never die. Second, Metamorphosis Butterfly. If, by some chance, you are killed by the Heavenly Tribulation, you can simply start a new life with a new identity..."
Xu Longyun was stunned for a moment. She looked up at the sky, then said with determination, "Lin Lang, seal us into the Cards. That way, you can focus on dealing with the Heavenly Tribulation without being distracted by worrying about us."
At her words, Cen Qing, Zuo Lan, and other Great Cheng cultivators who had initially resisted becoming Lin Bai’s Puppets, hurriedly crowded around, "Alliance Hierarch, we are also willing to be sealed into Cards and become your Puppets!"