Why was it that the other senior and junior disciples had no problems cultivating the Profound Heaven Dao Arts, yet when he cultivated the very same Profound Heaven Dao Arts, such a problem appeared?
What Wang Li could be certain of was that he did not possess any unique spiritual roots.
The Cultivation World referred to certain unique aptitudes possessed by cultivators as spiritual roots.
For example, fire spiritual roots allowed one to cultivate fire-element spells with half the effort for twice the result, while wind spiritual roots made one innately far stronger than others at cultivating wind-element spells... Such spiritual roots could be formed innately, related to bloodline inheritance, or acquired later through the alteration of certain spiritual medicines and secret arts.
His senior sister, Lü Shenliang, had originally been a cultivator with an immortal spiritual root, one exceptionally compatible with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and exceptionally fast at absorbing and refining it.
Cultivators with such immortal spiritual roots received no bonus in other spells, but their cultivation progress far surpassed that of ordinary cultivators.
Wang Li could likewise be certain that throughout his cultivation at the Profound Heaven Sect, he had never received the aid of any special spiritual medicine and had not developed any acquired spiritual roots.
Ever since he had been isolated on this lonely peak, he had not even received the normal sect allotment of spiritual sand. Where could he possibly obtain spiritual medicine on that heaven-defying level?
If those were not the reasons, then this strange tribulation of his could only be related to this lonely peak and Lü Shenliang.
He had arrived at the lonely peak when he was about to advance from the first level of the Qi Refining stage to the second. Then, when he advanced to the second level, he encountered the first bizarre gray-robed cultivator.
He had asked Lü Shenliang about this matter with great solemnity and earnestness.
When Lü Shenliang was lucid, she had answered him with equal solemnity and earnestness.
First, based on his situation, he had definitely encountered an anomalous Heavenly Tribulation—and an especially strange anomalous Heavenly Tribulation at that.
Even if other people's Heavenly Tribulations were unusual, they merely encountered mutated tribulations of differing power during the normal stages of cultivation breakthroughs. But his Heavenly Tribulation seemed to have twisted itself somewhat severely out of shape.
If nothing unexpected happened, he would encounter such a tribulation every time he broke through a level of the Qi Refining stage in the future, and he would encounter one such gray-robed cultivator each time.
Wang Li had collapsed on the spot.
And that was called nothing unexpected? This was way too unexpected, all right?
Lü Shenliang had found it amusing at the time and had nearly, on a sudden whim, self-detonated her Golden Core again.
After calming down, Lü Shenliang seriously said that, since there were no records to consult, no one could know what kind of tribulation Wang Li would encounter after advancing from the Qi Refining stage into the Foundation Establishment Realm. But the one certainty was that Heavenly Tribulations only grew more difficult. His future Heavenly Tribulations would definitely become even more twisted and perverse.
Wang Li's response at the time had been, "Senior Sister, life is too hard. I want to die."
Lü Shenliang had eagerly said, "That's easy. I'll self-detonate my Golden Core."
Wang Li helplessly said, "Forget it, Senior Sister. I think I can still barely hold on. But this really wasn't your doing? It really has nothing to do with you?"
Lü Shenliang said, "Of course not. Maybe you're just rather special?"
"What's so special about me?" Wang Li had nearly been angered to tears. "Especially able to sleep, especially able to eat, or especially easy to bully?"
Lü Shenliang said, "Maybe especially stupid."
Wang Li was speechless.
He refused to admit that he was especially stupid.
Later, he had discussed the matter in detail many more times, but no matter what state Lü Shenliang was in, she refused to admit it had anything to do with her. She only told him with extreme seriousness that outsiders must not learn of this.
Of course he understood.
Thus, the fact that he cultivated the most orthodox immortal sect cultivation art yet produced such an anomalous Heavenly Tribulation became an unsolved mystery known only to himself and Lü Shenliang.
Since he was powerless to resist, he could only close his eyes and enjoy it.
To be fair, this anomalous Heavenly Tribulation was also tremendously beneficial to him.
What the vast majority of cultivators lacked most was actual combat.
Only actual combat could genuinely improve a cultivator's ability to fight enemies. Only the pressure of true life-and-death struggle could truly awaken a cultivator's fighting spirit and potential.
Cultivators who often engaged in actual combat could, for the most part, easily defeat cultivators of the same level who lacked such experience.
But the truth was that cultivators who often fought also died more quickly.
Because there was no room for regret.
Even when facing evenly matched opponents, one unexpected mistake of their own could lead to their death and the dissipation of their Dao. Much less in a Cultivation World filled everywhere with people who played the pig to eat the tiger—who could guarantee that the opponent they encountered was not some monstrous expert hiding their true level?
Yet the gray-robed cultivators Wang Li encountered were all truly evenly matched against him.
Moreover, these cultivators themselves seemed to be veterans of countless battles. Aside from being exceptionally balanced in both defense and offense, they possessed many special methods as well.
Over the course of tribulation after tribulation, he had learned far too much from these gray-robed cultivators.
For instance, how to confuse an opponent, and how to launch sneak attacks.
He had no idea what school of cultivation the gray-robed cultivator before him belonged to this time, but the instant the gray currents began to condense into that gray-robed cultivator, he had already made his move.
His left hand instantly activated a gray talisman, which immediately transformed into a mass of gray currents identical to those opposite him.
Chaos Primordial Form-Shaping Talisman!
An illusion talisman of the Chaos Primordial Sect.
That mass of gray currents changed in complete synchrony with the gray currents opposite Wang Li. The instant Wang Li saw the appearance of this gray-robed cultivator, the gray currents had already transformed Wang Li into a gray-robed cultivator exactly identical to the one before him.
The gray-robed cultivator opposite him saw a cultivator completely identical to himself, as though looking into a mirror.
Like a true cultivator with independent thoughts, this gray-robed cultivator froze in surprise.
"Sure enough, it works!"
Wang Li immediately beamed with delight.
This had been an idea he conceived after overcoming the tribulation from the Fourth Level of Qi Refining to the Fifth Level of Qi Refining. He had discovered that although these gray-robed cultivators were not true cultivators, every movement they made in battle within the Dao Palace, including their responsive thinking, seemed no different from normal cultivators. So this time, with a try-it-and-see attitude, he had prepared such an illusion talisman. He had not expected it to truly work.
He was now grinning broadly, but under the effects of the Chaos Primordial Form-Shaping Talisman, in the eyes of the gray-robed Daoist opposite him, his form was completely identical to that gray-robed Daoist's, and he too appeared stunned at this moment.
Yet at the same time, a dark-gold pellet without the slightest spiritual energy fluctuation had already been shattered in his right palm by his True Essence.
Sssht!
A streak of lightning-fast dark-gold sword light appeared directly in the void behind the gray-robed cultivator.
That astonishingly fast streak of dark-gold sword light savagely stabbed into the gray-robed cultivator's back.
Nether Mountain Sword Pellet!
This was a unique concealed weapon of the Nether Mountain Sect, a magical implement that demanded exceptionally precise calculation of distance but gave no warning whatsoever when activated. Several Qi Refining stage cultivators of the Nether Mountain Sect had wielded this type of magical implement with such consummate mastery that, for a time, they had frightened cultivators from all the other sects of the Lesser Jade Continent.
But this sneak attack's sword light did not pierce straight through the gray-robed cultivator's back as Wang Li had expected.
Smack!
At the instant the sword light truly came into contact with his back, intense gray light suddenly burst from the gray-robed cultivator's tattered ritual robe. Countless inch-long gray rays abruptly formed two gray carp, blocking the sword light.
The sword light was caught between the two gray carp in a pincer attack. With a resounding smack, it hung motionless in the air as though frozen, then shattered apart.
"An automatic-response ritual robe like this actually exists?"
"And this doesn't count as cheating before the Heavenly Dao laws?"
Wang Li stared at that tattered ritual robe, his eyes nearly bulging from their sockets.
The Heavenly Dao laws would not answer his questioning.
Nor would this gray-robed cultivator.
Whoosh!
As a cold, solemn wave of Vital Energy erupted, the gray-robed cultivator's figure instantly split into three. A dim sword light appeared before each gray-robed cultivator.
The three streaks of sword light erupted simultaneously, arcing through the air like three curved, shadowy crescent moons killing their way toward Wang Li.
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