Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
In the Dao-Ending Period, Tribulation Transcending was something serious. It was basically suicide.
The cultivators of the Zhenling Continent were divided into seven levels according to their dantian and spiritual pressure: Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Spirit Severing, Body Merging, and Great Vehicle.
Above those would be Tribulation Transcending and Immortal Ascension…
Before the Dao-Ending Period, each level had been further divided into the Early Stage, the Middle Stage, the Late Stage, and the Peak. There were even things like Great Perfection, Half-Step To Nascent Soul, and even more overwhelming terms.
After the Dao-Ending Period, there had been a change in the spiritual vein, as spiritual energy had turned thin. There was no longer a particular separation between levels, but spiritual pressure was maintained at an early stage by sealing the dantian to lower the spiritual energy depletion. The seal was only removed when there was danger to erupt into higher spiritual pressure.
Before the Dao-Ending Period, one had been able to go into Tribulation Transcending and Immortal Ascension after perfecting the Great Vehicle.
In the Dao-Ending Period, due to the disappearance of the Door to Immortality, most people who tried Tribulation Transcending died during the Ascending Feather thunder tribulation. Only very few who failed and were severely injured barely managed to survive.
At present, the Zhenling Continent had been left with nine Great Vehicle cultivators.
People called them… the Nine Novas of the Cultivation Alliance!
The name was cool, but the Dao-Ending Period was irreversible. Everyone knew that the Nine Novas of the Cultivation Alliance were the last ray of cultivators.
5,000 years ago, the last nine Great Vehicle cultivators had made a pact not to try Tribulation Transcending. They had gathered all the sects in the cultivation world to establish the Cultivation Alliance and fight the invasion of the Wraiths, investigate the reason behind the Dao-Ending Period, and seek a feasible cultivation path.
Finally, the alliance headquarters that housed four of the Nine Novas and the five sects that housed one of the Nine Novas each formed the setup of one supremacy and five dominant powerhouses, securely grasping the last of the cultivation world’s strength.
Zongzhi Mountain was one of those great sects.
Zongzhi Mountain’s Sect Leader, Qian Junzi, was one of the Nine Novas of the Cultivation Alliance. He was also one of the remaining nine Great Vehicle cultivators.
Qian Junzi was over tens of thousands of years old. He had been severely injured in the last Purging Fight and had been recuperating behind closed doors most of the time in the recent millennium.
Trying Tribulation Transcending in a state like that was nothing more than suicide.
If Qian Junzi died while trying Tribulation Transcending, the ability and status of Zongzhi Mountain would take a steep fall and the Cultivation Alliance would definitely interfere with the sect’s affairs.
This was the reason Huangfu Qun had risen and slapped the table.
To his knowledge, the Cultivation Alliance had allowed Lingzhou Yue into the sect over 500 years ago. She did not cook up anything but she was lazy and alcoholic despite her high rank, she swindled and bluffed with the neighboring nations, and she owed the sect 90,000 spirit stones. She was an extremely bad influence on the sect disciples.
If the Sect Leader were gone, no one in the sect would be able to keep her in check. Zongzhi Mountain would turn into a bandit’s den sooner or later, wasted away by her uninhibited self.
Worse, the Great Vehicle cultivators in the Cultivation Alliance had been eyeing Zongzhi Mountain for a long time. If their Sect Leader passed, the Cultivation Alliance would possibly send a Great Vehicle cultivator directly to take over the position. There was no way Zongzhi Mountain could run the sect independently anymore.
With these thoughts in mind, Huangfu Qun questioned Bo Yunzi with a slap on the table.
“Senior Brother can try Tribulation Transcending, but let him say it himself!”
In reality, only Huangfu Qun out of everyone present would dare say something like that.
His superior position as the Commandment Elder aside, Huangfu Qun used to be the most prized Direct Disciple of the Sect Leader. He was the heir of the famous historical clan Huangfu and a key person in maintaining the balance between the Cultivation Alliance and the sect.
Bo Yunzi bowed slightly with a cupped fist before Huangfu Qun, acting respectful but slightly intimidating.
“Master’s injury is more severe than expected. Forget about recovering. It’s taken all his power to maintain his current state. Besides, he’s old and is running out of time now.”
Upon hearing the four words ‘running out of time’, Huangfu Qun looked as fierce and cutting as a blade.
“How’s that possible! Senior Brother calls for an Elder meeting every three years. The last time we saw him, he was energetic and jovial. He even gave me guidance on cultivation!”
Bo Yunzi shook his head.
“Junior Uncle, don’t you know Master’s been barely keeping himself alive for the sect all these years? He’s already weakened to the point that it’s unbearable for him and he can hardly get up after just a Wraith intrusion at the array.”
Huangfu Qun’s eyes bulged.
“Then he doesn’t have to risk trying Tribulation Transcending too. Since he’s done it for so long, he can keep doing it!”
Bo Yunzi sighed.
“Even if Master doesn’t try Tribulation Transcending, he’ll be left with decades of longevity at most. Master’s cultivated for thousands of years. His state of mind is nearly that of an immortal. Tribulation Transcending is highly risky, but there’s perhaps a chance of survival. This is the only option.”
The rest of the cultivators could not help being affected and having complicated feelings.
Although the news that the Sect Leader was about to try Tribulation Transcending had been circulating for years, it was still saddening when they heard personally that it was fixed.
While watching the cultivation world being devoured by the Wraiths bit by bit, watching Zongzhi Mountain slipping down the pedestal step by step, and watching the Sect Leader greeting death… Xiao Ran had not been feeling much recently.
He had lived three years in the mortal realm before he had joined the sect.
He had witnessed villages being run down by dark beasts and towns being destroyed by the Wraiths. The survival room for humans was compressed to its limit day after day.
Ghost towns were everywhere, and starved corpses lay all over the place. In the end, only important towns protected by the Cultivation Alliance and small neighboring countries guarded by big sects, as well as wild settlements composed by people who were so poor that death meant nothing remained.
This world was not really pleasant.
This was why Xiao Ran had never given up trying to go on the cultivation journey, even though he kept failing. This was also why he had been so overjoyed that he’d doubted his master’s IQ when he had been taken in as a Direct Disciple and had forgotten that she had asked him a question…
The only way out was cultivation. Or rather, cultivating was the only way to seek an exit.
Only through cultivation could he grasp his destiny in his own hands. By living long enough and becoming powerful enough, he could find answers to every question.
It was only after Xiao Ran joined the sect that he realized cultivation was diminishing as the days passed.
It was like the whole cultivation world was waiting for a hero to reverse the seemingly impossible.
The turbulence and bizarreness of things actually made Xiao Ran feel like he was living through chaotic times and waiting for an action… Nonetheless, this was for the future.
Right now, he was not even in the Qi Refining stage yet. It would be best if he focused on being filial to his master and reaped a future for himself to become an elite as soon as possible.
Huangfu Qun staggered. There was white at the ends of his hair, and his sharp eyes were tinged red.
“I don’t believe it! Someone must be behind this, orchestrating to make Zongzhi Mountain a mere figurehead!”
He had been the Sect Leader’s Direct Disciple. He was not quite talented and had an odd personality.
The Sect Leader had customized and chosen a cultivation method that fit him specifically and planned a matching cultivation plan, thus enabling him to reach the position he was in today one step at a time.
He was not going to watch his master die without doing anything!
“Besides, it’s still early to speak of the coming decades. What if something changes?”
Bo Yunzi shook his head and said nothing. Everyone else sighed as well.
It was a long while later when a deep and magnificent, yet weak and wispy voice drifted into the Ruling Hall.
“I’m… very old now.”
Xiao Ran jumped, realizing that it was the Sect Leader’s voice.
The state of mind that was laced in the voice felt immortal and divine. It was evident that the Sect Leader had ascended into immortality mentally and psychologically, but his physical body was hindered by the concentration of spiritual energy and was running out of time. He could hardly take a step further…
Upon hearing his master’s withered voice, Huangfu Qun could no longer keep his stoic and fierce expression. Tears ran down his face. Not caring about his Elder status, he wailed in anguish, “Master!”
“You can take over on your own now.”
The wispy voice was no longer majestic. Only lingering weakness was left in it.
“Zongzhi Mountain will be under your care now, everyone.”
…
After Qian Junzi transmitted his voice, he swiftly entered a sleeping cultivation.
Bo Yunzi had not expected his master to transmit his voice there when he was already so weak. He was probably ready to pass.
“Let’s begin the Elder meeting. The first thing on the agenda is…”
“Hold up!”
Huangfu Qun interrupted Bo Yunzi curtly.
He sat properly, putting a stony expression back on his face. His eyes, which were filled with repressed emotions, stared straight ahead at Lingzhou Yue, who was sitting opposite him.
Before the meeting started, he had to find the culprit behind the Wraith incident!
With a grim look on his face, instead of exploding at once, he asked calmly, “Elder Lingzhou, what was the matter with the Wraith?”
Lingzhou Yue, who had her arms crossed in front of her chest, was not ruffled. After all, she could defeat everyone on the spot alone given her ability.
“The Wraith came and I chased it away. Consider it a merit. That’s all.”
Huangfu Qun said darkly, “Our sect’s mountain-guarding array is maintained each month and performs like new despite its age. It’s not something an ordinary Wraith could penetrate. Since the last Purging Fight, there had been no Wraith invasion. How do you explain this?”
Lingzhou Yue guzzled some wine and pursed her lips before saying, “I’m a Sword-Wielding Elder. My responsibility is to kill the enemy, not explain things. How the heck am I supposed to know why it came?”
Huangfu Qun narrowed his eyes slightly and asked with slow enunciation, “Then did you kill the enemy?”
Lingzhou Yue was nonchalant.
“The Wraith escaped.”
“A rare humanoid Wraith that hardly appears in a millennium ran away on its own?”
“I was protecting my disciple at the time. Could it have run away otherwise?”
Huangfu Qun looked calculative as he got up to pace back and forth, stroking his beard and analyzing the situation. “You haven’t taken in a disciple in 1,000 years and now you selected a Direct Disciple out of the blue. Zongzhi Mountain hasn’t been infiltrated by a Wraith in 1,000 years, yet it happened today. The invading Wraith was a humanoid Wraith that we hardly see in 1,000 years… Don’t you think all these things are too much of a coincidence?”
Ah, um… Lingzhou Yue was speechless.
All the eyes in the hall turned to her in unison.
They watched as her scalp tingled with pins and needles. She wanted to take a small sip of wine but she was too embarrassed. Her hands moved to rest on her hips and then rubbed her face as she thought about this unsettling question.
It was really too much of a coincidence!
Then, a determined voice came from behind her.
“The Wraith had nothing to do with Master. It came for this disciple.”