Cultivation: When you take things to the extreme

Chapter 282: Chapter 187: Hearing the Way_1

“Ninety-nine Heavenly Tribulations!”

“What did he do?”

In the Tianshu Sect, the shock was even greater.

Yunji was flabbergasted, Jing Yue was stunned, and the Nascent Soul Old Demon found it unbelievable.

The first tribulation, the Nascent Soul Tribulation, was logical.

The second tribulation, the Spiritual Treasure Tribulation, also made sense.

But this third tribulation… how could it be explained?

Did he refine a second Spiritual Treasure in addition to that seal?

How could that be possible!

Even if he could multitask and refine two Spiritual Treasures at the same time, there wouldn’t be enough materials in the Void Spirit Realm for him, right?

Moreover, this third tribulation, with the number of ninety-nine absolutes, had its might increased by several folds, signifying that the one undergoing the tribulation had terrifyingly extreme potential and capability, far beyond what the forty-nine or sixty-nine tribulations could compare to.

If the ninety-nine tribulations were indicative of a treasure tribulation, then the one undergoing it must have at least a Supreme Grade Spiritual Treasure; it would also be reasonable to think that it might even be a legendary Immortal Spirit Instrument.

So, how could this be explained?

This Void Spirit Realm is barren, with limited resources.

He didn’t start a massacre and take all the life energy of the realm.

How could it be possible for him to refine a Middle Grade Spiritual Treasure, let alone a Supreme Grade Spiritual Treasure or an Immortal Spirit Instrument, after having done so?

A fine lady can’t cook without rice; where would he get the resources or materials from?

It’s inexplicable, completely inexplicable.

“It’s not the tribulation of Spiritual Treasures, it definitely isn’t!”

“If not Spiritual Treasures, then it’s Pill Treasures, Talisman Treasures, Formation Treasures…”

“No, whether it’s pills or talismans, they all need material supplies!”

“He extracted the Earth Aura from the Spirit Land of Liang Country, refined materials from the Hundred Thousand Mountains for ten years before he obtained enough for a Middle Grade Spiritual Treasure; where else could there be a place, where else could there be resources for refining a second Spiritual Treasure or other treasures?”

“If it’s not a tribulation of beings or objects, then it’s…”

Yunji looked up, Jing Yue turned his gaze, and in the moment their eyes met, both shrank back.

“A Tribulation of Cultivation Skills!”

“A Tribulation of Divine Skills!”

“Heavenly Sword!!!”

“Heavenly Sword?”

At the foot of Green Jade Mountain, Xiao Miao was surprised.

“Only such an explanation could make sense.”

Elder Zhen said in a deep voice, “Cultivation Skills Tribulation, Divine Skills Tribulation – is this person’s Heavenly Sword Cultivation also advancing to the fourth tier?”

“Below the fourth tier, it’s called cultivating skills; above the fourth tier, it’s referred to as Divine Skills!”

“A third-tier Heavenly Sword wielding profound spells and techniques can dominate within the Golden Core level, even defeating Nascent Souls in cross-tier battles.”

“A fourth-tier Heavenly Sword, where skills touch upon the divine, I’m afraid no one within the Nascent Soul level can block him, even if a Divinity Transformation comes close… how the hell can Divinity Transformation enter this Void Spirit Realm?”

“If he survives this tribulation, he will be invincible, and overturning the Tianshu Sect will be a mere flip of his hand.”

“No, no, no, behind the Tianshu Sect is the Big Dipper Immortal Sect. If the Tianshu is destroyed, that little bastard may provoke the Big Dipper Immortal Sect. They might just go berserk and directly use the Big Dipper Formation to blast open the Void Spirit Realm, and the consequences would be unimaginable.”

“What the hell does this old ghost want to do?!”

Elder Zhen’s words were in disarray, and his formation was also in chaos.

At that moment, Xiao Miao appeared more composed, gazing at the heavy layers of tribulation clouds, “How powerful is the ninety-nine Heavenly Tribulation?”

“Do you even need to ask?”

Elder Zhen said irritably, “Even Mahayana True Immortals, when undergoing Ascension, are not few in number who are struck dead by the ninety-nine Heavenly Tribulations. Ninety-nine absolute tribulations cutting off the way of the immortals, you think it’s a joke? Although he’s only Nascent Soul level now and won’t face its full power, it’s still a huge challenge, not to mention…”

Xiao Miao was surprised and pressed on, “Not to mention what?”

Elder Zhen spoke gravely, “Not to mention that what he’s facing is the Cultivation Skills Divine Magic Tribulation!”

“Cultivation Skills Divine Magic Tribulation?”

The Heavenly Tribulation raged, pressing down menacingly.

All sides speculated, with doubt and unease.

In Green Jade Mountain, in front of the Spiritual Treasure, Xu Yang stood with his hands behind his back, still calm.

Tribulations fall into three categories:

Living beings that are cultivators, external objects that are treasures, and cultivation skills and divine magic.

Of these, the most difficult to overcome is the Cultivation Skills Divine Magic Tribulation.

Because whether it’s living beings or external treasures, they all have a certain foundation; even if you do nothing and just stand there, relying on your own strength, you can withstand several bolts of tribulation lightning.

But Cultivation Skills Divine Magic can’t do that; it’s a pure “technical” assessment. The Divine Magic Tribulation Lightning is endlessly variable, and its might is terrifying. If your skills are inadequate and your divine magic insufficient, solely relying on yourself and making external things resist, it will be like a formation’s tribulation, continuously enhancing the tribulation’s power.

In the end, either you fail the tribulation and turn to ash, or you barely pass it at great cost.

This is the Cultivation Skills Divine Magic Tribulation.

Therefore, among cultivators, there’s a saying: “Cultivation is hard, refining treasures harder, and overcoming Divine Magic Tribulation is like ascending to heaven!”

Cultivating is hard, refining treasures is harder, and passing Divine Magic Tribulation is like ascending to the heavens! Compared to Spiritual Treasures, Cultivation Skills and Divine Magic are even harder to cultivate.

Now, Xu Yang was not only cultivating Divine Skills but also establishing a new technique in the world.

Tiangong summoning natural creation, Spirit-Treasure Mech Armor – if this method succeeds, it’ll have a huge impact on the world.

After all, this technique consumes a lot of resources, pooling the power of the lower tiers to oppose the mighty ones at the top. If successful, it will require immense consumption. If not rigorously tested, from the perspective of the world’s rules, it would be quite irresponsible.

Thus, the ninety-nine tribulations were within reason.

Xu Yang didn’t care, he wasn’t afraid, on the contrary, he was somewhat looking forward to it.

Heavenly Tribulation Creation, misfortune and fortune coexist.

Even within the Ninety-nine Absolute Tribulations, there was a glimmer of life.

Having gone through this tribulation, by Heaven and Earth’s Creation, his Heavenly Crafting Technique, his Spiritual Treasure Technique, would inevitably progress even further.

With this thought in his mind, Xu Yang was even more expectant and immediately closed his eyes, concentrating fully.

At the same time…

“Boom!”

The Earth Aura descended, and the thunderous fire startled away. The golden mountain hanging in the void burst into dazzling brilliance like a proud sun.

Within the golden light, the Spiritual Treasure took shape, and thousands of magic artifacts seemed to fuse into one, quickly transforming into a human form.

The figure formed, and its appearance changed in the blink of an eye. In front of everyone appeared a hundred-zhang tall Taoist Man.

It was the Thunder Lightning Mana King—Shi Jian!

Draped in a black robe, he was majestic as a mountain and seemed to wield the technique of heaven’s phenomena and earth.

However, the Taoist Man swirled his sleeve and his hundred-zhang stature rapidly shrunk to that of an ordinary person in the blink of an eye.

The Art of Divine Abilities, the power of creation, one could glimpse a fraction of it.

Thereupon, the Taoist Man stepped lightly on the void, moving away from the mountain.

The third tribulation, also the last.

Ninety-nine Absolute Tribulations, extreme to the utmost.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

Green Jade Mountain, the thousands of miles long Green Jade Mountain, now lay in the shadow of the tribulation tide.

Dark clouds enshrouded the sky, a grand dark day, like the sea coming in waves, ready to pour down from above.

Knowing that the Heavenly Tribulation targeted only the Taoist Man and would not harm the innocent, witnessing such a scene, feeling such might, everyone was still shivering with terror and could not help themselves.

Heaven’s might, at this moment, one could see the true clues.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

Lightning flashed and thunder roared, the booming sound was like rolling thunder; amidst the vast tribulation clouds, there was a display of myriad colors.

There was light of black and white, the Qi of Yin and Yang, merging into one color of Chaos Yuan.

There was light of azure, red, and yellow, joining with black and white, forming the affiliation of the Five Elements.

There were Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water, the Four Laws acting in union, replaying the creation of heaven and earth.

Myriad colors, thunder of ten thousand jun, the power of the Three Thousand Great Dao intertwined with the thunderbolt’s might of heaven and earth.

This was the 99 Heaven Tribulations!

Compared to the 49 Heaven Tribulations and the 69 Heavenly Tribulation, the difference was far more than just a few dozen tribulation thunders.

It was a difference both in quantity and quality.

No wonder even Mahayana Immortals lament that it is difficult to tread the path of the Ninety-nine Absolute Tribulations.

Yin and Yang of life and death, the Five Elements and Four Laws, the Three Thousand Great Dao thunderbolt creation.

In a moment…

Black and white twin fish chasing each other’s tails, Yin and Yang with Chaos Yuan Qi roamed freely.

Azure, red, yellow, and white thunderous light, the five colors swept through like a plow opening cavities.

And there was the emergence of Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water, causing dragons and snakes to startle and tremble in all directions.

The sky turned dark, and the earth murky, sand flying and stones running rampage.

Golden snakes wildly dancing, dragons soaring and sea raging.

Chaos, chaos, chaos, strong, strong, strong, the number ninety-nine, the Absolute Tribulations.

Such heavenly might, just one glance, was enough to make one’s liver and gallbladder split with terror.

However, the Taoist Man was fearless, the cultivator undaunted, stepping straight up to the azure clouds.

The next instant…

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

The brewing was complete, the tribulation number instantly activated, myriad colors poured down from the heavens, eighty-one tribulation thunders taking their turns to explode out.

The Taoist Man raised his hand, fully responding, receiving the strikes from the heavenly tribulation, feeling the thunderbolt’s creation.

Using Cultivation Skills Divine Magic to withstand the tribulation, relying on one’s own Cultivation to endure the hits, and using external objects for defense, were all inferior methods of Crossing the Tribulation.

Only by using Divine Skills, outsmarting cleverness with cleverness, and transforming skill with skill, was the superior method of the Mana Point.

It’s like in an exam; using external objects is akin to cheating, which will inevitably lead to severe punishment. Even if one is not expelled (which would mean death and the extinguishing of one’s Dao), one would still suffer heavy losses and gain no scores, equivalent to Crossing the Tribulation in vain.

Only by fairly and squarely using Cultivation Skills Divine Magic to pass through the Heaven and Earth’s tribulations could one receive its creation.

How to use them?

How others did it, Xu Yang did not know, but he was clear about himself.

As for him, this tribulation was particular to his Heavenly Craft Method and Spiritual Treasure Technique.

Thus, he could only deploy the Heavenly Crafting Technique, controlling the Spirit-Treasure Mech Armor with all his might, to accept the refining and assessment of the Heavenly Tribulation.

The profound secrets within were unknown to outsiders.

So at this moment, in others’ eyes…

“Not drawing the Heavenly Sword?”

“Enduring the thunder tribulation directly?”

“This…”

Several people frowned, uncertain and surprised, but they dared not jump to conclusions rashly.

Within the tribulation clouds, amidst the sea of thunder, the Taoist Man maneuvered the thunderbolt, utterly forgetting himself.

Heavenly Tribulation Creation, truly a creation.

In the midst of being struck by the tribulation thunder, the deficiencies in the Heavenly Craft Method, the weak points of the Spiritual Treasure, many issues that Xu Yang had not discovered, or had found difficult to solve, the problems he was struggling to address were now exposed.

This was very dangerous, one misstep could result in the destruction of treasure and loss of life, death and the extinguishing of one’s Dao.

But it was also very fortunate.

Indeed, fortunate, the happiness of “learning”!

In this Heavenly Tribulation, amidst the thunderbolts, Xu Yang felt his comprehension, his potential, his mental capacity pushed to the limit. Those problems which he couldn’t understand, couldn’t grasp, couldn’t penetrate, were now easily resolved and became clear to him.

The shortcomings of the Heavenly Craft Method, the weaknesses of the Spiritual Treasure Technique, and his own various issues, at this moment, all had a direction, a plan, a clear path and route…

The mechanism of heaven and earth, the principle of the Great Dao…

Is this what the Heavenly Tribulation is?

Heaven and earth as the teacher, tribulation as the test!

In just a brief moment, a few rounds of thunderbolts’ assaults could equal hundreds to thousands of years of strenuous research and practice.

With this, how could one not be intoxicated?

Immersed in this ocean of “knowledge,” “principles,” and “mysteries,” such a sense of happiness is likely incomprehensible to those who are not cultivators.

To learn of the way in the morning, and one could die content in the evening, that is the feeling.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

Who knows how long, the clouds dissipated, the rain stopped, lightning vanished, and thunder quieted.

In the sky, only one person remained, as if awakening from a dream.

The Taoist Man was silent, silent for a long time.

All around was stillness, a blanket of silence.

And so time passed, for who knows how long.

Finally…

“Heaven and Earth Tribulation Creation Skill, Thunderbolt Fire Refining Divine Magic Skill!”

“In dreams of millet from eons before, only today the Great Dao’s chapter is attained!”

“Wonderful!”

“Hahaha!”

A hearty laugh, resonating and carefree, the Taoist Man swept his sleeves to return to the mountain, leaving behind laughter reverberating through the ten directions of heaven and earth.