Eating Walnuts on the Nuclear Boat

Cultivators call the continent most suited for their survival the Central Divine Continent.

At the summit of the highest peak in the Central Divine Continent, three thousand zhang higher in the frigid void, a mass of yellow-green primordial energy perpetually churned.

At the center of this mass of primordial energy stood a black Dharma Hall.

This black Dharma Hall was majestic and ancient, exuding an indescribable immortal aura.

Only cultivators who could truly set foot inside this black Dharma Hall would see that it was constructed from countless tiny black ants.

No two of these ants were alike, their postures varied as if frozen in time and space. Yet, the ground they formed was flatter and smoother than a mirror, without the slightest gap.

There was no sound within the Dharma Hall, only absolute stillness.

At its center, a Dharma seat formed from yellow-green primordial energy hovered. Seated upon it was a cultivator clad in black robes.

Opposite him, a colossal black scroll floated.

Within the black scroll were many bright points of light. When his gaze fell upon one such point, it would expand infinitely within his pupils, evolving into countless mountains, rivers, and continents of seemingly endless expanse.

The light originated from the cultivators within these continents.

These were the continents with the densest population of cultivators, those under his control.

However, these continents scattered across the immense scroll occupied only a small portion of it.

Besides these bright points of light, the scroll held more points emitting dim, gray flames, as well as halos of black or hazy gray energy that perpetually swirled around them.

These represented the Lands of Chaos, the Desperate Lands, and the Unknown Lands, respectively.

Even these were far from being the main focus on this scroll.

The true protagonists on this scroll were the ever-changing blackness and the occasional flashes of peculiar light.

These signified more planes and laws that had not yet come into contact with this world.

A tiny, bright point of light was suddenly reflected in the cultivator's eyes.

A golden tribulation cloud materialized within that point of light.

This unusual golden hue flickered in the cultivator's eyes for but a brief moment, not drawing his particular attention.

Surrounding the Central Divine Continent, in the four cardinal directions, there were approximately seventy-odd continents with considerable spiritual energy.

The point of light corresponded to the Small Jade Continent. On the black scroll, it was located to the east of the Central Divine Continent, and among all the bright points, it was situated on the very edge.

It was encircled by much gray and black energy, seemingly on the verge of being extinguished entirely within the darkness, yet it remained as bright as ever.

The cultivators of the Small Jade Continent never belittled themselves.

Although among these seventy-odd vast continents, the Small Jade Continent ranked eighth from the bottom in terms of spiritual energy abundance, its recorded history of cultivation showed that it had produced quite a few truly significant figures.

At this moment, above a desolate mountain somewhere in the Small Jade Continent, a nuclear boat about ten feet long hovered silently within a white cloud.

This nuclear boat had been refined at least several hundred years ago, its entire body coated in a thick, purplish-red patina formed from the permeation of spiritual energy.

There were two people on this nuclear boat. At the front, at the bow, was an old Daoist clad in dark robes.

This old Daoist had white hair and beard, a gaunt face, and an air of immortal bone and Daoist demeanor.

Behind him stood a graceful young girl dressed in a blue Dharma robe. Her eyes were large, her eyelashes long, and she still possessed a hint of childishness.

The old Daoist had been looking at the continuous stretch of desolate mountains below with a grave expression, his gaze flickering as he seemed lost in thought. Suddenly, a crunching sound echoed from behind him.

He turned his head, his eyes bulging instantly. "Lingxiu, what are you doing?"

The girl was cracking walnuts.

If she were cracking walnuts properly, it would be one thing. But this girl had both her arms dangling outside the boat, using her chin to crack the walnuts.

It looked truly bizarre and peculiar.

"Cracking walnuts, what else?"

Seeing the old Daoist look as if he had seen a ghost, the girl appeared unconcerned. "Cracking walnuts on the nuclear boat, isn't that normal? This is a Spiritual Terrace Walnut given to me by Third Uncle-Master. Do you want some?"

"No!" The more the old Daoist looked at the girl, the more speechless he became. "He Lingxiu, He Lingxiu, among all the disciples of my Huayang Sect in terms of aptitude, you are the foremost in the past five hundred years. If Old Ancestor Tonghui cannot break his Golden Core and form a Nascent Soul today, the hope of the Huayang Sect producing a Nascent Soul in the future will fall solely upon you. You must conduct yourself with dignity and not act so strangely."

As soon as he finished speaking, the girl, named He Lingxiu, crunched again, cracking another walnut with her forehead. She said weakly, "How is this strange behavior? At most, it's childish innocence."

"You..."

This old Daoist was True Person Wu Yang, an elder of the Huayang Sect, and a formidable figure within a three-thousand-mile radius. Ordinary disciples of the Huayang Sect wouldn't dare to breathe loudly in his presence, but he was truly at a loss with He Lingxiu. "At your age, how can you still be associated with childish innocence?"

"I joined the sect at five. For the past decade or so, I've spent at least eighty percent of my time cultivating. Excluding that time, my state of mind is equivalent to that of a **-year-old at most. How can I not be considered childishly innocent?" He Lingxiu said as she picked out and ate walnut kernels.

True Person Wu Yang couldn't help but shake his head again, no longer wanting to argue with her.

"Master, do you think there's any possibility of misjudgment regarding this heavenly tribulation?" He Lingxiu suddenly became serious, as if she had completely transformed into someone else.

True Person Wu Yang frowned deeply. "What nonsense are you thinking about now?"

He Lingxiu said earnestly, "A cultivator can have many different facets. You, Master, cannot understand me. Perhaps the laws of the Heavenly Dao cannot understand me either?"

"No heretical talk!" True Person Wu Yang's face turned icy. "Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Spirit Transformation, Annihilation, Mahayana – these seven great realms. Each realm must face a corresponding heavenly tribulation. These are the most fundamental laws of the Heavenly Dao, with no exceptions. It's like how a normal person wouldn't ponder why fish swim in water and not in the sky. Do not waste your time on such fanciful thoughts."

He Lingxiu nodded, seemingly agreeing with his statement, but she still muttered, "But perhaps there are exceptions to everything. Like, I know there's a type of fish in the Northern Darkness Continent called a Kun that flies in the sky?"

"This at most means my example was inappropriate!" True Person Wu Yang was instantly provoked, his anger flaring.

"Let's not talk about that anymore." He Lingxiu waved her hand, seemingly having lost all interest in the topic she had brought up. "After Patriarch Tong Hui fails his tribulation later, what exactly do you want me to collect? Some lightning essence, or fragments of his unique magical treasures?"

"You..." True Person Wu Yang was instantly choked with anger.

He Lingxiu knew what he was thinking and scoffed, "Master, there's no need for us to hide things from each other. Let's be direct. Although our Huayang Sect is one of the seventy-two orthodox immortal sects of Minor Jade Continent, what is the status of Minor Jade Continent among the many continents? Our Huayang Sect is originally a branch of Difeng Mountain in Central Divine Continent. No one has achieved Nascent Soul in five hundred years. The entire Huayang Sect doesn't even have a suitable spiritual land for tribulation. We're also afraid of the Great Tribulation damaging the sect's numerous formations. Patriarch Tong Hui choosing such a wild place to secretly undergo his tribulation, he's probably afraid of being schemed against. The Sect Master specifically permitted you to bring me to witness his tribulation, naturally so that the benefits would stay within the family, allowing me to gain as much advantage as possible."

The anger in True Person Wu Yang's eyes completely disappeared. After listening, he was silent for a moment and said, "Since you've thought so thoroughly, if Patriarch Tong Hui truly fails his tribulation, you don't need to worry about his other possessions, but there is one item, the Yin Thunder Umbrella, that you must obtain."

"The Yin Thunder Umbrella, a spiritual treasure rumored to have fallen into our Huayang Sect, yet no one in the sect seems to have ever seen it. So, Patriarch Tong Hui actually possesses such a spiritual treasure."

He Lingxiu nodded, a half-smile on her face, "But Master, didn't you say only you and I came?"

True Person Wu Yang was slightly taken aback. He followed He Lingxiu's gaze and saw that from a white cloud to his left and front, a patch of green suddenly appeared. A large gourd of jade-green color seemed to emerge from the void out of nowhere.

Six people stood on the large gourd. One was an old Daoist with a round face, dressed in golden robes. The other five were young men and women slightly older than He Lingxiu.

"What a coincidence, Junior Brother Wu Yang is also here?"

This round-faced old Daoist looked at True Person Wu Yang and He Lingxiu with a smile, though his expression was somewhat awkward.

He was True Person Qing Yang, also an elder of the Huayang Sect. The five young people behind him were all his personal disciples.

True Person Qing Yang's cultivation was slightly inferior to True Person Wu Yang's, but he had entered the sect decades earlier. Moreover, the personal disciples he had taken in over the years were extremely outstanding within the Huayang Sect. In terms of cultivation progress, He Lingxiu was undoubtedly the foremost in the Huayang Sect. However, before He Lingxiu's emergence, the cream of the crop among the Qi Refining stage cultivators in the Huayang Sect were these five personal disciples behind him.

Before He Lingxiu joined the sect, these five personal disciples even held the title of the Five Sons of Huayang. Therefore, before True Person Wu Yang had He Lingxiu as his personal disciple, True Person Qing Yang's status in the Huayang Sect was actually above True Person Wu Yang's.

True Person Wu Yang's face was somewhat grim. Before he could speak, He Lingxiu had already grinned and bowed to True Person Qing Yang, "Greetings, Martial Uncle Qing Yang."

True Person Qing Yang didn't expect He Lingxiu to be so polite to him, and a hint of joy appeared on his face. However, He Lingxiu had already turned to the five personal disciples behind him and said, "I don't care how you found out Patriarch Tong Hui is undergoing his tribulation here, but if you try to snatch things from me later, friendship aside, I won't be polite."

With two crisp snaps, "Crack," "Crack."

As she finished speaking, she crushed two walnuts in her hand.

The five sons of Huayang had excellent self-control. Hearing her naked threat, they merely smiled slightly. The eldest disciple among the five, Qi Jianzhu, said with a smile, "Junior Sister He, we just happened to encounter the Patriarch emerging from seclusion, and thus learned..."

"So you mean you were just passing by and happened to meet him?"

His words were interrupted by He Lingxiu before he could finish. The young girl, whose expression could change several times within a single breath, pointed to the sky around them and sneered, "Then there are too many people just 'passing by.' Does our Sect Master have some peculiar hobby of secretly informing others of our sect's secrets?"

"What do you mean?"

True Person Wu Yang and the others were stunned. In the blink of an eye, the clouds in the sky constantly shifted. Countless fine bolts of lightning appeared in the sky, which was as clear as a mirror. In the surrounding sky, clusters of brilliant light appeared along with fluctuating spiritual pressure.

Golden tribulation clouds began to appear in the high sky. Centered around these golden tribulation clouds, a massive funnel seemed to form in the higher void, constantly sucking in air from all directions. The terrifying suction force caused countless visible wind currents to appear in the sky.

Under the scouring of the wind currents, flying magical treasures in the surrounding sky were constantly revealed, their brilliant lights flashing. There were at least several hundred of them. Viewed from a distance, it looked as if a sea of stars had suddenly descended around this barren mountain.

True Person Wu Yang and True Person Qing Yang felt their scalps tingle.

Tribulation chasers had existed since ancient times.

The fall of a great cultivator meant the return of countless essences of heaven and earth to the world. Just like a whale falling in the ocean, it often brought immense benefits to the cultivators present.

Some practitioners with unique methods could foresee heavenly tribulations in advance, and they would immediately rush to where the tribulation was to await benefits.

However, under normal circumstances, for a Golden Core cultivator to secretly undergo tribulation, at most a dozen tribulation chasers would be able to arrive by the time the tribulation truly descended. How could so many people appear in advance?