Li Yan sat cross-legged somewhere on Little Bamboo Peak, covered in blood. A thousand zhang above his head, a large patch of blood-red clouds was slowly turning back to an inky black!
The area within several thousand zhang around him had long since turned into a pockmarked mess, strewn with scattered bamboo branches and leaves. Large pits appeared on the hard stone ground. A burnt smell wafted from these pits, and wisps of green smoke curled upwards!
At this moment, large patches of flesh and bone had been scraped off Li Yan's cheeks, revealing his crimson gums. Large chunks of flesh were missing from the left side of his body, leaving only a crystal-clear, jade-like skeleton.
Li Yan was rapidly pouring medicinal liquid and powder onto his body. As the liquid and powder came into contact with his flesh and blood, a series of sizzling sounds erupted. Li Yan's blood-and-flesh-covered face twitched incessantly, showing that he was not feeling well at the moment.
Under the cover of the recent Red Cloud Tribulation, it was not something that could be easily dispersed with immortal arts and magical treasures. In an instant, Li Yan felt as if he had entered a purgatory. The moment his flesh and blood touched the red clouds, they were torn off piece by piece, as if by force, in a matter of breaths…
To deal with this tribulation, Li Yan had also prepared a magical treasure—the "Myriad Antiquity Umbrella," an ice-attribute magical treasure. Unfortunately, its effect was less than satisfactory.
In the end, Li Yan had to rely on the endless cycle of the five elements' power within his body to keep his alchemical flame from extinguishing. With the formidable recovery ability of the "Undead Nether Phoenix," he had managed to grind away the "Red Cloud Tribulation" bit by bit. That "Myriad Antiquity Umbrella" had completely disintegrated after blocking the fifth of the thirteen "Red Cloud Tribulations," but it had at least bought Li Yan some time.
In the sky, Mo Qing shook his head.
"Junior Brother, the willpower and resilience of this disciple of yours are something I admit I cannot match. After his treasure was destroyed, he managed to wear down the Red Cloud Tribulation by sheer force. However, this also shows that the spells he cultivates are really a bit singular. If he has no more trump cards, the subsequent tribulations will be truly dangerous. The power of this Heavenly Tribulation feels even greater than yours during your Nascent Soul Formation. Compared to you two, my Nascent Soul Tribulation was somewhat insignificant. It's just... this will make his subsequent tribulation even more difficult. However, once he successfully transcends the tribulation, another powerful combatant will emerge in our sect. But the final Heaven and Earth Tribulation..."
Speaking of this, a look of worry appeared in Mo Qing's eyes. Originally, he believed it was expected for Li Yan not to succeed in his Nascent Soul Formation. Under the spiritual nature of the heavenly rules, it would naturally feel that a Miscellaneous Spirit Root cultivator was provoking its heavenly might and would thus increase the power of the punishment. But after watching Li Yan withstand the "Red Cloud Tribulation," he felt that he might have been wrong. Li Yan's magical power was extremely profound; it was just that his methods were too few.
"Senior Brother, why be so modest? How could I dare to aspire to your level of cultivation!" Wei Zhongran performed a Daoist salute. Mo Qing had said his own cultivation was inferior, something he naturally couldn't admit.
He paused for a moment before continuing. "Li Yan's methods are indeed few, so when dealing with the Heavenly Tribulation, unlike others who mainly rely on various cultivated spells and divine abilities, he needs more treasures to assist him. However, this is also an important reason why he has been able to cultivate to this point. His Spirit Root aptitude is inferior to others, so he has spent most of his time cultivating his magical power. Now, he can only take it one step at a time. The Inner Demon Tribulation that is starting now is slightly more favorable for him. This stage mainly involves experiencing various inner demons, and it has little to do with most cultivation methods and spells. Senior Brother, your concern about the final three Heaven and Earth Tribulations... is indeed valid!"
Wei Zhongran gazed at the area of Little Bamboo Peak. He knew even better that this disciple of his had a heaven-defying opportunity, and the cultivation method he practiced was definitely not the sect's "Myriad Essence Art." He immediately covered for Li Yan, not wanting his disciple to expose more secrets.
But he also knew that after Li Yan successfully formed his Nascent Soul this time, not to mention Mo Qing, even others would know that Li Yan had definitely obtained a heaven-defying opportunity. Either he had consumed some rare heavenly material or earthly treasure, or he had obtained some indescribable cultivation method.
However, most people would still believe it was the former. After all, there had been more than one instance in the cultivation world of someone with an inferior Spirit Root ultimately cultivating to the Great Dao. Ninety-nine percent of them had struck it lucky, consuming some strange fruit of heaven and earth through various opportunities, thereby changing their Spirit Root aptitude. There were also cultivators who became powerful for a time through extreme, unconventional cultivation methods, but they were all representatives of evil cultivators. They often forcefully refined others' Golden Cores or Primordial Spirits to elevate their own cultivation, and in the end, their own minds became extremely ruthless…
But no matter what kind of opportunity it was, it was something others could not envy or encounter again. Moreover, when Li Yan truly became a Nascent Soul cultivator, how many people in this realm would still be able to covet his opportunity?
Li Yan's flesh and blood were still sizzling. As the silver light flashed even more rapidly, he felt the inky black clouds above his head, heavy as lead, slowly begin to rotate again. But before his injuries could heal much, an illusory figure had already appeared in the dark clouds. Li Yan's perpetually tense Divine Sense immediately swept towards that illusory figure.
The next moment, Li Yan was stunned. He was very familiar with the appearance of that illusory figure. It was an old man with a slightly hunched back, holding a tobacco pipe in his hand.
"Dad!"
Li Yan was slightly dazed. That figure had also reached the top of his head in an instant. In Li Yan's daze, it entered the crown of his head.
In his trance, Li Yan felt a large number of long-sealed memories suddenly surge out from his Sea of Consciousness, and the scene before his eyes quickly became blurry. Li Yan had the feeling that his body was shrinking and the scene before him was rapidly enlarging. It was his long-lost old house and courtyard…
But these had just arisen when Li Yan's body trembled. Immediately, his gaze returned to a state of clarity, and all the scenes in his Sea of Consciousness receded like a tide.
"Inner Demon Tribulation!"
Li Yan had actually sobered up in an instant, knowing in a flash that he had been hit by the first Inner Demon Tribulation. He had, of course, read the description of the Inner Demon Tribulation. This was a stage that many Nascent Soul cultivators were most unwilling to mention later. In this stage, they would experience all sorts of past events, especially those cultivators who had signed a blood contract with others and then violated their oaths. In this stage, it was almost a certain death. The breeding of inner demons was the most severe punishment of the heavenly rules for cultivators who violated their oaths. This was also the most reassuring method for forcing others to sign a blood contract.
Although Li Yan was prepared, he had just sunk into a daze and instantly lost himself.
'Why did the first Inner Demon Tribulation disappear?'
After sobering up, Li Yan was a little bewildered. He had clearly fallen into it just now, but he had suddenly woken up. He didn't know if this was just the beginning of the inner demon, or if the first Inner Demon Tribulation had been dispelled by him.
And just as Li Yan was wondering if he was still in the Inner Demon Tribulation, and he couldn't distinguish between true and false, two more illusory figures appeared in the sky one after another. With a slight flash, they reached the top of Li Yan's head.
"Mom! Third Brother!"
When Li Yan saw the appearance of these two people, his consciousness once again lost its ability to think. The two figures similarly flashed and entered his crown. His Sea of Consciousness once again churned violently. This time, even Li Yan's Divine Soul felt a strange sensation, a feeling of sorrow from missing his relatives.
And just as this thought arose in Li Yan's heart, his expression shook again, and in a moment, he had once again regained his clarity.
"This…"
Li Yan was completely bewildered by all of this. He couldn't tell at all whether he was deeply trapped in an inner demon or not. Everything changed too quickly and was too bizarre. He was a little confused.
Following that, more illusory figures appeared one after another. They were all people Li Yan had met: Li Xiaozhu, Strategist Ji, Gong Chenying, Bai Rou, and so on… But after these illusory figures entered his crown, Li Yan would regain his clarity in a moment.
Soon, all thirteen illusory figures had descended. Li Yan remained seated cross-legged on the ground, motionless. His expression, however, was a little strange. He had even forgotten the intense pain in his body.
'This is completely different from what's recorded in the texts. Why is the Inner Demon Tribulation I'm experiencing like this? Where am I? Is everything real or fake? No, I clearly sensed thirteen tribulation fluctuations…'
And just at this moment, in the vortex formed by the ring-shaped dark clouds in the sky, another figure suddenly appeared. That figure was no longer illusory but had solidified into a golden-armored martial general.
Li Yan's somewhat puzzled gaze immediately became solemn. He no longer had time to consider other things, because the final three Heaven and Earth Tribulations were about to descend.
And the moment the golden-armored martial general appeared, Baili Yuan and the others in the distance all looked at each other.
"Is this… the Earth Tribulation of the Heaven and Earth Tribulation?" Baili Yuan turned to look at Wang Tian, his voice tinged with uncertainty and doubt.
"Didn't the Red Cloud Tribulation just pass? Why has a golden-armored martial general appeared? What about the Inner Demon Tribulation?" Wang Tian was also staring at the distant sky. At this moment, he also withdrew his gaze and looked at Baili Yuan. They were all filled with incomprehension.
Their Divine Sense didn't dare to enter the center of the Heavenly Tribulation, but they could see the phenomena of heaven and earth. For each previous stage of the Heavenly Tribulation, they had been sensing the power of the tribulation while silently counting for Li Yan. But how did it suddenly become the final "Heaven and Earth Tribulation" after the "Red Cloud Tribulation"? Thirteen heavenly tribulations were missing.
"After the Red Cloud Tribulation passed just now, there was a pause of six breaths. Could it be that those six breaths were the Inner Demon Tribulation?" Wang Tian's face was solemn. Just then, Zuo Shengyan's voice came over.
"How is that possible? The texts on the Inner Demon Tribulation say that each strike can make a cultivator sink into it, unable to extricate themselves. Even if three tribulations came at once, that amount of time would be far from enough. To break free is incredibly difficult. According to the texts I've read, the fastest person to be invaded by three Inner Demon Tribulations at the same time took at least three hundred breaths to break free. That was Great Master Jiwu of the Jingtu Sect from a long time ago. His wisdom root was recognized as the purest of his time. In total, it took him one thousand three hundred breaths to pass. He himself later said that the Inner Demon Tribulation, aside from the Heaven and Earth Tribulation, was the most terrifying. He was unwilling to mention it again. Even if invaded by a single Inner Demon Tribulation, with his wisdom root, it would take at least sixty breaths to break it…"
Zuo Shengyan was completely shocked. She remembered the tribulation texts she had studied. Her words silenced the others. They had, of course, also read that record, but what was happening before their eyes was completely inexplicable.
In the air, Wei Zhongran and Mo Qing were also utterly astonished, looking with the same surprise at the golden-armored martial general that appeared in the vortex. That was precisely the "Golden-Armor Earth Tribulation" of the Heaven and Earth Tribulation. It was a heavenly tribulation formed from the most vigorous and vast earth-system rules.
"He passed the Inner Demon Tribulation in six breaths just now? This is the first time I've seen it, and the first time I've heard of it! He didn't seem to move his body at all, and his expression didn't change much. Junior Brother, this disciple of yours doesn't just have the Fragmented Poison Body, does he? Has his soul also become so powerful? To withstand the inner demon attack in the Nascent Soul Formation so easily, his soul strength must have at least reached the Nascent Soul level."
Mo Qing was indeed a Nascent Soul cultivator. His insight was incredibly sharp, far beyond what Baili Yuan and the others could hope to match. He saw the real reason Li Yan had passed the Inner Demon Tribulation at a glance, and he was even more shocked. Li Yan's soul could be compared to his own?