Chapter 467 – Surviving the Five Signs of Celestial Decay, the Nine-Revolution Thunder Tribulation Arrives!
by spirapiraChapter 467 – Surviving the Five Signs of Celestial Decay, the Nine-Revolution Thunder Tribulation Arrives!
【How unjust the Heavenly Dao is!】
【All living beings are subject to birth, aging, sickness, and death…】
【Mortals live no more than a hundred years; cultivators, no more than a thousand.】
【Even immortals merely fritter away tens of thousands of years…】
【All things between heaven and earth must ultimately return to the heavens…】
【The differences in spiritual roots, in aptitude, in race…】
【As the process of your Decay of Self-Loathing gradually accumulated, your premonition of the Heavenly Dao’s injustice grew ever stronger…】
【Lamenting the heavens and grieving for yourself each day, another hundred years passed…】
【In the three hundredth year, your sorrow toward the Heavenly Dao finally began to transform into… loathing of yourself!】
【What does a cultivator seek in a lifetime? Longevity? Freedom? What meaning do any of these hold?】
【Even a Great Firmament Golden Immortal’s lifespan has its limits…】
【The holy path is severed, with foreign races threatening from without and troubles festering within… so does cultivation even have meaning anymore?】
【You began to doubt your own Daoheart. You began to doubt the path of the Dao…】
【In this state of questioning, another hundred years passed!】
【In the four hundredth year, as time went on… your doubts about the Dao path grew ever more numerous.】
【You began to gradually abandon cultivation. You began to ponder why you should cultivate at all… tens of thousands of years of struggle—contending with others, contending with heaven and earth, contending with foreign races… what meaning did any of it hold in the end?】
【You began to gradually lose an emotion called desire…】
【You had no yearning for cultivation, nor any ambition to attain eternal life.】
【Under the weight of this emotional state, you began to contemplate ending your own life, more than once…】
【Finally, in the four hundred and seventieth year of enduring the Decay of Self-Loathing during your Tribulation Transcendence, you attempted suicide…】
【Your physical body was being continuously destroyed. Your mind began to grow hazy and confused.】
【Just then… a figure appeared at your side!】
【It was White Emperor!】
【At the very last moment, he saved you!】
【White Emperor lightly extended a finger, and a beam of white light sank into the center of your brow…】
【In an instant, everything came flooding back!】
【A thousand years ago, during that audience with the Celestial Secrets Pavilion Master, you had made a request.】
【You hoped that when you underwent the Decay of Self-Loathing during your Tribulation Transcendence, the Celestial Secrets Pavilion Master could provide one instance of help—if you fell into crisis, you would receive one chance at “clarity of mind.”】
【The Celestial Secrets Pavilion Master agreed to your request.】
【Though she could not act personally, she still informed White Emperor and provided him with the means to help you achieve clarity.】
【And so, at the razor’s edge between life and death, White Emperor intervened!】
In the Real World, Su Xing broke out in a cold sweat.
“That was close… this Decay of Self-Loathing truly is terrifying. Even with my Daoheart, I nearly killed myself!”
“Tsk tsk… after taking the Self-Loathing Water, the difficulty of the Decay of Self-Loathing probably skyrocketed several times over!”
“But if the difficulty multiplied several times, the effects will also multiply several times!”
“As long as I successfully survive the Decay of Self-Loathing, my Daoheart will be unprecedentedly firm!”
Su Xing took a deep breath and looked at the simulation panel with some nervousness.
【As the white light entered your body, you felt your desires reignite!】
【Cultivating the Dao to attain eternal life—it is not without meaning!】
【Since all things between heaven and earth are bound by fate, why not shatter that fate?】
【The suffering of the six cycles of reincarnation? The pain of aging and decay?】
【What a cultivator seeks is not merely freedom or longevity… but also to follow one’s heart without restraint—whatever the heart desires, simply do it!】
【…】
【As your desires reignited, your Daoheart firmed once more.】
【Once again, you fought against that self-loathing emotion within your body.】
【And so, each day you oscillated between a yearning for the Dao and a state of self-loathing and desirelessness…】
【In the blink of an eye, the final thirty years passed…】
【As the five-hundred-year period concluded, you finally survived the last of the five signs of celestial decay—the Decay of Self-Loathing!】
【Congratulations, you have successfully survived the Decay of Self-Loathing!】
【Your emotions are fuller than ever before, and your Daoheart is firmer than ever.】
【At the same time, you sensed rolling thunder in the skies above.】
【At last, the Supreme Unity Thunder Tribulation was coming!】
In the Real World, Su Xing took a deep breath at the sight of this.
“It’s finally here!”
“The Supreme Unity Thunder Tribulation… as long as I survive this tribulation, I can attain the rank of Supreme Unity Golden Immortal!”
Su Xing recalled the intelligence he had gathered on the Supreme Unity Thunder Tribulation.
The Supreme Unity Thunder Tribulation generally lasted three full years.
It consisted of nine waves, totaling eight thousand one hundred bolts!
If one survived it successfully, one would be forever free from the suffering of physical decay, maintaining peak condition until the very end of one’s lifespan.
“Once I become a Supreme Unity Golden Immortal, my combat power will approach that of a late-stage Supreme Unity Golden Immortal!”
“And those nine waves of tribulation lightning absolutely cannot go to waste… they’re perfect for pushing my Great Dao of Thunder into the sixth realm!”
Without a second thought, Su Xing silently intoned:
“Use immersive simulation, duration ten years!”
【Ding… remaining origin energy: 462,960,734 points…】
As the Chime faded, Su Xing’s consciousness entered the simulated world.
…
Celestial Secrets Realm, outside Celestial Secrets City.
Su Xing ascended to the summit of a mountain, sensing the Thunder Tribulation brewing in the skies above. Something stirred within his heart.
As dark clouds gathered ceaselessly and thunder gradually coalesced, Su Xing could also feel countless gazes turning toward his position.
After all, a Supreme Unity Golden Immortal undergoing tribulation!
Such a magnificent spectacle might not be witnessed even once in a million years!
If observing the tribulation brought inspiration, it might even benefit those cultivators’ own practice.
“Supreme Unity Thunder Tribulation—then come!”
A deep confidence flashed through Su Xing’s eyes. Having just survived the five signs of celestial decay, he was at the absolute peak of his condition.
Moreover, with the solidity of Su Xing’s Dao foundation, surviving this Thunder Tribulation was nothing short of a foregone conclusion!
Finally, under the gaze of all, the first bolt of the Thunder Tribulation between heaven and earth… struck down!
The terrifying lightning struck directly at the Baihui acupoint atop Su Xing’s head.
Su Xing used no defenses whatsoever, relying solely on his physical body to endure the blow!
BOOM!
The thunder dissipated in an instant, transforming into faint wisps of thunder Dao essence that began to temper Su Xing’s body.
“Hm? The power of this Thunder Tribulation…”
Su Xing frowned almost imperceptibly. The power of this lightning seemed somewhat off!
“It seems a bit stronger than the Supreme Unity Thunder Tribulation I had imagined…”
“But it’s still within my grasp!”
Su Xing was somewhat puzzled but didn’t dwell on it, focusing instead on weathering the next bolt.
Soon, thick bolts of lightning crashed down one after another, turning the sky dark and leaving the observing cultivators in awe.
One bolt… ten bolts… a hundred bolts… a thousand!
In the blink of an eye, three months had passed!
Su Xing had already withstood a full one thousand and eight bolts of lightning with his body alone.
As time went on, the power of the lightning was also increasing, albeit subtly.
Su Xing let the lightning temper his physical body, attuning himself to the benefits brought by the thunder Dao essence within.
In merely three months, Su Xing’s Great Dao of Thunder had reached the fifth realm Peak!
And at this point, Su Xing had finally confirmed that something was indeed off about this Supreme Unity Golden Immortal’s nine-wave Thunder Tribulation!
“Tsk tsk, if the nine waves of Thunder Tribulation truly had this kind of power, ninety-nine percent of Golden Immortals in the world would fall to it!”
Su Xing blinked, then raised his middle finger toward the Thunder Tribulation in the sky…
Sure enough, under Su Xing’s provocation, the Thunder Tribulation and dark clouds in the sky froze for an almost imperceptible instant.
Then, from within the Thunder Tribulation, Su Xing sensed a familiar emotion of “sputtering indignation”!
“As I suspected—it’s that Heavenly Dao again?”
“Damn it… is it here to settle a grudge?”
Su Xing curled his lip. Previously, when he had undergone the Golden Immortal Thunder Tribulation, he had provoked both the tribulation and the Heavenly Dao.
At the time, the Heavenly Dao had used every trick at its disposal but still failed to harm Su Xing in the slightest—only allowing Su Xing to use the tribulation lightning to fully forge his Heavenly Thunder Sacred Body!
Back then, the Heavenly Dao had essentially been exploited by Su Xing and was quite resentful about it.
But constrained by the limited power of the Golden Immortal Thunder Tribulation, even if the Heavenly Dao had wanted more power, it was not permitted within the “rules.”
After all, one couldn’t use Supreme Unity Thunder Tribulation-level power to strike a peak of Mystic Immortal cultivator.
And now, this Heavenly Dao was clearly being petty, trying to reclaim its dignity at Su Xing’s expense!
As a result, the power of the Supreme Unity Thunder Tribulation exceeded that of an ordinary Supreme Unity Thunder Tribulation by more than double!
“Tsk tsk… although the power exceeded expectations… this Thunder Tribulation is a good thing!”
Su Xing narrowed his eyes. He could even feel that under the tribulation lightning’s body tempering, the bottleneck at the peak of the Great Shaman Body Forging Art, Sixth Layer had loosened slightly.
The power of qi and blood, which had stagnated for half a year, also seemed to have grown a fraction…
“Tsk tsk, tempering the body with thunder—the most supremely yang, most supremely firm substance under heaven… it’s tremendously beneficial for my advancement through the Great Shaman Body Forging Art’s sixth layer!”
“If I can fully absorb these nine waves of Thunder Tribulation… perhaps breaking through to the Great Shaman Body Forging Art, Seventh Layer won’t be far off either!”
Su Xing’s heart stirred as a plan took shape.
Since he was going to exploit this Heavenly Dao and its Thunder Tribulation, why not be even more thorough about it!
Su Xing would not only push his Great Dao of Thunder into the sixth realm, but also strengthen his physical body further.
Making his future breakthrough into the Great Shaman Body Forging Art, Seventh Layer that much easier!
“Then let the Thunder Tribulation come even more fiercely!”
The corners of Su Xing’s mouth curled upward as he once again flashed a provocative expression at the Thunder Tribulation in the sky.
Sure enough, the invisible Heavenly Dao was provoked by Su Xing.
Like an aggrieved child, it unleashed an even more ferocious barrage of lightning upon Su Xing!
Ten bolts… a hundred bolts… a thousand bolts!
In the span of just two months, Su Xing endured another thousand bolts of tribulation lightning!
And the power of the lightning had grown several notches stronger than before!
“Tsk tsk… the power of this Thunder Tribulation is starting to get interesting!”
“But that’s all it amounts to…”
Su Xing closed his eyes slightly, sensing the damage caused by the tribulation lightning striking his body.
Nearly every bolt inflicted minor injuries on his physical body.
But under Su Xing’s terrifying vitality and regenerative power, they healed rapidly…
“Every bolt of tribulation lightning carries the power of a Peak Golden Immortal cultivator’s full-force strike?”
“Tsk tsk… that really is fearsome!”
“If it were an ordinary Golden Immortal undergoing tribulation, they probably couldn’t survive a hundred bolts before being forced to abort!”
Su Xing mused to himself.
But how could he possibly be an ordinary Golden Immortal?
Even with this terrifyingly powerful Supreme Unity Thunder Tribulation, it hadn’t even forced Su Xing to deploy his defensive techniques!
Up to this point, Su Xing had been tanking everything with nothing but his physical body!
The benefits of enduring the Supreme Unity Thunder Tribulation with his body alone were plainly visible!
Su Xing’s comprehension of the Great Dao of Thunder was drawing ever closer to the sixth realm.
His physical body and qi-blood, which had hit a bottleneck, were now roughly thirty percent stronger than before the tribulation began!
And so, under the relentless barrage of tribulation lightning, another three months passed!
In the eighth month of Su Xing’s Thunder Tribulation, he had already weathered a full three thousand six hundred bolts!
And the power of the tribulation lightning was still rising…
It had already faintly reached the offensive intensity of the top-ranked cultivators on the Prodigy List’s Earth Ranking!
Su Xing, too, was no longer purely enduring with his physical body alone.
Having shifted his strategy, Su Xing sometimes tanked with his body, and sometimes channeled primordial energy to block the lightning’s destructive force on his body, focusing instead on absorbing the Great Dao of Thunder within.
This way, the body-tempering effects of the lightning might be somewhat diminished.
But Su Xing would be more confident in surviving the entire tribulation, and his Great Dao of Thunder Comprehension wouldn’t weaken either.
After all, who knew what tricks that Heavenly Dao had up its sleeve!
The tribulation wasn’t even a third of the way through… there was no telling how many more underhanded moves it was saving up!
Su Xing stood his ground, enduring bolt after bolt of tribulation lightning.
And that mountain peak, once ten thousand zhang (33.3 km) tall, had been blasted flat after eight consecutive months of tribulation lightning.
…
Meanwhile, within a ten-thousand-li (5,000 km) radius of Su Xing’s tribulation site.
Countless cultivators watched the scene of Su Xing’s tribulation.
“Tsk tsk… how terrifying! Truly how terrifying!”
“So this is the power of the Supreme Unity Thunder Tribulation? I probably couldn’t survive even a single bolt!”
A Golden Immortal cultivator watched the scene of Su Xing’s tribulation, an unavoidable glimmer of envy in his eyes… and even a trace of fear!
“Something’s not right—something’s definitely not right! This doesn’t look like the power of a normal Supreme Unity Thunder Tribulation!”
“If the lightning had been this powerful when this old man underwent his tribulation… the grass on my grave would be three zhang (9.99 m) tall by now!”
There were also high-level Supreme Unity Golden Immortals observing the power of Su Xing’s tribulation, faintly sensing that something was amiss.
Su Xing had been undergoing tribulation for eight months, and the power of his tribulation lightning already exceeded even the final bolts of their own tribulations…
At this moment, within a ten-thousand-li (5,000 km) radius of Su Xing’s tribulation site, over a million cultivators watched from afar.
Quite a few cultivators had gained insights from the tribulation lightning.
“Tsk tsk… the younger generation is truly something to behold!”
“This Thunder Tribulation might just be of an elevated grade!”
“This kid’s aptitude is truly the greatest I’ve ever seen!”
The Supreme Unity Golden Immortal Xiao Zhanlong, watching the Thunder Tribulation that Su Xing was enduring, also felt rather outclassed.
As a veteran Supreme Unity Golden Immortal and a top-twenty existence on the Prodigy List, even Xiao Zhanlong found himself uncertain.
He turned his gaze to the white-robed man beside him and asked tentatively:
“Senior White Emperor… what do you make of the Thunder Tribulation this kid is enduring?”
White Emperor’s expression at this moment was nothing like the leisurely composure of the surrounding cultivators.
Instead, he looked as though he’d seen a ghost.
As a Great Firmament Golden Immortal who had lived for over ten million years, White Emperor’s insight was naturally far beyond that of these ordinary cultivators.
He studied the Thunder Tribulation Su Xing was enduring with an uncertain gaze, muttering:
“Damn… is this kid’s aptitude really that extraordinary?”
“He actually triggered the Nine-Revolution Thunder Tribulation?”