Difficult to Communicate

Old Ancestor Tong Hui's consciousness was already hazy, the sound of thunder seeming to invade his sea of consciousness, making it rumble.

His internal organs felt as if they were being burned by a raging fire, his flesh and bones on the verge of complete disintegration.

The sword light he controlled continued to shoot straight upwards, but where it was aimed, whether at the vast, unseen Heavenly Dao or at the heavy, leaden golden tribulation clouds, he himself didn't know.

Boom!

A tremendous tremor sounded above his body once more.

His Dharma Sword could no longer withstand the assault of the tribulation lightning and shattered in the sky.

At the same time, the Yin Thunder Umbrella, which had shielded him from most of the tribulation lightning during this stage of the thunder tribulation, also completely cracked. Its broken ribs, along with the tattered fabric, fell despondently amidst the rolling thunder.

"What?"

Just then, Old Ancestor Tong Hui felt the pressure suddenly lessen. The blue lightning that had been suppressing the Nascent Soul in his Qi Sea began to dissipate. His muddled sea of consciousness suddenly cleared.

"Is the tribulation over?"

In that very instant, he sensed a figure had appeared beneath the Yin Thunder Umbrella.

"Let's go!"

Simultaneously, He Lingxiu in the sky let out a low command to True Person Wu Yang.

"Now?"

True Person Wu Yang was startled. Before he could even activate the Nuclear Boat, the golden tribulation clouds in the sky began to dissipate.

"Who is that!"

"The Heavenly Tribulation is over, did Old Ancestor Tong Hui successfully pass it?"

"The Yin Thunder Umbrella, that person is snatching the Yin Thunder Umbrella!"

"Someone is actually snatching the Yin Thunder Umbrella at this moment!"

A wave of uncontrollable exclamations erupted in the surrounding sky.

As the tribulation clouds and lightning rapidly dispersed, everyone saw that the severely damaged Yin Thunder Umbrella had been grasped in someone's hand before it could even truly land.

The tribulation clouds continued to dissipate quickly, and a vast amount of spiritual energy surged towards the center of the tribulation.

Under the influence of incredibly profound Daoist rhymes, this spiritual energy formed myriad colored treasure flowers and various esoteric, unutterable ancient talismans and other phenomena.

Although the interruption of the tribulation was abrupt, all of this served as a reminder to everyone present that just as the tribulation was about to annihilate Old Ancestor Tong Hui, it had suddenly ended. Old Ancestor Tong Hui had successfully passed the tribulation and was now absorbing spiritual energy and fragmented tribulation lightning, refining his Nascent Soul.

Not only did this person dare to approach Old Ancestor Tong Hui while the Heavenly Tribulation was still present, but now, facing a True Nascent Soul cultivator who had successfully passed tribulation, he dared to brazenly snatch his artifact. The words "audacious to the extreme" couldn't even begin to describe it.

"Cough... cough..."

Wang Li coughed awkwardly twice.

Although they had exchanged signals and confirmed that his senior sister wasn't having an episode at this moment, as a cultivator at the Qi Refining stage, brazenly snatching an artifact from a cultivator who had just passed tribulation right under everyone's noses felt a bit excessive.

"What cultivation level?"

"Fifth or sixth layer of Qi Refining?"

At this moment, another uproar spread through the surrounding sky. Facing the already successful Old Ancestor Tong Hui, even experienced tribulation chasers dared not approach the mountain easily. However, this didn't stop them from using various techniques and divination artifacts to observe Wang Li's cultivation.

"What is he doing now?"

These people employed various means, and upon discovering that Wang Li was at most a cultivator at the sixth layer of Qi Refining, they already found it unbelievable. What left them even more dumbfounded was that Wang Li was already quickly sifting through the scorched earth around him, seemingly picking up fragments of artifacts again.

"Master, what are you waiting for, New Year's?"

He Lingxiu looked at Wang Li, who was busy on the mountain below, and suddenly chuckled.

Only then did the somewhat stunned True Person Wu Yang and True Person Qingyang react.

While the rogue cultivators and cultivators from other sects dared not approach Old Ancestor Tong Hui's mountain, they, as members of the Huayang Sect, naturally had no fear of angering Old Ancestor Tong Hui and facing future retaliation.

The two flying artifacts of the Huayang Sect then descended like shooting stars towards the ground.

Wang Li's movements were swift.

By the time the divine senses of the two Golden Core cultivators from the Huayang Sect swept over him, he had already completed the additional task assigned by his senior sister, collecting the fragments of the crimson ancient mirror.

As usual, it was time for his senior sister to make her appearance.

But as Wang Li's gaze swept around, he couldn't see his senior sister anywhere.

He felt a pang of helplessness, but without any hesitation, he straightened his body, looked towards the origin of the two flying artifacts from the Huayang Sect, and said loudly, "Junior Wang Li of the Profound Heaven Sect, may I know which senior is arriving?"

"Profound Heaven Sect, Wang Li?"

True Person Wu Yang and True Person Qingyang were both startled, feeling that the name sounded familiar, as if they had heard it somewhere before.

He Lingxiu, standing behind True Person Wu Yang, who had been wearing a smiling, innocent expression, suddenly her eyes lit up, as if she had thought of something.

"Wang Li... why does this child's name sound so familiar."

"A disciple of the Profound Heaven Sect, Wang Li! That's right, isn't he the disciple from the solitary peak of the Profound Heaven Sect, and doesn't he have a senior sister named Lü Shenliang!"

"You mean that female cultivator from the Profound Heaven Sect who would self-detonate her Golden Core at the slightest disagreement?"

"This..."

The cultivators gathered around the mountain peak erupted in another uproar.

"True Person, what exactly is this Profound Heaven Sect disciple's background?" Behind True Person Baixi, the young boy named Li Youque looked at Wang Li curiously, a smile even creeping onto his lips.

Even he could guess that the cultivators on the two flying artifacts were from the Huayang Sect.

This Profound Heaven Sect cultivator had snatched Old Ancestor Tong Hui's artifact right in front of the Huayang Sect cultivators, and then had the audacity to ask who they were.

This seemed... a bit too much.

True Person Baixi's expression turned strange.

He gazed at Wang Li on the scorched earth, and after several breaths, he slowly exhaled, saying in a deep voice, "The Profound Heaven Sect, like our Xianke Sect and this Huayang Sect, is one of the seventy-two orthodox immortal sects of the Lesser Jade Continent. Among all these orthodox immortal sects, the Profound Heaven Sect is currently at the lower end in terms of strength. But you must remember, just as the Huayang Sect was previously weak but is now likely to break into the top ten of the seventy-two immortal sects thanks to Old Ancestor Tong Hui's successful Nascent Soul formation today, a sect's prosperity often depends on the few cultivators with the highest cultivation within it. The Profound Heaven Sect may be weak now, but in the history of the Lesser Jade Continent, two of the three most powerful cultivators originated from the Profound Heaven Sect."

Li Youque was immediately astonished and said, "Then it naturally has a very deep foundation."

True Person Baixi subconsciously shook his head lightly, but he didn't want to delve deeper into this issue with Li Youque at the moment. He simply continued, "This Profound Heaven Sect disciple, Wang Li, has a senior sister named Lü Shenliang. If the rumors are true, his senior sister has a natural immortal spiritual root and astonishing talent. However, she failed her tribulation during Foundation Establishment and Golden Core formation. Not only was her Golden Core damaged, but her soul was also severely injured, and her mind became unstable. Even within the Profound Heaven Sect, she would occasionally threaten to self-detonate her Golden Core without warning. To prevent her from causing trouble, the Profound Heaven Sect allocated a solitary peak for her cultivation and prohibited her from entering other peaks. The original disciples on that solitary peak were also reassigned to other peaks. Wang Li is said to be the only disciple who remained on the solitary peak."

Li Youque's eyes widened. "True Person, isn't Wang Li afraid of being harmed by her?"

True Person Baixi looked at Wang Li from afar, his eyes showing a mix of admiration and sympathy, but he simply and calmly replied, "It is said that Wang Li is quite capable. His senior sister has had several episodes where she nearly self-detonated her Golden Core, but he managed to save her each time."

"So it's a young friend from the Profound Heaven Sect."

True Person Wuyang had found Wang Li's name familiar from the start. Hearing the voices from the surrounding sky, he immediately recalled the young man's origins, and his expression softened. "I am True Person Wuyang of the Huayang Sect."

"Oh, so it's a senior. This junior has long admired your great name." Wang Li bowed respectfully.

Everyone watched to see his next move, but after this respectful bow, Wang Li made no further indication, as if he had simply greeted them and the current situation had nothing to do with him anymore.

"What does he mean?"

"He knows they're Golden Core cultivators from the Huayang Sect, and he's still holding onto the Yin Thunder Umbrella? Is he acting like nothing happened?"

A group of tribulation chasers watched Wang Li from afar, thinking he must be crazy.

Tribulation chasers were often bold rogue cultivators.

Over half of the rogue cultivators in the Lesser Jade Continent lacked the innate spiritual roots to enter orthodox sects. These cultivators lacked the support of sect resources and were not bound by sect rules.

However, precisely because of this, these rogue cultivators were keenly aware of when there was an opportunity to gain an advantage and when it was time to flee.

Old Ancestor Tong Hui had successfully passed his tribulation, and lingering here was meaningless. But Wang Li's behavior made many tribulation chasers hesitate.

True Person Wuyang paused for a moment. Seeing no reaction from Wang Li, his brow furrowed. But before he could speak, Qi Jianzhu, standing behind True Person Qingyang, interjected, "Fellow Daoist of the Profound Heaven Sect, should that Yin Thunder Umbrella in your hand not be returned to my Huayang Sect?"

True Person Wuyang's frown deepened. He knew Qi Jianzhu was speaking up now to curry favor with Old Ancestor Tong Hui. With Old Ancestor Tong Hui having just successfully passed his tribulation and likely in good spirits, Qi Jianzhu might gain some benefit.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but glance at He Lingxiu.

His true disciple, He Lingxiu, was usually very astute. By all rights, she should have considered this. He found it somewhat strange.

What was even stranger was that as he turned, He Lingxiu subtly winked at him.

"Yin Thunder Umbrella?"

Wang Li raised the Yin Thunder Umbrella, which was already tattered, and looked bewildered. "I just picked this up."

Qi Jianzhu stepped forward, standing beside True Person Qingyang. The gentle breeze ruffled his garment, giving him a sense of dashing elegance. But upon hearing Wang Li's words, he was stunned.

The expressions of the cultivators in the surrounding sky, including the Immortal Seedlings behind True Person Baixi, became somewhat peculiar.

This Profound Heaven Sect disciple seemed to have a different way of thinking than others, making him difficult to communicate with.

"You..."

Qi Jianzhu paused for a breath, and anger appeared on his face. "This is clearly the artifact the Old Ancestor used to resist the Heavenly Tribulation."

Wang Li replied, "Then why did I pick it up?"

"..." All the cultivators present froze again.

This communication was proving to be extremely difficult.