A single "hold on"—and the verdict was life or death.
But this time, the one being "sentenced" seemed to be himself...
The moment Li Changshou uttered that "hold on," a flicker of understanding had already dawned in his heart.
And when that majesty descended from the heavens, he grasped the situation even more clearly.
This current predicament...
Honestly, he had to shoulder at least half the blame himself.
The other half could only be attributed to the Lord of the Heavenly Way, who was supposed to be omniscient!
*Buzz, buzz, buzz—*
A humming sound suddenly filled the air. Above, strange ripples appeared in layers.
This staggering pressure blanketed everything within a hundred li, leaving every living creature within trembling, not daring to move.
*Boom!*
Li Changshou looked up again.a dark cloud dozens of zhang in diameter had appeared in the sky.
The dark cloud slowly split open two fissures down its center, like two colossal eyes gradually opening. The entire cloud had solidified into the outline of an old Daoist's face—expressionless, with hollow eyes fixed upon Li Changshou.
*The Heavenly Way?*
*The Dao Ancestor?*
Li Changshou felt as though his entire being had been laid bare in an instant. A powerful sense of danger surged through his heart.
His spiritual sense wasn't merely pulsing anymore—it was whistling like a kettle of water brought to a rolling boil!
Even the upper half of his body, which had been shimmering with immortal light, now had that light forced back inside!
*What do I do!?*
*In his current state, if the Heavenly Way deemed this a deviation—if he were treated as a glitch in the Primordial—he would be in real danger of being directly erased by the Heavenly Way!*
*Even if he had done nothing, even if he bore not a shred of karma!*
Steel in his heart, Li Changshou couldn't worry about all that now.
Fighting against the crushing pressure, he called out in a loud voice:
"Your disciple of the Dao Sect has no intention of offending the heavenly majesty! It was sheer carelessness—a momentary oversight!
Please, Lord of the Heavenly Way, wait just a moment!"
*What the heck am I even saying—asking the Heavenly Way to wait for me...*
*A Purple Sky Divine Lightning warning, for crying out loud!*
Li Changshou hastily undid his Daoist robe and stripped off the inner vest with sixteen pockets sewn front and back—a treasure artifact—stuffing it into his wrist bracelet.
He truly hadn't expected that he would be forced to reveal part of his hand in such a manner.
Having prepared so extensively for the tribulation, he had never once imagined...
That the Heavenly Way hadn't been paying that much attention to him after all.
Near his left shoulder, a cloth cord was wound around his arm, tied to a broken jade piece that emanated faint, inscrutable Dao resonance.
【Nameless Broken Jade】: When Li Changshou was five years old, a band of grave robbers came to the grasslands, trading excavated antiquities for the tribe's cattle, sheep, and gold. This broken jade piece had been mistaken for an ordinary stone. Li Changshou had noticed the ancient character for "fire" inscribed upon it and coaxed it back as his own.
Function: Unknown.
But ten years after joining the sect, Li Changshou had secretly placed the jade beside his master, then used his newly-learned divination techniques—only to discover that he could no longer locate his master, whom he had previously been able to track with ease.
The jade's function was inferred to be the evasion of divination-based searches. He had kept it on his person ever since.
【Cloth Cord】: Originally a piece of hemp cloth stained with blood, extracted from between the layers of an ancient beast-hide scroll. The scroll recorded the deeds of human sages, and this hemp cloth should have been a fragment dropped by some great human figure after being wounded.
Function: According to the beast-hide scroll, humans wearing it would receive the protection of human sages—but this was likely purely psychological.
He yanked off both the cloth cord and the nameless broken jade, stuffed them into his wrist bracelet, then drew a dagger from the bracelet and turned to look behind him.
The heavenly pressure bearing down from above weakened slightly.
Li Changshou's heart leaped with joy, but he quickly steadied himself and turned to look at the back of his left shoulder. The ancient talisman inscribed directly into his skin using a tattoo technique now flickered with faint light.
Li Changshou slid the dagger across the corner of the talisman. The talisman shattered instantly.
Fortunately, once the wound healed, the talisman would restore itself.
【Ancient Wu Clan Secret Talisman】: A talisman for evading calamity, absorbing misfortune, and blocking divination. Created by the Ancestral Shamans to use against the demon clans.
Required to be inscribed on beast hide to function, but inscribing it on flesh yielded superior results.
Such a secret talisman also existed under his right rib. Li Changshou slashed that one as well.
In an instant, the heavenly pressure weakened once more.
But he wasn't done yet...
Li Changshou had seized on a key phrase—"blocking divination."
He immediately put away all the other items he was carrying on his person.
For example, two small ancient coins sealed in his undergarment pocket.
These were supposedly the first coins minted by the human race in ancient times. They contained a trace of merit and also served to block divination and avert calamity.
A demon bone fragment tied to his ankle, a colorful fish scale pasted to his thigh...
Seven oddities in total—bizarre objects that Li Changshou had verified using his master, confirming that each could, to varying degrees, evade divination-based searches.
None of these were treasure artifacts. They were hard to discover but easy to obtain.
Speaking of the Primordial, beyond the various treasure artifacts, divine abilities, and powerful experts, one of its most striking features was the miraculous art of divination.
Powerful cultivators who had mastered the Dao of Divination could, drawing upon the power of the Heavenly Way, divine the happenings of a hundred thousand li away with a single calculation—gaining instant, comprehensive knowledge.
Li Changshou was himself a "little secret"—reborn with memories of a previous life into this Primordial world—and his vigilance in this regard was extremely strong. Through hard work and a bit of luck, he had obtained these little trinkets.
But he had never imagined...
That even the Heavenly Way had been fooled!
By now, the pressure was gradually fading, and the old Daoist's outline atop the dark cloud slowly dissipated. But the cloud still hovered above his head.
Li Changshou broke into a cold sweat. Had his psychological resilience not been relatively solid, he would have already collapsed onto the sea surface...
He had obtained these items purely to prevent others from divining him through divination techniques—not to deceive the Heavenly Way.
*'When one's cultivation realm is too low, any deliberate disguise will only attract the attention of the powerful and invite disaster.'*
He had understood this principle long ago, and within the sect, he had always used ordinariness as his camouflage.
Why would he deliberately antagonize the Heavenly Way?
Perhaps...
Possibly...
The Heavenly Way had several different modes?
Standby, energy-saving, full-power, high-performance?
*Ahem. Purely a joke.*
The Heavenly Way monitored the operation of all things between heaven and earth, but it did not overly focus on every single creature—especially those who hadn't yet ascended and posed little destructive potential.
The eight-strike tribulation Li Changshou had just faced was simply the Heavenly Way's response based on his aptitude—essentially a pre-programmed routine.
Only after the tribulation ended and something went wrong on his end had the Heavenly Way turned its gaze upon him...
Normally, for other tribulation-takers whose personal accumulation far exceeded what their "aptitude profile" would predict, the Heavenly Way would automatically adjust the tribulation's intensity, providing sufficient tempering. Those who couldn't withstand it would simply perish.
But who could have guessed that Li Changshou was carrying so many bizarre "divination-blocking" objects? Under the Heavenly Way's "energy-saving mode," it had completely missed them...
And when the Heavenly Way looked carefully, a "half-immortal" like him had absolutely no secrets left.
The pressure that had just descended was not an investigation—it was a warning.
A true Purple Sky Divine Lightning warning.
*'Good thing being polite earlier probably helped.'*
Li Changshou regulated his breathing, quickly put his vest and Daoist robe back on, and pondered what words of thanks he should offer the Lord of the Heavenly Way.
Suddenly, a muffled thunderclap exploded overhead. Within a thousand li, the winds and clouds changed color!
Li Changshou had already clasped his hands forward and performed a deep Daoist bow.
He declared aloud once more:
"Your disciple of the Dao Sect now addresses the firmament!
The anomaly during the tribulation was in no way a calculated scheme by your disciple! It was merely a measure against human enemies and disasters!
This Dao foundation was achieved through my study of the Dao Sect's scriptures, following the teachings of the Dao Sect's patriarchs, and relentless cultivation day and night!
I humbly beseech the heavens, considering the difficulty of your disciple's cultivation, to bestow another round of tribulation!
I also ask the heavens to permit your disciple to change tribulation sites, in order to avoid an untimely death!"
As his words fell, the dark cloud above began to slowly expand. Gales blew in from all directions, and within several hundred li, gray clouds rose from the sea surface and converged above Li Changshou's head!
Li Changshou immediately understood and turned to plunge into the sea.
He had previously prepared several tribulation sites as contingencies against pre-tribulation interference, and had even set up formations underwater to accelerate Water Escape.
Who could have predicted that his trip to the second tribulation site would not be due to human interference, but rather...
A second tribulation!
An Ascension Tribulation—twice?
He had never even heard of such a thing...
*Sure enough, preparing every possible contingency for a tribulation is never excessive!*
This time, the tribulation clouds blanketed a hundred li of sea surface, and their thickness was ten times what it had been before.
Li Changshou fled through the water at high speed via Water Escape, while the vast tribulation cloud drifted eastward overhead at matching speed.
Looking at the tribulation clouds themselves—the clouds had coalesced into a towering celestial palace. Before and behind the palace stood innumerable gray figures, and seated within the palace was a majestic emperor.
These figures were all formed from the tribulation cloud, their faces impossible to discern.
Beneath the celestial palace, two enormous dragon and phoenix sculptures stood. The dragon bared its fangs and claws; the phoenix spread its wings and cried out. At any moment they might transform into living creatures and tear each other apart.
Below the dragon and phoenix swarmed fierce beasts and burly human figures—as though reenacting a great war between ancient demons and shamans!
At the very bottom, silver-white lightning spots tinged with purple appeared throughout the tribulation cloud, rapidly converging to form a lightning pool ten zhang square!
The lightning within the pool was liquid-like, slowly being filled.
Li Changshou's second tribulation site was only three hundred li away. Along the way, several pre-laid formations continuously accelerated his Water Escape.
He had barely arrived at the second small island when a thunderous roar shook the sky.
No time to think—Li Changshou grabbed a treasure pouch and shook it vigorously, sending six folded Far-Whatever Birdcages hurtling in various directions. There wasn't even time to deploy them...
Before the pouch hit the ground, Li Changshou's left hand already gripped a carving knife while his right hand seized a wooden sword. Talismans flew from his sleeves!
With a sudden premonition, he looked up—and his feet nearly faltered.
*What the heck was that?!*
Above, the lightning pool tilted slowly, and a "waterfall of lightning" crashed down upon him headfirst...
Countless bolts of lightning instantly illuminated the dark world with blinding brightness!
Li Changshou's left hand moved the carving knife with blinding speed, inscribing ancient characters in midair. His entire body's mana surged, his upper body once again radiating seven-colored immortal light as he spread his immortal qi as a shield at the very top!
*Boom!*
Li Changshou was engulfed by the lightning waterfall. The ancient characters shattered almost instantly, and his tall figure was slammed into the ground, which had already begun to melt...
Moments later, the lightning subsided. Li Changshou leaped from the square crater in the ground. His Daoist robe was reduced to rags, his aura fluctuating wildly, unable to settle. He couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood.
*So this is my real tribulation?*
*Powerful... really powerful.*
He immediately waved his carving knife, writing one ancient character after another around his body. The characters linked together to form the text of "On Plowing," an ancient piece written by the human sage Shennong.
These characters seemed to form a formation of their own, arranging themselves around him according to the original text's layout, then slowly rose above his head.
At the same time, a mass of Threefold True Flame erupted from Li Changshou's body, wrapping him within its embrace.
Around him, nine-petaled lotuses drifted outward, each one the size of a washbasin.
—This was the phenomenon produced when he activated his mana at full power!
*Come, Heaven's Tribulation!*
Li Changshou looked upward. His long hair and tattered robe billowed in the wind. The lightning pool above tilted once more, and another waterfall of lightning roared down!
But this time, Li Changshou bent his knees and rocketed skyward, his eyes blazing with divine light, charging headlong into the lightning waterfall!
Nine-Strike Tribulation!
*I've been waiting for you for far too long.*
......
"Master, why aren't we moving again?"
Above the Southern Sea, a white cloud hovered in place. The girl, being pulled along by the old Daoist, asked softly.
The old Daoist was staring at Li Changshou's second tribulation site, unable to suppress a sharp intake of breath.
"What—what kind of tribulation is this?
Celestial palace above, dragons and phoenixes in the middle, divine demons below—could it be the Nine Heavens Divine-Demon Tribulation, ranked second?!"
But then the old Daoist shook his head and sighed. "What is happening in the Southern Sea today? Cultivation prodigies agreeing to face their tribulations together?
A pity—another young soul will perish beneath the tribulation.
Let's go, let's go. Watching this is useless."
The girl asked softly: "Master, couldn't that person survive the tribulation?"
The old Daoist asked: "During the eight-strike tribulation just now, did you sense any spiritual energy surging toward the tribulation site?"
The girl immediately shook her head.
"Exactly. An eight-strike tribulation is already extremely difficult to survive, let alone a Thirty-Two Beast Tribulation. The person who was just undergoing tribulation has already been obliterated. And now there's another."
The old Daoist smiled bitterly. "Excessive talent truly invites heaven's jealousy. The Primordial already has far too many powerful beings. Without the tribulations keeping them in check, a great calamity could arrive at any moment.
Let's go. No point in watching others' misfortunes."
With that, the white cloud continued southward. The girl, however, cast a curious glance toward the sea surface a thousand li away.
That enormous tribulation cloud had already descended almost to the sea's surface.