Please, Everyone, Fight with All Your Might—There May Yet Be a Way to Live

Ziwei Heavenly Dao was a loving mother. No matter how mischievous her children were, so long as they did not cross the bottom line, she would usually choose tolerance.

But Chen Yi was different. When children refused to behave, he pulled out the Seven Wolves belt!

Do not let his young age fool you. He might not even have been as old as the grandsons of this pack of Integration old timers, but in this world, strength was the standard that determined one's standing!

Since they stubbornly refused to see the situation for what it was, then fight!

"Since none of you seem particularly willing, I will not force you any longer. Then please, everyone, fight with all your might—there may yet be a way to live!"

The moment his words fell.

The great halberd swung!

In an instant, a terrifying force field warped the void, battering the Integration old timers until they swayed on the verge of collapse.

"Wait... wait!"

The old timers' eyes immediately cleared. Being struck dead by lightning or brutally beaten to death—this was a very simple multiple-choice question.

After all, facing that freakish Tribulation Transcendence might mean nine deaths and one life, but there was at least a sliver of hope that they could undergo Liberation by Violence and cultivate again as loose immortals.

But facing this freak meant certain death. They would truly be beaten to death in the most brutal fashion!

Zhang Kuang, sect leader of the Extreme Dao Weapon Sect, was the first to speak. "I believe Senior Xuanyu is right. Rather than die in silence, we should burn the rest of our lives for a moment of brilliance. To aid the Heavenly Dao is a duty from which none of our generation can shrink!"

Heh, as expected of the leader of a great sect. His face changed quickly indeed, and his pretty words came in set after set.

The other Integration old timers did not dare delay either, immediately voicing their stance.

"Indeed. All people must die someday. Rather than fade away without a sound, better to go out in a blaze of glory!"

"Be that fool who challenges the immortal tribulation. Recklessness is still closer to courage than cowardice!"

"Only by helping the Heavenly Dao reopen the immortal path can we have a way to live. Otherwise, in a hundred years, we will be nothing but heaps of dry bones!"

"Anything that cannot crush us will only make us stronger!"

"..."

All twenty-seven Integration stage peak old timers were filled with righteous awe, resolutely expressing their willingness to help the Heavenly Dao reopen the immortal path.

"Excellent!"

Chen Yi nodded in satisfaction and slowly withdrew his great halberd.

This bunch of cowardly bastards were just asking for it. They would not listen when spoken to nicely, and only submitted when a great halberd was held to their throats!

What, did they think that by burying their heads like ostriches, they could wait for their Heavenly Dao mother to plead for them?

Do not be naive. She would not wake up anytime soon!

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Tell me, was all this really necessary?"

Xuanyu Zi, the first to submit, shook his head. He still sat leisurely in his chair and even had the leisure to take a sip of tea.

Unlike those fools who could not see the situation clearly and had merely stuck labels on their heads waiting to be sold, there was a reason he had been able to strike up a conversation with Chen Yi.

For example, when Chen Yi had greeted him just now, he had submitted without even a moment's hesitation.

Though he often teased this kid in ordinary times, when something truly happened, he never messed around!

Chen Yi was like a prehistoric beast that never stopped running. Anything that dared block his path would be mercilessly smashed to pieces!

Being blasted by the Tribulation Transcendence was being blasted, and being blasted by him was also being blasted. If they did not obediently listen while he was still willing to show them a pleasant face—and take the chance to build some goodwill—then if they somehow survived the crushing pressure of the Tribulation Transcendence, would they not be able to form a connection with the Tribulation Control Venerable?

Yet one after another, their brains seemed to have filled with water. They insisted on joining hands and bashfully blocking his way. Did they truly think he would indulge them as the Heavenly Dao did?

That was why they could not get along with Chen Yi.

With this lot to compare him against, his own tactfulness should carry even more weight in Chen Yi's heart, right?

At that thought, Xuanyu Zi immediately set down his teacup and said naturally, "Brother Yi, since everyone has agreed to contribute toward helping the Heavenly Dao reopen the immortal arts, please return to the Phantom Star Grotto-Heaven first and avoid the edge of the storm. That Tribulation Transcendence recognizes people. If you are there, the pressure on us will be immense."

"Mm, I know what I am doing. You only need to break through near the lair of the Outer Realm Calamity Race. There is a cosmic void there that can conceal your aura to the greatest extent. At the same time, all of you breaking through together will greatly divide the attention of the Tribulation Transcendence. As for how many will survive in the end... leave that to fate."

Chen Yi nodded slightly and calmly laid out the plan.

Strictly speaking, the Tribulation Transcendence stage was not a realm, but a state attained by lower-realm living beings after surpassing the limits of their mortal bodies—a state that was mortal in appearance yet close to immortality.

In this state, their power had already exceeded what an ordinary world could bear. Thus, the upper realm sent down the Tribulation Transcendence as a trial. Those who passed would ascend and become immortals; those who failed would die and vanish from existence.

There was no hiding from it. The aura of a living being in that mortal-yet-near-immortal state was especially intense and obvious. To the perception of the upper realm's Heavenly Dao, it was like a fireball in the darkness—bright and blazing.

The reason Chen Yi could hide was mainly because, when he had first suffered the vicious beating of the Tribulation Transcendence, he had sensed the "gaze" of the Immortal Realm Heavenly Dao's eye amid the great terror between life and death!

Once he knew it used this special "gaze," spread throughout the Myriad Worlds, to lock onto its targets, things became easy. Chen Yi had immediately developed a method specifically to absorb this "gaze"!

Without feedback from that "gaze," the upper realm's Heavenly Dao would naturally lose its target. That was why he could immediately flee whenever he sensed something was amiss during each challenge.

But this method could not be taught to others, because not everyone could sense this "special gaze" as he could. Moreover, after the Immortal Realm Heavenly Dao had failed to kill him eighty-one times in a row, it had grown increasingly insidious. Even Chen Yi could be caught if he was the slightest bit careless, let alone people who could not see those "gazes."

So everything could only depend on them. All Chen Yi could do was force ducks onto the rack and tell them of a place with fewer gazes.

This mismatched rabble had absolutely no chance of passing the Tribulation Transcendence, but if they were lucky, perhaps they might survive.

Yet Xuanyu Zi did not care at all about his kind reminder. Instead, he felt an inexplicable rush of delight inside.

He did not object to me calling him that...

Does that not mean that as long as this Old Daoist survives by luck, I can become even closer to him? Maybe even visit and look around inside his Phantom Star Grotto-Heaven? I might even be able to make a few not-too-excessive requests...

At that thought, the small bit of fear Xuanyu Zi felt toward the Tribulation Transcendence instantly scattered like smoke and clouds. He immediately swept his sleeve.

"Good. Many thanks for your guidance, Brother Yi. Then I shall be off!"

As his words fell, he turned into a streak of light and shot straight into the outer realms.

He had actually been able to break through his limits long ago. He simply lacked the courage to face that freakish Tribulation Transcendence, so he had suppressed his cultivation and clung to life for several thousand years.

Now that Brother Yi had given him courage, why the hell should he still be afraid? They were all breaking through together anyway. The Tribulation Transcendence might not be able to strike every last one of them dead!

After Xuanyu Zi the Old Daoist took the lead and left, Chen Yi turned toward the Integration old timers, who were still hemming and hawing.

"And you? Have you stood there so long because you want me to invite you?"

The twenty-seven Integration stage peak cultivators shuddered in unison.

"No, do not move. I'll go myself!"

"I'm going. No more playing around!"

"If we're doing it, then we're doing it!"

"..."

It was not as though they had not considered hiding until the storm passed. But if they truly did that, could the soft and yielding Heavenly Dao protect them from Chen Yi's brutal retaliation?

Sigh...

Better go.

They were breaking through together, after all. The Tribulation Transcendence might not kill them all!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~

Twenty-seven streaks of light cut across the sky and vanished into the vast, boundless depths of space.

Chen Yi stood where he was in silence for a long while before finally letting out a faint sigh. "Ziwei, what you could not bring yourself to do, I have done for you. Do not blame me. Since you chose optimization, you can only carry it through to the end..."