Cause and Effect

"Should I call you lucky or unlucky?"

As the golden tribulation clouds gathered in the sky, True Person Baixi of the Xianke Sect, who was flying in the distance directly opposite the Huayang Sect group, abruptly stopped and sighed.

Behind him, over a dozen handsome boys and girls, wrapped by a white, living grass, crashed into each other as he halted.

He happened to be passing by. These children were Immortal Seedlings that the Xianke Sect had painstakingly cultivated and were bringing back to the sect.

These Immortal Seedlings looked like old gourds hanging from a vine, their faces sallow and trembling. Only one boy maintained a normal complexion, his eyes still lively.

He looked at the golden, lingzhi-shaped tribulation cloud and asked softly, "True Person, is that the legendary Golden Core Tribulation Cloud?"

His composure and knowledge earned him a look of approval from True Person Baixi. "Fortune or misfortune, it cannot be avoided. Since you have encountered such an opportunity, I will take this chance to give you your first lesson!"

"Let me ask you, what is cultivation?"

True Person Baixi pointed a finger at the boy who had asked the question.

The boy replied, "To seek the true self, to shed the false and retain the true."

"Nonsense."

True Person Baixi laughed heartily, but his gaze swept over all the Immortal Seedlings with chilling coldness. "Remember this: cultivation is defying the heavens, seizing destiny, and survival of the fittest!"

The group of Immortal Seedlings fell silent, but having been chosen, they understood the rules. They all silently committed these twelve words to memory.

"Heavenly tribulations are always **. Whether as insignificant as ants or as immense as Star Beasts, all life forms in the world absorb the essence of heaven and earth to survive. Mortals and ordinary beasts live less than a hundred years, and after death, all returns to nature, maintaining balance. But cultivators are different. The longer they live, the more they absorb. When one realm cannot maintain balance, a great tribulation to end life will naturally descend. For an individual cultivator, it is a normal Heavenly Tribulation; for the entire Cultivation World, it is an immeasurable tribulation affecting all living beings!"

True Person Baixi's expression was as cold as an iceberg, but his eyes burned hotter than a volcano. "You are fortunate. You have become disciples of the Xianke Sect, you have become cultivators. Compared to you, all living beings across the continents are merely mayflies that live and die within a single day. But you are also unfortunate. Just as you enter the immortal gate, you directly encounter a great cultivator at the Golden Core Peak undergoing tribulation."

Although these Immortal Seedlings had just joined the sect, they had a general understanding of cultivation realms and the history of the Cultivation World. The tribulation clouds in the sky continued to pile up, and the terrifying pressure reverberated, making the Immortal Seedlings even more ashen-faced. However, the boy was still able to steady his mind and asked in a clear voice, "True Person, are you afraid that if we witness this great cultivator failing their tribulation, the scene will leave a shadow in our hearts?"

"Precisely."

True Person Baixi looked at the boy, his gaze softening considerably. "One must know oneself. Since the Three Sages stood united, the orthodox immortal sects of all continents have come under their command and operate according to the Dao Precepts of the Three Sages. The cultivation of Immortal Seedlings is also confined within their designated sect territories. The past chaos where sects fought fiercely over a single exceptionally gifted Immortal Seedling is gone. Furthermore, after delineating their territories, the sects are happy to invest long-term in cultivating even better Immortal Seedlings. However, even so, out of these meticulously selected Immortal Seedlings, at most ten out of a hundred will be able to cultivate to the Foundation Establishment Stage, and out of a hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators, at most four or five will reach the Golden Core stage. You have just embarked on the immortal path, and the scene of a great Golden Core cultivator failing their tribulation might not have a significant impact on you at first. But the longer you cultivate, the more you will realize the hardships of the immortal path. The scene you witness today might become a constantly accumulating Inner Demon in your hearts. However, opportunity and crisis coexist. Who can say what opportunities such a tribulation of a great Golden Core cultivator might bring you."

"This disciple will bear it in mind." The boy thanked him earnestly. Compared to the other trembling Immortal Seedlings, his serious demeanor truly showcased a refined and ethereal immortal bearing.

However, True Person Baixi's expression suddenly changed drastically. With a crack, he and the pile of Immortal Seedlings behind him instantly turned into a streak of light shooting backward.

"How could it be this kind of thunder tribulation!"

"Retreat! Retreat quickly!"

At the same time, incredulous shouts erupted from the sky and the ground all around.

The Heavenly Tribulation, which had been quietly brewing for a long time, descended without warning.

The tribulation clouds, now densely covering the sky like fish scales, suddenly pressed down hundreds of feet in an instant, unleashing thousands upon thousands of lightning bolts.

These lightning bolts were only as thick as a thumb, but their color was a peculiar milky white, and their light was not blinding. Yet, as they descended, terrifying cold currents instantly exploded in the sky. Layers of glass-like ice formed without warning, as if an iceberg had been suddenly sliced into countless thin pieces and then stacked horizontally in the sky.

Puff puff puff...

These lightning bolts, upon hitting the ground, were eerily silent, without any booming sound. Each point where the lightning struck was enveloped in a mist of ice, and then a pile of pagoda-like snow-white ice crystals quickly formed.

As these lightning bolts fell from the tribulation clouds, they covered an area of dozens of miles. However, when they descended, they precisely struck a single mountain peak.

That lush green mountain instantly turned into a white snow-capped peak. Terrifying cold air swept towards the surrounding world at an astonishing speed, causing the vegetation on the surrounding mountains to wither instantly.

"Ice Soul Heavenly Thunder?"

True Person Baixi looked at the white snow-capped peak as if he had seen a ghost, his eyes bulging.

"Retreat! Keep retreating!"

The sound of breaking wind continued to echo from the surrounding sky.

All the cultivators shouting to retreat and True Person Baixi shared the same thought: they had truly lived long enough to see anything.

The laws of the Heavenly Dao were eternal and unchanging, born with the world.

The Heavenly Tribulations corresponding to each major stage in the Cultivation World were also fixed.

The Heavenly Tribulation for advancing from the Golden Core stage to the Nascent Soul stage was the Seven-Layered Thunder Tribulation.

Within the Seven-Layered Thunder Tribulation, the order in which the various Heavenly Dao tribulation lightning appeared was also fixed.

First came the weakest tribulation lightning. As the cultivator enduring the tribulation continued to resist the heavenly lightning, the Heavenly Dao laws would become enraged and unleash more powerful tribulation lightning.

According to the experience of the Cultivation World, within the Seven-Layered Thunder Tribulation, at least the first four layers were conventional thunder tribulations. The order in which these four layers appeared was generally the Fire Cloud Thunder Tribulation to start, with fire clouds carrying a slight thunderous aura continuously falling, followed by the Divine Firmament Thunder Tribulation, then the Azure Firmament Thunder Tribulation, and the Jade Firmament Thunder Tribulation. By the time the fifth layer, the Pill Firmament Thunder Tribulation, appeared, the Heavenly Dao laws would formulate unique anomalous tribulation lightning specifically targeting the Golden Core cultivator's Core Qi.

But the Ice Soul Heavenly Thunder was undoubtedly one of the anomalous tribulation lightning.

At the beginning of this Seven-Layered Thunder Tribulation, the first four conventional layers were directly skipped. How could this not make the cultivators present feel utterly bewildered?

Moreover, the Ice Soul Heavenly Thunder was one of the more troublesome anomalous tribulation lightning.

What the hell was this!

All experience came from bloody lessons.

There were countless examples in the history of cultivation where cultivators observing Heavenly Tribulations were wiped out due to encountering anomalous tribulation lightning. It was no wonder these cultivators' faces turned pale and they fled in panic.

"Is there any justice in this world?"

At the center of the thunder tribulation, within the desolate mountain suppressed by extreme cold, an old Daoist almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

He was the absolute protagonist of this Heavenly Tribulation, Old Ancestor Tong Hui of the Huayang Sect.

No one at this moment could feel more bewildered than he did, no one could feel more heartbroken.

The Heavenly Dao's laws were cold and ruthless. The purpose of the Heavenly Tribulation was to eliminate those who defied heaven and stole life. Yet, the Heavenly Dao's laws were also fair, as they treated everyone equally. No cultivator, regardless of their background or sect, would receive special treatment.

But why did these fair Heavenly Dao laws suddenly go wrong when it came to him?

Every effect has a cause.

The anomaly in the Heavenly Tribulation originally had a predetermined reason.

Only those top-tier geniuses who had extraordinary encounters during their cultivation, those peerless powerhouses whose Golden Cores were completely different from ordinary ones, and who even possessed power in the Golden Core stage that surpassed the Golden Core stage, capable of resisting Nascent Soul cultivators – only they might encounter such severe retribution from the Heavenly Dao's laws.

But who was he?

Although the Cultivation World was full of people who disguised their strength, Old Ancestor Tong Hui knew better than anyone that even on the Lesser Jade Continent, he was absolutely the most ordinary mediocrity among Golden Core stage cultivators.

After forming his Golden Core, the time it took him to reach Golden Core Peak was a full double that of the geniuses on the Lesser Jade Continent.

He himself didn't have any unique spiritual roots, and the Golden Core he formed was also common and ordinary. A person like him could never be associated with an anomalous Heavenly Tribulation.

Could it be that he cultivated too slowly, too ordinarily, and was forced to undergo tribulation only when his lifespan was nearing its end, and the Heavenly Dao's laws couldn't stand it anymore?

That was too ridiculous.