Eating Walnuts on a Nuclear Boat

Cultivators called the continent best suited to their survival the Central Divine Continent.

At the summit of the tallest mountain in the Central Divine Continent, three thousand zhang higher up in the desolate, frigid void, a mass of blue-yellow Vital Energy constantly churned.

At the heart of that Vital Energy stood a black dharma hall.

The black dharma hall was majestic and ancient, suffused with an indescribable immortal aura.

Only cultivators who truly set foot within that black dharma hall could see that it was piled together from countless tiny black ants.

No two ants were alike, each frozen in a different posture as though time and space had suddenly solidified around them. Yet the floor they formed was smoother and flatter than a mirror, without the slightest seam.

There was not a sound in the dharma hall, only absolute dead silence.

At its center was a throne formed from condensed blue-yellow Vital Energy, upon which sat a cultivator in black robes.

Suspended before him was an enormous black scroll.

Within the black scroll were countless brilliant points of light. Whenever his gaze settled on one of them, it continuously enlarged in his pupils, evolving into innumerable mountains and rivers, becoming a continent with no visible end.

The light came from the cultivators within those continents.

These were the continents where cultivators were most densely gathered and held dominion.

Yet among the continents scattered across that enormous scroll, these occupied only a tiny portion.

Besides those bright points of light, the scroll held many more points emanating dim gray flames, as well as halos perpetually entwined with black vapor-flames or hazy gray vapor-flames.

They respectively represented the Chaos Lands, the Desperate Lands, and unknown lands.

Nor were these the protagonists of the scroll.

The true protagonists of the scroll were the ever-changing blackness and the peculiar rays of light that occasionally flickered through it.

They represented more planes and laws that had yet to come into contact with this world.

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

A golden tribulation cloud formed within that point.

That abnormal glint of gold appeared in the cultivator's pupils for only an instant and did not draw any particular attention from him.

Surrounding the Central Divine Continent in all four directions were roughly seventy-odd continents with decent spiritual energy.

That point of light corresponded to Lesser Jade Continent. On the black scroll, it lay east of the Central Divine Continent, at the very edge among all those bright points.

It was entwined by much gray and black vapor, seemingly about to be utterly extinguished within the darkness, yet it had always remained as bright as ever.

The cultivators of Lesser Jade Continent had never belittled themselves either.

Though among those seventy-odd vast and boundless continents, Lesser Jade Continent ranked eighth from last in spiritual energy abundance, its recorded cultivation history had produced quite a few truly great figures.

At that moment, above a barren mountain somewhere on Lesser Jade Continent, a Nuclear Boat roughly one zhang long floated silently within a white cloud.

The Nuclear Boat had been refined at least several centuries ago, its entire body coated in a thick purplish-red patina formed by spiritual energy saturation.

There were two people aboard the Nuclear Boat. At the prow stood an old Daoist in a black Daoist robe.

His beard and hair were both white, his face lean and refined, and he possessed the bearing of an immortal and the bones of the Dao.

Behind him stood a delicate young girl in a green dharma robe. Her eyes were large, her lashes long, and a trace of childishness still lingered about her.

The old Daoist had been solemnly watching the stretch of barren mountains below, his gaze faintly flickering as if he were pondering something. Then, all of a sudden, crunching sounds rang out behind him.

When he turned around, his eyes nearly bulged from their sockets. "Lingxiu, what are you doing?"

The girl was cracking walnuts.

Cracking walnuts properly would have been one thing, but her arms dangled outside the boat as she swung them back and forth, while she used her chin to crack the walnuts.

It looked indescribably bizarre.

"Cracking walnuts. What else could I be doing?"

Seeing the old Daoist staring as if he had seen a ghost, the girl looked utterly unconcerned. "Cracking walnuts on a Nuclear Boat is perfectly normal, isn't it? These are Spirit Platform walnuts Third Uncle-Master gave me. Do you want some?"

"No!" The more the old Daoist looked at her, the more speechless he became. "He Lingxiu, He Lingxiu. Among all disciples of Huayang Sect over the past five hundred years, none possesses talent greater than yours. If Old Ancestor Tong Hui cannot shatter his core and form an infant today, then Huayang Sect's hopes of producing a Nascent Soul cultivator in the future will rest upon you alone. You must conduct yourself with dignity. Do not keep acting so strangely for no reason."

The moment he finished speaking, the girl named He Lingxiu cracked another walnut against her forehead and said listlessly, "How is this strange? At most, it counts as childish innocence?"

"You..."

This old Daoist was True Person Wu Yang, an elder of Huayang Sect and a formidable figure within a radius of three thousand li. Ordinary Huayang Sect disciples scarcely dared breathe in his presence, yet he was truly helpless before He Lingxiu. "At your age, how can you possibly still have anything to do with childish innocence?"

"I entered the sect at five. Over the past ten-odd years, I've spent at least eighty percent of my time cultivating. Take away that time, and I'm at most equivalent to a **-year-old in temperament. Why can't that count as childish innocence?" He Lingxiu said as she picked out walnut meat to eat.

True Person Wu Yang could not help shaking his head again and no longer wished to argue with her.

"Master, do you think it's possible for a Heavenly Tribulation to make a misjudgment?" He Lingxiu suddenly turned serious, seeming like an entirely different person.

True Person Wu Yang furrowed his brow deeply. "What nonsense are you thinking now?"

He Lingxiu said earnestly, "A cultivator can have many different sides. Even you, Master, can't understand me. Perhaps the Heavenly Dao laws can't understand me either?"

"Do not spout heretical nonsense!" True Person Wu Yang's face turned icy. "Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Spirit Transformation, Nirvana, and Mahayana—these seven great realms each require one to face a corresponding Heavenly Tribulation. This is the most fundamental Heavenly Dao law, and there has never been an exception. Just as a normal person would not ponder why fish swim in water instead of through the sky, do not waste your time on such wild imaginings."

He Lingxiu nodded, seeming to agree with him, but she still muttered, "But perhaps everything has exceptions. I know that in Northern Abyss Continent, there is a fish called a kun that flies through the sky, isn't there?"

"That only proves my example was poorly chosen!" True Person Wu Yang was immediately provoked into simmering anger.

"Let's not talk about that." He Lingxiu waved a hand, seeming entirely uninterested in the topic she had raised herself. "When Old Ancestor Tong Hui fails his tribulation later, do you want me to take the chance to collect some thunder astral energy, or fragments of some unique magical treasure of his?"

"You..." True Person Wu Yang was instantly choked speechless.

He Lingxiu knew what he was thinking and instead gave a scornful laugh. "Master, there is no need for concealment between us. Plain people do not speak in riddles. Though Huayang Sect is among the orthodox Seventy-two Immortal Sects of Lesser Jade Continent, what standing does Lesser Jade Continent have among all the continents? Huayang Sect was originally a branch of Difei Mountain in the Central Divine Continent. No one has achieved Nascent Soul for five hundred years, and the entire Huayang Sect does not even have a suitable spiritual ground for tribulation. We even fear that the mighty great tribulation will ruin the sect's many arrays. Old Ancestor Tong Hui chose such a wilderness to undergo tribulation in secret, likely because he fears others taking the chance to plot against him. The Sect Master specially permitted you to bring me here to watch his tribulation, naturally because the rich water should not flow into outsiders' fields—so I can gather as many benefits as possible."

The anger in True Person Wu Yang's eyes completely vanished. After listening, he fell silent for a moment before saying, "Since you understand matters so thoroughly, if Old Ancestor Tong Hui truly fails his tribulation, you need not concern yourself with his other belongings. But there is one Yin Thunder Umbrella that you must obtain."

"The Yin Thunder Umbrella—the Spirit Treasure said to have fallen into Huayang Sect, though seemingly no one in Huayang Sect has ever seen it. So Old Ancestor Tong Hui truly possesses such a Spirit Treasure."

He Lingxiu nodded, a half-smile on her face. "However, Master, didn't you say only the two of us came from Huayang Sect?"

True Person Wu Yang was slightly startled. Following He Lingxiu's gaze, he saw a patch of green suddenly bloom within a white cloud ahead and to the left, and an enormous jade-green gourd seemed to emerge from thin air.

Six people stood atop the huge gourd. One was a round-faced old Daoist dressed in golden dharma robes, while the other five were young men and women slightly older than He Lingxiu.

"What a coincidence. Junior Brother Wu Yang is here as well?"

The round-faced old Daoist smiled broadly at True Person Wu Yang and He Lingxiu, though his expression carried some embarrassment.

He was True Person Qingyang, also an elder of Huayang Sect. The five young men and women behind him were all his personal disciples.

True Person Qingyang's cultivation was somewhat inferior to True Person Wu Yang's, but he had entered the sect several decades earlier. Moreover, the personal disciples he had taken in over the years were exceptionally outstanding within Huayang Sect. In terms of cultivation progress, He Lingxiu was undeniably Huayang Sect's foremost disciple, but before she had burst onto the scene, the finest among Huayang Sect's Qi Refining stage cultivators had been the five personal disciples behind him.

Before He Lingxiu entered the sect, those five personal disciples had even borne the title of the Five Elders of Huayang. Thus, before True Person Wu Yang gained He Lingxiu as his personal disciple, True Person Qingyang's standing within Huayang Sect had actually surpassed his.

True Person Wu Yang's expression darkened. Before he could speak, He Lingxiu had already grinned and bowed to True Person Qingyang. "Greetings, Uncle-Master Qingyang."

True Person Qingyang had not expected He Lingxiu to be so courteous. Just as delight rose on his face, He Lingxiu turned to the five personal disciples behind him and said, "I don't care how you learned that Old Ancestor Tong Hui is undergoing tribulation here, but if you try to snatch anything from me later, acquaintance or not, I will not be polite."

Crack! Crack!

As she spoke, she crushed two more walnuts in her hand.

The Five Elders of Huayang were all well-mannered. Hearing her utterly barefaced threat, they merely smiled faintly. Qi Jianzhu, the eldest among the five, said with a smile, "Junior Sister He, we merely happened to encounter the ancestor leaving seclusion and only then learned..."

"So you mean you happened to pass by and run into this?"

Before he could finish, He Lingxiu interrupted him. The girl who could change several faces in the span of a single breath pointed around at the sky and sneered, "Then there are far too many people who happened to pass by. Could it be that our Sect Master has some peculiar hobby and enjoys secretly telling others the sect's secrets?"

"What do you mean?"

True Person Wu Yang and the others were all taken aback. In the blink of an eye, the clouds overhead began to shift continuously. Countless thin arcs of lightning appeared in the mirror-like sky, while clusters of Huaguang emerged amid constantly changing spiritual pressure in the surrounding heavens.

Golden tribulation clouds continuously appeared high above. Centered around them, an enormous funnel seemed to form in the higher void, endlessly drawing in air from every direction. The terrifying suction produced countless visible astral winds in the sky.

Under the scouring astral winds, flying magical treasures in the surrounding sky continuously revealed themselves. Huaguang flashed everywhere—there were at least several hundred of them. From afar, it looked as if a sea of stars had suddenly descended around these barren mountains.

True Person Wu Yang and True Person Qingyang both felt their scalps go numb.

Tribulation chasers had existed since ancient times.

The death of a great cultivator meant that countless essences of heaven and earth returned to heaven and earth. Like a whale fall formed after a whale died in the ocean, it often brought immense benefits to cultivators fortunate enough to be present.

Some cultivators who practiced unique methods could foresee a Heavenly Tribulation in advance. Wherever a tribulation arose, they would immediately hurry there to await benefits.

Yet under normal circumstances, when a Golden Core cultivator secretly underwent tribulation, it would already be remarkable if ten or so tribulation chasers arrived by the time the Heavenly Tribulation truly descended. How could so many people have appeared in advance?