Bizarre Tribulation

Five hundred spirit sand particles floated quietly above the formation disk, and wisps of spiritual energy slowly seeped out. At first, it was like smoke and mist, but as it continuously gathered, it became like streams of water filled with spiritual charm.

These streams of water flowed to Wang Li in the center of the formation disk and then disappeared.

Wang Li had long entered a state of complete selflessness. In his perception, his physical body seemed to have completely vanished.

His physical body also seemed to have turned into a mass of qi, into a small chaotic world.

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth that intruded into his world was like falling meteors, drawing graceful and magnificent light lines in his world before disappearing and merging into it.

That Purity Returning Spirit Pill was like a green star, suspended in the center of his world. Turbulent flames constantly surged around it. Every wisp of flame that dispersed carried countless terrifying storms, which impacted the edge of his world.

This green star appeared very violent and powerful, seemingly possessing an overwhelming and subverting force for this world. However, as time passed and the turbulent flames continued to dissipate, its fierce aura gradually weakened, and its brilliance dimmed.

More light appeared in the chaotic sky.

A black light first appeared at the highest point. This black light slowly expanded upwards and downwards from a narrow line, like a black eye opening at the peak of the chaotic world.

Immediately after, five white halos slowly lit up.

With the appearance of these five white halos, the spiritual energy that fell into this world like meteors seemed to have found targets to chase, and all of them fell towards these five white halos.

The five white halos became brighter and brighter, and their hazy luster disappeared. The five halos seemed to have turned into five crystal-clear stars.

Then, in the center of them, a brand new white halo appeared.

"They're here!"

With the appearance of this brand new white halo, another Wang Li's warning seemed to sound in Wang Li's perceptual world. Almost simultaneously, the scene in his perceptual world changed drastically. Wang Li's figure appeared in a black Dao Palace, and outside the Dao Palace was the churning Sea of Qi. Beyond the Sea of Qi was his physical body.

Wang Li looked forward with a face full of vigilance.

From the black shadow deep within the Dao Palace, a mass of gray airflow suddenly appeared. This mass of gray airflow twisted rapidly, transforming into a gray-robed cultivator.

The garment on this cultivator was condensed from gray airflow, but it was very tattered.

Not only the garment, but the cultivator's body was also… tattered.

This was a thin male cultivator with the appearance of someone in his forties. He was very tall, half a head taller than Wang Li.

There was a hole formed by an explosive injury on his left eye. This hole destroyed all the flesh and bone above his left eye, piercing all the way to the back of his head. Only a layer of scalp was attached to his right skull like tattered rags.

His left hand was severed at the elbow, and there was a festering wound on his right lower abdomen, large enough to hold several fists.

In addition to these massive wounds, his body also had many small injuries.

At first glance, this should be the corpse of a cultivator who had experienced a fierce battle in life.

However, at this moment, a strong Vital Energy fluctuation was occurring around him.

If an ordinary cultivator encountered such a situation during their cultivation, they would likely be completely flustered, but Wang Li was long accustomed to it.

He cultivated the Profound Heaven Dao Arts.

Like the Huayang Heavenly Dao Arts of the Huayang Sect, the Profound Heaven Dao Arts were the most orthodox immortal sect methods.

All inner disciples of the Profound Heaven Sect cultivated the Profound Heaven Dao Arts.

This was a complete orthodox method that, as long as one cultivated step by step and possessed enough opportunities, could lead to the Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and even Spirit Transformation, Nirvana, and Mahayana stages.

By cultivating such orthodox immortal sect methods and defying the heavens in a righteous manner, the Heavenly Dao laws would also provide righteous rewards.

The Heavenly Dao laws would also bestow Heavenly Tribulations according to the different stages of cultivation of these cultivators.

Everyone played by the rules, and the variables would be the fewest.

Setting aside the advantages and completeness of the cultivation techniques, this was the benefit of cultivating orthodox techniques.

Therefore, theoretically speaking, cultivators who practiced the Profound Heaven Dao Arts would face the Wind Fire Tribulation the moment they successfully drew qi into their body and became a cultivator of the first stage of Qi Refining. When advancing from the Qi Refining stage to the Foundation Establishment Stage, they would face the Spiritual Poison Tribulation.

When Wang Li entered the Profound Heaven Sect and became a cultivator of the first stage of Qi Refining, the Heavenly Tribulation he faced was indeed the most common Wind Fire Tribulation.

The moment the first wisp of spiritual energy from heaven and earth entered his body, it clashed with his internal qi, forming a conflagration of wind and fire.

Like most newly initiated disciples who cultivated the Profound Heaven Dao Arts, he passed through it without any danger.

However, starting from the advancement from the first stage of Qi Refining to the second stage, his cultivation had become abnormal.

The moment he advanced from the first stage of Qi Refining to the second stage, his own consciousness was no longer under his control. It sank into his Sea of Qi Dao Palace. His consciousness seemed to have completely separated from his physical body. To his consciousness, his physical body was like an absolute external object, a giant palace outside the Dao Palace.

At that time, he was naturally extremely shocked, thinking that his cultivation had gone wrong and he might be annihilated.

But what shocked him even more was that after his consciousness was dragged into the Sea of Qi Dao Palace, a bizarre gray-robed cultivator appeared before him, just like today.

The gray-robed cultivator that appeared also had a tattered body, like a zombie.

But after such a gray-robed cultivator appeared, he attacked him without any warning, directly engaging him in a life-or-death battle within his Sea of Qi Dao Palace.

Although it was clearly a battle at the consciousness level, a soul battle, during the fierce battle, as long as his body was injured in this Sea of Qi Dao Palace, when he woke up and disengaged from cultivation, the same part of his physical body would also ache unbearably.

Even if there were no visible injuries on the surface, the same part of his body seemed to have truly endured the attack of spell power.

In the battle when he advanced from the first stage of Qi Refining to the second stage, where he encountered the first bizarre gray-robed cultivator, he fought with all his might in the Sea of Qi Dao Palace, almost dying from his injuries before defeating the gray-robed cultivator. When he woke up, he was also as if he had suffered severe injuries, his body about to split apart, and he had to lie still for tens of days before he could move again.

Later, when he advanced from the second stage of Qi Refining to the third stage, from the third to the fourth, and from the fourth to the fifth, the same situation occurred. The moment he broke through, his consciousness was forcibly dragged into his Sea of Qi Dao Palace, and then he would immediately encounter such a bizarre gray-robed cultivator.

Having suffered from an illness for a long time, and moreover, he was not stupid.

After repeatedly encountering such bizarre events, he easily perceived the pattern.

First, every time he broke through to a new minor realm, he would encounter one of these gray-robed cultivators.

Second, each gray-robed cultivator he encountered was different – their build, appearance, the location of their injuries, their Sect of origin, and their combat style were all distinct. However, their strength continuously increased.

The first gray-robed cultivator he met when advancing to the second level of Qi Refining was a cultivator at the second level of Qi Refining.

When he advanced to the third level of Qi Refining, the second gray-robed cultivator he encountered was at the third level of Qi Refining.

These bizarre, appearing gray-robed cultivators matched his cultivation level after promotion, and he had to defeat them to truly advance.

Furthermore, his previous experiences had shown him that these battles didn't truly consume his True Essence, but they greatly depleted his spiritual sense and were mentally taxing.

During the battles, the body within his Dao Palace was a perfect replica of his real body. He could not only use all the spells he knew but also any talismans or artifacts he possessed. The resulting power and effects, in his perception, were exactly the same as those unleashed by real talismans and artifacts.

Similarly, these opposing gray-robed cultivators could also use various spells and artifacts.

To him, this felt like a bizarre, real battle across intertwined timelines.

But as long as he won, once his consciousness left the Dao Palace and he regained awareness, it was as if nothing had happened. His talismans and artifacts were, of course, not consumed, but any injuries he sustained in the battle still provided him with the most realistic feedback.